ExPo Member Entry - 2012 NORRA 1000 Rally

toddz69

Explorer
For many off-road adventurers, the dream of racing in Baja is high on their list of "must do" activities. For some, the dream becomes a reality but for many others, it remains elusive due to many factors including cost, time, or logistical challenges.

In 2009, the re-birth of NORRA (National Off Road Racing Association) was heralded as a way for the "common man" or the "little guy" to experience Baja in a friendly, vintage racing vehicle-specific format that promised to be more attainable than competing in a typical SCORE race. NORRA was the original sanctioning body for the Mexican 1000 race, which began in 1967 and became the Baja 1000 in 1973.

From NORRA's website:

We have returned off-road motorsports to its roots — comaraderie, hot rodding and fun! The Mexican 1000 Rally is a fully-supported on-road/off-road rally open to vintage and alternative fueled vehicles. It will be an adventure filled with high-performance driving, incredible scenery and world-class adventure.

The 2012 NORRA Mexican 1000 will be held May April 28-May 2, running the length of the Baja peninsula.


In 2008, my good friend Andrew Norton and I realized one of our life goals and purchased an old Stroppe racing Bronco from a local acquaintance who had stored it in his toyhauler for nearly 10 years after using it for many years as a Glamis sand toy.

After we purchased the vehicle and started doing research on its history, we soon deciphered the DNA on our truck and discovered that we had in our possession the winner of the 1969 Mexican 1000. And not just any winner, because there are winners in a multitude of classes every year the race is held. In 1969, history was made that has never been repeated again in the 44 year history of the Mexican/Baja 1000 races; a 4WD vehicle won the race overall, beating every motorcycle and every other 4 wheeled vehicle. That vehicle happened to be our Bronco - driven to victory by Larry Minor and Rod Hall.

In late 2009, I was approached by a racing friend (Class 8 Baja 1000 winner) who was looking for a "historically significant" off road vehicle to race with his friend in the inaugural NORRA 1000 in 2010. Andrew and I offered several choices, including the dilapidated Bronco now sitting in my garage. In short order, a deal was made whereby our friends Chris Wilson and Glen Straightiff would repair/refurbish/restore our Bronco at their cost in exchange for driving it in the rally. After a very quick risk assessment, we wholeheartedly said yes.

Six months of pandemonium ensued as the project progressed with frequent phone calls/emails/texts between Phoenix, San Diego, and San Jose. But by the time of the race, the Bronco was done and ready to go. We chased Chris and Glen the length of the peninsula and had a fabulous time, soaking up the sights and smells of Baja along the way as our little Bronco conquered the miles and made memories every day. And the Bronco didn't disappoint, as Chris and Glen drove it to a class victory 35 years after it had last raced in Mexico.
The Bronco may have felt it was a homecoming of sorts as it had numerous great victories and finishes in the late '60s and '70s south of the border.

For 2012, we've decided to race the Bronco again - most of the prep is done but with less than 2 months to go, we still have many things to check off the list. Our team this year will be comprised of Andrew and I and several of our friends from Arizona, California, North Carolina, and possibly a Canadian thrown in for a little international flair.

I hope to post some photos and stories here in the time leading up to and during the event.

Our little rig doesn't extract the sensory overload of a modern Trophy Truck or Class 1 buggy but its uncorked exhaust and historical pedigree can still extract a visceral response from onlookers - particularly those with a keen sense of history and appreciation of those earlier days in Baja when things moved at a little slower pace and the roads were a little smoother.

Todd Z.

If you're interested in reading more about the Bronco, here's an article that my friend Jay Kopycinski did for Off Road magazine a few years ago:

http://www.off-roadweb.com/features/1011or_1968_ford_bronco_race/viewall.html

The following are a series of photos that give a glimpse into the timeline of this vehicle.

A Ford publicity shot taken shortly after the Bronco won the 1969 Mexican 1000. Note - in honor of winning this race, our truck will have #56 on it in 2012.

Zuercher_2B-014.jpg


Rod Hall and Jim Fricker at the start of the 1972 NORRA 1000. We chose this particular paint/decal scheme (it had many) for the refurbishment in 2010. Rod has since checked out the truck and autographed the dash for us and Jim knows of its restoration

W72HV_HM002L.jpg


Hall and Fricker kicking up a little silt at the '72 Baja 500.

wsRR.jpg


Fast forward to about 1990-1991, and the Bronco is in pieces. Considering its condition, we consider ourselves blessed to have so many of the original parts and pieces on the truck.

RedRacer1a.jpg


It's now the mid '90s and the previous owner is at the Imperial Sand Dunes (Glamis) kicking up some sand while wearing his uber-cool shades.

RedRacer3a.jpg


And here's what the truck looks like today. The window screen over the grill has been replaced since these photos were taken. In the 2010 event, Chris and Glen lost our grill screen on the first day. Prior to the start of the second day's stage, a local in Bahia de Los Angeles excitedly donated the screen from his front door so we would have a proper screen for the race! Another wonderful Baja memory.

IMG_8034.jpg


IMG_8035.jpg
 
Last edited:

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
That is soooo cool!
So would you be in need of a 1970 Suburban as any sort of support or chase rig?
I am fluent in Spanish, been to Baja plenty of times, Wilderness EMT & ICU RN for medical needs, Ham Radio Operator and handy with a wrench.

What a great story and I hope I can help...I have always dreamed of racing the Baja 1000 but this sounds like much more fun. Buy some old iron, fix it up, race and have fun.
 
Last edited:

toddz69

Explorer
That is soooo cool!
So would you be in need of a 91970 Suburban as any sort of support or chase rig?
I am fluent in Spanish, been to Baja plenty of times, Wilderness EMT & ICU RN for medical needs, Ham Radio Operator and handy with a wrench.

What a great story and I hope I can help...I have always dreamed of racing the Baja 1000 but this sounds like much more fun. Buy some old iron, fix it up, race and have fun.

Lance:

Let's talk.

Todd Z.
 

24HOURSOFNEVADA

Expedition Leader
This is very cool. I have spoken to Andrew a few times and almost purchased a Stroppe prepped Bronco that belonged to former President Richard Nixon. Instead I ended up buying the Australian Troopy. I still long for a Stroppe Bronco and hope to have one, one day. Until then, I'm thinking about putting together a Meyer's Tow'd for the Norra 1000.

Rod Hall is a local here and I'm good friends with one of his fab guys.

I've noticed your avatar pic before and always wondered. Now we know.
 
Last edited:

toddz69

Explorer
This is very cool. I have spoken to Andrew a few times and almost purchased a Stroppe prepped Bronco that belonged to former President Richard Nixon. Instead I ended up buying the Australian Troopy. I still long for a Stroppe Bronco and hope to have one, one day. Until then, I'm thinking about putting together a Meyer's Tow'd for the Norra 1000.

Rod Hall is a local here and I'm good friends with one of his fab guys.

I've noticed your avatar pic before and always wondered. Now we know.

The story on the Nixon Broncos was pretty interesting - one of those things that comes out of the woodwork while doing research on vehicles. I hope you're able to get a Stroppe someday - not the perfect trucks by today's standards nor very practical for serious expedition/overlanding work but fun rigs to use and own - and certainly attention getters.

Todd Z.
 

toddz69

Explorer
I'm thrilled to announce that 1leglance will be joining us for our little adventure at the end of next month. Lance brings a lot of experience and desirable skills (plus being an all-around great guy) to our team. And he'll be chasing old iron with old iron.

Todd Z.
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Should make for some fairly period correct pics of our pits :)
My wife & son gave me the green light on this event as they both had things going on that would have kept me in town.
Should be a great time, I hope to get some fun pictures & video along with helping with Spanish, wrenching, transport, radios and everything else...I am the medical person but I really hope I don't need that skill :)

Gonna be fun!
 

toddz69

Explorer
This item isn't going with us to Mexico, but I wanted to share it anyway. It's a great example of cool things that come out of the woodwork when you're working on a project like this.

In 1962, Bill Robertson Jr. and Dave Ekins started the whole "racing in Baja" craze with a run from Tijuana to La Paz on their Honda sport bikes as part of a marketing stunt for Honda. Bill's son, Bill III, or Billy, is a friend of mine and an off road racer as well.

A few months ago, Billy shared a picture of a vintage fuel dump can that he had received from a friend of his with a long history in the aftermarket automotive world. It happened to be a red, white, and blue aluminum can that once belonged to Bill Stroppe's racing operation. Naturally, I thought it was pretty cool and happy that Billy got it.

Fast forward to two weeks ago and Billy sent me an email asking if we'd like the can as an a period accessory for our race truck. Of course! A few days later it showed up. It's smaller than the 11 gallon plastic dump cans we use today and has some baffling in it to aid in pouring. We're not sure of the exact vintage but we're thrilled to have it and will use it as a display item with our truck at shows, etc.

Todd Z.

dumpcan.jpg
 

toddz69

Explorer
Yesterday, I stopped by the fab shop to check on the progress of some updates on our little Bronco. It's coming along well. I specified a due date of mid-next week and I think they'll make it. There are some new safety rules this year our truck needed to conform to - the primary one being a firewall between our seats and the fuel cell. Ours will be a multi-piece deal. I continue to be pleased and amazed with Paul at Bent Fab. He is doing a great job considering the multitude of planes and surface discontinuities he has to work with. Being a vintage truck, we want to limit the amount of drillin' and weldin' we do on it, so he whipped out some nice threaded brackets on the CNC plasma cutter to attach the firewall to the cage without turning it into swiss cheese. The clamps are for 1.75" and 2" dia. tubing. He's also doing a new passenger side seat mount, splash guards around the fuel cell fillers, and a rear bumper (stocker) to conform to 2012 rules. This is all easily reversible if desired.

We also happened to notice recently that the re-born www.stroppe.com is offering t-shirts for sale with an image of our truck from the 2010 NORRA race, and a slightly modified image beside it. One of the principals in the operation is one of my editors at Bronco Driver magazine so I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for some shirts, which I did earlier this week. The box arrived yesterday with t-shirts for everyone on our team - including our fueling/pitting/chasing team members.

http://stroppe.com/?post_type=portfolio&p=288

Only two short weeks before we head to Mexicali.

Todd Z.

Firewall construction shots:

firewall2012.jpg


firewall-22012.jpg


Brackets:

firewallbrackets2012.jpg


Rear bumper:

rearbumper2012.jpg
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Quick update from Baja on some weak wifi :)

Here are our 2 Day 1 Men of Action...Todd is the tall one and Nick is next to him
mex1000-5.jpg


And here they are as Men of Action in Motion
mex1000-8.jpg


Cool ol' Cruiser...great guy & gal running this rig Sean & Rhonda
mex1000-7.jpg


Oh this give me way too many wrong ideas
mex1000-6.jpg


What the heck, but way cool old school
mex1000-4.jpg


Here is the Stroppe Bronco and the Toyota chase truck...keep'em older & cooler by far.
mex1000-3.jpg


How the Edsel went away when there were great ones like this is beyond me
mex1000-2.jpg


Now them there is some tires :) The former James Garner car
mex1000-1.jpg


Things are going well, day one had plenty of "interesting events" that I will let Todd explain later..
We are all dusty & tired but having way to much fun to stop now.

I am learning the GoPro setup thanks to UPR.com so I hope to have some video in a week or two after we get back

Wish us luck on Day 2 all the way to the finish line.
 

Jrally

Adventurer
Great pictures, very cool versions of old Class 6 type off road cars. Good luck and keep the shiney side up.

-Jon
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Ok we are all back home safe & sound and now comes the pic & video sorting/editing/writing part
But rather than make you wait forever I figured I would through out some more teasers to hold everyone over until the full story comes together.

A few choice items...
What happens when a software engineer finds an electrical problem? You get the "Terry Tap"

What do you do when there is no jack and you want to see under a race rig? Lay it on it's side :)

How about a game of Nav Nightmare?

Stickers solve all Military checkpoint problems?

What is it like to drive until 2am in Mexico? Very scary but doable with the right friends and good comm!

And now that you are properly wondering what is going on I will toss in some pics.....

Post flop & fuel pump fix fly away down the race course
mex1000-8.jpg


Being this close on the race course can be very cool & very scary
mex1000-10.jpg


Our Bronco was running well and flying by
mex1000-11.jpg


Ever see a 40 Series Landcruiser on 3 wheels? You should see the pic I took a few sec's before this
mex1000-12.jpg


Our crazy crew of Manly Men of Might Deeds with our Racing Steed
mex1000-13.jpg


And then the awards party started
mex1000-14.jpg


I am sure Todd will chime in with lots of stories and pics also. There is a bunch of video for me to edit so watch for bits of that and of course all of us will tell our story from a different perspective.
But before I go too far I want to give a huge THANKS to Todd, Andrew, Gary, Nick, Terry, Eric and Sam for letting me join in on the fun.
I pulled into the house about 60 miles short of 3000 miles put on the 70 Burb in just 7 days. Bouncing around Baja backroads & trails, chasing & racing and looking for lost Broncos....it was a great time.
 

enesset

New member
greatphoto2.jpg
This is one I took while Andrew was driving (its one of my favorites). This finish line photo is also pretty awesome (Nick/Andrew/Todd).
FinishNickAndrewTodd.JPG

Bunch of great guys and an awesome experience. I hope to play again.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,534
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top