Brimod Prototype Car

[dinglem]

As some of you might have already noticed, I am a bit of a fan of a small British manufacturer by the name of Brimod - their premises being located about a 15minute drive from where i grew up.

In the late 1980's Brimod shocks were known as the best around - certainly on the UK scene - and were beautifully engineered and extremely exotic looking. They were very expensive for that time period, and as such only the top drivers ran them. Brimod themselves sponsored a team of drivers, and also made hop-up items for various models including a LWB Mid conversion, and a wider saddle pack chassis for the Schumacher CAT. They also advertised items such as UJ's for various PB cars, chargers, and eventually started producing Pro-10 car kits.

Then, over the summer of 1988 a few grainy pictures of a 'Brimod Prototype' off-road car began to trickle into the two main UK RC mags. Both mags ran a similar feature on successive months, stating the car was only in the prototype stage, and that they were not being produced at that moment. I vividly recall reading these articles with interest, but i also remember nothing ever came of the car and that was the last i heard of it. It was in 2wd guise, which at the time being mid-engined, seemed a bit of a novelty. The wishbones were also an oddity, being flat sheets of presumably carbon fibre, and the rest seemed to be comprised of nicely machined aluminium and nylon.

FFWD until 12months ago and as i was getting back into the RC scene i looked up the old articles and posted them up on various Fb forums to see whether anybody remember them, and also whether anybody new any more about the story or whether any of the cars survived.

Here are the articles as scanned directly from the 1988 mags:-

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66428246_10158655947981258_3968370440849588224_n.jpg (61.44 KiB) Viewed 3178 times

[dinglem]

Imagine my surprise then, when somebody posted up an unknown car on one of said pages asking for input from anybody with information about it.... I clocked it immediately. It looked a little different to the car in the mag articles, but i instantly suspected it as being one of the Brimod prototypes, so i emailed the poster (a very nice guy whom i had purchased items off previously and had the utmost trust in), and asked if i could purchase it. After a bit of an email exchange I explained what I thought it was and knowing how into the Brimod brand I was he agreed to sell me the car.

It is in a bit of a rough state, but appears to be virtually complete, and comes with an assortment of spare parts. I think the rough state is mainly 30-odd years of storage grime as the underside of the car shows zero markings from any use.

The deal is done, it is paid for and I am now waiting on delivery, but to say i am excited is a massive understatement

[dinglem]

I won't post too many pictures until it has safely landed on my doormat, but this thing is completely bonkers. I am also really pleased to say that it is the 4wd version.... something that i had never seen or heard about previously.

Quick teaser:-

[R Cane]

That's pretty sweet.

[RC10resto]

Wow
This project should keep you busy .
Happy early Christmas to you

[Dadio]

Can't wait to see more , you must e chuffed to bits .

[dinglem]

I have pretty much immediately started looking at what parts might be required for this. I know from studying the old magazine pictures that the two prototype cars I have seen had slightly different Brimod shocks than the typical versions which were commonly available. They had smaller shock caps for starters, had a coarser thread on the bodies, and had hex adjusters rather than the usual round rough-finish items. The upper cap was made to accept a diaphragm but did not have the bleed valve which was one of the main selling features of the commercially available Brimod shockers.

I noticed on the car I have purchased that the correct hex adapter versions are present on the front, including the lower profile caps, but the rears are the more common type. I contacted a friend who also has a few sets of these shocks and having checked what he had, he discovered his rear pair were the missing hex adapter versions. Quite a stroke of luck, and he has agreed to make a trade with me for a standard set so the prototype will have the correct versions all-round

[winner_evo]

I wonder how many of these existed and raced bitd, any idea?

I Don't remember anything about a Brimod car from back then but it looks fairly unique in it's execution. You're becoming the Brimod guru

[dinglem]

I wonder how many of these existed and raced bitd, any idea?

Well let's put it this way... this one still has the pencil marks on the fibreglass for the design cut-outs(!) I am therefore guessing it is either 1 of 1 for the 4wd version, or at least this is the first. I knew of two 2wd's, but had never even heard about them making a 4wd one until I saw this, and I had researched them quite a bit in the last year or so.

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cut outs 001.jpg (26.36 KiB) Viewed 3103 times

cut outs 002.jpg (19.95 KiB) Viewed 3103 times

cut outs 002.jpg (19.95 KiB) Viewed 3103 times

cut outs 003.jpg (36.65 KiB) Viewed 3103 times

cut outs 003.jpg (36.65 KiB) Viewed 3103 times

It has definitely been run in 4wd mode at one time or another, there is evidence of this on some of the spare parts which come with the car. The spares suggest they were experimenting with several set-up options.

[jwscab]

Looks like a very neat design. Heavy-duty and heavy too

[dinglem]

No concerns about vintage plastic parts shattering with this one, that's for sure!

[Dadio]

I'd guess that getting it to run well was a first priority and weight reduction would follow , that's how I'd use a prototype , you want to know the geometry works without worrying about it breaking ,that's quite a find !

[dinglem]

The UJ's are quite a cool design too. Very chunky and substantial at the joint end, but the main shaft is held in by a grub screw onto a flat as you can just see in this picture. I guess once located at the diff end they can't really come out as they are essentially trapped. I knew they made similar versions for the Pb cars as upgrades so i guess they could just use different lengths of main shafts and interchange the joint end for various model applications.

These are unique to this model i am presuming, and thankfully there are 6 of them included with the car as well as normal stub axles for presumably more basic dogbones. One pair are of a darker material too?

[dinglem]

Here's an old advert showing what looks to be the same units and a bit of detail about them.

[dinglem]

Not too much of an update with this, but I have had a set of alloys machined which really seem to set it off

I haven't even cleaned it yet, or even straightened the bent steering arm(!), although i do now have the correct and extremely rare rear shocks here ready to fit, complete with hex adjusters.

I am heading away to work for a few weeks today and have the car, rims, shocks and a few other parts stashed away in my bag, so my plan is to spend my off time stripping, cleaning and rebuilding the car, as well as trying to figure out how the alternative chain drive mechanism/gearboxes work!

It should be quite the looker when finished. I still cannot quite believe i have managed to get my hands on this car