Not content with the number of Audi's he has, including his ex press demonstrator of the Tdi Allroad, and his Dave Askem built Pembo modified series 3 Coupe quattro 20 valve rally car; he's gone and bought yet another new toy.....



THE STORY OF A508 FRC
Audi UR Coupe quattro 10 valve turbo

This story starts in October 2003 when I was trawling the Ebay auction site and came across a UR quattro Sprint & Hill Climb car. The advert was a genuine auction and had no ‘buy it now’ price. As the auction time was nearing an end I rang the guy in South Wales and agreed an unofficial price to buy the car. A few days later at the weekend and during a conversation with him to tell him I was about to set off to collect the car, he told me a guy was only 15 minutes away with cash to buy the car. He had done a deal to another guy and the car was still on Ebay! Yes I was about to do the same but in cases like this you have to be quick and get on the case straight away.
It was then August 2004 and I had just agreed the sale of my Mk2 Escort RS2000 Road Rally car to a local Motor Sport College and coincidently I had just received an e-mail from a friend who had spotted an advert in Autotrader with someone selling a UR quattro Sprint Hill Climb car. The photo of the car resembled that of the one ten months previous on the internet. This was to prove the case, it was the same car and after a phone call and a trip to Yorkshire a deal was agreed.
The car had been used once since its purchase from Wales and the guy had put a piston through the side of the block on his first outing. He had sourced and fitted another WR engine but had never been able to get it to run right (or was that just never got it to run!). The car was collected from a yard in Castleford that was a restoration dreamers ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ (another story!) and unloaded at Chez Pembo. The car was bought as a none runner and despite attempts at firing it was clear that the obvious checks proved to be not enough to breathe life into an engine that had not been fired up in a very long time. The following day was spent checking the ignition and fuel system and it was soon traced to be fuel starvation. The car was fitted with a 1-gallon aluminium fuel tank and a Facet pump that pumped the fuel to a swirl pot. Removing the swirl pot to check for blockages was to reveal nothing. The metering head was the next focus and a few phone calls to people in the know gave me a list of checks. Soon it was running and with no noticeable knocks rattles or blue smoke. An oil change and coolant change complete it was time to run it up to temperature.
For the observant amongst you, you may have noticed some ‘Sunshine’ stickers on the bonnet; well these have now been removed. Eventually the plan is to put the car into early works colour scheme and compete in Tarmac Rallies. Yes my other Coupe quattro rally car remains and will be maintained as the ‘International car’ as all parts need to be homologated for these events.
This white early right hand drive UR is in excellent condition with no rot in the usual areas such as foot wells and the bottom of the ‘A’ pillars are perfect. The car has a fibreglass ‘sport’ bonnet, fibreglass boot, polycarbonate door windows, side windows and rear screen, bucket seats and competition harnesses, full Safety Devices roll cage, Bilstein Suspension with HR Springs, modified ECU and wastegate spring, Stack recording Tachometer with RaceTech boost pressure, oil pressure and water temperature. It also has an electronic battery cut out to isolate the battery. The car is sat on 17 inch Compomotive MO alloys with Falken road tyres and came with a set of full slicks for track days. What it hasn’t got is lights, indicators, washer jets, horn, speedo and the handbrake doesn’t work! It also needs a fire extinguisher and some navigator tools like computer, footrest, pockets, intercom and the dreaded turbo restrictor before it ventures out on its first rally.
Watch this space for more news about Pembos new toy!
Alan Pembo Pemberton
Gallery