Formula Super Vee was a type of open-wheel motor created to act as a platform for the promotion of VW

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 products, playing much the same role in the 1970s as formulae such as Formula Renault

Formula Renault

Formula Renault is a class of formula racing founded in 1971. It is popular in Europe and other countries. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it is a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to Formula Three, World Series by Renault, GP2 or...

 play today. The idea for Formula Super Vee is generally attributed to Josef Hopen, who worked as the Special Vehicles Manager for Volkswagen of America. It was Hopen who sold the idea for the new formula to the SCCA

Sports Car Club of America

The Sports Car Club of America is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.-History:...

, sanctioning body in the USA, who in November 1969 decided to launch a championship for the new car for the following year, despite the fact that no cars existed at that time.

History

To assist the launch of the new formula Hopen commissioned Gene Beach, an established constructor of Formula Vee

Formula Vee

Formula Vee is a popular open wheel, single seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford or Formula BMW....

 cars, to design and build the first Super Vee and put this car on display at the Daytona

Daytona

Daytona may refer to:* Daytona Beach, Florida* Daytona Beach Shores, Florida* South Daytona, Florida-Motor racing:* Daytona Beach Road Course* Daytona International Speedway, a NASCAR speedway, which hosts:** the Daytona 500 NASCAR race...

 24 hour race. Beach was one of the first three constructors of Formula Vees, along with Autodynamics and Formcar. It is therefore appropriate that a Super Vee designed and built by Ray Caldwell’s Autodynamics concern soon joined the Beach Super Vee. This second Super Vee (the Caldwell D-10) was put on display at the New York Auto Show. Other manufacturers soon followed suit, with Formula Vee constructors such as Zink joined by more mainstream firms such as Lola. John Zeitler also built his first cars around the same time as Beach and Caldwell. As a matter of fact, John Zeitler won the very first Super Vee race at Lime Rock Park

Lime Rock Park

Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lime Rock, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the village of Lakeville, Connecticut, in the state’s northwest corner...

 in 1970. This race was run with the Formula ford

Formula Ford

Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....

 class.

Initially the series allowed 1600cc air-cooled engines of either type 3 (as used in the Beetle) or type 4 (as used in the VW-Porsche 914 sports car), however at a late stage VW had a change of heart and decided that the type 4 engines would be a better option. The type 4 engine is without doubt a better engine. However, this motor was never produced in a 1600cc version so VW decided to produce a "special" 1600cc version through their industrial engines division (the 127V unit), with smaller pistons and barrels, which reduced the capacity to 1600cc.

As with any formula, Formula Super Vee progressed through a number of changes during its life. Initially, for example, the cars ran without wings and used drum brakes at the rear. Later the regulations allowed the use of wings and rear disc brakes. In 1974, 8-inch rear wheels, rear wings, and 34 mm exhaust valves. Since slick tyres had yet to be introduced into racing, the cars ran with treaded tyres initially, but later moved onto slicks.

The original regulations specified a non-Hewland

Hewland

Founded by Mike Hewland in 1957, Hewland is a British engineering company specialising in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland was the first company to manufacture a bespoke racing-car gearbox....

 gearbox and cars ran with fixed ratio VW boxes. In Europe a company called Metso began building Hewland-like boxes which provided the ability to change ratios to suit each circuit and exploited the wording of the regulations, which had simply banned Hewland boxes rather than explicitly specifying the fixed ratio VW box. Once the cars started to use Metso boxes the regulations were changed and Hewland Gearboxes were also allowed. This change, combined with start money being offered by Hewland to drivers using its products, effectively put Metso out of business, although the company did build boxes for other formula cars such as Formula Fords.

Much later, engine regulations were also opened up, allowing water-cooled engines from the VW Golf (or Rabbit as it is known in North America). The water-cooled engines inevitably replaced the air-cooled, which were rendered uncompetitive, and (at least in the UK) many air-cooled cars were converted to accept the water-cooled engine. The SCCA in the USA did allow 1700cc air-cooled engines towards the end of the air-cooled period, to remain competitive while the water-cooled cars joined the grid.

Ultimately the most developed version of Super Vee was to be found in the USA, since they continued with a Super Vee series years after the formula had died away elsewhere. Indeed by the mid-80s Super Vee in the USA had taken over from Formula Atlantic as the feeder formula for Indy cars, often being referred to as the "Mini-Indy" series. In the mid-80s the Ron Tauranac

Ron Tauranac

Ron Tauranac is the former Australian designer for Formula One driver Jack Brabham from 1962 until Brabham's retirement as a driver at the end of the 1970 season. Tauranac briefly owned and managed the Brabham team in 1971, but he sold the team to Bernie Ecclestone in late 1971...

 designed Ralt

Ralt

RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...

 RT5 had a virtual monopoly in the USA series.

The original Formula Super Vee series specifications

• Engine: Type 3 1600cc (actually a stroke of 69 mm and a bore of 85.5 mm for a displacement of 1582cc). Dry sump not allowed.
• Cooling: air, with external oil coolers and oil filters.
• Carburetion: free, however most used Weber 48 IDA or Solex 40P11 dual downdraft. Some use of Weber IDF and DCNF. (Note: two dual down draft carbs allowed, any manufacturer with dual port VW or aftermarket intake manifolds).
• Transmission: stock VW from the 1969 Square back/fastback series. However, gear ratios were open and almost immediately Webster and Hewland gear sets were adopted for the VW transaxle.
• Ignition: coil and distributor.
• Clutch: VW stock, with Hydraulic linkage.
• Brakes: Girling hydraulic with VW discs front, VW Drums in the rear.
• Wheels: 6" X 13" front and rear. Magnesium allowed.
• Tires: 5:00/8:30 X 13 front, Treaded (no slicks) 5:50/9/20 X 13 rear, Treaded (no slicks)
• Steering: Rack and Pinion
• Suspension: free, front and rear
• Shocks: free, front and rear
• Sway bars: free, front and rear
• Rear uprights: free (and usually proprietary by car manufacturer)
• Curb Weight: Dry, without driver, 825 lbs minimum.
• Wheelbase: free (most manufacturers were between 88" and 94")
• Track, Front/Rear: Up to 92"
• Fuel Tank Capacity: Free, but most manufacturers located the tank under and behind the driver but in front of the firewall, which pretty much limited the capacity to 6.0 gallons.
• Construction: tubular space frame, flat bottom, no wings or tabs to induce downforce.
• Body: any material, but full coverage (including engine compartment) required.

SCCA Super Vee (USA)

Season	Champion Driver	Chassis
1971	Bill Scott	Royale Royale - Transportation :* Bugatti Royale, a luxury automobile* Ford Royale, an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company* MS Royale, a cruise ship operated by several companies* Daewoo Royale, an automobile manufactured by Daewoo Motors...  RP9
1972	Bill Scott	Royale Royale - Transportation :* Bugatti Royale, a luxury automobile* Ford Royale, an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company* MS Royale, a cruise ship operated by several companies* Daewoo Royale, an automobile manufactured by Daewoo Motors...  RP14
1973	Bertil Roos Bertil Roos Bertil Roos is a former racing driver from Gothenburg, Sweden. He participated in a single Formula One Grand Prix, his home race in 1974, from which he retired with transmission failure....	Tui Tui As a noun, Tui may refer to:* Tu'i , a title of nobility in Polynesia and some of Melanesia* Tui Awards, New Zealand's annual music industry awards* Tui , a brand of New Zealand beer produced by Tui Breweries...  BH3
1974	Elliott Forbes-Robinson Elliott Forbes-Robinson Elliott Forbes-Robinson is a road racing racecar driver. He is known for his race wins and championships in many different series, including the American Le Mans Series , Super Vee, Trans-Am Series, CanAm, IMSA GTU, and the World Challenge. He is known in NASCAR circles as a road course ringer...	Lola T320
1975	Eddie Miller	Lola T324
1976	Tom Bagley Tom Bagley Tom Bagley , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1978-1980 and 1983 seasons, with 42 combined career starts, including the 1978-1980 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten 23 times, with a best finish, three times, of 4th position.-Indy 500...	Zink Z11
1977	Bob Lazier Bob Lazier Robert "Bob" Lazier , is an American former race car driver. He raced in the CART series in 1981 and was CART's Rookie of the Year. He had fourth-place finishes at Watkins Glen and Mexico. Lazier also competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 19th after a blown engine caused him to retire...	Lola T324
1978	Bill Alsup Bill Alsup Bill Alsup is a former race car driver. He was the first CART Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CART & USAC Champ Car starts in his career...	Argo JM2
1979	Geoff Brabham Geoff Brabham Geoff Brabham is an Australian racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States. He raced successfully in CART early in his career. In ten appearances in the Indianapolis 500, with a best result...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT1
1980	Peter Kuhn Peter Kuhn Peter Kuhn was an American race car driver. In 1980, he won both the USAC and SCCA Formula Super Vee championships...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT1/RT5
1981	Al Unser, Jr. Al Unser, Jr. Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1982	Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti is a retired American CART and Formula One driver and owner of the Andretti Autosport team in the IndyCar Series. Andretti is the son of Mario Andretti. His son is Marco Andretti.-Early career:...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1983	Ed Pimm Ed Pimm Ed Pimm , is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series.He raced in the 1984-1988 seasons, with 42 career starts, including the 1985-1987 Indianapolis 500s. He drove two CART events for Gary Trout Motorsports finishing 12th at Mid-Ohio and 14th at Elkart Lake...	Anson Anson -People:Surname* Adelbert John Robert Anson , Canadian Anglican Bishop* Albert Edward Anson , British actor* Andy Anson, British businessman* Augustus Anson , British Victoria Cross recipient and politician...  SA4
1984	Arie Luyendyk Arie Luyendyk Arie Luyendyk, originally Arie Luijendijk is a Dutch auto racing driver, twice winner of the Indianapolis 500....	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1985	Ken Johnson Ken Johnson (racing driver) Ken Johnson is a former driver in the CART series.Johnson began his professional racing career in Formula Super Vee, winning the SCCA Pro National Championship in 1985. In 1986 Johnson attempted the first five International Formula 3000 races for BS Automotive. He qualified three times and...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1986	Didier Theys Didier Theys Didier Theys is an Belgian sports car driver. He is a two-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona ; a winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring ; the Sports Racing Prototype driver champion of the Grand-American Road Racing Association and the winner of the 24 Hours of Spa...	Martini Martini (cars) Martini Cars is a constructor of Formula racing cars from France, founded by Renato "Tico" Martini in 1965, when Martini and partner Bill Knight founded the Winfield Racing School at the Magny-Cours circuit...  MK-47/MK-50
1987	Scott Atchison Scott Atchison (driver) Scott Atchison is a former American racing driver from Bakersfield, California who competed in the CART IndyCar World Series in 1988 and 1989. He made 13 starts his rookie year and finished 20th in series points for Machinists Union Racing. He returned the following year to make 3 mid-summer road...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1988	Ken Murillo	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1989	Mark Smith Mark Smith (auto racer) Mark Smith is an American former race car driver born in Portland, Oregon. Smith entered karting competition at the age of 14 and won 6 championships in multiple IKF divisions...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1990	Stuart Crow	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5

USAC Mini-Indy (USA)

Season	Champion Driver	Chassis
19771	Tom Bagley Tom Bagley Tom Bagley , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1978-1980 and 1983 seasons, with 42 combined career starts, including the 1978-1980 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten 23 times, with a best finish, three times, of 4th position.-Indy 500...	Zink Z11
	Herm Johnson Herm Johnson Herm Johnson , is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in 7 seasons , with 35 career starts, including the 1984 Indianapolis 500. He also raced at Indy in 1982, but the race was not part of CART that year...	Lola T324
1978	Bill Alsup Bill Alsup Bill Alsup is a former race car driver. He was the first CART Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CART & USAC Champ Car starts in his career...	Argo Argo In Greek mythology, the Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was named after its builder, Argus.-Legend:...  JM2
1979	Dennis Firestone Dennis Firestone Dennis Firestone is a former CART driver from 1979 to 1987. He was the Rookie of the year in CART 1980 season finishing in 12th in season points, his best season. His best finish in a CART race was a pair of 5th places that year...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
1980	Peter Kuhn Peter Kuhn Peter Kuhn was an American race car driver. In 1980, he won both the USAC and SCCA Formula Super Vee championships...	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT1/RT5

¹Bagley and Johnson tied in the points and were declared co-champions.

Formel Super Vau GTX (Germany)

Season	Champion Driver	Chassis
1972	Manfred Schurti	Royale Royale - Transportation :* Bugatti Royale, a luxury automobile* Ford Royale, an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company* MS Royale, a cruise ship operated by several companies* Daewoo Royale, an automobile manufactured by Daewoo Motors...  RP9
1973	Kennerth Persson	Kaimann
1974	Kennerth Persson	Kaimann
1975	Keke Rosberg Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg , nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series. Rosberg grew up in Oulu and Iisalmi, Finland...	Kern Kern Kern may refer to:* Kern , the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font* Kern , a light infantry unit in Medieval Irish armies... -Kaimann
1976	Mika Arpiainen	Veemax Mk VIII

German Formula Super Vee Championship

Season	Champion Driver	Chassis
1977	Dieter Engel	Veemax Mk VIII
1978	Helmut Henzler	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...  783

Formula Super Vau Gold Pokal (Europe)

Season	Champion Driver	Chassis
1971	Erich Breinberg	Austro Kaimann
1972	Manfred Schurti	Royale RP9
1974	Freddy Kottulinsky Freddy Kottulinsky Winfried Philippe Adalbert Karl Graf Kottulinsky Freiherr von Kottulin, better known as Freddy Kottulinsky , was a German-Swedish racing and rallying driver who won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1980. He was born in München....	Lola T320
1975	Mikko Kozarowitzky Mikko Kozarowitzky Michael "Mikko" Kozarowitzky is a former racing driver from Finland. With a solid background in various lower formulae, he reached Formula One in 1977...	Lola T324
1976	Mika Arpiainen	Veemax Mk VII

European Formula Super Vee Championship

Season	Champion Driver	Chassis
1977	Arie Luyendyk Arie Luyendyk Arie Luyendyk, originally Arie Luijendijk is a Dutch auto racing driver, twice winner of the Indianapolis 500....	Lola T326
1978	Helmut Henzler	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...  783
1979	John Nielsen John Nielsen John Nielsen won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990. Previously, he won the Macau Grand Prix in 1984. He was also a 3-time champion of the European Formula Super Vee Championship from 1979 to 1981....	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT1
1980	John Nielsen John Nielsen John Nielsen won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990. Previously, he won the Macau Grand Prix in 1984. He was also a 3-time champion of the European Formula Super Vee Championship from 1979 to 1981....	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1981	John Nielsen John Nielsen John Nielsen won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990. Previously, he won the Macau Grand Prix in 1984. He was also a 3-time champion of the European Formula Super Vee Championship from 1979 to 1981....	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name...  RT5
1982	Walter Lechner	Ralt Ralt RALT was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the RALT name... RT5

External links

• Historic Formula Super Vee Register (original site)
• FSV Forum and classifieds
• Formula Super Vee website and registry (new site)
• (http://www.historicfsv.com