2002: Rochdale Olympic Restoration and Crash

In 1995 Robert and myself took a trailer to South Wales to pick up a Rochdale Olympic. It looked like it would need a little structural work but turned out to need quite a lot more.

Much of the structural glassfibre had deteriorated and needed to be replaced. The suspension mountings required a lot of work and the car had been rolled at some point in the past and needed a many new fibreglass panels.

The car was finally completed in 2001 following a 4 year restoration.

Rochdale Olympics are special in that the body is a glassfibre monocoque - it's all plastic - there is no steel chassis to hold things together. We think there are 19 examples still running in the UK. This is Robert's car following a 4 year restoration.

The Rochdale was originally fitted with a Riley 1.5 engine. This has now been replaced with a lighter 1340cc A series engine.

Rochdale Olympics have suspect aerodynamics that can sometimes cause them to fishtail wildly, spin several times, roll through hedges, then land on their roofs in fields. (Apparently)

This is the Rochdale Olympic following the accident. The standard of workmanship in the restoration proved it's worth as Robert only suffered a bruised head - and this may have been after the Rochdale came to rest when he un-clipped the seatbelt and fell towards the ground!

Robert lives in Oxford and doesn't have a garage so the Rochdale is now in my barn which should make the repairs easier.