Perry Mason Laying Down the Law

from MotorWerks Magazine - Volume 11, Issue 3

Racing Awareness Scotland - You Can Help

Those of us growing up in the ‘60’s will remember the legal TV drama Perry Mason. The title character was played by Canadian actor Raymond Burr. You will not find the Perry Mason we are talking about in this article pleading his case to a jury but quite often he lays down the law, on the racetrack that is. His story is similar to many other racers who had their interest in motorsport handed down from an older sibling or parent. Perry has been involved in motorsport, auto repair and metal fabrication his whole life, his father was a top racer and technician in Canada, and he grew up around the sport. He raced in Motocross, karting before moving on to Road racing which is his favorite discipline. He has had the opportunity to crew and worked in NASCAR Stock Car, Grand Am, IMSA, SCCA. The first road race he ever attended was the Canadian

GP at Mosport in 1967, where his father was competing in the sedan division races supporting the F1 show. He told us, “The highlight of my racing career to this point in crewing was with Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello, Frank Beila and Emmanuelle Pirro on Team Joest with the incredible Audi R8 LMP 900 where we won the Mail2web GP in 2002 at Mosport (CTMP). As a driver, the highlight was winning the 2018 VARAC overall historic racing club championship, and the class championship 4 years in a row including 2021.” Mason excels in vintage racing and has continued his winning ways by taking the class win in the VARAC vintage Grand Prix two years straight including 2021. When he is not racing

Mason achieved the highest level of certification as an “Audi Master Guild” technician during his past 29 years in the trade and is proud to have been involved in supporting the growing vehicle lineup of the Audi brand. His present race car was bought second hand in 1986. Perry was the second owner, and it was a completely original street Audi Coupe GT and it was bright red, the perfect color for an Audi race car. He first saw an Audi Coupe GT race at the 1982 IMSA Camel GT race at Mosport. It was a factory supported car that previously had run in the European Touring Car Championship that was bought by a Toronto businessman and imported to North America to run in Trans-Am and IMSA. Being a German car fan, Mason had always thought he would like to have a car like that, so when he came across the one he has now back in 1986, things were set in motion to acquire it. That afore mentioned factory car was still around but sat unused in Toronto for a number of years until brothers Hank and Rick Franzack bought it and started doing a minor restoration on it. A former competitor of Mason’s father’s, the late Rudy Bartling, was given the task of bringing it back to pristine condition. Having heard about the restoration, Mason went to see the car and the work Bartling was doing and discovered they needed some work done to the special bolt on Audi competition fender arches and spoiler. Smiling he told us, “The bodywork was a key part of my own project so in exchange for assisting with the repairs, I was able to reproduce my own parts from theirs, allowing me to create my own version of the factory car. There are only four of those factory style race cars I know of, so reproducing one with the same look made my car project very special to me.” He went on, “So many custom parts had to be fabricated or sourced to complete my project. Custom 16x 9” 3-piece forged wheels by CCW gave me the right set up to match the factory car. The factory however, used center lock style wheels adapted from the Porsche racing program, so I opted to use studs and nuts for simplicity and availability. Custom gears for the transmission were built for me by Hermann Oberlack in Germany,

The Build List

1981 Audi Coupe GT

Engine: -2.1 self built 5 cylinder Audi - Bosch CIS mechanical fuel injection

Drivetrain: - Hermann Oberlack custom transaxle gears

Suspension: - Koni front struts self modified to accept 2.5” springs with threaded bodies - Eibach 2.5” springs

Brakes: - Aluminum 4 pot front Audi Sport calipers with 11” rotors - Single pot rear Audi calipers with 10” rotors. - PFC carbon pads - Aeroquip braided hose all round. Aero / Body: - Fender arches and spoiler reproduced from Audi Sport components. - OEM Coupe GT rear spoiler - Weight approx 950kgs (2138 lbs)

Interior/Safety: - 6 point custom CASC spec cage - Cobra carbon/Kevlar seat - 6 point harness - Safecraft fire system

Electrical: - Bosch electronic ignition - Varta period correct battery

Wheels / Tires: - 16” x 9” CCW Forged alloy wheels - Toyo R888R for dry and RA1 for wet

an expert in the early Audi transaxles. I Built the powerplant myself a 1984 2.1 inline 5 cylinder that is synonymous with early Audi racing successes. Springs and damping are from Eibach and Koni respectively, I modified the front struts by sectioning them and converting them to 2.5” springs with threaded bodies.” ATL supplied the fuel tank safety system. The clutch is carbon Kevlar as are the brake pads. In order to stop the car well, the front brakes are upgraded to 11” with 4 piston calipers, rears to 10” with single calipers similar to the homologation specs of the factory car. The original brakes were very basic, no different than a first-generation VW Golf, so upgrading them was key creating a race car that would be safe as well as fast. The car was fitted with all the necessary safety items to meet Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs (CASC) rules in Canada, including the 6-point roll cage, fire system and various other items. All the hard work has been worth it as Mason has found success with his Audi project, winning many races and championships and had a lot of fun doing it. He is especially proud of the result as he basically built this car completely at home in his basement workshop. As noted previously he races historics and does it the old school way as well. Mason noted, “I haul the Audi Coupe to the track on an open trailer

towing with a vintage ‘80s pickup truck. It never fails as I haul to the track, I get waves and thumbs up when I am on my way every time. That’s a very special feeling! Not quite as good as standing on the top step of the podium but it gives me satisfaction in a totally different way.” Perry also told us some interesting tales that had happened during his career. “Former F1 and LeMans driver Johnny Herbert sat in my car and said” I cant see over the dash or reach the pedals! How do you drive this?” I myself am 6’6” and have the seat and steering adjusted to my size.. So Johnny didn’t even have a chance. Ha Ha! Renowned driver and owner of LeMans cars Peter Seikel, built and raced the original factory Coupe GT for Audi in 1981. He checked mine out one day when they were racing in ALMS at CTMP around 2000 and stated after inspecting it, “ Wow my car is in really good shape still, it looks somewhat different than I remember, even better. Where did you find those wheels?” He really thought it was the factory car he was looking at. I felt proud. Audi Legend Frank Beila had a chance to inspect my car on display while in Toronto in 2006. He told me it was his father’s favourite car, as his father also raced one in the “Oldtimers” division in Germany. Noted American racers with Audi connections, Don Istook and Randy Pobst were a couple of others who enjoyed looking at the car and checking it out.”

Thanks to :

My Sponsor H.J.Pfaff Audi , Pfaff Autoworks and Pfaff Motorsports

Thanks to Nothelle Tuning

Thanks to the late Rudy Bartling

Thanks to my family and the many people who have assisted with the project over the years.