Please help ID my Formula Vee

Hello Everyone,

I recently picked up this car from a neighbor, and am excited to get it back on the track. I'm looking for some help to identify the car and maybe uncover the history. It did not come with a log book, just an SCCA rule book from cerca 1985. There are a couple of tech inspection stickers on the body but I can't find a chassis or model number. Any ideas where to find more info on or about the car? It is also missing the rear piece of body paneling, and I'm hoping to find some old photos for comparison to have the piece fabricated.

Thanks for looking

Check the main hoop all over for a stamped number. Different tech people place them so hopefully it isn't hard to find. If you find a number them maybe the region it came from has some sort of record.
If you find the number it maybe say...93-1234 the first number is the region number (in this case 93 is Tennessee Valley Region). I can't help you on a model it looks like a one off,

Look for the log book number if it starts with 33 then it is from the San Francisco Region. If so it is one of 4 cars made called the KWIC. The number on the car currently is the number that a driver named Steve Grant. He was a driver in the SF Region, he now lives in Southampton NY. If it is the SF Region car I was one of the builders. The name KWIC stood for 4 different people, these were Bob Klingler, Neal Williams, Jim Wild, and myself Ron Chuck. Hope this gets you started. Ron Chuck

I thought it looked familiar. If it's a KWIC you've got a real gem. I raced against several KWICs in the early 80s on the west coast,Steve Grant and Pete Hodgson. Both were front row cars and Ron Chuck could tell you stories of the development of the 4 cars. He likely knows where the others are.

While Kwick only built a limited number of cars the plans were sold to Red Legrand who may have built a few cars but sold lots of plans. At least one was built in Illinois by a person who bought plans,built the frame etc. and then bought the body from Le Grand.

Was the KWIC a 70's or 80's design?

If anyone still has a set of plans for the KWIC and like to sell them, contact me.

Thanks,
John

The original KWIC did not really have any plans or drawings. Somewhere in my files I have the original 4 or 5 sheets of paper we built the cars from. I will try and find them, but I am very busy with the Runoffs right now. Red LeGrand may have had drawing done, but as I said we did not. Ron Chuck

First of all, I know little about FV but I know the reverence people use when they say "Ron Chuck"!
When I did my homebuilt DSR I had sketches, not real engineering drawings. I referred to them as "pencil-cad". I suspect the concept is still as valid for FV these days. Learn to weld, build it, drive it and modify it as required.
Marty

Wow!!! Thank you guys for all the information. I really hope it is one of the four KWIC cars. Very interesting that you mention these cars being built in SF because this car came out of a collection in Reno before comming to Denver. It was bought from the friend of a guy who passed away. Number 59 is still prominently on the front cowl as seen in the current pictures. I would love to find some pictures of Steve racing this thing back in the day. Still haven't been able to find any inspection numbers on the cage or chassis but will continue looking. Any original pictures or drawings would be super helpful as I'm trying to bring it back to it's former glory. Does anyone know what the back panels would have looked like?? Thanks again for any and all information, hopefully this brings back a bit of nostalgia and fond memories for you guys!!!

If this car came from the Reno area it is the car that Steve Grant had. The log book numbers will be stamped on the roll bar, I do not remember which side they were on, probably the right side of the car. We did not stamp numbers on the car as to when they were made or who owned them. If you do not have a rear body section Don Pepperdene in Monterey, CA has a mold. When the cars were built you still had to use the fan belt. Ron Chuck

Ok found the number, looks like 33 411 to me. Does that make it one of the KWIC cars for sure? If so that's really exciting. Does anyone have Don Pepperdene's contact info? I'd like to get it back to its original form, or as close as possible.

33 is San Francisco Region

Check your personal e-mail for a picture of the original car- may have been from Hot VW magazine way back when...


Hope it helps

Dietmar
Quixote Racing