Class 8 Specials

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Class 8 (b) - Rear engine cars (except vehicles in Classes 4, 6, and 7)

Class 8 (c) - Front engine cars manufactured on a limited basis (except those in Class 7)

What is a "Class 8" Special?

In the Pre War, and immediate Post War, periods the term "special" was used to describe almost all cars that departed significantly from the "standard production" norm. Thus changes such as the installation of an engine from another manufacturer, or the rebodying of a saloon as an open sports car, would generally lead to the car being referred to as a Special. Even today the VSCC (Vintage Sports Car Club) classifies cars, for competition purposes, into the three broad categories of Standard, Modified, and Special.

The current eight-class classification system for classic trials cars, which came into operation in the late 1980s, was developed by grading vehicles according to their climbing potential then writing a set of rules to define the classes. Thus Classes 1, 2, 5 and 6 very deliberately refer to production "cars" (allowing both open and closed bodywork) whereas Classes 3 and 4 refer to production "saloons" (only). However defining Classes 7 and 8, and the subtle differences between them, was much more difficult as all would have fitted the traditional idea of a "special".

The full ACTC Rules and Regulations, including the definitions for all eight car classes, are available from this page of the ACTC website. The extract below is from the current MSA Regulation M 6.1 and ACTC Regulation 4.2.1:

Class 7
a) Production cars modified beyond permitted limits.
b) Rear engine Production cars fitted with torque biasing differentials , or any other form of traction control, as standard equipment throughout that model range and unavailable without it from stock.
c) Front engine cars manufactured on a limited basis, conforming to accepted specification.

Class 8
a) Non production cars.
b) Rear engine cars (except vehicles in Classes 4, 6, and 7).
c) Front engine cars manufactured on a limited basis (except those in Class 7).

To touch briefly on Class 7, in reverse order: Class 7 (c) covers vehicles generally referred to as "kit cars", and the accepted specifications define requirements necessary to avoid re-classification to Class 8 - restrictions on engine size, bodywork alterations, and suspension arrangements being typical examples; Class 7 (b) is, at present, academic as it was introduced to cover a small number of production cars which no one has yet attempted to trial; Class 7 (a) is a rather more problematic definition but it is now generally accepted that almost "anything goes" provided that the wheelbase is unaltered from that of the production car. Typical current examples include: Baja Bugs (with standard VW Beetle floorpan); Hillman Imps with a variety of non-Imp engines; various saloons with non-standard engines, drivetrain, and suspension; and at least one Arkley-bodied Austin Healey Sprite with Ford engine, gearbox, and back axle.

Class 8 (a) - Non production cars
Class 8 (b) - Rear engine cars (except vehicles in Classes 4, 6, and 7)
Class 8 (c) - Front engine cars manufactured on a limited basis (except those in Class 7)

Class 8 (a) - Non production cars

NTF-type non production cars

The Wall Family's Cannon, seen here driven by Chris Wall on the 2007 Ebworth Trial,
is an excellent example of this type of car.
Photograph by Dave Cook

The MSA (formerly the RAC) has, for many years, produced a highly-prescriptive set of rules, known as the National Trials Formula (NTF), for cars which compete in Sporting Trials. These vehicles are characterised by: short wheelbases; front engines with rear wheel drive; driver and passenger sitting well back, almost over the rear axle; minimal bodywork, often with no windscreens and certainly no hoods or other weather equipment. In short, these are most people's idea of the classic trials special. A number of the older NTF cars, particularly Cannons from the 1960s and 1970s, have been rebuilt with more modern engines, drivetrains, and suspension, and the additional equipment, such as lights and mudguards, necessary to make them road-legal. After this essential work, they form the basis of a very effect modern Class 8 classic trials car and are by far the largest identifiable sub-group of cars in this class.

There are also a very small number of cars built from scratch in a similar style - the two "Shoplands" built by Charlie Shopland being typical examples.

Other non production cars

Probably the most famous driver-and-car combination in modern classic trialling,
Dudley Sterry in his Pre-War MG J2, photographed on the 2007 Ebworth Trial.
Photograph by Dave Cook

This sub-group category covers "everything else", from production cars modified way beyond the limits which would allow them to compete in Class 7(a) - Dudley Sterry's MG J2 (pictured above) is a good example - to specials based on something other than NTF cars and VW Beetles - Steve Holder built his two Triumph Sixpence specials on the Herald/Vitesse/Spitfire floorpan, for example.

Class 8 (b) - Rear engine cars (except vehicles in Classes 4, 6, and 7)

Adrian Marfell's VW Special, seen here at Big Uplands on the 2006 Allen Trial,
is a typical example of the "rail" type of VW-based special.
Photograph by Dave Cook

These are, almost exclusively, VW-based cars falling into three main sub-categories: Beach buggies, of the typical styling , generally with a shortened chassis/floorpan and often with large engines from the VW or Porsche ranges; Dune buggies or sand rails, with space-frame chassis and minimal bodywork; and various other types of VW-based special often with non-VW engines. David Alderson's Shorty, built in 1986/87, is unusual, although not quite unique, in that it is a closed Class 8 special. Baja Bugs with "full-length" VW Beetle floorpans can run in Class 7 (a) but Shorty has to run in Class 8 because it has been ... shortened. Read more about Shorty below.

There are two well-known cars in this category which have been built from scratch rather than relying on the VW floorpan or a proprietary chassis: Adrian Marfell's "rail-type" special (pictured above); and Tony Young's amazing special which includes many US-sourced dune buggy racing parts.

Articleabout Shorty in the July 1987 issue of VW Motoring magazine.

Class 8 (c) - Front engine cars manufactured on a limited basis (except those in Class 7)

These are low-volume, or "manufactured on a limited basis" in MSA-speak, production cars built specifically for trialling, the most famous of which are the Dellow, of which around 300 were built in the 1950s, and the Troll, of which a handful were built in the late 1980s. A substantial proportion of the total production of both marques are still in existence today and competing effectively in Class 8, albeit with more modern mechanical components in the case of the Dellow. There is an argument that Cannons are actually Class 8 (c) cars but, as most of them are highly modified and the distinction is academic anyway, this has never needed to be tested.

There are also a small number of kit cars which do not meet the "Accepted Specification" for running in Class 7(c) and which therefore run in Class 8. Examples include Marlins, Westfields, and Burlington Arrows with Rover V8 engines (the Accepted Specification in each case only allowing four-cylinder engines up to 2 litres), and Marlins with modified bodywork - generally the substitution of cycle wings for the manufacturer's full wings.