1972

This 1972 Royale RP17 is said to be one of three examples built to compete in 2.0-liter and under sports racing classes. After being campaigned around Europe in the 1970s, the car remained in France until the 1990s. It was then brought to the United States and restored at Andy Greene SVRC in Savannah, Georgia. The Wilson Collection purchased the car in 2005 and has maintained it since. Power comes from a rebuilt 2.0-liter Ford Cosworth BDG inline-four, which produces 292 horsepower and is mated to a 5-speed Hewland FT 200 transaxle. More than $450k has reportedly been spent over the last 14 years repairing and maintaining the car between races throughout the southeastern US. The seller is representing the Wilson Collection, and this Royale sports racer is now offered on a bill of sale in Jupiter, Florida with an SVRA Gold Medallion Certificate of Authenticity and maintenance records. Royale’s Bob Marston designed the RP17 to compete in FIA Group 5. Chassis RP17/2 was reportedly shown at the 1972 Covent Garden Auto Show and first sold to gentleman driver Hans Bumgarten and co-driven by Tom Pryce, who would later compete in Formula 1. A photograph of the car is featured on page 132 of Nowhere to Hide: The Story of Royale Racing Cars. The car has won over 30 vintage races including three Gold Cup wins and five top-three finishes at Virginia International Raceway. In May 2015, the seller reportedly achieved 3rd place with a lap time of 1:37 in SVRA Group 5 at Indianapolis. The seller states that the Royale was the only 4-cylinder car in the top 14, the rest being V8-powered. The Royale has achieved the following best lap times: 2:01 at Virginia International Raceway 1:12 at Roebling Road Raceway 1:12 1:21.23 at Palm Beach International Raceway (Vintage Class lap record) The removable bodywork is finished in red and white and currently wears #31. Features included a contoured windshield, a matching red roll bar, side air intakes, and a front splitter. BBS wheels feature polished lips and gold centers. They are mounted with Avon Racing bias-ply slick tires purchased in 2018. An additional set of BBS wheels are included with the sale. SascoSports installed the Penske adjustable coilover suspension system and tuned it. The center control panel contains an hour meter, fire system trigger, a starter button, and a row of toggles. Instrumentation includes a rotated 10k-rpm tachometer and a water temperature gauge. The Momo steering wheel is wrapped in suede, and the gear shifter is mounted on the right side of the cockpit. The 6-point RJS Racing Equipment harness is from November 2016. Power comes from a fuel injected 2.0-liter Ford Cosworth BDG inline-four which was rebuilt in 2017 by Savannah Race Engineering for a total cost of $18,700. Andy Greene SVRC rebuilt the 5-speed Hewland FT200 manual gearbox in 2018. The nozzles were adjusted to N56 specifications and the high-pressure pump and drive assembly were overhauled. The engine assembly included: Aluminum block and cylinder heads Steel crankshaft and connection rods Forged CP-Carillo pistons Kinsler mechanical fuel injection Slide throttle Dry-sump oiling system MSD ignition system Axle-driven alternator Remote oil filter The seller states that the car has seen two hours of track time since the rebuild.  An engine start video can be seen above. The engine was rebuilt when the hour meter indicated 98 hours. The meter now shows 103 hours, a total of 5 hours of run time since the 2017 engine rebuild. Since the rebuild in 2017, the engine has seen 3 hours of tuning and warm up and 2 hours of track time. A dynamometer report from the 2017 engine rebuild indicated292 horsepower at 9,200 rpm and 188 lb-ft of torque at 7,000 rpm. An expenses spreadsheet begins with the collection’s purchase of the car in 2005 and totals over $520k. A selection of receipts can be seen in the gallery below, along with the chassis plate.