Jonathan Lloyd

Triple C Rally

Over 10 rounds

1975

Although a Mini Cooper S won outright, it was Imps which shone in the 1300 class, with three of them in the overall top 20, proving that a one litre class would have been rather superfluous (They were in Class A: up to 1300cc).
4. Jonathan Lloyd 43 pts. (TFD 46N, double headlights)
5. Peter Bryant 40 pts. (WGT 6M)
16 Dick Lust 13 pts

1975 Clubman's Rally Championship

The Lancia-Pointer rally was the 5th round in the Clubman's rally champioship.

The real shocks of the event came from the performances of the drivers in our Class A - up to 1300cc. There were three Imps in the first eleven cars home and one of them now leads the overall championship by a clear point.

Peter Bryant provided the biggest surprise, extracting considerably more from his newly painted 998cc Imp than he ever had before. He was clearly fastest on the first run through the slimy, tight concrete tracks of Hockering Wood and actually led the rally at lunch by two seconds. A rather more subdued afternoon left him fourth overall, despite using Avon's crossply knobbly tyres on every stage - even the airfields.

Almost as amazing was the run enjoyed by Dick Lust, whose rather demon 902cc Imp was seeded at 105, but finished 6th overall. Lust, 25 years old, comes from High Wycombe and has sponsorship from Vulcan Trailers. His six points were his first of the championship, but presumably not his last.

Jon Lloyd was next up, taking the 11th place and four points with his Chrysler Imp, now repainted white and red in deference to new sponsors Fell, Arthur and Bennett, brake part suppliers of Mosely Road, Birmingham. Jon's car was tackling its fifth rally without a rebuild, despite which is now heads our champioship table.

source: CCC '75, Sep.

Pirelli / CCC Rally Championship

1976: The majority (142) of the 300 entrants are Fords, then British Leyland (50 Minis), Chrysler entered 36, 21 of these are Imps, two with 1150cc motors. There are two Clan Crusaders, both with 998cc Imp power.
Class A is for cars up to 1300cc.

In the small class of the South West stages, it was business as usual. Jonathan Lloyd started the year as he no doubt means to go on, taking maximum points in class A with his Chrysler Imp. The car was completely reliable despite gasket troubles the night before with its new, Andy Dawson built, 1150cc engine. A home-made head gasket fitted at 4 o'clock on the morning of the start held out all day. Jon (29) of Bilston, West Midlands, has retained his 1975 backers: Fell, Arthur & Bennett ltd. and if the rest of this year goed like the South West stages, he could justify those who predict his winning the championship.

Although Lloyd acquitted himself well overall, too, by finishing 11th, his nearest rival was just four places and 48 seconds behind him. Dave Vandervlist was always in contention with his 998cc Imp.

Next up should have been the immaculate new Clan Crusader of Peter Bryant, for the provisional results placed him 22nd, just 1m45s behind Vandervlist. Then came a marshall's report that Bryant had been smoking in the forest - not actually on a special stage, but between the arrival control and the stage start control. Despite the wet weather at the time, the regulations were quite clear and he had to be thrown out of the results. This came after he had spent a troubled day in an apparently vain attempt to find the right combination of tyres for his very light motor car. He started on secen inch wide Dunlop A2 forest racers (apparently cast-offs from Ari Vatanen's works Escort) and was seen at one time running A2's on the front wheels and narrow Avon crossply knobblies on the rear! Mechanically, the car contains many of the components from his old Imp, inclusing the 998cc motor. He has a new sponsor, though, in the shape of Revolution wheels.

Then in the Bass Charrington National, Jon Lloyd stormed his way into 10th place overall to take comfortable lead in the Pirelli/CCC championship. With a maximum possible 18 points, he is eight clear of the opposition after only two rounds and can almost afford to miss a rally without losing his lead.

The 29-year-old from Bilston, West Midlands achieved all this despite the fact that the demon 1150cc engine for his Fell, Arthur & Bennett imp gave trouble on a non-championship event and he had to tackle the Bass Charrington with his hack, 998cc mill instead. Despite being very tired, the engine held together and Lloyd only missed 9th overall by a single second.

British Stage Rallies

November 1976
The Wyedean Stages using 65 miles of stages in the Forest of Dean
The rally was the final round of the Pirelli/Triple C Championship, which was won by Jon Lloyd / Stuart Derry who finished 14th overall in their 1150cc Imp; this result was enough to take the title as their two championship rivals failed to make it to the finish.
Unfortunately the rally was marred by yet another fatal accident, this involved the Imp of Alan Turner / Graham Castle which left the road, hit a telegraph post and burst into flames; both crew members were killed, making a total of four deaths in four months in British stage rallying.

Nigel Davies, 9 Feb 2001: I have recently purchased TFD 46 N Nigel Davies, 2 Oct 2002: TFD 46 N (ex Jon Lloyd Rally car which won the 1975 British Rally Championship) presently sits in my garage awaiting restoration. 1974 Hillman Imp, built by Andy Dawson & John Lloyd. The car won the 1976 BTRDA/CCC Rally Championship. Ken Green, Feb 8, 2001: I helped with service for Jon and the Imp and have memories of sleeping in the car when the Transaxle broke in Broxa forest.

Ken Green, 8 Feb 2001
Subject: Jon Lloyd's Imp

Someone was wanting information on Jon Lloyds Imp.
I helped with service for Jon and the Imp and have memories of sleeping in the car when the Transaxle broke in Broxa forest!
I have a lot of CCC mags from that period with pictures and results should any one want them.