1969 ROYALE MODEL: RP2

Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport. It’s a truly global competition that has a glorious history, is home to the most famous racing teams and drivers, and can boast a fanbase that is spectacularly vast – the global cumulative audience for Formula One across digital and TV platforms reportedly exceeded 1.7 billion viewers in 2018.

As a driver, it would be the place you’d want to be to showcase your skills.

Of course, you can’t just wander onto the grid at Silverstone or Monaco, plop yourself into a Ferrari and expect to be a champ. Like any other sport, to be the best takes a lot of hard work and practice.

All drivers start their careers in the lower echelons of motorsport and if you take a look at the CV of any top competitor, you’ll likely see some familiar racing categories. Top of that list will probably be karting (usually the very first rung on the ladder) but Formula 3 might be there too, as might Formula Renault. Another likely addition will be Formula Ford – a particularly popular category with budding F1 champions.

Kicking off in the UK in 1967, Formula Ford has seen many a fresh-faced young driver pass through its ranks on their way to fame and fortune – Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, James Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen and many others all cut their teeth in the category.

But while the names of the drivers may be embedded in the minds of every motorsport fan, the names of the cars may not be so familiar. Van Dieman, Lola, Reynard, Alexis, Royale and Merlyn, amongst others, may not trip off the tongue like Ferrari and Williams, but they all played their part in the early days of Formula Ford and in the development of future motorsport legends.

Which is where the glorious car on these pages comes in.

A 1969 Royale RP2 running a 1600 Ford Kent engine, it is one of the early Formula Ford race cars. And it is exceedingly rare. Only 30 were built.
It was the first car built by the fledgling Royale company. Royale itself was an offshoot of Racing Preparations, a firm that specialised in readying race cars for the track, and which gave the early Royale cars their model name (RP for Racing Preparations).

Royale built a prototype, the RP1, in 1968, before getting stuck into the racing game proper with the RP2.

And their cars were pretty successful. In the U.S., driver Bill Scott scored a victory in an RP2 at the 1969 World Championship of Formula Ford race at Sebring in Florida.

And it was from the U.S., – where it enjoyed racing success in Las Vegas according to the plaque on the dashboard – that this RP2 arrived in Australia. In 2014, it found its way into the possession of Rex Franks.

Rex, owner of Narangbah Wreckers north of Brisbane and once a competitive driver himself, bought the car from its previous Gold Coast-based owner and restored the rather battered machine to the stunning condition it is in today.

“I bought it with the intention of doing it up and competing it in historic racing, and it was a bit rough when I got it,” says Rex.

“I’ve worked on the chassis, built a new fibreglass body – virtually rebuilt it right through really but using a lot of the original parts.

“I do have the original body, but we built a mould and use the body we built from that as a precautionary measure.”

That seems pretty reasonable considering the age and rarity of the car – as with all vehicles that are old and rare, parts can be tricky things to come by.

“I once rang up the bloke in England who was the manager of the factory and I asked him about some parts,” says Rex. “He said he didn’t know where even one of these cars might be. He thought there might have been one in England, but he wasn’t sure.

“But I do see some original parts around, and if I can’t get things, I make them.

“The front suspension is from Triumph, which was used a lot in old race cars, and it has a Hewland diff that you can find parts for, but the uprights on the back end are tricky. But as I say, I do see these types of parts for sale from time to time, and if I can’t get them, I make them.”

You would imagine that buying, restoring and potentially racing in a classic car like the RP2 would mark you as something of a motorsport fan. In Rex’s case, you’d be right.

He has been involved in the sport since 1972, raced in state and national championships, and built and raced many cars through the years before a serious accident in 1992 forced him onto the sidelines.

“It’s true I have always been interested in racing,” he says. “When I started, I raced a in Speedway, then went on to Superkarts, and have raced at Lakeside, the Adelaide GP, Indy and Phillip Island.

“I built my first Speedway car when I was about 25 – it was an EH Holden Premier and was immaculate! We also had a XTGT Ford, and a MK1 Cortina 500 come in and get cut up for Speedway use. Who know what they would be worth today!”

“However, I did have a bad crash ‘92, and I haven’t raced as much since, but I do intend to do so with the RP2 at some stage. I’ve taken it out and tested it at Willowbank and it is a very nice drive and handles well. It’s not as quick as Superkart though – racing those is like racing an F1 car!”

And it is Rex’s long association with motorsport that offers an answer as to why he bought the RP2 in the first place.

“I really liked the shape of it – it’s very much like an old Brabham,” he says.

“I remember I went to the 1966 GP at Lakeside. I saw Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill there and, back then, you could walk right up to the cars on the grid and just stand between them. I recall that at the end of the straight there was a car that had broken down – it had a broken rubber joint on the rear end. I think it might have been a Brabham, but I remember the look of it – it was a very nice shape – and it must have stuck with me!”

Many classic car owners will treat their pride and joy with kid gloves, taking it out on the road sparingly. And there is nothing wrong with that. For Rex though, racing the RP2 is the goal.

“I haven’t had it out too much yet, but I do plan to take it out more over the next few years and race it in historic racing,” he says. “I built it to play with really.”

Source: Motor Trader E-Magazine (April 2019 Edition)

5 Apr 2019