Toyota Celica TA22
Albert HAMPER / Edeltraut HILGERT (D/D)

Category	SLOWLY
Year	1975
Group	2

 

 

Yesterday : Ove ANDERSSON / Arne HERTZ - RAC Rally 1975

There was a huge amount of works cars taking part in the 1975 RAC Rally and Toyota Team Europe alone sent four cars to the last WRC rounds of that season. Two Celica with two-litre engines for Ove Andersson and Hannu Mikkola and two little Corolla with 1600 cc engines. The Celicas dropped out with engine failure while the Ford Escorts achieved a 1-2-3 victory. The only TTE car to finish was Chris Sclater’s Corolla which came 23rd overall.

From 1980 onwards, Albert Hamper managed the Eifelland Racing Team which had nothing to do with the former Formula 1 team of the early 70s. Hamper’s Eifelland team took part mainly in Formula Ford – partly with its own constructions – and helped young drivers like Frentzen, Heidfeld and Vettel to make their first steps in single-seater racing. Hamper himself drove autocross events when he was young – and when he grew older, there was a strong desire to drive again himself. When a Toyota Celica was offered in the Netherlands, Hamper took the chance and bought it. Why a Celica? He was searching for a rare type of car. Furthermore, he had built up a Celica for a privateer earlier on and for this reason had spent some time at TTE. So there was a certain relationship to this type of car anyway.