Kamei Golf History Page

Europe 197? - 1979
From the instructions for the Tamiya VW Golf Racing Group2 model kit

Nice blurb about Kamei and the car racing in Europe.� Two German racing series are mentioned the Deutsche Rundstrecken-Meisterschaft and the Rundstreckenpokal Championship.� These appear (Alta Vista translations) to be endurance racing series.� That would explain the existence of fuel filler valves (dry breaks) on either side of the car and the large fuel cell.� The German text goes on to mention the Hockenheimring and Nurburgring as tracks in the series.� The� German text also mentions that the "Driver is the well known Bernd Renneisen".� It is claimed that the car finished in the top three at these races/series.

At the end of the english text it says the car will be racing in the USA in 1979 in the B Sedan class.

I believe the car has never been a street car and has always been a "Rennwagen".

I also have at least two of the afore mentioned Tamiya kits (unbuilt) that will probably go with the car.

USA 1979 - 1980?
The following info is from the article "Kamei's Road Racing Rabbit (This Bunny Hops the Straight and Narrow)" in Dune Buggies and Hot VWsconversation I had with one of the previous owners, Tony Angioletti.

The car was brougth over from Europe by Kamei to run in the US.� I do not know who was going to run the car when it originally came here but it looks like they dropped the ball and the "project" was picked up by Tony Angioletti.� The B Sedan class mentioned in the Kamei model instructions was dropped and the car was classified for GT3.� It looks like they qualified 3rd for the Runoffs in 1980 behind two Sciroccos.� I don't remember how they finished.� In my conversation with Mr. Angioletti it came out that he was employed by Volkswagen and they were not at all happy with him for running a Rabbit as they were racing to market the Scirocco.� I seem to remember him saying that he lost his job over the fact that he continued to run the rabbit.� Last I knew he was working for Sachs in Cleveland, OH.

Click the following links to see the article:

Page 1 , Page 2 , Page 3 , Page 4 , Page 5
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**** Warning page scans are relatively large ****�

However the article is very informative besides having some historical value.

USA 1981 - 1994
I believe there were two owners during this time.� I bought the car from the second of the two.� A lot seems to have happened during this time.� Of course we are talking about 13 years of time.� Somewhere in this time period the car was moved from the East coast to the West. The car was converted/updated to the 83-up front end look (square headlights).� The car was campaigned in IMSA RS.� Pictures: Side , Rear 3/4 . Pictures are from November 1982.

The car was then sold to its next owner, Craig Richie.� Once again the car was to run SCCA GT3.� The car appeared in Hot Rod Magazine'n of Volkswagen Classics.� Cover picture here.� According to Mr. Richie the car was Cal Club regional champion in 1986 and had one National win during his ownership.� Another photo from June, 1988.

USA 1994 - Present
I bought the car in August of 1994 and had it shipped from California to Ohio.� Picture of car loaded on hauler.� The 1.8 Liter motor had a nice fist sized hole in the block.� I wanted to run GT4 anyways so I had Autocraft Engines of Toledo, OH build a bottom end and assemble the motor for me.� They have experience with water-cooled VW motors in Mickey Thompson Off-road, Midgets, and Super Vees.� I got the car out in 1996 at Nelson Ledges.� After some carburetor teething problems the car ran great.� In 1997 I put together a sponsorship deal with the company I work for to go to the Runoffs.

We qualified 17th out of 21 cars.� We ended up with a DNF after the clutch cable failed early in the race.

Some Runoffs pics here: In Paddock , On Track #1 , On Track #2

The car has not been raced since the 1997 Runoffs.� It has a nice history and I think it would be neat if someone would restore the car and race it in Vintage.

A couple more pics.� Pic 1 , Pic 2

And finally some interior and enginebay pics: Dash , Seat , Engine bay #1 , Engine bay #2 , Engine bay #3
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