Estonia (race car)

Estonias are open wheel racing cars manufactured in Estonia. The first model Estonia 1 was built in 1958. Altogether there are about 1300 cars. The brand was in western Europe as TARK, Tallinna Autode Remondi Katsetehas. Later the factory was privatized and renamed "Kavor Motorsport".

Cars

• Estonia 1 (1958) Serpuchov 500 boxer engine with VW gearbox. At the first race the car immediately broke a new track record. 1 made.
• Estonia 2 (1959) Similar to Estonia 3 (those 2 cars were released simultaneously), but different suspension. 1 made.
• Estonia 3 (1959), 36 series cars made at 1961. Irbit 500 engine with self-engineered gearbox.
• Estonia 4 (1960), built by Jaan Küünemäe, ESO 500 speedway engine was used. 1 made.
• Estonia 5 (1961) Wartburg 980cc 2-stroke engine. F-junior car. 2 made.
• Estonia 9 (1966) Wartburg 980cc series production car, 39 made
• Estonia 10 (1964) Soviet F1 car 2500cc. 1 made.
• Estonia 11 (1964) Also Soviet F1. 1 made.
• Estonia 12 (1964) Moskvich 408 engine. 1 made.
• Estonia 13 (1964) Moskvich 408 engine. 1 made.
• Estonia 14 (1966) Soviet F1 car. 1 made.
• Estonia 15 (1967/70) IZh Jupiter 350 tuned engines. This car was linkage between kart- and formula racing allowing young drivers to step into bigger class. Top speed of 160 km/h. 83 made.
• Estonia 15M (1970/74) Evolution of Estonia 15, featuring improved aerodynamics and better cooling for the engine. 136 made.
• Estonia 16 (1968) Moskvich 412 1500 SOCH engine, magnesium wheels, disc brakes on all wheels. Integrated CO₂ fire extinguisher system. 6 made.
• Estonia 16M (1970/75) Evolution to Estonia 16. 100 made.
• Estonia 17 (1974) Soviet F1 car. 1 made.
• Estonia 18 (1972/76) Car quite similar to Estonia 16, but with Lada 1300cc engine. 76 made.
• Estonia 18M (1976/77) Evolution to Estonia 18. 37 made.
• Estonia 19 (1977/79) Radiators on the sides, wings at front and rear. Lada engine. 165 made.
• Estonia 20 (1980/82) New improved aerodynamics. 154 made.
• Estonia 21 (1981) Designed by a racing engineer Raul Sarap. This car was a big breakthrough. First time ground effect was used in aerodynamics. Total 295 cars were built. Engine was Lada 1300/1600cc with TARK 5-speed gearbox. Rocker arm suspension. Practically every component was built or modified at the TARK factory.
• Estonia 22 (1981) built by Jüri Iva. Engine was IZh Jupiter 350 and frame came from Estonia 15. 1 made.
• Estonia 23 (1984) Ground effect car, push-rod suspensions
• Estonia 24 (1985) Raul Sarap's next creation after Estonia 21. Aluminum monocoque chassis was used and Lada 1600 engine was equipped with fuel injection and electronic ignition. 4 made.
• Estonia 25 (1989) Designers Aleksander Sadovsky and Jaanus Heinsar. It was first production car with aluminum monocoque. Monocoques (or "bathtubs") were built in Russian military helicopter factory, and weighted just 39 kg. The car had push-rod suspension scheme. Most cars were sold to Poland and East Germany. Aerodynamic solutions were tested at gigantic Russian aircraft wind tunnel. Engines were 1600cc Lada and 1600–1800cc VW Golf GTI units for Scandinavian F4. Some cars were equipped with western racing components. 67 made.
• Estonia 26 (1994) Improved aerodynamics, VW Golf GTI engine. 6 made.
• Estonia 26-9 (2000) Last car. Improved aerodynamics, Hewland gearbox, AP brakes, dry sump VW engine, improved weight distribution, improved suspension. 1 made.

There was a plan to design and build Estonia 27 car, but it never realized. However, factory CEO Juhan Sein mentored Tallinn Formula Student team for their first cars, thus heritage and knowledge was passed on to students. TTTK/TTÜ F-Student team has been a success, being at top 10 contender early on.

• TARK Aleko JK173 (1989) This car was not produced by TARK at all. TARK facilities were planned to be used for production. Whole project was a scam and ended up as fiasco.

Technical

All these cars were produced at very difficult situation. Soviet "planning economy" made acquiring engines and other components nearly impossible task. Everything had to be "wizarded out" by personal connections in auto industry. The fact that they somehow succeeded in this and made fastest Soviet cars is a small miracle. Also, Republic of Estonia was considered more open in USSR, there was possible to have some information about western racing technology. For example, there was possible to smuggle racing magazines from Finland. Also, Finnish television broadcasts could be received in northern Estonia, obviously TARK engineers watched F1 championship. This way modern F1 solutions made way to Tallinn.

Early Estonia cars used motorcycle engines or Wartburg 2-stroke motors. Riders (or mechanics) usually prepared the engines themselves. Later mostly Lada 1300 or 1600 engines were used. 1300cc was used in "Formula Vostok" and class rules were quite strict, allowing only stock camshaft. Later 1600cc class was more free, and engine power grew accordingly - up to 165 hp or even more.

From Estonia 16 TARK built their own gearboxes. Basically they took ZAZ-968 gearbox casing, turned it 180 degrees (belly upside) and used their in-house developed gear system. All the gears were quickly interchangeable for different ratios.

All the major components - steering rack, brakes, shock absorbers, ignition systems etc. were built at TARK factory. They even made their own magnesium wheels.

Professional pilots, like Toomas Napa or Toivo Asmer, had special cars from factory, featuring wider wheels and lighter, titanium and magnesium parts.

External links

• TARK
• ESTONIA autode ja Kavor Motorspordi ajalugu (Estonian)