It defintely was GMH's first toe in the water with some sort of race special idea. The engine itself though was the same as the other 179's in that is wasn't a performance option engine, the extra performance came from the fact it was a manual and the only other EH's in 1963 with a 179 were autos as the standard crash box couldn't handle the 179. Being blueprinted shows you how serious they were to try and make the things last in race conditions. The extra performance of the HR 186S 4spd isn't all engine either, the 3.55:1 diff had a lot to do with it. That coupled with 13" tyres makes for pretty low gearing.
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