Tony describes the Volvo:

 My biggest claim to chassis “mods” was a rear sway bar.  I believe I was the first to put one on a sedan back then.  Of course, I had Koni shocks, lowered, heavy front sway bar.

My engine cylinder head porting job was patterned after the Triumph cylinder heads and provided a lot of power output. Actual horsepower output was not determined as the engine was never dynoed, however more than sufficient for the class B sedans.  My SU carbs were heavily modified internally, including large bell-shaped velocity stacks to capture the fuel fumes around the inlets.  This allowed the excess fumes to be pulled back into the engine at high revs. I installed a fresh air intake tube to supply cool air to the carbs. Under hood temperatures were allowed to exit from the raised mounting of the rear of the hood. The hood appeared not to fit or close well at the rear.

Realizing my problem, I soon became a student of the SCCA rule book, looking for solutions. I had already welded up the spider gears for my 4:56 rear end ratio and determined that the rules allowed installation of sway bars to be free.  I took this a step further to include the rear of the car and installed a rear sway bar. Not an easy feat to accomplish, as no one was utilizing rear sway bars at the time.  I must have been one of the very first to install a rear sway bar on a sedan. I recall not really understanding the geometry of the rear suspension; however, I reckoned that if I kept the roll bar centered centerline of the differential, I would not affect any built-in factory geometry. I started with a front sway bar from a Triumph TR4, a left-over stock unit from one of my Misery Manor roommates Triumph racers. I removed the rear fuel tank and started to review the situation and determined in order to accomplish mounting a rear sway bar, I had to build a bridge mounting trust, welded from the rear framework. Trying to keep the installations simple, the rear sway bar mount looked like it was mounted to an upside-down bridge, centered perfectly to the centerline of the differential and allowing the drop link ends of the bar to be mounted to the rear trailing arms. Everything looked like it was installed from the factory. A fresh coat of primer and flat back paint ant the installation was complete. I couldn’t wait to try it, out, I re installed the fuel tank and added enough fuel to take the car out on a midnight run through the streets of Falls Church, Virginia. Immediately I noticed the rear of the car was stiffer to match the front and I was able to toss the car around corners with the locked rear differential. The results were spectacular at Marlboro 1.5-mile raceway. My biggest claim to making this chassis handle was my ingenuity “mods” by installing a rear sway bar before anyone knew about doing so.

Now that the handling and final drive allowed the power to be applied to the track, the issue of stopping became more of a concern. The PV544 had drum brakes all around and required special Corvette sintered metallic brake linings installed on to the factory brake shoes. I ventilated the back of brake backing plates to allow air to pass through and exit back out. This seemed to be the best that could be worked out. Unfortunately, all my later model B sedan competition such as the Lotus Cortina, the Alfa Gulia Super TI had front disc brakes.

Nothing was more exciting than to take my hot-rodded Volvo PV544 around Marlboro raceway. The 1.5-mile racetrack was perfect for my gearing and engine power output. I was able to win the regional SCCA -B sedan class championship in 1965, beating out the newer designed competition of the Alfa Romeo Gulia Super TI and the Lotus Cortina, both with twin cam engines, Weber carbureted engines and Disc Brake stopping power. The Volvo’s ultimate lap time could best the Group 44 Lotus Cortina times at Marlboro, drum brakes and all!

I remember the road to Hagerstown well, and Fredrick, MD. One night, I outran a MD State trooper on the road back from Hagerstown, MD to Blue Ridge Summit, PA. He couldn’t catch my B sedan Volvo PV544. It had started to snow, and he could follow my tracks, so I got on a main road to Waynesboro, PA. The trail had been diminished. I was working at Weikert’s garage in Blue Ridge summit, PA when the next day the same state trooper, off duty was admiring how fast the car was, I played really dumb, indicating it must have been someone else.

My PV544 was indeed very fast at the time and got even faster when I moved down to Falls Church Va. I moved in with my three roommates. We lived in a house of 4 racers, called Misery Manor and of course my Volvo was odd car out, as the other roommates had Triumph cars.

I won the B sedan SCCA regional championship, beating out an Alfa Giulia TI Super with the ole PV544, drum brakes, steel wheels, radial tires, Locked Rear End, SU carbs, push rod non crossover 1800 CC engine. No headers either, I modified the stock exhaust manifold internally to mimic headers so the Isky cam would work. The secret weapon was the rear sway bar that transformed the PV544 into a handling machine. I believe I am the very first to have installed a rear sway bar on a B Sedan.

When I left the Army, I started to work on the engine.  One of my friends, James Taylor, was soon discharged from CIA service.  We worked for peanuts at Bud Weikert’s garage in Blue Ridge Summit, PA. We met Bob Krokus and John Williams at Marlboro, both had Triumphs, TR-3 and TR-4.  Jim and I moved down to Falls Church, VA. to live in their house.  We shared time in the attached two car garage prepping our cars for local races.

Exhaust Headers were illegal, not yet FIA homologated for the car, so instead I modified the stock exhaust manifold by welding in an internal splitter for the two center exhaust ports.  The stock manifold didn’t have an internal splitter, so it blended the center port exhaust gas flow, contaminating the breathing and acted like a rev limiter.  That issue alone made a hot cam useless even though optional camshafts were legal.  Installing the internal splitter fixed the problem so I could benefit from an experimental ISKY cam and valve springs, retainers sent to me by the man himself, Ed Iskenderian Racing Cams in Gardena, California. The exhaust manifold exit was enlarged to the next available size and mated to a short exhaust pipe exiting on the passenger side just behind the rear wheels. Adding insult to injury, I had another secret weapon a specialized sized long megaphone that exited the gasses at a precise angle, similar to P51 Mustangs and Spitfires. This allowed the sound enhanced exhaust gases to be pulled out of the engine by the air passing over the megaphone angle.

                                                                                                                                                                            Adamowicz collection – Bill Oursler photo

“In other events, Randy Canfield did his usual competent job in winning HP with his well-travelled Sprite. The ten lapper for GP cars and sedans saw some spirited driving on the part of three good drivers in three different cars with the final outcome looking like this: 1. Dick Gilmartin, Spitfire; 2. Pete Van der Vate, Sprite Mk. II; 3. Dick Roberts, Sprite Mk. I. Tony Adamowicz took the sedan portion of the race in his Volvo 544. The FP race was another Hollis Webster benefit, though Brian Fuerstenau’s TR3 held the lead during the early stages until a failure put him out. Also, Frank Picha put on a fine display of driving by bringing his TR3 from last to second place in the ten laps. Frank did particularly well in controlling his car as it lost a wheel at the finish line during the preceding five lapper.”

– Writer unknown

The Volvo’s ultimate lap time could best the Group 44 Lotus Cortina times at Marlboro, drum brakes and all!  When I was hired to work for Group 44, Bob Tullius said I had to retire the car and not race it any longer.  Later I drove it to Connecticut to work for Milestone Racing and eventually sold it to someone in Wilton, Connecticut.  I wish I’d never done that.

The early record:

1963 — Began my road racing career in my Volvo 544 sedan at Marlboro, Maryland Raceway and won the race overall.

1964 — Finished second in Northeast SCCA Region in B-Sedan with the Volvo 544.

1965 — Won the Northeast SCCA Regional B-sedan Championship in Volvo.

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