Monthly Archives: February 2011

Double Bubble – FIAT Abarth 750 GT Zagato Coupé

Continuing the series of posts relating to Race 1 at Thompson CT on the 20th July 1958 captured on camera by Ed Arnaudin, today we are looking at the fascinating FIAT Abarth 750 Zagato driven by Paul Sagan to 6th place overall the only class H finisher.

After the 22 hp FIAT 600 was launched in 1955 Carlo Abarth set about maximising the potential of tuning the engine by increasing the size from 633 / 38.6 cui to 747 / 45.6 cui fitting a Nardi inlet manifold and increasing the compression ratio to produce 47 hp.

Meanwhile while Zagato set about building a Coupé based on the same car the 30 hp 600 TS, when Abarth saw the coupe he suggested to Zagato they work together to produce a vehicle for racing in the popular 750 cc 45.6 cui sports car class prevalent in national and international racing at the time.

Over 600 of these successful racing vehicles which won the SCCA class H in ’59 ’60 and ’61, are thought to have been built between 1956 and 1960 when the maximum permitted engine sizes for the various national racing classes were changed. The ‘double bubble’ name which is derived from the two humps in the roof stuck in America where a chewing gum brand bearing the same name was popular.

Paul Sagan is known to have been successful driving Porsche 550’s in 1956 and 1957 before he moved over to running the #27 FIAT Abarth 750 during and after which his record is sketchy though he seems to have returned to racing Porsches by 1961.

My thanks to Terry O’Neil for the race results and Steve Arnaudin for his Dad Ed’s pictures, wishing Ed all the best on his return home from hospital.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s double bubble edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres and that you’ll join me again tomorrow for a look at the cool 2nd place Lotus IX of Race 1 at Thompson CT on the 20 July 1958. Don’t forget to come back know !

HM Racer – Nardi MD4 Spyder

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Todays post comes courtesy of photographer Ed Arnaudin who’s photo’s were kindly forwarded to me courtesy of his son Steve.

Featured today is a Nardi ND 4 Spyder, seen here at the New York Championship Race meeting, Thompson CT July 20th 1958 where it came in 11th driven by John Igleheart in Race 1, a race which I will be returning to tomorrow.

Enrico Nardi was an Italian racing driver, engineer and designer who worked for Lancia and the works Alfa Romeo Scuderia Ferrari Team. Enrico is credited with being one of the first two drivers to race the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, considered to be the very first Ferrari model in all but name, in the 1940 Mille Miglia.

In 1951 Nardi established his own workshops on Via Lancia, Torino to build prototypes and one of the strangest vehicles out side of Can Am 2 the twin boom Nardi Bisiluro for the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours.

The mid 1950’s ND4 Spyder is one of many of Nardi’s 750 cc vehicles which came in a variety of shapes powered by a variety motors including JAP, Crosley, Panhard and in the case of this particular vehicle a 4 cylinder 43 hp 747 cc / 45.5 cui FIAT unit sourced from the FIAT 600 parts bin.

John Igleheart driver of the #95 seems to have been a specialist at racing cars with small motors he is known to have raced from at least 1953 to 1968, he seems to have been most successful driving a ‘Bobsy’.

My thanks again to Ed and Steve Arnaidin for todays valuable contribution and to Terry O’ Neil for the race results.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s 45.5cui edition of Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Piccoli Ferrari – Siata 208S

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Today’s photograph by Carlyle Blackwell comes from Ed Arnaudin’s collection and I’d like to thank his son Steve for sending it to me.

Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry’s please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

Just 35 Siata 208S’s were manufactured in Italy from 1953 to 1955. Of those 25 were imported into the USA by Ernie Mcafee.

The cars were fitted with a 105 hp FIAT 70 degree V8 2 litre / 122 cui ‘8V’ engine which allegedly was so named because FIAT erroneously believed Ford owned the V8 trade mark.

The 208S is known to have been driven to victories by among others Bob Kuhn, Dick Hayward and Douglas Diffenderfer who was winning races as late as 1960.

Probably the most famous owner of a 208S was Steve McQueen who apparently replaced the badges on his car with Ferrari badges and called it ‘Little Ferrari‘.

It should be noted that Ernie Mcafee and Jack McAfee, who appeared on this blog a couple of weeks ago, were not related, though the younger Jack did work for Ernie and on one occasion raced with Ernie sharing a Parravano Ferrari in the 1952 Panamericana.

They often raced against each other right up until Ernie’s last race at Pebble Beech on April 22nd 1956 in which he was killed when his car hit a tree. A crash incidentally that heralded the end of Pebble Beech as a venue for racing and led to the development of racing at Laguna Seca in 1957.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s ‘Piccoli Edition’ of getting a lil’ psycho on tyres and that you’ll join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

28 07 12 PS My thanks to Pamela Blackwell who has kindly retrospectively given me permission to post the photo’s her father took.

Lennon’s on sale again, Lot No: 363 – Ferrari, 330 GT, #06781, 1964.

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I’d like to thank Steve Arnaudin for sending me a link to the subjects of today’s Ferrari Friday.

Lot No: 363 is billed as the greatest “collision of universes” on one website, and it’s not hard to disagree, it is well known that John Lennon had a couple of Rolls-Royce Phantom V Limousine‘s one of which was famously painted by J.P. Fallon Limited to become known as the ‘psychedelic Rolls‘ though the design is actually based on traditional designs of gypsy caravans one of which John had purchased for his garden.

John said of his Rolls that it was for ‘relaxing’.

Less well known was that John also had a Mini for ‘pottering about in’, and by all accounts had a crash involving his Austin Maxi.

News to me thirty years after his death is that John also bought this Ferrari, his biography ‘John Lennon – A Life’ by Philip Norman tells us “In February 1965, John passed his driving test, an event that made headline news across the nation. Within hours, every luxury car dealership in the Weybridge area, hoping for business, jammed the road outside Kenwood’s security gates with Maseratis, Aston Martins, and Jaguar XK-E’. John strolled out to inspect this gleaming smorgasbord, eventually selecting a £2,000 light blue Ferrari.’ “

This is the car sold on 20th April 1965 registered with these DUL 4 C plates to John who was officially recorded as living in central London at the time.

The 330 engine featured 12 cylinders of 330 cc / 20 cui each, from which the 330 name stems, giving the Colombo V12 a total capacity of 3,960 cc / 241 cui capable of producing 300 hp. This engine would form the basis of several racing motors including that used by the Ferrari P4.

John’s Right Hand Drive US bodied 330 GT was fitted with electric windows, a Webasto Sunroof and is one of 508 equipped with the original 4 speed gearbox with overdrive.

Unfortunately John’s car is no longer it’s original Azzuro Light Blue VM 3015 colour, the current darker colour was applied during a restoration in the 1990’s after the car had been found ten years earlier painted red.

The 330 GT came with shiny Borrani wheels adjustable Koni shock absorbers, rear leaf springs assisted by coils, unusually the dual circuit servo assisted braking had one servo operating exclusively on the front and the other exclusively on the rear brakes.

John said of his Ferrari he bought it ‘for zoom’ on 12th of November 1965 six months later DUL 4 C was advertised for sale with 3,000 miles on the clock.

The car is for up for auction at Bonhams Grand Palais event in Paris tomorrow it will be interesting to see if it fetches the maximum estimated € 170,000 in these times of economic uncertainty, my guess is that this is an extremely conservative estimate designed to draw the punters in.

Hope you have enjoyed todays Ferrari Friday ‘zoom’ edition of Gettin’ a little psycho on tyres’ and that you’ll join me again tomorrow for a look at a Piccoli Ferrari. Don’t forget to come back now !

Bavarian Coupé – BMW 3.0 CS Automatic

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Soon after we got our first black and white TV in 1967 I remember seeing a Karmann built BMW 2000 CS on a report from a motor show, possibly Geneva, thinking that was one cool futuristic car, I must have been 8 at the time.

The next time I remember seeing a BMW Coupe was on the cover of one of the earliest copies of Motor Sport I bought in the summer of 1973, it was a white works CSL being yomped through the Eifel Forest on the Nurburgring by Hans Joachim Stuck Jr, the magazine must have been a sell out because the following year a near identical picture appeared on the cover Motor Sport from the 1974 6 hour race at the Nurburgring this time with Hans driving a black works CSL.

In 1968 the 2 litre Karmann built BMW Coupé’s evolved into the BMW 2800 CS based on the E9 platform, unfortunately ditching the very cool faired in headlights lights for the familiar US spec twin round headlights.

BMW was thought stand for British Motor Works in the USA around the time this car was built, BMW engaged in a works backed US Motorsports programme using the ‘Batmobile CSLs’ to correct that perception, to Bavarian Motor Works, in 1975.

In 1971 the E9 platform was fitted with a 3 litre / 183 cui 6 cylinder motor which when equipped with twin carburettors produced 180 hp.

This vehicle, according to the registration plates, was first registered in London around 1973/4.

I never did get what performance cars and automatics were all about, which is probably why I never became a auto marketing executive, but 30 plus years on an ‘automatic’ badge shows us the relative aspirations of the original owner and utilitarianism of the time when the car was manufactured.

There is something about vehicles designed around a simple horizontal midriff I find extremely alluring.

IMHO one of the few cars that looks as good in standard street form as in fully equipped racing form.

Like to thank every one who pops into ‘Getting a lil’ psycho on tyres’ at some point during the night this blog had it’s 10,000th page hit not exactly close to the 10 billion hits achieved by Apple Store but if you’d asked me if this was possible a year ago I would have wondered what on earth you were talking about, thanks again.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Bayerische Motoren Werke edition of ‘Gettin a lil psycho on tyres and that you’ll join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday in the Bonham’s auction house for a look at a vehicle once owned by a dreamer who imagined all the people living in the world as one. Don’t forget to come back now !

Top Class Mini Racer – MINI Cooper S R56

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When I first started spectating at motor races Mini’s were a feature at many meetings including the very first meeting I went to where my Mum’s boss George Barkhuizen won the days feature handicap race in a beige Mini with a white roof and a fuel barrel hanging out of the boot thanks to a recalcitrant boot lock out in Zambia. Mini’s were also raced in Britain in spec championships including the 850’s seen here at Silverstone usually producing tight racing and close finishes.

1977 World Grand Prix Drivers Champion James Hunt prepared and raced his own Mini when he first got the bug using extreme weight saving measures such as not fitting windscreen wipers. Today spec racing Mini’s like David Kirkpatrick’s seen at a track day here are very much alive and kicking despite having been out of production since 2000 as indeed are many non spec Mini’s with all sort of non standard Mini power units.

On Sunday at the PistonHeads meeting in Cowley I had the opportunity to familiarise myself with the latest in retro MINI spec racing with this MINI Cooper S R56 prepared by OX4 Racing for Chris Oakham who races in the top tier JCW Class of the MINI Challenge.

This spec racer is of course light years ahead of an original spec racing Mini, the JCW division calls for turbocharged 215 hp motors up from the standard R56 192 hp thanks to upgraded induction, exhaust, Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and race spec intercooler.

To help keep the wheels on the road and all that power in check these vehicles are fitted with KW suspension, limited slip differential and 6 (six) piston front brake callipers.

17″ control racing tyres, slicks or wets, are mounted on Dynamic rims.

Too make sure every one plays fair the Mini Challenge has dedicated championship scales, enforced ‘parc ferme’ rules control fuel, limits on the number of tyres used and to keep the driving standards up each vehicle has an on board camera allowing officials to a valuable source of evidence should things appear to get out of hand !

To complete the purpose bred racer look the JCW Class vehicles have an aero package to play around with too !

On the Lo ‘E’ Nuf Vee Dub Club site Chris Oakham the driver of the #51 Mini Cooper S R56 is known for lashing up Mini’s and ripping up cats’ eyes with his Passat in between his racing activities. Chris took the #51 to victory lane at Snetterton and finished 6th in the JCW Class rankings last year, it is still unclear what his plans are for this year but I’m sure you will all join me in wishing him every success.

Any one wishing to join in the fun here is a link to the Mini Challenge prospectus. There was a MINI Challenge try out day at Brands Hatch on Saturday 29th January which included trials for novices, those keen to continue could gain medical certification and attend Approved Racing Drivers School courses the same day in order to qualify for racing licences.

If you missed the boat and are interested in taking part you could try sending an e-mail to the address on the Mini Challenge home page, they seem particularly encouraging to fresh recruits. Wishing all competitors a fun and safe championship.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s recruiting office edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will all join me again tomorrow for a look at one of my favourite BMW’s. Don’t forget to come back now !

Wild Goose and The Pet – MINI T Building

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On Sunday I got the chance to pop in to the T Building which houses the MINI Visitor Centre at Cowley near Oxford. Here are a couple of the vehicles on display.

The MINI One Alan Aldridge Special 2008, is a work of art by ‘The Graphic Entertainer’ Alan Aldridge who created a well known related work with an original Mini back in 1965 that appeared on the cover of The Sunday Times Magazine at the time.

Mini Mokes have featured in this blog, before this 1968 Austin Mini Moke is for Weske & Anja over at the Belgian Mini Forum and for everyone at the Mini Moke Club Forum.

The Mini Wildgoose was aimed at folks intent on spending their kids inheritance before the kids spent it for them.

Based on the Mini Van this wild RV conversion provided four seats in a ‘dinette’, ‘double bed’, table, curtain’s, cupboards and water carriers.

Optional extras included combined luggage rack and spare wheel carrier, which I guess was better than having it in the support vehicle driven by the wife, extended wing mirror’s, just how could you possibly reverse with out them (?), hammock bunk and all important undersealing of the cab !

Finally The Pet MINI covered in cow hide, was exhibited alongside a mass produced chaise longue similarly covered by Le Corbusier in 1927 at the ‘neue raume 07’ design exhibition in Zurich, Switzerland.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Mini Museum edition of Getting a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 215 hp spec MINI Cooper S R56. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

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