Monthly Archives: December 2012

Rare Spyder – Ferrari 365 California Spyder #9985

At the 1966 Geneva Motor Show Ferrari revealed two new models the Ferrari 330 GTC and today’s featured car, thanks to Geoffrey Horton’s photographs, the Ferrari 365 California Spyder of which just 14 would be built.

The 365 California Spyder is fitted with a 320 hp 4.4 litre / 268 cui V12 which is fitted to a 5 speed synchromesh gearbox and is covered by Pininfarina coachwork which features a split front bumper as first seen on the 500 Superfast Coupé and rear vents behind the front doors which would become a feature of the mid-engined Dino 246.

Being equipped with Right Hand Drive this car is easy to identify as chassis #9985, the 10 th of the 14 built and the only one to be so equipped. The expired rear UK plate RPE 909 E which was registered to Mark Tippets when he owned the car in 1986 is also a bit of a give away.

#9985 was sold to Paul Kay in June 1967 painted Blue Sera with a biege interior over the next two years the car had 3 further owners with the registration changing from “NJD 8E”, “L11” to “MNV258E” before Mark Tippets ownership. Since then the car was seen with the number “2UAE” from July 1986 to July 1990, a number still available to the owner if the car ever returns to the UK.

The car was first painted red during a restoration carried out in Florida between 1983 and 1985.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for his photographs of this rare and magnificent vehicle.

Thanks for joining me on this “Rare Spyder” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Li’l Pink Pony – Ford Mustang

Leave a Reply

The forth generation Ford Mustang was launched in 1994 featuring sounded styling not dissimilar to the contemporary front wheel drive Ford Probe which very nearly became the fourth generation Mustang. But for vocal objections from Mustang owners to the front wheel drive and lack of a V8 option the Probe would have become the 4th generation Mustang.

In 1998 the forth generation Mustang was face lifted with “New Edge” styling as seen on today’s example built in 1999.

Today’s featured car appears to be fitted with the base 190 hp 3.8 litre / 232 cui overhead valve 90 degree Essex (Canada) V6, which, it has been speculated with out any hard evidence, was reverse engineered from a similar Buick motor albeit the Essex (Canada) V6 has aluminium heads.

The owner of this car shipped it over from Illinois in 2009, it comes with pink underlights, pink and white seats, parking sensors and reversing camera for those not to good on spacial awareness.

This car recently changed hands on e-bay, the previous owners thoughtfully included the following message in their advertisement, “BE PREPARED TO GET LOOKED AT IN THIS VEHICLE A REAL HEAD TURNER!”

Thanks for joining me on this “Li’l Pink Mustang” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Modern Style, Top Technology – Zastava Type 102 / Yugo 45

1 Reply

Like the Zastava Type 101 “Stojadin” I looked at last week the Zastava Type 102 is a design unique to Zastava built on a FIAT chassis pan and running gear.

The FIAT chassis and engine designs for the Type 102 are from the FIAT 127 hatchback which was manufactured from 1971 to 1983.

Type 102’s were also marketed with a myriad of different names in different markets, the Yugo 45A seen here in Malta bears no exterior Zastava identification marks at all.

Originally sold with a ‘Modern Style, Top Technology‘ strap line, the first Type 102’s were built in 1980 and appear to have been made available for export the following year. the 45 designation indicates this car has a 903 cc / 55 cui motor with a four speed manual gearbox.

The red ‘GTi’ pin stripe suggests this particular car dates from somewhere around 1989. Like the Type 101 the Type 102 survived the disintegration of Yugoslavia and was manufactured in Serbia under the Zastava Koral until
FIAT took over the Zastava plant in 2008 and immediately halted all Zastava production, bar a few pick ups.

Thanks for joining me on this “Modern Style, Top Technology” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Rocket Powered Unicycle – MG TF XPower 500 #SARRDWBGBWD034240

Leave a Reply

Just like I write “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres”, because I find it quite irresistable it would appear when MG Rover got ditched by BMW MG went and built today’s unique, as in only one of, MG TF XPower 500 for exactly the same reason.

Sensational and equally outrageuous the MG TF XPower 500, was first shown to the public at Le Mans in 2001 alongside it’s Lola LM780 chassis Le Mans challenger.

Sitting on low profile 17″ road tyres and wheels the MG TF XPower 500 has a seam welded MG TF body which incorporates a racing standard survival cell, flared wheel arches and some aerodynamic aids to help keep the car on the ground.

Go for the MG TF XPower 500 comes from the same source as MG’s Lola MG Le Mans challenger namely a mid monunted Cosworth 2000 Le Mans XP20 2 litre / 122cui 4 cylinder turbo charged motor that produces 400 hp which transmits its power to the rear wheels through a 6 speed X-Trac sequential gearbox. Racing 4 pot AP disc brakes are used to slow the car down which has a ‘theoretical’ top speed in excess of 180 mph depending on the gear ratio’s used.

When Tony Dron tested the car with former Le Mans winner Mark Blundell he obseved the front wheels don’t do much in the corners and he was advised by Mark to suggest “Just think of the back end”. Tony noted “He’s right: imagine a rocket-powered unicycle and you get the idea.”

Thanks for joining me on this “Rocket Powered Unicycle” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Coffee, Croissant & Cars #7 – Avenue Drivers Club

2 Replies

The festive spirit was gathering pace, at Queen Square, Bristol yesterday, no sooner had I arrived and I was being proffered charity mince pies ! Extremely delicious they were too !

MG NA Magnette, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Among the many visitors to the Avenue Drivers Club meeting was what appears to be a 1934 MG K1 one of it’s club badges indicates that it may have spent some time in South Africa. 14 01 13 Further investigation has revealed this car is actually an NA Magnette.

The difference between a 1952 Riley RMA and 1952 Riley RME is indicated externally by the larger rear window of the later model which leads me to conclude the model seen here is the RMA.

Appearing to have come past just for a cruise around the block was this 1958 Ford Thunderbird.

These two Austin Healey Sprites were built in 1960 on the left and 1958 on the right.

The owner of this Ford Consul has only had the car for a couple of weeks, he told me he had owned many Mini’s before buying the four cylinder Ford.

This 1966 Morris 1800 has attended many of the same show’s I have this year, it was bought and prepared for a local classic Rally on a very small budget, running to hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.

One of the first cars to offer seeing round corner capability was the 1968 version of the Citroen DS that was first seen in 1955. This DS19 was built in 1972.

Another classic from 1972 was this Hillman Avenger fitted with what appear to be period correct aftermarket Cosmic alloy wheels.

Car of the day was this 1972 Crayford Ford Capri GT 3000, built in a period when Ford did not have time to satisfy a demand for convertible versions of it’s cars. Crayford took on the job fitting it with a white interior and walnut veneer.

When production of the Ford Capri ended in 1986 Ford left the massed produced Coupé market to the likes of Toyota and their Supra models the vehicles above were manufactured in 1989 on the left and 1992 on the right.

In 1990 I went to Connecticut for a week to attend a friends wedding, while I was there I hired a Ford Thunderbird similar to this 1992 example, I could not believe how big it was for a two door, at one point I found the car could carry 4 adults and two small children with a modicum of comfort from one side of town to the other !

Above another reminder that the season of Goodwill is upon us took the form of this Morris Marina Estate which dates from circa 1973.

Finding out about the Avenue Drivers Club has been one of this years simple joys for me, what could be easier or more fun than rolling 5 mins down a steep hill and finding yourself having a couple of hours of fun looking at some of the huge variety of veteran, vintage and classic cars that come from your environs and enjoying a Coffee & Croissant with some of the owners ? My thanks and seasons greetings to everyone who has brought their cars along. Next meeting January 13th 2013 !

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars #7″ of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Above another reminder the

Convivial Motoring – Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé

Leave a Reply

With styling inherited from the 2006 9 litre / 549 cui V16 100EX concept car the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé was launched in 2007 at the North American International Auto Show held in Detroit.

Regrettably the V16 was not part of the production spec of the Phantom Drophead Coupé a ‘puny’ 6.75 litre / 412 cui V12 first seen on the 2003 Rolls Royce Phantom saloon / sedan.

With twin turbochargers the V12 produces an effortless 453 hp enough to give the 2,620 kg / 5800 lbs vehicle sports car performance on acceleration and top speed, the sligthly lighter saloon / sedan can be pushed from rest to 186 mph in 60 seconds.

Thanks to electronic sensors the Spirit of Ecstasy ornament retracts in an emergency and can be set to retract whenever the doors are locked or when ever the owner chooses by a control in the glove box.

Naples Children and Education Foundation became the beneficiaries to the tune of US $1.6 million when the first Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé destined for the USA was sold at auction for $ 2m. It is believed this is the highest price ever paid for a new car at the time.

The ‘techno modern’ combination of LED lights and “faux-foglamp” projector-style xenon arc lamps, which in my humble opinion are something of an acquired taste, have been replaced with a less jarring design on the latest 2012 models.

Very much a hand built car, though painted in one of 44,000 colour options by robot, the body of this 2010 Drophead Coupé is crafted from aluminium.

The rear hinged coach doors are designed to “allow elegant entry and exit to and from the rear lounge seat”.

A convivial atmosphere is maintained within the Drophead Coupé by translating an avant garde reinterpretation of an English Gentleman’s clubroom into the cockpit.

Allegedly sitting in a Phantom Drophead Coupé is evocative of sitting aboard a 1930’s J Class, America’s Cup, yacht,

aided in no small measure by the decking which acts as a cover for the Drophead which is made from 5 layers of material including cashmere.

Despite a list price of over US $400,000 253 Drophead Coupés found a new home worldwide in 2007.

Thanks for joining me on this “Convivial Motoring” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Wheels & Ears – Lotus Esprit S2 Type 79

2 Replies

The pace of innovation and development at Lotus was far too high for organised record keeping to be a strong point and some how the Lotus Type 79 number ended up being given to both the 1978 World Championship winning Formula One car and the otherwise unrelated Lotus Esprit S1 & S2 variations.

The second iteration of the Giugiaro designed Esprit, launched in 1978, featured a wrap around bumper which brought down the aerodynamic measure to Cd 0.355 and improved the handling in cross winds.

The Gotti alloy wheels of the original Elite were replaced by Lotus designed alloy wheels manufactured by Speedline. Inside wider seats were fitted along side new instrumentation and switch gear illuminated by fibre optics, the external rear view mirrors became remotely operated too.

Ears behind the rear 3/4 window were used to feed air into the carburetor on the left and into the engine bay on the right.

The Rover SD1 sourced rear lights now incorporated high intensity fog lamps. 1061 Esprit S2’s were built with the original Type 907 2 litre / 122 cui motor that gave the car a top speed of 124 mph. A further 88 S2.2’s were built with the an identical body, galvanised chassis and Type 912 motors of 2.2 litre / 134 cui with the same 160 hp but much improved torque which made the Esprit much easier to drive around town.

Thanks for joining me on this “Wheels & Ears” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Monthly Archives: December 2012

Rare Spyder – Ferrari 365 California Spyder #9985

Li’l Pink Pony – Ford Mustang

Modern Style, Top Technology – Zastava Type 102 / Yugo 45

Rocket Powered Unicycle – MG TF XPower 500 #SARRDWBGBWD034240

Coffee, Croissant & Cars #7 – Avenue Drivers Club

Convivial Motoring – Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé

Wheels & Ears – Lotus Esprit S2 Type 79