Monthly Archives: March 2014

Ringmeister – Maserati 250F T2 #2529

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For the 1957 season Maserati manufactured 3 lightweight versions of the 250F to keep pace with the Lancia Ferrari D50’s which Juan Manuel Fangio drove to his fourth World Drivers Championship title in 1956.

Third of the three T2’s was chassis #2529 which was shared during 1957 between Stirling Moss, Harry Schell and the returning ‘Old Man’ Fangio who despite his success was not overly enamoured by his time at Maranello.

Maserati 250F, by Paul Chenard


Pen&ink and markers on watercolour paper 9″x 7″ © Paul Chenard 2014

Fangio won the opening two championship races of the 1957 season at home in Argentina and in Monaco, the third race of the Championship season was the Indy 500 for which only Giuseppe Farina of the regular World Drivers Championship contenders was entered.

Farina did not start the ’57 Indy 500 which was won by Sam Hanks in the Epperly Special. Fangio then drove today’s featured 250F T2 chassis #2529 to victory in the 1957 French Grand Prix.

Maserati 250F, by Paul Chenard

Acrylic on canvas 10″x 12″ © Paul Chenard 2014

At the British Grand Prix Fangio retired #2529 with an engine problem leaving Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss to share the first championship Grand Prix victory for Vanwall.

Fangio qualified #2529 on pole, with a time 16 seconds faster than he had driving a Lancia Ferrari 1956, for the 1957 German Grand Prix alongside him Mike Hawthorn qualified 2nd in his Lancia Ferrari with the lightweight 250F T2 of Jean Behra and Lancia Ferrari of Peter Collins filling out the front row of the grid.

Maserati 250F, Denise McCluggage by Paul Chenard

1957 German Grand Prix Mural @ 9′ x 18′ © Paul Chenard 2014, with Denise McCluggage at European Motorsports, Lawrence, MA

On a hot day at the Nurburgring on August 4th 1957 the Ferrari’s of Hawthorn and Collins set off into an immediate lead of the 311 mile German Grand Prix, but by lap 3 Fangio had passed both and unbeknown to the Englishmen sailed off into the distance in order to make a large enough lead to enable him to make a scheduled pit stop, having started the race like Behra in fourth on half empty tanks.

During his pit stop Behra lost time when he broke his filler cap off while climbing back into the car. Fangio was even less fortunate spending 54 seconds in the pits after a mechanic had lost a wheel nut. Fangio rejoined the race in third place 48 seconds behind the battling Howthorn and Collins.

Maserati 250F, SIr Jackie Stewart, Goodwood Revival

Over the next 10 laps Fangio broke the Nurburgring lap record nine times seven times in succession passing Hawthorn for the lead on the penultimate lap with two wheels on the grass to record possibly the greatest Grand Prix victory ever, enough to secure “El Maestro” his fifth and final World Championship Victory.

Fangio noted after the race “I have never driven that quickly before in my life and I don’t think I will ever be able to do it again”, and later admitted “Nürburgring was my favourite track. I fell totally in love with it and I believe that on that day in 1957 I finally managed to master it. It was as if I had screwed all the secrets out of it and got to know it once and for all. . . For two days I couldn’t sleep, still making those leaps in the dark on those curves where I had never before had the courage to push things so far.”

As it turned out Fangio would not win any more championship Grand Prix races before retiring mid way through 1958, meaning the car #2529, seen driven by Sir Jackie Stewart at Goodwood Revival above, was the won in which possibly the greatest driver of all time won his last two Grand Prix victories.

Unusually unlike many of the other Maserati 250F’s it’s number was never used on any other chassis nor did it ever carry any other chassis number. Fangio drive #2529 to second place finishes championship races at Pescara and Monza with Harry Schell taking the car over for the GP Modena where he finished 3rd.

Fangio drove the car to 4th with fastest lap in the non championship 1957 GP du Maroc and 4th in the opening round of the 1958 Championship in Argentina. The car was then sold on to Scuderia Sudamericana who entered #2529 for Giorgio Scarlatti and Jo Bonnier who achieved little by way of success apart from a win for Bonnier in a non championship Formula Libre race at Watkins Glen.

Scuderia Ugolini entered the #2529 again for Giorgio Scarlatti in 1959 it’s final championship appearance being in the 1960 Argentinian Grand Prix from which Scarlatti retired with overheating issues.

After spending time in the Briggs Cunningham museum #2529 was bought by Hartmut Ibing in 1988 in a silent auction.

I did not realise it at the time I took the photograph but having Sir Jackie Stewart drive Fangio’s ’57 German Grand Prix winning car at Goodwood was particularly pertinent because Sir Jackie also took a famous win at the Nurburgring, but this time in the rain in the German Grand Prix of 1968.

My thanks to Paul Chenard for kindly allowing me to use reproductions of his artwork in today’s post.

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

PS in a fitting tribute to David McKinney who wrote the definitive “Maserati 250F” last weeks featured 250F #2522/16/23/26 now owned by Graham Adelman was present at Davids funeral last week. My thanks to Tim Murray for forwarding this information.

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IR, FW or Apollon Fly – Williams Cosworth IR/03 / FW/03

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Ever asked a question of fact and got a different answer dependent upon whom is answering ? Ask any number of people what today’s car is and they will agree it is a 1973/4 Williams but after that it gets complicated.

The Williams IR series cars first appeared at the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix replacing the FX3B Williams design, known in 1972 as Politoys, that did not have deformable structures protecting the fuel tanks. The IR initials were a nod to one of the teams sponsors namely ISO Rivolta.

01 Williams Cosworth IR/04_0130sc

A new car, IR/03 featured today, to the same design as the 1973 cars, appeared at the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix for Arturo Mezario. Denis Jenkinson (DSJ) correctly reported after the Spanish Grand Prix that Frank Williams had renamed the cars with FW initials, but either idiosyncratically or incorrectly that the latest chassis IR/04 was hence forth to be known as FW/04.

DSJ continued referring to IR/04 until the 1975 non championship Race of Champions. However DSJ was possibly confused by the fact that the original IR/02 was damaged and the chassis tub replaced during repairs. While the new car seen at the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix was built around the 4th IR tub it was given the IR/03 chassis number and post the Spanish Grand Prix this fourth chassis seems to have been referred to by everybody apart from DSJ as FW/03.

02 Williams Cosworth IR/04_0129sc

DSJ correctly referred to this car as FW/03 at the non championship 1975 International Trophy and correctly mentions that the new car driven by Art Mezario at the following 1975 Spanish GP as FW/04 !

As if to confirm the respected DSJ’s error no mention is made of chassis IR/04 / FW04 in a MotorSport article about cars entered by Frank Williams from 1969 upto April 1975.

03 Williams Cosworth IR/04_0128sc

Today’s featured car’s best result came in the 1974 Italian Grand Prix where Art Mezario managed to coax IR/03 / FW03 to a fourth place finish at Monza.

This result plus Art’s sixth place finish in South Africa were enough to secure Williams a second consecutive 10th place in the 1974 World Constructors Championship.

04 Williams Cosworth IR/04_0127sc

During 1975 Tony Brise, Damien Magee, Ian Scheckter, Francois Migault, Ian Ashley, the seriously obscure Jo Vonlanthen and Renzo Zorzi all drove IR/03 / FW/03 without much success, Brise recording a best 7th place finish in the 1975 Spanish GP on his Formula One debut.

In 1977 IR/03 / FW/03 now belonging to Swiss Loris Kessel turned up at the Italian GP with a raft of safety upgrades and some cool new body work by ex Ferrari designer Giacomo Caliri from his FLY-studio. Renamed the Apollon Fly Loris failed to qualify for the race, IR/03 / FW03 was restored to the 1974 spec seen here in 2010.

My thanks to Michael Ferner at The Nostalgia Forum for confirming DSJ’s idiosyncratic refferences to IR/03 / FW/03 as IR/04 / FW/04.

Thanks for joining me on this “IR, FW or Apollon Fly” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Maserati 250F. Don’t forget to come back now

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Kiwi Body ? – Buckler Mk 90

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From 1953 to at least 1959 a number of Buckler Mk 90’s were manufactured.

Buckler Mk 90, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

From the Buckler Register it would appear all were fitted with 1172 cc / 71 cui Ford side valve motors as fitted to numerous Fords including the contemporaneous Ford 100E Prefects and Anglia’s.

Buckler Mk 90, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Elsewhere it would appear the body of the Mk 90 was designed by New Zealander Ferris de Joux, although I suspect Ferris may have designed a fiber glass body for at least one Buckler raced in New Zealand, most of the known Buckler Mk 90’s, including the 1956 example featured to day seen at Oulton Park, were fitted with aluminium bodies which leads me to question de Joux’s involvement with the Mk 90 bodies seen in the UK.

Buckler Mk 90, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

If you know that de Joux’s design made it beyond New Zealand for the UK aluminium bodied cars please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Buckler Mk 90, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Of the seven races known to racingsportscars in which Buckler Mk 90’s were driven, two of them were won by a Mk 90 with N. Grier-Rees at the wheel including the 1957 Silverstone Relay Race.

Thanks for joining me on this “Kiwi Body ?” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a . Don’t forget to come back now !

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Son In Law’s Tip – Ferrari Testa Rossa Replica

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One day Ferrari enthusiast Peter Giacobbi got a tip from his son in law that there was a huge warehouse in Colico di Piano near Como, Italy, that was full of car parts.

Ferrari, Testa Rossa, Replica, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

When Peter followed the lead up he found the body for today’s featured car in the rafters. Peter shipped the body to Orange County California where he enlisted Dan McLeod of Anaheim to help him build a replica of his favourite car the 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa.

Ferrari, Testa Rossa, Replica, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Peter’s Replica uses Ferrari 330 front suspension, a 4.4 litre / 268 cui V12 from a Ferrari 365 and a rear end from a Ferrari 400i

Ferrari, Testa Rossa, Replica, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Since finishing his Testa Rossa Peter has shown it at numerous Concours events where it’s unfinished patina has been well received by the public.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs taken at last month’s Desert Classic, Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this “Son In Law’s Tip” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking a Buckler. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Classic Americans – Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance

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A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Horton loaded his trailer up with his Jaguar XK140 and headed for Palm Springs and the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance. Toady’s blog features photo’s Geoffrey kindly shared of some of the US built cars that were taking part.

Lincoln L Brunn Beetle Back, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

By 1925 Cadillac founder Henry M Leland had sold the second marque he had founded, Lincoln, to Henry Ford for $8m but Ford continued to up date the L-Series first seen in 1917, until 1930. The 1925 Lincoln above features a nickel plated radiator shell first seen in 1924.

Cadillac V16 Series 452, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Need a 2 door convertible with plenty of room for occasional passengers and cargo in the boot / trunk the 1930 Cadillac V16 Series 452 is just the car you are looking for.

Packard 1005 Convertible Coupe , Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Winner of this years Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance was the 1933 V12 powered Packard 1005 Twelve Convertible Coupe seen above. The 1005 was the tenth Packard series car and shared 11 different body with the V8 powered Packard Super Eight.

Cord 812 s/c, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

1935 the Cord 810 was the sensation of the New York Auto Show, by 1937 when the supercharged 812 convertible above was built the company had a less than complimentary reputation for reliability and the following year the remains of the company were sold to Avaiation Corporation which today is part of Textron Systems Corporation.

Diamond T Pickup, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Following a tip from some quail hunters the owner of this rugged 1949 Diamond T Model 201 1 ton pickup abandoned in a field near Globe Arizona, dented and rusted it was 90% there and the Hercules six cylinder motor still turned. After restoration this Diamond T won the 2010 Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance Best Non-Passenger Vehicle award.

Packard 250, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Visiting Paris Retromobile in the 1990’s Californian Carl Schneider came across some drawings by Pininfarina of a Packard that was never built. After purchasing the drawings Carl and Peter Portugal built the likeness of the Pininfarina Packard, seen above, using a 1952 Packard 250 series Mayfair two-door hardtop as a starting point.

Scarab Continuation, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

In 1958 Lance Reventlow started building a successful series of sports racing cars, above is a continuation model.

Guldstrand Corvette GS90, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

In the early 1990’s Corvette racer Dick Guldstrand approached General Motors with a plan to build his own vehicle based on the Corvette asking for 15 chassis and a few million dollars to get him going, he got one car and GM’s blessing. Dick ended up building six of the $200,000 dollar cars, the one above is the second of them, built in 1993.

Vector M12, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Nearly three times more common than the Guldstarnd Corvette is the Vector M12 of which 17 examples were manufactured from 1995 to 1999. The Vector was built on a modified Lamborghini Diablo Chassis and is powered by a 499 hp Lamborghini V12.

My thanks to Geoffrey for sharing his photographs more of which will be seen tomorrow and next Wednesday.

Thanks for joining me on this “Classic Americans” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow for Ferrari Friday to see a work in progress.

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Four Time – Red Bull Renault RB9

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In 1989 Sir Jackie Stewart’s son Paul started a Formula 3 open wheel programme with his own team Paul Stewart Racing which ran two cars. After being consistent championship contenders the team graduated to Formula 3000 and after a season Paul decided his future lay in team management and his team won six Formula 3 championships with Gil de Ferran, Kelvin Burt, Jan Magnussen, Ralph Fairman Jr, Jonny Kane and Mario Haberfeld.

Red Bull RB9, Vettel, Webber, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

In 1996 Paul Stewart and his father founded Stewart Grand Prix with Sir Jackie convincing the Ford board in Detroit to underwrite a V10 engine programme with Cosworth. The team one the 1999 German Grand Prix in it’s third season before being sold to Ford who rebranded the team Jaguar for the 2000 season.

Red Bull RB9, Webber, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Jaguar Racing’s only success was two third place finishes in 5 years and Ford concluded there was no point continuing the programme after 2004 when the ambitious Red Bull energy drinks company stepped in to buy the team for the 2005 season.

Red Bull RB9, Vettel, Young Driver Test, Silverstone

In the first four years of operation Red Bull Racing scored just three 3rd place finishes but things started to change once they hired über aerodynamicist Adrian Newey from McLaren for the 2007 season by 2009 Mark Webber and new boy Sebastian Vettel had scored six victories between them and Red Bull Racing finished 2009 second in the constructors championship with Vettel 2nd in the drivers Championship.

Red Bull RB9, Webber, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

From 2010 to 2012 Sebastian Vettel scored a further 21 Grand Prix victories and three consecutive World Drivers Championships six further victories for Mark Webber, seen with the green flashes on his airbox camera, in the same period helped Red Bull Racing secure 3 consecutive World Constructors titles.

Red Bull RB9, Vettel, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Clear favourites to win fourth consecutive titles in 2013 the only hiccup to their plans came at the beginning of the season when Red Bull Racing found the mandated tyres did not match their Renault powered RB9 as well as some of the other cars, however after various failures the mandated tyres reverted to 2012 spec and Sebastian and Red Bull Racing never looked back ending the season with 13 Grand Prix wins including the last nine of the season won consecutively to score their 4th consecutive World Championships respectively. Mark managed just five second place finishes before retiring from Formula One to join Porsche’s new sports car programme.

Red Bull RB9, Vettel, Young Driver Test, Silverstone

For 2014 Australian Daniel Ricciardo will replace his Mark Webber as Sebastian’s team mate and the signs from testing are that Red Bull Racing may well struggle to get their new Renault turbo powered RB10 hybrid race car to the finish of it’s first race in Australia on Sunday.

You can follow the fortunes of the Red Bull Racing team on their website linked here, their facebook page linked here and twitter feed linked here.

On testing form the 2014 season could be the most open yet my gut feeling is that the Championships will be Hamiltons’s and Mercedes F1’s to loose but what ever their problems now I expect Red Bull Racing to come back strong towards the end of the season for what should be a thrilling finale with the funny little double dose points.

Wishing all GALPOT readers a thrilling 2014 F1 season over here at GALPOT tyres we are ready to Go ! Go ! Go ! as Murray Walker used to say.

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

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8 Cylinders 24 Valves – Bugatti Type 30

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Late in 1922 until 1926 Ettore Bugatti offered the 2 litre / 122 cui Type 30

Bugatti T30, Huntley, VSCC, Prescott

The Type 30 was however not all new the horseshoe radiator was carried over from the later Type 13/22/23 Voiturette Brescia models…

Bugatti T30, Huntley, VSCC, Prescott

as was the chassis which was available with 100.4″ or 112.2″ wheelbase and “occasionally” with a 94.5″ wheelbase option, ie the same options as for the earlier models.

Bugatti T30, Huntley, VSCC, Prescott

The front brakes on the early Type 30’s built between 1922 were hydraulic operated but from 1924 to ’26 they were cable operated as were the rear brakes on all Type 30’s.

Bugatti T30, Huntley, VSCC, Prescott

It is believed around 600 Type 30’s were built, the recently restored example seen here at last years VSCC Prescott meeting, driven by Douglas Huntley, was originally built in 1925.

Thanks for joining me on this “8 Cylinders 24 Valves” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at Red Bull’s 2013 season. Don’t forget to come back now !

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