Monthly Archives: April 2014

VSCC Spring Start – Silverstone

I awoke at 3:40am on Sunday full of anticipation, the weather forecast was good, the dawn chorus was getting underway as I prepared my sandwiches and daylight was lighting up the day as I headed towards Silverstone with my friend and regular GALPOT contributor Tim.

M4, Eastbound

We took the fast route in order to get to the circuit early, meeting up with friends for breakfast in the canteen we were saddened to learn of the death of Lotus Elan driver Alan Fleming in Hockenheim the day before and that Garry White had been seriously injured driving a GN Gnome the same day at Silverstone.

Lotus 49 R8, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Tim and I took a wonder round the paddock in the morning where we were astonished to find the late 1968 Lotus 49 R8 as raced by Graham Hill, Richard Atwood, Jo Bonnier and most successfully by Dave Carlton in South Africa to two local F1 championships, form the center of a Bonhams display. The car is expected to fetch between £700,000 and a million at Goodwood in June.

Standard, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

While we were working our way through the paddock the vehicle above wafted through the crowd, I was surprised to learn it appears to be powered by a Standard Vanguard motor, if you know anything else about the car please chime in below.

ERA 80th Anniversary Trophy, Gillies, Morris, Topliss, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The racing got underway with the ERA 80th Anniversary Trophy which was one by Mark Gilles aboard the green wheel lifting 1934 ERA seen leading the ERA 11B of David Morris which retired leaving Nicholas Topliss in the #5 blue ERA R4A to finish second.

FJHRA , Goodliff Woodhouse, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The battle for honours in the front engined Formula Junior race lasted the whole race with Simon Goodliff in his red 1960 Lola Mk2 managing to hold off the green 1959 Elva 100 driven by Mark Woodhouse.

Riley, Super Rat, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Pete Candy driving the 1936 Riley Super Rat seen in the paddock above won the 8 minute Short Scratch Race for pre war cars.

HGPCA Pre 66, Griffin, Moreton, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The action continued with the second race for pre ’66 Grand Prix Cars which was won by John Romano who clocked up his second win of the weekend in his 1964 Brabham BT11. Above Alex Moreton in his 1961 Lotus 21 is about to lap Paul Griffin in his 1959 Cooper T51 on his way to a seventh place finish.

Maserati 6CM, Lockie, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

It’s always great to see one of my former race instructors, from 1989/90, take part in an event above one such was Calum Lockie who is seen driving a 1938 Maserati 6CM to victory in the pre 1941 Continental Trophy race.

50's Sports Racing, Horsman, Wood, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Regular readers will have heard me make many references to The Nostalgia Forum who’s knowledgeable members include Peter Horsman seen above driving the #248 Lotus 15 above to victory over the #256 Lister Jaguar of Dr Barry Wood in the 1950’s sports racing cars event.

Tec Mec, Wood, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Tony Wood lifts a wheel at Becketts above on his way to his second win of the weekend in the Pre ’61 Racing Car event driving the 1959 Tec Mec F415 which readers may remember I looked at in some detail recently.

Pre War Handicap, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

By comparison the 5 lap pre war Handicap race felt like a race in slow motion, above a couple of Rileys lead a gaggle of cars in the event which was won by Richard Hudson driving a Bentley.

F3 500, Bishop Miller, Kingsland, Turner VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The penultimate event of the day was for the 500 cc / 30.5 cui Formula 3 cars this was declared, with Ian Philips the winner, after the; #57 Revis driven by Richard Bishop Miller, #59 Staride Mk 3 of Xavier Kingsland and #86 Cooper Mk 9 of John Turner came to grief at Becketts one lap after the photo above was taken. I am not entirely sure what happened but the out come was that John Turner was thrown out of his Cooper and Richard Bishop Miller had to be cut out of the Revis and both were taken to hospital.

Andrew Mitchel won the final Pre War race of the day driving an HRG but by then Tim and I were negotiating a few diversions on the way home, seeing John Turner falling out of his Cooper having left me feeling considerably the worst for wear.

My thanks to Alan Cox at the Nostalgia Forum for pointing me in the direction of the results pdf.

I hope you will join me in offering sincerest condolences to the the family and friends of Alan Fleming and best wishes for speedy recoveries to Garry White, Richard Bishop Miller and John Turner.

Thanks for joining me on this”VSCC Spring Start” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” and that you will join me again for Americana Thursday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Handing Over To Jean – Bugatti Type 57 Sports Saloon #57142

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Jean Bugatti was just 25 years old when the Bugatti Type 57 which he designed went into production in 1934.

Bugatti T57 Sports Saloon, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Powered by a 135hp 3,257 cc / 198.8 cui straight 8 double over head cam motor was modified from previous Bugatti designs featuring gear driven cam shafts in place of the chains used hitherto.

Bugatti T57 Sports Saloon, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Although the original sports saloon body was somewhat dated by 1934 the car was capable of 95 mph and 630 examples were built up until 1940.

From 1938 despite Ettores protests the Type 57 was fitted with hydraulic brakes.

Chassis #57142 was built in 1934 and first registered in the UK on July 16th 1934.

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

Hydraulics & Pre Selectors – Maserati 8CM #3011

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Entering his third and final season of motor racing American born Whitney Willard Straight decided to pull out all the stops and create his own Grand Prix team with Reid Railton and the Earl of Brecknock for 1934 called Whitney Straight Ltd.

The team ordered no less than three Maserati 8CM’s of which chassis #3011 was the first, featuring a narrow 1933 specification 20″ inch wide chassis and a 3 litre / 183 cui straight 8 motor designed by Alfieri Maserati who died early in 1932 just before the first 8CM was completed.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Unusually the 8CM was fitted with hydraulic brakes, a feature that had first been seen in the early 1920’s but an idea that had not been taken up by the likes of Bugatti on their Type 35’s for example.

Former Alfa Romeo mechanic Giulio Ramponi was employed to prepare the Straight cars and he was responsible for fitting a Wilson pre selector gearbox to #3011 and the remaining team cars.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

To the best of my knowledge Whitney drove the white and blue painted #3011 exclusively in 1934 and after recording a speed of 135.49 mph over a flying mile at Brooklands he won four events 2 at Brooklands one at Donington and another in East London, South Africa.

At the end of the year Whitney retired from the sport as he had promised his wife and #3011 passed onto Harry Rose who recorded a class win on the Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb in 1935.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Richard Seaman, who had introduced Whitney Straight to motor racing while at Cambridge, drove #3011 to a victory at Donington Park in 1936 shortly before it was acquired by White Mouse Racing for the Siamese Prince Birabongse Bhanutej Bhjanubandh Bira.

Bira had the car painted blue and kept #3011 until 1947 winning events at Brooklands in 1937 and 1939 and following the end of hostilities recorded two second place finishes in the Brighton Speed Trials in 1946 and 1947.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Kenneth McAlpine of the construction empire bearing the same name became the next owner of #3011 and raced the now black car through 1948 wining the Weston Super Mare sprint on what appears to have been his final drive in the car.

In 1951 Leslie W. Boyce drove #3011, painted red, for a final appearance at the Brighton Speed Trials where he finished with 8th fastest time.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

#3011 remained in the UK, spending some time on display in the Doune Motor Museum.

In the 1980’s #3011 went to San Francisco where it was reunited with it’s original motor that had been swapped out by Harry Rose in 1935.

Maserati 8CM, Robert Newall, Goodwood Revival

Today #3011 is one of the 10, from the original 17, 8CM’s built known to remain.

#3011 is owned by Christopher Jaques and is seen with Robert Newall at the wheel during the 2012 Goodwood Revival where it was demonstrated with the Silver Arrow’s some of which it was designed to, unequally, compete against in 1934.

Fastest In The Country – Cooper MG #4/4/52

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In 1952 MG tuner Lionel Leonard replaced his first Cooper MG registered JOY 500 with a new one, chassis number #4/4/52 registered KOY 500 which is featured today.

Cooper MG T21, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Peter Morely, who completed a restoration of the car in 2008 tells me the chassis appears to have much in common with the earliest rear engined Cooper 500 Formula 3 cars and suggests it is likely that it was based on a used chassis. Doug Nye, author of Cooper Cars, kindly informed me that the T series numbering system was applied retrospectively to this era of Cooper, it is accepted in some circles that when Lionel bought both JOY 500 and KOY 500, in kit form, that they were both in T14 spec although Cooper would have referred to them simply as Cooper MG’s.

Cooper MG T21, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The MG XPAG motor, bored out to 1,467cc @ 91 cui, drives the rear wheels through an MG gearbox both of which would have been sourced from the contemporaneous MG TC / TD/ Y series models. Lionel drove KOY 500 to a second place finish on it’s debut at Snetterton in May 1952 and finished the season with a win at RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset.

Cooper MG T21, John Paul Mason, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Bristol’s car dealing Horace ‘the Gonzalez of the West Country’ Gould bought KOY 500 for the 1953 season and by fitting it with Mk 1 Cooper Bristol suspension and twin leading edge brake shoes brought the car up to what in some circles is regarded as T21 specification, although again this designation is entirely retrospective. Highlights of Horace’s season included a win in the Queensferry Sprint and 2nd place finish in the Sheena Gray Trophy race at Charterhall.

Cooper MG T21, John Paul Mason, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

According to Roger Clark Horace advertised #4/4/52 in Autosport as “THE FASTEST COOPER MG IN THE COUNTRY”. Brian Naylor bought the car and shared #4/4/52 with Ian Davidson in 1954. Brian drove in most events recording a win at Snetterton and another at Silverstone, while Ian drove the car in just four events and podiumed in each with wins at the Barbon Hillclimb and Croft.

Cooper MG T21, John Paul Mason, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

When the restoration of #4/4/52 was completed in 2008 the car was taken to Monaco and competed in the historic meeting in which it finished 6th. KOY 500 is seen in these photo’s at last years Autumn Classic at Castle Combe with John Paul Mason at the wheel.

Roger Clark discerned from the much missed David McKinney’s note books that “approximately 20 Cooper MG kits were sold”.

My thanks to D-Type, Tim Murray, Roger Clark, Doug Nye and Peter Morley at The Nostalgia Forum for helping me with today’s post.

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

The Only Power Is Essex – Gilbern Genie

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Building on the steady success of the original Gilbern GT, Giles Smith and Bernard Friese launched it’s replacement the Genie at the 1966 London Motor Show.

Gilbern Genie, Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogmill Andoversford

The all new car was powered by Ford Essex V6 motors as used to power the 1966 – 1972 Ford Zephyr in 2,495 cc / 152 cui form and the 1966-72 Ford Zodiac in 2,994 cc 183 cui form.

Gilbern Genie, Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogmill Andoversford

The Genie was fitted with an MG B rear axle located originally by Panhard Rod and later by the older but more sophisticated Watts Linkage.

Production of the Genie started in 1967 and the following year Giles Smith left Gilbern, to be replaced by Mike Leather and Maurice Collins as joint managing directors after securing Gilberns future by selling out to slot machine manufacturer Ace Capital Holdings Ltd.

Between 1967 and 197 Genies were built before the Genie’s successor the Invader was introduced, today’s featured Genie is a 3 litre 1968 example seen at last years New Years Day Cotswold Classic Car Club meeting at Frogmill Andoversford.

Which Verde Pino ? – Ferrari 250 GT/L #5097GT

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I’ll let farmer Hugh James the owner of today’s featured 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L chassis #5097GT tell you about his car at the end of today’s blog personally.

Ferrari 250GT/L, Auto Italia, Brooklands

While looking for details about the car I stumbled across an old thread at Ferrari Chat that listed over 1000 colours, many with codes that have been offered and or used on the cars from Maranello.

Ferrari 250GT/L, Auto Italia, Brooklands

The list includes several variations of the same code but it was interesting to find that there have been as many as 8 variations of the Verde Pino seen on Mr James car at Auto Italia Brooklands a couple of years ago. If you happen to know which Verde Pino #5097GT is painted please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Ferrari 250GT/L, Auto Italia, Brooklands

Here is Mr James’s story of how he acquired the car :-

Thanks for joining me on this “Which Verde Pino ?” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the second model to be offered by Gilbern. Don’t forget to come back now !

Factory Right Hooker – Pontiac Parisienne #1102452

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The earliest Pontiac Parisienne was a sub-series within the 1958 Laurentian line, in 1959 the first Parisienne’s were sold as stand alone models in Canada.