Monthly Archives: July 2014

Chrome, Stripes And A Sheriff – Classics At The Castle

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This weeks Americana Thursday blog comes from Classics at the Castle where a fabulous selection of US cars were on display.

Pontiac Le Mans, Classics At The Castle, Sherborne

My favourite was this ’67 Pontiac Le Mans, somewhere around the time this car was built the US show the Monkees hit our shores and even on the steam powered black and white the Pontiac derived Monkeemobile looked like the coolest thing on the planet perhaps bettered only by the crime fighting jet powered Batmobile.

Ford Mustang Cobra Jet, Classics At The Castle, Sherborne

I looked at a Mustang Cobra Jet a couple of weeks ago, it apppears that there are at least two in south west.

Ford Crown Victoria, Classics At The Castle, Sherborne

Similarly I looked at a Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor not so long ago, this one is said to have served Hurricane Katrina hero Sheriff Bill McGee who commandeered water for citizens in Forrest County, Mississippi from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for which he was charged with interfering with, intimidating and impeding a federal officer.

Cadillac Coupé de Ville, Classics At The Castle, Sherborne

In 1957 you would be pushed to find more graceful Detroit sheet metal than that found on the Cadillac Series 62 Coupé de Ville.

Ford Tudor, Classics At The Castle, Sherborne

I know at least one of my regular readers is a stripping expert, here are some I found on the back of a ’47 Ford Tudor.

Oldsmobile Cutlass, Classics At The Castle, Sherborne

Finally a tail light from a ’72 Oldsmobile Cutlass, not a manufacturer we see much of on this side of the pond.

Thanks for joining me on this “Chrome, Stripes And A Sheriff” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Sherborne Details – Classics At The Castle

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Last weeks Classics at the Castle threw up plenty of details and here is a small selection I managed to capture.

De Dion Bouton 10hp, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

It looks like this De Dion Bouton has been around for sometime it was offered for auction around 8 years ago it is thought to be a 10hp model from 1910, suitable for a DIY enthusiast with an aptitude for woodwork, as the saying goes.

Aston Martin DB4, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Looking pretty in light blue was this 1958 Aston Martin DB4 powered by a 6 cylinder 3670 cc / 223 cui motor designed by Tadek Marek.

Porsche 911R R, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

The most obvious give away that this Porsche 911R was a replica of the car Gérard Larrousse & Maurice Gélin won the 1969 Tour de France with was that it is a right hand drive model, apart from that it was convincing in many details including the lightened filler cap.

Sunbeam 16/20 Cabriolet, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Cool brass fittings for cockpit ventilation circa 1914 on a Sunbeam 16/20 Cabriolet.

Mazda MX5 BBR, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Not sure how distracting speakers built in to the headrest of a 1991 Le Mans Special edition Mazda MX5 BBR Turbo would be, but they were dropped from later models.

Lamborghini Aventador, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

With a zero to 100 km/h time of just 2.9 seconds tail lights are all one is likely to see of a 2012 Lamborghini Aventor.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sherborne Details” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for some Chrome, Stripes and a Sheriffs Car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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3 litre / 183 cui U16 – Bugatti Type 45 R #47153

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When visiting the museum at the Bugatti Trust a couple of years ago I was most impressed by a cutaway aero engine Ettore Bugatti designed in 1916 that featured two pairs of four cylinder motors joined to two longitudinal crankshafts that were themselves geared to a single central propeller shaft to make a U16 motor.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 1929 when looking to replace his successful Type 35’s Ettore revisited the idea of building U16 motors by connecting parallel pairs of his existing single overhead cam 8 cylinder motors to a single prop shaft.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In all he built 5 U16’s with motor sizes of 3.8 litres / 231 cui and and 3 litres / 183 cui. The larger motor was intended for the Type 45 of which one #47156 was fitted with the only 3.8 litre motor #1.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

This car appears to have been made obsolete before it ever driven in anger by the late adoption of a fuel consumption formula which was unfavourable to the the large displacement motor.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The single T45 that was completed was used in hllclimbs and speed events and now sits in the Schlumpf collection along side a 3 litre U16 T47 chassis #47156 fitted with motor #3, the 3 litre U16 motor #2 is also believed to be with the Schlumpf collection now also known as the Cité de l’Automobile.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The two remaining 3 litre 183 cui U16 motors #4 and #5 have both been reported in a Dutch court case to have been fitted to Replica / Recreation chassis and I believe the car seen here is 45R #47153.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Dutch court hearing in 2011 records that #47153, has also been incorrectly identified as #47157 by some sources on the web and that “”Overall this car is in all respects a wonderfully faithful reproduction of the one and only factory-built Bugatti Type 45 (…)”, albeit with a smaller engine capacity than the original.

Thanks for joining me on this “3 litre / 183 cui U16” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be revisiting Sherborne Castle. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Alfieri Ghisa Corsa Monoposto – Maserati A6GCM #2033

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Between 1951 and 1953 Maserati built 12 A6GCM’s (Alfieri, 6 Cylinder, Ghisa – Iron Block, Corsa – Racing, Monoposto – Single seaters).

Maserati A6CGM, Silverstone Classic

The 2 litre / 122 cui twin cam motors were initially developed by Alberto Massimino and Vittorio Bellentani to produce 160hp and by 1953 with further development by Gioacchino Colombo the motors are said to have produced 197hp.

Maserati A6CGM, Silverstone Classic

The chassis design featuring a rigid rear axle with leaf springs, coil springs for the independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes is credited to Medardo Fantuzzi.

Maserati A6CGM, Silverstone Classic

It would appear two chassis were given the number #2033, both of which are extent today. The first appears to have been a recycled ’49 single seater chassis while the second, today’s featured car seen with Julia de Baldanza at the wheel, was built fresh from the ground up in 1951.

Maserati A6CGM, Silverstone Classic

At least two of the later 1953 A6GCM’s were turned into 250F types in 1954, so there is nothing unusual, in the somewhat chaotic Maserati scheme of things, for two cars to have received the same chassis identity.

Maserati A6CGM, de Baldanza, Silverstone Classic

Both cars bearing the #2033 identity appear to have been used by the works Officine Alfieri Maserati team but the individual histories, unsurprisingly, appear to be not so well documented.

Maserati A6CGM, Silverstone Classic

Of the 151 races in which the A6GCM type is known to have participated 6 victories were recorded of which one, the 1953 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, was a World Championship event won by Juan Manuel Fangio 12 months after he had broken his neck at the same venue.

Juan’s Italian Grand Prix win was the only victory in a world championship event against the hitherto dominant Ferrari 500’s driven by Alberto Ascari, Piero Taruffi, Mike Hawthorn and Giuseppe Farina.

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

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Five Daimlers And A Lanchester – Classics at the Castle

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Today’s post is dedicated to this blogs most prolific e-advocate Rowdy Ryan ‘Racer 187’ Smith who is also a fan of the Daimler and Lanchester brands.

Daimler Fifteen, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Last weekends Classics at the Castle meeting at Sherborne had a handful of said brands in attendance including the 1935 Daimler Fifteen above which is powered with a 6 cylinder version of the Lanchester Ten 4 cylinder motor, and as such the first Daimler motor to be equipped with poppet valves in place of the marques favoured Knight sleeve-valves.

Lanchester Eleven, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

The Lanchester Eleven replaced the Lanchester Ten in late 1936 and is easily externally distinguished by the windscreen wipers mounted at the bottom of the screen, as seen on this 1937 example, as opposed to being mounted in the roof above the windscreen on the Lanchester Ten.

Daimler 24hp EL24, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

According to some sources the Daimler EL24 above was built in 1936 while the DVLA have the car down as being registered in February 1940. If you know anymore about this car, of a type popular among civic leaders and Mayors, do not hesitate to chime in below.

Daimler SP250, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Without question my favorite vehicle in the car park was this 1962 SP250, it looked like a well used and abused life size Dinky Toy.

Daimler V8, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Powered by the same hemi V8 as the SP250 was this 1965 Daimler 2.5 V8 which shares a body shell with the Jaguar Mk 2.

Daimler Six LWB, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Above is a 1996 Daimler Six one of just 1,330 LWB Sixes built between 1994 and 1997 when the model was replaced by the V8 powered Daimler Eight.

Thanks for joining me on this “Five Daimlers And A Lanchester” 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 !

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Hi-Tech Perana – AC 378 GT Zagato

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At the 2009 Geneva motor show a South African company Perana Performance Group showed it’s Zagato designed Z One on the Zagato stand and announced it’s intention to have the cars built by Hi-Tech Automotive in East London South Africa.

AC 378 Zagato, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

In 2012 AC announced that the former Perana Z One was to be built under license with the AC 378 GT Zagato name at the same Hi Tech facility in South Africa.

AC 378 Zagato, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

To date I appear to have seen this 2012 Geneva show car twice, once as seen in these images at last weekends Classics at the Castle and the first time at Auto Italia Brooklands a couple of years ago.

AC 378 Zagato, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

I’m not sure if any further of these Chevy V8 powered machines have been built, but if I had £100K burning a hole in my pocket I might be tempted to offer AC Cars a substantial sum as a deposit as encouragement for them to build me one, the only problem I might have is choosing a colour, perhaps a moody dark metallic British Racing Green, or metallic Red would do the trick, what do you think ?

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

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Ferraris At The Castle – Sherborne Castle

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A couple of weeks ago David Roots kindly invited me to join him at last weekends Classics at the Castle in Sherborne and today’s post is dedicated to a hand full of the many Ferrari’s present.

Ferrari Enzo, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

While waiting to meet David I heard the unmistakeable wail of a highly tuned V12 approaching and just had time to whip out my camera to capture this ’04, as listed by the DVLA, Ferrari Enzo. Enzo aficionado’s will of course know only one Enzo, the 400th and final one, was built in ’04 and that red car was donated to the Vatican for a charity auction, which means this car imported into the UK in 2004 must have been built in ’02 or ’03.

Ferrari 360, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Not far behind the Enzo came this ’03 Ferrari 360 Spider, it was a day approaching 20 degrees centigrade when this photo was taken, one wonders how much heat the owner needs before being persuaded to lower the roof !

Ferrari F430, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Next a couple of Maranello Yellow Spiders came by with their roofs down an F430 leading a 360.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Oldest of the Ferrari’s I saw present was this 1961 Ferrari 250 GT/E chassis #2245GT.

Ferrari F12berlinetta, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

With 50hp more than the Enzo and keeping things bang up to date was this 2014 F12berlinetta.

Ferrari F40, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

The F40 “MAD40F” is officially registered at the DVLA with a spelling mistake, type the registration number and select Ferrari from the drop down menu on this linked website and you will get no further details, but select “Other” from the drop down menu and type in “Ferari”, and you will see this is a 1991 model.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ferraris at the Castle” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an AC prototype at Classics at the Castle. Don’t forget to come back now !

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