Monthly Archives: November 2014

Emmo’s Favourite – McLaren M23 #M23/5

Leave a Reply

For his 1974 debut with his new team McLaren built 1972 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi today’s featured car the McLaren M23 chassis M23/5.

At the season opening Argetinian Grand Prix Emerson qualified a a promising 3rd on the grid but finished a disappointing 10th, while his team mate Denny Hulme qualified only 10th but won the race.

01 McLaren M23_1213sc

Next there were championship and non championship races in Brazil and Emerson won them both starting from pole and 2nd on the grid respectively.

Having failed to score in South Africa and finished 3rd in Spain all driving M23/5 Emerson then won the Belgian Grand Prix in the same car and took the lead in the points standings for the first time during the 1974 season.

McLaren M23, Emerson Fittipaldi, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Emerson held the championship lead for the next four races until the 1974 French Grand Prix which was won by Ronnie Peterson driving a Lotus 72, retrieved from the Ark, ahead of the resurgent Ferrari 312 B3’s driven by Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni who both displaced Emerson at the top of the table.

Emerson raced #M23/5 for the last time at the French Grand Prix where he started 5th but retired.

McLaren M23, Emerson Fittipaldi, Goodwood Festival of Speed

After the 1974 German Grand Prix, won by Clay Regazzoni Emerson had dropped to fourth in the standings behind Clay, Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda.

Denny Hulme started the 1974 German Grand Prix in chassis #M23/6 but crashed into the back of team mate Emerson on thegrid of the opening lap which left Denny no option but to abandon the car and Emerson no option but to try and complete the opening 14 mile lap with damaged rear suspension.

McLaren M23, Emerson Fittipaldi, Goodwood Festival of Speed

When Denny returned to the pits he jumped into #M23/5 and set off in pursuit of the field, it took the German race officials two laps to realise what Denny had done and disqualify him from what transpired to be #M23/5’s final race appearance.

At the Italian Grand Prix, won by Ronnie in the Lotus, Emerson finished second to take third in the Championship standings, Ronnie who had won three races was fifth in the standings.

McLaren M23, Emerson Fittipaldi, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Emerson then won the Canadian Grand Prix to jointly lead the championship standings with Clay going into the final round of the championship run at Watkins Glen.

Neither championship contenders Clay Regazzoni of Jody Scheckter added to their point’s totals in the United States Grand Prix and so a 4th place finish was enough to secure a second World Drivers Championship title for Emerson and a first World Constructors title for McLaren.

Emerson is seen at the wheel of his favourite McLaren at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed where he described #M23/5 as his ‘favourite’.

Thanks for joining me on this “Emmo’s Favourite” 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 !

Share

English Wheel Master Gomm – Gomm Jaguar Special

Leave a Reply

The Gomm special is an amalgam of 1955 Jaguar XK 140 chassis, engine and running gear with bodywork craftsmanship attributed to a master of the english wheel Maurice Gomm.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

I believe the motor is a 3442 cc / 210 cui double overhead cam Jaguar straight six.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Charles Fripp, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The Maurice Gomm crafted body is said to have once been fitted to an ‘Alta GP chassis’ in these linked 2013 Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting race notes.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

So far the only photo’s I have been able to find of such a vehicle are recent ones of Amy Tomlin’s Alta Jaguar GP with cycle mudguards, if you know which Alta GP chassis the body on today’s featured car was fitted to, please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

While looking for information on the Alta chassis the body work featured here may have been attached to, I stumbled across this fascinating “Bring-A-Trailer” thread showing one of the last 4 unfinished Cunnigham CR3 chassis built with similar if not an identical right hand drive,RHD, body.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The Cunnigham CR3 chassis #5238 was bought separately form the body by Ben Shuckburgh and turned into a continuation Cunningham C4R featured on this link last June. If you know what became of the Cunningham’s body, seen in the Bring-A-Trailer thread please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Charles Fripp, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Former Twyford Moors Classic Cars proprietor Charles Fripp commissioned his former business to fit the body to the XK140 chassis with racing suspension, Charles is seen at the wheel of his Gomm Jaguar Special in these photo’s taken at the Castle Combe Classic in October.

Thanks for joining me on this “English Wheel Master Gomm” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow for a look at Emerson Fittipaldi’s favourite McLaren. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

The Ethiopian Ferrari – Ferrari 500 Mondial #0468MD

Leave a Reply

In 1954 an Italian, Guido Petracchi, took delivery of today’s featured Ferrai 500 Mondial chassis #0468MD in Ethiopia where it was issued with the registration number ‘ER 22289’.

Ferrari 500 Mondial, Rolex Reunion, Laguna Seca

Guido is believed to have raced the car at least once in the 1954 Ethiopian Grand Prix, an event for which no precise date, circuit or even other entrants are known and from which the car is believed to have retired !

Ferrari 500 Mondial, Rolex Reunion, Laguna Seca

While looking for information about the 1954 Ethiopian Grand Prix I stumbled across this linked photo of an open wheel Maserati and what appears to be a shiny #30 Ferrari 500 Mondial which has yet to be confirmed as showing Bigi Cristoforo and Guido Petracchi at the wheel of the respective cars on the Asmara Street Circuit in Eritrea, then part of the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea, in 1954.

In 1970 the #0468MD is said to have been rediscovered by Colin Crabbe and sold to an owner in Penrith in 1972. In 1982 DK Engineering restored #0468MD with new bodywork.

From 1989 to 1997 #0468MD went to Switzerland where it had three owners before being sold to it’s current owner in Medina Washington USA in 1998.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton who took these photographs of #0468MD at last years Rolex Reunion.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Ethiopian Ferrari” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for a look at another Jaguar Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

King Kevin 4 The Happy Nation !

Leave a Reply

Without the wonders of the internet I’d probably have no idea who Kevin Harvick was, around the time he was pulled into NASCAR’s top echelon of Cup racing by Richard Childress, RCR, the mainstream press in the UK had barely registered RCR and NASCAR’s star driver Dale Earnhardt’s passing and showed no interest in the guy Richard would turn to in his hour of need.

Thanks to the likes of Jerry Bonkowski over at Yahoo! Sport I managed to keep in touch with what was going on in Cup competition at the turn of the Millennium.

Chevrolet Impala SS, Harvick, Nurburgring,

In 2008 Jay Busbee at the same august internet enterprise ran a competition in which his readers were asked to fantasise about the future of NASCAR to be in with a chance of winning a number of NASCAR goodies.

My entry above imagined a 24 hour Cup race at the Nurburgring, which won me a “Americans For A Gunk Free Nation” cap signed by none other than Happy Kevin Harvick.

Chevrolet Impala SS, Kevin Harvick, Aaron's 499, Talladega,

The following year I got even luckier thanks to a much missed website called rowdy.com and won a trip to see Kevin race in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega.

The race was best remembered for the wipe out between winner Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards at the finish line, my man Kevin had a torrid time after his own early wipe out dented every panel on his car and his 2009 season was his worst since his semaphore slump in 2002.

On the plus side Kevin did win the 2009 Bud Shootout and in the post race interview uttered the phrase that I would eventually purloin and tweek for the title of this blog in 2010.

Chevrolet Impala SS

Photo Courtesy Kevin Harvicks Twitter feed.

The following season there were rumours that Kevin would switch to Haas Stewart Racing but these came to nought and Kevin bounced back to place 3rd in the Cup standings 3 times over the next four seasons.

At the end of 2011, to show how serious the matter of winning the Cup was, Kevin shut down his championship winning Kevin Harvick Inc Nationwide and Camping World Series Truck teams in his quest to focus on a Cup winning competitive edge.

Chevrolet Impala SS, Kansas, Kevin Harvick

Photo courtesy Kevin Harvick’s Twitter feed.

However despite finishing third in the final Cup standings last year Kevin decided that the switch to Stewart Haas Racing was due and amazingly after scoring 20 top ten finishes Kevin was crowned Sprint Cup Champion after winning his fifth race of the season at Homestead Miami to beat Ryan Newman by just one point.

The following day Kevin tweeted “All I can (do) is thank you to everyone for the support through all the years!! What a year this has been!!! WE WIN!!!”

Having been a Happy fan with a signed hat since 2008, I would like to congratulate Kevin and his SHR crew on their Championship success, thank him for keeping me entertained through thick and thin and wish him and his delightful wife Delana, who allegedly wears the fire suit, along with their son Keelan a relaxing festive break and best wishes for the 2015 season which kicks of on Valentines day with the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona.

Thanks for joining me on this “King Kevin 4 The Happy Nation !” 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 !

Share

Encore – Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

Leave a Reply

Today’s blog takes one final look through the recent Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham.

Porsche 917K, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

It was difficult for sports car fans of a certain age to get passed the main entrance where this Porsche 917 Kurzheck, like the car which opened last Wednesday’s blog some of this one starred in a Steve McQueen film, in this case Le Mans, chassis #013 crashed during filming with David Piper at the wheel during filming and was rebuilt with a fresh chassis #034 to become #034/013. This car went on to win the Daytona 24 Hours with Pedro Rodriguez andJackie Oliver sharing the driving.

Tatra T97, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

The Tatra T97 featured a rear air cooled 4 cylinder boxer engine and influenced the design of the Volkswagen Beetle so much that VW made an out of court settlement with Tatra in 1961. Not copied by the Germans were the elegant Tatra door handles nor rear hinged front. suicide, doors as seen on the 1938 model above.

Commer QX TS3 Mk III, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

If you like engineering novelty you’ll love the 1955 Commer QX TS3 Mk III 7 ton truck, it is powered by a 3.3 litre 200 cui 3 cylinder motor with a pair of horizontally opposed pistons in each cylinder connected to a common crank, oh and it’s a supercharged two stroke diesel an was originally developed by the Germans for a bomber aircraft ! A cross section diagram of how the motor works can be found on this link.

Panther De Ville, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

On a more neo-classical note, but perhaps none the less bizarre, the crystals in the radiator cap of this Panther De Ville are real amethysts.

Aston Martin Vignale, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

Very much a work in progress was this unique 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 with body work by Vignale which I understand originally belonged to the King of Belgium.

Jaguar D-Type, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

Rounding out today’s final visit to this years Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham is this 1956 short nose D-Type Jaguar used by the works supported Ecurie Ecose team. Ron Flockhart won two races at Snetterton and Goodwood with this car chassis XKD 561 and many years later it was used as a road car for nearly a decade by a Lancastrian owner.

Thanks for joining me on this “Encore” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be celebrating Kevin Harvicks Sprint Cup win. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Détails Français – Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

Leave a Reply

Among the 1,700 cars on display at the recent Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham was a wonderful selection of storied French vehicles a hand full details from which are featured below.

Bugatti T37, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

Above the brass tail light above graces the back of the 1926 Bugatti Type 37 driven by Phillipe Auber to victory in the 1927 Picarde Grand Prix.

Peugeot 202 Commerciale, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

This 1940 Peugeot 202 Commerciale was used by a French off license, alcohol retailer, from 1947 to 1991 when it was sold to the present owners family.

Alpine A220, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

In 1968 Alpine and Gordini founders Jean Rédélé and Amédée Gordini concocted a 3 litre / 183 cui V8 with four overhead cams by using two 1500 cc 4 cylinder Renault derived blocks as used in the Alpine A110 and A210 competition cars. The V8 was fitted to the new A220 prototype racing cars of which the one seen here was the second built and the only one later modified and registered for road use with a short tale.

Citroen DS Decopotable, Classic Motor Show NEC,

Last week I looked at a Henri Chapron bodied Delahaye, above is the rear indicator on one of his later, Citroen DS Decopotable’s built in 1969.

Simca Rallye 2 Coupé SRT 77, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

Any US Mopar fan will recognise SRT as standing for Street and Racing Technology, not so many may know that these initials were used by Chrysler Frances Simca brand in the 1970’s for the Simca Racing Team founded in 1972 for entry level competition alongside the successful Chrysler France backed Matra Simca Le Mans programme. In 1977 a Coupe SRT 77 non street legal competition kit was offered for their rear engined Simca Rallye 2 which boasted the power to 110 hp and top speed to over 100 mph.

Citroen Dyane Special, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

Finally above is the interior of a converted Citroen Dyane Special, known as the HJS complete with what appears to be a highly polished aluminium towing hook.

Thanks for joining me on this “Détails Français” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l Psycho On Tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be making a final visit to this years Classic Motor Show. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Maserati Classics – Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

Leave a Reply

This weeks Maserati Monday looks at some of the Maserati’s that appeared at the Classic Motor Show last week.

Maserati 300S, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Registered on the road as a 1960 Maserati 300S the chassis number motor number showing was “750” which I have not been able to identify as any of the original 27 examples of the 300S built by the factory. If you know the story behind this car please chime in below.

Maserati 5000GT, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The headlights on this 1964 Maserati 5000GT remind me of the infinitely less glamorous Citroén Ami for some reason, may be it was a portent of things to come as Citroén took over Maserati in 1968.

Maserati Mexico, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Think of Maserati’s and something racy usually springs to mind, quite a contrast to this 1968 Maserati Mexico.

Maserati Indy, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The Mexico was replaced Maserati Indy in 1968, above a stylish door handle conceived by Giovanni Michelotti who working for Vignale on the Indy body.

Maserati Khamsin, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Powered by the same 4.9 litre 300 cui motor as the last of the Maserati Indys was the 1974 Maserati Khamsin styled by Marcello Gandini at Bertone.

Thanks for joining me for this “Maserati Classics” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some French classics. Ne pas oublier de revenir maintenant !

Share