Monthly Archives: May 2015

The Ultimate 25 – Lotus 33 #R10

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The Coventry Climax V8 powered Lotus 33 was developed from the 1963 Championship winning Lotus 25 for the 1964 Formula One season to take advantage of the latest 13 inch diameter broad tread tyres which had been developed by Dunlop.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

Designer Len Terry described the 33 as “stronger, stiffer, lighter, simpler” than the 25 and noted it was “a lot quicker too”.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

After problems with hydrogen embritteld chrome plated suspension had been over come Jim Clark used the Lotus 33 to score a season high 5th in his 4 1964 Lotus 33 starts, after winning 3 1964 Championship races in the older Lotus 25, similarly Walt Hangsen finished 5th in the 1964 US Grand Prix at the wheel of a 33.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

By 1965 Lotus had got it’s act together again and after Jackie Stewart gave today’s featured chassis R10 it debut in the non championship 1964 Rand Grand Prix, where he retired from heat one for which he qualified on pole and finished 1st in heat two after recording fastest lap, team leader Jim Clark took over the car for the 1965 championship opening South African Grand Prix for which he qualified on pole, set fastest lap during the race and won.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

Jim repeated the feat of pole, fastest lap and winning driving R10, seen in these photographs at the Autosport International earlier this year, in the 1st heat of the non champinship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch but understeered, push, off at Bottom Bend while being chased down by Dan Gurney in heat two bringing R10’s in period racing career to a premature end.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

Jim Clark missed the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix opting instead to start and win the 1965 Indianapolis 500 with the Len Terry designed Ford Fairlane powered Lotus 38.

Lotus 33, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham,

On returning to the 1965 Formula One championship trail Jim drove Lotus 33’s to five consecutive victories in Belgium, France, Britain, The Netherlands and Germany which was enough to secure the 1965 World Drivers Championship despite the fact that he posted retirements in the final 3 races of the season !

Jim Clark remains the only man to have won the Indianapolis 500 and the World Drivers Championship in the same season, of the other Indy 500 winners only Graham Hill, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Jacques Villeneuve have also won World Drivers titles.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Ultimate 25” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be taking a break from Maserati Monday’s to bring you an unusual Hot Champ. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Large & Small – Cooper Mk V (T15)

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For 1951 Cooper built the Mark V to compete in “500” Formula 3 events, the Mark 5 has also been given the retrospective Cooper T15 moniker.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Improvements over previous “500” Coopers listed in their contemporary advertisements included a completely redesigned chassis, lighter body with hinged top panels for easy access fore & aft, reduced weight, smaller frontal area and rubber suspended alloy side tanks.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

A Mark 5 chassis could be supplied for £500 without an engine or £582 with a JAP excluding taxes, customers for the Mark 5 included a Mr Bernhard “No Angel” Ecclestone and a semi works team run by Ecurie Richmond with drivers Eric Brandon, who became the inaugural 1951 National Formula 3 Champion and Alan Brown was run alongside the team of works drivers Ken Carter and Bill Whitehouse.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Today’s featured Mark 5 was modified to accommodate the larger frame of works driver “Big” Bill Whitehouse who raced the car in the UK, Italy and Germany during the 1951 season scoring a win at Silverstone and many podium finishes.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The following season it was bought by Lewis “Pop” Lewis-Evans who shared the driving duties, with an emerging talent, his son Stuart who scored wins at Silverstone, Brands Hatch and finally at Chimay in Belgium during the 1952 season.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Over the winter of 1952 ’53 a lowline body work was fitted to the car to capitalise on Stuarts 5′ 4″ frame, this kept the car competitive for 1953 before it found it’s way to Tom Wheatcroft’s hands in 1954.

The car remained in Tom’s Donington Collection until 2014 when the current owner acquired it and restored for racing this season.

Thanks for joining me on this Large & Small edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at Jim Clarks 1965 World Championship winning Lotus 33. Don’t forget to come back now !

03/05/15 PS Yesterday I learned from Doug Nye that Stuart Lewis-Evans was one of the earliest racers to use seat belts, this link shows Stuart wearing what appears to be seat belts of a type designed for use in aircraft at the Crystal Palace meeting in July 1953.

The Lewis-Evans family also had a novel way of carrying their Cooper atop their Land Rover as seen in this link.

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Twin Rocker Shaft – FIAT Abarth 1000TCR

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Between 1955 and 1969 FIAT built 2,695,197 Dante Giacosa designed FIAT 600 models at there Miafiori plant near Turin, further examples were built with a variety of bodies and names at factories in Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Serbia, Spain and Australia.

Supplied initially with a water cooled 4 cylinder inline 633 cc / 38.6 cui motor capable of 59 mph, empty, it was not long before Carlo Abarth set to work building performance parts for the popular Seicento, one thread of Abarths 600 evolutions culminated with the ‘Double Bubble’ FIAT Abarth 750 GT Zagato Coupé complete with 747cc / 45.6 stretched motor that produced 47hp.

FIAT Abarth 1000 TCR, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

By the end of Sceicento production FIAT had offered the model with 767 cc / 46.8 cui and 843 cc / 51.4 cui motors, while Abarth’s final Seicento iteration using the original FIAT 600 shells was the 1000TCR as featured in today’s blog.

1000TCR’s with a 982 cc / 59.9 cui motor that required a front mounted radiator and oil cooler first appeared in 1969, Rob Dijkstra raced his example to victory in August of that year at Zandvoort and continued to be raced until 1976 particularly in the The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

FIAT Abarth 1000 TCR, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Producing 112hp the 1000TCR motor features an Abarth reinforced cast iron block based on the original 600 block rather than the larger factory blocks because the later factory engine blocks made use of a centrifugal oil on the front of the crank which was deemed unsuitable for competition requirements.

Unusually the Abarth’s Radiale 1000TCR cylinder head features separate rocker shafts for the inlet and exhaust valves in the hemispherical combustion chambers, to save weight a magnesium oil sump is used with the exact same oil capacity of the original.

FIAT Abarth 1000 TCR, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The operating range of the TCR’s motor is between 6000 and 8000, said to be ear piercing when sat with in a stripped for racing cockpit, rpm.

Note how the engine cover will never close as it was effectively not only aiding cooling by being propped open, but also acting as an aerodynamic aid.

FIAT Abarth 1000 TCR, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Today’s featured 1000TCR, seen at Race Retro, belongs to long time Seicento fan and Middle Barton Garage proprietor Tony Castle Miller.

It was built originally as a 1000TC race car 1966 and has been continually updated to include the 1000TCR full glassfibre rear wheel arch extensions and the twin rocker shaft Radiale cylinder head first seen in 1969.

Thanks for joining me on this “Twin Rocker Shaft” 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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