Monthly Archives: July 2015

Formula One Ferraris – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

In the final look at Ferarri’s at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed today I’ll be looking at the Formula One cars which covered the 15 year period between 1975 and 1990.

Ferrari 641, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

In reverse order, Ferrari managed to lure Alan Prost away from McLaren to join Nigel Mansell and drove the Enrique Scalabroni and Steve nichols designed 641 to five victories, to Nigels one, and second place in the World Drivers and Manufacturers Championship after an alleged rival settled the outcome of the drivers championship by deliberately punting Alain into a gravel trap in the first corner on the opening lap of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Ferrari 126 CK, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Gilles Villeneuve drove the Ferrari 126 CK chassis #052 seen above to two of the most memorable consecutive Grand Prix victories I have ever seen at the 1981 Monaco and Spanish Grand Prix.

Ferrari 312 T5, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

A year earlier Gilles and team mate reigning champion Jody Scheckter struggled with the normally aspirated Ferrari 312 T5, Gilles drove chassis #048 seen above to a sixth place finish in the German Grand Prix which was one of just five points scoring finishes for the team in 1980…

Ferrari 312 T5, Rick Hall, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

… while chassis #042, seen with Rick Hall at the wheel above, was raced twice by Jody and once by Gilles during 1980 and failed to finish on each occasion.

Renault RS10, Ferrari T4, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

One of the highlights of the 1979 season was Gilles epic dice with René Arnoux for 2nd place in the closing stages of the French Grand Prix, Gilles drove the 312 T4 chassis #041 and René the Renault RS10 chassis #RS10/03 both of which are seen above.

Ferrari 312 T, Rob Hall, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Finally in forty years ago Niki Lauda finally delivered the World Drivers and Manufacturers championships, for the first time since 1964, ably backed up by Clay Regazzoni driving the Ferrari 312 T, chassis #024 seen above being driven by Rob Hallwas driven to victory by Clay Regazzoni in the 1975 Italian Grand Prix and on it’s final appearance at the 1976 US Grand Prix West.

Thanks for joining me on this “Formula One Ferraris” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the last of a series of Formula Junior open wheelers. Don’t forget to come back now !

New Jersey Premium – Mercury Montclair

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Mercury showed it’s XM-800 concept car designed by John Najjar to the public for the first time at the 1954 Chicago Auto Show and although the advanced design was said to be engineered to go into production it never did.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

However styling queue’s from the XM-800 including the hooded headlights did get adopted by the all new for 1955 first generation full size Mercury Montclair.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

The premium Montclair range was only built in 4 door sedan / saloon, 2 door Coupé and 2 door Convertible form.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

Power for the Montclair came from a 4.78 litre / 292 overhead valve V8, first seen in 1954, with dual exhausts, producing 198hp which was delivered to the rear wheels through a Merc-O-Matic transmission, note the motor on today’s featured 1955 example is not the original.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

The Merc-O-Matic featured push button selection of the gears with the neutral button also acting as a starter button for the motor according to Floyd Clymer reporting in “Popular Mechanics“.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

A hard top Montclair was shown to be capable of reaching 60 mph from rest in a more than respectable for the period 12.8 seconds.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

Options offered with the Montclair included power windows, four-way power seat, and factory fitted air conditioning.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

By 1957 the Montclair could be ordered with a 290 hp 6 liter / 368 cui Lincoln Y-Block V8 that also powered the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser that replaced Montclair at the top of the Mercury premium tree.

Mercury Montclair, Summer Classics, Easter Compton,

Adding the Montclair to the Mercury range boosted Mercury sales in 1955 by 27% over the previous year to a marque high of 330,000 units, a number that would not be reached again until the 1960’s.

It is believed that the Montclair takes it’s name from a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, in 1955 John Najjar’s Lincoln Futura concept was shown to the public and that vehicle went on to become to find fame in the 1960’s in much modified form as the Batmobile in the TV series staring Adam West as the capped crusader.

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

Thrills ‘n’ Spills – Chateau Impney Hill Climb

A couple of weeks ago the Hill Climb at Chateau Impney which ran from 1957 to 1967 was revived by the Hagley and District Light Car Club attracting over 200 Edwardian, veteran, vintage and classic entries which ran over an exciting course that was nearly doubled in length from the original 550 yards to 967.8 yards, just over 1/2 a mile.

FIAT S76, Duncan Pittaway, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Stars on the hill included Duncan Pittaway’s stupendous flame belching FIAT S76 which proved an entertaining handful on the narrow winding course with it’s low revving 28.5 litre / 1,739 cui Goliath of an engine and spindly pram like wheels, Duncan was classified 197th overall and 13th in the Edwardian and Veteran class.

Bugatti Type 35B, Chris Hudson, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Cocking a front wheel going into Raven’s Nest above is the Type 35B Bugatti driven by Chris Hudson which was classified 72nd overall and 12th in the Pre 1940 up to 3 litre / 183 cui class which was won by…

ERA R4A, James Baxter, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

… James Baxter, who was classified 6th overall, seen above kicking up the verge driving Mac Hulbert’s ERA R4D.

AC Ace Ruddspeed, Steve Gray, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Steve Gray’s 1954 AC Ace Ruddspeed was on track just as an otherwise light spot of rain turned nasty, Steve’s afternoon time was 174th fastest overall of the day, 13th in class.

Mogan RIP Special, Charlie Martin, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Charlie Martin can always be relied upon to display thrilling sideways driving skills driving the Morgan RIP Special, on this occasion he was classified 37th overall and 2nd in the up to 1500 cc Pre 1940 racing car class to Paddins Dowling driving the ERA R10B.

Grannie, Gary Clare, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Gary Clare, who was classified 2nd in the Pre 1940 up to 1100cc racing car class and 91st overall, went one better than Charlie by managing to lift the inside rear wheel of “Grannie” exiting Raven’s Nest.

Frazer Nash TT Replica, Chris Batty, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Front wheel lifter Chris Batty, 110th overall and 4th in the over 1500cc Pre 1940 sports cars class, is seen above exiting the roundabout in his 1930 Fraser Nash TT Replica.

de Dietrich, Richard Scaldwell, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Richard Scaldwell, who regular readers may remember built the V8 powered GN JAP, used this event to debut his newly restored 1909 16.5 litre / 1006 cui de Dietrch which was classified 162nd overall and 4th in the Edwardian and Veteran class.

Napier Bentley, Chris Williams, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

King of the burn out’s at Impney was Chris Williams in his Napier Bentley which was classified 131st overall and 5th in the Pre 1940 racing cars over 3 litre / 183 cui class.

Kurtis Kraft KK 500G, Fred Harper, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Another car probably not best suited to the discipline of Hill Climbing was Fred Harper’s Kurtis Kraft KK500G designed to run on the wide open space of Indianapolis, above Fred appears to have remembered a bit too late that he and his 1957 Indy Roadster have a roundabout to negotiate, relying on his earlier morning time Fred was classified 5th in the pre 1961 over 1500 cc class and 128th overall …

Sunbeam Rapier Series III, George Shackleton, Chateau Impney Hill

… one spot overall ahead of George Shackleton seen drifting his 1960 Sunbeam Series III on his way to a 10th place finish in the pre 1968 production saloon car class.

Lotus 20/22, Jack Woodhouse, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Local man from Bromsgrove and first time hill climber Jack Woodhouse is seen above setting fastest time of the day in his 1962 Lotus 20/22 Formula Junior car, the Woodhouse family had cause for a double celebration as Jack’s Dad Mark won the Pre 1961 up to 1500 cc class driving an Elva 100 Formula Junior car.

Plans for next years event at Chateau Impney are well underway, and if you have never been to a Hill Climb before this one should certainly keep you entertained.

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

Almost Factory Catalogued Convertible – Citroën DS20 Cabriolet d’Usine

From 1961 Citroën commissioned Henri Chapron to build the DS19 Usine (factory) Convertible’s to order for distribution through the Citroën dealer network.

Citroën DS20 Cabriolet d'Usine, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The Usine unlike the earlier Chapron devised La Croisette Decapotable was based on Flaminio Bertoni’s drawings for a DS Cabriolet.

Citroën DS20 Cabriolet d'Usine, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

As might be expected from the most expensive model in the DS range the Cabriolet d’Usine was kept up to date with all the latest DS face lifts which in 1968 included a reworked nose by Robert Opron who would go on to style on the Citorën SM and CX models.

Citroën DS20 Cabriolet d'Usine, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The DS third face lift by Opron included a pair of headlights in the front wing/fender cluster that swiveled up to 80° with the steering to improve the drivers vision when cornering.

Citroën DS20 Cabriolet d'Usine, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The swiveling headlight feature was pioneered on the 1935 Tatra T77a and copied by the 1948 MY Tucker 48, which never went into full scale production, both of which had a third central headlight that swiveled with the steering.

Citroën DS20 Cabriolet d'Usine, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

This car is officially registered as having been built in 1969 when just 47 DS21 variants, with the original DS type hydraulically operated transmission and DS21 M with conventional manual clutch operated transmission were built.

Citroën DS20 Cabriolet d'Usine, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

With a motor officially registered as 1985cc / 121 cui this model would be a DS20 Cabriolet d’Usine meaning either a clerical error as by 1969 only DS21 Cabriolet d’Usine’s with 2,175cc / 132 cui motors were built or this vehicle is no longer powered by it’s original motor, there never having been a factory catalogued DS20 Cabriolet d’Usine so far as I know.

Thanks for joining me on this “Almost Factory Catalogued Convertible” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting the revival of the Chateau Impney Hill Climb. Don’t forget to come back now !

Going Places In Style – Marcos Mantis

The first Marcos Mantis better known as the Mantis XP was a radical marine ply racer that raced once in 1968 before being sold to an American client, the second Mantis iteration today’s featured 2+2 Mantis M70 was launched in 1970 and remained in production until 1972 when the company was liquidated, in 1997 a third iteration 2 seat Mantis was launched as a road car and later spec racer.

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

Styling of the Mantis was by Denis Adams and Jem Marsh while ex Lotus engineer Brian Cunnington was responsible for the chassis, made from square section tubular steel, and production engineering.

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

The Mantis was initially offered as a complete vehicle with a Triumph 2.5 PI straight six motor and 4 speed Triumph gearbox driving an axle from the Ford Capri parts bin.

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

The promotional brochure for the Mantis highlighted the models all round visibility, handling and “the boot, with a capacity of 10 cubic feet, makes the Mantis ideal for the man who is going places and wants to travel in style.”

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

In all 32 Mantis models were built before Marcos was liquidated in 1972, some of the later examples were supplied in kit form at 5/6ths of the price of the complete car.

In the mid 80’s Autotune who had acquired the moulds and manufacturing rights to the Mantis recommenced production of the model, as a kit car requiring a Ford Cortina Mk II or Mk III donor car, which was renamed as the Autotune Mirage.

Today’s featured 1971 Mantis seen at Silverstone Classic several years ago is described by one of it’s owners as “The one Jem Marsh had with the Rover 3500 V8 EFI lump.”

Thanks for joining me on this “Going Places In Style” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another “Goddess”. Don’t forget to come back now !

À Vendre – Shadow Matra DN7 #DN7/1A

Like the story À Vendre by French author Guy de Maupassant, published in 1885 the story of the Shadow DN7 is short.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

While looking for an advantage over his fellow Cosworth DFV powered Formula One powered competitors Shadow owner Don Nichols came to an agreement with Matra to run a new 500hp development of their V12 which had won Le Mans three years running from 1972 – ’74.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Matra had unsuccessfully run variants of the same V12 in 1968 and from 1970 to ’71 scoring a best 2nd place finish in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix when Jean Pierre Beltoise finished second behind the Ford DFV powered Matra chassis driven by Jackie Stewart.

Shadow DN7, Grant Beath, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Shadow DN7 is similar to the 1975 Cosworth DFV powered Shadow DN5 designed by Tony Southgate, but has a larger fuel capacity and a different arrangement for the larger side mounted radiators.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Shadow DN7 was entered for former Matra sports car driver Jean Pierre Jarier alongside the regular marginally less powerful but lighter DFV powered Shadow DN5 driven by Tom Pryce in the 1975 Austrian and Italian Grand Prix, both circuits for which put a premium on out right power over handling.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

On both occasions “Jumper” Jarier out qualified Tom, but on both occasions he also retired with fuel system issues, while Tom went on to finish a team season high third in Austria and 6th in Italy.

Shadow DN7, Grant Beath, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Having proved the potential of the V12, but also failing to really impress, the DN7 was never to race again, Matra deciding to supply the fledgling Ligier team with it’s V12 for the 1976 season.

Don was sent one of the three Matra MS 73 engines built for the 1975 season so that he could display the car as complete, but it had a whole in it so that it could not run.

Current owner Grant Beath bought the DN7 from Don at the beginning of the decade and after failing to find one of the two complete MS 73 motors had his damaged one returned to running order in France.

Like the house that is the subject of the short story by Guy de Maupassant it turns out that the subject of this story is for sale, if you are in the market for a one off formula one car that makes the sweetest of V12 sounds then you can leave a message below or you can get in touch with Bill Harding or Rick Hall at Hall & Hall whose contact details can be found on this link.

Usual disclaimers apply.

Thanks for joining me on this “À Vendre” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 2+2 Marcos. Don’t forget to come back now !

Zweitakt Dreizylinder – Mitter DKW

Born to a family expelled from his birth place, Krásná Lípa in Czechoslovakia, Gerhard Mitter grew up in Stuttgart and trained as a mechanic.

Mitter, Rudolf Ernst, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone,

To finance his racing activities Gerhard sold DKW three cylinder two stroke engines to his fellow Formula Junior competitors.

Mitter, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone,

The related Wartburg and unrelated Saab 3 cylinder 2 stroke motors were also campaigned in Formula Junior.

Mitter, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone,

From what I have been able to establish Gerhard built his first DKW powered Formula Junior car in 1959 racing it to at least one third place finish, at the Eifelrennen meeting on the Nürburgring in July 1959.

Mitter, Rudolf Ernst, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone,

It would appear Gerhard sold this car to Herbert Ott for the 1960 season and built today’s featured DKW powered car for himself.

Mitter, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone,

From the data available it would appear Gerhard drove his Mitter (60) DKW to wins at Rottach-Egern and Berchtesgaden (Hill Climb) before switching to a rear engined DKW powered Lotus 18 with which he won the hill climbs at Freiburg, Deggendorf and Pirmasens to secure the 1960 German Formula Junior championship.

Mitter, Rudolf Ernst, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone,

Gerhard went on to win three consecutive European Hill Climb Championships driving for Porsche from 1966 – ’68 he also drove a Porsche with Udo Schütz to win the 1969 Targa Florio, three months later he was killed at the wheel of a Formula 2 BMW during practice for the German Grand Prix.

Rudolf Ernst is seen in these photo’s at the wheel of the #93 Mitter DKW at last years VSCC Spring Start meeting at Silverstone.

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