Monthly Archives: September 2015

Rally Day – Castle Combe

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A couple of weekends ago I was driving around North East of Bristol when I noticed there seemed to be a lot of Sabaru Impreza’s, Mitsubishi EVO’s, Ford RS’s, the odd Mini, Peugeot 206 and Citroën Xsara headed off towards Castle Combe, not having a lot on that morning I decided to see what was going on and found myself attending the 15th Rally Day at Castle Combe.

FIAT 126 Proto Honda CBR, Waldemar Janecki , Rally Day, Castle Combe

As I arrived there was some sort of open test session going on, one of the stars of which was Waldemar Janecki from Poland in his FIAT 126 Proto Honda CBR, he uses this 600 cc / 36 cui device in the Polish WRT Extreme Cup, for which I found no official web site on the net though there is no question that it exists, with Grzegorz Kwiecień in the co drivers seat.

Prototype, Rob / Dave Skone, Rally Day, Castle Combe

There are not many cars I know absolutely nothing about and after talking to the owner of the ‘Prototype’ above on facebook just now I’m not sure how much the wiser I am now. According to Dave Skone, who competes in the Safari Britpart Cross Country Challenge organised by the AWDC with his son Rob, “the car is a Matserati, aprox 15-16 years old, but was built with a Porsche 911 engine in it. I think it has had about 5 owners including myself ( and Rob my son ) the car was bought about 3 years ago and then rebuilt 2 years ago when we installed a 4.2 v8 supercharged Jag engine.” Obviously a man with a sense of humour, I shall endeavor to find out what the Safari Britpart Cross Country Challenge organised by the All Wheel Drive Club, AWDC, is all about at their next meeting which will be at Walters Arena Glynneath on the 11th of October.

Screamer, Rally Day, Castle Combe

The AWDC will be busy on October the 11th because they will also be organising an AVT, SVT and MOD trials at Old Down near Thorbury, South Glocestershire which is I understand the type of event where one might expect to see the 200 hp 3 litre / 183 cui Honda V6 powered Screamer 2 driven by Lee Pritchard who also built the all wheel drive, all wheel steer vehicle, above, in action.

Subaru Impreza WRX, Richard Knott, Rally Day, Castle Combe

For those not so technically minded who want to have a go at rallying for a minimal cost you could do worse than sign up for a 3 hour rally course at Castle Combe where Richard Knott, youngest winner of the AWMMC Championship aged 19 some years ago, will show you the ropes and analyse your skills at the wheel of the 2002 Group N Spec Subaru Impreza above for the bargain price of £165.

Volkswagen 1200, Bob Beales, Rally Day, Castle Combe

Over the past few years I have come across Bob Beales 1960 Volkswagen 1200 Bertie many times at various show’s but this was the first occasion on which I had seen the car, originally campaigned in 1960 by 1960 and 1961 British Rally Champion Bill Bengry and driven since 1965 in competition by Bob, in action. This car is so well known among the Rally fraternity Scalextric have issued a slot car model of it.

Ari Vatanen, Ford Escort RS100, Rally Day, Castle Combe

Finally star of the day was Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen the 2 twice British Rally Champion, 1981 World Rally Champion, 1983 Safari winner, four time Paris – Dakar winner and twice member of the European Parliament representing a Swedish constituency the first time and a French the second, both while living in France, who drove the same 1975 Mk II Ford Escort RS1800 he drove to win the 1976 British Rally Championship with Peter Bryant, on a couple of demonstration laps.

Thanks for joining me on this “Rally Day” 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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Pur Sang De La Route – Renault R8 Gordini

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When Renault decided to replace it’s rear engine rear wheel drive Dauphine models in 1962 it choose ignore the front engine front wheel drive layout used on the Renault 4 first seen in 1961 and kept the Dauphine layout for the R8 and later more luxurious R10 models designed by Philippe Charbonneaux.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

During the design stage of the R8 it appears there were plans for ALFA Romeo to expand their relationship with Renault to include building a version of this car which never came to fruition, however the unusual styled bonnet / hood with its central crease, shared with the 1960 still born prototype front wheel drive ALFA Romeo tipo 103, is possibly a remnant of the initial co operative intention.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

Novel features for a car of this size at this time were all round disc brakes and the 43hp 1 litre / 61 cui Cléon-Fonte engine featured a sealed for life cooling system first seen on the Renault 4.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

While the R8 was narrower than the Dauphine it replaced the front seats were actually wider than those on it’s predecessor.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

“Le sorcier” Amédé Gordini produced a cross flow cylinder head for the larger 1108cc / 67 cui R8 engine which when fitted with twin Solex carburetors produced 89hp which was fitted to a close ration four speed gearbox for the R8 Gordini model that featured uprated rear suspension and marketed, only in blue with white racing stripes, as a “pur sang de la route / thoroughbred of the road” in 1964, with it’s 110 mph capability it was faster than the contemporary luxury Citroën DS19.

Jean Vinatier, seen at the wheel in the opening scenes of the clip above, with co driver Roger Masson drove an R8 Gordini to victory in the 1964 Tour de Course tarmac rally in Corsica this was followed by two more victories on the same event by Pierre Orsini with Jean-Baptiste Canocini in 1965 and Jean-François Piot with Jean-François Jacob in 1966 completing a hat trick of Tour de Course victories for the model.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

In 1967 the face lifted R8 Gordini featured additional Cibie Oscar driving lights and the engine capacity was increased to 1255 cc / 76 cui which with the cross flow head and twin Weber carburetors produced 99hp.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

More major international Rally successes followed on the Rallye du Maroc won by Robert La Caze
with Raymond Ponnelle in 1967 and Jean-Pierre Nicolas with Jean de Alexandris in 1968, the following year Marc and Hélène Gérenthon won the inaugural Rallye Côte d’Ivoire, while in 1970 Bob Watson with Jim McCauliffe won the five round Australian Rally Championship in their R8 Gordini.

The 1970 example seen in these photographs taken at the recent Castle Combe Rally Day was first registered in the UK in September 2002 and has been seen in the hands of Renault gear box expert David Wheeler on the La Vie En Bleu Prescott Hillclimb.

Thanks for joining me on this “Pur Sang De La Route” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Rally Day tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Unchained – Mercedes Benz W114 / W115

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In 1968 Mercedes Benz launched the midsize W114/W115 series which was to feature an all new chassis, distinguished by it’s semi-trailing rear arms and ball-joint front end suspension that would replaced the low-pivot swing axle and king pin/double wishbone front suspension dating back to 1945, on all new models until the introduction of multi point suspension in the 1980’s.

To keep things simple the W114 series were all powered by six cylinder motors and marketed as 230, 250, and 280 models according to engine size while the W115 series were all powered by four cylinder engines and marketed as 200, 220, 230, and 240 models, the exception being the five cylinder 3 liter / 183 cui OM617 Diesel 300 introduced in 1974 which counts among the W115 series vehicles.

Unchained, Mercedes Benz, W114/W115, Mercedes Benz World, Brooklands

The design was over seen by Chief Engineer Paul Bracq and was available as a 4 door saloon or attractive 2 door pillar less Coupe, a W115 220D pickup was also available in Argentina which had it’s own W114/W115 assembley line for a brief period in the 1970’s.

In 1974 the W114/W115 series received a face lift that included the ribbed tail lights to minimize occlusion of the tail lights with road dirt, US variants included unique sealed beam head lights and a variety of different bumper styles which thanks to the 1974 Department of Transport (DOT) 5mph impact edict grew significantly for the last two years of US spec production from 1974 to 1976.

Unchained, Mercedes Benz, W114/W115, Mercedes Benz World, Brooklands

Over 1.8 million W114/W115 series were manufactured in Germany, South Africa, Portugal, Venezuela and Argentina, the ultra reliable W114 / W115 saloons were and in some places still are, particularly popular among cab drivers.

In 2004 Greek Cabbie Gregorios Sachinidis donated his 1976 240D to the Mercedes-Benz Museum Collection after it had clocked up over 2.8 miles / 4.6 million kms, including 2000 trips from Greece to war torn former Yugoslavia where it served a medical support vehicle, to become the highest mileage Mercedes Benz known to date.

Unchained, Mercedes Benz, W114/W115, Mercedes Benz World, Brooklands

North Carolina born artist Geraldine O. Lloyd rescued the 1975 US spec W114/W115 4 door saloon, seen here at Mercedes World at Brooklands, from the scrap heap in 1994.

Over the next ten years her courage, strength and unbridled will to live helped her transform the car into the artwork “Unchained” as she battled cancer and transformed herself from empty-nester to world renowned artist.

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

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Emergent Red Five – Williams Honda FW10

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1984 saw Williams struggle with the new Honda V6 turbo engine that had plenty of power but a very short power band meaning that it delivered all of it’s power in a sudden burst at the top end of the revolutions per minute (rpm) range rather than a preferable smooth increase in power delivery from the top half of the rpm range, all the same Keke Rosberg managed to win the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix.

Allied to this the old fashioned aluminium honeycomb construction method was no longer the stiffest solution to chassis construction, which McLaren had advanced with it’s Hercules built carbon fiber chassis in 1981.

Williams Honda FW10, Donington Park Museum

For 1985 the Didcot based Williams team built the Patrick Head and Enrique Scalabroni designed FW10 with a Carbon Fiber monocoque, Nigel Mansell was signed up to drive the “Red 5” and join 1983 champion Keke Rosberg and seven years of Saudi Airlines and TAG sponsorship came to an end with Mobil and Cannon joining Denim and ICI as the teams primary sponsors.

For the first third of the 1985 season the team had to make do with the same Honda RA163E engines as in 1984 and their best result was a 4th place for Keke Rosberg in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Williams Honda FW10, Donington Park Museum

For the following Detroit Grand Prix Honda supplied Williams with a completely new RA165E V6 that was not only more powerful, 900hp in race trim, but more importantly delivered it’s power in a more tractable way.

After Nigel used the engine to qualify second to Ayrton Senna, Keke celebrated the new power unit’s arrival with a debut win at Detroit from 5th on the grid and finished second in France where Nigel did not start after a 200 mph crash.

Williams Honda FW10, Donington Park Museum

Reliability was not great over the next few races, but then Honda hit the sweet spot with it’s tuning and Nigel finished 2nd from 7th on the grid in Belgium where Keke finished 4th from 10th.

At Brands Hatch for the European Grand Prix Nigel and Keke were 3rd and 4th on the grid before Nigel, driving a “Red 5” FW10 like the one seen above at Donington Park Museum, went on to score a popular maiden win two spots ahead of Keke, at the next race Keke finished second to Nigel in the South African Grand Prix where the cars started line astern from pole and third place respectively. Nigel and Keke started 2nd and 3rd at the season ending Australian Grand Prix, but only Keke crossed the finish line albeit in first place, on his final start for the Williams team.

Thanks for joining me on this “Emergent Red Five” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyrs” I hope you will join me again for Mercedes Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Worth Travelling 200 miles To Hear – Autumn Classic Castle Combe Preview

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Next Saturday Castle Combe will be marking the 60th Anniversary of it’s one and only International Formula One race that was won by Harry Schell driving a Vanwall with some of the cars that took part in that race present for a fantastic selection of displays, demonstrations and and most importantly races.

The track will also be celebrating the 60th Anniversary since the last in period Formula 500 F3 race was run at the track.

Blue Bird Sunbeam 350hp, Don Wales, Pendine Sands

The National Motor Museum will be bringing along a mouth watering selection of vehicles including Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Blue Bird Sunbeam V12 which 90 years ago became the first car to set a World Land Speed Record of over 150 mph, seen above with his grandson Don Wales at the wheel earlier this year, the NMM will also be bringing along the 1955 Connaught Type B Tony Brooks drove at Castle Combe in 1955 prior to winning the 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix and a 1966 Lotus 49 chassis R3.

Other exhibits and vehicles to look out for will be Nick Mason’s 1957 Maserati 250F, of the type Bristols Horace Gould drove to second place at Castle Combe in 1955, and the Pink Floyd drummers distinctive 1953 Ferrari 250MM.

Gordon Keeble, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe,

Expect to see many motor clubs in attendance with pre 1970’s vehicles, a rare Gordon Keeble is seen on the Bristol Pegasus Motor Clubs stand last year, this year their stand will feature a couple of Abarth’s from Tony Castle Millers Middle Barton Garage.

Owners clubs confirmed this year will represent Alvis, Bristol celebrating 60 years since the marques last 1-2-3 class victory at Le Mans, Gordon Keeble, Lotus, Marcos and Reliant.

Cooper Mk X, Steve Jones, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

60 years after the very last all 500 F3 race run at Castle Combe in period, the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club will again be sponsoring the BAC MSC Challenge Trophy, won last year by Steve Jones driving the #74 Cooper Mk X after a close race with the pursuing George Shackleton driving a slightly older Cooper Mk 8.

Look out for some rare cars to take part in the races like Richard Bishop Miller’s successful in period Revis and other on display only including the locally built 1950 Milli Union and the Swedish built Effly the owners of these cars all have wonderful stores to tell about them.

Volvo 122, Gavin Watson, Oulton Park

New for this year at the Autumn Classic meeting will be the Terry Sanger Trophy for pre 1966 Saloons like the Lotus Cortina of the type the much missed Terry drove back in the day and the Volvo 122 seen above driven Gavin Watson seen at Oulton Park last year.

Terry drove some incredible machinery including a Ford GT40 V8 powered Cortina with outsize wheels and the 1971 Harrier F5000 car which he designed and built, the latter will be present next as a static display next Saturday, other races will be for fifties sports cars, VSCC pre war sports cars, look out for the ever entertaining Patrick Blakeney Edwards in his Fraser Nash, the ever popular Healey Challenge, Formula Junior and Historic Aston Martin’s in which Nick Mason’s daughters Holly and Chloe driving a pair of Aston Martin Ulsters were stars last year.

05-Jaguar D-type_1947sc

The life and times of two time Le Mans winner Ivor Beub will also be celebrated at the event Ivor born in East Ham but later resident from nearby Cheltenham won Le Mans driving Jaguar D types in 1955 with Mike Hawthorn and 1957 with Ron Flockhart, cars present in the ‘Danco Dream Garage’ that Ivor drove will include a 1955 Cooper T39 Bobtail sports car 1959 Cooper T51 formula two car along with some of the cars already mentioned.

Other cars present in the dream garage will include event sponsor Bristol Forklifts Julian Bronson’s Scarab which has been rendered hors d’combat after it’s recent outing at Goodwood Revival, also lookout for Andy Wallace in the The Norman Dewis Trophy race for pre ’66 Jaguars, last year the 1988 Le Mans winner drove a Jaguar D-type, at Oulton Park Andy was seen at the wheel of a rather more pedestrian but equally effective class winning Mk 1.

BRM Type 15, Doug Hill, BRM Day, Bourne,

Finally the piece de resistance of the day, and worth making a 400 mile round trip to hear in my opinion will be the National Motor Museum’s BRM Type 15, the sound of which is quite unlike any other you will hear in motor racing and will be demonstrated on the track where such a machine was last raced in anger in a Formula Libre event at Castle Combe 60 years ago.

Castle Combes charity of the day will be the National Motor Museum Trust’s BRM Preservation Appeal which will go toward’s keeping the Type 15 in full running order.

Full details of the action packed Autumn Classic day can be found on this link where tickets can also be purchased online, for those who want a sneak preview of the racing action there is usually a test day for competitors on the Thursday before the event.

Hope to see you there.

Thanks for joining me on this “Worth Travelling 200 Miles For” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a hot Mercury Convertible. Don’t forget to come back now !

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It Is A Free Camel – Ferrari 500 Superfast #8019SF

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On the 14th of March 1900 a family from Romania with a six year old boy who would later become known as Judge Samuel Simon Leibowitz disembarked from the Kensington in New York City. While still an advocacy lawyer Samuel Leibowitz became one of the most unpopular men in Alabama during the 1930’s for showing the US Supreme Court in Washington that Alabama Courts were denying a defendant, one of the Scottsboro boys accused of rape, the the right to a fair trial which resulted in the eventual release of four of the nine accused and the pardoning of the remainder posthumously in 2013.

During the 1940’s Samuel Leibowitz served as a judge in New York City, who, although a Democrat, was known as a “hanging” judge in favour of capital punishment. Demonstrating his out of the box thinking he once gave a lecture and asked his audience if the man on the logo of a packet of Camel cigarettes was riding the camel or leading it by the halter, debate was heated and opinion was deeply divided, but no one mentioned the fact that there was no man on the Camel logo at all.

Ferrari 500 Supersast, Danville Concours d’Elegance

In 1960 US Ferrari dealer Luigi Chinetti sold the Judge what appears to be the first of at least five Ferrari’s, a 250 GT Cabriolet S2.

Five years later in 1965 the Judge appears to have gone on a Ferrari collecting spree buying a 250 GTS, a 275 GTB 6 carburetor Competizione and possibly the pre-owned 1964 6th Ferrari 500 Superfast chassis #5985SF.

Ferrari 500 Supersast, Danville Concours d’Elegance

The following year The Judge is believed to have sold both the 275 GTB/6C and 500 Superfast on, maybe to make way for today’s Ferrari 500 Superfast chassis #8019SF the 28th of 34 built and the 6th of the 12 series 2’s, which was completed in December 1965 and shown at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1966 before being shipped to Chinetti in the US who sold it to Judge Leibowitz.

It is not known exactly how long the Judge held onto his second 500 Superfast, but by 1976, a former Oklahoma Air National Guard Vietnam Vet who had subsequently worked as a missile analyst for the United States Navy Laboratory in Corona, California before returning to the family wholesale plant nursery in Talequah Oklahoma, evidently took a shine to #8019SF while attending oenology classes at the University of California Davis and bought it from Rick d’Onofrio in Palo Alto.

Ferrari 500 Supersast, Danville Concours d’Elegance

The Vietnam Vet turned wine student Gil Nickel bought the Far Niente Winery in Oakville in 1986, founded the Dolce Winery in 1992 before founding Nickel & Nickel Winery in 2000 with his son Jeremy.

Gil kept today’s featured car until his death aged 64 in 2003 during which time it sporadically appeared at Concours events at Pebble Beach, Monterey and Beverly Hills.

Ferrari 500 Supersast, Danville Concours d’Elegance

Phil White appears to have acquired #8019, apparently unrestored and still in it’s original colour, from the Nickel estate at an unknown date.

#8019SF is seen in these photographs at last years Danville Concours d’Elegance where it was awarded first in the 1961 – 1969 All Other Sports Cars class last year, more recently Geoffrey Horton also saw the 170 mph Ferrari with a five litre / 302 cui V12 at this years Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton as ever for sharing his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “It Is A Free Camel” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the first ever Chevron. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Tiger Or Purring Kitten – Mercury Monterey S-55 Convertible

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In response to the Buick Gran Sport package and Ford’s own Galaxy 500/XL Mercury built three Special line models, the S-22 Comet launched in 1961, the S-33 Meteor and S-55 Monterey such as the one seen here launched in 1962, the latter of which was only available with 2 door hard top or convertible body until 1963.

Mercury Monterey S-55 Convertible , Summer Classics, Easter Compton

The most important feature of the S-55 was the choice of larger engines; 6.4 litre / 390 cui FE V8 which was offered with either 300 or 330 hp and the 6.7 litre / 406 FE aimed squarely at the drag racer with three 2 barrel Holley carburetors that produced 405 hp and 448 ft lbs of torque which enabled the car to accelerate from just 12mph to 120 mph top speed in the floor shifted top gear of the all synchromesh gear box, as one contemporary journalist reported “this is virtually a two gear automobile”.

Mercury Monterey S-55 Convertible , Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Additional performance options included; cam-ground forged aluminum pistons, 15 different gear ratios from 3.00 to 8.83:1, limited slip differential, quick ratio steering for track racing and a list of cc’s for a series of deck clearances (distances from the top of block to top of pistons) added to which was the volume of the space the head gasket occupied, plus a range of cylinder head combustion chamber volumes, all essential information for the dedicated competitor.

Mercury Monterey S-55 Convertible , Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Inside the S-55 featured the aforementioned floor stick shift that replaced the column shift of the more pedestrian Monterey’s, 2 bucket seats replaced the front bench seat, and the doors were fitted with novel for the period combination white and red lights which came on automatically when the doors were opened to both illuminate the door aperture and warn traffic approaching from behind that the door was open.

Mercury Monterey S-55 Convertible , Summer Classics, Easter Compton

The front bucket seats folded flat so that one could stretch ones legs across them from the back seats, the purpose of which escapes me, but might have made camping in the car at night an option on long journey’s.

Mercury Monterey S-55 Convertible , Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Deleted from the S-55 was the air conditioning and power assisted brakes all of which took power away from the motor and thus reduced competitiveness in competition, the S-55’s brakes and suspension were however uprated from the standard Monterey.

Mercury Monterey S-55 Convertible , Summer Classics, Easter Compton

One contemporary 405 hp S-55 test concluded that the vehicle was not far from the ad man’s fantasy of a cross between a tiger and a purring kitten and all one needed to appreciate the ’62 S-55 like the one seen in these photographs at last years Summer Classics at Easter Compton was a fondness for a smooth-operating performance and handling package.

Thanks for joining me on this “Tiger Or Purring Kitten” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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