Monthly Archives: March 2016

Oillife Monitoring System – Chevrolet Camaro V6

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It’s seventh year the fourth generation Camaro’s upgrades were relatively minor the new for ’98 front light clusters were retained and Hugger Orange was added to the paint options.

Chevrolet Camaro V6, Bristol American Car Show, Yate Town FC

Beneath the car the 15.5 gallon metal fuel tanks were replaced with 16.8 gallon plastic items and traction control was now available on V6 models.

Chevrolet Camaro V6, Bristol American Car Show, Yate Town FC

Inside the only difference was the addition of GM’s oil-life monitoring system which manifested itself in the form of an oil change light in the instrument cluster.

Chevrolet Camaro V6, Bristol American Car Show, Yate Town FC

Today’s featured ’99 targa topped Chevrolet Camaro V6 with automatic transmission, seen at the Bristol American Car Show, Yate Town FC, was first registered in the UK on the 19th of January 1999.

Thanks for joining me on this “Oillife Monitoring System” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at a FIAT built in Poland. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Still Friendly Still Great Value – Atwell Wilson Motor Museum

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In 2011 I visited the Atwell Wilson Museum in Calne and found it to be friendly and great value a couple of weeks ago I took the opportunity to visit again and unsurprisingly found Wiltshire’s only Motor Museum to be just as friendly and still great value.

MG Midget, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

Every year the friends of the Museum raffle a classic car, this year your one pound ticket could win you the immaculate 1976 MG Midget 1500 with federal spec bumpers above.

Ford Consul, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

In the days before photocopying and scanning an army of tracers was employed by engineering firms to trace the technical drawings required for just about anything that was made to pattern, Trevlynn “Trev” Hildred joined her father at the Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft works in Coventry at 16 and rose to become Head Tracer at the company in 1960 and remained in the post until technology made here redundant in 1969, above is her 1954 Ford Consul “Connie”.

Austin Mini 5cwt Van, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

In 1997 the Gaydon Motor Museum built this replica of of one of John Coopers Austin Mini 5 cwt Vans for the Frankfurt Motor Show restoring a 1962 van for the purpose with John Coopers full approval and cooperation, the 70th anniversary of Cooper Cars this year will be celebrated at Prescott on July 30th.

Mercury Monarch Ghia, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

Ford introduced the Mercury Monarch in 1975 as an upmarket version of it’s (US) Granda both models being aimed at the downsizing US market in the wake of the early ’70’s oil crises which pushed the price of oil to new high’s, this Ghia version was the top of the range 1978 Monarch though only powered by a mid sized 250 cui 4.1 litre straight six.

Datsun Fairlady 1500, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

The roadster above is believed to be the first Datsun to have ever been imported into the UK, this 1964 85 hp twin carburettor Fairlady 1500 was purchased by Standard Triumph for evaluation purposes and registered by them on the 2nd of April 1965.

Clyno Royale, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

Finally in the space of 9 years Clyno became the third biggest manufacturer of motor cars between 1920 and 1929 when creditors called time on the company, the 1928 Clyno Royale above is powered by a 20hp Coventry Climax engine which powered the ash and fabric body up to speeds of 55 mph.

Further details about the Atwell Wilson Museum can be found on this link.

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

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Discovering The World – Renault Captur Concept

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Following the 2010 Renault DeZir concept, which represented the falling in love stage of life, the Renault Captur concept car, representing the Discovering The World stage of life, was shown to the public at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

Renault Captur, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The design of the mini SUV Captur, seen here at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, was credited to Julio Lozano working under the guidance of Renault’s design chief Laurens Van den Acker.

Renault Captur, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Like the DeZir the Captur features butterfly doors, the carbon fibre body also features a removable roof panel.

Renault Captur, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Nissan’s Juke platform was used as the starting point for the running gear which includes a twin turbocharged 1.6 L dCi “Energy” engine that produces 158hp.

Renault Captur, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Despite it’s all wheel drive appearance only the Captur’s front 22″ wheels are driven, the ‘RX2’ mechanical self-locking differential will transfer the available torque to the driven wheel with the most grip.

Renault Captur, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Performance data suggests a rest to 62mph time of 8 seconds and a top speed of 130mph.

Renault Captur, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

At the 2013 Geneva Motor Show Renault announced it’s Captur compact cross over based on fourth generation Renault Clio running gear would go into production.

Thanks for joining me on this “Discovering The World” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting the Atwell Wilson Museum. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Around The World In Five Years – Mercedes Benz W180 220S

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From 1954 to 1959 it’s second generation 220 models known as the 220a and 220S on the W180 chassis all powered by 2.2 litre / 134 cui six cylinder motors upgraded from the first generation W187 to produce 84hp and 99hp respectively.

The more powerful 220S was introduced in March 1956, a twin carb 105hp engine was introduced the following year, with 4 speed column shift and an optional highly expensive to maintain Hydrak clutch which used micro switches to disengage the clutch, other differences included simplified chrome work with a single piece front bumper.

Mercedes Benz W180 220S, The Little Car Show, Pacific Grove, CA

Today’s featured 220S photographed by Geoffrey Horton at the The Little Car Show, Pacific Grove, CA a couple of years ago was built in 1957 and registered in New Zealand on the 8th of November the same year.

Current owners Fred and Elisabeth Smits from the Netherlands now based in Wellington, New Zealand bought the car in 2003 and drove it over 24,000 miles before embarking on a thorough restoration in 2011.

Mercedes Benz W180 220S, The Little Car Show, Pacific Grove, CA

The body off restoration included replacing every bearing, bush and rubber component, rebuilding the engine which included replacing the complete cylinder head and all of it’s ancillaries along with the cam shaft, pistons, crankshaft, oil and water pumps.

The purpose of the restoration was to prepare the car for a 90,000 mile 5 year drive around the world crossing five continents, all except Antarctica.

Mercedes Benz W180 220S, The Little Car Show, Pacific Grove, CA

After much research the Smits chose to tow a light weight Zambezi Cross-Road tent trailer manufactured by Aart Kok of Heemstede, the Netherlands, to make themselves comfortable on route.

The 220S and the trailer were shipped to the USA in 2014 and at the time of writing they should be driving through South America before sailing to Europe having driven a loop around North America in 2015.

Mercedes Benz W180 220S, The Little Car Show, Pacific Grove, CA

The Smits have set up a website about there travels linked here www.classicstrider.com

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Around The World In Five Years” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at a captivating concept car from Renault. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Michelotti Mini – MG ADO70

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After rejecting the ADO34 and ADO35 projects to put the MG name on a Mini based vehicle in 1966 the conglomerate known as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd since 1968 re visited the idea of building a Mini based MG in 1970.

BMC ADO70, Gaydon Motor Museum

Project code ADO70 also known as the Michelotti Mini seen here is based on a 1275GT chassis and running gear a model which had been introduced in 1969.

BMC ADO70, Gaydon Motor Museum

The only mechanical modification to the car was the fitting of twin exhaust tail pipes.

BMC ADO70, Gaydon Motor Museum

Paul Hughes at the BLMC Longbridge works was responsible for the split Targa top styling and when the drawings were complete another member of the design team Robin Owen drove the new Mini 1275GT with it’s twin tailpipe modification over to Studio Tecnico Carrozzeria G. Michelotti in Turin, Italy

BMC ADO70, Gaydon Motor Museum

For two months Robin oversaw the removal of the original bodywork and it’s replacement with the new design at Michelotti.

BMC ADO70, Gaydon Motor Museum

On returning the Michelotti Mini to the UK it was immediately apparent that the new body was too heavy and that the twin tailpipe modification was insufficient to make for the lost performance, or to warrant putting the car in production with an MG badge.

New safety and emissions legislation in the USA were also responsible for halting any further development of the ADO70.

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

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More Homemade Than Most – Trenberth Vincent

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In 1951 Murray Trenberth set out to design and build today’s featured competition car from his premises in South Australia.

Trenberth Vincent, Kerry Horan, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The 35lb frame was built from 3 inch tubes, with a wheel base of 86″ front track 50″ and rear track 49″.

Trenberth Vincent, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The lower front wishbones were made from square tubing while the top were fabricated from sheet metal, Murray also fabricated his own uprights which are connected to the wishbones by rose joints and the tiny one off rack and pinion steering.

Trenberth Vincent, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The rear swing axle suspension was fabricated from tubes and originally suspended by rubber cut from 6″ by 16″ inner tubes, today bands from truck tarpaulin fasteners are used, Murray incorporated roller bearings into his rear hubs, he was also responsible for devising all of the drive components.

Trenberth Vincent, Kerry Horan, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe,

Murray based the braking system on photograph’s of pre war Mercedes Benz Grand Prix cars which includes four specially cast nickle chrome brake drums with alloy wheel centres, cast alloy brake shoes, dural wheel cylinders and stainless steel pistons, he even made the chromed steel copies of Renault wheel rims that bolt to the brake drums.

Trenberth Vincent, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Adelaide Vincent agent, Sven Kallins was given the responsibility of supplying a new 80hp Vincent Black Lightning V twin engine and gearbox for running in the up to 1 litre / 61 cui class and a Vincent Comet engine was upgraded to 35hp competition Series C Grey Flash spec and coupled with a Norton gearbox for the up to 500cc / 30.5 cui class as seen in these photographs.

Trenberth Vincent, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

All of this hard work paid off, on his debut in the car Murray recorded fastest time of the day at Collingrove Hillclimb in South Australia and went on to win the South Australian Hillclimb championship, finish second in the Australian Hillclimb championship, record the out right lap record at Port Wakefield Circuit in South Australia, finish fifth in the 1955 Australian Grand Prix, 1st in the 1956 Reno Trophy Altona Circuit, Victoria, among 150 race, sprint and hillclimb wins.

Trenberth Vincent, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

In 1960 Australian Speedway Sidecar champion Don Willison bought the Trenberth Vincent and raced her up until his death in 1973, Kerry Horan, seen driving the car in these photographs at Silverstone and Castle Combe, became the Trenberth Vincents sixth owner in 1990.

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Portello Caldo Numero Uno – FIAT Strada Abarth 130TC

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Four months after the introduction of the FIAT Ritmo / Strada 105TC, in May 1981, FIAT upped it’s hot hatch stakes with the left hand drive only Ritmo Abarth 125 TC powered by a 125hp two litre twin cam 8 valve motor with a single carburetor that could reach 62 mph in 8.7 seconds and had a top speed of 120mph.

A second generation Ritmo / Strada was introduced in October 1982 which featured a considerably reworked nose featuring twinned head lights, and the following year a Ritmo / Strada Abarth 130 TC was introduced featuring twin carburetors, when all the hot hatch competitors were using fuel injection, which boosted the power to 130hp and the performance 0-62mph down to 7.8 seconds and top speed to 121mph making the car briefly the hottest hatchback until the arrival of the 137hp 16 valve Golf GTI in 1986.

FIAT Strada Abarth 130TC, Brands Hatch

Today’s featured Abarth 130TC is seen in the paddock at Brands Hatch in September 1985 prior to being raced by Performance Car editor Jesse Crosse in a Uniroyal Production saloon car race.

Earlier in the season the car was raced by Jesse, fellow scribe Jeremy Walton and rally driver Simon, brother of actor Rupert, Everett in the Willhire 24 hour race, it broke two gearboxes when qualifying second in class 15th overall and only made it to the start after the second gearbox change was completed with minuets to spare.

The unfortunate Jesse was an early visitor to the pits for repairs to a broken gear lever and the car retired before the 12 hour mark with a broken half shaft while Simon was at the wheel.

Thanks for joining me on this “Portello Caldo Numero Uno” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the Trenberth Vincent.

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