Monthly Archives: March 2016

Closest Thing To A Vette – Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro

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When Chevrolet revealed it’s Camaro pony car in 1967 it envisaged most would be sold with either Standard, Super Sport SS, or Rallye Sport RS options packages, but to meet the requirements for participation in the SCCA Trans Am series, mandating a maximum engine capacity of 302 cui / 5 litres, a small number of Camaro’s were offered with the Z/28 option package, an option so rare many smaller Chevrolet dealerships did not even know it existed.

Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

For 1968 Chevrolet gave the Z/28 a marketing budget with the strap line “Closest thing to a Corvette, yet” emphasising that that it came “on like a Corvette for a lot less.”

Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The 302 cui V8 with a 4″ bore and 3″ stroke had a compression ratio of 11:1 which when fed by the 4 barrel Holley carburetor with fuel distributed by a tuned aluminium manifold produced 290hp at 5,800 revolutions per minute.

Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Handling was aided by either quick or fast ratio steering racks, multileaf rear springs with bias mounted shocks, 15″ x 16″ wheels with Nylon cord Wide Tread GT high performance tyres and power disc brakes to order.

Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The rear spoiler was an optional extra and the stereo rally stripes were described as having no mechanical function but a great psychological value.

Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

When Car Life tested a Z/28 in 1968 they concluded it was an “easy car to drive very fast”, the ’68 Z/28 seen in these photographs at Goodwood Festival of Speed was first registered in the UK on July 1st 1991.

Thanks for joining me on this “Closest Thing To A Vette” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for FIAT Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Triple London Championship Night – Wimbledon Stadium

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Thanks to a recent fb friendship struck up by Ray Miles in Florida and Rob Hughes in Liverpool I was alerted to the Triple London Championship Night which ran at Wimbledon Stadium couple of weeks ago.

Ford Escort Mk2, Andy Steward, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Thanks to a soccer match in Chelsea I got snarled up in traffic and missed the first heats for the Junior Micra Stock Cars, Superstox and 2.0 Hot Rods, but made it just in time to catch the first heat for the beautifully turned out Pinto powered Classic Hot Rods which featured a great battle for the lead between the #198 Mk2 Ford Escort driven by Andy Steward and the #45 Austin A40 Countryman driven by Craig Boyd which went Andy’s way.

Superstox, London Championship, Wimbledon,

The Superstox action featured a bit more bumping and boring for which the cars are better equipped, unfortunately I arrived too late to get a programme and the only thing I can tell you is that the race was won by John Saunders, who also won the first heat and that the green #454 seen above finished 5th in heat to having finished 4th in Heat 1, if you know who the driver of the #454 is please do not hesitate to chip in below.

Nissan Micra, Samuel Dobbs, Junior Micra Stock Cars, Wimbledon

Samuel Dobbs is seen above on his way to a win in the 2nd heat of the Junior Micra Stock Cars which with all their additional safety equipment and what appeared to be standard suspension have some interesting handling characteristics.

Vauxhall Tigra, Robert Gamble, 2.0 Hot Rod, London Championship, Wimbledon

Robert Gamble seen in his #133 Vauxhall Tigra above held on to win the 2nd Heat for the 2.0 Hot Rod’s from the #71 Citroën Saxo driven by Gordan Alexander.

Barry Lee, Kenny Ireland, Wimbledon Stadium

Four time Hot Road World Champion Barry “#351 Leapy” Lee, and Scottish Saloon Stocks, Superstox & Hot Rods champion Kenny Ireland are seen on a lap of honour above they were joined as guests of honour by 1976 World Champion George Polley and 1980 World Champion Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard.

Ford Anglia, John Bowring, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Craig Boyd retired his Austin early in the 2nd Classic Hot Rods heat, leaving Andy Steward to an easy win once he had battled his way into the lead, the race featured a fantastic race long scrap between the Ford Anglia’s driven by #101 John Bowring, #924 Stuart Wright and #911, seen on the outside, driven by Harry Steward who crossed the finish in 6th, 7th and 8th places respectively.

Nissan Micra, Robbie Bruce, Junior Micra Stock Cars, Wimbledon

Repeating his heat one Junior Micra Stock Cars win in the final was Robbie Bruce seen above three wheeling his way around turn 2 aided by second place finisher #340 Will Blazer.

Citroén Saxo, Gordan Alexander, 2.0 Hot Rod, London Championship, Wimbledon

Gordan Alexander fought his way to the front to claim the 2.0 Hot Rod Final in his #71 Citroën Saxo the #565 driven by Dan Smith and the #39 driven by Rick Parnell who were both also pedaling Citroën Saxo’s.

Ford Escort RS2000 Mk2, Lee Wood, Wimbledon Stadium,

Lee Wood is seen above leading Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard during a demonstration run for the fans in their immaculate replica World Championship winning cars.

Ford Escort Mk2, Andy Steward, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Andy Steward retained his Classic Hot Rods London Championship title despite the best efforts of Craig Boyd in his repaired #45 Austin seen lifting an inside wheel above.

Jason Cooper, Superstox, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Jason Cooper is seen above taking the flag in the Superstox final at the end of an entertaining evening at Wimbledon Stadium which I hope to visit again before it is scheduled to be swallowed up by dreaded property developers.

My thanks to Ray Miles and Rob Hughes for giving me the heads up also to Rob for event programme details, to keep up with news on Classic Hot Rods follow Rob Hughes dedicated fb page linked here, news on Spedeworth events at Wimbledon and their other venues can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this “Triple London Championship Night” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Americana Thursday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Moving To The Suburbs – Peugeot 907

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To celebrate the moving of Peugeot’s 40 year old design center, from La Garenne in the center of Paris to Vélizy in the South Western suburbs of Paris, Peugeots styling chief Gérard Welter and designer Jean-Christophe Bolle-Reddat concieved today’s featured Peugeot 907 Coupé Concept.

Peugeot 907, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The carbon fibre coupé body features front wing / fender vents that hark back to innumerable Ferrari’s from the 250 GT’s to the more modern Maranello.

Peugeot 907, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The 500 hp 6 litre / 366 cui V12 engine is built from two 3 litre / 183 cui V6 engines spliced together with a single new crankshaft and 4 new overhead cams to operate the 48 valves.

Peugeot 907, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The six speed sequential gearbox is mounted in front of the rear axle and all four wheels have double wishbone independent suspension.

Peugeot 907, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

As per late 1950’s Ferrari Testa Rossa the air intakes sit beneath a plastic bubble, and as per contemporary racing practice for front engine cars the exhausts are short with exits behind the front wheels.

Peugeot 907, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Although the 907 was never designed to go into production this car is a completely drivable prototype.

Peugeot 907, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The 907, seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed 10 years after it’s launch at the 2004 Paris Motor Show, is estimated to be able to reach 60 mph from rest in 4 seconds with an estimated top speed of 186 mph.

Thanks for joining me on this “Moving To The Suburbs” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting Wimbledon. Don’t forget to come back now.

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