Tag Archives: Baker

Widengren’s Double Twelve – Maserati 26M

While looking for information about last weeks featured Maserati 8C 3000 I stumbled across some information about the Maserati 26M I featured early on in this run of Maserati Monday posts.

This cars known history starts with an almost unknown Swedish department store heir Henken Widengren, who bought the two seat bodied car with a 100hp Tipo 26C spec supercharged 1078 cc / 65.7 cui 8 cylinder motor.

Maserati 26M, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Henkens best result from three races was a 19th place finish with Richard Oats in the 1931 Double Twelve at Brooklands. After a brief spell during which this car was raced by Lindsey Eccles in 1932 the car found it’s way into the hands of RJW ‘John’ Appleton who embarked on a programme of development that would last until nearly the turn of the millennium.

Appelton almost immediately disposed of the motor and gearbox replacing them with a Riley Nine 4 cylinder motor and ENV pre selector gearbox taken from an MG Magnette.

Maserati 26M, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The shorter motor allowed Appleton to reduce the wheel base and chassis length by a foot which was also reflected in the shortened Maserati bonnet. After fitting a super charger the Maserati Riley with Applton at the wheel immediately won it’s class in the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb and shortly after it’s 2 bearing crankshaft broke.

During the winter of 1935 the Maserati Riley morphed into the Appleton Riley as RJW set about dismantling the frame lightening it and fitting new narrower cross members and a completely new single seat body.

Maserati 26M, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Engine modifications including fitting a 3 bearing crankshaft to the Riley Nine motor brought the power up to 120hp which facilitated two successful seasons competition that included further class victories at Shelsley Walsh, a victory in a short handicap race at Brooklands, new class lap record of the Brooklands ‘Mountain’ circuit and standing start class records over 1 km and 1 mile.

In 1937 a bronze head with special valve gear was fitted and fetlled by AF Ashby while the Zoller supercharger was replaced with an Arnott item running at 27 psi taking the power output up to 160 hp. To help the car stop more effectively larger steel lined Elektron drum were fitted and to improve the handling a new rear suspension with transverse friction dampers was devised.

Maserati 26M, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

With a lighter and slimmer body, increasingly resembling the Mercedes 125 Grand Prix cars, the 130 mph Appleton Special was driven to further success at Brooklands, Chrystal Palace and the Poole Speed Trials up until 1939.

After 1945 Appleton detuned his special, using a Roots supercharger and reduced boost pressure the power output fell to a modest 135hp, enough to win it’s class at Shelsley in 1946.
In 1948 the supercharger drive split and plans were made for the 1931 Maserati beam axles to be replaced with fully independent suspension but the car was sold before the drive was repaired or the suspension fabricated in the early 1950’s.

Maserati 26M, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

From 1963 to 1964 F Baker with help from RJW drove the Appleton Special now fitted with a normally aspirated 1500 cc / 91.5 cui Riley 12/4 motor that had 4 Amal carburetors to facilitate fuel flow.

Ownership then passed to Alan Wragg in the early 1970’s and thence by 1974 to Colin Warrington who fitted a supercharger to the 12/4 motor.

Maserati 26M, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Since 1978 the Appleton Special has belonged to the Majzub family and up until the turn of the millennium Julian Majzub competed with it in VSCC events.

Sometime after the millennium the Appleton Special was taken apart and the shortened 1931 Maserati chassis rails and 1931 axles were combined with other Maserati parts to build the 26M featured today seen at Goodwood Festival Of Speed.

Maserati 26M, Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Widengren’s original Maserati body was of course chopped about by Appleton and is thought to have long since ceased to exist. However the discarded modified Maserati 2 seat body, which T.A.S.O. Mathieson and Mike Oliver had converted for road use by 1947, from the Louwman Museum’s ex Birkin 8C 3000 chassis was acquired from Cameron Miller and is believed to have been fitted to this car.

It should be noted that the Tipo 26C, 26M and 8C 3000 all shared the same basic chassis design with the major differences being the size of the 8 cylinders motors fitted.

Today’s featured car is fitted with a just under 2.8 litre / 170 cui 8 cylinder Maserati motor, over twice the size of the Tipo 26C 1078 cc / 65.7 cui 8 cylinder motor that Henken Widengren was supplied with.

My thanks to all those on various The Nostalgia Forum threads mentioning the Appleton Special who have unwittingly contributed to my understanding of the story behind today’s featured car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Widengren & Appleton” edition of “Gettin’ A Li’l Psycho On Tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some French cars that took part in the recent Chipping Sodbury Classic Run. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Test 7 Gordano – Le Jog

On Saturday afternoon I gathered with a couple of friends from the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club and a few more from the Bristol Motor Club to marshal Test 7 of the 20th Le Jog classic car rally from Lands End to John O’Groats.

Ford Escort TC, Gordano Services, Le Jog

First competitor to arrive at the start area were David Bryan and Ian Humperson in this Escort Twin Cam built up as a replica of a car in which Roger Clark competed in the 1968 RAC Rally. Unfortunately David and Ian declined to take Test 7 as they had a problem with the rear suspension. However they completed the event and won blue ribands in the Touring Trial.

Hennipman/Hennipman, Peugeot 403, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Yellow head lights were from 1939 to 1993 as much a part of French motoring life as Disque Bleu were to the French Café life, so when we saw the car coming above we could be pretty sure it was French and it turned out to be 1960 Peugeot 403 being crewed by Dutchman Pieter and Thijs Hennipman.

Botterill/Marshall, Rover P5B Coupé, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Competitors chose some unlikely if comfortable steeds for this four day event, run in the spirit of pre special stage rallying with plenty of regularity runs, navigation exercises and auto tests as run in the car park at Gordano Services. Above Nigel Botterill and Julian Marshall had one of the more comfortable vehicles in the event in the form of a 1967 Rover P5B Coupé.

Helmbold/Helmbold,  Mercedes Benz 280 TE, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

The Botterill / Marshall may have been equaled for comfort by the Mercedes Benz 280 T, but Helga and Selina Helmbold had far more space in the boot / trunk than the pair in the Rover. Seeing this vehicle compete complete with roof rails made me wonder if I might be able to use my own car in this event at some point in the not too distant future. Helga and Selina beat a Porsche 944 to finish fourth in class G2 for vehicles built post January 1975.

Baker/Baker, Porsche 911 SC, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

The 1978 Martini striped Porsche 911 SC crewed by Micheal and Simon Baker was probably the outright fastest vehicle in the event so it was no surprise to find them winning class G2.

Harris/Joseph, VW Golf GTi, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Simon Harris and Russel Joseph won the G1 class for under 2 litre cars built post January 1975 in their 1983 Volkswagen Golf GTi Mk 1 seen above.

Buzzard/Lyne, ALFA Romeo GTV, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Overall winners of the event were Andrew Buzzard and Rob Lyne seen above in their 1967 ALFA Romeo Giulia Sprint GTV.

Schulze/Krey, Talbot Tagora GLS, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Peter Schulze and Micheal Krey probably had the least likely car on the event, it turns out Talbot Togara’s were used in the French Super Tourisieme series back in the early 1980’s. Peter and Krey won an absolute beginners award for their efforts, if you speak German you can read about their adventure on their Alte Franzosen blog.

Botterill/Marshall, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Not only did Nigel Botterill, left and Julian Marshall, right drive an extremely comfortable car but they cut a fine dash by competing in the finest top and tails as if on their way to a wedding. Nigel and Julian kindly left me their unused meal vouchers which went along way to helping Tim and I thaw out from out marshaling duties.

Sandra Wukovich, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Above Sandra Wukovich catches up with some map reading for the camera’s,

Edelhoff/Wukovich, VW Iltis, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Sandra and Stefanie Edelhoff were competing in this 1979 Volkswagen Iltis a factory classic collection replica of a vehicle used in the Paris Dakar Rally the drive train of which formed the basis of for Audi’s adventure into four wheel drive competition in the early 1980’s.

12 Jaguar XK 120 IMG_5349sc

Once the crew’s had completed their navigation, for the next leg of the event in Wales, they headed off into the rain from whence they came. Above Philip Haslam and Peter Fletcher depart for Wales in their Jaguar XK 120.

Thanks for joining me on this “Test 7 Gordano” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a road going Ford GT40. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Last On Sunday – Singer 9 Special Speed

At the very first Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1923 Maurice Boutmy and France Jérôme Marcandanti covered 89 laps to finish 18th to become the first 1 litre / 61 cui normally aspirated car to finish the race in an Amilcar CV. Remarkably it was not until 1933 that Singer Competition Manager FS Barnes and Alf Langley were to finish the classic endurance race in a similar sized British built car a Singer 9 Sports which completed 140 laps came 13th and last overall and second in class 21 laps behind a French built Tracta driven by Félix Quinault and Pierre Padrault.

Singer 9 Special Speed, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

The achievement of simply finishing the 1933 Le Mans 24 Hour race at an average speed of 49.4 miles per hour was enough to encourage Singer to build a two seat version of the Singer 9 Sports, nominally the Singer 9 Sports was a 4 seater however the car used at Le Mans had a large fuel tank that occupied the space for the rear seats, called the Singer Le Mans. In 1934 Norman Black and J.R.H. Baker finish fifteenth overall 7th in class in a Singer Le Mans covering 163 laps.

Singer 9 Special Speed, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

The popular Singer Le Mans is not to be confused with either the six cylinder 1 1/2 litre Singer Le Mans, or the four Singer Le Mans Replica’s built in 1939 which were out and out 2 seat racing cars. In 1935 a Special Speed version of the Singer Le Mans was introduced, distinguished by the running boards between the front and rear wings and it is this model that is seen here at last years Summer Classics Meeting at Easter Compton.

Singer 9 Special Speed, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Power for the Singer Super Speed comes from a 38 hp 972 cc / 59 cui 4 cylinder overhead cam motor still running on a two bearing crank as did the Singer 8 I looked at last week.

Singer 9 Special Speed, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

This particular car was delivered in December 1935 to HD Acres who a few weeks later used it to compete on the Exeter Trials in January 1936. Acres car can be seen being helped out of a little difficulty on the Simms test by those very nice men from the Automobile Association on this link.

Singer 9 Special Speed, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

By 1939 this Singer 9 Special Speed had passed into the ownership of RJW Appleton who is known to have driven the car on the Lands End Trial the same year. RJW Appleton was responsible for building the Riley powered Maserati called the Appleton Special which achieved and 1100cc / 67 cui standing mile record of 91.3 mph in 1937.

Singer 9 Special Speed, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

The current owner of today’s featured car acquired it as a large box of ‘bits’ and has spent many years returning it to it’s present condition.

Thanks for joining me on this “Last On Sunday” 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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Worlds First 200 mph Race Lap – Dodge Charger Daytona

On Thursday I looked at a car driven by Jerry Grant the first man to lap an open wheeler at an average 200 mph during qualifying at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972 and I was surprised to learn that Buddy Baker recorded the first 200 mph race lap, in today’s featured Grand National Dodge Charger Daytona two years earlier at Talladega.

Dodge Charger Daytona, Marin Sanoma Concours d'Elegance

After NASCAR leveled the playing field by allowing Ford to run four barrel carburetor’s against Dodges 2 barrel carburetor Hemi’s Chrysler hit back by introducing the limited edition Dodge Charger Daytona model in 1969 using a Charger body shell with an aerodynamic nose and high rear wing which aided traction to the rear driven wheels.

Dodge Charger Daytona, Marin Sanoma Concours d'Elegance

The 6980 cc / 426 cui Hemi V8 fitted a 2 barrel carburettor was good for over 475 hp. In 1969 Bobby Isaac won 20 poles and won 17 of 54 Grand National championship races in his Charger Daytona but poor reliability meant he only finished 6th in the championship won by David Pearson with ‘only’ 11 wins. The following year Isaac won the championship with only 11 wins with Richard Petty finishing the championship 4th driving a similar Plymouth Road Runner Superbird with 18 championship wins.

Dodge Charger Daytona, Marin Sanoma Concours d'Elegance

For the 1970 season Cotton Owens entered Buddy Baker in today’s featured Daytona, while leading 101 laps at Talladega Baker recorded the world first 200 mph average race lap speed before a spin forced retirement. Note that baker was not driving a #88 Daytona in the Alabama 500 when he achieved this feat as reported in some sources. Baker later drove this car to victory lane at Darlington where he beat the eventual 1970 Champion Bobby Isaac by an entire lap.

Dodge Charger Daytona, Marin Sanoma Concours d'Elegance

NASCAR took the decision to outlaw all of the “Winged Warriors” at the end of the 1970 which included the Charger Daytona, Plymouth Superbird, Fords Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II.

This car has never been restored, simply kept in immaculate condition during long loan spells Cobo Hall in Detroit and the Darlington Museum.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton who shared today’s photographs which were taken earlier this year at the Marin Sanoma Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this “Worlds First 200 mph Race Lap” 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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