Tag Archives: Baur

Narrow Gauge Thunderbird – Auto Union 1000 Sp Coupé

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At the same time the Auto Union 1000 S models were launched in 1958 Auto Union launched a sports car based on the same chassis known as the 1000 Sp.

Auto Union 1000 Sp, Malta Classic Car Collection, Qwara

The new 1000 Sp bore a striking resemblance to the 1955 Ford Thunderbird and was soon known as the schmalspur Thunderbird, translated literally “narrow gauge Thunderbird” but usually known in the UK as the Baby Thunderbird.

Auto Union 1000 Sp, Malta Classic Car Collection, Qwara

The coachwork available as a hard top from 1958, or soft top from 1961, was by Baur in Stuttgart who are probably best known for their BMW conversions.

Auto Union 1000 Sp, Malta Classic Car Collection, Qwara

Power for the 1000 Sp 2 stroke 3 cylinder motor was up from the original 44 hp of the 1000 S models to 55 hp which gave the 1000 Sp a top speed of 87 mph, 7 mph than its lesser powered siblings.

Auto Union 1000 Sp, Malta Classic Car Collection, Qwara

Note the fashionable fifties column shift, not as fast as a stick shift but has the benefit of allowing your better half to snuggle up next to you with out interruptions for gear changes. Although the 1000 Sp’s were lower than the 1000 S models they were not significantly lighter.

Auto Union 1000 Sp, Malta Classic Car Collection, Qwara

From 1958 to 1965 5000 of the hard top Auto Union 1000 Sp’s were built. Today’s featured vehicle is seen in the Malta Classic Car Collection in Qwara.

Thanks for joining me on this Narrow Gauge Tunderbird edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, Don’t forget to come back now !

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500lb Competition Diet – Porsche 911 R Replica

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In 1967 Porsche put it’s 911 model on a competition diet to bring the weight down by 230 kgs / 500 lbs to 810 kgs / 1786 lbs to produce a new model the 911 R.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

A limited run of 4 factory cars and 19 customer 911 Rs were built by Baur at their body shop in Stuttgart with fibreglass paneled doors, bonnet / hood and boot / trunk lid. Additional weight saving was achieved by using plastic door hinges and bumpers.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The standard interior was completely deleted in favour of the bare essentials needed for racing or rallying competition, the lightweight side windows were louvred at the rear.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Power from the flat six motor was raised from the original type 901 130hp to 210 hp using the type 901/22 motor from the 906 Carrera or 230 hp from the four cam type 901/21 motor.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Homologation for the GT class required a minimum of 500 identical vehicles to be built, so with only 24 cars completed the 911 R was forced to run in the prototype class against the likes of mighty Ford Mark IV’s and Ferrari P4s which both had motors more than double the size of the 911 R’s 2 litre / 122 cui flat 6.

As a consequence notable results were hard to come by although the 911 R did score two outright wins the first in the 1967 when Hans Hermann, Jochen Neerspach and Vic Elford shared chassis #3, fitted with a 4 cam motor and Sportmatic transmission, to win the 84 hour Marathon de la Route at the Nurburgring.

Tour de France, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The second significant 911 R victory came in 1969 when Gérard Larrousse & Maurice Gélin won the 1969 Tour de France beating the Chevrolet Corvette driven by Henri Greder and André Vigneron as seen in the black and white photo seen above in a 1970 advertisement for Dunlop tyres.

Today’s featured car seen at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed is a replica 911 R that started life as a far more humble 1967 4 cylinder Porsche 912, according to the blurb in the windscreen this car took over 1200 hours to complete.

Thanks for joining me on this “500lb Competition Diet” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a couple of Porsche 912s.

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