Tag Archives: Birkin

Fatal Exhaust – Maserati 8C 3000 #3002

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After Alfieri Maserati’s death in March 1932 the remaining Maserati brothers continued to develop his new 3 litre / 183 cui supercharged straight eight motor. Before the end of 1932 Maserati had fitted a 220hp version of the new motor to an 8C chassis #3001 for Luigi Fagioli to drive in the Czechoslovak Grand Prix at Brno where he finished second to Louis Chiron in his Bugatti T51.

Maserati 8C 3000, Goodwood Festival of Speed

With the financial collapse of Bentley in 1931 the Bentley Boys were struggling to find British built vehicles in which to race. A second Maserati 8C chassis #3002, seen here at Goodwood, was bought by former Bentley Boy and 1928 Le Mans winner Bernard Rubin for fellow Bentley Boy and 1929 Le Mans winner Sir Henry Ralph Stanley ‘Tim’ Birkin to drive in the 1933 season.

Maserati 8C 3000, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Unfortunately ‘Tim’ only got to drive #3002 once in the infamous 1933 Tripoli Grand Prix, a race which is best remembered for a story surrounding a legal syndicate which comprised three lottery ticket holders and three drivers who agreed to divide up various prize monies on offer equally in the event that one or more of the syndicate drivers won, came second, third or any conceivable combination thereof.

Maserati 8C 3000, Berend, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Of course being described by W.O. Bentley to be “the greatest Briton of his time” ‘Tim’ would have nothing to do with the syndicate and intended to do his best to ensure they did not get their result and led the opening four laps of the race. On lap 16 ‘Tim’ pitted which, due to his inexperienced pit team, is said to have cost him more time than his rivals and in particular syndicate members Archi Varzi, who did not need to stop and Tazio Nuvolari who did.

Maserati 8C 3000, Berend, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Some sources say it was during this pit stop that ‘Tim’ accidentally burnt his arm on the exhaust of his car, others say it was during practice earlier in the event, but either way ‘Tim’ continued to finish third, 1 and half minuets, behind Archi and Tazio in that order, the same order to which both are alleged to have agreed on the flip of a coin on the morning of the race.

Maserati 8C 3000, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Tragically the burn ‘Tim’ had suffered from the exhaust turned septic and that in combination with his malarial condition put him in hospital six days after the race and five weeks later Britain lost one of it’s most popular and able drivers.

Maserati 8C 3000, Goodwood Festival of Speed

#3002 was driven in 1934 by Hon. Brian Lewis for Noel Rees at Brooklands where it came second in the International trophy to another Maserati driven by Whitney Straight with both cars sharing the lap record.

Maserati 8C 3000, Berend, Goodwood Festival of Speed

By 1937, following a string of ever less competitive performances with a variety of drivers #3002 was retired only for it have a post ’39-’45 war career, starting in 1946 when first Dudley Froy drove the car in the Easter ’46 VSCC Elstree speed trials.

Maserati 8C 3000, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Next future legendary Aston Martin, Ford GT40 and Gulf Racing manager John Wyer prepared #3002 for T.A.S.O. Mathieson drive in some of the earliest post war French races at Bois du Boulogne, St Cloud, where finished a best 5th and GP du Rousillon, where TASO recorded a 6th place finish.

TASO then started converting the 220hp car for road use and registered her for use on the kings highway, but sold her on in 1947 to Mike Oliver before the job was complete.

Once Mike had finished the conversion to road spec he drove #3002 to a seventh place finish in the ’48 Luton Hoo sprint.
Later in 1948 new owner Squadron Leader John Crampton DFC continued competing with the car at the Prescott and Shelsey hillclimbs along with the Brighton Speed trials and at Goodwood up until 1949.

The car was subsequently rebuilt, still in road going trim, by Alan Southon of the Phoenix Green Garage at Hartley Wintney before spending time in the United States.

Cameron Miller then undertook a restoration of #3002 for Peter Kaus of the Bianco Collection which included replacing the body, the remains of the old one subsequently found their way on to another Maserati which I shall be revisiting next Monday.

The Louwman Museum in the Netherlands now owns #3002 which is seen at Goodwood with Hulsoff Berend at the wheel.

My thanks to FailedJourno at The Nostalgia Forum for pointing out that I confused today’s featured #3002 with the car I shall be revisiting next week.

Thanks for joining me on this “Fatal Exhaust” 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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Recreation Racer – Peterson Supercharged 6.5 litre Road Racer

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Tucked away in deepest Devon Peterson Engineering is a globally respected purveyor of hand made components for vintage Bentley cars.

Bentley Mk VI, Peterson SC Special, Goodwood Revival

The rural business run by Bob Peterson also has a fine reputation for restoring, rebuilding and recreating vintage Bentley Motor Cars.

Bentley Mk VI, Peterson SC Special, Goodwood Revival

Today’s featured Peterson Supercharged 6.5 litre Road Racer is a recreation of the famous methanol burning red Bentley Blower Tim Birkin drove at Brooklands from 1929 to 1932.

Bentley Mk VI, Peterson SC Special, Goodwood Revival

This car like many Petersen Specials relies on a 400 hp 6.5 litre 406.5 cui supercharged 8 cylinder Rolls Royce motor for power in place of the donor cars original 6 cylinder normally aspirated Bentley motor.

Bentley Mk VI, Peterson SC Special, Goodwood Revival

Like last Sunday’s Blue Velvet Special the Peterson Special is built around a Bentley Mk VI chassis in this case one of the last delivered in 1953.

Bentley Mk VI, Peterson SC Special, Goodwood Revival

Along with, Limited Slip Differential (LSD), dual circuit hydraulic disc brakes and fully adjustable suspension the Petersen Supercharged 6.5 litre Road Racer is fitted with Dunlop Racing tyres.

Thanks for joining me on this “Receation Racer” 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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Cubic Inches – Bentley Speed Six #HM2689

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At the weekend I popped up to the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power where several Bentley’s were present that have taken part in Le Mans 24 hour races including today’s featured example chassis #HM2869 which was driven by Sammy Davis and Clive Dunfee in the 1930 race.

Bentley Speed Six, Cholomondeley Pageant Of Power

The Bentley Speed Six was the high performance version of the Bentley 6 1/2 litre first seen in 1926. The 6 1/2 litre was conceived to challenge the Rolls Royce Phantom as a preeminent limousine.

Bentley Speed Six, Cholomondeley Pageant Of Power

Launched in 1928 the Speed Six used the same 24 valve twin cam, twin spark 6,597 cc / 402.6 cui six cylinder motor as the Bentley 6 1/2 litre but tuned to give 160 – 180 hp, up from the standard 147 hp. This motor was considered the jewel in the crown of W.O. Bentley’s portfolio.

Bentley Speed Six, Cholomondeley Pageant Of Power

The Speed Six of Woolf Barnato “Old Number One” is one of a handful of cars to have won the Le Mans 24 hour race twice. In 1929 Barnato shared the driving with “Tim” Birkin leading home three Bentley 4 1/2 litre cars. The following year Baranto and Glen Kidston led home a Speed Six one-two finish with Frank Clement and Richard Watney at the wheel of the second placed car.

Bentley Speed Six, Cholomondeley Pageant Of Power

Driving a Mulliner Saloon bodied Speed Six Barnato also won a bet with his pals that he could arrive at his club in London faster than Le Train Bleu could cover the distance between Cannes on the French Riviera and the cross channel port of Calais in Northern France. With his secretary Dale Burn as relief driver he won the bet of £100 by four mins, but was heavily fined by French authorities for racing on public roads.

Bentley Speed Six, Cholomondeley Pageant Of Power

The Mulliner Saloon Speed Six with which Barnato won the bet is often incorrectly depicted and confused with a Gurney Nutting Sportsman Coupé Speed Six which Barnato named the Blue Train Special to commemorate his feat. The Mulliner Saloon body on the car Barnato and Burn drove the 570 miles from Cannes to London has recently been restored to the original chassis by it’s current owners Bruce and Jolene McCaw, who also own the Barnato’s Gurney Nutting Coupé.

Bentley Speed Six, Cholomondeley Pageant Of Power

Despite proving W.O’s maxim “that there is no substitute for cubic inches” over the 4 1/2 litre super charged Blower Bentley it is the faster but less reliable latter car that is the better known instantly recognisable “icon” of it’s day.

Clive Dunfee crashed #HM2689 out of the 1930 Le Mans 24 hours on laps 22, the month before Le Mans race Clive and Sammy drove the car car to a 2nd place finish in the Brooklands Double Twelve. “Tim” Birkin and Jack Barclay shared #HM2689 at the Brooklands Double Twelve in 1931 but retired with engine failure.

#HM2689 has been owned by Peter Neumark for the last twenty years and he assured me “it is not going anywhere” in the future when I spoke to him on Saturday.

Thanks for joining me on this “Cubic Inches” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the 1978 Le Mans winner. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Successful Perversion & Corruption – 4 1/2 Litre Supercharged “Blower” Bentley #HB 3402

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Bentley Boy Tim Birkin was described by W.O. Bentley to be “the greatest Briton of his time”, despite the fact that W.O Bentley adhered to a dogma of “there is no substitute for cubic inches” while the latter thought that supercharging, as was the norm for Mercedes Benz and many others was the way to go.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

With W.O. Bentley’s disapproval but with the approval majority Bentley share holder Woolf Boranto, Tim Birkin and Mike Couper formed Birkin & Couper Ltd in Welwyn to supercharge the 55 4 1/2 litre Bentley’s required to meet the regulations to enter a team of three such cars at Le Mans for the 24 hour classic in 1930.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

The whole Birkin & Couper enterprise including the three entries at Le Mans was funded by successful horse race breeder and owner Dorothy Paget. W.O. Bentley said of the operation “They would lack in their preparation all the experience we had built up in (our own) racing department over 10 years. I feared the worst and looked forward to their first appearance with anxiety…”.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

W.O. Bentley’s anxiety proved to be correct as the “Blower” Bentley’s proved to be unreliable with a best 2nd place overall and first in class being recorded in the 1929 Tourist Trophy in Ulster with Birkin at the wheel and W.O. Bentley in the passenger seat, the result of a bet which W.O. had accepted.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

The team of three 4 1/2 litre Blower Bentley’s all retired at Le Mans in 1930, the win being secured by a normally aspirated 6 1/2 litre Bentley, as it had been, in 1929 which vindicated W.O. Bentley’s assertion regarding cubic inches and led W.O. to claim “The supercharged 4½ never won a race, suffered a never-ending series of mechanical failures, brought the marque Bentley disrepute and incidentally cost Dorothy Paget a large sum before she decided to withdraw her support in October 1930…”.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

However W.O. spoke too soon because in 1929 “Tiger” Tim Birkin had also persuaded supercharging experts Amehust Villers, Baranto, Paget and Captain Clive Gallop to develop a special track racing car for competition at Brooklands. Chassis #HB 3402 was fitted with a methanol burning four cylinder engine, #SM 3901, was given a special fabric skin body, originally painted blue in 1929.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

The cars one outing at Brooklands 1929 included several mishaps, a loose fuel tank, an oil leak, exhaust pipe disintegration and a subsequent fire. For 1930 this 1 1/2 seater was producing 240 hp, 65 more than a standard Blower, that burnt 1 imperial gallon of fuel every 74 seconds !

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

With a new, fire proof, body designed by Reid A. Railton and built by A.P. Compton & Co of Merton, Tim drove #HB 3402 to victory in the Kent Long Handicap run over just four laps of 2.75 mile circuit. Tim had little good to say about the Brooklands Outer Circuit, thanks to the poor condition of the track which frequently saw cars going airborne with all four wheels well clear of the ground.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

Birkin won two further races driving HB 3402 at Brooklands in 1931 and 1932 and held the outright track record on several occasions, leaving it at 137.58 mph in the 1932 August Brooklands Meeting winning 100 Sovereigns as the car won it’s third race a 3 lapper. By now the car had been painted red as seen here. By comparison pole at Indy that year was won by Lou Moore in the Boyle Valve Special Miller at 117.363 mph.

4 1/2 litre S/C Bentley, Brooklands Double Twelve

W.O. Bentley said of forced induction “to supercharge a Bentley engine was to pervert its design and corrupt its performance”, a comment that was not reflected in # HB 3402’s price earlier this year when the 1 1/2 seater with a blower set another record at Bonham’s fetching UK £ £5,042,000 to become the most expensive Bentley ever bought at auction.

Thanks for joining me on this “Successful Perversion & Corruption” 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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