Tag Archives: Blackwell

Volvo Survivor – Ferrari 750 Monza #0538M

Stovebolt Special – HWM Chevrolet #49 ?

Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry’s please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

On Wednesday when I started today’s blog I thought lovely black car rare make, probably not too much history. As you’ll see below I could not have been more wrong in my assessment of the task ahead.

Hersham and Walton Motors (HWM) acquired an Aston Martin Dealership in 1951 reputedly making it the oldest such franchise.

Racing drivers & HWM owners George Abecassis and John Heath first built a streamlined body on an Alta sports car chassis in 1948.

The first proper HWM’s were also 4 cylinder Alta powered and built for the second tier European open wheel series called Formula 2 in 1950.

This is one of those 1950 open wheel cars allegedly driven by none other than Sir Stirling Moss at the start of his career.

Thanks to information passed on by David McKinney, it appears that this vehicle still fitted with an Alta engine was purchased in 1953 by 20th Century Fox and used in the film ‘The Racers‘ staring Kirk Douglas and Bella Darvi, this film was also known as ‘Such Men Are Dangerous’ in some countries.

During filming the car was heavily damaged, later Tom Carsten purchased all the vehicles from the film, selling most of them on, but keeping the HWM because it had independent suspension and fitting it with a 302cui /4900 cc Chevrolet V8 which was then bored out to 4994 cc / 305 cui by Edelbrock.

The car was also fitted with a quick change rear axle and experimental disc brakes by Hallibrand.

Bill Pollack, seen in this photograph by Carlyle Blackwell, confirmed as having to be at Pebble Beach by Bill himself, is known to have driven the at least twice in 1956 during which time chassis acquired the nome de course ‘Stovebolt Special’.

Bill was a regular winner at events such as Pebble Beach (two times), Golden Gate Park, Reno, Torrey Pines, Stockton, Madera, Willow Springs, Palm Springs, and the Santa Barbara road races, the most famous of which was in an Allard J2 at Pebble Beach from which his book ‘Red Wheels and White Sidewalls‘ takes it’s title.

JB Miltonian informs me that a version of this photo with the driver in an obviously retouched red shirt appeared on the cover of Sports Car Illustrated in September 1956 with the caption “Rounding the last turn at Pebble Beach is Bill Pollack in the latest Carstens bomb, the HWM-Chev V8. A complete breakdown of the car starts on p12. Ektachrome is by Carlyle Blackwell.”

The Stovebolt Special is known to have been raced until at least 1963.

In 1980 John Matherson restored the car which appeared in the Pebble Beach Concours in 2003.

As seen in this photo by Alan Raine most recently the Stovebolt Special has reappeared in the UK driven by Simon Taylor.

According to one source Simon’s car is now listed as having a 5737 cc / 347 cui motor.

There is some disagreement as to the chassis number of the Stovebolt Special with options including #49 – 001 ,49/02 and even FB 102, should Simon Taylor get in touch I’ll ask him and add a post script.

My thanks to Carlyle Blackwell for the photo, Ed and Steve Arnaudin who kindly sent it on to me and TNFers David McKinney, Alan Raine, fnqvmuch, Tim Murray, Roger Lund, Mark Godfrey, JB Miltonian, and Vince H, who helped reveal the story behind the ‘Stovebolt Special’.

Please keep the Arnaudin family in your thoughts and prayers at this time.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Stovebolt Special edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you’ll join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

28 07 12 PS My thanks to Pamela Blackwell who has kindly retrospectively given me permission to post the photo’s her father took.

Nailhead Power – Kurtis Buick 500X #3

West Coast Detailing – Lotus XI

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A couple of weeks ago I looked at Ed Arnaudin’s photo of Floyd Aaskov’s Lotus XI at Thompson CT taken in 1958, where you will find details about the Lotus XI model.

Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry’s please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

Today we are looking Carlyle Blackwell’s photograph of Jack Nethercutt’s Lotus XI at Paramount Ranch in 1956/57.

It would appear that Jacks Lotus XI ran a similar 4 cylinder 1098 cc /67 cui Coventry Climax engine to Floyd Aaskov. One thing that stands out about Jacks car is how amazingly clean it looks, it looks as well detailed in many other photographs I have seen of this vehicle.

Records indicate that Jack Nethercutt started racing in 1956 with a Mercedes Benz 300 SL, oddly records indicate Floyd Aaskov started racing in a similar model 12 months later on the east coast. In 1957 Jack started notching up regular GM class wins on the West Coast and in 1958 he acquired a Ferrari 500 TRC with which he started winning in the 2 litre / 122 cui EM class.

In 1959 Jack upgraded his 500 TR by fitting a 2.5 litre motor in and running in the 152 cui DM class in which he continued his record of accumulating class wins.

For 1960 Jack took delivery of a Ferrari 250 TR 59 with which he again took class wins in the 187 cui S1 division including a third overall in the Sebring 12 Hours. Half way through 1961 Jack swapped his Ferrari for a Lotus 19 and again running in the DM class continued his winning ways until 1964, taking a class win at the ’62 Riverside 6 hours with a one off drive in a Morgan plus 4 along the way.

Records show that Jacks career ended in 1965 driving a Mirage Oldsmobile in the over 5 litre / 305 cui class still carrying the #102 but without much in the way of success.

Jack appears to have settled for running a Mirage Chevrolet for Scooter Patrick in the first Can Am championship in 1967.

A similar photograph by Carlyle Blackwell to photograph above appeared on the cover of Road & Track in March 1957.

The caption read “It was dry and hot at Paramount Ranch, near Los Angeles, the day Carlyle Blackwell shot our March cover – but no hotter than the Lotus Eleven, driven here by its owner, Jack Nethercutt.”

My thanks to Ed Arnaudin who purchased the photograph in the 1950’s and to his son Steve for sending me the scan, thanks also to Jean L and JB Miltonian at the TNF Forum for their help in identifying the track and coming up with the R&T; details.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s West Coast detailed edition of “Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres” and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

28 07 12 PS My thanks to Pamela Blackwell who has kindly retrospectively given me permission to post the photo’s her father took.

Millionaire Mystery – Scuderia Parravano Pt 2 of 2

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Last Ferrari Friday we got a glimpse of a few of Scuderia Parravano’s fabulous Ferrari’s financed by building millionaire Tony Parravano.

Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry’s please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

This week we are looking at Parravano’s 750 Monza chassis number #0538 being driven by an as yet

Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry’s please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

unidentified driver in a studio shot by Carlyle Blackwell.

The 750 Monza took it’s name from the track on which Mike Hawthorn and Umberto Maglioli took a debut victory in 1954, powered by a 250 hp 3 litre / 183 cui version of the four cylinder engine that was also used in the 500 TRC in the 1954 season. The 750 Monza allowed Ferrari to retain the World Sports Car Championship in 1954 but was not strong enough against the onslaught of the Mercedes Benz 300 SLR’s to give Ferrari a third consecutive championship.

Tony Parravano is rumoured to have paid Scaglieti over the odds for the unique body work on this particular vehicle which has a narrower radiator intake and a pronounced hump over the engine compared to a standard 750 Monza.

This unique car was crashed by one of the Caroll Shelby / Gino Munaron crew in the 1955 Targa Florio and does not appear to have been driven to any victories though Richie Ginther took 2nd place at New Smyrna Beach in 1957.

In December 1956 this photograph appeared on the cover of Road & Track magazine with the caption on the inside cover that reads “The closest photographer Carlyle Blackwell could come to a red sleigh for St Nick is this 3.5 litre Ferrari. The scene is a quiet village at Christmas Eve (on the 20th Century Fox’s back lot), but if the kiddies are still awake, it’s not the sound of sleigh bells they’ll be hearing as midnight strikes.”

Ed Arnaudin who purchased a copy of this photograph recently told his son Steve that there were rumours in the 1950’s about Tony Parravano having connections to ‘the mob’ which never gained a foothold in Southern California where Tony lived and worked, these rumours are also present on the internet today. There is however no doubt that Tony might have legitimately made a lot of money from the post WW2 housing boom in California.

In mid 1957 Tony Parravano and an associate were charged with tax evasion by the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) and Tony went on the run attempting to take some of his 11 Ferrari’s and 13 Maserati’s with him. Some of these vehicles were seized in the US, others were sold in Mexico. All have since been accounted for.

#0538 M pictured here only made it as far as a Save On supermarket parking lot in Van Nuys, California where it was auctioned off by the IRS for $3500 to Sydney Coolidge along with a $275 trailer in 1958. The car is known to have been used in competition until at least 1963.

Tony Parravano disappeared for good in April 1960 three days before he was due to appear in court. In January 1964 Tony’s associate paid 5 x $100 dollars in fines for 5 counts on a 27 count indictment and walked away a free man while Tony’s wife settled with the IRS and ended up with most of Tony’s assets.

There is no official record of what became of Tony, who, if he were alive today, would be a still credible 94 years old. He is reported to have been seen in a Rome launderette by a US racing journalist and there are reports on the net that the US Attorney General had a “Parravano Room” full of evidence against Tony though the fact remains his single indictment was on tax evasion charges and his associate had to pay $500 in fines on similar charges.

In 1986 #0538M resurfaced completely unrestored fitted with a Chevrolet V8 in the hands of a Mr Bill Shaker in Leesburg, VA who neither knew of the vehicles identity or it’s value. In 1987 the vehicle acquired a new war wound the day before the Ferrari Club of America National meeting when it went on an unmanned trip down a drive way and hit Mr Shakers daily driver a Volvo.

David Smith #0538’s next owner managed to reunite it with it’s original motor and in 1993 #0538 won the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Richard J Fraser tells his part in the story very well on the Barchetta website here.

If anyone recognises the driver of the car in the photo please chime in below.

My thanks to Ed Arnaudin who purchased a copy of it and to his son Steve who forwarded a scan of the copy to me, my thanks also to all the contributors on various threads at Ferrari Chat and The Nostalgia Forum who have knowingly and unknowingly contributed to today’s blog.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s fugitive edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psyco on tyres’ and that you’ll join me again tomorrow for a look at a Sebring Sprite. Don’t forget to come back now !

28 07 12 PS Many thanks to Pamela Blackwell who has kindly retrospectively given me permission to post the photo’s her father took.

Millionaire Mystery – Scuderia Parravano Pt 1 of 2.

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Today we are looking at the strange case of west coast entrant Antonio Parravano and his team of Ferrari’s which at it’s height was possibly the equal of any on either coast though ultimately less enduring.

Antonio Parravano born in Italy in 1917 became a millionaire building contractor in Los Angeles and built a fabulous racing team of mostly but not exclusively Ferrari’s including three vehicles seen here in a photograph by Carlyle Blackwell.

Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry’s please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

From back to front the vehicles are a 750 Monza #0538 the subject of next weeks Ferrari Friday blog, a 121 LM #0484LM, and a 410S #0592CM.

As I said I will come back to the 750 Monza at the back next week. Starting with the 121 LM #0484 this car started life with the smaller 3.7 litre Ferrari straight six motor and was as such was originally designated a type 118 driven to victory lane by Pierro Taruffi in the Giro di Sicilia, a version of the Targa Florio race, in 1955.

Halfway through 1955 chassis #0484 was the only 118 to be upgraded 121 spec with a 4.4 litre straight six.

Parravano acquired the car in late 1955 and entered it for Carol Shelby in the Oulton Park International that August where Shelby recorded a DNF due to driver injury.

In 1957 Phil Hill drove #0484 to victory at Palm Springs in 1957, the car was also driven by well known open wheel legend Roger Ward under different ownership in 1959.

#0484 is thought to be the only one of the three original 118 chassis thought to have survived ironically of course with a 121 spec motor.

The car closest to camera is a 410 S built for the South American road races that got cancelled due to safety fears. Equiped with Ferrari the largest available 4900 cc / 299 cui V12 engine capable of delivering 380 hp in twin plug format. The vehicle seen here, not one of the two fitted with twin plug heads, was raced into victory lane by Carroll Shelby at Palm Springs in 1956.

Next week we will continue with the case of Antonio Parravano and his team much of which vanished in 1957.

My thanks to Carlyle Blackwell, Ed Arnaudin and his son Steve for respectively taking, purchasing and forwarding today’s magnificent photograph and to GTO Freak, and Giotto at Ferrari Chat for their help identifying this weeks cars and the back ground on Tony Parravano.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s triple wammy Ferrari Friday and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t for get to come back now !

28 07 12 PS My thanks to Pamela Blackwell who has kindly retrospectively given me permission to post the photo’s her father took.

I’m in the wrong business – Ferrari 860 Monza #0604M

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There are photographs and then there are some photographs one could write a book about, today’s photograph by Carlyle Blackwell of then future world champion Phil “I’m in the wrong business” Hill driving a Ferrari 860 Monza to 2nd place overall and first in class at Pebble Beach on the 22nd of April 1956 is without question one of the latter. I’ll do my best to summarise the story here.

Photo Carlyle Blackwell, Publised Courtesy Blackwell Archive, for sales enquiry’s please e-mail infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk and your contact details will be forwarded to the Blackwell Archive.

The Ferrari 860 Monza is perhaps the ultimate expression of mid 1950’s sports cars before the regulations governing such vehicles changed in the aftermath of the tragedy at Le Mans in 1955. Mercedes and Jaguar had withdrawn their factory supported entries from the World Championship Sports Car races entirely, though Jaguar supported successful private entries of Ecurie Ecosse at Le Mans in 1956 and 1957.

Ferrari were the only serious contenders left for the World Sports Car Championship in 1956 and the 860 was fully poised to sweep the board with a 280 hp 3432 cc / 209 cui Lamperdi straight 4 engine.

With the withdrawal of the Mercedes team from all forms of racing no less a free agent than reigning 3 time world champion Juan ” El Maestro ” Fangio became the ‘must have’ free agent of the 1956 season if not all time and Enzo recruited him to replace Ascari who had recently died in an accident.

Ferrari did not take the 860’s to Buenos Aries for the first round of the Championship which let Maserati off the hook. For the Sebring 12 Hours chassis #0604 M pictured here was prepared for Fangio and the suave up and coming man Euginio Castellotti and duly took a comfortable 2 lap victory ahead of a sister 860 Monza.

Just one month later the Sebring winning car had changed ownership and now belonged to John von Neuman, himself a competent driver who would take #0604 to victory lane at Santa Maria later in 1956, and entered his new possession for freshly signed works Ferrari driver Phil Hill at Pebble Beach, where we can see him driving to a class victory behind Carol Shelby in an older modified Ferrari 750 Monza.

This turned out to be the last event run at the Pebble Beach venue, Ernie Macafee’s fatal accident during the race was enough to persuade organisers to seek a safer facility which led to the opening of the Laguna Seca track in 1957.

Chassis #0604 M continued to be raced until 1962 with future works Ferrari driver Richie Ginther being one of many to drive her and Lew Florence being the last to take her to Victory Lane at Shelton in 1959.

Since then #0604 M has become a sought after collectors item with former head of the Renault F1 team Jean Sage counting among it’s owners. In 2006 the vehicle was offered for sale at $3.5 million., it is said to currently reside in Italy.

Ferrari won The World Sports Car Championship in 1956 despite a second defeat at the Nurburgring by Maserati.

For those new to the history of motor racing here is a brief introduction to a hugely popular driver. Phil (no relation to the British two time champion Graham) Hill was born in Miami FL and raised in Santa Barbra, California, dropped out of college to pick up a wrench to work on racing drivers cars before becoming a driver himself.

Phil won his first race a 3 lap even at Carrell Speedway driving an MG TC in July 1949. In 1958 he drove a Maserati 250 F in his first Grand Prix and in the same year sharing a Ferrari with Olivier Gendebien won the Le Mans 24 Hours a feat he repeated with Olivier and Ferrari in 1961 and 1962.

In 1960 Phil won the Italian GP driving a Ferrari becoming the first American to win a Grand Prix in nearly 40 years and the following year he won two Grand Prix on his way to becoming the first US World Grand Prix Drivers Champion. Unfortunately a dispute between Ferrari and Grand Prix racing’s governing bodies meant Phil never got to properly celebrate on home turf in fact arguably Phil never got to compete in all the Grand Prix races in a single season.

In 1967 Phil retired after driving a Chaparral to victory in the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch. He continued working in TV for Road & Track and his own vehicle restoration business Hill & Vaughan until he retired in 1995.

Phil aged 81 succumbed to complications from Parkinsons disease in 2008. He is quoted as saying of his presence on the motor racing circuit, “I’m in the wrong business. I don’t want to beat anybody, I don’t want to be the big hero. I’m a peace-loving man, basically”.

Finally I am reliably informed this photograph made the cover of Road & Track Magazine in September 1956, I have not seen it yet if you have a copy and can scan it please get in touch using the e-mail link on my profile page, I’d love to see it.

My thanks to Ed Arnaudin who purchased this slide, to his son Steve who sent it on, to El Wayne and Miltonian at Ferrari Chat who passed on essential information on the identification of the car, its location, date and details of the publication.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s “I’m in the wrong business” edition of Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres” and that you’ll join me for a look at the Maserati model the Ferrari had to beat to win the 1956 World Sports Car title. Don’t forget to come back now !

28 07 12 PS My thanks to Pamela Blackwell who has kindly retrospectively given me permission to post the photo’s her father took.

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: Blackwell

Volvo Survivor – Ferrari 750 Monza #0538M

Stovebolt Special – HWM Chevrolet #49 ?

Nailhead Power – Kurtis Buick 500X #3

West Coast Detailing – Lotus XI

Millionaire Mystery – Scuderia Parravano Pt 2 of 2

Millionaire Mystery – Scuderia Parravano Pt 1 of 2.

I’m in the wrong business – Ferrari 860 Monza #0604M