Tag Archives: Climb

The Road Racer Dream – Chapman Mercury III

Sheffield auto electrician Phil Chapman dreamed of owning a car he could drive on the road and race at weekends. Short of the necessary brass to buy a vehicle to fit his needs, but blessed with the necessary curiosity, common sense and initiative, he taught himself how to build his first special based on a 1930’s Triumph chassis with Mercury V8 power in a corrugated iron shed in the late 1940’s.

Chapman Mercury III, Oliver Tomlin, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

In 1952 he put the engine into a space frame of his own design known as the Chapman Mercury II and four years later dismantled it to build a second space frame, drawn out in the time honoured way with chalk on his workshop floor, the Chapman Mercury III seen in these photographs.

Chapman Mercury III, Oliver Tomlin, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

After making the molds for the glass fibre body Phil campaigned the car successfully into the early 1960’s including at the original Chateau Impney Hill Climb where the car is seen here driven by Phil’s grand son Oliver Tomlin.

Chapman Mercury III, Oliver Tomlin, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Phil sold CM III to make way for the Chapman Mercury IV which featured an all wheel drive system of his own devising, this car proved problematic but was sold on when Phil temporarily gave up motorsport in favour of gliding.

Chapman Mercury III, Oliver Tomlin, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

In the 1970’s Phil took the opportunity to buy the Chapman Mercury III back as a retirement project and after restoring the car he went on to compete in her again with his daughter Sandra, now Tomlin, who went on to claim the ladies records at Wiscombe Park, Gurston Down, Prescott, Shelsley Walsh, Loton Park and Harewood hill climbs in more powerful open wheel vehicles.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Road Racer Dream” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Out Of Obscurity – Elva FJ 100

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In 1959 Frank Nichols hitherto sports racing car manufacturer Elva turned it’s attention to building single seaters for the emerging Formula Junior Championship.

Elva 100, Mark Woodhouse, Chateau Impney Hill Climb,

Their first single seater model was the Elva FJ 100, like the one seen driven by Mark Woodhouse at the recent Chateau Impney Hill Climb in these photographs.

Elva 100, Mark Woodhouse, Chateau Impney Hill Climb,

Victories for Bill de Selincourt in his British Motor Corporation ‘A-Series’ example and Peter Arundell in his DKW, supplied by Gerhard Mitter, powered example saw a flood of orders for the 1960 season.

Elva 100, Mark Woodhouse, Chateau Impney Hill Climb,

However by then the rear engined Lotus 18 and Cooper T52 were emerging as the superior machines leaving Jim Hall at Sebring and Roger Loyer at Montlhéry as the only winners for the marque in their DKW powered examples.

Elva 100, Mark Woodhouse, Chateau Impney Hill Climb,

Mark Woodhouse’s Elva was built in 1960 and spent it’s early life in relative obscurity in the United States. Since returning to the UK in the 1970’s Mark Woodhouse has driven the car to four championship successes in the front engined class and winning the outright Historic Formula Junior Championship with this car in 1999 as did his son Jack in 2009.

Thanks for joining me on this “Out Of Obscurity” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Stanley-BRM. Don’t forget to come back now !

Thrills ‘n’ Spills – Chateau Impney Hill Climb

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A couple of weeks ago the Hill Climb at Chateau Impney which ran from 1957 to 1967 was revived by the Hagley and District Light Car Club attracting over 200 Edwardian, veteran, vintage and classic entries which ran over an exciting course that was nearly doubled in length from the original 550 yards to 967.8 yards, just over 1/2 a mile.

FIAT S76, Duncan Pittaway, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Stars on the hill included Duncan Pittaway’s stupendous flame belching FIAT S76 which proved an entertaining handful on the narrow winding course with it’s low revving 28.5 litre / 1,739 cui Goliath of an engine and spindly pram like wheels, Duncan was classified 197th overall and 13th in the Edwardian and Veteran class.

Bugatti Type 35B, Chris Hudson, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Cocking a front wheel going into Raven’s Nest above is the Type 35B Bugatti driven by Chris Hudson which was classified 72nd overall and 12th in the Pre 1940 up to 3 litre / 183 cui class which was won by…

ERA R4A, James Baxter, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

… James Baxter, who was classified 6th overall, seen above kicking up the verge driving Mac Hulbert’s ERA R4D.

AC Ace Ruddspeed, Steve Gray, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Steve Gray’s 1954 AC Ace Ruddspeed was on track just as an otherwise light spot of rain turned nasty, Steve’s afternoon time was 174th fastest overall of the day, 13th in class.

Mogan RIP Special, Charlie Martin, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Charlie Martin can always be relied upon to display thrilling sideways driving skills driving the Morgan RIP Special, on this occasion he was classified 37th overall and 2nd in the up to 1500 cc Pre 1940 racing car class to Paddins Dowling driving the ERA R10B.

Grannie, Gary Clare, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Gary Clare, who was classified 2nd in the Pre 1940 up to 1100cc racing car class and 91st overall, went one better than Charlie by managing to lift the inside rear wheel of “Grannie” exiting Raven’s Nest.

Frazer Nash TT Replica, Chris Batty, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Front wheel lifter Chris Batty, 110th overall and 4th in the over 1500cc Pre 1940 sports cars class, is seen above exiting the roundabout in his 1930 Fraser Nash TT Replica.

de Dietrich, Richard Scaldwell, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Richard Scaldwell, who regular readers may remember built the V8 powered GN JAP, used this event to debut his newly restored 1909 16.5 litre / 1006 cui de Dietrch which was classified 162nd overall and 4th in the Edwardian and Veteran class.

Napier Bentley, Chris Williams, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

King of the burn out’s at Impney was Chris Williams in his Napier Bentley which was classified 131st overall and 5th in the Pre 1940 racing cars over 3 litre / 183 cui class.

Kurtis Kraft KK 500G, Fred Harper, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Another car probably not best suited to the discipline of Hill Climbing was Fred Harper’s Kurtis Kraft KK500G designed to run on the wide open space of Indianapolis, above Fred appears to have remembered a bit too late that he and his 1957 Indy Roadster have a roundabout to negotiate, relying on his earlier morning time Fred was classified 5th in the pre 1961 over 1500 cc class and 128th overall …

Sunbeam Rapier Series III, George Shackleton, Chateau Impney Hill

… one spot overall ahead of George Shackleton seen drifting his 1960 Sunbeam Series III on his way to a 10th place finish in the pre 1968 production saloon car class.

Lotus 20/22, Jack Woodhouse, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Local man from Bromsgrove and first time hill climber Jack Woodhouse is seen above setting fastest time of the day in his 1962 Lotus 20/22 Formula Junior car, the Woodhouse family had cause for a double celebration as Jack’s Dad Mark won the Pre 1961 up to 1500 cc class driving an Elva 100 Formula Junior car.

Plans for next years event at Chateau Impney are well underway, and if you have never been to a Hill Climb before this one should certainly keep you entertained.

Thanks for joining me on this “Thrills ‘n’ Spills” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another Mercury. Don’t forget to come back now !

£70 Special – Fairley Mercury

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While working for the Austin Motor Company where he served his apprenticeship from 1932 to 1936 Reg Phillips cut a sober figure in his Austin Ulster as he competed in trials events in period trilby and over coat.

Fairley Mercury, Jim Payne, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

After the war Reg went on to become chairman of Fairley Steel and built a series of frugal competition vehicles, in the spirit of the pre war Shelsley Specials, initially for trials use, a one off Norton powered 500 F3 and then a series of Hill Climb cars including today’s featured Fairley Mercury.

Fairley Mercury, Jim Payne, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Built in 1954 and originally powered by a flathead Ford Reg also referred to this vehicle as the £70 Special in deference to the cost of the components Reg both made and acquired for it.

Fairley Mercury, Jim Payne, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Reg is said to have won some silverware with the car which became the Fairley Mercury in 1955 when the Flathead Ford V8 was replaced with a Mercury V8.

Fairley Mercury, Jim Payne, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Reg replaced the Fairly Mercury first with a 500 F3 Cooper to which he fitted a transversely mounted 4 cylinder Climax that was in turn supercharged. Later Reg replaced the Cooper chassis with one of his own design and manufacture with which he captured fastest time of the day at Shelsley Walsh in August 1960.

Jim Payne is seen at the wheel of the Fairley Mercury at last weekends Chateau Impney Hill Climb.

Thanks for joining me on this “£70 Special” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Never Seen It As Bad As This ! – Prescott Speed Hill Climb

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Britain’s wettest drought in history continued apace this weekend, but I did not let that get in the way of attending 3 very different events in 3 days. I’ll not be blogging them in order for any particular reason but I’ll start with the last one, Prescott Speed Hillclimb which I attended yesterday afternoon, first and post blogs on the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival on Sunday and the Spring Performance Car Action Day at Castle Combe next Monday.

I got to Prescott yesterday afternoon just in time to have a quick £3.00 bacon sarnie and have a quick look around the paddock before making my way to the top of the hill. The last time I saw a March 792 sporting Philip Morris Marlboro colours for Swedish hot shot Eje Elgh, like the one above belonging to Stuart Ridge, was 25th March 1979 at Silverstone.

The two days had much in common it was close to freezing at Silverstone and only 4º C yesterday, at both events it was absolutely tipping with rain but mercifully there are a few more trees at Prescott which gave a vestigal illusion of shelter from the strong Easterly winds. Above Robert Lancaster-Gaye above heads for a over 2000 cc / 122 cui Road Going class win in his Porsche 996 GT3.

Before I left home I checked the weather and there were severe weather and flood warnings for the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside in which Prescott is located. Andrew Russell could not get below 60 seconds in the Modified Series Production class Hillman Imp powered Ginetta G15.

With a 120 mph capability and 0-60 time of 5 seconds the Westfield iRacer is shockingly quick for a vehicle that is barely audible thanks to it’s two 100 hp electric motors which drive each rear wheel. The iRacer was being demonstrated in racing spec which has a 15 minute battery life. 2/3rds of the battery weight can be saved for hill climb events which, in the UK, rarely last more than a minute per run.

Part of the attraction of going to Prescott was the promise of seeing some big brutal cars with plenty of horsepower, nothing quite prepared me for the two Chevrolet Specials and Jagernought Rover which were built for sand racing in the Channel Isles, thats Gurnsey, Jersey and Alderney in the English Channel. Scot Rayson’s Chevrolet Special above used to be Jaguar powered, it still has the Jaguar running gear but is now powered by a 6.3 litre 384 cui Chevy V8. Spare a thought for the Sand Racers who as I write this are headed back across the English Channel in significantly less than calm waters.

One reason today’s blog was posted a little late is that the intelweb will tell you the driver of the car above is Tricia Davis to add to the confusion the programme tells me that the car is a Reynard 913 which it most certainly is not. The programme tells me Tricia did not take part while a Terry Davis did but also in a Reynard. I believe most of the photo’s on the interweb showing this helmet and ascribing it to Tricia are incorrectly labeled and vice versa for Terry Davis. I further believe that Terry has acquired or at the very least borrowed an OMS 25 for the event. My ears were too wrapped up against the weather to discern if this information was disseminated over the Prescott tanoy. Please correct me below if I have that completely wrong !

As I was walking down the hill during the event one marshal quipped that he had never seen the conditions so bad, fortunately this did not stop Wallace Menzies claiming a Race Cars over 2000 cc / 122 cui class victory in the #4 Cosworth powered Tillicoultry Quarries DJ Firestorm, that’s a Firestorm model manufactured by DJ Race Cars. To the left of the #4 DJ Firestorm Lee Adams can be seen telling a journalist….

how he stormed up Prescott in 43.82 seconds to claim fastest time of the day (FTD) in his giant killing up to 1600 cc / 97.6 cui class GWR Raptor Extreme, seen commencing his final run above.

My thanks to the Prescott press office for a hot off the press copy of the unconfirmed results which not only allowed me to share the information here but also warmed my hands up nicely as I walked back to the car.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Never Seen It As Bad As This !’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I shall be looking at continuing the series of blogs on Colin Coppers specials looking at the Kayne Special III. Don’t forget to come back now !

E-Type – Vauxhall 30-98 Velox Tourer

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In 1913 Vauxhall announced their replacement for the Vauxhall D-Type known officially as the 30-98 or E-Type. 13 chassis were built before the Great War of 1914 – 1918, during which period Vauxhall fulfilled orders from the War Department to build the older D-type models for the use of nobility and Generals alike.

Between the cessation of hostilities and 1922 it is thought around 270 further 30-98 E-types were built with 90 hp 4,525 cc / 276 cui four cylinder side valve engines which gave the car when striped down a 100 mph capability. Above Mark Butterworth negotiates the Pardon Hainpin at Prescott in his 1921 model. Unlike the equally fast contemporary Bentleys, Vauxhall 30-98 models only acquired front brakes during the production span of the model.

The 30-98 E type was fitted with an improved 115 hp overhead valve engine in 1922, known as the OE to distinguish it from its older side valve engined siblings. Above Phil Dobbin can be seen lining up his 1924 30-98 OE for the start of a run up the hill at Loton Park.

1924 was the most successful year for the 30/98 E-type when 111 examples were built. Nicola Quartermaine’s 30-98 seen above negotiating the Triangle at Loton Park above comprises an older 1921 pre OE chassis and a 1924 4224 cc / 258 cui OE motor.

Around 60% of all 30-98 E-types, like the 1924 chassis OE 102 driven by Roger Thorpe at Prescott above were exported to Australia, some have since made their way back to the mother land.

Vauxhall 30-98 E-types were available with either 4 seater tourer or 2 seater ‘Wesum’ boat tail body work with a ‘dicky’ (fold out) seat in the boat tail from the factory, alternatively a chassis could be ordered and sent to a coachworks for a bespoke body. Grosvenor Carriage Company for example, part of the Vauxhall dealer Shaw & Kilburn empire, built bodies for Vauxhalls exclusively during the production life of the 30-98. Above Adam Jones drives a 1925 4 seater with a tourer body, similar to all the vehicle bodies featured in today’s post. Note the absence of a drivers door on all of the vehicles featured in today’s post !

The class leading speed and later 4 wheel braking of the 30-98 was not enough to deliver consistent earnings for Vauxhall and in 1925 the company was sold for US$ 2.5 million to General Motors who set about challenging Ford at a lower end of the UK market than Vauxhall had hitherto catered for. Above Dr Nick Bell above drives a 1927 30-98 OE tourer, chassis OE 304, one of the last of the in total 312 OE’s built since 1922.

Thanks for joining me on this E-Type edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: Climb

The Road Racer Dream – Chapman Mercury III

Out Of Obscurity – Elva FJ 100

Thrills ‘n’ Spills – Chateau Impney Hill Climb

£70 Special – Fairley Mercury

Never Seen It As Bad As This ! – Prescott Speed Hill Climb

E-Type – Vauxhall 30-98 Velox Tourer