Tag Archives: England

Ultimate Cars Ultimate Race – Porsche 917K #053

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If there is one race I’d love to be able to turn the clock back for in order to attend it would be the 1971 Le Mans 24 hours which for my money was the ultimate road race with the ultimate cars.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Lined up on the grid were seven Porsche 917’s with a variety of body configurations against 9 Ferrari 512s in both closed M spec, earlier open S Spec and two unique 512’s one from the Penske team which had a large rear wing and the F spec car of Scuderia Filipinetti that had a narrow cockpit built around a Porsche 917 windscreen.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The race was an uneven contest between the Porsches as the Ferraris suffered from inferior reliability and top speeds were down on the Porsche’s 230 mph plus capabilities. However it was the fastest to be run at the circuit until 2010.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The winning car chassis #056 seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed featured a special lightweight magnesium chassis built only for the works supported Porsche Salzburg team much to the annoyance of Porsche’s other works supported team run by John Wyer who’s employees had developed the Porsche body work in short (K Kurz) and long (LH Lang heck) tail forms and shared them freely with all the other teams running 917’s.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Gils van Lennep and Helmut Marko shared the winning 600 hp 4.9 litre 299 cui aircooled flat 12 powered #22 car which traveled 3,107.7 miles in 24 hours covering 397 laps at an average speed of 138.6 mph the equivalent to five consecutive Coke 600’s !

They beat the next car driven by Richard Attwood, Herbert Muller and Brian Redman in a Gulf Porsche 917 by two laps, 16 miles, and the third finisher the Ferrari of Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz by 31 laps.

After the race chassis #053 was immediately retired and so has a 100% winning record.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ultimate Cars Ultimate Race” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1925 3 litre / 183 cui Bentley. Don’t forget to come back now !

Championship Foundation – Tyrrell Ford #006

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In 1970 Jackie Stewart and Ken Tyrrell were convinced that it was better to stick with the Ford Cosworth DFV power and seek a new chassis than move to the Matra powered car of their hitherto chassis supplier Matra. Ken Tyrrell bought a couple of new March chassis to tide the team over until Derek Gardener was ready to introduce the new Tyrrell 001 chassis late in 1970.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

Tyrrell 001 was followed by the similar 002, 003 and 004 chassis in 1971 with Jackie Stewart driving #003 to championship success in 1971. At the 1972 French Grand Prix Gardners all new slab sided Tyrrell #005 was introduced and Jackie Stewart finished the 1972 season with two convincing wins at the season ending Canadian and US Grand Prix, albeit too late to overhaul the advantage built up by Emerson Fittipaldi driving a Lotus Ford 72.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

Stewart’s team mate Francois Cevert was given today’s featured car Tyrrell chassis #006 to drive at the two 1972 season ending races he retired with gearbox problems after qualifying 8th in Canada and finished 2nd to team mate Jackie from 4th on the grid in US Grand Prix. Chassis #006 was essentially to the same design as #005.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

In 1973 Jackie started the season of with #005 scoring a third place finish in Argentina and 2nd place in Brazil with Cevert finishing 2nd in Argentina but only 10th in Brazil in the #006 chassis. At the third race of the 1973 season the South African Grand Prix Jackie crashed #005 on the first day of practice and immediately took over Cevert’s 006 car running with Ceverts name and #4 race number. Note the second link showing Stewart driving the #4 is incorrectly labelled as chassis #005.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

#005 was repaired for Cevert to drive in South African Grand Prix, he started 25th and last having failed to set a time and was unclassified at the races end 13 laps behind the leaders, Stewart meanwhile qualified 16th and came through to score the first of five wins in his third and final championship season. Three of those wins would be 1-2 finishes with team mate Francois following closely behind. Note Stewart ran chassis #006 with his #3 race number in the 1973 race and lost a piece of his rear wing end plate as seen in this linked photo.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

For the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix Stewart was given a new chassis #006/2 to race that, like #006 which reverted to Cevert, had been fitted with the distinctive angular deformable structure on the sides that were required by new regulations that came into force. At this race both Cevert and Stewart ran with the oblong end plates as seen on #006 in today’s blog driven by Sir Jackie at last years BRM Day.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

Cevert finished 2nd in the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix as he did in the following Belgian GP where he followed Stewart home in a Tyrrell one-two finish. Still driving #006 Francois finished 2nd at his home French Grand Prix.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

Airboxes went through many interesting stages of development in the 1972 and 1973 seasons, the Tyrrell 005/006 airbox seen here was a second development the first having resembled the airboxes seen on the earlier Tyrrell 002 and 004 cars, Derek Gardner is quoted as having been influenced by the design of the central engine intake of the Hawker Siddley Trident having gained access to Hawker Siddeleys Test and Development research on the shape of the inlet. The top piece of the trident airbox as seen here and in period has a buff appearance because it appears to have been made inside out with the rough side of the fibre glass on the outside of moulding rather than on the inside as one might normally expect.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

At the British Grand Prix #006/2 used by Stewart and #006 for Cevert both appeared with older tear drop shape rear wing end plates, but sans the aerodynamic appendage hitherto mounted to the back of the airbox and sans bodywork covering the Ford DFV cam covers and rear suspension. Despite qualifying 4th and 7th Stewart and Cevert could only finish the British Grand Prix 10th one down and 5th respectively.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

Next up came two one two finishes in the Dutch and German Grand Prix with Cevert in #006 behind Stewart in #006/2, at the Austrian Grand Prix Stewart finished second and clinched the World Championship with a 4th place finish ahead of Cevert at the 1973 Italian Grand Prix after a tremendous recovery from a puncture.

Tyrrell Ford 006, BRM Day, Bourne

#006 with Francois at the wheel was damaged in a collision with Jody Scheckter on 36th lap of the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix and parts of #006 were salvaged to build up #006/3 in time for the following US Grand Prix. Francois was killed in the new car during practice for that race and the Tyrrell team withdrew from what should have been Stewart’s swan song and last Grand Prix before retirement.

The current owner had #006 restored by Hall and Hall to 1973 Spanish to French Grand Prix spec, from 17 Grand Prix starts, along with winning the 1973 South African Grand Prix in the hands of Stewart, #006 was driven to seven 2nd place finishes by Francois Cevert in the 1972 and 1973 seasons.

Sadly first Gerry Birrell and then Roger Williamson, who were successively chosen to have replace Jackie Stewart, died during the 1973 season and eventually Jackie and Francois were replaced by Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler.

1973 was the last year in which a variety of numbering methods were used for Grand Prix cars, the Tyrrells ran with the #6 and #8 in Argentina, the #3 and #4 from Brazil through to Spain and then for no obvious reason the #5 and #6 for the remainder of the season.

My thanks to all those who contributed to the Airboxes the Good the Bad and the Ugly along with the Tyrrell 006 threads including Tim Murray who highlighted the absence of any logic to the Formula One numbering system at The Nostalgia Forum.

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

Specials & Restorations – Colin Cooper

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A couple of months ago I set out to find who built an MG that will feature in tomorrow’s blog called the ‘Kayne Special’, see below. Thanks to some help from my friends paulg at the MG Car Club Forum, The Nostalgia Forum, Bob Allan and his friend Peter Croft in New Zealand I have learned that the Kayne Special was built by Colin Cooper and a couple of weeks ago Colin invited me to visit him and discuss his pursuit of speed.

Colin Cooper hails from Bolton at 15 he and a school friend purchased an Austin Seven for £2 10s (£2.50) at auction. They drove the car home sans driving licence and between them they built up a special but could not afford to run it and sold it on.

Colin started driving legally when his Dad bought a 1955 Ford Popular in 1958 which was sold the following year. For his 20th Birthday Colins Mum bought him a £75 MG VA 4 seat tourer seen above around 1960 which seeded his affinity for MG’s.

Colin’s interest in cars was primarily a hobby, with a few deals to ease the financial pain, in 1972 he started racing a 1934 MG PA shared with his friend Trevor which is seen above at Kinmel Park near Rhyll in Wales.

Having squirrelled various bits pieces away including an MG J2 chassis and MG PB motor Colin set about building the first, see to top photo, of what would be come three Kayne Specials built between 1973 and 1982. The name is derived from Kay, and Neil his children. Above on the left is the Kayne Special 3 in the middle the Kayne Special 2 and the Killeen K1 built by Tom Killeen in 1953 all 3 of these cars will be looked at in greater detail in the coming weeks Tuesday MG blogs.

In between building and racing his three specials and racing the Kileen K1 Colin acquired, restored, raced and sold numerous fascinating vehicles including a bevy of Lotus 18’s of which the one above, seen at Curborough in 1977 featured some radical bodywork a standard Ford 1500 cc motor with a 4 speed Renault Dauphine gearbox.

Some where around 1978 Colin acquired an Ex Targa Florio Daren Mk 2B one of only 8 Mk 2’s built, seen here at Longridge in Lancashire.

Photo Copyright Frank Hall 1985.

Frank Halls photo above taken in 1985 shows Colin competition career drawing to a close at Blackpool, where he drove a Mallock Mk III, one of many early Mallocks that Colin owned over the years.

Above are some of the trophies Colin won over a span of 15 years in competitive driving, Colin is also a snooker champion, he still uses the same Joe Davis cue he was given on his 13th birthday.

When Colin retired from his professional career he started a Frogeye restoration business called Central England Sports Cars in 1993, soon after setting up a Mr Ogawa seen on the left signed the first of several deals for batches of six restored Frogeye’s to be exported to Japan paying 50% upfront and the balance when the cars were ready for dispatch to the docks. The business declined with the stagnation of the Japanese economy in 1998 and became the Frogeye Spares Company which was sold in 2000 and is still going strong.

Before I left, Colin he asked if I could help track down the black Midget seen in the corner of the CESC workshop above. The car registered WHP 94S is still thought to be on the road, it is a MG Midget identifiable by a Sprite grill 1500 cc motor, rear anti tramp bars Frogeye Windscreen and hood with 9 lift of fasteners. Colin sold the car to a policeman for approximately £2000 and he believes the PC bought it for his sister. Colin would like to get in touch with the current owner if you can help please leave a message below, on my fb page or e-mail me direct infoATpsychoontyres.co.uk please type MIDGET in the subject box.

My thanks to Colin for generously giving me the time to discuss his fascinating story and cars, to paulg at the MGCC Forum, to everyone at The Nostalgia Forum, Bob Allan and Peter Croft who helped me find Colin. Thanks also to Tony Gallagher for putting me in touch with Chris Winstanley who kindly granted permission to use Frank Halls photograph.

Thanks for joining me on this Specials & Restorations edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be taking a look at Colin’s first Kayne Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

24/04/12 Photo of Colin driving the Mallock at Blackpool added.

English T – Ford Model T

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Ford Motor Company started manufacturing vehicles in 1903 and that same year three Model A’s were exported to Great Britian, by 1909 the Ford Motor Company (England) was established and began working from an Office in London on March 8th 1911.

Ford’s first overseas assembly plant was opened in 1911 at Trafford Park in Manchester where Ford Model T’s were assembled with imported chassis, mechanical parts and locally manufactured bodies. The 1911 Model T above has the distinction of being the first car to be driven up Ben Nevis.

22 year old Henry Alexander, on the instruction of his father the first Ford dealer in Scotland, spent six weeks preparing a route to the top Britains highest peak 4,409 ft / 1,344 m above sea level. It then took Mr Alexander 5 days to reach the summit along the precarious route he had prepared. Mr Alexander repeated the feat in 1928 and to mark Centenary of the Model T reaching the top of Ben Nevis, earlier this year a team of 71 volunteers carried a replica model T to the summit assembled it and then disassembled it and brought it back down again !

Although the three pedal system for operating motor cars as used in most cars to this day was familiar when the first Model T’s were built in 1908 the Model T relied on a hand throttle operated on the steering wheel a left pedal that when fully depressed engaged a low gear, when part depressed disengaged the gear box and when not depressed engaged a high gear. The centre pedal when depressed engaged reverse and the right pedal operated the brakes which were attached to the rear wheel only.

Above is a 1912 Landaulet offering minimal weather protection to the front seat occupants while giving the rear seat occupants a choice of protection thanks to a folding roof. The Landaulet body style was a hangover from the age of the horse drawn carriage and has largely disappeared only Maybach are known to offer a Landaulet option at the time of writing.

When designing the Model T Henry Ford new that as well as a motor car he wanted his vehicle to be adaptable to the requirements of a great variety of users in agriculture and industry. Amongst the stranger applications of the Model T was the mobile aircraft starter version.

The long pole that extends beyond the front of this 1915 ‘Huck Starter’ Model T can be aligned with the propellor shaft of an aeroplane and then engaged with it. The chain to the left of the operator connects the aeroplane starter shaft to the drive of the Model T which when engaged will rotate the aircraft engine until it fires under its own power.

When production of the Model T started it took around 12 and half hours to assemble one. By the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 production time had been slashed to just 93 minutes , at one time nearly half of all the worlds motor vehicles were thought to be Fords, in the UK in 1919 41% of all new cars registered for the road were Fords.

The Model T was easily adapted into trucks and buses above is a 1923 fire engine that served on the estate of the Earl of Derbyshire from 1924 to 1948.

One of the great myths about the Model T was that one could have a Model T any colour one wanted so long as it was black. In fact this was only true after 1914, up until then Model’s T’s were not available in black at all, from 1912 to 1914 Model T’s were only available in Midnight Blue with black wings / fenders. After 1914 over 30 different black paints were developed to satisfy the various means of applying the paint to different parts of the cars.

The 1924 Model T above is little changed from the 1911 example seen at the top of the post.

With over 15 million examples produced when production of the Model T ceased in 1927, the Model T held the title of the worlds most popular vehicle until 1972 when it was eclipsed by the VW Beetle, though it should be noted the Beetle had undergone many more changes in it’s life time than the Model T.

The 1924 example above can be seen at the Attwell Wilson Museum.

Thanks for joining me on this English T edition of ‘Getting a li’l pysycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !