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Fastest Machine In The World – Benz 200hp Reconstruction

Despite the fact that Carl Benz was of the opinion that motor racing did not add anything of value to the production of motor cars, in 1909 he was persuaded to build a 200hp Benz racing car by fellow Benz & Cie board member Julius Ganss argument that there was one thing above all to be gained from the proposed car, which was to be built with the aim of becoming the first internal combustion powered machine in the World to travel at 200 km/h / 124 mph, publicity.

The Benz engineers based the new 200hp model on their 150hp 1908 Grand Prix challenger but enlarged the four cylinder bores so that the capacity was increased from 15.1 litres / 921 cui to 21.5 litres 1312 cui, making the largest engines that were ever fitted into a car by either Benz or their later partners with whom they would merge Daimler.

Benz employee Fritz Erle is credited with the 200hp models first success when he won the Grand Duchess of Hesse prize after recording a speed of 159.3 km/h / 98.98 mph over a flying kilometer at Frankfurt am Main in August 1909.

Benz 200hp Reconstruction, Bill Evans, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed,

The concrete had barely dried at Brooklands when Victor Héméry driving the same car with it’s original 1908 Grand Prix style body arrived in November 1909 and promptly raised the internal combustion powered World Speed Record recorded over a flying kilometer to 202.7 km/h / 125.95 mph.

Meantime a second 200hp machine No.2 was being prepared with a slimmer body, similar to the one on today’s featured car, better suited to Land Speed Record braking, and with venues in Europe struggling for space to accommodate the speeds being achieved it was sent to the Benz US agent Jesse Froehlich for George Robertson to drive in a head to head race against Ralph de Palma.

However it appears Barney Oldfield’s manager found out about the 200hp cars presence in the USA and wishing to protect his client’s position Ernie Moross made an offer to swap the new machine for his older 150hp Benz plus $6,000 which was accepted.

Benz 200hp Reconstruction, Bill Evans, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed,

In March 1910 Barney Oldfield drove the car, dubbed “Lightening Benz” by Ernie, to a new one way, unofficial in Europe, record of 211.97 km/h / 131.71 mph, beating the times set by Fred Marriot aboard the steam powered Stanley Rocket in 1906.

Barney was barred from AAA sanctioned events for participating in unsanctioned Barnstorming events in April 1911 when Bob Burman set a one way record, unrecognised in Europe, of 225.65 km/h / 140.21 mph over the flying mile and 228.1 km/h / 141.73 mph over the flying kilometer at Daytona driving Ernie’s Blitzen Benz.

By 1913 the UK Benz agent L. G. “Cupid” Hornsted acquired the 200hp No.3, for which he had specified a number of modifications, this car became known as “Schlanker Joseph” or “Lean Joseph” with which he set the first two way record at Brooklands over the flying mile leaving it at 199.70 km/h / 124.09 mph in June 1914.

Benz 200hp Reconstruction, Bill Evans, Goodwood, Festival Of Speed,

The history of the six 200hp Benz racing cars is a little clouded, not least because there was only one Blitzen Benz built, 200hp No.2, but almost all of the 200hp car’s are referred to by that name.

Today’s featured Reconstruction of the car Bob Burman drove at Daytona in April 1911 was commissioned and built regardless of cost by Bob Burman enthusiast Bill Evans, who is seen at the wheel in these photographs taken at Goodwood.

The motor #9141 comes from Benz 200hp No.3 that L. G. “Cupid” Hornsted drove at Brooklands in 1914, Captain John Duff and his passenger survived after No.3 swerved off the banking at Brooklands in September 1922 and the remains of the car were returned to Benz at Manheim.

Daimler Benz lent Bill their own 200hp model, which was reconstructed for 50th anniversary of the founding of Benz in 1935 using some parts from No.3 believed to include the radiator and central body, in order to help him reconstruct the rest of his car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Fastest Machine In The World” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again for Mors. Don’t forget to come back now !

Unreliable and Slow – BRM P201/05

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At the end of 1974 Rubery Owen pulled the plug on BRM, after initial BRM backer Alfred Owen had died earlier in the year. This should have meant the end of BRM but some how the team former manager Louis Stanley took on ownership and saved the team going into the 1975 season.

BRM P201, John Fenning, BRM Day, Bourne,

After Mike Wilds impressed everyone in the opening two races of the season, except Louis, Bob Evans was taken on as a replacement and the team appeared with today’s featured chassis #P201/05 painted patriotic red, white and blue and with a wide wing on the nose at the non championship International Trophy at Silverstone.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne,

Bob finished 10th on this cars debut event and in four more attempts with this chassis finished a best 13th in the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix.

BRM P201, John Fenning, BRM Day, Bourne,

With a lack of funds Stanley BRM were recycling the best bits of their engines to keep their cars running and predictably this made the cars increasingly slow and unreliable.

BRM P201, John Fenning, BRM Day, Bourne,

After failing to qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix, missing the British Grand Prix completing just one lap of the Austrian Grand Prix Bob qualified 20th for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

BRM P201, John Fenning, BRM Day, Bourne,

However #P201/05 never left the grid on it’s final public appearance due to an electrical issue and the BRM’s failed to show up at the last two races of the season.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne,

Louis Stanely entered the older #P201/04 for Ian Ashley at the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix where the car inevitably retired after qualifying on the back row of the grid and #P201/04 was wheeled out once more at the 1977 South African Grand Prix where Larry Perkins qualified 22nd and finished a surprise 15th.

John Fenning is seen in these photo’s at the wheel of #P201/05, at BRM Day Bourne, which now has a 1974 style shovel nose and airbox and is painted in the 1974 green and silver livery.

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

9 Mins Of Fame – EMKA C84/1

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Trained accountant Steve O’Rourke and EMKA productions became the management team for Pink Floyd post Syd Barrat and both Steve and drummer Nick Mason shared an interest in racing cars.

EMKA C84/1, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Steve’s international racing career got of the ground with a Ferrari 512BB which he entered and drove from 1979 to 1980 scoring a best 7th place finish in the 1980 Silverstone 6 hours with Chris Craft and Vic Norman.

EMKA C84/1, Rudolf Ernst, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

In 1981 Steve had Michael Cane Racing convert Niki Lauda’s 1979 Project Four Motorsports BMW M1 Procar to a more liberal Group 5 spec and raced that for two season’s scoring a best 2nd place in the 1981 Silverstone 6 Hours whith Derek Bell and David Hobbs sharing the cockpit, Nick Mason also co drove Steve’s BMW M1 on it’s two outings in 1982.

EMKA C84/1, Rudolf Ernst, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

For 1983 Steve made the bold decision to follow in the footsteps of Robin Hamilton and Nimrod to build his own Aston Martin powered Le Mans challenger the EMKA C83/1.

EMKA C84/1, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Len Bailey who was based at Gomm Metal Developments in Woking did the design work, Gomm did the metal work, the fibre glass body was constructed by Protoco, Aston Martin Tickford supplied 5,340 cc / 325.8 cui V8 engine and the whole car was prepared for competition by Micheal Cane Racing.

EMKA C84/1, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

On it’s debut at Silverstone the C83/1 was driven by Tiff Needell, Jeff Allam and Steve, they qualified 17th but retired on the last lap due to a failed wheel bearing. Nick Faure replaced Jeff at Le Mans for the 24 hour race where the car qualified 25th and finished 17th despite spending 2 hours in the pits with a suspension problem.

EMKA C84/1, Rudolf Ernst, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Due to uncertainty over the 1984 fuel regulations the C83/1 did not race again until 1985, by which time the ground effect venturi had been replaced with a flat floor, the rear suspension had been revised and the car had been renumbered as C84/1.

EMKA C84/1, Tiff Needell, Mark Galvin, Steve O'Rourke, Brands Hatch, 1000 kms

At Silverstone the C84/1 driven by Steve, Tiff and Bob Evans was nearly four seconds a lap in qualifying than two years earlier and qualified 15th for the six hour race but it retired again this time due to an engine issue.

Nick Faure again drove the car at Le Mans in 1985, in place of Bob, and the trio were now nine seconds a lap faster in qualifying and started from 13th on the grid. By employing an out of sequence fuel strategy Tiff Needell was able to lead the 24 Hour classic for 9 mins during the opening hours before finishing a respectable 11th.

C84/1 appeared at Spa where James Weaver took over the guest seat from Nick Faure and at Brands Hatch, as seen in the last photo where Mark Galvin took over from James. The car qualified 17th and 10th respectively, retiring from both races fuel pressure and drive belt issues respectively.

Steve retired from competition until 1991 when he returned racing GT’s winning the British GT GT2 and GT1 class drivers championships with co-driver Tim Sugden in 1997 and 1998 respectively, his highest Le Mans finish was 4th also in 1998 when he shared his McLaren with Tim and Bill Auberlen.

A second EMKA was built in 1989 using the discarded ground effect floor from the C83/1 and spare parts from C84/1 including the revised type of suspension, with the original red C83/1 bodywork.

Owner Rudolf Ernst is seen at the wheel of C84/1 in the photo’s above taken at the Silverstone Classic Test Day earlier this year.

Thanks for joining me on this “9 Mins Of Fame” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another Le Mans Challenger from Mercedes Benz. Don’t forget to come back now !

When The Going Gets Cool – 24 Hours Of Le Mans

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This years Le Mans 24 Hours race was probably won when someone at Porsche decided that this years 919 Hybrid challenger needed to be upgraded from last years 6MJ class to run in the 8MJ class, evidence of this was first hinted at by the 919’s performance on the Hangar Straight at Silverstone earlier in the year.

Le Mans 2015

Qualifying this year was a simple affair, the three Porsche 919 Hybrids locked out the first three places with the #18 car of Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani on pole after setting a blistering pace with a time of 3m 16.887s in the opening qualifying session, next came the three Audi R18 e-tron quattro’s with the #8 driven by Loïc Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis starting 4th followed by the two Toyota TS040 Hybrid’s who’s #2 driven by Alexander Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway started 7th, the first seven cars are seen above taking the prompt 3pm start of the race.

Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal, Le Mans,

The American entered Scuderia Corsa #62 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 of Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell and Jeff Segal looked set for a fourth place finish in the GTE Am class at it’s final pit stop seen above. Then with less than an hour to go long time GTE Am leader and class pole starter Paul Dalla Lana inexplicably shot across the kitty litter at the Ford Chicane and hit the wall so hard as to retire his #98 Aston Martin Vantage V8 from the race instantly, fortunately without injury to the driver, all of which promoted all those behind him up one place in class meaning the #62 finished third in GTE Am, and 24th overall from 51st on the grid.

Porsche 911 RSR, Patrick Dempsey, Patrick Long, Marco Seefried, Le Mans,

A popular second in the GTE Am class after fending off the #62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari was the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR driven by Patrick “Grey’s Anatomy” Dempsey, Patrick Long and Marco Seefried seen approaching the Porsche curves above on it’s way to a 22nd place overall finish from 47th on the grid.

Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, Viktor Shaitar, Aleksey Basov, Andrea Bertolini, Le Mans,

After the retirement of the #98 Aston Martin the #72 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 shared by Viktor Shaitar, Aleksey Basov and Andrea Bertolini only had to avoid beaching itself in the gravel as it had done at Indianapolis earlier in the race to score a first Le Mans class win for a Russian entrant, the SMP Racing #72 Ferrari is seen at the Dunlop Chicane on the Saturday evening as it headed for a 20th place finish overall from 43rd on the grid.

GT Pro, Le Mans

5 hours into the race the three leading GTE Pro runners were still racing nose to tail, above the #64 Corvette CR.7 is seen above being chased by the #97 Aston Martin and #51 Ferrari through the Chapel Descent.

Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander, Le Mans,

Unfortunately the #97 Aston Martin shared by Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Rob Bell retired after the latter damaged the oil feed on a kerb after completing 110 laps, this left the AF Corse #51 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 shared by Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander to recover from a fifth hour puncture and challenge the #64 Corvette with 2 hours to go. An hour later the #51, seen above at Dunlop Chicane, pitted with a gearbox problem and returned to the track after a 30 minute break to hold on to a third in GTE Pro and 25th place overall from 35th on the grid.

Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, Davide Rigon, James Calado, Olivier Beretta, Le Mans,

Davide Rigon, James Calado and Olivier Beretta finished 2nd in the GTE Pro class, 21st overall, from 54th on the grid after a qualifying penalty was applied, having dropped out of contention for the class lead when the alternator on the #71 AF Course Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 was replaced at the cost of four laps.

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Jordan Taylor, Le Mans,

Despite being the slowest GTE Pro car to qualify and starting from 43rd on the grid the works Corvette Racing-GM C7.R driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor came through to win the class and finish 17th overall 5 laps ahead of it nearest rival. The car proved to be bullet proof reliable and comfortable enough to drive at a pace that always kept it in contention if not ahead of the GTE Pro pack.

Ligier JS P2, Roman Rusinov, Julien Canal, Sam Bird, Le Mans,

Starting from 12th on the grid, 2nd in the LMP2 class, the last thing Sam Bird needed on his first pit stop was for his G-Drive Racing #26 Nissan powered Ligier JS P2 to catch fire along with the gloves of one of his mechanics as seen above. After the fires were quelled without injury, Sam with team mates Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal ran 2nd in class until they were demoted to 3rd in LMP2 during the 23rd hour of the race, where they remained finishing 11th overall.

Gibson 015S, Simon Dolan, Oliver Turvey, Mitch Evans, Le Mans,

Fastest LMP2 car in the race belonged to the Jota Sport, who’s Gibson 015S, formerly known as a Zytek when it won the LMP2 class last year, driven by Simon Dolan, Oliver Turvey and Mitch Evans, lost three laps to a sensor change before the trio completed the come back drive of the race to finish, just 48 seconds adrift of this years LMP2 winners, in 10th place overall from 14th on the grid.

Oreca 05, Matthew Howson, Richard Bradley, Nicolas Lapierre, Le Mans,

Similarly Nissan powered as the 2nd and 3rd place LMP2 class finishers the Hong Kong based KCMG team’s new #47 Oreca 05 coupé is built to the LMP2 regulations mandated for 2017, drivers Matthew Howson, Richard Bradley and Nicolas Lapierre started from class pole and 11th on the grid. Apart from a drive through penalty for a pit lane infringement, a stop to fix a dicky illuminated number the car should have comfortably won it’s class, but two kitty litter excursions at the Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners on Sunday meant the three top LMP2 cars all completed 358 laps, with the #47 9th overall.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro, André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer, Le Mans,

From fifth on the grid André Lotterer showed his hand early by passing two Porsche 919’s for the lead on the same lap after the first safety car period, however in the third hour team mate Benoît Tréluyer suffered a puncture and then glanced the barriers at Tetre Rouge handing the advantage back to the two leading Porsche’s. Further troubles for the Audi Sport Team Joest #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro manifested themselves when a part of the rear body work flew off, as seen above, when Marcel Fässler was at the wheel 16 hours into the race four hours before the car received a drive through penalty for a slow zone misdemeanor. Then 21 hours from the start André set the fastest race lap, 3m 17.475s, and thereafter unscheduled stops for more bodywork repairs and oil were insufficient to prevent the car from finishing on the third, just two laps down on the winning car.

Porsche 919 Hybrid, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber, Le Mans

The #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber starting from second on the grid was the early leader of the race and despite giving up the lead temporarily to André Lotterer’s Audi it maintained the advantage if not always in the lead until midnight when the car was penalised for slow zone misdemeanor by Brendon Hartley with a stop go penalty that handed the advantage to the sister #19 919 Hybrid. The #17 could not keep pace with it’s sister through the night and eventually finished 1 lap down in 2nd place at the finish despite spending the least amount of time, 29m 42.060s, in the pits of any competitor.

Porsche 919 Hybrid, Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy, Nico Hülkenberg, Le Mans,

Starting from third on the grid the #19 driven by Le Mans novices Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg sharing with two time LMP2 Le Mans starter Nick Tandy, performed better than all the others during the cooler night time conditions so that, even with a 10 second delay due to an overcrowded pit and a brief visit to the garage during a safety car period to repair some damage incurred by Nico after he tapped a back marker, the #19 was able to comfortably lead the #17 over the finish line just three laps short of setting a record distance for the event.

Porsche 919 Hybrid, Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy, Nico Hülkenberg, Le Mans,

The decision to run in the 8 MJ class benefited Porsche not only with consistently better top speeds on the long Mulsanne Straight, but also with a superior fuel consumption that over the 24 hours was estimated to have handed Porsche a 2 and half minute advantage over Audi thanks to four seconds saved per fuel stop.

Le Mans LMP1 Podium, Ickx, Tréluyer, Lötterer, Fässler, Tandy, Bamber, Hülkenberg, Webber, Hartley, Bernhard,

By winning this race Porsche, who last won the race in 1998, can now claim a record 17 Le Mans wins, four more than Audi, but more importantly the victory has proved the technology which sits in it’s 918 Spyder road cars that cost upwards of UK£750,000 / US$850,000.

Special thanks to my school friend Tom for getting me to the race for the first time since 1992.

Thanks for joining me on this “When The Going Gets Cool” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a US Le Mans challenger. Don’t forget to come back now.

Braving The Elements – Bristol 450

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Bristol Cars introduction to motor racing came as a supplier of 2 litre 6 cylinder motors which were used by chassis manufacturers that included AFN who produced Fraser Nash cars, Cooper, Lister, Lotus and smaller operations like Warrior.

Bristol 450, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The first use of a Bristol 2 litre engine at Le Mans came in 1949 when Norman Culpan drove his Fraser Nash High Speed from Yorkshire to the La Sarthe circuit where he was joined by AFN director HJ Adlington and the pair recorded a third place finish 11 laps down on the winning Ferrari 166MM driven by Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon, after the race Norman drove his car back to Yorkshire and AFN produced a run of 34 cars known as Le Mans Replica and Le Mans Mk II’s, these cars have also since been replicated by Crosthwaite & Gardiner, Werner Oswald and others.

Bristol 450, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

In 1952 Percy Kemish and Stan Ivermee were responsible for setting up the Bristol’s Racing Department which included employees Ken Evans, Rupert Gildersleeve, and Stan Sparks.

Bristol 450, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The chassis for the first Bristol 450 Le Mans challengers were based heavily on the Bristol powered ERA G-Type, an open wheeler with an unusually wide chassis and offset driver which had been bought from ERA proprietor Leslie Johnson at the end of the 1952 season, while the aerodynamically tested coupé body appeared remarkably crude with lights that looked like they had been added as an after thought.

Bristol 450, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Two Bristol 450’s made the grid for the 1953 Le Mans race one retired when a connecting rod broke causing the car to skid off the Mulsanne Straight on the 30th lap and the second retired after a crankshaft balance weight sheered through the sump and exhaust causing a fire after completing 70 laps.

05 Bristol 450_4569sc

With the crankshaft balance weights removed Peter Wilson and Jack Fairman drove a 450 to a 2 litre class victory and 5th place overall in the Reims 12 hour race in July 1953.

Bristol 450, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

For 1954 the 450’s received refined coupé bodies with faired in headlights and two pronounced tail fins, this time the team finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in class at Le Mans as Peter Wilson with Jim Mayers, Tommy Wisdom with Jack Fairman and Mike Keen sharing with Tommy Line brought their cars in 7th, 8th and 9th places overall, at Reims the 450’s came home in 10th, 11th and 12th places overall, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the 2 litre class.

Bristol 450, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

For 1955 more speed was sought by taking the roofs off the cars and running them with a screen for the driver who now had to brave the elements and deck over the passenger seat as seen in these photos taken at last years Autumn Classic meeting at Castle Combe.

Running with the same driving squad as 1954, the now 150 mph cars achieved exactly same result at Le Mans as in 1954, this time with Mike Keen and Tommy Line pipping Tommy Wisdom and Jack Fairman for 8th place.

The teams prize monies for the 1955 race were donated to the fund set up to help the victims of the 1955 Le Mans disaster and the Racing Department was disbanded before the Bristol Cars Division was separated from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in Autumn 1955.

The teams cars were all broken up bar today’s featured car, which is said to have been built up from the best parts of the broken up cars but without one of the motors built for the 450 racing programme, for many years this 450 belonged to Bristol Cars proprietor Tony Crook.

Thanks for joining me on this “Braving The Elements” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1990’s Mercedes Benz Le Mans Challenger. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Three Captains – Austin Maxi

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Queen Elizabeth the II’s cousin born seventh in line to the British throne on the 4th of July, Michael George Charles Franklin, is better known as HRH Prince Michael of Kent.

From 1961 to 1981 Prince Michael served his country after training at Sandhurst he was commissioned into the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own) who’s motto is Death of Glory.