Tag Archives: GT

Never Beaten In Class – Ferrari 250 GTO #4293GT

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Today’s featured Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #4293GT was originally assigned to Scuderia San Ambreous, the same team who famously fielded Formula One debutant Giancarlo Baghetti in the 1961 French Grand Prix which he promptly won, however for reasons that are not clear to me at the time of writing Scuderia San Ambreous never took delivery of the car which instead ended up in the hands of Belgian Jacques Swaters and his Ecurie Francorchamps equipe in April 1963.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Willy Mairesse drove #4293GT to an overall victory on it’s debut in the 500km race at Spa. The cars next outing was in the Le Mans 24 hours where noted Businessman/Jazz Guitarist/Car Collector and Sponsor Jean “Beurlys” Blaton shared the driving with Gérald Langlois van Ophem to record the 250 GTO models 2nd consecutive second place finish some 16 laps behind the winning prototype Ferrari 250 P driven by Lorenzo Bandini and Ludovico Scarfiotti.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Connor, Goodwood Revival

“Beurlys” then drove #4293 GT to victory in a race at Zolder before the cars final appearance race appearance in the 1963 12 hour race at Reims where the car appears to have been driven solo by Belgian Lucien Bianchi to a 3rd overall and first in class. #4293 was driven in practice for the 1964 1000kms race at the Nurburgring by Lucien Bianchi, Jean Guichet and Nino Vaccarella but the car never took the start meaning it record of four starts and four class victories remained intact.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Connor, Goodwood Revival

No further in period races are recorded for #4293GT and by the end of 1963 the car was in the United States where it remained until 1982. From 1982 to to 1996 #4293GT went to Japan and thence to Hong Kong until 2002 when it was acquired by William E. ‘Chip’ Connor of Incline Village, NV who is seen driving the car above in the 250 GTO 50th Anniversary demonstration at Goodwood Revival a couple of years ago.

Thanks for joining me on this “Never Beaten In Class” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking a my favorite Ginetta model. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The White RHD One – Ferrari 250 GTO #3729GT

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Blacksmiths, wheelwrights and coachbuilders Coombs of Guildford was founded in the 19th Century. Descendant of the founders John Coombs was taken to Brooklands before the 1939-45 was and on completion of his apprenticeship in 1949 began motor racing in open wheelers and sportscars with some success. He retired from race driving, after winning two races in a day at Mallory Park, because his business commitments no longer gave him the necessary time to compete, so he made the switch to becoming an entrant.

Teaming up with some of the best drivers of the day including his former Connaught team mate Roy Salvadori, BRM driver Ron Flockhart, John built up an excellent reputation with Coopers and Jaguar’s as Coombs of Guildford grew to become a major Jaguar dealership. When he was told Lotus founder Colin Chapman was interested in buying a Jaguar John had no hesitation in putting Colin, against whom he used to race, in one of his cars for a race at Silverstone which Colin promptly won and suitably impressed Colin duly placed his order.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

In July 1962 John took delivery of a white right hand drive Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3729GT after it became clear that the Jaguar E-Type was too heavy to compete against Maranello’s finest. Despite being driven by the likes of Salvadori, Graham Hill and Mike Parkes, all of whom were or went on to compete in Formula One, the car did not record any victories in 1963 but it did record a string of second places.

John also sent the car to Coventry where Jaguar made a close inspection of it before building John the first of 11 lightweight E-types with aluminium mononcoques and engine blocks.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

In 1964 Viscount Eddie Portman took over ownership of #3729GT who added another second place result before it was entered for Ritchie Ginther to drive in the Tourist Trophy run at Goodwood where he finished 9th.

JA Pearce of JA Pearce Engineering then used #3729 in a couple of sprints run at Brighton and Blackbushe airport in late 1964 and early 1965.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

John also known as Jack Pearce spotted the opportunity for building a formula one car for the new 3 litre / 183 cui regulations which became effective from the beginning of 1966 using a 250 GTO motor. For many years it was believed that the motor from #3729 found it’s way into the back of the JA Pearce 1964 Cooper T73 built originally for the older 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui formula.

In fact Chris Lawrence, who drove and co owned the Cooper Ferrari, many years later discovered that instead of having a Ferrari 250 GTO motor the Cooper was actually fitted with a on older less powerful motor that came out of Rob Walkers 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB #2735GT which had been driven by Stirling Moss to a string of five race victories. Unfortunately the unique Cooper Ferrari T73 was destroyed in a transporter fire at Silverstone in 1967, although the charred remains of both the motor and car are known to still exist.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

After #3729 had been sold on to noted historic racer Neil Corner in 1966 it was painted red and from 1970 to 1999 it belonged to 1958 and ’63 British Saloon Car Champion Jack Sears, who had raced the #3729 for John Coombs at Brands Hatch and Snetterton in 1963.

1n 1999 current owner Jon Shirley bought the car and had a new engine block installed by Ferrari Classiche nine years later.

Thanks for joining me on this “The White RHD One” 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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Three Wheels On My Wagon – Ford GT Prototype Roadster #GT/111

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In 1965 Ford’s open check book approach to winning the Le Mans 24 hours was in full swing when today’s car, first appeared in public at the Le Mans Test weekend where it was driven by John Whitmore and Richard Attwood to a 6th fastest time.

In all four steel chassis Ford GT Prototype Roadsters were built, #GT/108 and #GT/109 were sent straight from Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough, England to Carrol Shelby for testing #GT/108 never raced and #GT/109 made a single race appearance, entered by Ford France at Le Mans in 1965 where Maurice Trintignant and Guy Ligier retired with gearbox problems. Additionally a fifth roadster was built with an aluminium chassis #GT110 this car was developed by Bruce McLaren and Howden Ganely and is known as the GT X1 which was further differentiated from it’s siblings by the use of a Ford Galaxie derived 7 litre / 427 cui motor and a Hewland gearbox all of which resulted in a car 1000 lbs lighter than the original Ford GT Prototypes.

#GT/111 and #GT112 were the last of 12 Ford GT prototypes to be built in Slough and the pair took part in just three races entered by Ford Advanced Vehicles run by John Wyer. Wyer had been team manager at Aston Martin when Roy Salvadori and Carrol Shelby drove the Aston Martin DBR1 to victory in Le Mans in 1959.

Carrol Shelby now running his own race shop and contracted to enter some of Ford’s GT cars persuaded Ford to run the heavier more powerful iron block 4.7 litre 289 cui V8 from the Cobra racing programme in place of the original GT Spec 4.2 litre / 256 cui Windsor derived motor, apart from X1 all the GT Roadsters appear to have been fitted with Shelby’s Cobra 289 cui V8’s.

Newall, Ford GT Roadster, Goodwood Revival

#GT/111 was painted white and fitted with wire wheels for it’s first public appearance was at Le Mans, a month later #GT/111 was painted a curious shade of Green, a gesture to the chassis and entrants British heritage, it was also fitted with Shelby magnesium wheels for the Targa Florio.

John, now Sir John, Whitmore and Bob Bondurant were chosen as Ford’s sole representatives in #GT111 which was to compete against three works Ferrari 275P/2’s fitted with the latest 3.3 litre / 201 cui 4 cam V12 motors.

A couple of months ago I went to a talk by Sir John organised by the Club Lotus Avon, in which he related how he was speeding along when the left front wheel came adrift forcing him to stop, Sir John replaced the wheel with the mandatory spare and secured it with the original hub nut which had been returned to him by a policeman and continued on his way, contemporary reports tell how the loose wheel took down some overhead railway power lines !

On lap 8 of the 10 lap race, each lap being run over a 44 mile 72 km closed (narrow) road circuit, Bob Bondurant crashed after sliding on gravel into a wall and then bouncing into a water trough which tore off a front wheel and it’s suspension. The 1965 Targa Florio was won in 7 hours and 1 min by local hero Nino Vacarrela and Lorenzo Bandini driving a Ferrari 275P/2.

The damage to #GT/111 was never repaired and a similarly painted #GT112 appeared in it’s only works entered appearance for the 1000 km race at the Nurburgring driven by Attwood and Whitmore who retired with an engine mounting failure having started from 6th on the grid.

Of all the GT Roadsters the aluminium light weight #GT110 X1 had the longest works supported career having been entered in 4 races by Bruce McLaren for Chris Amon in 1965 who scored a best 5th place finish in the 200 mile race at Riverside. The following season X1 appeared with original GT Roadster type bodywork in the Sebring 12 hours entered by Shelby American for Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby who won the race from 5th on the grid. X1 was subsequently ordered destroyed by customs officials.

At he end of 1965 Ford moved it’s entire GT racing developemnt programme out of Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough to Shelby and Kar Kraft in the United States, #GT/112 was sold to Peter Sutcliffe who raced the car in 1966 and scored a couple of season high second place finishes one in South Africa and the other in France during the 1967 season. For 1968 Bob Vincent acquired the car and appears to have won second time out in an open class race run at Aintree.

The damaged #GT/111 was scheduled to be scrapped, however the scrap yard saved the chassis which was acquired by the present owner, in 2006, after Ford GT expert Ronnie Spain verified #GT/111’s identity. The car seen in this photo driven by Andrew Newall at the Goodwood revival a couple of years ago, has been restored by Glescoe Motorsport and is to appear at RM auctions in May 2014.

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

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The Seriously Flared One – Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0

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Having won the 1970 and 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours and sports car championships with the short lived Porsche 917, Porsche had no suitable motor with which to compete in the top tear of sports car racing which mandated maximum displacement 3 litre / 183 cui motors, of which those designed for and adapted from Formula One dominated the overall honours from 1972 until 1975.

Porsche 911 RSR, Tour Britannia, Castle Combe

To meet the demand from customers running in the GT class Porsche embarked upon a programme of building RSR race cars based on the 911 shell for GT competition in 1973. Initially these cars came with a ‘duck tail’ and motors up to 2.8 litres to 178 cui. Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood scored back to back overall victories at the Daytona 24 hours with this type of car in 1973 and 1975, and were joined by Dave Helmick in 1973 to win the Sebring 12 hours. Perhaps the single most famous victory for any RSR came on the epic Targa Florio where Herbert Müller and Gijs van Lennep won beating the 3 litre / 183 cui protoypes in the process.

Porsche 911 RSR, Tour Britannia, Castle Combe

By the end of 1973 the first RSR’s with 330hp 3 litre / 183 cui motors, coil springs replacing torsion bars, flared wheel arches housing wheels with centre locking nuts and ‘whale tales’ came onto the scene most notably in the first International Race of Champions (IROC) series. The first IROC series ran in the winter of ’73 and ’74 at Riverside and Daytona for which 12 identical Carrera 911 RSR 3.0’s, like the one seen in today’s photographs, were prepared for the likes of, Formula One champions; Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme, Indy 500 winners; Bobby Unser, AJ Foyt, Gordon Johncock and Mark Donohue, Can Am Champions; Peter Revson and George Follmer, NASCAR Champions; David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty with USAC Champ Roger McKlusky. Mark Donohue won three of the series four races to become the first IROC Champion.

Porsche 911 RSR, Tour Britannia, Castle Combe

The RSR remained competitive in the Daytona and Sebring endurance classics until 1977. Haywood, John Graves and Helmick drove an RSR to victory at Daytona in ’77, with Al Holbert and Mike Keyser winning the ’76 race at Sebring then George Dyer and Brad Frissell repeating the feat in another RSR in ’77. In Europe Clemens Schickentanz is thought to have made over 75 starts with at least seven outright victories in RSR’s primarily for the Kremer Brothers.

Porsche 911 RSR, Tour Britannia, Castle Combe

In all 60 RSR 3.0’s were built by Porsche and many more 911’s have been upgraded to RSR spec since the models inception. RSR’s were still being raced regularly in front line competition into 1993 when an all new Carrera RSR was introduced with a 3.8 litre / 231 cui motor.

Porsche 911 RSR, Silverstone Classic

I do not have a history for the 1974 Martini liveried car featured today which, in the 2011 dated pictures, are seen at Castle Combe with Jeremy Cook and Mike Dowd who were taking part in the Tour Britannia, the 2012 and 2015 photo’s were taken at Silverstone Classic where Jeremy and Mike competed in the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car races, if you know anything more about this car please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Porsche 911 RSR, Cooke, Dowd, Silverstone Classic

Thanks for joining me on this “The Seriously Flared One” 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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Ferrari Friday – 9th Danville Concours d’Elegance

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Geoffrey Horton attended this years 9th Danville Concours d’Elegance last month and kindly shared today’s collection of Ferrari photographs.

Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Pride of place belonged to this Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder PF Series I chassis #0408 MD which featured on this blog some time ago.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Danville Concours d'Elegance

I still have not established if the Ferrari 250 GT Lusso chassis #4237 like the one above is actually missing or not, if anyone has any information about #4237 please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Ferrari F355 Spyder, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Moving forward a couple of decades the Ferrari F355 was fitted with a Japanese starter motor in an attempt to bring the marque up to compete with and beat the Honda NSX on price, reliability and handling when it was launched in 1994.

Ferrari F360 Spyder, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Ferrari’s 20th convertible the 360 Spider was launched in 2000, former Ferrari Formula One Team technical director Ross Brawn had one as his company car.

Ferrari California, Danville Concours d'Elegance

The Ferrari California, launched in 2008, was originally designed as a Maserati but sold only as a Ferrari to recoup the development costs

Ferrari 458 Italia Spider, Danville Concours d'Elegance

If stealth is your rocks your boat I guess matt black is the way to go, but I’m not sure I could ever get used to it, matt black to me looks like the new primer, something unfinished or a work in progress which is I am sure the last thing I’d think of in the event I ever bought a Ferrari 458 Italia Coupé.

Ferrari F12berlinetta, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Despite being launched last year to replace the Ferrari 599, I still have not come across a Ferrari F12berlinetta like the one above, I must get round to making an appointment with my local stockist.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs more of which will appear in next Wednesday’s blog.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ferrari Friday” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll resume this month’s 50th Anniversary celebration of the Porsche 911. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Grigio Ingrid – Ferrari 250 GT Competition Berlinetta Speciale #0403

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Unbelievably, thanks to the continuing support from you dear reader the “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres adventure today enters it’s fourth year. To mark the occasion I have selected, in my humble opion, one of the finest Ferrari’s known to humanity.

Ferrari 250 GT PF Speciale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Chassis #O403 has a one off body by Pinin Farina that was to have been given to Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman in 1956 who was, at the time married to Italian film director Roberto Rosselini.

Ferrari 250 GT PF Speciale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

For reasons that are not clear to me, Ingrid never took delivery of the car, possibly because her relationship with Rosselini whom she would divorce in 1957 was drawing to a close.

Ferrari 250 GT PF Speciale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The car ended up being sold to American James Gerard Murray who lived in Modena and Pittsburg.
In 1986 #0403, painted red since 1983, was being offered at a knockdown price of $145,000, down from 175,000 by the same vendor.

Ferrari 250 GT PF Speciale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

#0403 changed hands for 1.6 million dollars in 1989, but by 1999 it was bought for ‘just’ $945,000.The following year it was restored to it’s original Grigio Ingrid, a colour mixed just to suit Ingrid Bergman, that had first been seen on a pair of custom Ferrari 375 MM’s built for Rosselini and Bergman in 1954.

Ferrari 250 GT PF Speciale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

When Sergio Pininfarina saw the elegant #0403 at Pebble Beech in 2004 he commented that it was one of his favourite.

Thanks for joining me on this third birthday “Grigio Ingrid” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, thanks also for sticking with the blog, if you have not done so before do not be afraid to like the “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ facebook page, to share the page with your friends or leave a comment below. I’ll be continuing the series commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Aston Martin tomorrow with another car that has a Scandinavian connection. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Non Stop Runner – Ferrari 250 Europa GT Pininfarina #0373GT

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Last week I looked at a 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Coupé. This week features one of just 28 slightly later Ferrari 250 Europa GT chassis #0373GT built in November 1954.

Ferrari 250GT Europa, Silverstone Classic

#0373GT was delivered to Jacques Swaters dealership Garage Francorchamps and sold to Belgian Jacques Washer in 1955. Washer entered the car in at least two events for his cousin Olivier Gendebien in 1956.

Ferrari 250GT Europa, Silverstone Classic

Oliver finished second in class on the Cote de la Roche Hillclimb in the Ardennes, before taking part in the 1956 Liege Rome Liege rally across Europe. Oliver and his co driver Pierre Stasse finished the non stop 2000 mile event 3rd overall.

Ferrari 250GT Europa, Silverstone Classic

In the 1990’s the car was fitted with a Ferrari 250 GT/E motor and differential, along with a gearbox from a Ferrari 412. The motor was tuned to give 300hp and more recently the car has been fitted with ‘modern’ brakes.

Ferrari 250GT Europa, Silverstone Classic

#0373GT has taken part in numerous classic events including the 1999 re run of the Rome Liege Rome Rally. The same year #0373GT won it’s class on the La Carrera Panamericana repeating the feat in 2000, on the second occasion fitted with period correct Halibrand alloy wheels.

The car is seen in these photo’s at the recent Silverstone Classic.

Thanks for joining me on this “Non Stop Runner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me when I be looking at a Can Am March. Don’t forget to come back now.

PS Some thoughts on what to watch out for at the Belgian GP at Motorsports Unplugged.

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