Tag Archives: Gurney

Goodwood Revival 2012 – #6 Lotus

Goodwood 2012 – #5 Ferrari Friday

If I heard the commentary on Goodwood Radio correctly then there were over $300 million dollars worth of cars at Goodwood last Friday with 11 Ferrari 250 GTO’s present that would make up the first $120 million very quickly !

Among the 250 GTO’s I had not seen before was chassis #4219GT a car which Pedro Rodriguez drove to victory in the second Daytona 3 Hour race held in 1963. This car is reputed to have changed hands for just over $12,000 in 1964 and between $3 and 3.5 million in 1993 !

The role call of drivers of this Ferrari 250 TR #0774TR includes Jean Behra and Dan Gurney who did not finish the 1959 Le Mans 24 hours in it, Phil Hill and Cliff Allison who won the 1960 1000kms at Buenos Aires before it returned to Le Mans where it won the 1960 24 hours with Olivier Gendebien and Paul Frere at the wheel.

I am not sure of the chassis number of this 250 GT SWB Berlinetta so I’m not sure wether or not it’s a Competizione model or not, if you know your 250 GT SWB’s and no the identity of this one please chip in with a reference or two below.

A class win at Le Mans in 1967 for drivers Dietter Sporey and Rico Steinemann followed by another in the 1000 kms at Spa in 1969 with Jaques Rey and Edgar Berney at the wheel did not do much to help the value of this car in 1969 when it changed ownership for just $6,000. By 1983 the value had leapt to $150,000 two years later it was fire damaged and the wreck changed hands for $46,000.
The restored car then went to Japan for a reputed $800,000 in 1988, since then it has come to reside in the UK via the USA for undisclosed sums.

My personal pick for Ferrari of the day is this 250 MM Pinifarina Berlinetta with a longer than standard nose. The car has little racing history from it’s heyday and lost 1 million Italian Lira in value, just under 1/3rd, between 1953 and 1955. By all accounts it was used for to chauffeur movie stars in 1954.

If you can’t have the Ferrari 250 of your choice there are plenty of less valuable 250 GTE’s like the 1963 example above that can be acquired and transformed into the Ferrari of your dreams at a fraction of the price of the real thing.

For one reason or another this Ferrari 250 GTO #3757 has come up for discussion on GALPOT numerous times, I make no apology for showing yet another photo of it again because this time former Ferrari Grand Prix driver and would be Indy rookie Jean Alesi can be seen at the wheel.

Christian Horner is best known as team principle of the multiple championship winning Red Bull racing, he was also a dab hand behind the wheel making it all the way to the second tier Formula 3000 open wheel series before the money ran out and he opted for team management in 1998. Christian is seen here in the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta chassis 1953GT another car that has been mentioned before in connection with the motor from 250 GT SWB Berlinetta #2025 that has been fitted to the #60 seen here.

The car above driven by Mike Malone looks like a 1958 Ferrari 250 TR however it actually started life as 1956 290 MM Scaglietti Spyder #0606 with Right Hand Drive. After Maurice Trintignant and Phil Hill won first time out in Sweden car was upgraded to 1959 250 TR specs at the factory and ended up in Brazil where Rio Negri was killed after probably mistaking the central pedal for the brakes when it was actually the accelerator. The remains of the fire damaged car were eventually fitted with a Ford V8. Much later it was discovered and mistaken and built up again as the Left Hand Drive ’59 250 TR 0726. Many years later it came to light that the car was actually #0606. Finding Ferrari’s can be difficult identifying them correctly even more so !

Last year I saw 1985 Indy winner Danny Sullivan at my local track Castle Combe, this year I have now seen him race a Ferrari at Goodwood, above he is driving a 1956 Ferrari 850 Monza chassis 0604M, as we saw in a previous post Danny is following in the footsteps of one five time Juan Manuel Fangio and America’s first world champion Phil Hill ! Danny qualified 15th but did not finish the Sussex Trophy Race.

Finally the Freddie March Memorial Trophy race included this 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Scaglietti Spider S1 chassis #0504M which appears to have been raced by Frenchman Michael Poberejsky under the pseudonym Mike Sparken. Michael won a race in Morocco before sharing the car with Marsten Gregory at Le Mans in 1955 where they failed to finish. R and A Frankel retired with less than half an hour to go in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy too !

Thanks for joining me on this ‘#5 Ferrari Friday’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some of the Lotus racing cars that were present at Goodwood. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS 12 09 21 Condolences to family and friends of Michael Poberejsky who died this morning at his home in Beaulieu sur Mer.

Goodwood Revival 2012 – #1 Track Action

2 Replies

I planned to get up at 4am on Friday and head to Goodwood at 5 prompt, the first part of the plan worked well but by the time I’d corrected a false start and gone back home to collect my ticket it was 5:30 am before I hit the road in earnest.

As I arrived at Goodwood the 8 O’clock news headline on the radio was about a controversy surrounding pictures of naked Royalty that had been published in France. I switched the radio off before the whole story had been told and headed off into a car park full of classic and cars where I found this mascot on a Daimler LQ20.

As I approached the bridge that acted as an entrance into the circuit I observed a tent full of people being transformed from 21st Century to mid 20th Century citizens for what is one of the worlds biggest, if not the biggest, three day Fancy Dress Nostalgia events.

Once inside evidence of the Dan Gurney for President campaign was hard to ignore, I bet the guy I would vote for is faster than any other presidential candidate that ever lived.

On my way to the pits I popped by to say hi to Paul Chenard from Nova Scotia in Canada, Paul is seen above with one of the ten limited edition laser cut in steel Ferrari GTO’s he has recently been working on. Given that there were 15 250 GTO’s present to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the model which these day’s are conservatively valued at $20 million dependent on provenance I imagine Paul did not have to take too many of these cool pieces home with him.

Thanks to an armband kindly lent to me by the owner of the Porsche in this linked photo, I was able to get into the pits to see and hear some of the cars as they were being fettled ready for qualifying for the Goodwood Revival invitation races. Above the Walker Climax Tec Mec Tipo 10 apparently was commissioned by Rob Walker for Stirling Moss in 1960 but was never raced in period.

The Tartra T603 from the former Czechoslovakia easily won the unofficial biggest exhaust pipes in the pits competition, they are attached to an air cooled V8. The car qualified a respectable 8th for both rounds of the St Mary’s Trophy with John Haugland and Arne Berg driving in the first and second races respectively.

After a short break for lunch, during which I caught up with acquaintances from The Nostalgia Forum, I started an anticlockwise walk of the circuit as Kenny Brack was securing pole for the Shelby Cup in a Shelby Daytona Coupé. I got to the Lavant Corners in time to see a demonstration of pre 1939 Grand Prix Cars which included V12 and V16 Auto Unions, Mercedes Benz silver arrows models running together for what is thought to be the first time since 1939. Unfortunately the poor commentators had no idea who was driving what and the programme notes are no help either. Above two V16 Auto Unions lead a Mercedes Benz, the V12 Auto Union an ERA and a pair of 8 cylinder Maserati’s.

As the autumnal afternoon unfolded a seemingly endless stream of storied automobiles passed by including this recreation of a 39 inch tall prototype Maserati 151/3 driven by Jochen Mass and owner Barrie Baxter, which was invited to join the GT cars in the TT Celebration race.

After the many trials and all to few tribulations of BRM with it’s V16 P15 built in 1950 the team eventually evolved into Grand Prix and World Championship contenders winning the 1962 World Manufacturers and Drivers Championships with Graham Hill at the wheel of a V8 powered BRM P57, with 8 neat exhaust stacks, similar to the one above driven by David Clark in the Glover Trophy.

The last time I remember seeing Brian Redman at the wheel of an Aston Martin was at Donington Park in 1989 when he was driving the brutal Aston Martin AMR 1 Group C car. Here Brian is driving a 1957 DBR 1 of the type which, unlike the AMR 1, won at Le Mans in 1959 with Carol Shelby and Roy Salvadori at the wheel. Brian is seen above on his way to 18th on the grid for the Sussex Trophy race.

Having started the morning in the fog bound Channel Islands one of only two remaining Avro Lancaster PA474 bombers, powered by four Rolls Royce Merlin V12’s made a flyover of the track just before the day’s only scheduled race started.

Anthony Reid stormed off into what looked like an invincible lead for the 90 minuet Freddie March Memorial Trophy race as the evening drew to dusk. However a gear box fault meant that when owner Nigel Webb took over there was only one gear available, 4th and so the #24 C-type fell back to an eventual twelfth place. This meant that all Alex Buncombe had to do was keep his #12 Jaguar Heritage Racing C-Type,which had started with John Young at the wheel, on the road to keep the lead. Alex did take the win but only after a lawn mowing incident at St Mary’s corner which resulted in Alex loosing his head lights for a good half an our before remembering where the switch was.

Thanks for joining me on this Goodwood Revival 2012 – #1 Track Action 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 some of the MG’s at Goodwood. Don’t forget to come back now !

Record In Perpetuity – Napier Railton

The English Ford Line – Lotus 28 #17

2 Replies

I first featured a Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Lotus Type 28, just over a year ago and believe the model is worth a second look today because the car featured here is thought to be the 17th of 1000 that were originally scheduled to be built.

Furthermore this car registered ‘166 RUR’ is the first, of a team of twelve works Team Lotus racers, that was built in 1963.

“166 RUR’s” racing career started at Oulton Park on the 20th September 1963 with inaugural, 1958, British Saloon Car Champion Jack Sears at the wheel. This ‘Lotus Cortina’ along with an earlier Ford Cortina GT and Ford Galaxie helped Jack become the British Saloon Car Champion for a second time in 1963.

The week after “166 RUR’s” debut 1963 World Driver Champion Jim Clark took over the wheel at Snetterton, Jim would become the 1964 British Saloon Car Champion driving Works Lotus Cortina’s.

This cars next appearance was as a part of “The English Ford Line” team entered for the Sebring “250” on the 22nd March 1964 with Dan Gurney at the wheel. Dan came in 16th while Clark in the sister team car came home third behind Augie Pabst, driving a Galaxie, and Walt Hangsen driving a Falcon Sprint.

Dan Gurney’s 1964 presidential campaign started by Car and Driver Editor David E. Davis Jr did not get under way until May 1964, just over a month after Dan drove this car.

A variety of drivers continued to campaign “166 RUR” through 1964 including Sir John Whitmore winner at Pensacola, Grand Prix driver Peter Arundell, 6th at Riverside, abd towards the end of the year future TV pundit David Hobbs shared the car with Dave Clark, no relation to Jim, for a 9th place finish in the Marlboro 12 hours in Virginia.

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

$150 Silver Dollars And An Avanti – 1962 Indianapolis 500

Kiwi Adventures – Ferrari 246 #0007

4 Replies

A couple of weeks ago at Race Retro I caught up with the last front engined car to win a Grand Prix again. This car was originally given the chassis number #0007 and driven by Wolfgang von Trips, Oliver Gendebien, and Phil Hill in 1958 recording just one 5th place finish in Portugal with ‘Taffy’ von Trips at the wheel.

The following season it driven by Dan Gurney in 4 Grand Prix recording a best finish of 2nd on aggregate at Avus in the 1959 German Grand Prix.

In 1960 #0007 was wheeled out for Phil Hill again for five more Grand Prix appearing for the last time at the Italian Grand Prix which Phil Hill won, in a clean sweep of the podium for the Italian marque, ahead of Richie Ginther and the Belgian Willy Marisse who was a lap down.

The significance of the win the last ever in a championship Grand Prix recorded by a car with the engine in the front was a matter of complete indifference to Ferrari as evidenced by the fact that before the year was out the trusty 2.5 litre Dino V6 motor had been swapped for V12 250 TR motor by the factory. The whole car, renumbered at Maranello as chassis #0788, had been entrusted to New Zealander Pat Hoare who won in 1961 at Waimate and the 1962 New Zealand Gold Star Championship with it.

After the car proved no longer competitive and Pat Hoare had retired from racing Pat converted the single seater into a closed two seat GTO coupé replica which can be seen in this link.

The car was acquired by respected historic racer Neil Corner in 1978 and restored to it’s V12 open wheel chassis spec.

Today the car is owned and rock manager Tony Smith, who had a had a replica Dino V6 motor installed, raced #0007 at Goodwood Revival last year when I first saw it.

14/05/12 Ammended to read ‘and restored to it’s V12 open wheel chassis spec’ and ‘, who had a replica V6 motor installed, in the light of Charles Hollands comments below.

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring