Tag Archives: Hillman

Classic and Sports Car Action Day – Castle Combe

10 Replies

Austin A55, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

On my way back from a couple of interviews at Sheffield Documentary Festival at the weekend I found time to accept a kind invitation from David Roots to pay a flying visit to Castle Combe for the Classic and Sports Car Action Day.

Cadillac Sedan de Ville, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

As I arrived out on the track caught a glimpse of a huge variety of vehicles ranging from a Wolsely Hornet to a gargantuan, by comparison, Ford Zodiac.

Doretti, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

Since I was on a tight schedule I directed my attention to the even larger variety of vehicles in the car parks and paddock.

Ford Capri, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

Many owners clubs were in attendance including the Ford Capri owners club who’s members brought a fine variety of examples of ‘The car you have always promised yourself‘, along to the show.

Hillman Avenger, Tiger Replica, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

I do not remember the last time I saw a Hillman Avenger Tiger, let alone half a dozen of them !

Jaguar XJ220, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

In the running for most exotic cat at the track was this Jaguar XJ 220, first time I have seen one in the flesh.

Lanchester LD10, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

Another model I do not recall seeing before is the Lanchester Ten.

Morris, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

Richard Edmonds were auctioning a selection of classic cars and commercial vehicles, including the Morris Van above, during the event, their tent was packed out with bargain hunters as I went past.

Pontiac, Le Mans, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

Unfortunately I did not get to hear or see this 350 CUI GTO in action complete with this cool bonnet mounted rev counter. 18 03 12, this car actually turned out to be a Pontiac LeMans Sport.

Reliant Scimitar GTE V8, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

Among the interesting vehicles in the car park was this Rover V8 powered Reliant Scimitar, manufactured originally with a Ford V6.

Alpine Renault A110, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

This Alpine A110 1600 S built for competition was one of several vehicles present with an interesting history in rallying.

Triumph Stag, Castle Combe, C&SCAD

There was also an impressive collection of Triumphs on display almost every type of TR and a couple of Stags.

Looking forward to blogging about some of the 40 vehicles I saw in the coming weeks, my thanks to David Roots, who’s Alfa powered Lenham I blogged several months ago, of the Bath & West Car Club for the invitation to attend.

Thanks for dropping in on today’s Classic and Sports Car edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Brave Heart – Singer Chamois

9 Replies

Comparing today’s Hillman Imp /Singer Chamois with yesterday’s FIAT 850 it is hard to believe that the Imp/Chamoise was in production one year ahead of the 850. Unencumbered by an existing design, like the FIAT 850, the clean lines of the Imp / Chamois were the work of Tim Fry and occasional Ferrari F1 driver Mike Parkes who were given carte blanche at the start of the ‘Apex’ project.

Incredibly, well incredible to my 2010 eyes with 2020 hind sight the FIAT 850 out sold the Imp / Chamois nearly 5:1 despite the Imp / Chamois being in production for 5 more years from 1963 – 1976. This particular vehicle apparently first registered in Bristol in 1966 is the badge engineered high end Singer Chamois Mark II with a conventional throttle cable and manual choke replacing the pneumatic throttle linkage and automatic choke of the MK I in 1965.

The Imp / Chamois vehicles were built in a brand new factory in Linwood near Glasgow by a workforce more experienced in building mighty ships than assembling little cars. Knockdown kit versions were also assembled in Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Venezuela, Uruguay, Costa Rica, South Africa and Australia.

Nearly 200,000 of these vehicles were built from 1963 – 1966 it then took another 10 years to build the same number again. The engine in the rear started life as an iron block FWMA Coventry Climax fire pump engine but was made, unusually for the time, entirely out of aluminium with a redesigned cylinder head in this application.

The 875 cc 53 cui engine delivered 39 hp enough to take the car to a respectable 80 mph. The car was perhaps hampered by having the engines cast in Glasgow and machined in Coventry before being shipped back to Glasgow for installation, a round trip of some 600 miles, but more than any thing the vehicle appears to have been a largely wasted marketing opportunity when compared against the similarly sized FIAT 850.

Thanks for joining me, I hope you have enjoyed today’s Scottish edition wishing everyone with a heritage north of Hadrian’s Wall a happy St Andrew’s day.

Hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for another exciting instalment of ‘Getting a lil’ psycho on tyres’, don’t forget to come back now !

Share