Tag Archives: Lancia

IV Carrera Panamericana Winner – Lancia D24 #0004

Lining up alongside a Talbot Lago 26GS, a fleet of Ferrari’s that included five 375’s, with open Barchetta and closed Coupé Berlinetta bodies, a 340 and a 250MM that were in with a shout for the overall honours in the 1953 Carrera Panamericana were five Lancia’s two D23’s and three D24 models.

Lancia’s programme with the D series race cars was kick started after the 2 litre 122 cui V6 powered B20 GT Coupé driven by Giovanni Bracco and Umberto Maglioli finished second to a 4.1 litre / 250 cui Ferrari 340 America Berlinetta Vignale driven by Luigi Villoresi and Piero Cassani in the 1951 Mille Miglia.

Lancia D24, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In order to go for overall honours built a series of D20 Coupé’s with supercharged 2 litre / 122 cui motors and in 1953 one of these cars driven by Umberto Maglioli won the tight and twisted roads of the Targa Florio.

However the 2 litre supercharged V6 D20’s were not powerful enough to keep up with the competition running larger normally aspirated motors on the comparatively wide open roads used for the Le Mans 24 hours, such as the winning C-Type Jaguar.

Lancia D24, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In response to this Lancia modified it’s D20’s by replacing the super charged 2 litre V6 with a normally aspirated 3 litre 183 cui V6 while Pininfarina fitted the cars, renamed D23’s, with new open bodywork.

Simultaneously Lancia also built some all new Pininfarina bodied open top sports racers designed by Vittorio Jano fitted with even larger 3.3 litre / 201 cui V6 motors which became the D24 model. Two D24’s and one D23 were entered for the 1953 Nurburgring 1000kms where Robert Manzon and Piero Taruffi put there D24 on pole, but all three retired.

Lancia D24, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Lancia like Ferrari skipped the RAC TT at Dundrod and next lined up for the 1953 Carrera Panamericana road race where the D24 shared by Juan Manuel Fangio and Gino Bronzoni led home D24 mounted team mates Piero Taruffi and Luigi Maggio with the D23 driven by Eugenio Castellotti and Carlo Luoni coming home third ahead of the Ferrari 375MM driven by Guido Mancini and Fabrizio Serena and the Talbot – Lagp driven by Louis Rosier.

In April 1954 Piero Taruffi and Carlo Luoni drove a D24 to victory on the Giro di Sicilia, in May Alberto Ascari won the 1954 Mille Miglia with a fine solo drive in a Lancia D24, breaking a dominance by Ferrari on the event going back to 1948, and four weeks later Piero Taruffi followed up by driving a D24 to Lancia’s second consecutive win on the Targa Florio.

Lancia D24, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Luigi Villoresi then scored the first of three non championhship victories for the D24 at Circuito do Porto where Eugenio Castellotti came second, Eugenio won at Aosta-Gran San Bernardo before the D24’s final 1954 World Championship appearance at the RAC Tourist Trophy where Juan Manuel Fangio and Piero Taruffi finished 2nd ahead of team mates Robert Manzon and Eugenio.

The D24’s final victory was recorded by Eugenio at Firenze-Siena in October 1954 while the models final appearance was in the 1960 Buenos Aires 1000kms where Argentinians Camilo Gay and César Rivero qualified their by now well out dated D24 11th before retiring from the race with a transmission problem after competing 4 laps of the 106 lap race.

To the best of my knowledge the car seen at Goodwood Festival of Speed in these photographs belonging to the Museo Nacionale del’ Automobile is chassis #0004 which Fangio and Gino Bronzoni drove to victory in the 1953 Carrera Pan Americana and was subsequently used as a training car for by the Lancia team drivers at the Sebring 12 hours in 1954 and is also believed to have been used in some capacity for the 1954 Mille Miglia, note there are some subtle differences to the osf wing/fender to when Fangio and Bronzoni drove the car on the Carrera Panamericana. Also note #0004 is showing the #612 which was the number carried by the Meyer / O’Hara Moore Aston Martin DB3 on the MM in ’54 for no reason I or anyone else has been able to fathom.

Thanks for joining me on this “IV Carrera Panamericana Winner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Twincharged – Lancia Delta S4

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By 1985 it had become apparent that with the successes being racked up by the latest four wheel drive Audi Sport Quattro and Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Lancia would have to abandon it’s supercharged 2 wheel drive Lancia 037 and join the four wheel drive rallying band wagon if it wanted to remain competitive in World Championship Rallying.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Over the course of 1985/86 Lancia built 200 Lancia Delta S4 Stradales with CroMo tube frame chassis, covered with epoxy and fiberglass 2 door body panels, vaguely reminiscent of the Lancia Delta 4 door hatch back but hinged in the roof for easy access to the rear.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Like the Peugeot Turbo 16 the engine was mounted transversely behind the passenger seat but it was not only supercharged as per Lancia 037 but also turbocharged to improve overall power, while the S4’s four wheel drive system was developed with Hewland.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Power out put for the motor at 5 bar boost was said to be 1000hp but in Staradale, road spec, 250 hp was deemed sufficient while in Corsa, competition spec between 500hp and 600hp was more likely.

Lancia Delta S4, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The competition version of the S4 made it’s debut on the RAC Rally in November 1985 and Henri Toivonen with Neil Wilson navigating came home first ahead of team mates Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The following season the S4 scored four victories; Monte Carlo for Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto, Acropolis for Miki Biasion and Tiziano Siviero with Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki winning the Sanreno and Olympus Rallys.

Lancia Delta S4, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Markku and Lancia might have been crowned World Rally Champions, but that was before the governing body the FIA found that the organisers of the San Remo Rally had been wrong to disqualify the Peugeot team from a commanding lead of the rally for using skirts to aid the handling of their cars and so the FIA had little option but to annul the San Remo results which handed the world titles to Juha Kankkunen and Peugeot.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

However the season was clouded and the course of rallying was changed after first three spectators were killed and another 30 were injured when a Group B Ford RS200 plunged into a crowd in Portugal and later Henri and Sergio lost their lives after their S4 plunged into a ravine and burst into flames in Corsica.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

In the aftermath of these events Group B was cancelled from the end of 1986 and Audi withdrew from the Ford curtailed it’s Rally RS200 programme while Audi immediately withdrew from international rallying completely.

Lancia Delta S4, Alén, Kivimäki, RAC Rally, Wollaton Park, Nottingham

The photo above show’s Markku and Ilkka on the opening Wollaton Park stage of the 1985 RAC Rally while the remaining photographs show S4 Replica’s at Race Retro and Goodwood Festival of Speed built I believe by Rally Legend Replica’s in Blackburn.

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

Championship Dinger UnStuck – Brands Hatch 1000 Kilometers

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Thirty years ago this weekend give or take a day or two I found myself at Brands Hatch for the 1000 kms race, only the second Group C race I had seen, thanks mostly to the fact that my mate Sven was racing his Ford Capri in the supporting Uniroyal Production Saloon car race.

Jaguar XJ6, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

My pit pass from the support race got me into the pits prior to the start of the main event and I wasted no time taking pics of the leading runners from Lancia, Porsche and Jaguar who had locked out the first three rows of the grid in Noah’s Ark fashion during qualifying, above is the Tony Southgate designed Jaguar XJ6 driven by recent Formula One returnee Alan Jones who joined TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) regular Jean-Louis Schlesser in the leading TWR entry that qualified 5th, but retired from the event early with engine damage after the throttle jammed open.

Porsche 962C, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass qualified 4th on the grid in the #1 Porsche 962C seen above and finished second in the race experiencing only one problem, a faster than mandated refueling stop, which the team corrected by holding the car in the pits for an additional 10 seconds on the cars final fuel stop.

Lancia LC2 85, Wollek, de Cesaris, Baldi, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

The Lancia LC2’s with 800 hp qualifying motors, against Porsches 720 hp qualifying spec, locked out the front row with the #4 driven by Ricardo Patrese and Alessandro Nannini on pole, but in the final hour when the Lancia’s were running 3rd and 4th team mate Andrea de Cesaris ran into the pack of Patrese’s car damaging the exhaust on the #4 forcing a quick stop for repairs to secure it again which left the #5 Lancia Andrea shared with Brilliant Bob Wollek and Mauro Baldi to claim 3rd one lap down on the leading Porsches.

Gebhardt JC843, Adams, Taylor, Harrower, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

One car I had been particularly looking forward to seeing in the flesh was the super slippery Group C2 #75 Gebhardt JC843 seen above driven by Nick Adams, Ian Taylor and Ian Harrower, on this occasion the 3.3 litre / 201 cui Cosworth DFL car finished tenth, 46 laps behind the winning Porsche, from 15th on the grid.

Ecosse C285, Wilds, Mallock, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Winners of the Group C2 class were Ray Mallock and Mike Wilds in the Ecurie Ecosse #79 Ecosse C285 which was similarly Cosworth DFL powered, starting from 14 on the grid Ray and Mike came home 6th, 19 laps behind the winning C1 car, but crucially 11 laps ahead of the C2 turbocharged Carma powered Alba AR6 driven by Martino Finotto, Almo Coppelli and Carlo Facetti.

Porsche 962C, Derek Bell, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Starting from third on the grid thanks to the efforts of Hans Stuck was the #2 Porsche 962C he shared with local boy “Dinger” Derek Bell who crossed the line less the 12 seconds ahead of the #1 Porsche and in the process Hans and Derek more or less secured their first World Endurance Drivers Championship, this would become Derek’s first drivers championship ever in over 18 years as a professional.

My belated thanks to Sven who got me into see the show.

Thanks for joining me on this “Championship Dinger Unstuck” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be locking at a Formula One Toleman that nearly never ran for the want of a tyre contract. Don’t forget to come back now !

Five Group C Classics – Silverstone Classic

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Third in a series of five blogs celebrating Silverstone Classic’s Silver Jubilee today’s blog looks at five stunning Group C cars, which round out the meetings Super Saturday’s by racing into the evening, that have competed in the event over the years.

Jaguar XJR-11, Gary Pearson, Silverstone Classic,

Gary Pearson’s 1989 Jaguar XJR-11 above marks a significant ramping up of Jaguar’s efforts to remain at the top of the Group C tree by switching from a stock block derived 7 litre / 432 cui V12 to a MG Metro 6R4 derived twin turbo 3.5 litre / 216 cui V6 that produced around 750hp.

Nissan RC90, Steve Tandy, Silverstone Classic,

For the 1991 season Nissan sold one of there Lola built R90C chassis, #07, to Nova Engineering for use in the 1991 All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, Nova fitted a body developed in the Yatabe (Japan Automobile Research Institute—JARI) wind tunnel and called the car seen above with Steve Tandy at wheel, the R91CK.

Lancia LC2, Roger Wills, Silverstone, Classic,

Going back to 1985 is Roger Wills Ferrari powered Lancia LC2/85 with it’s distinctive wider body than the original LC2’s raced in 1983 and ’84.

Courage C26S, Georg Kjallgren, Silverstone Classic

I believe the Courage C26S, seen above with Georg Kjallgren at the wheel, started life as the second chassis built in Le Mans by Courage Competition in 1984 originally powered by a Cosworth DFL V8, in 1989 it was fitted with a Twin Turbo Porsche flat 6 and brought up to C26S specification for the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours where it failed to qualify on speed and was further disqualified for running under weight.

Mercedes Benz C11, Bob Berridge, Silverstone Classic,

Coolest of the Group C cars in my eyes is the Mercedes Benz C11 built for the 199O World Sports Car Championship which season during which it took seven wins from the eight races started securing the constructors championship for Mercedes Benz and Drivers Championship for Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mauro Baldi, I believe the car seen above with Bob Berridge at the wheel was the prototype which was never raced in period, but has a very successful career as a historic racer.

More, including tickets, on this years Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this “Five Group C Classics” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a trip to the recent Sonoma Historic meeting. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Day We Went To Beaulieu – The National Motor Museum

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A couple of weeks ago I was at a local Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) meeting when a fellow member mentioned that the South West Mensa group he belonged to was going on an organised trip around The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and invited his fellow IAM members to join him, I of course needed little prompting and ended up taking regular GALPOT contributor Tim and a last minuet guest Alberto from Madrid too.

Grenville Steam Carriage, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

Among the delights of the museum I did not cover on my previous visit was the oldest working self propelled vehicle in the country, an 1875 Grenville Steam Carriage capable of 18 mph, that was built by Robert Neville Grenville in nearby Butleigh Court, Glastonbury, Somerset.

Lancia Corsa, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

When it comes to varied careers few vehicles can beat this 1910 Lancia Corsa that Billy Knipper drove to win the Tiedeman Trophy in Savannah on November 11th 1910, before it was used as a service vehicle by the Fire Chief of Lenox Massachusetts, it subsequently also served as a garage recovery vehicle !

Austin A90 Atlantic, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

Desperate for foreign earnings to revive the war ravaged economy and repay Britain’s huge war debts Austin came up with the wonderful Austin A90 Atlantic which was aimed squarely at the US market with power windows and hood on the convertible, unfortunately it was completely usurped by the more powerful and rakishly styled Jaguar XK120, but the six cylinder engine ended up powering several larger Austin Saloon / Sedan models and the much admired Austin Healey 100-Six.

Cadillac Seville, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

A real surprise was finding the last Cadillac bought by Elvis Presley in the National Motor Museum, this 1977 Cadillac Seville MY series 6K is said to have also been driven by “The King” the day before his death on August 16th 1977.

BRM P301, National Motor Museum Beaulieu

In the learn something new department was that the last time I saw the chassis above was at Le Mans in 1992 when it was fitted with a closed cockpit coupé body and a 3.5 litre / 213 cui V12 BRM motor.

The car caught fire during the race which it started despite the fact that only Wayne Taylor had qualified in it. The fire damage was repaired but the car was not allowed to restart on the Sunday because it had covered insufficient distance.

I knew the car had been subsequently raced in open cockpit form but had not realised the BRM motor was replaced by a turbocharged 3 litre / 183 cui Nissan V6 motor.

In the latter form the renamed P301 was prequalified for the 1997 Le Mans 24 hours with 38th best time by Harri Toivonen and Johnny O’Connell, completed just 6 laps of the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours, from 34th on the grid, after the engine failed, qualified 6th on the grid for the International Sports Racing Series at Donington, but failed to start because of an electrical problem, started 5th on the grid at Misano in 1998, but retired with drive shaft failure and finally failed to start at Donington in 1998 after it crashed during qualifying.

My thanks to Bill and all the Mensa members who made my guests and I feel so welcome.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Day We Went To Beaulieu” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Corvette that raced at Le Mans. Don’t forget to come back now !

Wheels Festival – Bournemouth

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A couple of weeks ago David Roots told me he was going to Bournemouth for the weekend over the Festival of Speed, he advised me it was at the friendly price of completely free so I made a note to pop down for the day myself.

Peerless, "Princess" Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

I was not in the least disappointed with the sheer variety of machines on display some of which were static but obviously ready to go like this 1907 Peerless Steam Engine built in Waynesboro PA.

McLaren P1, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

Of greatest interest to me were the demonstration runs along East Overcliff Drive, unfortunately there was no literature advising visitors who the drivers were and the pa system tended to get drowned out by the glorious sounds of the motors, above the a 2014 McLaren P1 was among a group of contemporary supercars that included a tyre smoking Chrysler Viper, Mercedes Benz SLS and Porsche 997 and Ferrari Italia.

Ferrari 365 GTB/4, Sally Mason-Styrron, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

The best sound of the day to my ears came from the 1972 4.4 litre / 267 cui V12 Ferrari which I believe is the former Maranello Concessionaires / JCB chassis #15681 that currently belongs to the Mason-Styrron family and was I believe driven by Sally Mason-Styrron.

Other Le Mans car present included the Ford GT40 chassis #P/1017 shared by Jochen Rindt and Innes Ireland at Le Mans in 1966, and two cars from the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, their 1932 4 1/2 litre Blower Bentley and a 1912 3 litre Sunbeam Coupe de l’Auto team car.

Standard Ten, Peter Clements, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

Among the “touring” cars present was this raucous 1959 Standard Ten which I believe is owned by Peter Clements and has been a regular at the Goodwood Revival meetings, other cars in this class included a Mini Cooper, Ford Anglia, ex Roland Ratzenberger BMW M3, and Josh Cooks 2015 Racing For Heroes #80 Chevrolet Cruze.

Toleman Hart TG181C, tba, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

The Formula One display did not disappoint either lined up alongside the well Toleman TG181C “General Belgrano” above were the Benetton B191 driven by Lorina McLaughlin, an Arrows A10B driven by Gerry Harrison, a Lotus Judd 101, Jordan Honda EJ12 and Yamaha Arrows A18.

Lancia Delta Integrale Evo, Mick Wood, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

While among the Rally cars were Mick Wood’s Lancia Delta Integrale Evo seen above, a WRC Subaru Impreza, WRC Martini Ford Focus and Paul Swift indulged in some show boating with a non standard Ford Escort Mk2.

Big Pete, Grim Reaper, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

At this point I ventured off to look at some of the static displays which included a 1970’s Austin Princess, and wonderful selection of British sports cars of all ages, above Big Pete and Grim Reaper were parked up when I passed but they could be heard in action from the road above.

Maudslay, "Big Maude", Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

One of the many memorable cars on display closer to the city centre was the 1904 Maudsley above, known as “Big Maud” she was one of the first cars to be sold with an overhead cam engine, the 9.6 litre / 585 cui 6 cylinder overhead cam engine powering this car produced an impressive 60hp, and the car cost nearly twice as much as a Rolls Royce !

Thanks for joining me on this “Wheels Festival – Bournemouth” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Chrysler Viper. Don’t forget to come back now !

Kenyan National Champion – Lancia Rally 037

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In 1982 the FIA mandated new rules for sports car racing and rallying called Group B which allowed manufacturers to compete with any vehicle they had built 200 examples of, further more evolutions of these models were permitted each year so long as 20 examples had been built.