Tag Archives: Mass

1922 Targa Entry – Mercedes 18/100

The 1922 Targa Florio differed from the French Grand Prix and Italian Grand Prix run that year because entries were not restricted to the 2 litre / 122 cui mandated for the Grand Prix and as a resulted it attracted no less than seven Mercedes entries running with three different engine sizes.

With hindsight the significance of the 1922 Targa Florio is further enhanced because it also attracted entries from Alfa Romeo and Austro-Daimler Sascha which pitted drivers Enzo Ferrari and future Mercedes Benz racing manager Alfred Neubauer together for the first time.

Mercedes 18/100, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Of the seven Mercedes entered for the 268 mile race Christian Werner drove a normally aspirated 7.2-litre six-cylinder 28/95 Mercedes, Max Saile a supercharged version.

Two supercharged 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui cars were raced by Italian Ferdinando Minoia and Mercedes employee Paul Scheef, finally two works 1914 designed 18/100’s driven by 1908 and 1914 French Grand Prix winner Christian Lautenschlager, who drove today’s featured car and Otto Salzer were joined by the privately entered 18/100 painted red driven by Count Giulio Masetti.

Mercedes 18/100, Jochen Mass, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Today’s featured 18/100 appears to have been built new in 1919, with front brakes, using the 115hp 4 1/2 litre / 274 cui 4 four cylinder engine that had been fitted to the fifth 1914 Mercedes French Grand Prix entry driven by Belgian Theodore Pilette that retired in the first hour.

Despite losing the near front and rear wings / fenders of his #42 car Christian Lautenschlager finished the 1922 Targa Florio in 10th place behind the two 28/95’s that finished 6th and 8th driven by Max and Christian Werner respectively and the winning 18/100 driven by Count Giulio Masetti.

Mercedes 18/100, Jochen Mass, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Otto Salzer brought his 18/100 home in 13th place also sans near side fenders, ahead of the only 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui supercharged to finish that was driven by Paul Scheef into 20th place.

On their first competitive meeting Enzo had the advantage and drove 67 hp Alfa Romeo 20/30 ES to a 16th place finish ahead of Alfred in the 50hp Austro Daimer Sascha, but Alfred who finished 19th overall, unlike Enzo claimed a 1,100 / 67 cui class victory.

Mercedes 18/100, Jochen Mass, Goodwood Festival of Speed

1989 Le Mans winner Jochen Mass is seen at the wheel of the Christian Lautenschlager Targa 18/100 at Goodwood Festival of Speed in these photograph’s, note the car has been prepared to 1914 French Grand Prix spec with out front brakes.

Thanks for joining me on this “1922 Targa Entry” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another Citroën that had a longer than expected development period. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Championship Dinger UnStuck – Brands Hatch 1000 Kilometers

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 !

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Non Championship Contender – Surtees Cosworth TS16 #TS16-04

1974 looked promising for the Surtees Racing Organisation despite the fact they were running on the unfavoured Firestone tyres they replaced the McLaren bound Mike Hailwood by promoting their 1973 Formula 2 driver Jochen Mass to a full time drive alongside the rapid Brazilian Carlos Pace.

Surtees TS16, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

The team had a new car in the form of the TS16, that was lighter than the previous TS14 model on which it was based.

Surtees TS16, Simon Fish, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Shortly after the start of the season at the South African Grand Prix they announced Hi Fidelity manufactures Bang & Olufsen as primary sponsor alongside toy manufacturer Matchbox and the Fina fuel brand.

Surtees TS16, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

However despite the good omens of a championship high 4th place finish for Carlos in the Brazilian GP and season high 2nd place finish for Jochen in the non championship International Trophy at Silverstone the season turned into a disaster.

Surtees TS16, Simon Fish, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

The main reason for this was that no monies were forth coming from primary sponsor Bang & Olufsen and after the Swedish Grand Prix Carlos Pace left to eventually join Carlos Reuteman at Brabham while Jochen left after the German Grand Prix and eventually replaced the injured Mike Hailwood at McLaren.

Surtees TS16, Simon Fish, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

A third privately entered TS16 run by AAW racing for Leo Kinnunen failed to qualify on all but one of 6 attempts and retired when it did qualify, and drivers Derek Bell, José Dolhem, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Dieter Quester and Helmut Koinigg brought into replace Jochen and Carlos managed a best 9th, Quester in Austria, place finish between them. At the season final US Grand Prix the luckless Helmut was then killed in an accident.

Surtees TS16, Simon Fish, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Jochen Mass drove today’s featured chassis six times in 1974 retiring from five of the races and failing to qualify at Monaco, Derek Bell failed to qualify the car on his final championship Grand Prix appearance at the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix while José Dolhem qualified the car, on his third Grand Prix attempt, for the 1974 US Grand Prix from which he withdrew after team mate Helmut Koinigg’s fatal accident.

Surtees TS16, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

For 1975 Surtess regrouped by running a single TS16 for John Watson with Goodyear providing the tyres after Firestone’s withdrawal and a bare minimum of sponsorship from Matchbox who ironically were by now selling 1/32nd scale plastic kits of the 1974 Bang & Olufsen TS16.

Surtees TS16, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

The teams luck continued in the non championship races with today’s featured chassis #TS16-04 being driven to a 2nd place finish in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, a 4th place finish in the International Trophy at Silverstone and TS16-05 being driven to a fifth place finish in the non championship 1975 Swiss Grand Prix run at Dijon in France.

Surtees TS16, Simon Fish, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

In the championship events however the teams best result came when John drove TS16-04 to an 8th place finish at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix which proved to be this cars final Grand Prix appearance.

John Watson left the Surtees team to replace the fatally injured Mark Donohue at Penske for the Canadian Grand Prix by which time Surtees had temporarily withdrawn from the championship in order to regroup again with a far more competitive prophylactic sponsored car for 1976.

TS16-04 is seen in these photographs being driven by Simon Fish at a Silverstone Classic Press Day several years ago, if you have the correct grade licence the car can be hired for Masters and GP Classic racing from Mirage Engineering see this link.

Thanks for joining me for this “Non Championship Contender” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be returning to Maserati Monday’s. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Lowering The Centre Of Gravity – Mercedes Benz C291

When the rules of the Group C Sports cars were ruined for the 1991 season, to the advantage of Formula One, at the behest of Messrs Ecclestone and Moseley to mandate 750kg vehicles to be powered by 3.5 litre / 213 cui motors of the same size as had been introduced to Formula One in 1989 Dr Hermann Hiereth sat down at Mercedes Benz offices in Stuttgart-Ünterturckheim and devised a flat 12 engine with transverse gearbox that lowered the center of gravity compared to the twin turbo V8 design that was being used to power the Group C Sauber C9 and C11 designs for the 1989 and 1990 seasons.

Mercedes Benz C291, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Unfortunately Leo Ress responsible for chassis design at Sauber based in Hinwill, Switzerland was not present at the meeting in Stuttgart when the new engine layout was approved and so he had to make do with a low wide power unit that limited his options for the ground effect venturi that helped to suck the car to the ground as had become de riguer in racing cars since the advent of the Lotus 79 Formula One car.

Mercedes Benz C291, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Perhaps as a consequence of these restrictions Leo was left with no choice but to design a car that optimised top speed at the cost of handling, the exact opposite of what his rivals at Jaguar and Peugeot were doing with their V8 and V10 powered challengers.

Mercedes Benz C291, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The overweight C291 driven by 22 year old rising stars Karl Wendlinger and Michael Schumacher retired from it’s first race at Suzuka after starting from 3rd on the grid and catching fire during the race after the fuel filler jammed partially open during a pit stop, at Monza the engine failed on the grid from which it was to have started 6th and again during the race which it started one lap down.

Mercedes Benz C291, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The youngsters recorded an excellent 2nd place finish 1 lap down on the winning Jaguar XJR14 driven by Teo Fabi and Derek Warwick at Silverstone, before a disgraceful lap of 6m 55.969s convinced the team to stick with the heavily ballasted, to the mandated 900kg, but reliable C11 model for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Mercedes Benz C291, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

At the Nurburgring two C291’s were entered with Jean Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass qualifying 6th right behind the sister car driven by Wendlinger and Schumacher, both cars retired gearbox and engine failure respectively.

Mercedes Benz C291, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The two C291 cars qualified in the same order at Magny Cours as in Germany 6th and 3rd respectively, but retired with a broken throttle linkage and water leak respectively.

Mercedes Benz C291, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Little changed in the C291’s fortunes in Mexico where Wendlinger and Schumacher qualified 2nd but failed to finish due to oil pump problems and where Schlesser and Mass retired from 6th on the grid with electrical issues.

Mercedes Benz C291, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The C291’s final appearance was at Autopolis in Japan where against form Jean Louis and Jochen translated a 7th place start to a fifth place finish and even more remarkably Karl and Michael translated a sixth place start in to a win.

Much as Ecclestone and Moseley had hoped Mercedes Benz abandoned Group C at the end of the season and entered the Formula One fray as an engine supplier initially to Sauber for whom Karl continued to drive.

Micheal of course after a one off appearance in a Jordan moved to the Benetton Formula One team with whom he won the first two of his eventual seven world championships.

Le Mans was as usual left to pick up the pieces wrought by the wreckless legislation promoted by Moseley and Ecclestone.

At the time of writing it is not exactly clear which C291 belongs to Andrew Haddon who is believed to be the owner of the car shown in these photo’s taken at Race Retro and Goodwood Festival of Speed some years ago.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lowering The Centre Of Gravity” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for another raucous Mazda Monday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Day We Went To Beaulieu – The National Motor Museum

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 !

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Eau d’Guest – McLaren Cosworth M23 #M23/4

Today’s featured car McLaren M23 #M23/4 appeared in another blog earlier this year in the colours of 1974 sponsors Texaco and Marlboro.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

The car was built in 1973, when McLaren were sponsored solely by Yardley and was driven to a third place finish in the 1974 German Grand Prix by Jacky Ickx in a one off drive.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

Peter Revson drove #M23/4 in the last three races of his career at McLaren finishing 3rd in Monza, winning in Canada and finishing 5th in his home US Grand Prix before leaving to join Shadow for the 1974 season.

McLaren M23, Gregor Fisken, Silverstone Classic

During 1974 both Denny Hulme and Emerson Fittipaldi raced #M23/4 in Marlboro colours with Emerson finishing a best 3rd in the non championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

After Mike Hailwood crashed his Yardley sponsored McLaren M23 at the 1974 German Grand Prix and effectively ending his Formula One career, #M23/4 was returned to Yardley livery for David Hobbs to drive in the Austrian and Italian Grand Prix, he finished a best 7th in Austria.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

For the final two races of the 1974 season Jochen Mass was invited to drive the car and he also scored a best 7th in the US Grand Prix.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

During 1975 #M23/4 made two race appearances in Marlboro livery, Emerson finishing second at the non championship International Trophy at Silverstone and Jochen retiring from the German Grand Prix.

There after I believe #M23/4 was turned into a show car and it maybe that it was during this time the car acquired it’s post 1976 US Grand Prix West extended side pods with the two distinctive vents.

The car is seen with Gregor Fisken at the wheel during the Silverstone Classic meeting earlier this year.

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

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120 Years Of Competition – Mercedes Benz

2014 marks the 120 years of competition for Mercedes Benz, going back to the 1894 Paris – Rouen race and examples of the marque on display at Goodwood included Ben Collins 111 year old Mercedes Simplex 60hp.

Mercedes 18/100, Mass, Croft, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Going back just 100 years, like the lucky birthday boy passenger Basil Croft, was the Mercedes 18/100 of the type which Christian Lautenschlager drove to win the 1914 French Grand Prix. 1975 Spanish Grand Prix winner and 1989 Le Mans winner Jochen Mass is seen at the wheel here.

Mercedes Benz W165, Stewart, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Paul Stewart is seen at the wheel of the slightly smokey 1939 Mercedes Benz W165 of the type which irked the Italians by winning the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix with Hermann Lang at the wheel.

Mercedes Benz High Speed Transporter, 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, Goodwood Festival of Speed

For their return to Grand Prix racing in 1954 the Mercedes Benz Rennabteilung built a special high speed transporter, capable of 104 mph, using Mercedes 300SL running gear. Sitting on the back of the replica Rennwagen Schnelltransporter is one of two Mercedes Benz 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupés built on the chassis of the 300SLR roadster of the type Stirling Moss and Dennis Jenkinson drove to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia with a 300SL Gullwing Body.

Mercedes Benz 300SLS, Franchitti, Goodwood Festival of Speed

It was great to see 3 time Indy winner Dario Franchitti back behind the wheel of a racing car, he was so pleased he even took a selfie of himself behind the wheel while the car was moving ! The car Dario is seen driving here is a replica 300SLS of the type Paul O’Shea drove to many victories for GALPOT contributor Geoffrey Horton’s uncle George Tilp in the USA.

Mercedes Benz 500SL Rallye, Asch, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Moving forward two decades to 1980 and Mercedes Benz were competing in the World Rally Championship with the 500SLC Rallye model, the season highlight was a 1-2 victory in the Ivory Coast Rally shared by Björn Waldegård and Hans Thorszelius in the winning car. Roland Asch is about to find out that the hey bails make a poor substitute for the vehicles brakes.

Mercedes Benz CLK GTR, Ludwig, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Finally two time Le Mans winner Klaus Ludwig pilots a 1998 V12 Mercedes Benz CLK GTR back to the pits of the type that won the 1997 FIA GT Drivers and Manufacturers Championships with Bernd Schneider at the wheel.

Thanks for joining me on this “120 Years Of Competition” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Maserati Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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