Tag Archives: Park

Cum On Feel The Noize – Donington Park Test Day

When Ted Walker told me about the possibility of a 1939 Mercedes Benz 154 Grand Prix racer appearing for a test day at Donington Park a couple of weeks ago my ears just knew I had to be there to hear it.

At 6 am (ish) I picked up GALPOT contributer Tim and headed up to Donington Park and headed for the Hall & Hall pit where a mouth watering selection of cars was on display including this 1982 Matra V12 powered Ligier JS17 Grand Prix car.

Next to and in front of the JS17 were not one but two 1973 World Sports Car Championship winning Matra 670 C’s powered by similarly awesome sounding V12’s !

As we waited in the pits for the Gentleman from Crosthwaite and Gardiner to prepare the W154 for an engine warm up this Lola T70 Mk 3 Coupe rumbled down pit road to wet our appetites.

After a five minute warm up the plugs on the W154 were changed and one lucky Rob Hall jumped out of his Matra and into the Benz. The car sounded great although it was anything but a smooth test as first a recalcitrant motor had to be cured and then a water leak from the radiator brought and end to proceedings. While it was running cleanly the ear splitting sound of the 476hp 3 litre / 183 cui two stage super charged V12 was music to the ears !

As the test day progressed Tim and I took a wolk around the track which I had not seen, despite several trips to the Donington Museum, since the early 1990’s. Since my last visit the gravel traps have substantially increased in size and safety fences have increased in height. Above Rob Hall charges down the Craner Curves pursued by a Porsche GT3.

One of the many advantages of traveling with Tim is that he has breath taking memory for motor racing details, he has won several prestigious motor racing knowledge awards, during the Test day he pointed out that the arch in the Folly above was part of the pre war Grand Prix circuit through which the likes of the Mercedes Benz W154 along with Alfa Romeo’s, Auto Unions and ERA’s once raced in anger !

The works Gulf Prodrive Aston Martin team had three V8 Vantages present the #97 above, seen exiting Coppice, appeared to be the 2012 Le Mans entry driven by Adrian Fernandez, Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner which finished 19th overall and 3rd in class behind to Ferrari 458 Italia’s. The distinctive deep thump of these V8’s made it easy to tell where they were on the track even when they were not in view.

When we got back to the pits we found Terry Durdin’s 1972 Formula Ford Crosslé 25F being prepared for an afternoon’s run.

Another rumbling monster with a Le Mans history was this Sunbeam Tiger Coupé, one of two built by Lister for the Rootes Groups 1964 Le Mans challenge. Keith Ballisat and Claude Dubois qualified 34th for the endurance classic but both cars, powered by Ford 4,2 litre / 260 cui motors failed to finish due to engine failure.

There were two Ferrari’s present a 360 and this F430 driven by Sam Smeeth.

Following in the footsteps of Danica Patrick is the ambitious Laura Tillet who has stepped up to Formula Renault this year. Here her Fortec run Tatuus FR2000 is being prepared for a last minute run before the track closed at 5pm.

We did not time all the cars but thought the 2 litre / 122 cui BMW powered Ralt RT1 Formula 2 car of Philip Harper was amongst the quickest on the track. Ted Walker told us that Philip was running laps in the 1 min 02 second bracket. Tim and I reckoned Philips time would have seen him challenging James Hunt and Mario Andretti for second or third place at the very first meeting held at Donington Park the Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Trophy in 1979. To be fair the 3 litre / 183 cui cars of Hunt and Andretti had a much slower chicane to negotiate than Philip did.

Thanks for joining me on this “Cum On Feel The Noize” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Continental Tourer – MG 18/80 Six Saloonette Mk I

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Today’s featured MG 18/80 Six was through University Motors of, the then very fashionable, Park Lane, London W1 in 1931 for £625 painted black and cream.

Technically this car is similar to the Tigress bodied 18/80 featured a couple of weeks ago with a 2468cc / 150 cui six cylinder motor that gives an 80 mph potential.

The history of this particular car is unknown between its original sale and the 1960’s when it resurfaced several times as it changed ownership. Since it’s restoration in the 1970’s it has been used for touring in the UK and on the Continent.

Thanks for joining me on this “Continental Tourer” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will loin me tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a classic Messerschmitt. Don’t forget to get to come back now !

Towing and Competing – Kayne Special III

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A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to meet MG Special Builder and Frogeye restorer Colin Cooper. Today I am looking at his third, and final, Kayne Special III.

Colin originally conceived the Kayne Special III as a towing car for his Kayne Special II as seen above at Oulton Park in 1983 and his Killeen K1 which I’ll be looking at next Tuesday.

Photo Copyright Frank Hall 1984.

However since he was taking part in events which allowed a driver multiple entries he decided to see what the Kayne Special III could do. Colin is seen above at Baitings Dam in 1984.

Kayne Special III was designed from scratch to Colin’s own design between 1981 and 1983.The green radiator cowl seen on the Kayne Special III above at Castle Combe like the more substantial safety cage was fitted after Colin sold the car.

Colin cut all of the square section tube chassis members with a hacksaw, no short cuts were taken with angle grinders, tacked all the members together and then had the chassis frame mig welded by a friend.

The 3.5 litre / 215 cui V8 motor came from a Rover SD1 complete with an automatic transmission which was attached to a rear axle sourced from an MG B. Note the steering column needs two universal joints to avoid fouling on the right hand bank of cylinders, this feature resulted in the Kayne Special III being unsuitable for anybody to drive with shoes size 7 1/2 or larger.

Running on 14″ MG B wire wheels at the front and 15″ MG C rear wheels at the rear and with a 0-100 mph capability in the region of 15 secs Colin could tease motorcyclists with his beautifully finished Kayne Special III.

With the automatic transmission Colin could drive the car to within 1 second of the times he achieved with the Kayne Special II. By 1984 Colin had fitted a manual transmission.

Colin sold the Kayne Special III when he retired from competition in 1985 for £2,700. The present owners and drivers of the car are John and Jonathon Biggs.

My thanks to Colin Cooper for sharing his memories and providing his photographs and to Chris Winstanley for allowing me to use Frank Halls photograph.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Towing and Competing’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

MGCC Speed Champion – Kayne Special II

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After selling the original MG J2 with a PB motor Kayne Special, which I looked at last week Colin Cooper started work on Kayne Special II.

Photo Copyright Frank Hall 1981

Colin began with a scrap 1965 MG B found in Cheshire from which he cut out the engine sub frame and added a pair of chassis rails around which he built up the rest of the car with an under slung rear axle featuring a limited slip differential. Kayne Special II ran on specially made bespoke wire wheels.

Photo Copyright Frank Hall 1983

The motor was a 4 cylinder MG B unit which was eventually fitted with an HRG Cross Flow cylinder heads and twin 45 Weber Carbs. Colin notes this car, his favorite, was always totally reliable.

Among many successes were winning the 1981 MG Car Club (MGCC) Speed Championship, 1981 Ellison Trophy at Oulton Park, see Frank Halls top photo, the 1979 Kimber Trophy, 2nd 1983 Kimber Trophy at Baitings Dam, see Frank Halls second photo, named after MG founder Cecil Kimber, and several awards for fastest MG in Sprint and Hill Climb events.

Colin said of Kayne Special II it was “a bit of a shed but it didn’t half go, (it was) timed at 115 mph at Blackpool Sprint.”

The car was eventually sold to a sprinting novice and is thought to have been eventually broken up with many of it’s parts going into a road going MG B.

Colin’s third special, Kayne Special III, seen towing Kayne Special II in the photo above will be the subject of next Tuesdays blog.

My thanks to Colin for sharing his memories and photographs and to Tony Gallagher for putting me in touch with Chris Winstanley who kindly gave me permission to use Frank Hall’s photographs of Colin in action at Oulton Park and Baitings Dam.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘MGCC Speed Champion’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

24 04 12 Added Frank Halls photo’s from Oulton Park and Baitings Dam.

Henry’s Hot Hatch – Ford Fiesta XR2 Mk I, II & III

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The Hot Hatch was a term for class of hatchback that gained currency with the introduction of the performance orientated Volkswagen Golf GTi in 1976, although I would venture to suggest the first real performance hatch back was the rear wheel drive Austin A40 Countryman which won the 1960 British Saloon Car Championship with Doc Shepherd at the wheel, though pedants may quibble about the fact that only the lower boot / tailgate of the Mk 1 A40, that one the championship, opened where as a hatch back is generally considered to have a rear opening that includes the the rear window and most commonly front wheel drive.

Fords entry vehicle into the front wheel drive hatchback market, ‘Project Bobcat’, was first seen at Le Mans in June 1976. The Fiesta range topping performance XR2 was launched in 1981 with an 84hp 1597cc / 97.5 cui over head valve 4 cylinder motor fitted with a carburetor good for a 0 – 60 mph time of 9.3 seconds and a top speed of 105 mph.

The much modified XR2 above with extended wheel arches is seen in the car park of the Südring shopping mall in Paderborn, Germany. The number plate style indicates it belonged to a member of the British Army On The Rhine (BAOR), and is seen competing in an Autotest a sport in which precision driving is the key skill. If you happen to recognise the car or know it’s drivers please chime in below.

The Mk II Fiesta was launched in 1983 was essentially a reskin of the Mk I with the XR2 version being fitted with a 95hp motor as used in the Ford Escort Mk 3 XR3.

Thanks to Roger Lund, Alan Raine and Tim Wilkinson at The Nostalgia Forum we have a consensus that the #23 Goodliff car seen at Brands Hatch above was driven by Norman Grimshaw, and that the car was shared with Barrie (Whizzo) Williams during a two driver race in the Ford Credit Fiesta Championship at Oulton Park.

In 1989 the third generation Fiesta was launched with a revised chassis pan recognisably similar to the original version and completely new body. Upgraded with a fuel injected 104 hp motor the XR2 became the XR2i, however increased competition in market led Ford to introduce an RS 1800 and RS Turbo versions of the Fiesta which topped and replaced the XR2i name in 1992.

Joining Norman Grimshaw at Goodliff racing in 1989 were ‘one make’ racing specialist James Kaye and Jim Smith in the #1 and #11 respectively seen above heading for a Goodliff 1-2 finish in the Ford Credit Fiesta Championship race at Donington Park on the 16th of May 1989.

Various Fiesta floor pans were used to build Quantum Coupé and Quantum 2+2 convertible kit cars.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Henry’s Hot Hatch’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Bump Start Only – Kayne Special

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Following yesterdays blog about Colin Cooper here is the first of 4 blogs on MG powered specials that Colin has built, raced and or owned.

The Kayne name is derived from Kay, and Neil his children. Colin’s first special was built in the ’72 – ’73 off season on an MG J2 chassis thought to be chassis number J4326. The Colin is seen driving the car above on it’s first outing at Loton Park in 1973.

For 1973 Colin ran the Kayne Speacial 1 with a 939 cc / 57 cui 4 cylinder MG PB motor. To save weight car built the car without a starter motor, so it always had to be bump started ! The Kayne Special is seen above at RAF Topcliffe alongside the #28 MG L Type of Maurice Gleeson and the #30 an ex Nigel Musselwhite MG PB belonging to Colin’s friend Trevor Goodwin.

For the 1974 season Colin fitted a Shorrock S/C directly driven off the nose of the crank, the car is seen Curborough Sprint driven by current owner Mike Painter in the early 1980’s with the super charger fitted, you can tell by the single carburetor popping out of the bodywork ahead of the front wheels.

Colin secured many class victories with the Kayne Special before selling it on 1976.

Mike Painter bought the Kayne Special, seen more recently at Loton Park above, soon after Colin sold it.

I’ll be looking at Colin’s second special the Kayne Special II next Tuesday.

My thanks to JMH for the chassis number and Allan Lupton for his comments on The Nostalgia Forum.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Bump Start Only’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

24/04/12 Added chassis number.

Two Tone Paint Standard – Lotus 36 Elan Sprint

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It is well known in the motor trade that you know a model is coming to the end of it’s life when the limited editions and special paint jobs start appearing.

Falling Elan S4 sales and the suggestion that the Elan was falling behind the competition in a group test may have led Lotus Sales Director Graham Arnold suggesting that a revamped Elan be launched with a paint job derived from the Gold Leaf Team Lotus Grand Prix cars which were about to seal the teams forth World Constructors Championship in 1970.

The Elan Sprint was also given a new big valve head that is said to have been developed in just 10 days which boosted power from 115 to 125 hp. The Webber carburetors of Elan Sprint motor did not need the power bulge, required by the earlier S4 model Stromberg carburetors, in the bonnet / hood though early examples like the one seen here at Oulton Park are thought to have been fitted with bonnets from the previous S4 series to use up the surplus stock.

The badge on the wing celebrates World Constructors Championship victories in 1963, ’65, ’68 and ’70, this badge on the last Sprint models produced between November 1972 and May ’73 included a fifth 1972 championship victory.

It is suggested in some circles that the gold stripes between the two tone paintwork were applied to cover quality issues where the two colours meet, however the Gold Leaf Grand Prix cars on which the Elan Sprint paint scheme is based also featured a gold stripe twixt the red and white colours. Sprints could be ordered in single colours, at additional cost.

When Autocar tested the Elan Sprint in 1971 they liked the refinement, speed and handling but were not so keen on the ride, cramped cockpit or heating and ventilation.

It is thought 1353 Elan Sprints were built between January 1971 and March 1973 when Elan production ceased because the model did not meet new regulation requirements introduced for 1974 in US and European Markets.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Two Tone Paint Standard’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring