Tag Archives: Plymouth

Françoise Hardy & The BMW Powered MOPAR – GALPOT Automobilia

Two Timing – Shakespeare County Raceway

The day before Memorial day I attended the Yanks and Gary’s 34th Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway for an afternoons two timing entertainment.

Situated just outside the Shakespeare central known in the tourists guides as Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare County Raceway is built on the site of Long Marston Airfield which served as a Wellington Bomber base during the 1939/45 war.

Looking like it had just come off the set of “Two Lane Blacktop” was this 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. The crew running it told me the 7.4 litre / 451 cui V8 was “misfiring all over the place”, a possible victim of cavitation in the fuel system thanks to the phenomenal weather we were experiencing.

A strong contingent of European based vehicles were present at the “Yanks and Gary’s 34th Picnic event including this first generation 103E Ford Popular Coupé rig powered by a 5.7 litre / 347 cui V8. The Popular was a post ’39/’45 war austerity vehicle that was only ever offered as a saloon / sedan.

There were not many cars present at Shakespeare County Raceway that could boast Farina styling, but this 1098 cc / 67 cui Austin A40 Countryman van was one of them.

Another novelty vehicle was the NC Engineering Ford V8 powered Trabant that was being given it’s first run after it’s former Cadillac motor had been replaced. interestingly everybody who was involved in the preparation of this vehicle has been invited to to drive it in competition.

Among the fabulous US vehicles running at the event was this 1932 High Boy “Roadster” which like the Popular Coupé is powered by a 5.7 litre / 347 cui V8. This car reminded me of Leonard Williams High Boy Roadster before it became the worlds first privately owned Gas Turbine Car.

From the plethora of vehicles bearing original patina was this 1948 Plymouth Special De Luxe Coupé complete with a 5.2 litre / 317 cui V8.

My undoubted “Star of the Car Park” was this 1958 Buick Special Convertible which looked, as did several other cars present, like it had just come off the golf course at a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Sporting a top of the Le Mans range 5.7 litre / 350 cui motor was this Pontiac, like many competitors present the driver was wielding his own spanners to keep this fine looking car in a top state of tune.

I did not know it when I took this photo but going on the engine size of 7457 cc / 455 cui this is a rare, though I am not at all sure exactly how rare Hurst Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. In 1972 following a fatal accident with the Indy 500 no manufacturer was keen on providing a pace car so transmission specialists Hurst stepped in with a couple of hot 455 cui Cutlass Supremes in both Coupé and Convertible forms. The 1972 pace car became well remembered after Linda Vaughan was hired to appear on the back of one of the convertibles with an outsize Hurst Shifter on the boot / trunk.

One reason I was keen to attend this meeting was to get a photo of fellow Bristol Pegasus Motor Club member Crazy Chris Hartnell pulling a wheely in his slingshot Backdraft, his weather helmet was present, dry, casting a shadow, and not shaking but just like the last time he tried this the cameraman was too slow and will have to try again next time. Chris managed two 145+ mph practice runs on the day.

Since this was a practice day many interesting combinations of vehicles were being run, like the Caterham above which got well and truly dusted by the 425 cui Buick Nailhead powered slingshot ‘Soul Town Shaker’ driven by Keith Crampton.

After doing a lovely burn out while being watched by the driver of the, probably Rover V8 powered, Fiero Euro 427, the seen was set for a slightly more competitive run off than the previous Caterham Slingshot combination.

However all present were to be reminded of Shakespeare’s quote from King Lear “As Flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods, they kill us for their sport” as soon after leaving the Fiero Euro 427 standing on the line the Camaro made a dramatic exit stage left,

punched straight in to the guard railing …

and eventually came to rest at the quarter mile mark. Fortunately “th’ gods’ who would kill us for their sport’ were in benevolent mood and after he had been released from the Camaro the driver was seen walking unaided to the ambulance for a precautionary medical.

The camera gods were also smiling, after the accident I foolishly took my camera strap off to stretch out on my perch in the grandstands, waiting for confirmation that there would be no further activity on track before the curfew. When the announcement finally came I forgot that I’d taken my camera strap off got up and heard the sickening thud of my camera bouncing off the grandstand decking and into the 20 foot void beneath the grandstand and eventually hit the surface below.

I went to survey the damage and amazingly although the battery had dropped out the camera was fine as demonstrated by the fine shot of the 1938 Ford V8 Pickup above.

After all the excitement it was time to head home, but there was one final surprise as I left the gate …

… a Dodge Challenger STR8 bedecked in wedding bands, a perfect car for a wedding.

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

Full Size – Plymouth Voyager

Rootes ‘n’ Chrysler – Hillman Avenger Tiger Replica

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The Hillman Avenger was conceived as early as 1963 to replace the Hillman Minx, however another project that became the Hillman Hunter eventually replaced the Minx and the Avenger was re conceived in 1965 as a midrange vehicle between the Hillman Imp and the Hunter going head to head in the market against the dominant Ford Cortina and much maligned Morris Marina.

Doing away with the traditional waist line and adopting a ‘flow back’ the Avenger avoided looking in anyway stunted alongside it’s larger Hunter stablemate, the Avenger body shell was one of the earliest to benefit from the use computers in the design process.

In 1970 the Avenger was launched with a conventional, for the period, front engine rear wheel drive layout which dispensed with the conventional rear leaf springs in favour of a four link rear suspension to give the vehicle superior handling characteristics.

Two sporting versions of the Avenger were built both with 107 hp uprated engines with big valves and two Webber Carbs , the Tiger 1, launched in March ’72, is externally distinguishable by square headlights, a power bulge in the bonnet, four fog lights and a set of Minilite wheels. Intended to be an edition limited to 100 the Tiger 1 ended up being limited to 200 examples, all bar 3 of the Tiger 1 models were Sundance Yellow with black stripes the exceptions all being white with Rootes Group (Chrysler) blue stripes.

The Tiger 2 featuring a matt black bonnet, four round headlights and a cheaper set of alloy wheels but retaining the rear spoiler was launched in October ’72 with a production run of 400. Tiger 2’s were available in Sundance Yellow or Red with the familiar black detailing.

Despite the badging on this vehicle an HPI check of the registration leads me to confidently believe that this particular vehicle is not one of only 20 original Tigers thought to exist today. Bernard Unett won the British Saloon Car Championship in 1974 and 1976 driving Mopar sponsored Avengers. In all over 600,000 Avengers were built over 11 years to 1981.

US readers might know this model better as the Plymouth Cricket, it was also sold as the Dodge Avenger – South Africa, Dodge 1800 & Polara – Brazil, Dodge 1500 in Uruguay and Argentina where it was also known as the Volkswagen 1500 !

With thanks to David Rootes who facilitated my visit to the Classic and Saloon Car Action day at Castle Combe recently.

Thanks for popping by the Tiger edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Off The M4 – Atwell Wilson Motor Museum

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For several years now every month I have been making a trip up to London to go and see my folks, on the way back no matter what time of day I frequently find myself in a traffic jam some where around J18 on the M4 which could add anything up to an hour on my normal 2 hour journey time.

About 18 months ago forewarned, by a big new electric message board on the M4, of an impending jam between Junction 18 and 20 I took a detour and followed the A338 from Junction 14 down to Upper Eddington and then followed the A4 west to Bristol.

Going through Calne I passed a sign for a Motor Museum, 18 months later with a little time on my hands I managed to follow the sign about a mile down Stockley Lane and on the left I found the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum.

Entrance is an unbelievably low £5 and within were over 100 2, 3, 4 wheeled vehicles, and one soon to depart 6 wheel World War 2 AEC RAF Refuelling Tanker.

The collection can broadly be divided into vintage and classic mass production vehicles with a particularly interesting collection of Limousines both British and American which are available at very reasonable rates for wedding hire.

The Atwell Wilson Museum was founded by Richard and Hasel Atwell, who lived in Wiltshire all of their lives, in 1962 they started collecting vehicles with a local connection and maintaining them in a road worthy condition. Richard passed away last year, the Museum that has grown out of the collection is run by 15 volunteers.

On the weekend of July 9th and 10th the museum will be hosting a classic car weekend, if you have a classic car, or even if you don’t but would like to attend call 01249 813119 or e-mail enquiries@atwellwilson.org.uk for details. I shall look forward to attending on one of the two days.

Thanks for popping by today’s Atwell – Wilson edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a closer look at the Atwell – Wilsons 1962 Plymouth Fury. Don’t for get to come back now !

Chthonic deity of vengeance – Plymouth Fury

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The second generation Plymouth Fury was in production from 1960 to 1964, in 4 door saloon / sedan, 2 door coupé, 4 door estate / station wagon or 2 door convertible body styles. The model featured in today’s blog was built in 1961.

Second generation Furies are distinguishable from their earlier siblings by featuring unit-body construction doing away with the need for a separate chassis.

The Fury takes its name from mythological subterranean personifications of vengeance.

An electric motor powers a hydraulic pump which acts to power the hood down and back up, the hood is locked shut manually and sealed with a couple of press studs.

Allegedly the ’62 Fury was downsized after the President of Chrysler misheard a GM executive saying that Chevrolet, GM’s bargain equivalent of Chryslers Plymouth brand would not have any full size cars in it’s ’62 model line up.

With some 5,400 body welds to each Plymouth the unitary construction of the second generation Fury was estimated to have 40% more sag resistance and double the twist resistance of the first generation Fury with its body on frame construction method.

There is some debate about the ’61’s down turned fins which were critically acclaimed but not well received by the public , were they a deliberate feature or an unresolved feature by designer Virgil Exner who suffered a heart attack in 1960 and was near death when the 1961 and ’62 Fury designs were finalised.

A particularly cool feature of the second generation Fury is that it has no gear stick / shift either floor or column mounted but instead the Torqueflite automatic gearbox is operated by just five simple push buttons at the 9 o’clock position to the left of the steering wheel.

A copy of this transmission operating system was also adopted by Bristol Cars on their 407 model which also used identical Chrysler 313 cui V8 engines and Torqueflite gearboxes to this particular Plymouth Fury.

Imported from California in 1976 this is thought to be the only working ’61 Plymouth Fury in the United Kingdom and can be hired for weddings for a modest £275 pounds.

My thanks to the Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum for keeping this magnificent land yacht in working fettle and on display,

Thanks for joining me for another Mopar edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when we take a peak at something very large and in charge from behind the Iron Curtain. Don’t for get to come back now !

Beep Beep – Plymouth Road Runner Superbird

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Thanks to GALPOT’s biggest fan Jr Cracker today we are looking at a Plymouth Road Runner Superbird allegedly seen behind a strip bar.

In 1969 NASCAR legend Richard Petty left Chrysler for Ford, Petty had wanted to run a more aerodynamically efficient Dodge Charger but Chrysler executives insisted Richard run the Plymouth Road Runner in the Grand National Series now known as the Sprint Cup. Richard came second in the 1969 Championship to David Pearson also driving a Ford although Bobby Isaacs took the seasons most wins 17, driving the Dodge Daytona model Petty had been so keen to run, Isaacs finished only 6th in the ’69 seasons final standings.

Chrysler executives managed to tempt Richard Petty back into the Plymouth fold by introducing the Road Runner Speedbird with it’s aerodynamic nose and enormous back wing, the height of which was determined as much by the requirement of the public to be able to open the boot/trunk of the road going versions as by any aerodynamic considerations.

Ironically Richard was injured in an accident driving his Road Runner Superbird in the Rebel 400 at Darlington in 1970, the resultant injuries meant “The King” had to sit out 5 races of the season which allowed Bobby Isaac to win the 1970 title in his #71 Dodge Daytona, effectively Dodge Challenger with the same nose and rear wing modifications as the Superbird.

By 1971 NASCAR had outlawed these aerodynamic curiosities, the advantages of which only kicked in at around 90 mph plus.

Chrysler needed to build 1920 Superbirds, one for every two dealerships in the USA, in order to be allowed to race, published figures suggest up to 2,783 examples may have been built though the generally accepted figure is 1,935, of which 1000 are thought to still exist.

Only 135 Superbirds were originally fitted with the 426 Hemi V8, outlawed from NASCAR racing, while the rest had 440 Super Commando motors with either a single 4 barrel carburettor or three two barrel carburettors.

All road going Superbirds were fitted with horns that imitated the famous cartoon Road Runner who’s logo adorns the rear wing supports and the off side front pop up head light cover.

My thanks to JC for his photographs taken on his Android.

Thanks for dropping in on this Superbird edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now ! Beep ! Beep !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring