Tag Archives: Prescott

Swiss American Special – Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Special

Leave a Reply

Piccard-Pictet et Cie, based in Charmilles, near Geneva Switzerland a hydraulic engineering company,, specialising in turbines, when they were commissioned to build a vehicle for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup by Frederic and Charles Dufaux.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, VSCC Prescott,

The car never appeared in the Gordon Bennett Cup, but that did not stop Societe des Automobiles a Geneve approchiing Piccard-Pictet the following year with a view to building Hispano Suiza’s under licence.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, VSCC Prescott,

Soon SAG as the cars were known in Switzerland or Pic Pic as the cars became known in the UK were being built to their own design, the 1913 example seen in these photographs is fitted with a plate on the dash which suggests the car was supplied to “Agence Des Grandes Marques C Mathaud” in Paris.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, VSCC Prescott,

This particular vehicle is fitted with a 1918 9 litre / 552 cui Sturtevant V8 aero engine built by the B.F. Sturtevant Company of Hyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, Geoff Smith, VSCC Prescott,

It would appear Sturtevant built V8’s with L heads or open valves, like the one seen here, simultaneously and both produced around 140hp.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, Geoff Smith, VSCC Prescott,

Owner Geoff Smith is seen driving the car in a VSCC meeting held at Prescott.

Thanks for joining me for this Aero Engined Pic Pic edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for a Classic Silver Jubilee Preview edition tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Style De Hot Rod – De Dion Bouton Curtiss

Leave a Reply

Parisian engineers Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux were scraping a living making toy steam trains when they managed to convince wealthy patron the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion to join them in founding a company to build steam powered automobiles in 1881.

de Dion Bouton Curtiss

After a false start with a front wheel drive rear wheel steered steam car their second more conventional effort with front wheel steer and rear wheel drive known as the Marquis de Dion was the only entrant, competitor and finisher in the worlds first organised competition for motor vehicles in 1887.

By 1900 De Dion had started making petrol powered motor vehicles and with over 400 units made per year the company was the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world.

By 1912 De Dion had not peaked in terms of numbers of vehicles built and was building the first range of mass produced V8 motors from 3.5 litres 215 cui to 14.7 litres / 897 cui.

I believe Leslie Murray’s De Dion Bouton, described as “A bit hot rod style” by one fan, seen in this photograph was built in 1912 at least some five years before the 8.2 litre / 502 cui Curtiss OX V8 that powers it.

Thanks for joining me on this “Style De Hot Rod” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for a military parade at Queen Square, Bristol. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Aircooled Aero Power – Amilcar CGSs

Leave a Reply

The chassis for today’s featured Amilcar CGSs was built in 1926, it was probably supplied with a 35hp 1,074 cc / 65 cui 4-cylinder engine.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

It would appear that some where prior to September 2012 owner David Baker acquired a 2,986 cc / 182 cui aircooled Glode Dayton aero engine and had it fitted to the Amilcar CGSs he is seen driving at Prescott in these photographs.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

The 50hp aircooled Globe Dayton was built in Dayton Ohio in 1930. It uses a number of proprietary parts including a Ford Model A crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons, 1928 Nash rocker arms and was equiped with either a Ford A or an aero carburetor.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

It would appear that there are only two known examples of the Globe Dayton which is also known as a Dayton Aero Four-In-Line, Globe Motors of Dayton Ohio today is better known for the production of subfractional horsepower electric motors.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

David Baker competes with his aircooled Amilcar in VSCC events both on the track and off road.

My thanks to Onelung at H.A.M.B. for pointing me in the direction of information about the Globe Dayton Motor on the Memaerobillia site.

Thanks for joining me on this “Aircooled Aero Power – Amilcar CGSs” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Lowered Single Seat – Amilcar CGSs Monoplace

Leave a Reply

According to official DVLA records the chassis for Clive Temple’s Amilcar CGSs was first registered in the United Kingdom on the 23rd of March 1928.

Amilcar CGSs Monoplace, Motorsport At The Palace, Crystal Palace, London.

I have not been able to determine what kind of body if was originally furnished with but it seems unlikely, though not impossible, to have been the single seater seen on the car today.

Amilcar CGSs Monoplace, Motorsport At The Palace, Crystal Palace, London.

The 1,074 cc / 65 cui 4-cylinder motor fitted to this car is equipped with a supercharger to boost the power from an initial 35hp, originally a Cozette supercharger was offered as an option.

Amilcar CGSs Monoplace, Motorsport At The Palace, Crystal Palace, London.

The rebuild of this car is credited to the current owner Clive Temples late father Colin Temple, Paul Jaye, Duncan Ricketts and Derek Chinn.

Amilcar CGSs Monoplace, Clive Temple, VSCC Prescott

Since writing about Terry McGrath’s 1928 CGSs a couple of weeks ago it has come to light that André Lefèbvre and his co driver known only as Despaux won the 1927 Monte Carlo Rally in a two seat Amilcar CGSs.

Amilcar CGSs Monoplace, Clive Temple, Motorsport At The Palace, Crystal Palace, London.

André Lefèbvre is also credited with contributing to the design of the Citroen Traction, 2CV and DS and HY models.

Clive Temple is seen driving his CGSs at Presott and the Motorsport At The Palace sprint run at Crystal Palace in London.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lowered Single Seat” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Coffee Croissants and Cars at Bristol’s Queen Square. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Supercharged Six – Amilcar CO

Leave a Reply

The Amilcar CO was a production two seat racing car, very much in the mould of the contemporary but larger Bugatti Type 37, designed by Edmond Moyet and put into production in time for the 1926 racing season.

Amilcar CO, Matthew Blake, VSCC, Prescott,

Power came from a development of the Amilcar C6 models 1094 cc / 67 cui six cylinder motor which in this application featured a twim cam hemi head, crankshaft running on roller bearings, dry sump lubrication and two stage Roots supercharger which added up to over 100hp.

Amilcar CO, Matthew Blake, VSCC, Prescott,

Despite costing more than the larger capacity Bugatti Type 37 it is believed 40 CO’s which were capable of over 170 kmh / 10 mph were built.

Amilcar CO, Matthew Blake, VSCC, Prescott,

During 1926 it is said that the C6 and CO models recorded over 70 victories with works driver André Morel leading the way winning the 1100cc race (Gran Premio del Vetturette) run concurrently with Italian Grand Prix and Charles Martin finishing 4th overall and first in the 1100cc class in the JCC 200 mile race at Brooklands.

Indeed an even faster single seat MCO variant of the CO would continue winning 1100cc events well into the 1930’s with Le Havre Amilcar agent José Scaron being a regular winner.

Seen in these photographs is the 1926 CO, first registered in the UK on October 24th 1938, driven by Matthew Blake at Prescott.

Thanks for joining me on this “Supercharged Six” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at Shaun The Sheeps Land Rover. Don’t forget to come baahck now !

08/02/15 Thanks to Tim Murray for pointing out the 1100 cc race at Monza was run concurrently with the Italian GP over the first 40 of the 60 laps run for the Grand Prix and that Charles Martin did not win the JCC 200 mile race at Brooklands as originally stated.

Share

La Bugatti du Pauvre – Amilcar CGSS

1 Reply

In 1924 Amilcar started manufacturing its doorless CGS (Grand Sport) model with a boat tail body, front and rear brakes, powered by a 30hp 1,074 cc / 65 cui 4-cylinder engine that featured an aluminium cylinder head, to compete against the similar but rear wheel brake only Salmson VAL 3.

Amilcar CGSs, Terry McGrarth, VSCC, Prescott,

The front wheel brakes of the CGS were particularly innovative and advantageous because they featured a sliding rod system within the front kingpins that allowed the driver to keep a constant pressure on them.

Amilcar CGSs, Terry McGrarth, VSCC, Prescott,

Two years later Amilcar introduced a lowered GSSs, surbaisse, variant which featured larger brakes, a bigger oil sump and an increased power output to 35hp thanks to the development of a new camshaft.

Amilcar CGSs, Terry McGrarth, VSCC, Prescott,

The CGSs is said to have been very successful on the track, the only results I have been able to confirm are three third places on the Mille Miglia recorded in 1927,28 and ’31.

Production of the CGSs continued until 1929 with around 4,700CGS models of both types built, Terry McGrath’s example seen here was built in 1928.

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

Share

Splash Lubricated Cyclecar – Amilcar CC Sport

1 Reply

In June 1921 Joseph Lamy and Emile Akar founded Amilcar building cycle cars, 2 seaters weighing less than 350 kgs and powered by motors of less than 1100cc / 67 cui, designed by Jules Salomon and Edmond Moyet at their works in central Paris.

Amilcar CC Sport, Lady Carolyn Venables Llewelyn, VSCC, Prescott,

The initial Amilcar CC model, as seen above, was powered by a side valve splash lubricated 4 cylinder motor with a displacement of 903 cc / 55 cui which produced 18 hp.

I believe the mahogany boat tail styling may have been the work of Parisian bespoke coach builder Jean Henri-Labourdette.

Lady Carolyn Venables-Llewelyn, wife of VSCC club President Sir John Venables-Llewelyn, is seen braving inclement conditions driving today’s featured 1923 Amilcar CC Sport at Prescott.

Thanks for joining me on this “Splash Lubricated Cyclecar” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting the first Avenue Drivers Club meeting of the year for Coffee Croissants and Cars. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share