Tag Archives: Prescott

Methanol Motion – Delage SS Special

Rod King’s potent Delage SS Special featured in today’s blog is built on a 1938 Delage chassis.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Loton Park,

The 2664 cc / 162 cui straight 6 motor appears to have been donated from a contemporaneous Jaguar SS100.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Prescott,

Unlike most Jaguar SS100 motors, which produced 100 hp when new, the one in the SS Delage Special has been supercharged.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Prescott,

The orange dot on the side of the car indicates to safety marshals in the event of an emergency that the motor runs on performance enhancing methanol which burns without visible flames.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Prescott,

Almost exactly a year ago Rod King’s Delage SS Special had a minor part in the second series finale episode of Father Brown called The Laws of Motion.

Thanks for joining me for this “Methanol Motion” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be reviewing my Christmas reading. Don’t forget to come back now !

Balls Of Steel – Delahaye 135 CS

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Today’s featured car is a Delahaye 135 was first registered in the UK on the 24th of March 1938. It appears to be a short wheel base CS version fitted with similar body work to the Competition Special which Eugène Chaboud and Jean Trémoulet drove to victory over the sister 135 CS driven by Gaston Serraud and Yves Giraud-Cabantous in the 1938 Le Mans 24 Hour race.

This car is fitted with a 3557 cc / 217 cui straight six motor that in it’s highest state of tune, with three carburetors, produces around 160 hp.

Delahaye 135, Sir Ralph Robbins, VSCC, Prescott,

The man seen driving this car at the VSCC Prescott meeting a couple of years ago is Sir Ralph Robin, an unsung hero of British Industry who joined Rolls Royce as an Engineer from Imperial College as a graduate apprentice in 1955.

When he retired from Rolls Royce in 2003 he was the companies longest serving employee and had risen all the way to the Chairpersonship 11 years earlier.

He helped turn the company around from a troubled nationalised enterprise in 1971 to a privatised world leader in it’s field by 1987, his deals with Cathy Pacific in 1979 and billion dollar deal with American Airlines in 1988 helped secure a future for British manufacturing for decades to come.

His CEO Sir John Rose once pithily described Sir Ralph as having “balls of steel”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Balls Of Steel” edition of ‘Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a closer look at the car in front. Don’t forget to come back now !

All Sizes Including Chevy – ERA R4A

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Continuing the 80th Anniversary Celebration of English Racing Automobiles, ERA, today’s featured vehicle ERA R4A was the first to be built for a customer, South African P G Fairfield and it was the first to be built in 1935.

ERA R4A, James Baxter, VSCC Prescott

ERA R4A was originally painted white and fitted with a 1.1 litre 67 cui supercharged motor and in this form Patrick Fairfield won the Mannin Beg street race on the Isle of Man, the Nuffield Trophy at Donington Park and the Dieppe Grand Prix support race for Voiturettes.

ERA R4A, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

After running the car in South African events in early 1936 Patrick returned R4A to the UK where it was fitted with a 1,500 cc / 91.5 cui motor. In this form Patrick and R4A recorded second place finishes in the British Empire Trophy at Donington Park and in the Picardy Grand Prix.

ERA R4A, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Patrick recorded three wins in South African events in 1937 before he was killed during the 1937 Le Mans 24 hours race. R4A was acquired by Norman Wilson with the smaller 1,100 cc / 67 cui motor fitted. Norman raced R4A mostly in South Africa up until the outbreak of the ’39 – ’45 war in which he would loose his life while serving in the South African Air Force.

ERA R4A, James Baxter, VSCC Prescott

Reg Parnell looked after R4A from 1942 to 1945 before selling her to Bob Gerard. When Bob Gerard appeared with R4A at Cockfosters, one of Britains earliest post war motoring events, in July 1945 it had several modifications to the radiator surround which would eventually enclose a smaller radiator.

ERA R4A, James Baxter, VSCC Prescott

In 1948 Bob fitted the 2 litre / 122 cui which is seen in these photographs, at some point he also had radius rods to the rear suspension of R4A, R6B and R14B though these have since been removed from all three cars.

ERA R4A, James Baxter, VSCC Prescott

After ten years of ownership Bob sold R4A to John McAfee in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, and the following year it went to Jimmy de Villiers in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. During this period in Southern Africa up to the mid 1960’s R4A is said to have been fitted with a unspecified Chevrolet motor for a short time.

ERA R4A, Silverstone Classic,

I believe R4A is currently owned by NJ Topliss and is seen in these photo’s with James Baxter at the wheel during last years VSCC Prescott meeting.

Thanks for joining me on this “All Sizes Including Chevy” 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 !

Impecunious Royal Winner – Iota P1.01

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Last Saturday I mentioned that Dick Caeser of the informal group CAPA and later Bristol Aeroplane Co Motor Club is credited with the idea for using 500 cc / 41.5 cui motor cycle engines for a new open wheel formula, which became known as Formula Three for the “impecunious enthusiast.”.

Iota P1.01, Stuart Barnes, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

To help get the new 500 Formula off the ground Dick designed a kit that comprised a chassis frame and suspension, but neither motor nor body work that could be built up by an enthusiast into a complete racing car known as an Iota.

Iota P1.01, Stuart Barnes, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

12 of these kits were distributed by Iota Racing Cars of Alma Vale, Clifton, Bristol and most raced with little success until they were developed into specials racing under a variety of names chosen by their owners.

Iota P1.01, Stuart Barnes, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

In 1949 Dick improved the Iota design which became known as the Iota P1 of which six are believed to have been built along with a couple of spares.

Iota P1.01, Stuart Barnes, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

The #138 seen here, chassis #P1.01, driven by Stuart Barnes at Gurston Down last year was the first production P1 built after the prototype and was originally built up by Wing Commander Frank Aiken.

Iota P1.01, Stuart Barnes, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

Costing £390 less motor Frank drove the car, powered by a non standard Triumph motor driving through a Burnham gearbox, to record Iota’s biggest circuit triumph on the 13th of May 1950 when he drove #P1.01 to victory over Stirling Moss driving a Cooper in the “Royal” meeting run at Silverstone.

Iota P1.01, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

Clive Lones bought the prototype P1 and developed it into the Tiger Kitten II with which he broke the class record at Prescott Hillclimb in 1951.

Thanks for joining me on this “Impecunious Royal Winner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at another concept car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Definitely Not A Lambretta – Bugatti Type 51R #BC 132

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The first of of an eventual forty Bugatti Type 51’s appeared in 1931 with a twin cam straight eight replacing the single cam straight eight of it’s Type 35 predecessor. Externally the two types are almost identical with the newer model being equipped with a larger radiator, single piece alloy wheels, and as a consequence of the twin cam head, a lower pop off valve blow whole for the supercharger in the bonnet / hood.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

There were three European Championship Grand Prix in 1931 and Bugatti won the second and third. Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi sharing the win in a T51 on the 12 km track at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in France and William Grover-Williams & Caberto Conelli the win at Spa, these races were over distance of around 800 miles taking a minimum of ten hours to complete, unlike the modern maximum 2 hour Grand Prix requiring only one driver.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

The following season Bugatti were outclassed by ALFA Romeo in the three European Championship races which were run over ‘just’ five hours, but their cars still won twelve of the thirty less well supported non championship races.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

For 1933 the European Championship was suspended, eventually for two years, but there were five Grandes Épreuves run over distances of 200 miles, Monaco, to just over 400 miles or Spain, requiring just the one driver. Archilli Varzi won the opening race at Monaco aboard a T51 with the remainder going to Maserati and Alfa Romeo equally.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

According to a Bugatti Owners site, today’s T51 recreation was assembled from many original parts and a “Hoskins” frame by Christopher F. Warman in Wales with help from Tim and Ivan Dutton in the late 1980’s. The car was registered for road use by 2006 when it competed at a variety of events, but in 2007 the registration number was transferred to a Lambretta Motor Scooter which according to the DVLA website is not currently on the road.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

More recently the car was said to have been offered for sale at around £500,000 and it is seen driven in these photographs, taken at last years VSCC Prescott meeting, by Derek Howard – Orchard, who has been the owner since at least 2010.

Thanks for joining me on this “It’s Not A Lambretta” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some European cars that took the start of the Classic Run in Chipping Sodbury. Don’t forget to come back now !

23/07/14 Thanks to Tim Murray for clarifying that the Type 51 ran twin cam motors and the minimum times for the European Championship Grand Prix in 1931 and 1932.

Twice Mille Miglia Class Winner – Maserati 4CS #1126

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In 1931 Maserati built a prototype supercharged 4 cylinder 2 seat racer to compete in the Mille Miglia 1,100 cc / 67.1 cui class called the 4CTR (cilindi testa riportata) with twin overhead camshafts and a detachable cylinder head.

01 Maserati 4CS_2364sc

The supercharged motor produced nearly 100 hp / per litre and was fitted to a modified Maserati 26M single seater chassis and a two seat body. Giuseppe Tuffanelli and Guerino Bertocchi drove the car on the Mille Miglia to victory in the 1100cc class finishing 22nd overall.

Based on this success Maserati built a series of 5 4CS models and they won the 1100cc class at the Mille Miglia in 1932, ’34, ’35 and ’36.

02 Maserati 4CS_2365sc

So far as I know chassis #1126 seen here was the square nosed #15 car driven by Ettore Bianco and Guerino Bertocchi to class victory and 7th overall on the 1935 Mille Miglia.

Owner Ettore Bianco then drove #1126 to victory at the Circuito Varese in July 1935 and a second in class in the 1935 Coppa Ciano.

03 Maserati 4CS_2366sc

For 1936 Ettore teamed up with M. Boccali for the Mille Miglia in which they finished 6th overall and 1st in class one spot behind the 4CS, fitted with a 1500cc 91.5 cui version of the 4 cylinder motor, driven by Omobono Tenni and Ettore’s 1935 team mate Guerino Bertocchi which took 1500 cc honours.

Later in 1936 #1126 was sold to Ignazio Radice Fosatti who recorded a second in class run on the Coppa Mercanti run on the Stelvio hillclimb before going to Monza for an attempt at the 1100cc 12 hour distance record. Unfortunately Ignazio was killed in the 9th hour of the attempt after hitting a dog that strayed onto the track.

04 Maserati 4CS_2367sc

Scuderia Ambrosiana bought the wrecked car and had it repaired for Giovanni Lurani & Luigi Villoresi to drive in the 1937 Mille Miglia from it retired. Later in the year Luigi recorded a 7th overall and class win on the Colle del Moncenisio in France before the car headed East to new owners in Singapore.

Joshua Lee was the unfortunate owner of #1126 in 1942 when it was confiscated by the Japanese Army and he was murdered.

05 Maserati 4CS_2368sc

The last in period race for #1126 is recorded as the 1950 Johore Grand Prix with the car now registered in the entry list as an LA Special, with 3.5 Litre Jaguar SS 100 motor, by Lim Peng Han who did not finish the race after an accident.

The car then made it’s way to the UK via the United States where it was briefly fitted with a Do Soto V8 motor as part of an uncompleted project. Ken Painter bought #1126 in 1969 and by 1985 had completed it’s restoration.

Adam Painter is seen driving #1126 in these photo’s taken at Prescott where the car was listed as having a supercharged 1500cc motor.

Thanks for joining me on this “Twice Mille Miglia Class Winner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a slippery bodied Bugatti. Don’t forget to come back now !

Crossbreeding – Bugatti Type 38 #38428

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Like many vintage Bugatti models the Type 38 built from 1926 to 1927 shares many interchangeable parts with other models built since the original 2 litre 8 cylinder Bugatti Type 30.