Tag Archives: Prototype

34mm Turbo Restrictor – Mitsubishi Pajero T3 Prototype

The second generation Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero was built between 1991 and 1999, today’s featured 1996 T3 Prototype was built to compete in the Granada Dakar Desert Rally and aside from the name and a few components shares little in common with it’s commercial namesake.

Going into the 1996 Granada Dakar Rally Mitsubishi were looking to win their 4th Dakar Rally 4 wheel title outright, their first since 1993, as were ’91, ’94 and ’95 winners Citroen.

Mitsubishi Pajero T3 Prototype, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The T3 Prototype was built on a space frame competition chassis featuring double wishbone and coil spring suspension all round, the tad over 2m / 6’6″ wide, with a 3m wheel base chassis was covered with a 4m carbon fibre and Kevlar body.

Weighing only 1410 kgs / 3100 lbs the vehicle was powered by a 2.4 litre / 147 cui 4 cylinder 16 valve 4G64 motor fitted with an inter cooled Turbocharger and a new for ’96 mandated 34mm air restrictor that kept the power output down to a claimed 300hp.

Mitsubishi Pajero T3 Prototype, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Thee T3 Prototypes were entered for crews; Bruno Saby/Dominique Serieys who won in 1993, Kenjiro Shinozuka/Henri Magne and Jean-Pierre Fontenay/Bruno Musmarr.

A fourth T3 Prototype with RVR Space Runner bodywork was entered for Hiroshi Masuoka / Andreas Schulz and the whole team was backed up with 9 trucks and 76 personnel led by Ullrich Bremer who were also mandated by the regulations to compete.

Mitsubishi Pajero T3 Prototype, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Pierre Lartigue and Michel Perin completed a hat trick of wins in their Citroën ZX Rallye Raid Evo 5, a car which traces it’s origins back to the Peugeot 205 T16, while Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Bruno Musmarr came home in 3rd, driving today’s featured #206 seen at Goodwood Festival of Speed, ahead of the sister car of Bruno Saby and Dominique Serieys which finished 7th and 17th place Kenjiro Shinozuka and Henri Magne.

Kenjiro and Henri went on to win the event in 1997, Jean-Pierre with Giles Picard won in ’98, Hiroshi and Andreas won in 2003 the year after Hiroshi won the event for the first time with Pascal Maimon, all of these victories counting towards the 12 Dakar overall 4 wheel victories Mitsubishi have won to date.

Thanks for joining me on this “34mm Turbo Restrictor” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Mercedes Monday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Rally Day – Castle Combe

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A couple of weekends ago I was driving around North East of Bristol when I noticed there seemed to be a lot of Sabaru Impreza’s, Mitsubishi EVO’s, Ford RS’s, the odd Mini, Peugeot 206 and Citroën Xsara headed off towards Castle Combe, not having a lot on that morning I decided to see what was going on and found myself attending the 15th Rally Day at Castle Combe.

FIAT 126 Proto Honda CBR, Waldemar Janecki , Rally Day, Castle Combe

As I arrived there was some sort of open test session going on, one of the stars of which was Waldemar Janecki from Poland in his FIAT 126 Proto Honda CBR, he uses this 600 cc / 36 cui device in the Polish WRT Extreme Cup, for which I found no official web site on the net though there is no question that it exists, with Grzegorz Kwiecień in the co drivers seat.

Prototype, Rob / Dave Skone, Rally Day, Castle Combe

There are not many cars I know absolutely nothing about and after talking to the owner of the ‘Prototype’ above on facebook just now I’m not sure how much the wiser I am now. According to Dave Skone, who competes in the Safari Britpart Cross Country Challenge organised by the AWDC with his son Rob, “the car is a Matserati, aprox 15-16 years old, but was built with a Porsche 911 engine in it. I think it has had about 5 owners including myself ( and Rob my son ) the car was bought about 3 years ago and then rebuilt 2 years ago when we installed a 4.2 v8 supercharged Jag engine.” Obviously a man with a sense of humour, I shall endeavor to find out what the Safari Britpart Cross Country Challenge organised by the All Wheel Drive Club, AWDC, is all about at their next meeting which will be at Walters Arena Glynneath on the 11th of October.

Screamer, Rally Day, Castle Combe

The AWDC will be busy on October the 11th because they will also be organising an AVT, SVT and MOD trials at Old Down near Thorbury, South Glocestershire which is I understand the type of event where one might expect to see the 200 hp 3 litre / 183 cui Honda V6 powered Screamer 2 driven by Lee Pritchard who also built the all wheel drive, all wheel steer vehicle, above, in action.

Subaru Impreza WRX, Richard Knott, Rally Day, Castle Combe

For those not so technically minded who want to have a go at rallying for a minimal cost you could do worse than sign up for a 3 hour rally course at Castle Combe where Richard Knott, youngest winner of the AWMMC Championship aged 19 some years ago, will show you the ropes and analyse your skills at the wheel of the 2002 Group N Spec Subaru Impreza above for the bargain price of £165.

Volkswagen 1200, Bob Beales, Rally Day, Castle Combe

Over the past few years I have come across Bob Beales 1960 Volkswagen 1200 Bertie many times at various show’s but this was the first occasion on which I had seen the car, originally campaigned in 1960 by 1960 and 1961 British Rally Champion Bill Bengry and driven since 1965 in competition by Bob, in action. This car is so well known among the Rally fraternity Scalextric have issued a slot car model of it.

Ari Vatanen, Ford Escort RS100, Rally Day, Castle Combe

Finally star of the day was Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen the 2 twice British Rally Champion, 1981 World Rally Champion, 1983 Safari winner, four time Paris – Dakar winner and twice member of the European Parliament representing a Swedish constituency the first time and a French the second, both while living in France, who drove the same 1975 Mk II Ford Escort RS1800 he drove to win the 1976 British Rally Championship with Peter Bryant, on a couple of demonstration laps.

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

Can You Help Us Dad ? – Cooper 500 Prototype

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In 1932 John Newton Cooper probably became the luckiest 9 year old in Surbiton when his Dad, Cooper Garage proprietor Charles Cooper, built him a car with a motor cycle engine and gearbox in the front and a chain drive to the rear axle.

Cooper 500 Prototype, Peter Harvey, Cholmondeley Pageant of Power

By the time John turned 14 in 1936 his dad had built him another car using Austin Seven components which many years later would be retrospectively given the name T1.

Cooper 500 Prototype, Peter Harvey, Cholmondeley Pageant of Power

At the same time as Charles was building cars for his son an informal group of motoring enthusiasts known as CAPA were formulating idea’s for an affordable motor sport category and Dick Caesar, the C in CAPA is credited with the idea of using 500 cc motorcycle engines to power specials that could be devised for the category.

Cooper 500 Prototype, Peter Harvey, Cholmondeley Pageant of Power

A second group of enthusiasts competing at Shelsley Walsh were also turning to using motor cycle engines for their specials which included David Fry who built a vehicle known as the Freikaiserwagen.

Cooper 500 Prototype, Cholmondeley Pageant of Power

During the ’39 – ’45 war some members of CAPA and others found themselves working at the Bristol Aircraft Company where they formed a motor sports club to further think through their ideas, in 1946 this club was wound up in favour of a non works ‘500 Club’ aimed at organising events for their “500 Formula” which eventually became an internationally recognised category known as Formula 3.

Cooper 500 Prototype, Cholmondeley Pageant of Power

When 23 year old John Cooper and his friend Eric Brandon were looking for a way into motor sport they decided that the new 500 Formula was the way to go and turned to John’s Dad Charles for help.

Cooper 500 Prototype, Cholmondeley Pageant of Power

Charles helped John and Eric build two Cooper 500’s which featured FIAT Topolino 500 suspension front and rear connected by a simple frame and a JAP motor, prepared for speedway competition, behind the driver with a gearbox and chain drive to the rear wheels.

These two cars became the first two of an eventual 320 Formula 500 vehicles Cooper Cars are thought to have built between 1946 and 1959, by which time Jack Brabham was on his way to the first of two consecutive world championships driving Coopers latest mid engined Formula One cars.

Peter Harvey is seen at last years Cholmondeley Pageant of Power driving the second Cooper 500 Prototype built for Eric Brandon which was retrospectively given the T3 tag.

Thanks for joining me on this “Can You Help Us Dad ?” edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I be starting a short series of blogs on concept cars. Don’t forget to come back now !

Three Wheels On My Wagon – Ford GT Prototype Roadster #GT/111

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In 1965 Ford’s open check book approach to winning the Le Mans 24 hours was in full swing when today’s car, first appeared in public at the Le Mans Test weekend where it was driven by John Whitmore and Richard Attwood to a 6th fastest time.

In all four steel chassis Ford GT Prototype Roadsters were built, #GT/108 and #GT/109 were sent straight from Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough, England to Carrol Shelby for testing #GT/108 never raced and #GT/109 made a single race appearance, entered by Ford France at Le Mans in 1965 where Maurice Trintignant and Guy Ligier retired with gearbox problems. Additionally a fifth roadster was built with an aluminium chassis #GT110 this car was developed by Bruce McLaren and Howden Ganely and is known as the GT X1 which was further differentiated from it’s siblings by the use of a Ford Galaxie derived 7 litre / 427 cui motor and a Hewland gearbox all of which resulted in a car 1000 lbs lighter than the original Ford GT Prototypes.

#GT/111 and #GT112 were the last of 12 Ford GT prototypes to be built in Slough and the pair took part in just three races entered by Ford Advanced Vehicles run by John Wyer. Wyer had been team manager at Aston Martin when Roy Salvadori and Carrol Shelby drove the Aston Martin DBR1 to victory in Le Mans in 1959.

Carrol Shelby now running his own race shop and contracted to enter some of Ford’s GT cars persuaded Ford to run the heavier more powerful iron block 4.7 litre 289 cui V8 from the Cobra racing programme in place of the original GT Spec 4.2 litre / 256 cui Windsor derived motor, apart from X1 all the GT Roadsters appear to have been fitted with Shelby’s Cobra 289 cui V8’s.

Newall, Ford GT Roadster, Goodwood Revival

#GT/111 was painted white and fitted with wire wheels for it’s first public appearance was at Le Mans, a month later #GT/111 was painted a curious shade of Green, a gesture to the chassis and entrants British heritage, it was also fitted with Shelby magnesium wheels for the Targa Florio.

John, now Sir John, Whitmore and Bob Bondurant were chosen as Ford’s sole representatives in #GT111 which was to compete against three works Ferrari 275P/2’s fitted with the latest 3.3 litre / 201 cui 4 cam V12 motors.

A couple of months ago I went to a talk by Sir John organised by the Club Lotus Avon, in which he related how he was speeding along when the left front wheel came adrift forcing him to stop, Sir John replaced the wheel with the mandatory spare and secured it with the original hub nut which had been returned to him by a policeman and continued on his way, contemporary reports tell how the loose wheel took down some overhead railway power lines !

On lap 8 of the 10 lap race, each lap being run over a 44 mile 72 km closed (narrow) road circuit, Bob Bondurant crashed after sliding on gravel into a wall and then bouncing into a water trough which tore off a front wheel and it’s suspension. The 1965 Targa Florio was won in 7 hours and 1 min by local hero Nino Vacarrela and Lorenzo Bandini driving a Ferrari 275P/2.

The damage to #GT/111 was never repaired and a similarly painted #GT112 appeared in it’s only works entered appearance for the 1000 km race at the Nurburgring driven by Attwood and Whitmore who retired with an engine mounting failure having started from 6th on the grid.

Of all the GT Roadsters the aluminium light weight #GT110 X1 had the longest works supported career having been entered in 4 races by Bruce McLaren for Chris Amon in 1965 who scored a best 5th place finish in the 200 mile race at Riverside. The following season X1 appeared with original GT Roadster type bodywork in the Sebring 12 hours entered by Shelby American for Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby who won the race from 5th on the grid. X1 was subsequently ordered destroyed by customs officials.

At he end of 1965 Ford moved it’s entire GT racing developemnt programme out of Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough to Shelby and Kar Kraft in the United States, #GT/112 was sold to Peter Sutcliffe who raced the car in 1966 and scored a couple of season high second place finishes one in South Africa and the other in France during the 1967 season. For 1968 Bob Vincent acquired the car and appears to have won second time out in an open class race run at Aintree.

The damaged #GT/111 was scheduled to be scrapped, however the scrap yard saved the chassis which was acquired by the present owner, in 2006, after Ford GT expert Ronnie Spain verified #GT/111’s identity. The car seen in this photo driven by Andrew Newall at the Goodwood revival a couple of years ago, has been restored by Glescoe Motorsport and is to appear at RM auctions in May 2014.

Thanks for joining me on this “Three Wheels On My Wagon” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

500lb Competition Diet – Porsche 911 R Replica

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In 1967 Porsche put it’s 911 model on a competition diet to bring the weight down by 230 kgs / 500 lbs to 810 kgs / 1786 lbs to produce a new model the 911 R.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

A limited run of 4 factory cars and 19 customer 911 Rs were built by Baur at their body shop in Stuttgart with fibreglass paneled doors, bonnet / hood and boot / trunk lid. Additional weight saving was achieved by using plastic door hinges and bumpers.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The standard interior was completely deleted in favour of the bare essentials needed for racing or rallying competition, the lightweight side windows were louvred at the rear.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Power from the flat six motor was raised from the original type 901 130hp to 210 hp using the type 901/22 motor from the 906 Carrera or 230 hp from the four cam type 901/21 motor.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Homologation for the GT class required a minimum of 500 identical vehicles to be built, so with only 24 cars completed the 911 R was forced to run in the prototype class against the likes of mighty Ford Mark IV’s and Ferrari P4s which both had motors more than double the size of the 911 R’s 2 litre / 122 cui flat 6.

As a consequence notable results were hard to come by although the 911 R did score two outright wins the first in the 1967 when Hans Hermann, Jochen Neerspach and Vic Elford shared chassis #3, fitted with a 4 cam motor and Sportmatic transmission, to win the 84 hour Marathon de la Route at the Nurburgring.

Tour de France, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The second significant 911 R victory came in 1969 when Gérard Larrousse & Maurice Gélin won the 1969 Tour de France beating the Chevrolet Corvette driven by Henri Greder and André Vigneron as seen in the black and white photo seen above in a 1970 advertisement for Dunlop tyres.

Today’s featured car seen at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed is a replica 911 R that started life as a far more humble 1967 4 cylinder Porsche 912, according to the blurb in the windscreen this car took over 1200 hours to complete.

Thanks for joining me on this “500lb Competition Diet” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a couple of Porsche 912s.

Once Round The Clock – Cunningham C4-R C3 #5238 Continuatuation

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Legendary American Sportsman Briggs Swift Cunningham II was introduced to motor racing by his uncle as a teenager just after the 1914/18 war and in 1930 he started racing cars founding the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1933 which was renamed Sports Car Club Of America (SCCA) in 1944 with his college friends Miles and Samuel Collier.

By 1940 he was building specials including the Bu-Merc which featured a Buick chassis and Mercedes SSK chassis. In 1950 Cunningham took to Cadillacs one Le Petit Pataud a Series 61 Coupé the other Il Montre fitted with a special body to Le Mans where the cars finished 10th and 11th.