Tag Archives: Race

Clarke Brothers Upgrades – Iota P1-5 CB2

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Today’s featured car was one of the 5th of six Iota P1‘s to have been built by by Iota Racing Cars of Alma Vale, Clifton, Bristol.

Iota CB2, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

It was bought by garage owner Tom Clarke for the 1950 season during which he achieved some success up until the end of 1951.

Iota CB2, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

For 1951 the driving position was moved forward and the fuel tank removed from over the drivers legs to a position twixt driver and the JAP motor, in this form the car was known as the CB1, for Clarke Brothers the name of Tom’s garage.

Iota CB2, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

After finishing in podium positions through the 1952 season the car’s chassis was upgraded again to CB2 specification for the 1953 season with an emphasis on weight reduction.

Iota CB2, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Tom continued to race the CB2 with similar success until the end of 1954 when he and the car retired from racing, although he continued to compete in the occasional hill climb with the car.

Iota CB2, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The CB2 remained on the family business premises for three decades and through several changes of ownership before being brought out of retirement in 2011 by Mike Wood.

Thanks for joining me on this “Clarke Brothers Upgrades” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Kurtiss Indy Car, don’t forget to come back now !

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Brynfan Tyddyn Winner – Kieft CK52

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After a brief and unsuccessful attempt at hillclimbing in a Marwyn 500 Swansea born Cyril Kieft ended up buying the Marwyn company when it folded.

8 or 9 Kieft Mk 1’s incorporating Marwyn parts and ideas were manufactured for the 1950 season with the works teams greatest achievement being the capture of 13 records in the 350cc and 500 cc class at Monterey using Norton Engines and with Stirling Moss, Ken Gregory (Moss’ manager) and Jack Neill doing the driving.

Stirling and Ken had plans to build their own 500 Formula 3 car to beat the predominant Coopers for 1951, but were short of finance.

Kieft CK52, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

When they approached Cyril with the idea of employing Ray Martin to design and build a car to Stirling’s specifications Cyril agreed and with Stirling aged just 21 and Ken as co directors Kieft Car Construction Ltd, a new entity, was founded in Wolverhampton.

The CK51 with a Norton engine was an immediate success with Moss scoring a debut win, 27 seconds ahead of Alan Brown’s Cooper Mk V at Goodwood in May 1951, unfortunately Stirling’s growing list of commitments elsewhere meant the main beneficiary of the new Kieft would be Don Parker.

After testing Stirling’s prototype Kieft Don bought a Kieft CK51 and incorporated many of his own idea’s into it. With his personalised Kieft Don won the 1952 Autosport Formula 3 Championship, Light Car Challenge and Veterans Trophy and the national title again in 1953 missing out on a hatrick by just one point to Les Leston in 1954.

Kieft CK52, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Ironically while Don Parker was clocking up 30 wins during the 1953 season Stirling concluded that the Cooper Mark IV was a better bet than the Kieft CK52, like the one seen in these photographs, and he resigned as director of Kieft as a result.

This particular car was sold to Dick Irish of Cleveland Ohio who raced it to numerous victories the most notable of which was the Brynfan Tyddyn Challenge Cup run over a road course north of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Kieft moved on to building Formula 2 cars in 1953 and aborted Formula One project intended for the 1954 season.

Kieft CK52, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Don Parker kept faith with Kieft until 1956 when he too inevitably bought a Cooper.

Today’s featured car returned to the UK in 2005 and after it was restored was raced by Nigel Ashman who drove it to the 500cc Owners Association Club Championship title in 2010.

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

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Large & Small – Cooper Mk V (T15)

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For 1951 Cooper built the Mark V to compete in “500” Formula 3 events, the Mark 5 has also been given the retrospective Cooper T15 moniker.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Improvements over previous “500” Coopers listed in their contemporary advertisements included a completely redesigned chassis, lighter body with hinged top panels for easy access fore & aft, reduced weight, smaller frontal area and rubber suspended alloy side tanks.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

A Mark 5 chassis could be supplied for £500 without an engine or £582 with a JAP excluding taxes, customers for the Mark 5 included a Mr Bernhard “No Angel” Ecclestone and a semi works team run by Ecurie Richmond with drivers Eric Brandon, who became the inaugural 1951 National Formula 3 Champion and Alan Brown was run alongside the team of works drivers Ken Carter and Bill Whitehouse.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Today’s featured Mark 5 was modified to accommodate the larger frame of works driver “Big” Bill Whitehouse who raced the car in the UK, Italy and Germany during the 1951 season scoring a win at Silverstone and many podium finishes.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The following season it was bought by Lewis “Pop” Lewis-Evans who shared the driving duties, with an emerging talent, his son Stuart who scored wins at Silverstone, Brands Hatch and finally at Chimay in Belgium during the 1952 season.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Over the winter of 1952 ’53 a lowline body work was fitted to the car to capitalise on Stuarts 5′ 4″ frame, this kept the car competitive for 1953 before it found it’s way to Tom Wheatcroft’s hands in 1954.

The car remained in Tom’s Donington Collection until 2014 when the current owner acquired it and restored for racing this season.

Thanks for joining me on this Large & Small edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at Jim Clarks 1965 World Championship winning Lotus 33. Don’t forget to come back now !

03/05/15 PS Yesterday I learned from Doug Nye that Stuart Lewis-Evans was one of the earliest racers to use seat belts, this link shows Stuart wearing what appears to be seat belts of a type designed for use in aircraft at the Crystal Palace meeting in July 1953.

The Lewis-Evans family also had a novel way of carrying their Cooper atop their Land Rover as seen in this link.

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Awaiting TLC #4 – Elva Porsche Mk VII

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A couple of years ago I came across this old Elva Porsche Mk VII in need of TLC at Race Retro.

Elva Porsche Mk VII, Race Retro

Despite being a British company Elva had a much better reputation in the United States than in the UK because their cars was raced by privateers against privateers while in the UK Elva cars tended to be raced by privateers against works supported teams particularly from Lotus.

Elva Porsche Mk VII, Race Retro

Elva’s founder Frank Nichols is said to have favoured selling his creations over racing them, letting his customers do the talking for his products on the track.

Elva Porsche Mk VII, Race Retro

Unusually in the absence of having a suitable model for sports car racing of their own Porsche supplied Elva with engines which were particularly favoured by Elva’s US customers, Porsche were even involoved in setting up the design of the Porsche powered Mk VII’s sending Porsche employee Herbert Linge to help with the motor installation.

Elva Porsche Mk VII, Race Retro

Porsche even bought two of the 19 Elva Porsche Mk VII’s for their own use and Herbert Müller used one fitted with a 2 litre / 122 cui flat 8 to secure second place in the 1963 European Hillclimb Championship.

Elva Porsche Mk VII, Race Retro

The vendor of this particular car claimed that it was originally sent to the United States with a quad cam 4 cylinder Porsche motor which was latter replaced by a 6 cylinder Porsche motor that drove the rear wheels through a 5 speed gearbox.

It is two years since this car appeared in urgent need of TLC at Race Retro and I shall look forward to seeing if this car reappears in restored form again in the near future.

Thanks for joining me on this “Awaiting TLC #4” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Rocket Powered Unicycle – MG TF XPower 500 #SARRDWBGBWD034240

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Just like I write “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres”, because I find it quite irresistable it would appear when MG Rover got ditched by BMW MG went and built today’s unique, as in only one of, MG TF XPower 500 for exactly the same reason.

MG TF XPower 500, Silverstone Auctions, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Sensational and equally outrageuous the MG TF XPower 500, was first shown to the public at Le Mans in 2001 alongside it’s Lola LM780 chassis Le Mans challenger.

MG TF XPower 500, Silverstone Auctions, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Sitting on low profile 17″ road tyres and wheels the MG TF XPower 500 has a seam welded MG TF body which incorporates a racing standard survival cell, flared wheel arches and some aerodynamic aids to help keep the car on the ground.

MG TF XPower 500, Silverstone Auctions, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Go for the MG TF XPower 500 comes from the same source as MG’s Lola MG Le Mans challenger namely a mid monunted Cosworth 2000 Le Mans XP20 2 litre / 122cui 4 cylinder turbo charged motor that produces 400 hp which transmits its power to the rear wheels through a 6 speed X-Trac sequential gearbox. Racing 4 pot AP disc brakes are used to slow the car down which has a ‘theoretical’ top speed in excess of 180 mph depending on the gear ratio’s used.

MG TF XPower 500, Silverstone Auctions, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

When Tony Dron tested the car with former Le Mans winner Mark Blundell he obseved the front wheels don’t do much in the corners and he was advised by Mark to suggest “Just think of the back end”. Tony noted “He’s right: imagine a rocket-powered unicycle and you get the idea.”

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

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Championship Clincher – Talbot Sunbeam Lotus (Type 81)

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In 1977 the European division of Chrysler launched the Chrysler Sunbeam hatchback which was financed with Government aid that was part of a strategic plan to keep jobs at Chryslers Linwood factory in Scotland where the Hillman Imp production had come to a halt in 1976.

The new hatchback used the floor plan of the Hillman Avenger, another model manufactured at Linwood, of which sales were falling and which was to be discontinued in 1981.

Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

In 1978 Chrysler commissioned Lotus to develop a competition version of the Sunbeam hatchback, which appears to have shared the same type number ’81’ as the Lotus Ford ’81’ Formula One car.

Incidentally this appears to be the third of two completely unrelated projects have shared a Lotus Type number, I have read suggestions this occurred because some one lost the book in which the Lotus projects were recorded, I have also seen suggestions that what ever Lotus type numbers vehicles have now, they were not necessarily the same as those that appeared on the original Lotus drawings.

The Sunbeam Lotus was produced with a 150 hp for road trim and 250 hp for competition rally trim both versions using variants of the Lotus Type 907 motor first seen in the Lotus 62 sports racing car and later in the Lotus Elite, Type 75, road car.

Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The Sunbeam Lotus was first seen in early 1979 but by the end of the year Chrysler had sold it’s European operations to Peugeot for US$1 (One US Dollar) which came packaged with all of Chrysler Europe’s debt. For 1980 all of Chrysler Europe’s models including the Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus were rebranded as Talbots and all of the road going Sunbeam Lotus models appear with Talbot badges.

In 1979 a works Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus team entered selected World Championship Rally events in anticipation for a full scale onslaught in 1981. The following year the now Talbot entered team scored three wins two for Henri Toivonen one on snow and the other on gravel, while Frenchman Guy Fréquelin partnered by Jean Todt, since of Peugeot and Ferrari management and now president of the FIA.

In 1981 going into the final rally of the season the RAC Rally Guy and Jean led the World Rally Drivers Chanpionship and Talbot the manufacturers championship despite only managing to score one overall victory. For some reason Guy never got to grips with his second RAC Rally start and he retired while Ari Vatenen his only challenger finished second in a Ford Escort behind Hannu Mikkola in his Audi. After Henri Toivonen also retired the manufacturers championship was clinched for Talbot by Swedes Stig Blomqvist and Bjorn Cederberg in the #14 Swedish Dealer Team entered Talbot which carried the registration/license plated LAC999V.

However I can’t be sure that the car shown in the two photos above is the same car because all thought the car above carries the LAC999V plates it is painted in the factory Talbot Sunbeam Lotus colours which were not the same as the colours carried on Stig’s car in the 1981 RAC Rally.

Thanks for joining me on this “Championship Clincher” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Rolls Royce. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Second Coming ? – MG Maestro 1600

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Advertisers excelled them selves in 1983 when they were tasked with coming up with a strap line for the hot version of British Leyland’s Austin Maestro which was to be badged as an MG, they proclaimed the MG Maestro 1600 was “Born To Perform Miracles“.

MG Maestro 1600, Race Retro, Stoneliegh

Of course depending on your belief system it would be very easy see how such brazenness was bound to disappoint after all even if you believe in miracles it is a bit much to expect a metal box on four wheels and an internal combustion engine to perform works which are usually the preserve of the the son of the big man with a big white beard dressed in a white robe.

MG Maestro 1600, Race Retro, Stoneliegh

However the basic Maestro was comfortable and especially roomy, compared to trend setting VW Golf, Vauxhall Astra and Ford Escort against which it was competing in the market, however the Austin Maxi derived R series motor was prone to hot start issues, premature crankshaft failures and the VW Golf size wheel bearings proved unequal to the task of carrying the larger heavier Maestro which led to further failures, all of which was compounded by the British Leyland managements legendary difficulties in getting it’s work force to achieve the kind of build quality that was taken for granted by some of it’s competitors.

MG Maestro 1600, Race Retro, Stoneliegh

The MG Maestro 1600 had a further problem added to those of it’s lesser Austin Maestro bretheren in the form of the twin Webber carburetors which boosted the power to 110 hp but which proved difficult for dealership technicians to tune. Unsurprisingly the MG Maestro 1600, as seen here, fell well short of miracle performing expectations and was only in production for the 1983/84 model year when it was replaced by the 2.0 EFi which was much better placed to out perform it’s rivals.

This particular vehicle is one of eight cars prepared for the 1983 Rally Sprint race. Rally Sprint was a multi disciplinary event for four Grand Prix drivers and four Rally drivers which comprised a rally stage in which competitors used identical Rover SD1s, an autotest using identical MG Metros and a race for identical MG Maestro 1600s.

Tony Pond drove this car in the race, it was the only white car in the race so is easy to identify, Pond finished third in the race with a severely savaged passenger door just about hanging on. Tony who had been Rally Sprint Champion in 1980/81 and 1982 lost his title after a thrilling race to a young man who had yet to win his first Grand Prix namely future world champion Nigel Mansell.

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

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