Tag Archives: Revival

Hot Rover #2 – MG ZS

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The MG ZS was the second prong of Rover MG’s three pronged attack on the market for hot vehicles launched in 2001 alongside the MG ZR I looked at last week.

MG ZS, Goodwood Revival

The ancestry of the MG ZS can be traced back to fifth generation Honda Civic, the floor pan of which Rover used to build the Rover 400 model which when face lifted became the Rover 45.

MG ZS, Goodwood Revival

The ZS was made available with a range of tuned motors from the Rover 45 and a tuned 175hp version of the 2.5 litre / 152 cui V6 from the larger Rover 75.

MG ZS, Goodwood Revival

The 2001 vehicle seen here at the Goodwood Revival last year is the model topping ZS 180 with the 175 hp V6 that gives the ZS a rest to 60 mph time 7.3 seconds and top speed of 139 mph. The ZS 180 has larger brakes discs and brake calipers than all of the other ZS models.

MG ZS, Goodwood Revival

The Honda based chassis pan with double wishbone front suspension and multi link rear suspension proved eminently adaptable to switch from optimised for comfort settings required for Rover 45 customers to optimised for handling settings required for MG ZS customers which along with the ZS steering came in for praise from press when launched.

MG ZS, Goodwood Revival

The large rear spoiler was standard on ZS 180 models up until 2004 when the model was face lifted with a much smarter body kit.

Thanks for joining me on this “Hot Rover #2” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t for get to come back now !

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Movie Star Limo – Ferrari 250 MM Pininfarina #0298MM

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The 31 1953 Ferrari 250 MM chassis built could be specified with open barchetta body or Berlinetta closed body styles most, but by no means all of the open bodies were built by Vignale and the most but by no means all of the closed bodies were built by Pininfarina.

Ferrari 250 MM PF Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival,

Of course being hand built no two bodies are identical and today’s featured Pininfarina Berlinetta body sitting on chassis #0298, has a slightly longer nose than any of it’s siblings, a fore taste of the pontoon Ferraris that were to follow at the end of the decade perhaps.

Ferrari 250 MM PF Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival,

With a 3 litre / 183 cui 237 hp version of Gioacchino Colombo V12 under the bonnet/hood the intention was that these cars were built to be raced, and the likes of Phil Hill, José A. Nogueira Pinto, Luigi Villoresi, Paolo Marzotto, Eugenio Castellotti, Giulio Musitelli, Luigi Piotti and Casimiro de Oliveira all drove 250 MM in Barchetta and Berlinetta forms to victory lane during 1953.

Ferrari 250 MM PF Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival,

#0298MM was purchased by Luigi Giuliano for 3.5 million lira in 1953 and a year later passed through two further owners Incom SpA and Industrie Cinematografiche Sociali, the later is reported to have used the car for chauffeuring movie stars.

Ferrari 250 MM PF Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival,

In May 1955 this car was acquired by Giovanni Ghersi in San Remo for ‘just’ 2.5 million lira. The car is not thought to have been raced at all until it was acquired by German Herbert Ibing in 1984.

Ferrari 250 MM PF Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival,

Since then the car has appeared at many historic events including those at Goodwood, reruns of the Mille Miglia, Nurburgring, Monaco and Monza.

Ferrari 250 MM PF Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival,

Arnold Meier of Zurich has been the owner of the car since 2002 and was sharing the driving with former British Hill Climb Champion David Franklin when the car was photographed at the recent Goodwood Revival meeting. Starting last on the grid Arnold and David managed a 17th place finish, note for some reason the 33 entry in the Freddie March Trophy is listed as a Mitter BMW in the results of the meeting.

Thanks for joining me on this “Movie Star Limo” 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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Action Economy Lean Breed – Dodge Dart

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I have always thought the 1962 Dodge Dart looked like an amalgamation of two separate designs the middle top half and

Dodge Dart, Goodwood Revival

lower outer half not quite matching but somehow blending at the broken chrome line on the front and rear wings.

Dodge Dart, Goodwood Revival

The design philosophy behind the Dart was based on a comedic misinterpretation by Chrysler executives of an over heard conversation between Chevrolet executives who were talking about the compact Chevrolet Nova, but which Chrysler executives thought was about downsized large cars like the Impala. As a result of this misunderstanding the second generation Dart became an intermediate and inadvertently left Dodge with nothing to compete with in the full size market segment at the start of the 1962 model year.

Dodge Dart, Goodwood Revival

Launched in 1962 with strap lines that included “First of the action economy cars” and “Come in and drive the new lean breed of Dodge” the range included 2 and four door Sedan and Hardtop models along with a two door convertible.

Dodge Dart, Goodwood Revival

The B platform unibody rode on “Torsion-Aire” torsion bar front suspension and could be ordered with motors ranging from a 3.7 litre / 225 cui inclined straight six to a 6.8 litre / 213 cui V8, the car featured here appears to be registered as having a 7.2 litre / 439 cui motor, a big block 440 Magnum dating from somewhere between 1966 and 1978.

Dodge Dart, Goodwood Revival

With it’s light weight and good handling the ’62 Dart fitted with the 415hp 6.8 litre / 413 cui “Ramcharger” V8 proved a popular record braking drag racer.

Dodge Dart, Goodwood Revival

The B platform remained in production with slight modifications until 1981 while the ’62 Dart body was wholly replaced with no carry over at all by the third generation Dart in 1963.

Thanks for joining me on this “Action Economy Lean Breed” 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 !

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Steel Wheels, 12 Volt Electrics and LHD – MG TD Midget

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For 1950 MG introduced it’s TD Mideget which inherited the drive train and body style from the MG TC Midget along with the chassis and independent coil spring suspension from the MG Y Type saloon along with 12 volt electrics and steel wheels.

MG TD, Goodwood Revival

Also introduced with the MG TD were bumpers, note the TD above is not fitted with the standard over riders. As a concession to the Midget’s largest market the USA the cars were also available with Left Hand Drive as was a MK II version of the TD with a higher compression engine and two fuel pumps which would have been wasted in the UK thanks to ongoing rationing of low 72 octane fuel. Of the 30,000 MG TD’s built up until 1953 over 23,000 went to the United States.

MG TD, Goodwood Revival

A small cross section of race winners driving MG TD’s in 1950 includes, John von Neumann (USA), Ken Shipside (GB) and Larry Whiting (USA). TD’s like that driven by Bill Watkins were raced until 1960’s, Buddy Orr was winning races in his TD as late as 1961.

Thanks for joining me on this “Steel Wheels, 12 Volt Electrics and LHD” 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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Mille Miglia Tribute – Goggomobil TS Coupé

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Over the last couple of years here at GALPOT Towers I have seen a few tribute cars from a modest #177 1967 Monte Carlo winning Mini to the enormous #3 1950 Le Mans Cunningham Cadillac Petite Pataud with the occasional odd ball like the #88 Mountain Dew MG B thrown in, but I’d hazard a guess that today’s cut down Goggomobile TS Coupe which stands as a tribute to the #722 1955 Mille Miglia winning Mercedes Benz 300 SLR of Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson is the strangest tribute car I have seen yet.

Goggomobil TS Coupe MM Tribute, Goodwood Revival

Goggomobil was a brand belonging to Glas that manufactured 4 different micro vehicles between 1955 and 1966 when Glas was taken over by BMW.

Goggomobil TS Coupe MM Tribute, Goodwood Revival

The car seen here would appear to be a TS Coupé that has had the roof and doors removed while the windscreen has been replaced by two ‘Brooklands’ aeroscreens.

Goggomobil TS Coupe MM Tribute, Goodwood Revival

Because the car is on foreign plates I have not been able to determine either it’s age or the engine size. What ever the exact details the engine will be an aircooled two stroke straight twin of between 250 cc / 15.3 cui and 400 cc 24.6 cui which would give somewhere between 13 hp and 20 hp depending on size.

Goggomobil TS Coupe MM Tribute, Goodwood Revival

The #722 Moss/Jenkinson 300 SLR, which won the 1000 mile street race at an all time record average speed of 97.96 mph, is widely regarded as being the worlds most desirable and expensive car, if Mercedes Benz were to ever make it available. One of the remaining Goggomobil TS Coupés, of the total 66,511 built, could be purchased for anything up to €7,000/£5,800,/USD 9000 depending on condition.

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

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10,000 RHD’s Only – MG TC Midget

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A development of the pre-war 1939 MG TB, of which only 379 were built, the MG TC was launched in 1945. and experienced comparatively huge popularity thanks to large numbers of US service men who served in the UK during the 1939 – ’45 war who fell for the cute li’l pre war MG’s that were still in evidence on the roads during the hostilities.

MG TC, Goodwood Revival

The MG TC experienced comparatively huge popularity thanks to large numbers of US service men who served in the UK during the 1939 – ’45 war who fell for the cute li’l pre war MG’s that were still in evidence on the roads during the hostilities.

MG TC, Goodwood Revival

Powered by a high compression version of the M TB 1250 cc / 76 cui 4 cylinder motor which produced 54 hp in standard trim, the motors could be supplied in different states of tune for specific, competition, purposes.

MG TC, Goodwood Revival

The TC’s cockpit was wider than that of the TB and featured a tachometer mounted directly in front of the driver, particularly useful for competition purposes.

MG TC, Goodwood Revival

TC’s were raced extensively in Europe, Australasia and North America recording many outright and class wins, both Carroll Shelby and Phil Hill raced and won driving MG TC’s, in their early careers, on their way to becoming stars on the world motorsports stage. Bill Bradley is known to have won his, HP, Class in an SCCA sanctioned event at Opelousas as late as July 1963.

MG TC, Goodwood Revival

All of 10,000 MG TC’s built between 1945 and 1949 were right hand drive, despite most of them being exported to Left Hand Drive countries particularly the United States.

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One Step Back, Two Steps Forwards – MG TA

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The MG TA Midget replaced the MG PB Midget in 1936 with many, of it’s parent company, Morris components. The TA and following T series variants opened up the appeal of sports cars in general to a huge new market that had remained hitherto untapped thanks to the reputation sports cars had for being temperamental if not plain difficult to drive.

MG TA, Goodwood Revival

Built with a 7″ longer and 3″ wider chassis the TA’s motor was technically a retrograde step from it’s PB predecessor which had an over head cam motor. The Morris 10 based TA motor ‘only’ featured pushrod operated over head valves, but with 2 carburetors this still produced 50 hp with the benefit that the valve clearances were much easier to maintain.

If the motor was a technological retrograde step both the synchromesh gearbox, making changing gear much easier and the hydraulic brakes, which needed much less maintenance, were both technological steps forwards that made the TA a much easier car to drive and maintain, than it’s predecessor and added to the durability of the whole TA package.

Top speed of the TA was around 80 mph with a rest to 60 mph acceleration time of just over 23 seconds. 3,000 TA Midgets were manufactured between 1936 and 1939.

Thanks for joining me on this “One Step Back, Two Steps Forwards” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an unusual tribute car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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