Tag Archives: Scarab

Five Classic Moments – Silverstone Classic

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Continuing an ad hoc series celebrating Silverstone Classic’s Silver Jubilee this weeks post features five race highlights from the last three Silverstone Classic Super Saturdays.

Peter Arundell Trophy, Silverstone Classic,

The Formula Junior cars vying to win the Peter Arundell Trophy traditionally are the opening act for Super Saturday above the #53 Lotus 20/22 of Sam Wilson and #79 Lotus 22 of Andrew Hibberd squabble behind the leading #1 Cooper T59 driven by Jon Melicevic in 2013 when Andrew won the trophy by just half a second.

Sir John Whitmore Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The Sir John Whitmore Trophy for under 2 litre / 122 cui touring cars always provides close racing down the field between the Ford Cortinas, above last year British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) regular Gordon Shedden and Richard Meaden kept us entertained with door handle to door handle racing for half an hour before the #157 retired with an overheating issue leaving Richard and Grant Tromans to win in the tyre smoking #63.

Peter Gethin Trophy, Silverstone Classic

Simon Hadfield and Micheal Lyons provided the early entertainment in the Peter Gethin Trophy race for stock block open wheelers in 2012, unfortunately Simon spun the brown 1973 Trojan T101 to leave the win to Micheal in the red and white Lola T400 seen above hounding the Trojan.

Mustang Celebration Trophy proudly presented by Pure Michigan, Silverstone Classic

Ironically last years Mustang Celebration Trophy was dominated by the model the Ford Mustang was due to replace, Leo Voyazides driving the #1 Ford Falcon is seen above sweeping into a lead, past the #37 Falcon driven by Mike Gardiner, that he did not relinquish for the rest of the race.

Froilan Gonzalez Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The Froilan Gonzalez Trophy for HGPCA Pre’61 Grand Prix Cars proved another thriller two years ago when Bristol’s Julian Bronson driving the blue Scarab #30 had a great to and fro battle with the Tec-Mec of Tony Wood and came out the winner to record the Scarab marques second ever open wheel victory.

Silverstone Classic is an advance ticket only event and the race cards are never the same two years running, for further details about this years Silver Jubilee event see this link.

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Super Saturday Part 2/2 – Silverstone Classic

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Today’s blog continues on from yesterday with coverage of the second half of the Silverstone Classic Super Saturday race programme.

Porsche 911, Slater, Silverstone Classic

The 50 min Choppard International Trophy for pre’66 GT Cars was won convincingly by Sean McInerney driving the #64 TVR Griffith seen above about to thread it’s way passed the; #27 Porsche 911 driven by Adrian Slater, the #31 Lotus Elan driven by John Sheldon and the #91 Sunbeam Tiger shared by Neil Merry and Terry van der Zee.

Brabham BT4, Minshaw, Silverstone Classic

Jason Minshaw won the first of the weekends two Jack Brabham Memorial Trophy races driving the 1962 Brabham BT4 seen above. It is sad to have to report that in the second race for pre ’66 Grand Prix cars the following day Denis Welch was killed in an accident while driving his Lotus 18. I am sure you will want to join me in offering sincerest condolences to Denis’s family and many friends.

Ford Falcons, Voyazides, Gardiner, Silverstone Classic

Perversely the Mustang Celebration Trophy proudly presented by Pure Michigan was dominated by the type that the Mustang wiped off the sales floor, namely the Ford Falcons driven by Leo Voyazides #1 and Mike Gardiner #37. Leo is seen above sweeping into a lead that he did not relinquish for the rest of the race.

Maserati Centenary Trophy Start, Silverstone Classic

Light was fading at the start of the Maserati Centenary Trophy for pre ’61 Grand Prix cars and photographers such as your truely were having to resort to every trick in photoshop to get an image. Above Philip Walker driving the #1 Lotus 16 is seen streaking into what proved to be an unassailable lead ahead of; the #30 Offy powered Scarab driven by Bristol’s Julian Bronson, #88 ‘Toothpaste Tube’ Connaught C Type driven by Michael Steele, the, #27 Tec-Mech driven by Tony Wood, #35 Kurtis driven by Fred Harper.

Lola T70, Voyazides, Silverstone Classic

Leo Voyazides thirst for victory was unsatiated after winning the Mustang Celebration trophy and he is seen above driving his Lola T70 in the FIA Historic Masters Sports Cars race in hot pursuit of the cheeky 2 litre / 122 cui Chevron B19 driven by Martin O’Connell. No one knows exactly what happened to Martin, but he ended up in the rough stuff, uninjured leaving Leo and Simon Hadfield a clear road to victory lane.

Mercedes Benz C11, Berridge, Silverstone Classic

The final race of Super Saturday was my favourite not because it was the most closely contested, it was not despite the best efforts of Katsu Kobota driving a Nissan to take the challenge to the winning #31 Mercedes Benz C11 driven by eventual Group C Endurance winner Bob Berridge, but because the twin turbo V8 C11 driven at full speed is music to my ears and poetry in motion to my eyes. I could watch that car circulating all day and night as I did in 1991 at Le Mans, with out a care in the world.

Approaching 9pm it was all over time to return my photographers bib to the Media Office, jump into a courtesy BMW, driven by an ex Royal Protection Officer, which on the way back to the car park took me past the crowds waiting for Bonnie Tyler to give a rendition of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Super Saturday Part 2/2” edition of Gettin’ a li’l pscyho on tyres. I’ll be staying with Silverstone Classic for the rest of the week I hope you will join me starting with Maserati Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Classic Americans – Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance

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A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Horton loaded his trailer up with his Jaguar XK140 and headed for Palm Springs and the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance. Toady’s blog features photo’s Geoffrey kindly shared of some of the US built cars that were taking part.

Lincoln L Brunn Beetle Back, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

By 1925 Cadillac founder Henry M Leland had sold the second marque he had founded, Lincoln, to Henry Ford for $8m but Ford continued to up date the L-Series first seen in 1917, until 1930. The 1925 Lincoln above features a nickel plated radiator shell first seen in 1924.

Cadillac V16 Series 452, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Need a 2 door convertible with plenty of room for occasional passengers and cargo in the boot / trunk the 1930 Cadillac V16 Series 452 is just the car you are looking for.

Packard 1005 Convertible Coupe , Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Winner of this years Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance was the 1933 V12 powered Packard 1005 Twelve Convertible Coupe seen above. The 1005 was the tenth Packard series car and shared 11 different body with the V8 powered Packard Super Eight.

Cord 812 s/c, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

1935 the Cord 810 was the sensation of the New York Auto Show, by 1937 when the supercharged 812 convertible above was built the company had a less than complimentary reputation for reliability and the following year the remains of the company were sold to Avaiation Corporation which today is part of Textron Systems Corporation.

Diamond T Pickup, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Following a tip from some quail hunters the owner of this rugged 1949 Diamond T Model 201 1 ton pickup abandoned in a field near Globe Arizona, dented and rusted it was 90% there and the Hercules six cylinder motor still turned. After restoration this Diamond T won the 2010 Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance Best Non-Passenger Vehicle award.

Packard 250, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Visiting Paris Retromobile in the 1990’s Californian Carl Schneider came across some drawings by Pininfarina of a Packard that was never built. After purchasing the drawings Carl and Peter Portugal built the likeness of the Pininfarina Packard, seen above, using a 1952 Packard 250 series Mayfair two-door hardtop as a starting point.

Scarab Continuation, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

In 1958 Lance Reventlow started building a successful series of sports racing cars, above is a continuation model.

Guldstrand Corvette GS90, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

In the early 1990’s Corvette racer Dick Guldstrand approached General Motors with a plan to build his own vehicle based on the Corvette asking for 15 chassis and a few million dollars to get him going, he got one car and GM’s blessing. Dick ended up building six of the $200,000 dollar cars, the one above is the second of them, built in 1993.

Vector M12, Desert Classic Concours d'Elegance

Nearly three times more common than the Guldstarnd Corvette is the Vector M12 of which 17 examples were manufactured from 1995 to 1999. The Vector was built on a modified Lamborghini Diablo Chassis and is powered by a 499 hp Lamborghini V12.

My thanks to Geoffrey for sharing his photographs more of which will be seen tomorrow and next Wednesday.

Thanks for joining me on this “Classic Americans” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow for Ferrari Friday to see a work in progress.

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Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

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A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Horton visited the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and kindly sent me today’s photographs to share.

Hall Scott The Four, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

The Hall Scott Four was built in San Francisco for the 1917 Vanderbuilt Cup it used an Reo Model M frame and was powered by a 110 hp Hall Scott aircraft 9.9 litre 605 cc motor that produces the same torque as a modern day Chrysler V10 Viper motor. This car was reconstructed for Dick Deluna by Tom Batchelor in Reno Nevada and Denis Webb in Anaheim California amongst many others.

McCabe, Bugatti, Type 59, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

Charles McAbe is seen warming up his 1934 Bugatti Type 59 with it’s distinctive wire and alloy wheels.

Chevrolet Corvette C1, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

Looking particularly purposeful in black above is Bob Patterson’s 1957 second generation Chevrolet Corvette C1, a very successful sports car and racer in it’s day that sold with the strap line “FI = 1 H.P. per CU. IN. x 283″.

Knoop, Echidna, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

John Staver, Ed Grierson and Bill Larson based their Echidna race cars on highly modified Corvette frames and mechanical running gear. The cars clothed in bodywork by by Bill Devlin won 8 races outright from 35 races and took 17 class victories. The Bob Hardison’s 1959 example seen here is driven by IMSA Endurance racer Rick Knoop.

Kurtis KK500-H, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

Frank Kurtis built just one new car for the 1958 Indy 500 the Kurtis KK500-H seen above which featured novel, for the period at Indy, independent rear suspension. It’s best finish was 7th with Duane Carter at the wheel in 1959, running with a more conventional tub rear axle installed by new owner Smokey Yunnick.

Arcerio, Lister, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

Al Arcerio is seen at the wheel of his 1958 Knobbly Lister above.

Scarab, Mk 1, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

After seeing first hand the apparent chaos that ruled in the factories of several top European racing car manufacturers Lance Reventlow returned to the United States determined that he could do far better. The first product of his determination was the 1958 Scarab Mk 1 with which Lance won 9 races in 1958. Only two Mk 1’s were built, I believe the example above, owned by Rob Walton, is the first of the two.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

The Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione chassis #2701 GT was crashed on it’s debut at the Le Mans test weekend after setting the 6th fastest time, fastest in class, in 1961. It was rebuilt and bought for a paltry DM 6,000 in February 1967 by Egon Hofer who won his class with it in a couple of hillclimbs before tackling the Taga Florio with Anatoly Arutunoff where carrying the #74 it failed to finish. Ned Spieker has owned the car since 2004.

American Motors AMX, Rolex Monterey Reunion, Laguna Seca

Dwight Matheson’s 1969 AMC AMX is seen above in the Bruce Morehead Racing colours as raced by Bruce in 1970 in the Sebring 12 hour race where the car failed to finish. Bruce is known to have scored at least one class victory in an SCCA regional race run at Sebastian towards the end of 1970.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photos, please spare a thought for him last I heard the the Rim Fire was causing Geoffrey and his neighbours some concern.

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

PS Thoughts and opinions on the weekends Belgian Grand Prix can be found here at Motorsports Unplugged.

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Where Do We Go Now ? – Silverstone Classic

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Last Saturday it was back to Silverstone for the third time in a month, but this time for the Silverstone Classic a three day event.

Silverstone Classic

Silverstone Classic is billed as the largest participant motorsports event in the United Kingdom.

Silverstone Classic

Sponsors of the event BMW brought a long a big wheel, unfortunately I get vertigo on a step ladder so I was not able to sample the, by all accounts, spectacular view from the top.

BMW 3.0 CSL, Silverstone Classic

I’m not too sure when the fad for lurid paint scheme’s started on road cars in Germany, but I do remember it quite vividly when I visited the country in 1974, above this particularly cool post July 1973 ‘Batmobile’ BMW 3.0 CSL was on display outside the BMW hospitality unit.

Wilson, Lotus 20/22, Hibberd, Lotus 22, Silverstone Classic

Racing got underway promptly at 9 am with the Formula Juniors who were racing for the Peter Arundell Trophy. The race was hotly contested between the #53 Lotus 20/22 of Sam Wilson and #79 of Andrew Hibberd, after trading places many times, Andy won the 9 lap race by just over half a second.

Formula Ford, Silverstone Classic

Callum Macleod won the Balvenie Trophy for Historic Formula Fords by nearly five seconds, above a gaggle of Formula Fords exits Maggotts Corner and heads for Beckett’s corner in a scrap more typical of the class.

Smith, Ward, Costin, Lister, Silverstone Classic

Gary Pearson led the opening laps of the Stirling Moss Trophy for Pre ’61 sports cars in his knobbly Lister Jaguar, but Oliver Bryant in a Lotus 15 soon chased him down for the lead and an eventual victory shared with Grahame Bryant. Meanwhile Chris Ward and Andrew Smith came through the field from 11th to finish second 2 seconds adrift in the lush Costin bodied Jaguar powered Lister seen above.

Ford Ranchero, Silverstone Classic

Out on the old Hanger Straight UK Street Machines were holding a shootout in which this ’64 Ford Ranchero was taking part.

Priaulx, Solomons, BMW1800Ti, Silverstone Classic

Former British Hillclimb Champion and three time World Touring Champion Andy Priaulx led the opening stages of the Sir John Whitmore Trophy for Under 2 Litre Touring Cars in this BMW 1800Ti, but it was Leo Voyazides aided by former Merzario engineer Simon Hadfield that came through to win in a Lotus Cortina. Priaulx sharing with Richard Solomons came home fifth.

Lyons, Surtees, TS9, Silverstone Classic

Judy Lyons in her Surtees TS9 gives us a wave as she prepares to take part in the FIA Masters Historic Formula One race for which she qualified 3rd from last and finished last three laps down. Judy’s husband Frank finished 16th driving a Hesketh 308E while her son Michael won the race driving a former Longhorn Indycar chassis now in Williams FW07 spec as raced by Rupert Keegan in 1980.

Wills, Panayiotou, Mercury, Comet, Cyclone, Silverstone Classic

Leo Voyazides and Simon Hadfield won the Trans-Atlantic Touring Car Trophy, by over 16 seconds, sharing a Ford Falcon. The Mercury Comet Cyclone above was shared by Roger Wills and Chris Panayiotou who finished 6th.

Wood, Tec Mec, Bronson, Scarab, Silverstone Classic

Tony Wood qualified the #27 Tec Mec Maserati on pole for the Froilan Gonzalez Trophy for HGPCA Pre’61 Grand Prix Cars, but Julian Bronson sitting alongside Wood on the grid in the #30 Offy powered Scarab made a great race of it and came through to score the open wheel Scarabs second ever victory, having won a similar race at Pau in France a couple of weeks ago.

Voyazides, Hadfield, Lola T70, Mk IIIb, Silverstone Classic

The #6 Lola T70 Mk IIIb chassis #SL76/153 won the FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars race giving Leo Voyazides and Simon Hadfield their third victory of the day. The car appears in the colours used by Carlos Avallone in South America.

Lola T400, Silverstone Classic

Michael Lyons second victory of the day came when he drove this ex Vels Parnelli Lola T400 chassis #HU7 a to dominant victory in the Peter Gethin Trophy for Formula 5000 and Formula 2 cars.

Wood, Cologne, Ford, Capri, Silverstone Classic

Neil Smith driving an ALFA Romeo 156 won the Super Touring Car Trophy by just over 2/10ths of a second from Frank Wrathall driving a Vauxhall Cavalier, above is the circa 1974 Ford RS3100 of Ric Wood which came in 13th overall winning class G and setting fastest lap in class.

Minshaw, Brabham, BT4, Hughes, Cooper, T53, Silverstone Classic

The skies turned dark as the pre 1966 1.5 litre / 91 cui Grand Prix cars came out to play for the Jim Clark Trophy. Jason Minshaw is seen above driving his Branham BT4 being chased by Jonathon Hughes in his Cooper T53. Jason crossed the line first on lap 4 after which the race had to be abandoned as a summer storm dropped huge quantities of water on the track.

Heidsieck, Trophy, Silverstone, Classic

After nearly an hour the storm had passed and the marshalls had swept most of the excess water away. However as the Piper Heidsieck International Trophy for pre’66 GT Cars came out rain started again, but we got a start after the grid had followed the pace car around for a couple of laps. The TVR’s of Mike Whittaker and Owen O’Neil lead the field through Farm, above as the race gets underway. Conditions got progressively worse and the race was called after 45 mins of the scheduled 60 mins had run. John and Gary Pearson were declared the winners in their E-type Jaguar from Leo Voyazides and Simon Hadfield who missed a fourth victory of the day by 13 seconds in their AC Cobra.

Unfortunately, but completely understandably, the one race for Group C Sportscars I had got up for at 5 am specifically to see scheduled to run at sundown, had to be scratched as the rain in Spain continued to teem down mainly on Northamptonshire, England.

Exhausted by a day full of close racing, as I headed back to the car, I heard the familiar Guns ‘n’ Roses lyric “Where do we go now” wafting across from the stage where The Guns and Roses Experience were playing, to which my answer was unequivocal, “A warm and safe place”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Where Do We Go Now ?” 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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American Beauty – Scarab #3

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After writing off a Maserati 200S in a sports car race at Snetterton, having been banned from racing in the USA for racing underage, Woolworth heir Lance Reventlow visited Lister and Maserati in 1957 and was appalled by the apparent backward chaos he found at the factories.

Scarab, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Determined that he could do better Lance Returned to the United States and founded Reventlow Automobiles Incorporated and initiated a successful sports car program for 1958.

Scarab, Silverstone Classic,

Encouraged by his success Reventlow Automobiles Incorporated engaged Troutman & Barnes to design a space framed contender for the highest level of the sport, Formula One.

Scarab, Silverstone Classic,

The motor for the new car was designed by Leo Goosens, of Offenhauser fame, who designed a Hilborn fuel injected 2.5 litre / 152 cui 4 cylinder motor with desmodronic, mechanically opened and closed which did away with valve springs, valves as had been favoured by Mercedes Benz during their successful Formula One campaigns from 1954 to 1955.

Scarab, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

With a wry sense of humour Reventlow deliberately went against the grain of macho exotic names given to racing cars by chosing to call of the cars built by Reventlow Automobiles Incorporated Scarab after a compost beetle.

Scarab, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Widely respected for their beauty and build quality the team turned up in Monaco for the start of the World Championship season. Looks were deceiving as the cars proved to be too slow to qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix even after the Goodyear tyres had been replaced with Dunlops, not even Stirling Moss could set a competitive time in a Scarab.

Scarab, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Chuck Daigh and Lance Reventlow both qualified for the Dutch Grand Prix however they were both outside the top 15 which meant they did not qualify for start money and so both cars were withdrawn.

Bronson, Scarab, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Reventlow qualified 16th for the Belgian Grand Prix and Daigh 18th however Reventlow retired on the second lap and Daigh on the 17th, both with engine problems. In France Richie Ginther replaced Reventlow in the driving seat and qualified 20th with Daigh 23rd and last however neither started because of engine problems.

Scarab, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The team did not appear again until the 1960 US Grand Prix where a single car was entered for Chuck Daigh who qualified 18th. Chuck brought the car home 10th, 5 laps down, on what would be the teams final World Championship appearance.

Bronson, Scarab, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Chassis # 3 seen here was shipped to Europe in 1960 as the teams spare with out a motor. In 1961 Chuck Daigh drove the car fitted with an Offenhauser Indy type motor in the non championship International Trophy at Silvertone and Lavant Cup at Goodwood where he finished 7th and 8th. At the British Empire Trophy Meeting at Silverstone Daigh was badly injured when he crashed the car on what turned out to be the cars final ‘in period’ appearance.

The Scarab had proved to be underpowered and it’s front engined design rendered obsolete by the rear engined designs from Cooper and Lotus and Lance Reventlow had been deceived by the backward chaos he had seen in Europe which disguised much wisdom and craftsmanship gained from decades of experience.

For many years this Scarab was exhibited sans motor at the Donington Park Museum before it was purchased by Julian Bronson who acquired another Offenhauser motor and can be seen demonstrating the car above at Castle Combe.

Wishing all my readers from the United States a festive Independence Day.

Thanks for joining me on this “American Beauty” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow.

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Autumn Classic – Castle Combe

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Last Saturday morning I made my way to Castle Combe for the Autumn Classic meeting, regrettably the last but one racing meeting of the season, as you shall see I couldn’t make Sunday’s final Castle Combe meeting due to a commitment elsewhere.

Dodge Brothers Senior, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

This event marked the first visit by the Vintage Sports Car Club for thirty years. I followed the 1929 Dodge Brothers Senior above in through the gate.

Morgan Super Aero, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

In the paddock Sue Darbyshire was warming up her Morgan Super Sports for morning practice which qualified 6th for the VSCC Pre War Sports Cars race and in which she crossed the finish line of the race in 4th.

Maserati Bora, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

Out on the track practice for the Bernie’s V8 Historic V8 Racers Association race was well underway, the series caters for V8 powered cars racing on road legal treaded tyres. I was most pleasantly surprised to find one of less than 600 Maserati Bora’s built among the entries, Graham Burgess is seen above qualifying for 15th on the grid, he finished the race in 11th.

Scarab, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

During the lunch break Julian Bronson demonstrated his 1960 Scarab Grand Prix car that was built, maintained and on occasion driven by Chuck Daigh for Woolworth heir Lance Reventlow. This is the third of the three open wheelers built and was raced by Chuck with a regular Offenhauser during 1961 in a couple of non championship Formula One races, with out the ill feted Desmodromic cylinder heads fitted to the first two cars.

Stranguellini FJ, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

After the success of the Spirit of the Sixties event held at Dyrham Park last year the Bristol Motor Club were invited to organise an Essence of Dyrham demonstration at Castle Combe last weekend, Martin Sheppard’s 1958 Stanguellini Formula Junior, was the only open wheeler to take part.

Historic Aston Martin's, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

After the lunch break racing got under way in earnest with Chris Woodgate making the most of his pole position in his Aston Martin DB 3 to come home over thirty seconds to the good from Nicholas Ruddell in his #25 Aston Martin DB2/4, Nigel Batchellor seen in second place in the #36 DB 2/4 above dropped out, while Timothy Stamper lost 3rd place for several laps to Anne Reed before claiming back third spot on the podium in his #39 Aston Martin 2/4.

JEC, Pre 1966 Jaguars, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

Anthony Reid stamped his authority on the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club Pre 1966 Jaguars race right from the word go, but there was plenty of action going on behind. Above John Burton in the #15 XK 120 carries evidence of cutting a chicane, John managed to hang on to 5th place eventually finishing 10 seconds ahead of Peter Dorlin’s #48 Mark 1 Saloon, after an entertaining battle Peter finished 1 place ahead of his brother Richard, in a Mk 2 Saloon.

John Gott Memorial Trophy, Autumn Classic Castle Combe

The Big Healey Challenge race was interrupted by a pace car incident which virtually handed a one lap lead to forth place starter Anders Schildt from Sweden, but these classics still proved highly entertaining to watch as they grappled with Castle Combes notoriously undulating surface. Above Anders leads eventual third place finisher David Smithie who appeared to be closing Anders down for the lead until the pace car intervened effectively handing Schildt the John Gott Trophy on a plate.

Bernie's V8s HVRA, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

If the Healey’s were struggling with Castle Combes undulations the Bernie’s V8’s fared little better as evidenced when a rear shock absorber failed on the #78 Dodge Challenger of Belgian Bert Smeets. The rare South African #6 Ford Capri Piranha of Andrew Haddon managed to lap the entire field in less than 40 minuets on his way to victory in a race which was also interrupted by a Safety Car period after an incident involving the series organisers Bernie Choodosh’s Chevrolet Corvette.

FisCar "50's Inter Marque, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

After lengthy repairs to the Castle Combe crash barrier the 50’s Inter Marque race provided plenty of thrills and spills. Nigel Webb just managed to keep his C-type Jaguar ahead of Nigel Bancrofts indecently quick Lotus Elite which was giving away over two litres / 122 cui in swept volume to the Jaguar. Webb came into hand over to Anthony Reid who regained the lead after the Elite’s mandatory pit stop and headed for his second trip to victory lane of the day. Bancroft who elected to drive solo finished second.

VSCC Pre War Sports Cars, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Tom McWhirter driving the unusual 6 wheel #23 Jaguar SS 100 is seen leading the opening lap of the the VSCC Pre War Sports Car race from the #21 HRG Andrew Mitchell and #29 Patrick Blakeney-Edwards Frazer Nash Owlette. Tom won the race by nearly 3 seconds from Andrew who in turn finished just over 16 and a half seconds ahead of Patrick.

Twilight Challenge, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The Twilight Challenge featured just seven starters but there were still battles aplenty thanks to the mandatory pit stop requirement. Tim Pearce claimed the victory in his Morgan Plus 8, the #73 Ford Falcon of Chris Clarkson above is hounded by the Jaguar E-Type of Alan Bull. Alan retired the Jaguar, while Chris and co driver Williams came home second 26 seconds adrift of the Morgan.

I hope it is not another 30 years before the VSCC returns to Castle Combe and that Bernies V8’s and twilight racing return early in the new year with bigger grids.

Full results for all last weekends races at Castle Combe can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Autumn Classic’ edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a 1954 Blue Flame powered sports car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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