Tag Archives: Sears

1914 French GP Winner – Mercedes 18/100 #15364

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For the first time regulations for the 1914 French Grand Prix mandated a maximum engine size of 4.5 litres / 274 cui which put a premium on engine efficiency not least because a minimum 1,100 kgs / 2425 lbs minimum weight limit was also mandated.

Only entries from factory supported teams were accepted and these came from Alda, Aquila Delage, Fiat, Nagant, Nazzaro, Opel, Peugeot, Pichard-Pictet, Schneider, Sunbeam, and Vauxhall with 37 entries in all.

Mercedes 18/100, Martin Viessmann, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Peugeot were the 1913 French Grand Prix winners and their 1914 Grand Prix challenger retained both an advanced overhead twin cam 16 valve engine design and brakes on all four wheels, while the slightly more crude Mercedes only had a single overhead cam engine and brakes acting only on the rear wheels.

Less than a week before the event news that Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been assassinated in Sarajevo was a strong omen that a major conflict was about to be set in motion that would see Russia, France and Britain align themselves against the forces of Germany and Austria.

Mercedes 18/100, Martin Viessmann, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Rookie driver Max Sailer, possibly through inexperience, went charging into the lead of the seven hour race in his Mercedes 18/100 and unwittingly dragged a proud and upset to be in second Georges Boillot into an unequal dual, it turned out that the vertically mounted spare tyres in the rear of the Peugeot L45 gave the car inferior handling to the Mercedes with it’s spare tyres mounted tilting slightly forward.

Nonetheless Sailer retired from the lead at one quarter of the race distance with a broken engine, leaving Boillot to lead for the next 12 laps despite having to make several pit stops for tyres compared to the one planned stop made by Christian Lautenschlager and his team mate Louis Wagner.

Mercedes 18/100, Martin Viessmann, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Despite plenty of pre event practice Christian Lautenschlager’s planned pit stop was unusually disorganised which left Louis Wagner to pursue Boillot’s Peugeot.

Wagner destroyed his second set of tyres in the pursuit of the Peugeot which had kept up a relentless pace to stay in the lead.

Mercedes 18/100, Martin Viessmann, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

By three quarter distance Wagner made an unscheduled stop for new tyres handing second place to Lautenschlager.

With two laps to go Boillot’s Peugeot engine had nothing left when Christian Lautenschlager driving today’s featured chassis #15364 silenced the French crowds by storming into the lead to be followed into second place by Louis Wagner and a third Mercedes driven by Otto Salzer.

Mercedes 18/100, Martin Viessmann, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

#15364 sent to Berlin where it was put on show immediately after the race and was sent to London for similar purposes only to arrive just in time for the start of the 1914/18 hostilities.

After the war Count Zborowski acquired #15364 and was the first of several owners to race it at Brooklands.

One owner had a Berliet body and front brakes fitted to the car which remained until it was restored to running order by Stanley Sears in the 1960’s, current owner Martin Viessmann, seen at the wheel in these photograph’s taken at Goodwood Festival of Speed, has been the custodian of #15364 since 1984.

Thanks for joining me on this “1914 French GP 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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’64 Rebody By Scaglietti – Ferrari 250 GTO #4399GT

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In May 1963 British Ferrari importer Col. Ronnie Hoare took delivery of a 250 GTO chassis number #4399GT and entered it for Mark Parkes to drive in the Whitsun Trophy at Goodwood and Martini Trophy at Silverstone and before the car was a month old it had visited victory lane, twice.

In July ’63 Jack Sears took a class victory with #4399GT at the British Grand Prix meeting, before Graham Hill won the RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in August driving the same car.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood, Revival

In September 1963 Mike Parkes was back at the wheel at events in Monza and Snetterton finishing 2nd overall in both but with class victories.

Over the winter of ’63/’64 the car was sent back to Scaglietti where the original body was removed and a new 250 GTO ’64 style
body was fitted.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood, Revival

Graham Hill drove the rebodied car to wins in the Sussex Trophy at Goodwood and the International Trophy at Silverstone, with Mike Parkes adding a third season victory in the 500km race at Spa.

The hood scoop was fitted in time for the ’64 Le Mans 24 Hours where Innes Ireland and Tony Maggs drove the car to a 6th place finish, 2nd in class to the GTO shared by Belgians Lucien Bianchi and “Jean Beurlys”.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood, Revival

Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti drove #4399GT to a class victory in the Reims 12 hours and Viscount Rollo Fielding scored the cars final in period class victory at Mallory Park in October 1964.

Mike Salmon drove #4399GT for Dawnay racing in early 1965 with his best result being a 4th place from pole in the Sussex Trophy at Goodwood.

In 1969 Anthony Bamford, now Sir Anthony, acquired #4399GT and it has remained in his possession ever since.

Thanks for joining me on this ’64 Redody By Scaglietti edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a diesel Audi. Don’t forget to come back now !

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185mph Motorway Test – AC Cobra Coupé #A98

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Having concluded that the original AC Shelby Cobra Roadster needed some more straight line speed in order to compete with the Ferrari 250 GT0’s at Le Mans both Shelby and AC set about building Coupé’s independently of one another in late 1963.

AC turned to Alan Turner to design their Cobra Coupé for the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours. The less than complete car was taken to the Le Mans Test Weekend in April 1964 and Paul Bolton recorded the 27th fastest time in the 355 hp Coupé chassis #A98. Upon completion and with a spoiler fitted to help reduce lift the car was tested at the high speed MIRA test facility for which it proved to be too fast.

AC Cobra Coupé, Goodwood Revival

In order to test the cars top speed it was decided to go and test it on Britain’s M1 motorway at 4 am two weeks before the 1964 Le Mans 24 hours and both Jack Sears and Paul Bolton took turns at driving the car up a couple of junctions and returning at a time of day when there was no other traffic on the road.

Based on the revs used as reported by the drivers, axle ratio and tyre sizes the AC engineers calculated on their slide rules that the car had reached 185 mph.

AC Cobra Coupé, Goodwood Revival

One of the people present at the test was AC owner Derek
Hurlock’s nephew Tony Martin, who held an administrative position at the Sunday Times and spilled the beans to reporters with whom he worked later in the day.

Naturally the story was taken up and made front page news, however the incident did not contribute to the implementation of a blanket 70 mph on British Motorways in 1964 as a trial and made permanent in December 1965, as has become myth. The Ministry of Transport had been working on that legislation since far earlier in an effort to reduce death’s on Britain’s motorways which had been unrestricted since the first section of the Preston By Pass that was to become the M6 was opened in 1958.

#A98 was taken to Le Mans where it was qualified in 13th and gave the GT class winning Shelby Daytona Coupé designed by Pete Brock and driven by Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant a good run for it’s money until fuel starvation intervened.

Foul play was suspected when newspaper was found in the petrol tank, after being told by their tyre supplier to not change their tyres Paul suffered a tyre failure on lap 77 which put him in hospital and caused a Ferrari avoiding the incident to leave the track which killed 3 spectators in an unauthorised spectating area.

It took an AC enthusiast 12 years to rebuild the wreck of #A98 into the condition seen here at Goodwood Revival in 2012.

Thanks for joining me on this “185 mph Motorway Test” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a unique British built US entered vehicle that competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Tax Man Has Taken All My Bugs – Bugatti Type 15 #366

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Milanese Ettore Bugatti was working for, the company founded by Nicolas Otto that became, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik in Cologne, Germany where he designed his Type 8 and Type 9 between 1907 and 1909 when he decided to build his own car in his basement.

Upon completion of the project, known as the Type 10, in 1909 Ettore packed his possessions and family into his new creation and headed for Alsace to found Automobiles E. Bugatti and look for a factory in which to build more cars of his own design.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

Settling in Molsheim, Alsace Ettore set about building the Type 13 which like the Type 10 featured advanced, for the period in which chain drive was the norm, shaft drive, a larger 1368cc /83 cui version of the 4 cylinder Type 10 motor and for racing variants only cutting edge of technology 4 valve heads.

Unlike the Type 10 which only had leaf springs at the front and an unsprung rear axle the Type 13 featured leaf springs all round.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

The 16 valve Type 13 produced around 30 hp at 4,500 rpm an extraordinary high output for such a small motor thanks to the 4 valve heads, bearing in mind that the slightly earlier 35/45 hp Itala required a 7.4 litre / 453 cui motor to produce only 5 – 15hp more.

Automobiles E. Bugatti produced 5 Type 13’s in 1910 and in 1911 Ernest Friderich drove one of them in the 7 hour marathon French Grand Prix in which he finished 2nd, albeit 2 laps down, to the winning 10 litre / 589 cui 4 cylinder FIAT S61 driven by Victor Hemery.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

Today’s featured 1910 Type 15 is similar to the Type 13, except that it was built with a longer chassis, 14 inch longer wheel base and is fitted with a 15hp 8 valve motor number #16.

This car, seen at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu was first owned by Ettore’s wife Mdme Barbra Bugatti and fitted with a saloon / sedan body. Before being registered in the UK by Col. Dowson in 1921, #366 is said to have been of service on the battlefields of the 1914 – 18 war.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

The next known owner of #366 was Bugatti enthusiast CWP ‘Peter’ Hampton, the head of an international firm of land agents who lived in Effingham Common, Surrey and later Bolney, Sussex where he tended his collection reported to include Rolls-Royces, Mercedes Benz of all ages, at least one Hispano Suiza and 25 Bugattis, one of which was ‘recovered’ from Czechoslovakia in what has been described as a James Bond style operation when the country was still heavily under Soviet influence behind the Iron Curtain.

Peter replaced the original saloon / sedan body on #366 for the 2 seat sports tourer seen today in the 1930’s and used to compete with it regularly at Prescott along with four of his other competition Bugatti’s which included a Type 13, Type 18, Type 30, and Type 57C of which the Type 15 was unsurprisingly the slowest having achieved a best time of 80.7 seconds.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

The highly polished brass box above is an acetylene gas generator, for the gas powered headlights, which featured a Patented Automatic Shaking Grate Generator manufactured by Rushmore Dynamo Works at Plainfields N.J., U.S.A between 1905 and 1914 when the company was bought for $750,000 cash by Bosch Magneto Co.

During the ’39 – ’45 war, Peter served as a War Substantive Lieutenant in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, Royal Armoured Corps and was in the first wave to land at Gold Beach in the D-Day landings at Normandy in support of the infantry regiments.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

Five of the 4th/7th’s tanks were lost before making shore despite being dropped off 200 yards from the beach, instead of the planned two miles, because of the unexpectedly high seas.

During the landings Peter received a permanent shrapnel injury to his left arm which was henceforth completely unusable, after relinquishing his commission due to his injuries Peter returned to Suffolk where his cars had been kept in working condition by farmer Stanley Sears, father of two time British Saloon / Sedan champion Jack.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

To over come the problem of his left arm Peter had Stanley convert all of his vehicles to right hand gear change and Peter kept competing at Prescott and other events with #366 until 1952.

#366 is the oldest example of the marque in the UK and thought to be the second oldest Bugatti in the world and it along with the rest of the cars in Peter’s collection were dispersed after his death in the 1980’s.

Bugatti Type 15, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

Although #366 is road fund licence exempt it has not been issued with a valid tax exempt disc since 1985, though ironically, the vehicle actually belongs to Her Majesties Government who acquired it from Peter Hampton’s estate in lieu of inheritance tax.

My thanks to Allan Lupton for enlightening me about the Rushmore Dynamo Works Patented Automatic Shaking Grate Acetylene Generator, to Doug Nye, Roger Lund, John Winfield, Vitesse2, Carl R.S. and Hipperson who all contributed to the ‘C.W.P. ‘Peter’ Hampton; racing driver and collector’ at The Nostalgia Forum and likewise to everyone who contributed to the ‘great bugatti collectors’ thread at Bugattibuilder.com forum.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Tax Man Has Taken All My Bugs” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at McLaren’s 50th Anniversary efforts in the 2013 Formula One season. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The White RHD One – Ferrari 250 GTO #3729GT

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Blacksmiths, wheelwrights and coachbuilders Coombs of Guildford was founded in the 19th Century. Descendant of the founders John Coombs was taken to Brooklands before the 1939-45 was and on completion of his apprenticeship in 1949 began motor racing in open wheelers and sportscars with some success. He retired from race driving, after winning two races in a day at Mallory Park, because his business commitments no longer gave him the necessary time to compete, so he made the switch to becoming an entrant.

Teaming up with some of the best drivers of the day including his former Connaught team mate Roy Salvadori, BRM driver Ron Flockhart, John built up an excellent reputation with Coopers and Jaguar’s as Coombs of Guildford grew to become a major Jaguar dealership. When he was told Lotus founder Colin Chapman was interested in buying a Jaguar John had no hesitation in putting Colin, against whom he used to race, in one of his cars for a race at Silverstone which Colin promptly won and suitably impressed Colin duly placed his order.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

In July 1962 John took delivery of a white right hand drive Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3729GT after it became clear that the Jaguar E-Type was too heavy to compete against Maranello’s finest. Despite being driven by the likes of Salvadori, Graham Hill and Mike Parkes, all of whom were or went on to compete in Formula One, the car did not record any victories in 1963 but it did record a string of second places.

John also sent the car to Coventry where Jaguar made a close inspection of it before building John the first of 11 lightweight E-types with aluminium mononcoques and engine blocks.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

In 1964 Viscount Eddie Portman took over ownership of #3729GT who added another second place result before it was entered for Ritchie Ginther to drive in the Tourist Trophy run at Goodwood where he finished 9th.

JA Pearce of JA Pearce Engineering then used #3729 in a couple of sprints run at Brighton and Blackbushe airport in late 1964 and early 1965.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

John also known as Jack Pearce spotted the opportunity for building a formula one car for the new 3 litre / 183 cui regulations which became effective from the beginning of 1966 using a 250 GTO motor. For many years it was believed that the motor from #3729 found it’s way into the back of the JA Pearce 1964 Cooper T73 built originally for the older 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui formula.

In fact Chris Lawrence, who drove and co owned the Cooper Ferrari, many years later discovered that instead of having a Ferrari 250 GTO motor the Cooper was actually fitted with a on older less powerful motor that came out of Rob Walkers 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB #2735GT which had been driven by Stirling Moss to a string of five race victories. Unfortunately the unique Cooper Ferrari T73 was destroyed in a transporter fire at Silverstone in 1967, although the charred remains of both the motor and car are known to still exist.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

After #3729 had been sold on to noted historic racer Neil Corner in 1966 it was painted red and from 1970 to 1999 it belonged to 1958 and ’63 British Saloon Car Champion Jack Sears, who had raced the #3729 for John Coombs at Brands Hatch and Snetterton in 1963.

1n 1999 current owner Jon Shirley bought the car and had a new engine block installed by Ferrari Classiche nine years later.

Thanks for joining me on this “The White RHD One” 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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Wall Of Noise – Aston Martin AMR 1 #01 & #03

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In 1989 Group C sports car racing reached new heights popularity among manufacturers when Aston Martin joined in the fun as a manufacturer. Aston Martin Tickford had supplied motors for the Nimrod Group C cars that were run from 1982 until 1984. They also supplied the even less successful EMKA Productions and Cheetah teams which ran sporadically from 1983 to 1985.

Aston Martin AMR1, Le Mans

The seeds of the 1989 program were laid after an agreement between Aston’s owners Victor Gauntlet and Peter Livanos that Aston Martin should go the whole hog and manufacture a Le Mans challenger wholly in house. A month after they announced their plans Ford took a controlling interest in Aston Martin and to the surprise of Gauntlet and Livanous agreed the racing program should continue on condition that it did not interfere with Aston’s production vehicles and that it would require no finance from Ford recommending a separate company should be set up to run the racing operation.

Aston Martin AMR1, Le Mans

Aston Martin and Ray Mallock, using the Ecurie Eccose name with whom he had won the junior Group C2 championship in 1986 created a new company called Proteus Technology Ltd known as Protech. Protech was to be funded for six years to the tune of £26 million by the Livanos family. Callaway Engineering was engaged to develop the 5.3 litre Aston Martin Virage V8 motor into first a 600 hp 6 litre / 366 cui motor and later a 700 hp 6.3 litre unit.

Aston Martin AMR1, Le Mans

The team hoped to have the first cars, designed by Max Bostrom, racing towards the end of 1988 and when the deadline passed they prepared themselves for a start at the first Group C race of 1989. An accident during testing meant the team were without a car to take to the first race of 1989 and so attracted a US$ 250,000 fine for missing the race.

Aston Martin AMR1, Le Mans

The AMR1’s first appearance was at Dijon where AMR1/01 driven by David Leslie and Brian Redman finished a distant 17th. At Le Mans which was a non championship event two cars were entered the #18 AMR1/01 for Redman, Micheal Roe and Costas Los while the #19 AMR/03 was driven by Leslie, Ray Mallock and David Sears.

Aston Martin (Callaway) RDP87, Le Mans

Despite circulating in a wall of noise equal to anything heard in the NASCAR Sprint Cup the AMR1’s were short on horsepower and overweight the #18 qualified 32nd while the #19 could only qualify 40th. The #19, seen at Arnage below, eventually retired with electrical issues early on the Sunday morning of the race while the #18 soldiered round to an 11th place finish.

Aston Martin AMR1, Le Mans

In the next race, at Brands Hatch, Redman and Leslie scored the teams best result a 4th place finish. Aston Martin finished the season 6th behind Mercedes-Benz, two private Porsche teams, Jaguar and Nissan but ahead of the factory Toyota team.

During the course of 1989 Bernie Ecclestone convinced the FIA that the future of Sports Car racing lay with 3.5 litre engine rules as required in Formula One from 1991. Aston Martin had no choice but to withdraw at the end of 1989 as they had no suitable engine and Ford had given the nod to Jaguar to use it’s own Ford Cosowrth HB V8 Formula One engine, and running the unfinished Aston Martin AMR2 for a year made no sense.

My thanks to fausto at The Nostalgia Forum for finding the link to the AMR2 wind tunnel models.

Thanks for joining me on this “Wall Of Noise 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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The English Ford Line – Lotus 28 #17

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I first featured a Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Lotus Type 28, just over a year ago and believe the model is worth a second look today because the car featured here is thought to be the 17th of 1000 that were originally scheduled to be built.

Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Race Retro

Furthermore this car registered ‘166 RUR’ is the first, of a team of twelve works Team Lotus racers, that was built in 1963.

Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Race Retro

“166 RUR’s” racing career started at Oulton Park on the 20th September 1963 with inaugural, 1958, British Saloon Car Champion Jack Sears at the wheel. This ‘Lotus Cortina’ along with an earlier Ford Cortina GT and Ford Galaxie helped Jack become the British Saloon Car Champion for a second time in 1963.

Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Race Retro

The week after “166 RUR’s” debut 1963 World Driver Champion Jim Clark took over the wheel at Snetterton, Jim would become the 1964 British Saloon Car Champion driving Works Lotus Cortina’s.

Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Race Retro

This cars next appearance was as a part of “The English Ford Line” team entered for the Sebring “250” on the 22nd March 1964 with Dan Gurney at the wheel. Dan came in 16th while Clark in the sister team car came home third behind Augie Pabst, driving a Galaxie, and Walt Hangsen driving a Falcon Sprint.

Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Race Retro

Dan Gurney’s 1964 presidential campaign started by Car and Driver Editor David E. Davis Jr did not get under way until May 1964, just over a month after Dan drove this car.

Ford Consul Cortina by Lotus, Race Retro

A variety of drivers continued to campaign “166 RUR” through 1964 including Sir John Whitmore winner at Pensacola, Grand Prix driver Peter Arundell, 6th at Riverside, abd towards the end of the year future TV pundit David Hobbs shared the car with Dave Clark, no relation to Jim, for a 9th place finish in the Marlboro 12 hours in Virginia.

Thanks for joining me on this “The English Ford Line” 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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