Tag Archives: Silverstone

Look A Like TRC – Ferrari 250 GT/E #4873

Today’s featured car started life as a right hand drive 1963 Series 3 Ferrari 250 GT/E chassis #4873 delivered to Maranello Concessionaires who sold it to a Mr H. R. V. Walkup DFC. of Highfields Motors in Derby.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Mr Walkup loaned the car to John Dalton in the 1960’s for him to race at Mallory Park with it’s original 2+2 body.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Mr Derek Welford of York appears to have commissioned R M Wilson Engineering of Leicester to fit the current vaguely TRC styled body in the 1980’s, the car is shown to have first been registered with it’s current licence plate on the 26th of January 1981.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Stuart Anderson bought the car in 1997 with 450 miles showing on the clock and kept it for 17 years before selling it to Darren Hills.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Stuart raced #4873, seen in these photographs at Silverstone Classic, primarily in the Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic series where along with many wins the car holds five Group 1 lap records.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Prior to selling the car, to race a Morgan, Stuart shared his passion for his 250 GT/E TRC by setting up the ferrari250.com website where full details of the cars history and it’s modifications can be found.

Thanks for joining me on this “Look A Like TRC” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at “Baby Bertha”. Don’t forget to come back now !

Velocity and Satisfaction – Renault velSatis

Going into the new Millennium Renault’s chief of design Patrick Le Quement attempted to redefine the prestige car in French terms and target a less conformist customer base by presenting the flagship velSatis concept at the Paris Motor show in 1998 and 2 door Avantime concept in 1999.

Renault velSatis, Silverstone,

Named after the compound concept of Velocity and Satisfaction, despite it’s minivan proportions and size, the production velSatis was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 2001.

Renault velSatis, Silverstone,

Sharing a platform with the Laguna and Espace IV Minivan the velSatis was awarded the highest 5 star EuroNCAP safety rating.

Renault velSatis, Silverstone,

The 3 litre / 183 cui 24 valve V6 dCi diesel engine was generally regarded as best suited to the cars “lounge lizard pretensions”.

Renault velSatis, Silverstone,

The cars handling was not so highly rated and it is not recorded if there were any handling improvements for the velSatis that was specially prepared for the French Presidential fleet up until 2009.

Renault velSatis, Silverstone,

In 2005 the velSatis was face lifted but there was no right hand drive example of the upgraded model built the model was discontinued in August 2009.

Renault velSatis, Silverstone,

It is believed around 1000 examples of the velSatis were imported into the UK, the 3.5 litre / 213 cui V6 powered example seen in these photographs taken at Silverstone a few years ago was registered on the 18th of November 2003.

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

Libre, Hillclimbing, Guernsey Bus – Chevron Cosworth B17C #F2-70-2

Alongside the production of nine Formula 3 Chevron B17 1 litre / 61 cui “Screamer” Formula 3 cars Chevron built 5 examples of the B17B powered by Vegatune Ford Twin Cam engines in 1598cc / 97.5 cui form for US based SCCA Formula B competitors and two B17C’s one with a 1598 cc / 91.5 cui Cosworth FVA engine to compete in Formula 2 and the other today’s featured chassis #F2-70-2 which was originally supplied to compete in Formula Libre events.

Chevron Cosworth B17C, Silverstone Classic, Press Day

Steve Thompson had the car fitted with a 1790 cc / 109.2 cui Cosworth FVC engine and is believed to have won at least 14 Formula Libre races with the car in 1970. The ownership trail then includes Frank Mumford and Alex Seldon, the latter is believed to have fitted the car with a 2 litre / 122 cui BDA in 1972, but neither owner is known to have competed with the car.

Chevron Cosworth B17C, Martin Bullock, Silverstone Classic, Press Day

In November 1972 Malcom Brown is believed to have raced the car at Brands Hatch and in April the following year Richard Leech drove the car in a Libre event as Castle Combe, Deryck Cook advertised the car for sale now powered by a Ford Twin Cam before Philip Sandwith in Guernsey bought it from Spencer Elton in Wiltshire.

Chevron Cosworth B17C, Martin Bullock, Silverstone Classic, Press Day

Philip competed in hill climb events from 1975 to 1978 with #F2-70-2 now fitted with a Holbay twin cam engine that helped him secure numerous class records, Guernsey Bus garage manager Mike le Cras ran the car at the Le Val des Terres hill climb in St Peter Port Guernsey in 1983.

Chevron Cosworth B17C, Martin Bullock, Silverstone Classic, Press Day

The ownership trail then leads to Australian Martin Bullock who is seen driving the car in these photographs at the Silverstone Classic press day in 2013, with a 1967 – 1971 Formula 2 spec Cosworth FVA fitted. More details on this car can be found on Allen Brown’s Old Racing Cars.com website.

Thanks for joining me on this “Libre, Hillclimbing, Guernsey Bus” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be revisiting Nottingham circa 1985. Don’t forget to come back now !

When Forty Four Equaled Fifty – Chevron B8 #CH-DBE-78

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1967 had been a busy year for Chevron with the production of the one off BMW powered B4 GT , one off BRM V8 powered B5 GT, a run of 7 B6 GT’s six with BMW motors and one with a Ford Twin cam and the companies first open wheeler B7 Formula 3 car.

For 1968 Chevron really stepped it up producing six different models and 59 cars in total, by for the most numerous with 44 examples built was the B8 GT which differed only in detail from the B3. B4, B5 and B6 models and were mostly powered by the 2 litre / 122 cui BMW 4 cylinder engine with a few being powered by the Cosworth FVA and FVC motors and a couple with Climax engines of varying sizes.

Chevron B8, Andrew Newall, Silverstone Classic

In order to comply with the Group 4 category in international events series production of the B8 should have run to a minimum of fifty units however in order to make up the short fall Derek Bennett managed to get away with renumbering and counting rebuilt cars as new vehicles, succeeding where Enzo Ferrari failed with the 250LM some years earlier, hence the chassis numbers for the B8 GT’s run way beyond the 44 chassis actually built brand new and tracing their exact histories is far from straight forward.

In October 1945 Joseph Cyril Bamford founded the company with which his initials have become synonymous in a small lock up with a prototype electric welder, some scrap steel and some surplus jeep axles which he fashioned in to a trailer that sold for a handsome profit, 3 years later he introduced the first hydraulic tipping trailer to the European market and in 1951 he painted his products a shade of yellow which has also long since become synonymous with JCB.

Chevron B8, Andrew Newall, Silverstone Classic

With the introduction of JCB’s backhoe trailer and “hydra digga” JCB established themselves with must have equipment for every self respecting farming and building contractor with earth moving requirements, by 1968 JCB were sponsoring an MGB driven by Peter Brown and Tony Fall in continental events as part of their marketing strategy.

For 1969 Peter graduated into the 2 litre GT class using at least one Chevron B8 including today’s featured chassis #CH-DBE-78 which he is believed to have shared with Roger Enever in the Targa Florio where the pair were classified 14th despite not finishing after and accident, at Spa classified 20th, Le Mans where they retired, Zeltweg recording a 13th place finish, before rounding out the season with two retirements in Barcelona and Paris.

Chevron B8, Andrew Newall, Silverstone Classic

Peter drove a B8 in numerous other events during 1969 but at the time of writing it is by no means certain #CH-DBE-78 was the car he drove in all of them. He appears to have taken a bit of a sabatical from racing between April 1970and March 1972 when he reappeared in the JCB sponsored Ferrari 512M chassis #1030.

Andrew Newall is seen at the wheel of #CH-DBE-78 in these photographs earlier this year at Silverstone Classic during qualifying in the rain and racing in the dry.

Thanks for joining me on this “When Forty Four Equaled Fifty” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at possibly my favourate Formula 5000 car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Two Laps Down – Lola Chevrolet T400 #HU12

John Moreton qualified his #46 Perry Krinitt Lola Chevrolet T400 chassis #HU12 15th, on it’s debut, for the SCCA/USAC F5000 Championship Round at Mid Ohio run on August 10th 1975, he started and finished Heat One 8th and finished the final in 10th two laps down.

Three weeks later John qualified the same car 8th for the Atlanta Grand Prix at Road Atlanta and came home 7th again two laps down.

Lola T400, Mark Dwyer, Silverstone Classic

Over the next four weeks Krinitt Racing Ent. ditched the T400 chassis and swapped the engine, gearbox, wheels, instruments, brakes and steering rack over two a new T332 in preparation for the Long Beach Grand Prix where John qualified 17th, finished 16th in Heat One and 9th in the final again two laps down.

At Lagunna Seca John again drove the #46 T332 where he qualified 7th, finished Heat One 4th and came home 12th in the final, two laps down,
John qualified the #46 T332 10th at Riverside, finished Heat Two sixth and came home fifth in the final on the same lap as the leader.

Lola T400, Mark Dwyer, Silverstone Classic

No further racing history is recorded for today’s featured T400 chassis #HU12 until Ed Swart bought the car in 1991, after spending three years rebuilding it he raced it for six seasons before leaving it with Vin Malkie in the UK in 2002.

Ed Jowsey then raced #HU12 in 2003 until it was damaged at Snetterton, repair took over a year to complete and in 2006 the present owner Mark Dwyer bought the car and is seen at the wheel of it in these photo’s at Silverstone Classic in 2012.

My thanks to Allen Brown for confirming the spelling of “Krinitt”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Two Laps Down” 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 !

VPJ Backup – Lola Chevrolet T400 #HU7

As in 1974 1963 Indy Winner Parnelli Jones and his business partner Velko “Vel” Miletich planned to enter teams in Formula One for Mario Andretti who would compete in all rounds of the world championship, US Formula 5000 with Mario joined by Al Unser running in all rounds of the championship and a partial USAC (Champ car) season in which Al Unser would run an Eagle until the VPJ6 Champ car that was powered by the VPJ developed turbocharged Cosworth DFX was ready while Andretti ran the a VPJ Eagle in four races.

Lola T400, Silverstone Classic,

Like many others VPJ bought Lola T400’s to replace the T332’s they had run in 1974 exclusively for Mario Andretti who was beaten to the 1974 title by Brian Redman’s slightly more reliable and consistent Carl Haas entered T332.

Lola T400, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Like most other T400 customers the team felt their older T332’s were the better bet and today’s featured chassis #HU7 appears never to have been run by the VPJ team in a race.

Lola T400, Silverstone Classic,

The VPJ team’s other T400 #HU6 was only raced on one occasion by Al Unser at Mosport in Canada where he spun out and damaged the car in the heat, an incident that precluded him from starting the final.

Lola T400, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Mario driving his faithful 1974 T332 #HU29 again finished the 1975 F5000 season with the same number of wins as Championship winner Brian Redman, but a couple of failure’s to finish cost Mario a shot at the title.

Lola T400, Silverstone Classic,

John Delane appears to have been the first person to have raced #HU7 after he acquired it in 1990 in 1998 the car was sold on and ended up with current owner Frank Lyons in 2007.

Lola T400, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Michael and his mother Judy Lyons have both raced #HU7 which is seen in these photographs in the Paddock at Silverstone Classic in 2013 an at Oulton Park with Michael at the wheel in 2011 and 2013.

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

Rising Rate Improvements – Lola T400 #HU5

After the successes of the Lola T332 model which was driven to to two Formula 5000 Championshp victories in the United States by Brian Redman, in the UK by Bob Evans, in Australia with Max Stewart in a year old T330 and loosing only the Tasman Series to Peter Gethin’s Chevron B24 and the New Zealand Series to David Oxton in the Begg FM5 in 1974, Lola looked to be the manufacturer to go with in 1975.

The Lola T400 was designed with superior aerodynamics and rising rate suspension to the previous years T332 for the 1975 Formula F5000 season.

01 Lola T400_8734sc

That at least was the theory although when customers like Richard Oaten Racing, van der Straten (VDS) and McKechnie Racing Organisation took delivery of theirs they found the rising rate suspension, designed to get stiffer the more the suspension traveled, was not so easy to set up, because they did not realise that the spring rates originally chosen were not stiff enough, infact the opposite they thought the spring rates were too hard and made the handling worse by attempting to rectify the problem with softer springs that reduced the contact patch of particularly the rear tyres with the road even further.

Despite being invoiced for today’s featured T400 chassis #HU5 on February 17th 1975 Richard Oaten Racing’s driver Ian Ashley started the first two races of the 1975, British based, European Formula 5000 championship driving the two year old Lola T330 chassis #HU17.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Lance Robinson, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

Ian won with the 2 year old car at Brands Hatch from 4th on the grid and crashed out at Oulton Park, not for the last time, on the opening lap again from fourth on the grid.

Two weeks later back Brands with the T330 not repaired sufficiently after it’s accident at Oulton Park Ian had little option but to drive today’s featured T400 #HU5 from the back of the grid to 7th in a race noted for being the first to be won by David Purley in his one off Chevron B30 powered by the 3.4 litre Ford GAA V6.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

By Silverstone the Oaten T330 had been repaired with much new metal in the form of a new T332 tub fitted with T330 suspension and a mixture of T330, T332 and T400 body work with which Ian qualified 2nd and finished 5th in a race that became notorious when the good old Auntie British Broadcasting Corporation refused to televise it because of the presence of Richard Scotts T400 #HU8 which was sponsored by prophylactic brand Durex. Richard won the race in #HU8 after it had been fitted with the older type T332 suspension after future Williams design guru Patrick Head was consulted about the T400 handling issues.

Ian’s second and final public appearance in #HU5 was at Zolder after gearbox damage to the repaired T330/332 #HU17 forced Ian in to the T400 with which he qualified 5th behind 3 other T400’s and was classified 2nd behind the van der Straten VDS T400 chassis #HU4 driven by Peter Gethin.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

#HU5 is then said to have been abandoned as uncompetitive before the next race at Zandvoort where Ian returned to the wheel the T330 HU17 and retired with a broken big end on lap 3 after starting from pole.

The T400’s of Peter Gethin in the VDS #HU4 his team mate Teddy Pelitte in the VDS #HU11 and Richard Scott in the McKechnie Racing Durex sponsored chassis #HU8 finished that race in the top three showing uncompetitiveness was not an issue for the new T400 model once fitted with the modifications first seen on Richards #HU8 at Silverstone.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

Ian driving the repaired T330/T332 beat Teddy Pilette’s VDS T400 at Thruxton, but did not feature in the top three again while Teddy Pilette driving his VDS T400 went on to win four of the remaining nine races on his way to securing the 1975 European F5000 Championship.

As I understand it Ian latter crashed #HU5 in testing and at the end of the season Lola rebuilt it to the same specification as Teddy Pilette’s championship winning VDS car before it was shipped to the United States where it remained until 2008.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

Canadian Hamish Somerville drove #HU5 in New Zealand in 2011 and the car is seen above with former Prosport LM3000 driver Lance Robinson at the wheel during a Silverstone Classic Press Day.

#HU5 is currently nearing completion after a rebuild necessitated by the accident Lance had in the car during testing on the day before 2013 Silverstone Classic meeting according to Kevin McLurg.

My thanks to Kevin McLurg of Facebook, Ray Bell, Lee Nicole, kingswood, Tim Murray, Allen Brown, Mallory Dan and MCS at The Nostalgia Forum for their help

Thanks for joining me on this “Rising Rate Improvements” 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.