Tag Archives: Snetterton

Maserati Looks – Dargue MG Magnette

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Tom Dargue was an amateur racing driver who’s career spanned from at least 1937 when he raced a Fraser Nash BMW at Donington Park where he came second, until 1955 when he raced today’s featured car, known then as an MG TD Special, of his own design at Silverstone in the AMOC David Brown Cup a relay handicap race in which he finished 3rd overall and 1st in the Relay.

Dargue MG Magnette, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

By at least 1949 Tom appears to have switched to racing MG’s and MG powered machines racing an unspecified MG to 3rd at Goodwood in 1949 a feat repeated in 1950 when he raced one of only 7 MG NE racing models built in 1934.

Dargue MG Magnette, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

For 1951 Tom built his own car with a tube frame chassis apparently with help from well known MG Tuner and racer Bill Lester. In it’s original specification the car was fitted with a rudimentary two seater body with a signature Ferrari like chip cutter grill and cycle mudguards.

Dargue MG Magnette, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

The MG TD Special was powered by a prewar 1100cc supercharged motor, possibly a 6 cylinder similar to that found in a K3 Magnette and various parts more commonly found on MG Y types.

Dargue MG Magnette, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

Tom’s debut in the car at Goodwood in 1951 netted another 3rd place finish but in 1952 he found his way to victory lane at Snetterton and Silverstone in between many podium finishes. Success at Silverstone was repeated in 1953 and the cars final victory was in the September 1953 National Handicap race at Goodwood.

Dargue MG Magnette, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

During the winter of 1953/54 TD Special was overhauled with the super charged pre WW2 motor being replaced with a contemporary 4 cylinder MG 1500 cc / 91.5 cui XPAG motor of the type used to power the MG TF 1500.

Dargue MG Magnette, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

The original two seat cycle wing body found it’s way on to another special which Tom splashed out a rumoured £400 on the aluminium body seen on the car today which resembles a Maserati A6GCS. I would not mind betting that this body came from Williams & Pritchard who like Tom Dargue were based in North London, but that is idle speculation on my part.

Tom raced his 115 mph rebodied car still known as an MG TD Special through to 1955 but was losing ground particularly to Coventry Climax powered Lotus models.

Department of Transport records tell us the registration number came from an MG Magnette first registered on Valentines day 1935.

Current owner Chris Pamplin bought the car in 1967 and is seen driving it at last years 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend run at Gurston Down.

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

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Maserati Monday – Maserati 250F 2507/23/22

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I thought it would be fun to give the pick ups, commercial and agricultural vehicles that have been a feature of Monday’s posts and restyle the day Maserati Monday, bookend the working week with two Italian marques can’t be bad, can it ?

Of the seven World Drivers Championship era’s perhaps the most romanticised is the 3rd from 1954 to 1960 when the rules mandated 2.5 litre / 152.5 cui motors to replace the 2 litre / 122 cui Formula 2 motors that had been used to determine the 1952 and 1953 World Drivers Championships.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

If one car epitomises the era more than other then it is the Maserati 205F versions which took part in the very first and very last championship race of the era winning the first the 1954 Argentinian Grand Prix in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and being long since surpassed by the rear engined cars from Cooper and Lotus when Robert Drake soldiered away to a 13th place finish in his Joe Lubin entered 250F, 7 laps down on the winning Lotus Climax driven by Stirling Moss in the last race of the 2.5 litre era the 1960 US Grand Prix.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

Apart from the 8 World Championship Grand Prix won by 250F variants, bettered only by Mercedes Benz with nine victories, while the 250F clocked up an unequaled 23 non championship Formula One race victories in the same era.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

Most of the twenty six 250F’s built led hard racing lives and consequently have complicated histories today’s featured car #2507 is no exception having originally been bought by Gilbey Engineering for Roy Salvadori to drive in 1954. Roy one a non championship race at Snetterton with the car and scored many other podium placings before he crashed at Oulton Park which led to the car being returned to the Maserati factory for repairs.

Maserati 250F, Albuquerque, Test Day, Mallory Park

Maserati replaced the chassis of 2507 and sent it back to Gilbey Engineering an now it get’s complicated, the Gilbey car was eventually retired after Ivor Beub had raced it, but the damaged Gilbey chassis was repaired and given a new identity #2523 for the 1956 season in which Bristol’s Horace Gould drove the car in the Belgian Grand Prix and Piero Taruffi in the French, on each occasion it retired.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

In 1957 #2523 was rebodied and given a the identity #2522 and from then until 1959 it was driven by a dozen different drivers, including Taruffi, Gould, Harry Schell, Masten Gregory, Ivor Bueb, Hans Herrmann, Joakim Bonnier, Wolfgang Seidel, Carroll Shelby, Cliff Allison, Hernando da Silva Ramos and Fritz d’Orey of which Harry Schell scored the best result a second place in the non championship 1957 Grand Prix de Pau.

By 1960 #2507/23/22 had been shipped to Brazil Gino Munaron raced it at least once before selling it on, eventually the car was fitted with a Chevrolet V8 before being brought back to Europe by Colin Crabbe in 1972. The current owner, Jose Albuquerque seen enjoying the car at a Mallory Park test day a couple of years ago, acquired #2507/23/22 in 1999.

My thanks to David McKinney, Michael ‘Tuboscocca’ Catsch, John Winfield, Allan Luton and Alan Cox at the Nostalgia Forum for their patience and understanding answering my questions and not least to Tim Murray who kindly lent me a copy of David McKinney’s excellent book ‘Maserati 250F‘ which is as good as it get’s in print on the subject of these wonderful cars. New evidence is always being shed on the stories of these cars so if you know different to what is written above, please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Thanks for joining me on this “Maserati Monday” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be starting the first in a series of Bugatti blogs. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Happy Days – ‘Rush’ Snetterton Set

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A little departure from the usual Ferrari Friday blog to day but I as you will see not completely un Ferrari related. The last time I visited the former home of the 96th Bombardment Group (H) 8th USAAF was to test my 27hp 2 CV on the Snetterton Circuit in preparation for a 24 hour event in Ireland.

Snetterton

On Tuesday evening I saw a twitter post from the @RealRonHoward to go and visit the set of his current project called ‘Rush’ which is all about the relationship between off track friends and on track rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda which culminated in the tumultuous 1976 season which I have retold from Ferrari and McLaren perspectives in past blogs.

Rush Set - Snetterton

Setting off at 2am I arrived at Snetterton just after 7am to find not very much happening, I even got inadvertently got ushered into the pit area where the crew were grabbing breakfast and sorting themselves out for a tough days shooting. I then made my way to the Bombhole, a corner with a nasty dip marking the apex where I found preparations underway for several scene’s which were to represent the controversial ‘wide vehicle’ 1976 Spanish Grand Prix.

Rush Set - Snetterton

After watching the driver representing John Watson getting in and out of his car numerous times as he retired with a blown motor several cars came round together representing James Hunt in the #11 ‘wide vehicle’ McLaren M23, Jaques Laffite in the #26 Ligier JS5 and Niki Lauda in the #1 Ferrari 312 T2 on the right John Watson’s double can be seen having exited the smokey #28 Penske PC3 for the millionth time that morning.

Rush Set - Snetterton

Among my fellow extra’s I met Jess who thoughtfully brought his copy of the 1976 – 77 Autocourse Annual to make sure Ron was keeping his legendary reputation for details correct.

Rush Set - Snetterton

I was not exactly sure which, from a choice of two, style AGV helmet wore for 1976 Spanish GP,

Rush Set - Snetterton

Looking at Autocourse it was immediately clear Ron was on the button with that particular detail.

Ron Howard, Rush, Snetterton

Somewhere around mid day Ron came over to thank the by now 50 enthusiasts who had managed to come along and soon after we were invited over to the other side of the circuit to watch what was going on in the pits for the next batch of takes representing the 1976 German Grand Prix the one race of the 1976 season where I was present !

Rush Set, Snetterton

Above a shoot is prepared with Guy Edwards #25 Hesketh 308 on rain tyres with Laffites Ligier on slicks as unseen in the pit lane Niki Lauda is about to come out on slicks prior to his near fatal crash on the drying Nurburgring that would take a hefty points advantage out of Lauda’s 1976 season but still left him in with a fighting chance at the 1976 seasons finale.

Rush Set, Snetterton

Ron can be seen above in the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi Evo Camera Car that was probably the best sounding car at Snetterton on Wednesday.

Rush Set, Snetterton

Left to right the Hunt, Laffite and Lauda stand in drivers have a quick break between shoots.

Rush Set, Snetterton

As one wag amongst the enthusiasts noted the Renault Traffic took the wrong option tyres before getting chased down by Niki Lauda in the 1975 Ferrari 312 T, not sure why this car and it’s sister with Clay Regazzoni at the wheel were bereft of any sign writing or sponsors logo’s, perhaps a test session was being reenacted. The cars we saw on Wednesday were all £50,000 50 foot specials designed to look right at a distance at a fraction of the cost of insuring let alone hiring the real cars of the period, many of which still exist and indeed are still raced. Some of the real cars are and have been used for close ups and to get the sound track right.

Rush Set, Snetterton

I was curious as to why the Penske PC3 was selected and not the much sharper and race winning Penske PC4, turns out that John Watson drove the PC 3 for the nearly the entire first half of the 1976 season, another detail the legendary Ron Howard got right for the Spanish Grand Prix sequences.

I understand that Rob Austin was responsible for building the Ferrari 312 T and T2 vehicles, WGK Motorsport the McLaren M23 and Hesketh 308D vehicles and Mirage Motorsport the Ligier JS5 and Penske PC3 vehicles which I believe are powered by Rover V8 motors and were built in just 3 months.

After watching seven hours of watching the set action I reluctantly headed for home, with a renewed appreciation for all the work that goes into making a film on my favorite subject.

Thanks for joining me on this Happy Days edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Lotus Europa Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Turbo Toni – Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

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On the 22nd September 1982 Ford of Britain launched it’s replacement for the much loved conservative Ford Cortina to an unsuspecting public. Project Toni, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément, was unveiled as the Ford Sierra to a fair amount of public myrth and ridicule in the absence of much acclaim except in Ireland where the Sierra won the 1983 Semperit Irish Car of the Year award.

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Fishguard, Wales

While there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the mechanical operation of the car much of which was inherited from the final incarnation of the Ford Cortina Mk 5, the styling, which was similar to the well received US Ford Probe, had been pushed a bit too far in the quest for aerodynamic efficiency leading to nick names for the Sierra like ‘the blob’ and ‘Salesmans Spaceship’.

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Snetterton

Fortunately it was the salesmans fleet market which saved the model from sinking faster than the Edsel. The #3 above was an early leader in the 1987 Willhire 24 Hour race at Snetterton driven by Graham Scarbrough and David ‘Jess’ Yates who is standing with his back to the camera on the right.

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Brands Hatch

In the spring of 1983 Stuart Turner head of Ford Motorsport Europe devised a plan to put Ford at the top of the new Group A saloon car championships which were run nationally and internationally in Europe. Above the #6 is driven by Graham Davis at Brands Hatch.

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Donington

In the spring of 1983 Stuart Turner head of Ford Motorsport Europe devised a plan to put Ford at the top of the new Group A saloon car championships which were run nationally and internationally in Europe. Above the #24 is driven by Peter Sugden at Donington and shared with Roger ‘Willhire’ Williams in the 1989 Willhire 25 hours at Snetterton.

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Brands Hatch

Lessons learned from Roush Racing in the USA and Andy Rouse in Britain with XR4Ti racing programmes were incorporated into the suspension while a reworked Sierra 3 door body designed by Lother Pinske was developed which featured a distinctive ‘tea tray’ rear wing deemed necessary to keep the rear wheels on the ground at speeds in excess of 186 mph.

5045 Ford Sierra Cosworths were manufactured in 1986, enough to qualify for International Group A and national Group N racing, in only three colours, all with a grey interior and with the only options being central locking and or electric windows. The racers seen here were all prepared to the lower state of tune Group N spec for the national Uniroyal and Firestone production car championships.

Keith Maxted is thought to be the driver of the #32 Goodyear Sierra RS Cosworth seen at Brands Hatch on April 23rd 1989, if you know different please chime in below.

My thanks to Alan Cox & Gregor Marshall at The Nostalgia Forum for their help identifying the drivers of the four racers.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Turbo Toni’ 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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Surprising Sunday Spin – Škoda Estelle 130 L

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The Skoda name can be traced back to an Austro – Hungarian, based in what is now the Czech Republic, arms manufacturer established in 1859, the story of their involvement in the automotive dates back to 1924.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

In 1895 after a disappointingly arrogant correspondence with German cycle manufacturer Seidel and Naumann, regarding the repair of his bicycle, the Czech bookseller Václav Klement opened a cycle repair shop in Mladá Boleslav now in the Czech Republic in partnership with apprenticed locksmith Václav Laurin who had established a bicycle manufacturing business in Turnov a year earlier.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

By 1899 the Klement – Laurin had developed the Slavia motorcycle which they started exporting the following year, by 1905 they had started manufacturing 4 wheeled motor vehicles. In 1924 Klement – Laurin which by now had further diversified into trucks was taken over by Skoda.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

The Skoda Estelle 130 was introduced in 1984 as a replacement to the 120 and earlier 105 models which dated back to the 1970’s and 1960’s respectively.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

Three 130 models were originally available in the UK when the 130 series was launched here in March 1985. The 130 L and LSE 4 door models and a 2 door Rapid Coupé for which there was also an aftermarket Cabriolet conversion.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

The dated engineering led to the handling of the rear engined 58 hp 130 L being variously described as wayward, fun and even ‘like a Porsche’ meaning tail happy as ably demonstrated here at Oulton Park last year.

Skoda Estelle 130 L, Oulton Park,

Despite disparaging jokes like ‘Why does a Skoda have a heated rear screen ? To keep your hands warm when you push’ the Skoda team managed 17 class wins on the RAC Rally from the 1970’s into the 1970’s. I was not able to find out who the driver of the 1985 replica Group A model above is, one wag suggested that he had so much trouble keeping in on the road he might not want to be identified.

Skoda Estelle 130L, Snetterton

In 1986 Skoda (GB) Ltd entered the Estelle 130 L above for Bill Taylor, Andrew Woolley, Jeff Williams, Bill Hunt in the Willhire 24 hour production car race it ran absolutely faultlessly, from memory stopping only for routine driver changes and fuel, to finish fourth in class D, many laps behind the highly fancied and more powerful and Vauxhall Nova’s.

My thanks to Tony Gallagher for their his help trying to identify the driver of the first car and to Tim Murray for his help with the results for the second.

Thanks for joining me in this ‘Surprising Sunday Spin’ 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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