Tag Archives: Speed

Nimble Lightweight – Renault Type K

After giving a demonstration to a friend of his father on the 24th of December 1898 aspiring engineer Louis Renault sold his first 1hp Voiturette and founded Société Renault Frères with his brothers Marcel and Fernand who were experienced at running their fathers textile business.

Renault Type K, Eric Leroux, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Like many competitors Renault recognised the win on Sunday sell on Monday benefits of competing in the popular City to City races of the age and both Louis and Marcel would prove their companies products in such events.

Renault Type K, Eric Leroux, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Renault has recently recreated the nimble lightweight, 600 kg / 1322 lbs, Type K featured today as a tribute to the car Marcel drove in the 1902 Paris to Vienna road race in which he beat far more powerful opposition from Mercedes and Panhard to traverse the 1300 km / 800 mile often narrow steep alpine route at an average speed of 62.5 km/h / 38 mph.

Renault Type K, Eric Leroux, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Eric Leroux is seen driving the car, powered by a 30hp 5 litre / 302 cui 4 cylinder motor at last years Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “Nimble Lightweight” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some of the action at the weekends “Oulton Park Gold Cup”. Don’t forget to come back now !

Spoiler Homologation Special – AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue Edition

The AMC Javelin was AMC’s iron in the Pony Car fire to compete against the Mustang, Cougar, Camaro, Firebird and the last entries into the Pony market segment the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda on offer from the big three in Detroit, it was styled and developed by Richard A Teague and launched in 1968.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Short of resources the Javelin was developed from the 1966 AMX and AMX II concept cars and only offered with the two door semi fast back body style powered by one of three engine options all of which could be specified to burn either regular octane or premium octane fuel.

02AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue_8516sc

Despite not having a competition department, any technical support, performance parts or even a test facility of any kind AMC approached Ron Kaplan and Jim Jeffords of Kaplan Engineering to run two Javelins in the SCCA Trans Am series, in 1968.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

The team with drivers George Follmer and Peter Revson who got replaced half way through the season by Lothar Motschenbacher finished a commendable 3rd with an enviable record for getting their cars to the finish.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Kaplan ran the team again in 1969 with Ron Grable and John Martin who like Revson was replaced mid season by Jerry Grant, things between AMC were not so smooth second time round which was compounded by budget cuts that saw Kaplan take all of AMC’s inventory from their workshop to AMC’s zone office in El Segundo, California at the end of the season.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

AMC did a deal with Roger Penske for the 1970 season who with the aid of Mark Donohue picked up the pieces and developed them in Pennsylvania into a more competitive package.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

In order to run with the duck tail spoiler Mark had developed for the Trans Am race programme AMC built 2,501 Javelin SST Mark Donohue Editions that included the spoiler, a 5.9 litre / 360 cui motor and a variety of other options that makes these cars easy to replicate and difficult to verify in the absence of a specific vehicle identification code.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Mark was joined by Peter Revson and the team finished 2nd to Bud Moore’s Ford team in the 1970 Championship, before going on to win both the 1971 and ’72 Trans Am championships with the second generation Javelin.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Today’s featured 1970 Mark Donohue edition belongs to Klass Van Dijk who was so impressed with a 1974 AMC Gremlin he bought in the 1990’s that he founded the Rambler AMC Museum in Berlikum, Holland which now houses more than 50 AMC’s, a small collection of Chevrolet Corvair’s of the type his father drove and an eclectic mix of other vehicles.

Thanks for joining me on this “Spoiler Homologation Special” 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 !

Ferrari Sports Car Racers – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Today’s post will be looking at some of the Ferrari Sports Racers at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed some of which will be familiar and others not.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Former British Hill Climb champion David Franklin was celebrating his first fifty years in motorsports driving Arnold Meiers svelt 1969 Ferrari 312 P Coupé chassis #0872 with which I first became familiar on my first visit to Goodwood in 2009.

Ferrari 512 M, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

I have seen Nathan Kinch’s Ferrari 512 M #1030 once before at Silverstone Classsic, but have yet to write about it, maybe next year.

Ferrari 712, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Perhaps the ultimate variation of the Ferrari 512 S is Paul Knapfield’s chassis #1010 which was fitted with a 7 litre / 427 cui V12 and open spyder body work for Jean Pierre Jarier to drive in a couple of Can Am races in 1972.

Ferrari 250MM, Holly Mason Franchitti, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

In 2012 Anette Mason had the privilege of driving the 1.2.3 liveried Ferrari 250 MM chassis #0353 MM (# 0239 EU) her daughter Holly Mason Franchitti had the honour this year…

Ferrari BB 512, Anette Mason, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

… while Mum was kept busy driving the period correct British Racing Green 512 BB previously owned and raced by her husband’s former band management EMKA and raced by former band manager Steve O’Rourke.

Ferrari 458 GT3, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Finally I believe the f.f. Course Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 above is or has been raced in British GT and or Britcar championship events, though I have yet to pin down it’s precise history or who was driving the car at Goodwood, if you can help please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ferrari Sports Car Racers” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Formula Jr open wheel racer. Don’t forget to come back now !

Déesse Of The Sky – Citroën DS19

When Citroën put their minds to replacing the Traction Avant which had been in production since 1934 they wanted a car that would be equally revolutionary and innovative setting new standards in style, comfort and safety.

Citroën DS19, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni and the French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre took care of the styling and engineering while Paul Magès took care of the hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension that could be adjusted to ride height.

Citroën DS19, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Additionally the DS featured a single spoke steering wheel, lightweight fiber glass roof to keep the center of gravity down, semi automatic transmission requiring no clutch and was the first mass production car to be fitted with disc brakes.

Citroën DS19, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

It was originally intended to scale up the aircooled flat 2 cylinder 2CV motor into a flat six motor for the DS, but when the development costs could no longer be met the 1,911 cc (116.6 cu in) in line four from the Traction Avant was upgraded with an aluminium hemi cylinder head that bumped the horsepower up from 60hp to 75 hp and mounted behind the gearbox which drives the front wheels.

Citroën DS19, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The DS pronounced “Déesse” in French double meaning “goddess” was received with tremendous enthusiasm, which translated into 12,000 orders on the 5th of October 1955 the day it was launched at the Paris Motor Show and was described by structuralist philosopher Roland Barthes as looking as thought it had “fallen from the sky”.

The DS19 seen above at Goodwood Festival of Speed was built in 1957.

Thanks for joining me on this “Déesse Of The Sky” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting Goodwood Festival of Speed. Don’t forget to come back now !

166 mph From 79 cui – Alpine M65 #1719

In 1963 Alpine started building a series of Renault powered and sponsored prototype race cars that included the M63, M64 and two 1965 M65 prototype racers.

One Len Terry designed M65 chassis, #1718 was powered by a 1149 cc / 70 cui Renault engine and the other today’s featured chassis #1719 was by a 1296 cc / 79 cui engine from the same source.

Alpine M65, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

#1719’s known history covers just eight events in 1965 and 1966 starting with the Le Mans Test weekend in April 1965 when Mauro Bianchi, Roger Delageneste, Jean Vinatier, Roger Masson and Jean-Pierre Hanrioud all took turns at the wheel and recorded 15th best time overall, fastest in the 79 cui class.

#1718 was taken to the 1965 Targa Florio for Mauro Bianchi and Henri Grandsire to drive but they failed to finish after the car was fire damaged as the result of an accident.

Alpine M65, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Mauro and Henri were entrusted with #1719 for the 1965 Le Mans 24 hours where they qualified 33rd with a time of 4m 20 seconds but retired with gearbox failure after completing just 32 laps.

Mauro was then joined by brother Lucien Bianchi for the 500kms race at the Nurburgring which was restricted to vehicles with engines no larger than 1.3 litres / 79 cui and they won the event.

Alpine M65, Portron/Frankowski, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

At the 1965 Albi GP Mauro drove to a 3rd place finish solo before the car was renamed an Alpine A210 for the 1966 season.

Mauro and Henri Grandsire retired from the 1000km race at Monza with a recalcitrant 1.3 litre / 79 cui engine.

Alpine M65, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

At Le Mans the car was fitted with a 1 litre / 61 cui motor and was driven by André de Cortanze and Jean-Pierre Hanrioud who completed 118 laps before the water pump failed.

#1719’s final appearance was at the 1967 Nurburgring 500kms where Roger Delageneste won the prototype class, but finished second to the similar capacity Abarth 1300 OT of Ernst Furtmayr which was running in the Sports Car class.

At Le Mans in 1965 #1719, seen in these photo’s at Goodwood Festival of Speed last year where Hughes Portron and Piotr Frankowski shared the driving, with just 130 hp recorded a top speed of 268 kph / 166 mph.

Thanks for joining me on this “166 mph From 79 cui” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be returning to Hullavington. Don’t forget to come back now !

13 Unlucky For Some – Jaguar XJ13

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Using techniques learned at Bristol Aeroplane Company, Malcom Slayer, who designed the C-Type, D-Type, and E-Type Jaguars, was also responsible for XJ 13 prototype Le Mans racer in 1965.

Jaguar XJ13, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Unfortunately as Jaguar were in financial difficulties at the time of it’s conception, late in 1966 Jaguar merged with BMC which eventually came under government control in 1975, putting racing ever further down the list of priorities. As a consequence the XJ 13 project never received the attention required to develop it into a vehicle capable of contending with either the brutally functional Ford GT 40 or the gorgeous Ferrari 275LM’s and P2’s.

Jaguar XJ13, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The XJ 13 was powered by an all aluminium 5 litre / 305 cui V12, essentially two XK straight sixes using a common crankshaft, with double over head cams and this unique car was both the first mid engined Jaguar, the next was not to appear until the XJR6 race car in 1985, and the first V12, the next being the Series 3 E Type V12 of 1971.

Jaguar XJ13, Goodwood Festival of Speed

On the 21st January 1971 while filming, for publicity of the Series 3 E – Type V12, this vehicle was nearly destroyed, with out harm to the driver Norman Dewis, when a magnesium wheel disintegrated on the banked MIRA test circuit in England.

Jaguar XJ13, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The car was rebuilt at a cost of £1000 / $ 1600 in 1973 with much wider wheels and tyres than the original specification and officially shown to a surprised public for the first time later the same year.

Thanks for joining me on this “13 Unlucky For Some” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at another Jaguar with a Le Mans story to tell. Don’t forget to come back now !

Hawkeye Special – Bentley 3/8 litre #477

Of the proper, UK definition, Vintage vehicles built between 1919 and 1930 few hold the beholders gaze and ooze presence like an open tourer Bentley, today’s featured car the “Hawkeye Special” is the first of four Bentley specials I’ll be featuring on Sunday’s in January.

Bentley 3/8 Litre, Hawkeye Special, Dana Point, C d'E

This particular car, a Red Label Speed model was built in 1924 with a 70 hp four cylinder, four valve per cylinder, 3 litre / 183 cui motor and first registered to a customer in Rochdale near Manchester on the 4th of June the same year.

Bentley 3/8 Litre, Hawkeye Special, Dana Point, C d'E

Records show #477 was fitted with a 24 valve six cylinder 6 1/2 litre 140 hp motor, upgrading to the latest motor’s was common for any number of Bentley’s of this period.

Bentley 3/8 Litre, Hawkeye Special, Dana Point, C d'E

In the early-1970s renowned Bentley builder John Guppy and Hawkeye “The Flying Swede” Wijkander upgraded the car with an 8 litre / 488 cui six cylinder motor, #TW2702 of the type that was launched prior to Bentley’s financial collapse in 1931. The original 8 litre motors were said to produce 220 hp the one on the Hawkeye Special is said to produce over 400 hp.

Bentley 3/8 Litre, Hawkeye Special, Dana Point, C d'E

Guppy and Wijkander were responsible for the 2 seat coach work carried by #477, giving it the presence of a pit bull on steroids, as seen in these photo’s taken a couple of years ago by Geoffrey Horton at Dana Point Concours d’Elegance.

Bentley 3/8 Litre, Hawkeye Special, Dana Point, C d'E

The huge motor allowed the drivers of the original two ton Bentley 8 litre models to drive at walking pace in top gear and then accelerate rate smoothly to a top speed of above today’s highway speed limits without effort.

Bentley 3/8 Litre, Hawkeye Special, Dana Point, C d'E

The Hawkeye Special #477 was sold by RM Auctions for US$671,000 in August 2012.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Hawkeye Special” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Protect-O-Top from Santa Clara CA. Don’t forget to come back now !

Brighton Speed Trials Under Threat of Permanent Cancellation !

In their infinite wisdom, Brighton & Hove City Council are seeking to ban the Brighton Speed Trials from 2014.

If you care about speed and or motorsport history, please sign this linked petition to save Brighton Speed Trials in 2014 and beyond.

It’s a faf to Register before signing, but relatively painless compared to loosing the event which has been run with few interruptions since 1905.

You do not need to be resident in Brighton or even the UK to sign.

More on Brighton Speed Trials on this link.

Thanks and please spread the word through whatever social media you have at your disposal.