Tag Archives: Turbo

Intercooled IMSA GTO Racer – Porsche 934/5 930 770 0954

Two years after the introduction of the Porsche 930 street car marketed as the 911 Turbo Porsche manufactured a run of 400 Porsche 934 street cars mandated by a set of rules known as Group 4 in order that it’s customers could compete with a 550 hp race version of the 934 in 1976.

In 1977 Porsche built a further 10 white 934/5’s for it’s US customers who raced to the more liberal IMSA GTO series, aside from differences in the front and rear wheels arches and the rear wing which supplemented the tea tray spoiler the 934/5 was fitted with an intercooler which helped cool the combustion charge and raised the output to 600hp at 7000 rpm.

Porsche 934/5, Niello Serrano Concours d’Elegance

George Dyer took delivery of 934/5 #930 0954 in 1977 to supplement the non turbo charged 911 Carrera RSR which he had been racing since 1973 and co drove to victory in the 1977 Sebring 12 Hours with Brad Frisselle.

Records at RacingSportsCars.com show George raced the 934/5, which I believe to be today’s featured car, on nine occasions in 1977 with a win in the 250 mile Paul Revere race at Daytona being the cars stand out success.

Porsche 934/5, Niello Serrano Concours d’Elegance

Current owner Bruce Canepa raced #0954 once in 1978 finishing 7th at Sears Point before driving the car with Rick Mears and Monte Shelton to a third place finish in the 1979 Daytona 24 hours which seems to have been the cars final race appearance.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for arranging for me to share these photo’s of the car taken by Karl Krause at Niello Serrano Concours d’Elegance a couple of years ago.

Thanks for joining me on this “Intercooled IMSA GTO Racer” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Jaguar powered special that anticipated the arrival of the E-Type Jaguar. Don’t forget to come back now !

Coventry Dealer Car – Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1

In 1983 Peugeot launched the Gerard Welter styled 205 front engined front wheel drive hatchback that would be declared Car of the Decade by CAR magazine in 1990.

Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham,

In 1984 Peugeot built two hundred 205 Turbo 16’s with a turbocharged transverse petrol engine, using the the cast iron block of the Diesel version of the XU engine with a 16 valve cylinder head, mounted behind the passenger seat that powered all four wheels through a Citroen SM sourced gearbox.

Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham,

Having built the 200 Turbo 16’s Peugeot had a vehicle with which they could compete in the top Group B Rally class with an evolution of the car known as the 205 Turbo EVO 1, or T16 EVO 1 in the UK.

Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham,

Today’s featured 205 T16 EVO was built from factory supplied parts by the Peugeot UK dealer funded Peugeot Sport UK at their base in Coventry for Finns Mikael Sundström and co driver Voito Silander to drive in the British Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986, it was registered on the 1st of June 1985.

Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham,

Mikael’s best result in this car came in the 1986 Scottish Rally which he won from the Ford RS200 driven by Mark Lovell with co driver Roger Freeman, Mikael finished 4th in the World Championship RAC Rally at the end of the season.

Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham,

Mikael went on to win the 1986, ’87 and ’88 Finnish Rally Championships driving a Group A Mazda 323, he retired from driving Rally cars in 1992. While running his own Rally team in Finland in 2001 Mikael died unexpectedly of a heart attack aged just 43.

Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham,

206 Turbo 16’s in EVO 1 and EVO2 form would become the most successful of the Group B cars that entered Rally events from 1984 to 1986 when the class was abruptly abandoned in the interests of safety.

Peugeot 205 T16 EVO 1, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham,

The model claimed 16 World Rally Championship wins, seven for Timo Salonen partnered with Seppo Harjanne, five for Ari Vatanen and Terry Harryman, three for Juha Kankkunen and Juha Piironen and one for Frenchman Bruno Saby and Jean-François Fauchille, Peugeot also finished the 1985 and 1986 seasons as World Rally Manufacturers Champions.

King Of Africa – Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64

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In 1983 1982 World Rally Champions Audi were still the only team entering 4 wheel drive rally cars for the World Rally Championship, most teams like Lancia and Toyota still had faith that their 2 wheel drive Group B contenders were still the way forward.

Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Towards the end of 1983 Toyota entered it’s 380hp Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64 for the first time for the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland where locals Juha Kankkunen and Staffan Pettersson finished sixth and Swedes Bjorn Waldegård and Hans Thorszelius came home 10th.

Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

A couple of month’s later Bjorn and Hans won the Rallye Côte d’Ivoire on the west coast of Africa which began to cement the Celica TCT as the model was also known as the King Of Africa.

Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Bjorn and Juha would clock up five more African wins up until 1987 2 more on the Rallye Côte d’Ivoire in 1985 and 1986 and trifecta of Safari Rally victories in Kenya from 1984 to 1986, with Bjorn winning in both countries twice.

Special mention should be made of co driver Fred Gallagher who partnered Juha in 1985 and Bjorn in 1986 to win events twice !

Today’s featured TCT is painted up like Bjorn’s 1984 Safari winner registered in Cologne “K UM 210”, but is carrying different number plates.

Thanks for joining me on this “King Of Africa” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the first Japanese Car to win a Formula One Championship Grand Prix. Don’t forget to come back now !

RIP JP B – Peugeot 309 Gti Turbo Cup

Born on April 26th 1937 Jean Pierre Beltoise was part of a cohort of French drivers that emerged in the 1960’s that included Johnny Servous Gavin, Gerrard Larrousse, Henri Pescarolo and brother in law Francois Cevert.

JP B’s started racing motor cycles winning 11 national titles in three years, he raced Motor Morini, Kreider and Bultaco machines in a handful of world championship events from 1962 to 1964 finishing a best 3rd on a 50 cc Kreider in the 1964 French Grand Prix.

In 1963 Jean Pierre started racing Djet sports cars for René Bonnet. After Bonnet sold out to Matra he raced a succession of Formula 3 and Formula 2 Matra open wheelers with sufficient success that led to his Grand Prix debut in the 1966 German Grand Prix with a Formula 2 Matra in which he finished 8th overall and first in the Formula 2 class.

In 1968 JP B was contracted to drive for the French Matra Sports team but did not race a proper Formula One Spec car until the Spanish Grand Prix when he was drafted in to drive Jackie Stewart’s Cosworth powered Matra MS10 for Ken Tyrrell’s Matra International team.

At Monaco he raced the Matra V12 powered Matra MS 11 for the first time but retired with broken suspension, at the Dutch GP he finished a season high second behind Stewart.

Matra Sport withdrew form F1 at the end of 1968 to focus their efforts on getting Ken Tyrrells Matra International Team Matra MS80 cars for Jackie Stewart, JP-B was drafted in as Jackie’s team mate and again finished a season high second this time in France.

Ken Tyrrell and Matra parted way’s after winning the 1969 World Championships and Matra got it’s V12 programme back on track with JP B and Henri Pescarolo in the drivers seats JP B scored two season high thirds to Henri’s one. The following season JP B remained on the Matra team with Chris Amon but the results were disappointing.

For 1972 JP B signed to drive for BRM for which an over ambitious programme was being funded by Marlboro. At the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix Jean Pierre won his only Grand Prix generally reckoned to have been one of the more difficult races thanks to the atrocious conditions.

Note the scuff mark the BRM’s nose in the linked photo this came about after contact with Ronnie Peterson’s March which was baulking his while being lapped.

This race would be the last formula one championship win for a BRM and at the end of the season Jean Pierre won the non championship John Player victory race at Brands Hatch driving a BRM P180 which would be the last win for the BRM team.

Jean Pierre continued driving for BRM in 1973 during which he finished a season high 4th in Canada with the by now ancient BRM P160 and in 1974 during which he scored a great second place finish on the debut of the P201 in South Africa.

Out of a Formula One drive for 1975 Jean Pierre was in the running for a drive with the new Ligier team for 1976 and tested the Matra V12 powered JS5 before it was decided to hand the car over to 1975 Formula 2 champion Jacques Laffite.

Alongside his open wheel racing Jean Pierre continued racing sports cars winning races in 5 litre, 3 litre and 2 litre classes though most, seven, were wins with the 3 litre / 183 cui Matra’s which included the 1970 Tour de France sharing driving with Patrick Depailler and with FIA President Jean Todt doing the navigating.

After winning the sports car World Championship twice in 1973 and 1974 Matra withdrew from racing a Jean Pierre continued racing Ligier and Rondeau built sports cars at Le Mans, but he never improved on his career best 1969 4th place finish with Piers Courage in the endurance classic.

JP B won two French Saloon car championships driving BMW’s in 1976 and 1977 before proving his versatility, despite restricted arm movement that was the result of a sports car accident in the 1960’s, by winning the 1979 French Rallycross Championship driving an Alpine A310.

Peugeot Gti Turbo, JP Beltoise, Le Mans,

Into the 1980’s JP B continued racing Peugeot 505 Turbo’s, a V6 Talbot Tagora and in 1988 he was racing in the Peugeot 309 Gti Turbo Cup series, above Jean Pierre is seen driving the #88 309 to victory in the support race to the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Jean Pierre passed away on the 5th of January aged 77.

Condolences to his family and friends RIP JP B.

Thanks for joining me on this “RIP JP B” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting Autosport International. Don’t forget to come back now !

Summer Classics – Easter Compton

After visiting Queen Square a couple of weeks ago I popped over to Easter Compton for the Summer Classics meeting.

Volkswagen Beetle, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Representing the home of the Volkswagen, Wolfsburg (Wolfs Castle), was this 1959 Beetle.

Citroën CX 25 GTi Turbo, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Turbo’s were all the rage in the 1980’s this is a top of the range Citroen CX 25 GTi Turbo from 1985 capable of 130 mph.

Raleigh Safety Seven, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

From 1933 an air cooled twin cylinder Raleigh Safety Seven 3 wheeler, built by the manufacturer in Nottingham better known for building bicycles since 1885 as it does to the present day.

Pontiac Firebird, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

If the signage on this California Highway Patrol car is to be believed this 1997 Pontiac Firebird was converted from a drug dealers car, though I suspect that might just be a bit of PR. If you know different please do not hesitate to chip in below.

Oldsmobile Delta 88, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Delta was an upmarket trim option introduced to the Oldsmobile 88 in 1965, this Oldsmobile Delta 88 was built in 1972.

Dodge Deluxe Convertible, Summer Classics, Easter Compton Convertible, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Dodge is celebrating it’s centenary this year, this 1948 Dodge Deluxe Convertible with Fluid Drive transmission was based on a design that went back to 1940 complete with L head side valve motor. These solid Chrysler Corporation D24 cars outsold Fords in the immediate aftermath of World War 2.

Thanks for joining me on this “Summer Classics” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at another vehicle with Can Am history. Don’t for get to come back now !

Breakfast – Redhill Village Hall

Last Sunday I joined my friend Nick in his Mustang GT for a drive over to Redhill Village Hall, where a select gathering of petrolheads gathered for an excellent breakfast.

Vauxhall 30 90, Redhill Village Hall

When I first came across this 1922 Vauxhall 30/90 at an Avenue Drivers Club meeting a couple of years ago it had just had the wooden frame for it’s body panels rebuilt. The panels have been refitted but there is still some way to go with the upholstery before the restoration is complete.

Audi 200 Quattro, Redhill Village Hall

Fifteen years after becoming the first foreigner to win the Safari Rally, Hannu Mikkola repeated the feat in 1987 in one of his last appearances for Audi driving a 200 Turbo Quattro in what would be his final World Championship Rally win. The 220 hp 20 valve 5 cylinder motor above powers a car that is a stripped and stickered up to replicate the car that Hannu drove.

Jaguar XK150, Redhill Village Hall

Two days after celebrating its 56th Anniversary since it’s registration for use on British roads was this 1958 Jaguar XK150.

Ford Consul, Redhill Village Hall

Bristling with extra’s including sun visor, rear view mirrors and a hand operated spot light was this 1959 Ford Consul.

Austin Allegro, Redhill Village Hall

One of the design criteria for the Austin Allegro was that the styling should eschew mainstream trends and so British Leyland reinvented the steering wheel, it’s quartic wheel afforded the driver extra leg room. While many laughed at this feature at the time perversely it foresaw, by several decades, the arrival of the modern open wheel competition steering wheel.

Ford V8 Deluxe Fordor Sedan, Redhill Village Hall

Finally this Ford embossed tailpipe appeared on a 1938 Ford V8 Deluxe Fordor Sedan.

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

Worlds Best Handling FWD – Lotus M100 Elan SE Turbo

When General Motors acquired Lotus Cars in 1986 it committed to investing £35m / US$55m in to a new affordable car that was to be built on the reputation of the Lotus Elan which was discontinued in 1973.

Lotus M100 Elan SE Turbo, Classic Sports Car and Action Day, Castle Combe

Unlike the original rear wheel drive Elan the new Peter Stevens designed M100 Elan featured front wheel drive, and was powered by a development of an Isuzu motor that produced 130 horsepower in normally aspirated form and 162 hp in SE Turbo form.

Lotus M100 Elan SE Turbo, Classic Sports Car and Action Day, Castle Combe

The rest to 60 mph time of 6.5 seconds and top speed of 137 mph was matched by the handling described by some sources as ‘the finest front wheel drive car bar none’.

Lotus M100 Elan SE Turbo, Classic Sports Car and Action Day, Castle Combe

Unfortunately as the Lotus M100 Elan came to market in 1989 Europe and the USA were entering a recession and Mazda had already flooded the market with it’s retro ‘Elan’ the MX5/Eunos/Mita series and so Lotus ended up selling just 3,855 M100 Elan’s between Nov 1989 and July 1992.

Lotus M100 Elan SE Turbo, Classic Sports Car and Action Day, Castle Combe

Second series of 800 155 hp Elan’s were built between June 1994 and and July 1995 featuring mandatory catalytic converters and slightly longer and heavier body work to accommodate the latest US spec safety features including airbags.

Lotus M100 Elan SE Turbo, Classic Sports Car and Action Day, Castle Combe

General Motors had sold it’s interest in Lotus to Bugatti by this stage and the new Lotus owners did a deal with Kia Motors to license the manufacture of an updated Kia Elan complete with a Kia sourced power unit. Kia wound up production of it’s M100 Elan in 1999.

Today’s featured M100 Elan SE Turbo seen at last years Classic Sports Car Action Day at Castle Combe was built in 1991.

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