Tag Archives: VSCC

Bean Radiator – Th Schneider Hall Scott Special

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Théodore Schneider, also known as Théophile, became involved in the manufacture of Rochet-Schneider motor cars, sold with the strap line “strength, simplicity and silence”, with Edouard Rochet in Lyon, France in 1894.

Th Schneider Hall Scott Special, Nicolas Hildyard, VSCC Prescott,

By 1907 Rochet Schneider was liquidated though Rochet Schneider production appears to have restarted after World War 1 and continued until the company was bought by Berliet in 1932, meanwhile in 1910 Schneider founded Société anonyme des automobiles Th Schneider.

Th Schneider Hall Scott Special, Nicolas Hildyard, VSCC Prescott,

Th Schneider produced a range of vehicles, including racing cars that participated in the 1913 Grand Prix de l’A.C.F. at Amiens and French Grand Prix at Le Mans the same year, at their Besançon, France facilities until 1930 by which time the company had been declared bankrupt twice in 1921 and 1929.

Th Schneider Hall Scott Special, Nicolas Hildyard, VSCC Prescott,

William Hildyard’s 1910 example, seen driven by Nicolas Hildyard at Prescott in these photographs, appears to have been fitted with a 1913 100hp 10 litre / 610 cui 4 cylinder Hall Scott A7 Aero engine in the early 1980’s, note this car is fitted with a Bean radiator which has replaced the Schneider unit which was typically mounted behind the engine and in front of the drivers dash originally.

Th Schneider Hall Scott Special, Nicolas Hildyard, VSCC Prescott,

Built in Berkley, California the Hall Scott A7 had a reputation for catching fire when in use, whether this alone was responsible for; the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company to swap over from manufacturing Scott Dayton A7 powered Aeromarine 39A’s to Curtiss OX5 powered Aeromarine 39B, for the manufacture of just two Scott Dayton powered Dayton Wright FS trainers, or for many grounded Scott Dayton powered Standard J1 trainers to be converted to Curtiss OX5 V8 power, is not recorded.

Thanks for joining me on this “Bean Radiator” edition of “Gettin’ A Little Psycho On Tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking back at some highlights from recent Silverstone Classic meetings. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Swiss American Special – Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Special

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Piccard-Pictet et Cie, based in Charmilles, near Geneva Switzerland a hydraulic engineering company,, specialising in turbines, when they were commissioned to build a vehicle for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup by Frederic and Charles Dufaux.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, VSCC Prescott,

The car never appeared in the Gordon Bennett Cup, but that did not stop Societe des Automobiles a Geneve approchiing Piccard-Pictet the following year with a view to building Hispano Suiza’s under licence.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, VSCC Prescott,

Soon SAG as the cars were known in Switzerland or Pic Pic as the cars became known in the UK were being built to their own design, the 1913 example seen in these photographs is fitted with a plate on the dash which suggests the car was supplied to “Agence Des Grandes Marques C Mathaud” in Paris.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, VSCC Prescott,

This particular vehicle is fitted with a 1918 9 litre / 552 cui Sturtevant V8 aero engine built by the B.F. Sturtevant Company of Hyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, Geoff Smith, VSCC Prescott,

It would appear Sturtevant built V8’s with L heads or open valves, like the one seen here, simultaneously and both produced around 140hp.

Piccard Pictet Sturtevant Spl, Geoff Smith, VSCC Prescott,

Owner Geoff Smith is seen driving the car in a VSCC meeting held at Prescott.

Thanks for joining me for this Aero Engined Pic Pic edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for a Classic Silver Jubilee Preview edition tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Nuova Balilla – FIAT 508C

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The FIAT 508C replaced the earlier 508, 508S and 508B models in 1937, 508C’s are also variously known as Nuova Balilla’s and 1100 in deference to their 1089 cc / 66 cui motor 4 cylinder motors producing 30 hp in standard spec and 40 hp in sporting CMM spec.

FIAT 508C, Cyril Hancock, VSCC Loton Park,

The FIAT 500 Topolino like styling of the 508C is credited to Dante Giacosa who was responsible for styling both models.

Modestly priced with independent front suspension and four speed gearbox the 508C was considered both a peoples car and a drivers car.

Cyril Hancock’s example seen above at Loton Park is a 1938 model first registered in the UK on March 3rd 1938.

With minor restyling and the 1100B name more popularly known as the “big nose” or ‘1100 musone’ in Italian production continued until the outbreak of hostilities.

Production of the 508C resumed after the ’39-’45 hostilities, with further modifications, in 1949. The post war model became the 1100E which remained in production until 1953.

Thanks for joining me on this “Nuova Balilla” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Safari Rally Lancia. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Genoese Revolt – FIAT 508S Balilla Spider Sport

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Motor cars were over 100 years from becoming an everyday form of transport when a Genovese boy, Giovanni Battista Perasso, threw a stone, or stones, at an Austrian officer of the military occupation and kicked off the Genoese revolt against the Austrians in 1746.

Subsequently Giovanni’s nickname ‘Balilla’ was used for a Milanese Tractor, by the Italian Royal Navy for a class of Submarine, Ansaldo used the name for Italy’s only WW1 fighter aircraft to go into production the 1917 Ansaldo A1 and by FIAT for their 508 range of cars built between 1932 and 1937.

FIAT 508S Balilla, VSCC Loton Park,

A team working under Tranquillo Zerbi director of FIAT’s Technical Department designed the Balilla to incorporate some of the qualities of high end automobiles, like crank handle operated side window’s, into a vehicle with a modest price.

The original 508 was fitted with a side valve 1 litre / 61 cui 4 cylinder motor that produced 20 hp enough for the Balilla to reach 50 mph.

FIAT 508S Balilla, VSCC Loton Park,

In 1933 the 508S was fitted with an upgraded motor that produced up to 30hp that was later increased to 36hp with the aid of an overhead valve head.

Production of the Balilla ceased in 1937 and the model was replaced by the FIAT 508C Nuova Balilla 1100.

FIAT 508S Balilla, Patten, VSCC Loton Park,

Balilla’s were built at FIAT’s facility in Lingotto in Italy with six different body styles; Belina 2 door 4 seat saloon / sedan, 2 seat cabriolet Spider, 4 door 4 seat Torpedo of which ironically a special version was built for Italian Military operations in occupied area’s of North Africa, Spider Sport with styling by Ghia, Coupé and Van.

Assembly of some Balilla variants including the Spider Sport was further facilitated at Walter Motors in Czechoslovakia, Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe in Poland, NSU-Fiat in Germany and Simca-Fiat in France.

Dr Dick Patten’s 1934 Spider Sport bodied Ballila, seen in these photographs at Loton Park, is listed as having a 1089 cc / 66 cui motor which presumably was sourced from a later post 1937 FIAT 508C Nuova Balilla 1100.

Thanks for joining me on this “Genoese Revolt” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at a competition Hillman Imp. Don’t forget to come back now.

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Style De Hot Rod – De Dion Bouton Curtiss

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Parisian engineers Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux were scraping a living making toy steam trains when they managed to convince wealthy patron the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion to join them in founding a company to build steam powered automobiles in 1881.

de Dion Bouton Curtiss

After a false start with a front wheel drive rear wheel steered steam car their second more conventional effort with front wheel steer and rear wheel drive known as the Marquis de Dion was the only entrant, competitor and finisher in the worlds first organised competition for motor vehicles in 1887.

By 1900 De Dion had started making petrol powered motor vehicles and with over 400 units made per year the company was the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world.

By 1912 De Dion had not peaked in terms of numbers of vehicles built and was building the first range of mass produced V8 motors from 3.5 litres 215 cui to 14.7 litres / 897 cui.

I believe Leslie Murray’s De Dion Bouton, described as “A bit hot rod style” by one fan, seen in this photograph was built in 1912 at least some five years before the 8.2 litre / 502 cui Curtiss OX V8 that powers it.

Thanks for joining me on this “Style De Hot Rod” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for a military parade at Queen Square, Bristol. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Chevrola – Race Retro 2015

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A couple of weeks ago I found myself at the wheel of a seventeen seat minibus full with friends and acquaintances from the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club headed for Race Retro at Stoneleigh Park.

Cooper Mk V, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

One of the racing highlights of my 2014 season was the 500cc Formula 3 race at the Autumn Classic meeting at Castle Combe the series with cars like the 1951 Cooper Mk V above, will be returning to Castle Combe on Saturday October 3rd, more dates can be found under “Circuits” on this link.

Lola T332, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Like 500cc Formula 3 the sound of old skool Formula 5000 cars is not to be missed the ex Chuck Jones 1974 Lola T332 belonging to Steve Farthing should be out at some of the HSCC events on this link follow the column DBT, for details on the seven Derek Bell Trophy events.

Chevron B1, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Chevron is celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary this year above the 1965 Chevron B1 was designed to beat the ubiquitous Lotus Seven in ‘Clubmans’ events. Current custodians of the Chevron marque Helen Bashford-Malkie & Vin Malkie announced at Race Retro that they will be working with Lola Heritage to supply parts for the rival brand which dates back to 1958.

Steady Special, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

MotorSport Magazine unveiled the recently restored Steady Special based on a 1934 V8 powered Lancia Astura modified by Ronald “Steady” Barker for VSCC competition after the ’39/’45 war.

Datsun 240Z, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

As ever there was a selection of rally cars in the shed next to the exhibition halls, while I was admiring this 1972 Datsun 240Z a chap in a wheel chair came flying over asking if it was one of the 77 “real” Samuri 240Z’s prepared by Spike Anderson of Samuri Conversions at Silvestone. I never did find out if the the car above was “real”, but it turned out that the enthusiastic chap in the wheel chair was the “real” Win Percy who drove Samuri 240Z’s and later Samuri Celica’s to many race victories back the mid 1970’s.

Leyton House CG901, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Vintage Racecar Magazine always seems to pull a cool Formula One Car out of the hat for this event and this year they brought along the 1990 Leyton House CG901 chassis #003 which Ivan Capelli drove to a season best 2nd place finish in the 1990 French Grand Prix. The car was designed by Adrian Newey who the following year helped design the 1992 World Championship winning FW14 model and most recently designed the Red Bulls with which Sebastian Vettel has won four consecutive World Championships.

Thanks for joining me on this “Chevrola” 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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Aircooled Aero Power – Amilcar CGSs

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The chassis for today’s featured Amilcar CGSs was built in 1926, it was probably supplied with a 35hp 1,074 cc / 65 cui 4-cylinder engine.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

It would appear that some where prior to September 2012 owner David Baker acquired a 2,986 cc / 182 cui aircooled Glode Dayton aero engine and had it fitted to the Amilcar CGSs he is seen driving at Prescott in these photographs.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

The 50hp aircooled Globe Dayton was built in Dayton Ohio in 1930. It uses a number of proprietary parts including a Ford Model A crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons, 1928 Nash rocker arms and was equiped with either a Ford A or an aero carburetor.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

It would appear that there are only two known examples of the Globe Dayton which is also known as a Dayton Aero Four-In-Line, Globe Motors of Dayton Ohio today is better known for the production of subfractional horsepower electric motors.

Amilcar CGSs, David Baker, VSCC, Prescott,

David Baker competes with his aircooled Amilcar in VSCC events both on the track and off road.

My thanks to Onelung at H.A.M.B. for pointing me in the direction of information about the Globe Dayton Motor on the Memaerobillia site.

Thanks for joining me on this “Aircooled Aero Power – Amilcar CGSs” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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