Tag Archives: White

GP Winning Record Breaker – Delage 15 S8

In 1925 the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR), an international association of motor clubs founded in 1904, organised the first World Manufacturers’ Championship with four qualifying events, the Indianapolis 500, Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, French Grand Prix at Montlhéry and Italian Grand Prix run at Monza.

For the 1925 season Delage were running 2LCV V12 2 litre / 122 cui powered cars designed by Charles Planchon who after the cars initial failure in 1923 was replaced by Albert Lory who added twin superchargers and developed sufficiently for Robert Benoist and Louis Wagner to finish first and second in the 1925 French Grand Prix.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The inaugural World Manufacturers’ Championship was claimed by Alfa Romeo with wins for Antonio Ascari and Gastone Brilli-Peri in Belgium and Italy respectively, both driving Alfa Romeo P2’s.

For 1926 the rules for the second World Manufacturers’ Championship mandated a down size to 1500 cc / 91.5 cui engine’s for which Albert Lory designed the 170hp twin supercharged 15 S8 with a straight 8 engine and five speed gearbox.

Delage 15 S8, Brooklands Double Twelve

Bugatti won the 1926 championship, Jules Goux winning the French Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix with Louis Charavel also driving a Type 39A to victory in Italy.

A Delage 15 S8 driven by Robert Sénéchal shared with Louis Chiron won the first Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix run at Brooklands in 1926.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

For 1927 Delage entered their 15 S8 models modified to run with a single super charger in all four European rounds of the World Manufacturers’ Championship.

Delage won all four races to secure what turned out to be the last World Manufacturers’ Championship to be awarded by the AIACR.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Remarkably Robert Benoist was at the wheel of the winning car in France, Spain, Italy and finally at Brooklands, where he drove today’s featured chassis No.2 to victory lane.

By the end of 1927 Delage was virtually bankrupt and the company had to re focus it’s attention on building road cars and abandon racing in a works capacity.

Delage 15 S8, Brooklands Double Twelve

In 1936 a young Richard Seaman made a name for himslef driving a carefully rebuilt 10 year old 15 D8 to numerous victories over new models from ERA and Maserati.

Chassis No.2 seen here was bought by Malcolm Campbell in 1929 who sold it on to W B ‘Bummer’ Scott who set Class F 24 Hour World Record and 200 Mile World Records respectively at Montlhéry in 1931 and Brooklands in 1933.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Prince Chula of Siam, cousin and entrant of “B Bira” was the next owner of the car from 1936 to 1939, hoping to emulate the fortunes of Richard Seaman the White Mouse Racing attempted an ultimately unsuccessful modernisation.

Alan V Burnard acquired No.2 in 1964 and was responsible for restoring it to it’s current condition having temporarily fitted an ERA engine and ENV pre selector gearbox.

After sourcing and rebuilding a correct type 15 S8 the ERA engine was replaced but the ENV gearbox remained, Alan Burnard generously bequeathed No.2 to the Brooklands Museum, where the car is seen in the 2nd and 5th photographs, upon his death in 2012.

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

Remus – ERA R5B

Leave a Reply

In 1936 today’s featured ERA R5B which became known as Remus was added to the 1935 ERA R2B known as Romulus at the White Mouse Racing stable for the Siamese Prince Birabongse Bhanutej Bhjanubandh Bira to drive.

ERA R5B, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Like Romulus Remus was fitted with a 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui supercharged engine which remained in the car until 1979 when it was replaced by the 2 litre / 122 cui seen in the car today.

ERA R5B, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Bira’s only notable success in the car was to win the 1936 Albi Grand Prix, after being left unused in 1937 Tony Rolt bought Remus and drove her to victory in the 1939 British Empire Trophy at Donington Park after it had been modified by Freddie Dixon.

ERA R5B, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Tony and St John Ratcliffe Stewart “Jock” Horsfall both drove Remus on the Cockfosters Rally Demonstration Run on July 14th 1945 just two months after the end of hostilities in Europe.

ERA R5B, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

I F Connell briefly owned Remus in 1946 before selling her on to Peter Bell later the same year who entered her for John Bolster to race.

ERA R5B, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Murray Walker in his autobiography “Unless I am very much mistaken” tells how while commentating for BBC Radio at Silverstone for the 1949 British Grand Prix John Bolster lost Remus in a big way and deposited himself “in a bleeding mess” at the foot of his commentary box, Murray’s understated commentary to the BBC Radio audience was “Bolster’s gone off !”.

ERA R5B, Charles McCabe, Silverstone Classic,

John retired from driving there after and the repaired Remus passed through a succession of documented owners before being bought by current owner Charles McCabe who is seen at the wheel above during a Silverstone Classic meeting.

Thanks for joining me on this “Remus” 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 !

Shadows and Reflections – Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic

Leave a Reply

Today’s post features some of the more off the wall stories behind last months Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic.

Bristol MW6G, Silverstone Classic

Greeting VIP’s in the VIP car park on the Friday was this 1962 Bristol MW6G (Medium Weight originally fitted 112hp Gardiner 8.4 litre 6HLW 6 cylinder engine). Royal Blue operated out of Bournemouth from 1880 to 1986, this coach is one of at least two owned by the White Brothers in Gaydon.

Jaguar XK150, Silverstone Auctions, Silverstone Classic,

On the Thursday I attended the auction, for the first time since the 1980’s, and among the lots was this 1958 non matching numbers Jaguar XK150 in need of a little TLC which sold for a tad over £20,000 pounds, or the price of a couple of brand new Dacia’s.

Cooper Monaco, Silverstone Auctions, Silverstone Classic,

Waiting ready to race was the Cooper Monaco chassis CM/2/59, its early history is unknown to me, but more recent owners have included Frank Sytner and Bristolian Ted Williams. The Cooper was bought for just short of £220,000 by Justin Maeers who claims he only popped in to the auction for the free beer. After Charles Gillet blew the engine in his Willment Climax the following day Justin came to an agreement to enter his newly acquired Cooper in it’s place for the Stirling Moss Trophy race. Starting from the back of the grid Justin unfortunately damaged the gearbox after just two laps.

Porsche 911 RSR, Cooke, Dowd, Silverstone Classic

When the heavens seriously started to open during qualifying on Friday many of us with camera’s caught in the rain went for some reflection shots, above the Martini liveried 1974 Porsche 911 RSR of Jeremy Cooke and Mike Dowd which qualified 32nd for the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car race was probably my best effort.

Shadow DN8, Jason Wright, Silverstone Classic,

It was a pleasant surprise to see not one but two recently restored 1977 Shadow DN8’s taking part in the FIA Masters Formula One race, above Jason Wright which has a two race history at the end of 1977 when Jean Pierre Jarier replaced Ricardo Patrese at the Canadian Grand Prix and finished 9th and Ricardo finished a non runing 10th at the US GP the following week.

Bugatti T35, Duncan Pittaway, Bentley Blower, J Ernst, Silverstone Classic,

Taking time off from running his monstrous show stealing FIAT S76 was Duncan Pittaway who is seen wheeling his #13 Bugatti T35 passed the #47 Bentley Blower driven by J Ernst on his way to a 7th place finish in the Kidston Trophy for pre war cars, from 8th on the grid.

Arrows Megatron A10B, Mike Wilds, Silverstone Classic,

Demonstrating the Turbo Megatron (BMW) powered Arrows A10B was the severely underrated Mike Wilds who just made it to Formula One with the struggling Ensign team then to BRM when BRM was collapsing and since then he has been racing all manor of vehicles including a Shadow DN3, Can Am BRM, Production Saloon 16 Valve Mercedes Benz 190 and numerous Sports and Group C cars at Le Mans.

BMW 3.0 CSL, Peter Mullen, Ford Cologne Capri, Rick Wood, Silverstone Classic

Alpina, celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year, took a famous RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone in 1973 when Derek Bell and Austrian Harald Ertl driving an Alpina BMW 3.0 CSL claimed a 3 lap vicotry over solo driver Jochen Mass in a works Ford RS2600 Cologne Capri, on this occasion Ric Wood in the 1974 24 valve RS3100 Capri got the better of Peter Mullen in the Alpina BMW on their way to finishing 20th and 24th in the Super Touring Car Trophy.

Rover BRM, Silverstone Classic

Completely unannounced the Rover BRM which Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart drove to a 10th place finish in 1965 came whistling by on a demonstration lap, I have no idea who the driver was.

Bristol MW6G, White, Silverstone Classic

Finally the White brothers 1966 Hants & Dorset Bristol MV6G was on VIP duty all day on Saturday.

Thanks for joining me on this “Shadows And Reflections” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another 1975 Formula One contender. Don’t forget to come back now !

Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Farm Targa Rally

Leave a Reply

A couple of weeks ago I popped along to the Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally an event for novice rally drivers held entirely on Washingpool Farm near Easter Compton.

BMW 318is, Lukas/Bicknell, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally,

There were 29 starters after a, now, rare Polski FIAT 126 dropped out before the start of the event. Above Dan Lukas and Jason Bicknell kick up a cloud of dust on their way to a 13th place finish in their #26 E30 BMW 318is after borrowing a couple of meters of wire to rewire their fuel pump.

Subaru Justy, Solarski/Tbc, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally,

High on entertainment value was the Subaru Justy driven by Robert Solarski, who finished 9th, his co driver seemed completely unfazed after Robert gave the plastic barrier a hefty whack before stopping for the last time control.

Vauxhall Corsa, Attiwell/Emery, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Farm Targa Rally,

Classes were run for Masters, Experts and Novices then further divided above and below 1400 cc. Winners of the Experts Class for smaller cars and 15th overall despite a soft offside front tyre were David Attiwell and Kieth Emery driving their #5 Vauxhall Corsa.

Vauxhall Corsa, Sissins/Earl, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Farm, Targa Rally,

11th overall and winner of the Novices class for drivers of smaller cars were Ray Sissins and Haydon Earl driving their #110 Vauxhall Corsa.

Peugeot 205 Rallye, McLachlan/Baverstock, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally,

6th overall and winners of the Masters class for drivers of smaller cars were Richard McLachlan and Andy Baverstock in their #2 Peugeot 205 Rallye.

Citroën Saxo, Potyra/Rudzki, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally,

Winner of the Novices class for drivers of larger cars and 3rd overall were Robert Potyra and Piotr Rudzski driving the #28 Citroën Saxo.

Ford Fiesta, Lobb/White, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally,

2nd Overall and winner of the Masters class for drivers of larger cars were David Lobb and Adrian White in their #101 Ford Fiesta.

Renault Clio, Connor/Spencer, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally,

Steve Conner and Alan Spencer won the event overall with Steve at the wheel of the #6 Renault Clio.

Ford Puma, Spencer/Connor, Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Targa Rally,

Alan and Steve also took the team prize for fastest pair when Alan’s 12th place overall finish in his #106 Ford Puma was taken into account.

If the event goes ahead again next year and my daily driver is still on the road I shall give serious consideration to taking part in what was an entertaining day out.

Thanks for joining me on this “Tavern Motor Club Washingpool Farm Targa Rally” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me for a look at a Cutlass tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Classics @ Autumn Classic – Castle Combe

Leave a Reply

Today’s post looks at some of the non combatants seen at Castle Combe’s Autumn Classic meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Wolseley Hornet, Crayford, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe,

The story behind the 57 1966 Wolseley Hornet Crayford convertibles has all the makings of a great movie seeing as it involves a global baked bean brand, an exclusive deal with a company operating out of two private garages in London and a nudist colony, the rest of the details will have to wait for a future blog.

FIAT 850 Coupé, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

At my very first race meeting out in Zambia one of the more unlikely competitors drove a FIAT 850 Coupé like the 1969 example above on the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club stand.

Aston Martin DB Mk III FHC, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The 1959 Aston Martin Fixed Head Coupé with a Tickford notch body is an extremely rare vehicle, only five were ever built.

Daimler Dart SP 250, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

If I had any spare cash I’d be seriously tempted to buy this 1963 Daimler SP250 which has just 38,000 miles on the clock, if you would like to become it’s fifth owner I have the contact details of the vendor.

Humber Sceptre Estate, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Slightly out of period was this 1976 Humber Sceptre based on a design first seen in 1967. The Sceptre Estate first seen in 1974 was one of the earliest UK station wagons to feature a light in the loading area and a rear screen wiper, the Humber name disappeared under Chrysler UK’s post 1976 branding strategy.

Bristol 450, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

One car I have been waiting see first hand for some time is the sole remaining Bristol 450 belonging to Simon Draper, I believe this car finished 7th over all and first in the 2 litre class at the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours. The prize money from the teams success was donated to victims of the 1955 Le Mans disaster after the team withdrew from the sport having scored two consecutive Le Mans class victories.

Triumph Dolomite, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

A nice quiz question what is the connection between all of the vehicles in this photograph ? Answer Donald Healey who was responsible for the Austin Healey’s in the back ground and the Hudson Terraplane inspired 1937 Triumph Dolomite Saloon in the foreground.

Lotus IX, Mike Marsden, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Former Concorde wind tunnel engineer and Historic Lotus Register Lotus Mk IX registrar Mike Marsden is seen above in his 1955 Lotus Mk IX which he has owned since 1967.

Morris Mini Cooper S, Dave Foster, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Dave Foster is seen coming into the pits above in his immaculate 1965 Morris Mini Cooper S which he has driven in competition for the last decade clocking up 10,000 competition miles.

Horstman 4 Seater, Trevor Turpin, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Until the Autumn Classic I’d never heard of a Horstman, it turns out they made nearly 3,000 vehicles just down the road in Bath between 1915 and 1929. These days Horstman, which patented a torsion bar suspension system for tracked military vehicles in 1922, continues to specialise in suspensions for military vehicles. The 1923 Horstman above is believed to have belonged to the companies founder Sidney Horstmann OBE.

FIAT Isotta Fraschini, Mike Vardy, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

In 1905 FIAT drew up plans for a world land speed record car which was to have two in line four cylinder motors producing upto 200 hp. The car never got built but nearly 20 years ago Graham Rankin undertook to build the car anyway. 13 years later he sold the unfinished project complete with a WW1 surplus 250hp Isotta Fraschini 16.5 litre / 1014 cui 6 cylinder aero motor to Mike Vardy who spent another seven years completing the FIAT Isotta Fraschini. Mike appeared to have great fun hanging the tail out on some parts of the circuit during his demonstration.

White Whistling Billy, Robert Dyke, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Finally last year I saw this recreation White Sprint Car at Race Retro, this year I finally got to see Dr Robert R. Dyke driving it at speed, only 60% of the boilers potential pressure was used but it still moved at an impressive speed given that it only has 2 x twelve inch brake drums on the rear axle.

Thanks for joining me on this “Classics @ Autumn Classic” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a limited edition Hemi Challenger. Don’t forget to come back now !

VSCC Spring Start – Silverstone

1 Reply

I awoke at 3:40am on Sunday full of anticipation, the weather forecast was good, the dawn chorus was getting underway as I prepared my sandwiches and daylight was lighting up the day as I headed towards Silverstone with my friend and regular GALPOT contributor Tim.

M4, Eastbound

We took the fast route in order to get to the circuit early, meeting up with friends for breakfast in the canteen we were saddened to learn of the death of Lotus Elan driver Alan Fleming in Hockenheim the day before and that Garry White had been seriously injured driving a GN Gnome the same day at Silverstone.

Lotus 49 R8, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Tim and I took a wonder round the paddock in the morning where we were astonished to find the late 1968 Lotus 49 R8 as raced by Graham Hill, Richard Atwood, Jo Bonnier and most successfully by Dave Carlton in South Africa to two local F1 championships, form the center of a Bonhams display. The car is expected to fetch between £700,000 and a million at Goodwood in June.

Standard, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

While we were working our way through the paddock the vehicle above wafted through the crowd, I was surprised to learn it appears to be powered by a Standard Vanguard motor, if you know anything else about the car please chime in below.

ERA 80th Anniversary Trophy, Gillies, Morris, Topliss, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The racing got underway with the ERA 80th Anniversary Trophy which was one by Mark Gilles aboard the green wheel lifting 1934 ERA seen leading the ERA 11B of David Morris which retired leaving Nicholas Topliss in the #5 blue ERA R4A to finish second.

FJHRA , Goodliff Woodhouse, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The battle for honours in the front engined Formula Junior race lasted the whole race with Simon Goodliff in his red 1960 Lola Mk2 managing to hold off the green 1959 Elva 100 driven by Mark Woodhouse.

Riley, Super Rat, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Pete Candy driving the 1936 Riley Super Rat seen in the paddock above won the 8 minute Short Scratch Race for pre war cars.

HGPCA Pre 66, Griffin, Moreton, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The action continued with the second race for pre ’66 Grand Prix Cars which was won by John Romano who clocked up his second win of the weekend in his 1964 Brabham BT11. Above Alex Moreton in his 1961 Lotus 21 is about to lap Paul Griffin in his 1959 Cooper T51 on his way to a seventh place finish.

Maserati 6CM, Lockie, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

It’s always great to see one of my former race instructors, from 1989/90, take part in an event above one such was Calum Lockie who is seen driving a 1938 Maserati 6CM to victory in the pre 1941 Continental Trophy race.

50's Sports Racing, Horsman, Wood, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Regular readers will have heard me make many references to The Nostalgia Forum who’s knowledgeable members include Peter Horsman seen above driving the #248 Lotus 15 above to victory over the #256 Lister Jaguar of Dr Barry Wood in the 1950’s sports racing cars event.

Tec Mec, Wood, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Tony Wood lifts a wheel at Becketts above on his way to his second win of the weekend in the Pre ’61 Racing Car event driving the 1959 Tec Mec F415 which readers may remember I looked at in some detail recently.

Pre War Handicap, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

By comparison the 5 lap pre war Handicap race felt like a race in slow motion, above a couple of Rileys lead a gaggle of cars in the event which was won by Richard Hudson driving a Bentley.

F3 500, Bishop Miller, Kingsland, Turner VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The penultimate event of the day was for the 500 cc / 30.5 cui Formula 3 cars this was declared, with Ian Philips the winner, after the; #57 Revis driven by Richard Bishop Miller, #59 Staride Mk 3 of Xavier Kingsland and #86 Cooper Mk 9 of John Turner came to grief at Becketts one lap after the photo above was taken. I am not entirely sure what happened but the out come was that John Turner was thrown out of his Cooper and Richard Bishop Miller had to be cut out of the Revis and both were taken to hospital.

Andrew Mitchel won the final Pre War race of the day driving an HRG but by then Tim and I were negotiating a few diversions on the way home, seeing John Turner falling out of his Cooper having left me feeling considerably the worst for wear.

My thanks to Alan Cox at the Nostalgia Forum for pointing me in the direction of the results pdf.

I hope you will join me in offering sincerest condolences to the the family and friends of Alan Fleming and best wishes for speedy recoveries to Garry White, Richard Bishop Miller and John Turner.

Thanks for joining me on this”VSCC Spring Start” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” and that you will join me again for Americana Thursday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Serviceability – Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE

Leave a Reply

In 2012 Aston Martin returned to racing a GT programme with up to three Gulf sponsored works cars, split between the Pro and Am subdivisions, appearing in last seasons Le Mans Series races.