Tag Archives: Wilson

HSCC International Trophy – Silverstone

Now celebrating it’s 50th anniversary the Historic Sports Car Club organised a two day International Trophy meeting at Silverstone last weekend of which I popped along to the second.

Jaguar E-type_7278sc

The first race of the day was led by the #91 Jaguar E-Type shared by Julian Thomas an Calum Lockie for opening 13 laps of the Turnkey GT and Sports Car Cup, but they lost ground on the driver change which happened as the course was under a full course caution that became a red flag after three further laps leaving the #75 AC Cobra 289 shared by Leo Voyazides and Andy Wolfe that had been running in the top six to inherit the win.

Formula Junior_7318sc

Sam Wilson in his #53 Lotus 20/22 led the 2nd Formula Junior race of the weekend from start to finish five cars held second place over the 9 lap race with Andrew Hibberd’s red #79 Lotus 22, seen in fourth above securing the spot with two laps to go, a late charge from James Murray secured third in his Lola.

Michael Lyons, McLaren M26, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

James Hunt won the International Championship twice when the British Racing Drivers Club organised the event with Hesketh in 1974 and McLaren in his 1976 championship winning year, last weekend Michael Lyons, seen above, drove a 1977 spec McLaren M26 to an easy victory in International Trophy ahead of Andrew Smith’s Gunston liveried March 79B.

Lola T282, Voyazides-Wolfe, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

Leo Voyazides and James Wolfe had to work a little harder, than Micheal, in their 1973 Jean-Louis Lafosse / Reine Wisell Gitanes liveried Lola T282 to get the better of the #19 Simon Watson and Andrew Kirkaldy Chevron B19 and the third place #60 Chevron B26 driven by John Burton in the 50 minute Pre 80 Endurance race.

Historic Formula 3, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

After several successful seasons running a Cooper in Formula Junior Jon Milicevic has switched to driving the #14 Brabham BT21B in Formula 3 and looks to continue his winning ways, having passed the Micheal Hibberd’s #25 Brabham on the opening lap he retained the lead to the end to finish ahead of Simon Archer’s #22 March 703 which worked it’s way up from 5th at the end of the opening lap.

Guards Trophy, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

George Tizzard’s persistence chasing down, the out of shot, #4 pole sitting Chevron B8 shared by Sandy Watson and Martin O’Connell was rewarded when he took the lead in the HSCC Guards Trophy 2 laps from home driving the #2 Gulf liveried Lenham Spyder.

Ford Falcon, Leo Voyazides, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

Leo Voyazides took a fairly easy victory third victory of the day with a solo drive in his Ford Falcon in the HSCC ByBox Historic Touring Car Championship beating the Ford Mustang driven by Warren Biggs by 14 seconds from pole position.

HSCC Historic Formula Ford 2000, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

In the final race of the day Ian Pearson won the HSCC Formula 2000 race from pole in his #9 Van Diemen RF83 while Andrew Park had to battle back to second in his white #27 Reynard SF81 after giving the place up to the #87 Reynard SF79 driven by Nelson Rowe and #33 Van Diemen RF82 of Marc Mercer on the opening lap.

Thanks for joining me on this International Trophy edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for the next Packard edition soon. Don’t forget to come back now !

Still Friendly Still Great Value – Atwell Wilson Motor Museum

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In 2011 I visited the Atwell Wilson Museum in Calne and found it to be friendly and great value a couple of weeks ago I took the opportunity to visit again and unsurprisingly found Wiltshire’s only Motor Museum to be just as friendly and still great value.

MG Midget, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

Every year the friends of the Museum raffle a classic car, this year your one pound ticket could win you the immaculate 1976 MG Midget 1500 with federal spec bumpers above.

Ford Consul, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

In the days before photocopying and scanning an army of tracers was employed by engineering firms to trace the technical drawings required for just about anything that was made to pattern, Trevlynn “Trev” Hildred joined her father at the Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft works in Coventry at 16 and rose to become Head Tracer at the company in 1960 and remained in the post until technology made here redundant in 1969, above is her 1954 Ford Consul “Connie”.

Austin Mini 5cwt Van, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

In 1997 the Gaydon Motor Museum built this replica of of one of John Coopers Austin Mini 5 cwt Vans for the Frankfurt Motor Show restoring a 1962 van for the purpose with John Coopers full approval and cooperation, the 70th anniversary of Cooper Cars this year will be celebrated at Prescott on July 30th.

Mercury Monarch Ghia, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

Ford introduced the Mercury Monarch in 1975 as an upmarket version of it’s (US) Granda both models being aimed at the downsizing US market in the wake of the early ’70’s oil crises which pushed the price of oil to new high’s, this Ghia version was the top of the range 1978 Monarch though only powered by a mid sized 250 cui 4.1 litre straight six.

Datsun Fairlady 1500, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

The roadster above is believed to be the first Datsun to have ever been imported into the UK, this 1964 85 hp twin carburettor Fairlady 1500 was purchased by Standard Triumph for evaluation purposes and registered by them on the 2nd of April 1965.

Clyno Royale, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne

Finally in the space of 9 years Clyno became the third biggest manufacturer of motor cars between 1920 and 1929 when creditors called time on the company, the 1928 Clyno Royale above is powered by a 20hp Coventry Climax engine which powered the ash and fabric body up to speeds of 55 mph.

Further details about the Atwell Wilson Museum can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this “Still Friendly Still Great Value” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Targa top Camaro. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Gearless Green Car – Mini 9X ADO20

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Today’s featured British Leyland Motor Corporation Mini 9X test car was built to trial the replacement overhead cam engine intended to replace the BMC ‘A’ series push rod that had been introduced in 1951 along with the Austin A30, and a new gearless transmission.

The single overhead cam eight valve four cylinder engine has a capacity of 1500 cc / 91.5 cui with a rubber belt driving the cam, when tested it produced 50hp at 4000 rpm.

BLMC Mini 9X ADO20, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum

Despite achieving only 20 hours running time over 4 and half weeks on a test bed in 1975 due to leaks and other faults this car was regularly driven up until 1987 with only a cam belt failure on the M5 in 1982 during high speed testing.

The transmission consists of a torque converter and a mechanical final drive sourced from an Austin Allegro, the only gear options being forwards or reverse.

BLMC Mini 9X ADO20, Atwell Wilson Motor Museum

Other novel features on the 9X test cars were a redesigned nose, vertical strut suspension, this car was also fitted with competition aluminium doors, with sliding windows and original ADO15 type exterior hinges and boot lid, the unique bonnet and wings were also in weight saving aluminium, the original doors and boot lid corroded and have been replaced by steel items.

Four ADO20 Minis were converted to house the 9X transmission three of which also had the 9X single overhead cam engine also fitted, today’s example seen at the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Calne, was the second to be converted and the first to be fitted with the 9X engine, known at the factory as The Green Car, originally painted Connaught Green, resprayed in 1985 to the current Tundra Green, it was purchased in 1975 by the father of the Mini Sir Alec Issigonis who used it as his preferred transport for many years until he sold it back to Austin Rover as BLMC had become.

One prototype to an all new 9X design featuring the overhead cam engine, gearless transmission, front strut suspension and hatchback tailgate was built before the project was cancelled leaving the Mini in production until 2000 having out lived it’s eventual successor the Austin miniMetro that was in production from 1980 to 1997.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Gearless Green Car” 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 !

Keeping Tabs On 954 2+2s – Ferrari 250 GT/E 2+2 #3601GT

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Looking for information about today’s featured Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2 I checked out all the usual suspects the DVLA Vehicle Check site suggests this car was built in 1961 and registered in the UK on the 20th of November 2012.

Barchetta has not got a note on this registration and so was unable to help, though the photograph’s did make me wonder if this car is actually a Series III car built between 1962 and 1963 because the fog lights are recessed into the front wing fender panel.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic,

Next I had a look at a thread devoted to 250 GT/Es on the Ferrari Chat site, all 30 pages of it, but could not find anything conclusive and so I left a post asking if anyone had the chassis number for the car.

While I was going through the 30 pages I found out that a chap called Tom Wilson tries to keep tabs on all 954 250 GT/E 2+2’s that were built and runs a website dedicated to the model, he likens the self imposed task to a “full time job”.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic,

Some interesting stats Tom came up with include; that 221 GT/Es were confirmed alive and well between 2009 and 2011, 2 had been rebuilt as convertibles.

337 GT/Es were confirmed alive and well up to 2009 and there were 129 GT/E’s about which there was no information beyond the factory assigned chassis numbers and build dates.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic,

Of the rest 45 had been converted into SWB Berlinetta’s, 36 into GTO’s, 34 into Testa Rossas, 19 into California Spyders, 4 into 250 GT TdFs, and 2 into 225 Vignales.

Tom described the remaining 15 GT/Es as having been converted into cars that “defy categorization“.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic,

During the hour or so it took me to write this blog there have been two responses to my request for help identifying today’s featured car at Ferrari Chat, Global Moderator El Wayne speculated that the car might have been built in ’63 or actually be a 330 America, same GT/E body but with a bigger engine.

Kare, not or the first time, saved the day by confirming the car is chassis #3601GT a Series II 1962 car, one of at least to originally supplied to an entity known only as “Sonas”, that has been cosmetically altered front and rear to resemble a later Series 3 GT/E.

Primarily for Tom and Kare’s benefit and any other 250 GT/E aficionado’s, here is a list of the six 250 GT/E blog’s I have published so far, with links, that includes one unknown 250 GTO replica which has not so far been confirmed as having 250 GTE underpinnings.

250 GT/E Blogs :-

#2245

#2259

#2835 Wisconsin SWB

#4019 uncredited double bubble Zagato replica

#4049

#4089

#4873 looks like an approximation of a TRC

Unknown Replica

Possible Roelufs 250 GTO Replica does this have 250 GT/E underpinnings ?

My thanks to Kare at Ferrari chat for once again for identifying today’s featured car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Keeping Tabs On 954 2+2s” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another unique special. Don’t forget to come back now !

Super Bug – Volkswagen Trojan Chevrolet Beetle

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After successfully racing super saloons that included a race winning Jaguar powered Ford 105E Anglia called “Janglia”, a championship winning Gurney Weslake V8 powered Boss Ford Capri and championship winning 6 litre / 366 cui Capri Mick Hill turned his attention briefly to racing a Formula 5000 March in 1975.

Volkswagen Trojan Chevrolet Beetle, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

On May 9th 1976 Hill announced his return to Super Saloon racing with today’s featured liberal interpretation of a Volkswagen Beetle body which sits atop a chassis fitted with Trojan T102 Formula F5000 front suspension and rear end including a 530hp 5 litre / 302 cui Formula 5000 Chevrolet motor in the back.

Volkswagen Trojan Chevrolet Beetle, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Mick raced the car for two seasons with sponsorship from fellow Super Saloon Competitor Tony Hazelwood’s Templar Tillers business.

Volkswagen Trojan Chevrolet Beetle, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

At the end of 1977 Doug Niven bought the Super Bug who went on a winning rampage recording 47 Super Saloon victories up until the end of 1979 when it was sold on to Jeff Wilson.

Volkswagen Trojan Chevrolet Beetle, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Mick went onto race the ex Tony Hazelwood Can Am powered Jaguar XJ8 before building a championship winning Skoda known as Phoenix using the Can Am engine from the Jaguar and a chassis of his own devising, his last project was a race winning BMW M1 again powered by the Can Am engine now fitted to a Lola T400 Formula 5000 chassis and with a BMW M1 clone body.

Volkswagen Trojan Chevrolet Beetle, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Super Bug, seen in these photo’s at Goodwood Festival of Speed in it’s original colours in the top three photos and in Doug Niven’s colours in the bottom 2 photos is currently owned and looked after by Dave Taylor who has started a facebook page for the car linked here.

My thanks to Mr Taylor for inadvertently giving me the courage to go with this months Super Saloon Saturday blogs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Super Bug” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Mini Cooper Panda Car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Look A Like TRC – Ferrari 250 GT/E #4873

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Today’s featured car started life as a right hand drive 1963 Series 3 Ferrari 250 GT/E chassis #4873 delivered to Maranello Concessionaires who sold it to a Mr H. R. V. Walkup DFC. of Highfields Motors in Derby.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Mr Walkup loaned the car to John Dalton in the 1960’s for him to race at Mallory Park with it’s original 2+2 body.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Mr Derek Welford of York appears to have commissioned R M Wilson Engineering of Leicester to fit the current vaguely TRC styled body in the 1980’s, the car is shown to have first been registered with it’s current licence plate on the 26th of January 1981.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Stuart Anderson bought the car in 1997 with 450 miles showing on the clock and kept it for 17 years before selling it to Darren Hills.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Stuart raced #4873, seen in these photographs at Silverstone Classic, primarily in the Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic series where along with many wins the car holds five Group 1 lap records.

Ferrari 250 GT/E, Silverstone Classic

Prior to selling the car, to race a Morgan, Stuart shared his passion for his 250 GT/E TRC by setting up the ferrari250.com website where full details of the cars history and it’s modifications can be found.

Thanks for joining me on this “Look A Like TRC” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at “Baby Bertha”. Don’t forget to come back now !

Twincharged – Lancia Delta S4

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By 1985 it had become apparent that with the successes being racked up by the latest four wheel drive Audi Sport Quattro and Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Lancia would have to abandon it’s supercharged 2 wheel drive Lancia 037 and join the four wheel drive rallying band wagon if it wanted to remain competitive in World Championship Rallying.