Tag Archives: Wood

Triple London Championship Night – Wimbledon Stadium

Thanks to a recent fb friendship struck up by Ray Miles in Florida and Rob Hughes in Liverpool I was alerted to the Triple London Championship Night which ran at Wimbledon Stadium couple of weeks ago.

Ford Escort Mk2, Andy Steward, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Thanks to a soccer match in Chelsea I got snarled up in traffic and missed the first heats for the Junior Micra Stock Cars, Superstox and 2.0 Hot Rods, but made it just in time to catch the first heat for the beautifully turned out Pinto powered Classic Hot Rods which featured a great battle for the lead between the #198 Mk2 Ford Escort driven by Andy Steward and the #45 Austin A40 Countryman driven by Craig Boyd which went Andy’s way.

Superstox, London Championship, Wimbledon,

The Superstox action featured a bit more bumping and boring for which the cars are better equipped, unfortunately I arrived too late to get a programme and the only thing I can tell you is that the race was won by John Saunders, who also won the first heat and that the green #454 seen above finished 5th in heat to having finished 4th in Heat 1, if you know who the driver of the #454 is please do not hesitate to chip in below.

Nissan Micra, Samuel Dobbs, Junior Micra Stock Cars, Wimbledon

Samuel Dobbs is seen above on his way to a win in the 2nd heat of the Junior Micra Stock Cars which with all their additional safety equipment and what appeared to be standard suspension have some interesting handling characteristics.

Vauxhall Tigra, Robert Gamble, 2.0 Hot Rod, London Championship, Wimbledon

Robert Gamble seen in his #133 Vauxhall Tigra above held on to win the 2nd Heat for the 2.0 Hot Rod’s from the #71 Citroën Saxo driven by Gordan Alexander.

Barry Lee, Kenny Ireland, Wimbledon Stadium

Four time Hot Road World Champion Barry “#351 Leapy” Lee, and Scottish Saloon Stocks, Superstox & Hot Rods champion Kenny Ireland are seen on a lap of honour above they were joined as guests of honour by 1976 World Champion George Polley and 1980 World Champion Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard.

Ford Anglia, John Bowring, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Craig Boyd retired his Austin early in the 2nd Classic Hot Rods heat, leaving Andy Steward to an easy win once he had battled his way into the lead, the race featured a fantastic race long scrap between the Ford Anglia’s driven by #101 John Bowring, #924 Stuart Wright and #911, seen on the outside, driven by Harry Steward who crossed the finish in 6th, 7th and 8th places respectively.

Nissan Micra, Robbie Bruce, Junior Micra Stock Cars, Wimbledon

Repeating his heat one Junior Micra Stock Cars win in the final was Robbie Bruce seen above three wheeling his way around turn 2 aided by second place finisher #340 Will Blazer.

Citroén Saxo, Gordan Alexander, 2.0 Hot Rod, London Championship, Wimbledon

Gordan Alexander fought his way to the front to claim the 2.0 Hot Rod Final in his #71 Citroën Saxo the #565 driven by Dan Smith and the #39 driven by Rick Parnell who were both also pedaling Citroën Saxo’s.

Ford Escort RS2000 Mk2, Lee Wood, Wimbledon Stadium,

Lee Wood is seen above leading Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard during a demonstration run for the fans in their immaculate replica World Championship winning cars.

Ford Escort Mk2, Andy Steward, Classic Hot Rods, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Andy Steward retained his Classic Hot Rods London Championship title despite the best efforts of Craig Boyd in his repaired #45 Austin seen lifting an inside wheel above.

Jason Cooper, Superstox, London Championship, Wimbledon,

Jason Cooper is seen above taking the flag in the Superstox final at the end of an entertaining evening at Wimbledon Stadium which I hope to visit again before it is scheduled to be swallowed up by dreaded property developers.

My thanks to Ray Miles and Rob Hughes for giving me the heads up also to Rob for event programme details, to keep up with news on Classic Hot Rods follow Rob Hughes dedicated fb page linked here, news on Spedeworth events at Wimbledon and their other venues can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this “Triple London Championship Night” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Americana Thursday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Almost Fully Loaded – Austin Mini Clubman Wood & Pickett Estate #XL2W2524450A

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Soon after I bought my first car in 1978 I started regularly driving over from Harrow Road in Wembley to Victoria Road in the Tropic of Ruislip to visit an old school friend, the route used to take me past the Wood & Pickett works from which all manner of blinged out and often bomb proof Range Rovers used to appear for the rich and famous that brought into the UK valuable foreign exchange, most notably from the middle east.

Austin Mini Clubman Wood & Pickett Estate, Silverstone Classic,

Bill Wood and Les Pickett learned their coachbuilding skills at Hooper & Co and left to set up their own business operating from Bills front room in 1947.

Austin Mini Clubman Wood & Pickett Estate, Silverstone Classic,

By the 1960’s Wood & Pickett now operating in Abbey Road, Park Royal were vying with their former employers Hooper, Radford, Minisprint, Ridgeway and a long list of others for upgraded Mini’s which could involve anything from minor cosmetic variations to fully loaded cars which were particularly popular amongst royalty, entertainers and sports persons.

Austin Mini Clubman Wood & Pickett Estate, Silverstone Classic,

Focusing on the top end of the market and with a little help from former Radford managing director, Len Minshull, and head of marketing Eddie Collins, Wood & Pickett’s Mini clientele included Twiggy, Laurence Harvey, Brian Epstein, Mick Jagger, King Hussein of Jordan, Hayley Mills and Elton John.

Austin Mini Clubman Wood & Pickett Estate, Silverstone Classic,

Thanks to the leadership of Eddie Collins Wood and Pickett expanded into the production of the aforementioned Range Rovers and in the late ’70’s to new premises in Ruislip where today’s featured 1978 Austin Mini Clubman Estate was sent from Cleveland Garages Ltd, Mont A L’Abbe, St Helier, Jersey having been purchased there on 17th August 1978.

Austin Mini Clubman Wood & Pickett Estate, Silverstone Classic,

The list of upgrades carried out by Wood & Pickett included deseaming the front wings, flared wheels arches, fitting 5″x10″ tech Del Mini-lite wheels, twin automatic reversing lights mounted under the rear bumper, direction indicator lights and repeaters to front wings, twin headlights, air horn, high output alternator, electric windows, electrically adjustable door mirrors, chrome front bumper bars with WP logo, bonnet lock, extra secure door locks, stainless steel finish to the top of the doors, body painted Rolls Royce Caribbean Blue, leather trimmed Wood & Pickett 14″ steering wheel in dark blue leather, navy blue leather rear compartment roll-over cover, blue velour seats, deluxe soundproofing of the interior, FM Radio cassette, but strangely on the evidence of these photo’s no electric aerial.

The only Wood & Pickett upgraded Mini Clubman Estate was then delivered to it’s thus far unidentified owner in Jersey and registered on the 13 December 1978. Subsequently #XL2W2524450A was driven just over 29,000 miles by the owner prior to being sold at the Silverstone Classic auction a couple of month’s ago, where the car is seen in these photographs, for a modest £11,250.

Wood and Pickett has since undergone a couple of changes of ownership and now specialises in Mini’s from premises in Leatherhead.

Thanks for joining me on this “Almost Fully Loaded” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Mercury Monterey. Don’t forget to come back now !

Shadows and Reflections – Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic

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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 !

Wheels Festival – Bournemouth

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A couple of weeks ago David Roots told me he was going to Bournemouth for the weekend over the Festival of Speed, he advised me it was at the friendly price of completely free so I made a note to pop down for the day myself.

Peerless, "Princess" Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

I was not in the least disappointed with the sheer variety of machines on display some of which were static but obviously ready to go like this 1907 Peerless Steam Engine built in Waynesboro PA.

McLaren P1, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

Of greatest interest to me were the demonstration runs along East Overcliff Drive, unfortunately there was no literature advising visitors who the drivers were and the pa system tended to get drowned out by the glorious sounds of the motors, above the a 2014 McLaren P1 was among a group of contemporary supercars that included a tyre smoking Chrysler Viper, Mercedes Benz SLS and Porsche 997 and Ferrari Italia.

Ferrari 365 GTB/4, Sally Mason-Styrron, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

The best sound of the day to my ears came from the 1972 4.4 litre / 267 cui V12 Ferrari which I believe is the former Maranello Concessionaires / JCB chassis #15681 that currently belongs to the Mason-Styrron family and was I believe driven by Sally Mason-Styrron.

Other Le Mans car present included the Ford GT40 chassis #P/1017 shared by Jochen Rindt and Innes Ireland at Le Mans in 1966, and two cars from the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, their 1932 4 1/2 litre Blower Bentley and a 1912 3 litre Sunbeam Coupe de l’Auto team car.

Standard Ten, Peter Clements, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

Among the “touring” cars present was this raucous 1959 Standard Ten which I believe is owned by Peter Clements and has been a regular at the Goodwood Revival meetings, other cars in this class included a Mini Cooper, Ford Anglia, ex Roland Ratzenberger BMW M3, and Josh Cooks 2015 Racing For Heroes #80 Chevrolet Cruze.

Toleman Hart TG181C, tba, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

The Formula One display did not disappoint either lined up alongside the well Toleman TG181C “General Belgrano” above were the Benetton B191 driven by Lorina McLaughlin, an Arrows A10B driven by Gerry Harrison, a Lotus Judd 101, Jordan Honda EJ12 and Yamaha Arrows A18.

Lancia Delta Integrale Evo, Mick Wood, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

While among the Rally cars were Mick Wood’s Lancia Delta Integrale Evo seen above, a WRC Subaru Impreza, WRC Martini Ford Focus and Paul Swift indulged in some show boating with a non standard Ford Escort Mk2.

Big Pete, Grim Reaper, Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

At this point I ventured off to look at some of the static displays which included a 1970’s Austin Princess, and wonderful selection of British sports cars of all ages, above Big Pete and Grim Reaper were parked up when I passed but they could be heard in action from the road above.

Maudslay, "Big Maude", Bournemouth Wheels Festival,

One of the many memorable cars on display closer to the city centre was the 1904 Maudsley above, known as “Big Maud” she was one of the first cars to be sold with an overhead cam engine, the 9.6 litre / 585 cui 6 cylinder overhead cam engine powering this car produced an impressive 60hp, and the car cost nearly twice as much as a Rolls Royce !

Thanks for joining me on this “Wheels Festival – Bournemouth” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Chrysler Viper. Don’t forget to come back now !

Anny-Charlotte Ralph And Bob – Porsche 935 K3/80 #009 00030

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It is quite perverse to try and write a comprehensive story about today’s featured Porsche 935 chassis #009 00030 which took part in 6 Daytona and 4 Le Mans 24 hour races, winning the former with Bob Garretson, Bobby Rahal and Brian Redman at the wheel in 1981 and hitting headlines around the world when Rolf Stommelen, Dick Barbour and a certain Paul Newman drove the car to a second place finish at Le Mans in 1979 in a single blog, so I will focus on some of the cars highlights, owners and star drivers for now.

Porsche 935 K3/80, Verney, Kent-Cooke, Garretson, Le Mans

Rolf, Dick and Paul proved their result at Le Mans was no fluke when they finished second on the cars second appearance in the ’79 Watkins Glen 6 Hour race.

French driver Anny-Charlotte Verney shared #009 00030 for the first timeApple, on it’s final appearance carrying customer Porsche 935/77A bodywork, with Bob Garretson and Skeeter McKitterick for a 9th place finish in the 1980 Daytona 24 hour race.

At the Sebring 12 Hour race #009 00030 was fitted with Kremer Brothers K3 bodywork which carried sponsorship from Apple Computer and was driven to a 7th place finish by Bob, Bobby Rahal and Canadian Kees Nierop.

At Le Mans in 1980 Bob and Bobby were joined by Australian Alan Moffat to qualify 14th on the grid but piston failure led to the cars only Le Mans retirement after it had completed 134 laps.

After winning the Daytona 24 hours in 1981 the same winning Bob, Bobby and Brian trio finished 17th from 4th on the grid in the 1981 Sebring 12 Hours.

Part owner Bob Garrettson, with Ralph Kent-Wood, stepped back from the driving seat to allow Bobby and Brian to share the wheel to finish 3rd and 4th at Riverside and Laguna Seca.

The #009 00030 was then shipped to Le Mans where owners Bob and Ralph teamed up with British Petrolium (BP) sponsored Anny-Charlotte Verney to set a qualifying time of 3 min 55.150, good enough for 33rd spot on the grid.

Anny-Charlotte sharing the car for the second time with Bob and Ralph drove the car, seen above 23 hours into the race, to 6th place finish.

The car remained competitive for the remainder of the 1981 IMSA season which included a 3rd place finish with Bob, Rick Mears and Johnny Rutherford in the 1981 Watkins Glen 6 hour race.

In 1982 Bob was joined at the wheel of #009 00030 by Columbian Mauricio DeNarvaez and Jeff Wood at Daytona where they finished 3rd in the season opening 24 hours race.

Bob teamed up with Anny-Charlotte for a third time in #009 00030 for the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours and they were joined by Ray Ratcliff for the cars final Le Mans start, from 43rd on the grid they salvaged an 11th place finish.

Wayne Baker bought #009 00030 for the 1983 season and converted it from twin turbo 935 spec to single turbo 934 spec and ran it with a loose interpretation of 934 bodywork at Daytona where he drove the car with Bob and Jim Mullen to a 9th place finish and in the 1983 Sebring 12 hours where Kees replace Bob and with Wayne and Jim scored the cars second and final outright victory.

At the end of 1983 #009 00030 was returned to full twin turbo 935 K3 spec and on it’s fifth appearance in the Daytona 24 hours was driven by Wayne, Jim and Tom Blackaller to a 5th place finish from 12th on the grid, from the same position on the grid at Sebring the same trio finished a season high 4th.

#009 00030’s final appearance in the Daytona 24 hours was in 1985 when Jack Newsum, Chip Mead and Ren Tilton joined Wayne for a 9th place finish from 28th on the grid.

Midway through 1985 Chester Vincentz bought the car and converted it back to single turbo 934 spec and ran it IMSA GTO events with a 934 type body in 1985 and a hybrid 935 body in 1986 and ’87 as a 930 S.

On the October 4th 1987Chester drove #009 00030 to a 12th place finish from 12th on the grid on the cars 72nd and final known in period appearance.

Thanks for joining me on this Anny-Charlotte, Bob and Ralph edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when Ferrari Friday will be making a month long return. Don’t forget to come back now !

Five Classic Moments – Silverstone Classic

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Continuing an ad hoc series celebrating Silverstone Classic’s Silver Jubilee this weeks post features five race highlights from the last three Silverstone Classic Super Saturdays.

Peter Arundell Trophy, Silverstone Classic,

The Formula Junior cars vying to win the Peter Arundell Trophy traditionally are the opening act for Super Saturday above the #53 Lotus 20/22 of Sam Wilson and #79 Lotus 22 of Andrew Hibberd squabble behind the leading #1 Cooper T59 driven by Jon Melicevic in 2013 when Andrew won the trophy by just half a second.

Sir John Whitmore Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The Sir John Whitmore Trophy for under 2 litre / 122 cui touring cars always provides close racing down the field between the Ford Cortinas, above last year British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) regular Gordon Shedden and Richard Meaden kept us entertained with door handle to door handle racing for half an hour before the #157 retired with an overheating issue leaving Richard and Grant Tromans to win in the tyre smoking #63.

Peter Gethin Trophy, Silverstone Classic

Simon Hadfield and Micheal Lyons provided the early entertainment in the Peter Gethin Trophy race for stock block open wheelers in 2012, unfortunately Simon spun the brown 1973 Trojan T101 to leave the win to Micheal in the red and white Lola T400 seen above hounding the Trojan.

Mustang Celebration Trophy proudly presented by Pure Michigan, Silverstone Classic

Ironically last years Mustang Celebration Trophy was dominated by the model the Ford Mustang was due to replace, Leo Voyazides driving the #1 Ford Falcon is seen above sweeping into a lead, past the #37 Falcon driven by Mike Gardiner, that he did not relinquish for the rest of the race.

Froilan Gonzalez Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The Froilan Gonzalez Trophy for HGPCA Pre’61 Grand Prix Cars proved another thriller two years ago when Bristol’s Julian Bronson driving the blue Scarab #30 had a great to and fro battle with the Tec-Mec of Tony Wood and came out the winner to record the Scarab marques second ever open wheel victory.

Silverstone Classic is an advance ticket only event and the race cards are never the same two years running, for further details about this years Silver Jubilee event see this link.

Clarke Brothers Upgrades – Iota P1-5 CB2

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Today’s featured car was one of the 5th of six Iota P1‘s to have been built by by Iota Racing Cars of Alma Vale, Clifton, Bristol.