Tag Archives: AC

Unique Information Entrepreneur – Haynes International Motor Museum

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Last week I popped down to the Haynes International Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset to look at some of the over 400 cars collected by John H Haynes, OBE.

Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset,

John’s interest in cars started with a Morris on his parent’s tea plantation in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, and by the time he was 15 at school in England he had built himself an Austin Seven Special like the one seen below.

Austin 7 Special, Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset,

When he came to sell the car, with a two line advert in MotorSport magazine, he was overwhelmed by the 150 responses he got, after selling the car John wrote a 48 page booklet about building specials with his own illustrations then printed off 250 copies which sold in ten day’s.

Austin Healey Sprite, Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset,

Having learned his first lesson in selling unique information John was sent to Aden while serving in the Royal Air Force and there he helped a friend maintain an Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite, like the one seen in the Red Room, above and decided that the British Motor Corporation Manual could be improved upon and ended up photographing all the parts on his kitchen table for his first Haynes Workshop Manual selling all 3,000 copies in just 3 months.

AC Cobra, Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset,

Since then Haynes Publishing have published over one thousand different Workshop Manuals which have sold over 7 million copies world wide, among the favorite of the many cars John has owned since then is the 1965 AC Cobra above.

TVR Tuscan, Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset,

John had this 1968 TVR Tuscan fitted with a 350hp Holman Moody V8 and competed in it in Sprint events with John Blundell, he recorded a win with it in the last Yeovilton Sprint and a Fastest Time Of The Day (FTD) at the much missed Weston – Super – Mare Speed Trials.

Bentley Continental, Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset,

In 1987 John took delivery of his specially ordered Bentely Continental with a Mulliner Park Ward convertible body painted in Royal Blue and Regal Red Connolly leather interior, note the registration number is appropriate for a man who made his fortune in publishing Workshop Manuals.

Bentley Arnage Red Label, Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset,

John and I have at least one thing in common we both own cars built in 2000, I maintain mine with the help of one of his excellent manuals his is this Bentley Arange Red Label fitted with a 400hp Cosworth tuned 6.75 litre Rolls Royce V8.

Thanks for joining me on this “Unique Information Entrepreneur” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at another Packard, don’t forget to come back now !

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COhen GN & AC – COGNAC Frazer Nash Special

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S.A. COhen was responsible for building the first iteration of today’s featured car using I believe a 1925 Frazer Nash chassis with a solid axle and chain drive as originally developed by GN.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Mallory Park,

The triple carburetor 2 litre / 122 cui aluminium block iron head six cylinder AC motor, that lent it’s initials to the last two letters of the cars name, is of a design that dates back to 1919 and remained in production up until 1963.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Tony Lees, Chateau Impney

My understanding is that COGNAC was originally fitted with a two seat body that originated from an Amilcar with the radiator coming from a Hampton of a type I have not yet identified, if you know which model Hampton is shown in this linked image please do not hesitate to chime in below. and that the tail was modified to fit a spare wheel across the back of the car.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Mallory Park,

It appears that the tail of the Amilcar body was modified to fit a spare wheel across the back of the car.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Tony Lees, Mallory Park,

I am not sure exactly when S.A. Cohen competed with the car, the only report I have found so far describes him suffering with a slipping clutch at the Lewes speed trials in the June 1937 issue of MotorSport.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Mallory Park,

A chap called Duchy at the Nostalgia Forum recalls his father owned the COGNAC Frazer Nash Special and used it as a road car in the mid 1950’s and that it was not converted into the single seater form seen here until the 1970’s.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Tony Lees, Chateau Impney

Ron Footitt is the man responsible for converting the COGNAC Frazer Nash Special into a single seater for vintage racing in the 1970’s.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Mallory Park,

I have seen several accounts of the story that Ron wanted his ashes scattered onto a racing circuit upon his death and that COGNAC’s next owner Freddie Giles obliged at Oulton Park, after winning a race he is said to have scattered Ron’s ashes from a glove on his slowing down lap.

COGNAC Frazer Nash Special, Tony Lees, Mallory Park,

Current owner Tony Lees is seen testing COGNAC at Mallory Park soon after he bought it in 2013 and at last years Chateau Impney Hillclimb.

Thanks for joining me on this “COhen GN & AC” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow far a look at the last in the current series of ERA’s. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Americana – Niello At Serrano Concours d’Elegance

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A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Horton wrapped up his Concours d’Elegance season with another award for his Jaguar XK140 at the Niello at Serrano Coucours d’Elegance and kindly shared these photographs of some of the other competitors.

Ford Speedster, Niello at Serrano Concours d'Elegance

Turning Ford Model T’s into speedsters evocative of those raced before the 1914 – 18 war and immediately thereafter seems to be a growing pastime, this one looks brand new and unusually does not feature a transverse leaf spring for the front suspension.

Packard 1104 Super Eight Dual Cowl Phaeton, Niello at Serrano,

Powered by a straight eight the 1934 Packard 1104 Super Eight Dual Cowl Phaeton above seats seven in style.

Packard 110 Convertible, Niello at Serrano,

Eight years later Packard were manufacturing six cylinder Packard One Ten’s like the convertible example above.

Kurtis 500M, Niello at Serrano Concours d'Elegance

Around the time Kurtis built machines were dominating the Indy 500 the glass fibre bodied 500M like the example above was built for the road, powered by what ever engine the customer chose, often Cadillac, these machines were capable of reaching nearly 100 miles an hour over a 1/4 mile and had a top speed of over 130 mph.

Dodge Dart, Niello at Serrano,

The 1964 Dodge Dart Convertible above, which in optional automatic form had push buttons to select the gears come straight out of the era of rocket inspired styling

AC Shelby Cobra, Niello at Serrano,

Finally above a 1965 Shelby Cobra Mk III the 31 detuned semi competition versions of which are worth well in excess of one and half million dollars.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs more of which will appear on Friday.

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

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Gold Cup Stars – Oulton Park

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For today’s post I thought it would be fun to revisit the Gold Cup meeting and see some of the stars who were not first to the checkered flag but nonetheless contributed significantly to the weekends entertainment.

AEC Reliance, Oulton Park, Gold Cup,

As Tim and I arrived at the circuit two AEC buses were being driven around the circuit with gusto, one even had Autosport club editor Marcus Pye entertaining passengers with a commentary, above a Devon General liveried 1963 AEC Reliance exits the Britten’s Chicane.

AC Greyhound, Oulton Park, Gold Cup,

Car of the day in the car park was this 1963 Ford Zephyr straight six powered AC Greyhound one of just 83 built.

Jaguar XJR9, Andy Wallace, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

The day after our visit 1988 Le Mans winner Andy Wallace, on the right in the photo, gave a demonstration of the 1988 Le Mans winning #2 Jaguar XJR9 in front of him, this time completing his lap of honour unlike a previous visit in 2010.

de Tomaso Mangusta, Michael Eagles, Gold Cup, Oulton, Park

One of the cars that tempted me to visit on the Sunday rather than the usual Monday was Michael Eagles de Tomaso Mangusta, Michael started the Oni Plc Historic Road Sports race from 8th on the grid and got as high as 7th in the race before dropping back to finish 16th.

Sunbeam Alpine, Mike Foley, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

In the same race back marker Mike Foley produced the save of the day, after going into Old Lodge too fast and running wide his Sunbeam Alpine went into a nasty tank slapper upon regaining the track, just after this photo was taken, but some how Mike kept the car from spinning or hitting the barriers and continued to finish the race.

Mallock Mk 20/21, Mark Charteris, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The Giant Killer of the weekend award goes to Mark Charteris who qualified his Mallock U2 Mk20/21 Clubmans car for the first Derek Bell Trophy race fourth ahead an impressive collection of four more powerful Formula 5000 cars and was in third when the race was red flagged after Ian Ashley’s accident, the following day in damp conditions Mark beat both Neil Glover and Mark Dwyer aboard a Formula 5000 Chevron and Formula 2 March respectively that had finished ahead of him the day before.

Jaguar C-type, Ben Cussons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Just finishing the Jaguar Challenge race proved a challenge too far for five of the 20 starters, smoke was seen issuing from beneath several cars including the #18 C-type driven by Ben Cussons who was classified 9th a lap down and the #15 E-type in the back ground driven by Paul Castaldini who managed to hang on to finish 2nd over 90 seconds down on the winning E-Type driven by Michael Wilkinson and John Bussel.

Ginetta G12, Chris Blewett, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Wheel lifter of the day went to back marker Chris Blewett driving the #44 Ginetta G12 in the Guards Trophy supported by Dunlop Tyres race whose car struggled to keep four wheels on the ground in the corners.

MG Arkley, Chris Fisher, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

By 1970 there were loads of Austin Sprites and MG Midgets knocking about with seriously rusted bodies when John Britten in Barnet North London came up with the idea of recycling them with the aid of a retro look fibre glass front and rear ends that could easily be fitted to donor cars, thus the Arkley S with standard wheels and Arkley SS with wide wheels were born. Lawn Mower of the day award went to #27 Arkley SS driver Chris Fisher who during the 70’s Road Sports Bob Trotter Celebration race came out of the appropriately named Britten’s Chicane a tad wide and opted for the shortest route, with the least grip, before rejoining the track on the ascent to Hill Top.

Thanks for joining me on this “Gold Cup Stars” 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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Ian’s Great Escape – Oulton Park Gold Cup

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At the weekend I took a break from attending the Gold Cup on Monday as in recent years and went on the Sunday, my decision was influenced by slightly larger grids for the races and slightly better weather, I was rewarded with a short lie in and a great day’s racing which kicked off when Tim Murray and I visited the press office where we were greeted with a warm welcome and great cup of coffee by friends made over several years on The Nostalgia Forum.

Morgan, Kivlochan, Ginetta, Ward Booth, Lotus, Barter, Ginetta Boland, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

After a quick visit of the pit area we made our way to Deer Leap for the 10 lap Oni Plc Historic Road Sports race which was led on the opening lap by front row starter Kevin Kivlochan in the #98 Morgan Plus 8 seen above already in second place on lap two. Pole starter Julian Barter driving the #51 Lotus Elan S4 completed the opening lap in 4th but recovered to relieve the races second leader Roger Waite in another Lotus Elan on lap 5, the red #32 Ginetta G4 driven by Patrick Ward Booth finished 3rd ahead of Kevin’s Morgan and the blue #27 Ginetta G4 driven by Dave Boland.

Lightening Envoyette, Peter Moreton, Lotus 22 Andy Hibberd, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

We moved to the inside of Lodge for the next couple of races. Above Peter Moreton had an electric opening lap in the first of the two Silverline Historic Formula Junior races leading the field from 4th on the grid in his #75 Lightening Envoyette, front row starter Andrew Hibberd in the #179 Lotus 22 completed the opening lap in third and is seen above lining up to relieve Peter of the lead for good at the end of lap 3, John Fyda driving a Brabham BT6 finished second ahead of Peter with less than 6 seconds covering the top three after 20 mins of close racing.

TVR Griffith, Gardner/Cox, Mike Whitaker, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Mike Gardiner and Dave Cox qualified their #77 TVR Griffith on pole for the HSCC Guards Trophy supported by Dunlop Tyres GT Race but there was no stopping Mike Whitaker in the similar #46 TVR seen above about to take the lead at the end of the 2nd lap which he would hold onto until pitting on lap 11 handing over the lead to the similarly Ford 289 powered AC Cobra driven by Robert Bremner. After the pit stops had cycled through Mike Whitaker led until the end of the race ahead of the Gardiner / Cox TVR and Robert in the over steering (loose) AC.

Brabham BT21, March 703 Simon Armer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

By the end of the 40 min GT race Tim and I had made our way over to the inside of Old Hall from whence we watched the start of the first of two The Cubicle Centre Historic Formula 3 races. Fourth place starter Steve Seaman in his #26 Brabham BT21 nipped through to lead the opening 4 laps of this race from pole man Simon Armer driving the #22 March 703 who is seen above about to pass Steve to claim the lead which he held onto to take the flag a gnats over 17 seconds ahead of Micheal Scott’s Brabham BT28. Steve came home forth behind clear championship leader Leif Bosson driving another Brabham BT28.

Chevron B37, Neil Glover, March 742, Mark Dwyer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing Neil Glover driving the one off 5 litre / 302 cui 1976 Chevron, celebrating it’s fiftieth anniversary this year, B37 F5000 car which he qualified second for the first of the weekends Derek Bell Trophy races behind the 2 litre / 122 cui 1974 March 742 Formula 2 car driven by Mark Dwyer. Neil snatched the lead for the opening 3 laps of the race with Mark snapping at his heals in the nimble March who finally grabbed the lead on the third lap and pulled out a nearly six second advantage when a major incident between Denton’s and Cascades required the red flag to be shown on the 8th lap.

Ian Ashley, Derek Bell Trophy, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

5th place starter 67 year old former Grand Prix driver Ian Ashley driving the #188 Lola T300 Formula 5000 car came down the chute between Denton’s and Cascades for the 8th time in 4th place behind the Clubmans Mallock driven by Mike Charteris when he came across a hapless lapped Brian Cullen driving a 1970 1600 cc Formula 2 spec #18 Crosslé 19F. Just after the Denton’s right hand kink Ian clipped the left rear wheel of the Crosslé with his right front and went flying down the track until his rear end hit the retaining barriers which sent the car into a barrel roll before landing on it’s right side and then came to rest miraculously the right way up. Fortunately Ian was able to release himself from the remains of his Lola unaided and gave spectators a thumbs up to a good dose of applause, neither driver suffered any injury that I know of.

Jaguar E-type, Micheal Wilkinson, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

After the dramatic low’s and high’s of the incident the 40 min Jaguar Heritage race passed by in relative tranquility. The third place starting #50 E-type of Michael Wilkinson and John Bussel took over a commanding lead with 6 laps to go, when Martin O’Connel’s pole winning E-type retired 1 lap after his compulsory pit stop, to finish over a minuet and a half clear of Paul Castaldini who was just third placed pairing of Dave Coyne and Robert Gate who made it an all E-type podium as several of the cars struggled to the end with smoking brakes, exhausts and or transmissions.

Lenham P69 Waggitt/Needham, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Normal service returned with the Guards Trophy supported by Dunlop Tyres Sports Racing cars race. On the opening lap 5th place starter Jon Waggitt was the man on the move with the #33 Lenham P69 seen here followed by the pole sitting and eventual winning #18 Elva Mk 7, driven by Maxim Bartel and Callum Grant, ready to pounce by the front row starting #6 Chevron B6 driven by Nick Thompson and Sean McClurg. Jon kept the lead for all of two laps before the #18 reasserted qualifying form and went on to win the 40 min race by over 8 seconds from the #33 Lenham that Jon shared with Peter Needham that finished a further 5 seconds ahead of the Chevron B8 driven by Charles Allison. In the back ground seventh place starter Marcus Mussa spins his #88 McLaren Elva M1B going into the Hislops chicane.

70's Road Sports, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The 20 min 70’s Road Sports Bob Trotter Celebration Race may have been shorter than some, but provided the most closely contested victory as second place starter Jim Dean made the running over the first five laps in his little green #72 Lotus Europa, eventual winner, by just .089 of a second, was Charles Barter whose powerful blue #24 Datsun 240Z started 3rd but had to take to the escape road going into Hislops on the opening lap in order to avoid the spinning 5th place starting Lotus Elan driven by Iain Daniels. Jim finished 2nd just under 5 seconds ahead of the light green #1 TVR Tuscan driven by Peter Shaw.

March 703, Simon Armer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

The starting grid for the second Cubicle Centre Historic Formula 3 race was exactly the same as the first, unusually the finishing order of the first race played no part in the starting order for the second, once again it was third place starter Steve Seaman in the Brabham BT21 who went into the lead on the opening lap, but this time he held onto it until lap 6 before a determined Simon Armer found away past for the final two laps of the race which he finished just over half a second ahead of Steve and nearly 8 seconds ahead of Michael Scott.

Historic Formula Junior, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

The grid for the final race of the day, second Silverline Historic Formula Junior race was determined by the finishing order of Junior race one, but pole sitter Andrew Hibberd finished the opening lap in third as the electric Peter Moreton again led with John Fyda between them. Andrew is seen above having just taken the lead from Peter who was demoted to third as John followed Andrew to take second on lap 3. The order remained the same until the end of the race with the top three again finishing less than six seconds apart with plenty of entertaining battles through the field to keep the results uncertain until the very end of a great day’s racing.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ian’s Great Escape” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Thrills ‘n’ Spills – Chateau Impney Hill Climb

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A couple of weeks ago the Hill Climb at Chateau Impney which ran from 1957 to 1967 was revived by the Hagley and District Light Car Club attracting over 200 Edwardian, veteran, vintage and classic entries which ran over an exciting course that was nearly doubled in length from the original 550 yards to 967.8 yards, just over 1/2 a mile.

FIAT S76, Duncan Pittaway, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Stars on the hill included Duncan Pittaway’s stupendous flame belching FIAT S76 which proved an entertaining handful on the narrow winding course with it’s low revving 28.5 litre / 1,739 cui Goliath of an engine and spindly pram like wheels, Duncan was classified 197th overall and 13th in the Edwardian and Veteran class.

Bugatti Type 35B, Chris Hudson, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Cocking a front wheel going into Raven’s Nest above is the Type 35B Bugatti driven by Chris Hudson which was classified 72nd overall and 12th in the Pre 1940 up to 3 litre / 183 cui class which was won by…

ERA R4A, James Baxter, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

… James Baxter, who was classified 6th overall, seen above kicking up the verge driving Mac Hulbert’s ERA R4D.

AC Ace Ruddspeed, Steve Gray, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Steve Gray’s 1954 AC Ace Ruddspeed was on track just as an otherwise light spot of rain turned nasty, Steve’s afternoon time was 174th fastest overall of the day, 13th in class.

Mogan RIP Special, Charlie Martin, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Charlie Martin can always be relied upon to display thrilling sideways driving skills driving the Morgan RIP Special, on this occasion he was classified 37th overall and 2nd in the up to 1500 cc Pre 1940 racing car class to Paddins Dowling driving the ERA R10B.

Grannie, Gary Clare, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Gary Clare, who was classified 2nd in the Pre 1940 up to 1100cc racing car class and 91st overall, went one better than Charlie by managing to lift the inside rear wheel of “Grannie” exiting Raven’s Nest.

Frazer Nash TT Replica, Chris Batty, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Front wheel lifter Chris Batty, 110th overall and 4th in the over 1500cc Pre 1940 sports cars class, is seen above exiting the roundabout in his 1930 Fraser Nash TT Replica.

de Dietrich, Richard Scaldwell, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Richard Scaldwell, who regular readers may remember built the V8 powered GN JAP, used this event to debut his newly restored 1909 16.5 litre / 1006 cui de Dietrch which was classified 162nd overall and 4th in the Edwardian and Veteran class.

Napier Bentley, Chris Williams, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

King of the burn out’s at Impney was Chris Williams in his Napier Bentley which was classified 131st overall and 5th in the Pre 1940 racing cars over 3 litre / 183 cui class.

Kurtis Kraft KK 500G, Fred Harper, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Another car probably not best suited to the discipline of Hill Climbing was Fred Harper’s Kurtis Kraft KK500G designed to run on the wide open space of Indianapolis, above Fred appears to have remembered a bit too late that he and his 1957 Indy Roadster have a roundabout to negotiate, relying on his earlier morning time Fred was classified 5th in the pre 1961 over 1500 cc class and 128th overall …

Sunbeam Rapier Series III, George Shackleton, Chateau Impney Hill

… one spot overall ahead of George Shackleton seen drifting his 1960 Sunbeam Series III on his way to a 10th place finish in the pre 1968 production saloon car class.

Lotus 20/22, Jack Woodhouse, Chateau Impney Hill Climb

Local man from Bromsgrove and first time hill climber Jack Woodhouse is seen above setting fastest time of the day in his 1962 Lotus 20/22 Formula Junior car, the Woodhouse family had cause for a double celebration as Jack’s Dad Mark won the Pre 1961 up to 1500 cc class driving an Elva 100 Formula Junior car.

Plans for next years event at Chateau Impney are well underway, and if you have never been to a Hill Climb before this one should certainly keep you entertained.

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

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Hi-Tech Perana – AC 378 GT Zagato

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At the 2009 Geneva motor show a South African company Perana Performance Group showed it’s Zagato designed Z One on the Zagato stand and announced it’s intention to have the cars built by Hi-Tech Automotive in East London South Africa.

AC 378 Zagato, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

In 2012 AC announced that the former Perana Z One was to be built under license with the AC 378 GT Zagato name at the same Hi Tech facility in South Africa.

AC 378 Zagato, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

To date I appear to have seen this 2012 Geneva show car twice, once as seen in these images at last weekends Classics at the Castle and the first time at Auto Italia Brooklands a couple of years ago.

AC 378 Zagato, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

I’m not sure if any further of these Chevy V8 powered machines have been built, but if I had £100K burning a hole in my pocket I might be tempted to offer AC Cars a substantial sum as a deposit as encouragement for them to build me one, the only problem I might have is choosing a colour, perhaps a moody dark metallic British Racing Green, or metallic Red would do the trick, what do you think ?

Thanks for joining me on this “Hi-Tech Perana” 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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