Tag Archives: Dan

Classic Team Lotus – Lotus Climax 21 #933

As we saw a couple of weeks ago Stirling Moss drove a privately entered Lotus 18 to the Lotus marques first Grand Prix victory in a Lotus 18 in 1960, Moss used the same car to win three more Grand Prix in 1960 and 1961.

Lotus Climax 21,

It was not until the end of the 1961 season that the works Team Lotus scored their first Grand Prix victory in the season finale at Watkins Glen. Innes Ireland driving a Lotus 21 similar to the one above held off Dan Gurney in Porsche to win the US Grand Prix.

The 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui 4 cylinder Coventry Climax powered Lotus 21 was a development of the Lotus 18 Stirling Moss had used to challenge the dominant Ferrari team with in 1961. Some of the parts of the 21 are interchangeable with the older 18 and some 18’s were run in 18/21 spec.

Ten Lotus 21 chassis were built in 1961 5 were destroyed in period with an 11th replacement chassis being built in 1964.

Dan Collins is seen above at the Goodwood Revival in his Lotus Climax 21 chassis #933 which is entered and maintained by Classic Team Lotus.

My thanks to David McKinnley at The Nostalgia Forum for his background information and Andy Arnold for informing me of the chassis number.

Thanks for joining me on this Classic Team Lotus edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’. I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

Automobiliart, Paul Chenard

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Sports-GT cars set, Paul Chenard

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Phil Hill, Sharknose Ferrari Set, Paul Chenard

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

1934 GP Season Card set, Paul Chenard

Set 3 1934 Season

1950s Grand Prix Engines

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

or

Mike Hawtorns racecars Card set, Paul Chenard

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Looking for Automotive Seasonal Gift Idea’s? Visit Automobiliart Now !

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Dan Wheldon 1978 – 2011 – RIP

Dan Wheldon photograph courtesy Jeff Fuller.

“To do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one’s ability, for I feel that life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.” – Bruce McLaren

Dan Wheldon

Born Emberton, Buckinghamshire, England, 22nd June 1978

1988

British Cadet Kart Champion

1989

British Cadet Kart Champion

1990

British Cadet Cart Champion

1993

British Junior 100B Kart Champion

1995

FIA ‘Ayrton Senna’ Memorial World Cup Winner

1996

Formula Vauxhall Junior

Three Wins

1997

British Formula Ford

Four Wins

1999

US F2000 National Championship,

Rookie Of The Year & Champion.

2001

Indy Lights Wins

Gateway
Atlanta

Indy Lights Rookie Of The Year

2003

Indycar Rookie Of The Year

2004

Indycar Wins

Twin Ring Motegi
Richmond International Raceway
Nazareth

2005

Indycar Wins

Homestead Miami Speedway
St Petersburg
Twin Ring Motegi
89th Indianapolis 500
Pikes Peak International Raceway
Chicagoland Speedway

Indycar Champion

2006

Rolex 24 Hours Daytona

Winner with Scott Dixon & Casey Mears

Indycar Wins

Homestead Miami Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway

2007

Indycar Wins

Homestead Miami Speedway
Kansas Speedway

2008

Indycar Wins

Kansas Speedway
Iowa Speedway

Married to Susie Behm

2009

1st son born Sebastian Wheldon

2011

2nd son born Oliver Wheldon

Indycar Wins

95th Indianapolis 500

Died Las Vegas Motor Speedway 16th October 2011

“The biggest thing for me is the Indianapolis 500” – Dan Weldon

I hope you will join me in offering sincerest condolences to Dan’s family, friends, team and fans.

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Classic Acid – Dodge Challenger

I was reminded of today’s photograph by Geoffrey Horton at the 2008 Danville Concours d’Elegance yesterday by my response to a blog about movies beginning with the letter V by Chief 187. One of my all time favorite movies is “Vanishing Point” (1971) which features a white Dodge Challenger in the ‘maximum trip at maximum speed’.

Dodge Challenger

I believe the #77 Dodge ‘Classic Wax’ Challenger seen here is owned by Ken Epsman was originally prepared by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers for the 1970 Trans Am championship and driven by Sam Posey.

Back then teams would acid dip their cars to make them lighter and allegedly after this car had passed tech inspection at the first race of the season at Laguna Seca the team offered the Chief Technical Inspector a beer, who then relaxed, resting his elbow on the roof of this car which dimpled in as a result of having spent a little too much time in the acid bath.

The Technical Inspector promptly informed the team that they could no longer run until the roof had been replaced. Within an hour the roof of a brand new Challenger in a Monterey Dodge Dealers show room was being torched off before replacing the offending dimpled roof.

Sam drove the 3200 lb 460 hp car to 6th place in the race and claimed 4th place in the championship standings at the end of the season.

My thanks to Chief 187, Geoffrey Horton and to the Historic Trans Am website.

Thanks for joining me on today’s ‘Acid Bath’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Yellow Submarine – Chaparral 2K

In 1978 Colin Chapman revolutionised Formula One car design by introducing ‘ground effect’ to the upper echelons of open wheel racing with his Lotus 79.

By 1979 many Formula One teams were making copies and variations of the Lotus 79 using curved ‘venturi’ in the side pods between the wheels to gain traction grip by controlling the airflow between the lower surfaces of the car and surface of the road to create lowered air pressure underneath the car which ‘sucked’ the car to the road as it moved, the faster these vehicles were driven the more grip there was available.

800px Chaparral 2 Ks

Photo Dan Wildhirt

When, in 1978, former Taurus Super Vee designer and McLaren draftsman John Barnard was employed to build an Indy Car for Jim Hall and the Chaparral team to replace their Lola T500 Champ Car, Barnard was the first to transfer the latest Formula One thinking to the Brickyard for the Indy 500.

Al Unser Snr qualified the Chaparral 2K 3rd on it’s debut at Indy and then ran away with the race until the transmission failed on lap 104.

The following year Al Unser Snr moved to the Longhorne team who were building a car based on a design by former Super Vee engine builder Patrick Head who’s Williams FW07 design started winning formula one races in 1979 and would win the Formula One World Constructors championships in 1980 and 81.

Indy80 023s

Photo Ed Arnaudin

Johnny Rutherford pictured here alongside Mario Andretti, became the beneficiary of Al Unsers decision to move taking the Chaparral to Victory Lane at the Brickyard in 1980 and onto the PPG Indy Car World Series championship.

In all the Chaparral 2K won six races from 27 starts over three seasons. John Barnard moved back to Formula One with McLaren in 1980 where he introduced the first Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC) chassis into the series, almost all top open wheel series run vehicles using CFC chassis these days, and later in 1989 while working for Ferrari in 1989 he introduced the worlds first paddle shift electronic gear shift mechanism.

Between them Barnard and Patrick Head were the dominant designers during the 1980’s in Formula One interestingly they once worked together for a 46 year old London Taxi driver come racing driver Ronnie Grant on his Formula Super Vee team.

My thanks to Steve Arnaudin for scanning his Dad’s photo.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Yellow Submarine edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Outlaw Racer – Ferrari 365 GTB/4

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Launched in 1968 the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 replaced the Ferrari 275 GTB/4 and to this writers mind represents the pinnacle of front engine rear wheel drive fastback GT cars. Until outlawed by US legislation in 1971 the 365 GTB/4 came with headlights mounted behind acrylic glass covers.

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This most stylish of vehicles is powered by a 347 hp Lamperdi inspired twin overhead cam 60º V12 stretched to 4390 cc / 268 cui motor, each cylinder with a volume of 365 cc from which the model gets its name.

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To optimise the weight balance and handling the gearbox is mounted as part of a transaxle just in front of the rear wheels.

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As one would of expect of a vehicle this cool to look at it has performance to match being capable of reaching 60 mph from rest in 5.4 seconds with a top speed of 174 mph.

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Competition versions of the 365 GTB/4 run by privateers with up to 450 hp counted amongst their successes a GT class winning 5th overall at Le Mans in 1971 along with GT Class wins in the same race in ’72, ’73, and ’74 scoring 1st to 5th in class in ’72, and five years after production of the model had ceased an amazing 2nd overall in the Daytona 24 hour race.

Dan Gurney and Brock Yates also drove a 365 GTB/4 2,876 miles from New York to Los Angeles averaging 80.1 mph to win the inaugural Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in 1971.

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It is thought just 1,406 of these cars designed by Leonardo Fiorvanti of Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti including 122 Spiders and 15 lightweight competition vehicles. The high desirability of the rare Spiders has led to several Berlinetta models being converted and several companies have made Spider replicas with a variety of engines.

The 365GTB/4 was replaced by the rear engined 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s Outlaw Racer edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Rained Off – Eagle Offenhauser 7400

As I mentioned yesterday the 1975 Indianapolis was won by Bobby Unser and today thanks to photo’s by Ed Arnaudin we can have a look at the #48 Eagle Offy 7400 driven by Bobby Unser, seen starting on the outside of the front row with #20 Gordon Johncock and #14 AJ Foyt on pole, that was declared the winner after 174 of the scheduled 200 laps.

1975 Indy 500

All American Racers which manufactured Eagle racing cars was set up initially by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby to tackle the World Championship Grand Prix circuit and the US Champ Car and Sportscar circuits in 1964.

In 1967 Dan Gurney won the Belgian Grand Prix in an Eagle Weslake Mk 1, also known as T1G, run by the firms UK based satellite team known as Anglo American Racers. The following year Bobby Unser won the Indy 500 in an Eagle chassis.

Upon retiring from the cockpit Dan Gurney bought Shelby out and in 1973 Gordon Johncock in an Eagle run by Pat Patrick was declared winner of the tragic rain shortened race, in which his team mate Swede Savage suffered injuries from which he would later die and a member of his pit crew was fatally struck in pit road by a fire truck going the wrong way down pit road to attend to the Savage incident.

Eagle Offenhaser 7400, Indy 500

By 1975 McLaren also with two Indy 500 wins were regularly challenging Eagle for overall supremacy on the USAC Champcar Circuit and this would prove to be the third and final Indy 500 victory for the Eagle marque.

It transpires that the Eagle chassis type numbering system is worthy of a large dense volume all of it’s own, however to the best of my knowledge the winning car that Bobby Unser car drove is a type 7400, if a chassis number becomes known to me I’ll add it below.

Bobby Unser is part of one US Racing’s elite families, he and his younger brother Al Snr competed on the Champ Car circuit in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Bobby known as the ‘undisputed King of Pikes Peak’, counts among his many success 13 Pikes Peak hill climb victories, 8 of them in a ten year period, the ’68 and ’74 USAC Champ Car championships, along with his Indy 500 wins of ’68, ’75 and ’81.

In 1968 Bobby participated in two Grand Prix for BRM, after qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix he flew back to the United States and took part in the Hoosier 100 at Indianapolis, upon his return to Monza with fellow Italian GP qualifier Andretti, they were told that the rules forbade drivers to participate in 2 races less than 24 hours apart.

Eagle Offenhaser 7400, Indy 500

In 1975 Bobby also won the IROC championship to confirm his all round versatility.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s All American Racers edition of getting a lil’ psycho on tyres, and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Taxi Driver – Jim Robbins Eagle Ford T/C Mk 2

Continuing GALPOTS potted history of the Indianapolis 500 Ed’s photos shown here today were taken in 1969, when Ed Arnaudin took the opportunity to get good and close to the Jim Robbins team again.

Indy69 001s

The driver of the #67 Eagle Ford is Lee Roy Yarbrough, not related to Cale Yarborough, from Jacksonville, Florida.

Lee Roy is said to have won his first race at 19 at a local dirt track and progressed through the NASCAR Sportsman Division with 11 wins and onto Modifieds where he won 83 features in 3 years.

On reaching the top Grand National Division, today called Sprint Cup he won 14 races from 198 starts over 12 years. His best season was 1969 7 wins, including Darlington, Charlotte and both races at Daytona, from 31 starts in the seasons 54 races. Many retirements due to engine failure kept him out of the title hunt won by David Pearson.

Lee Roy made just three starts in the ‘Indy 500’ in ’67 ’69 and ’70 his best finish was in 1970 when he completed 107 laps and retired with turbo failure and was classified in 19th place.

His career, as were several others,was adversely affected by the withdrawal of Ford from competition and Yabrough disappeared from NASCAR after failing to secure a ride for the Daytona 500 in 1973, he was eventually admitted to a mental hospital where a fall inflicted a fatal traumatic brain injury aged 46.

#67 Lee Roy Yarbrough 1969s

Jim Robbins turned up at the Brickyard in 1969 with three vehicles the #10 and #27 Vollstedts and the #67 Eagle Ford Mk 2, seen here, a design inspired by UK free lance design consultant Len Terry. This vehicle appears to be one of several built in 1968, though at this stage I do not know it’s exact history prior to the 1969 race.

After Denny Zimmerman failed to get the #67 up to speed in 1969 Lee Roy Yarbrough moved over from his ride in the #27 Vollstedt to qualify 8th for the Indy 500, during the race a turbo pipe broke sending him into retirement and a final classification of 23rd.

Indy69 008s

All of Jim Robbins 1969 entries were powered by turbocharged Ford engines, a turbocharger had first been used at Indy in 1952 on the Cummins Diesel.

With the arrival of the normally aspirated 4,195 cc / 255 cui Ford V8’s in 1963, several Offenhauser powered teams turned to supercharging smaller 2,752 cc / 168 cui motors to remain competitive in 1965, following the lead set by Novi some years earlier.

A couple of Offenhauser powered vehicles had mechanically more efficient turbochargers fitted to these smaller motors in place of the superchargers in 1966. Bobby Unser drove his Eagle Offy to the first turbocharged victory at Indianapolis in 1968.

In 1969 Ford also went the smaller capacity turbocharged route and only three cars in the 33 car field of ’69 did not have smaller 168 cui engines with turbochargers fitted.

Note how the large turbocharger air intake on the left rear of the #67 is rearward facing so as to avoid the problems experienced by the Cummins Diesel turbocharger in 1952 which sucked up so much debris from its front facing turbo air intake that the turbines terminally failed on lap 40.

I’d like to thank Steve Arnaudin for scanning today’s photographs and Amphicar at The Nostalgia Forum for his help in identifying the car.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Len Terry inspired edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you’ll join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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