Tag Archives: Donington Park Museum

Sig. Nuvolari’s Replacement – Maserati 8CM #3018

On the 9th of July 1933 Tazio Nuvolari made his Maserati debut at the Belgium Grand Prix driving a Maserati 8CM chassis #3007. He continued to race the #3007, scoring two more wins, at Ciano and Nice in 1933, until mid way through 1934 when he broke his leg in it at Alexandria.

Maserati 8CM, Donington Park Museum

By June 1934 Maserati had supplied Tazio with today’s featured 8CM chassis #3018 which he drove in the Eifel GP at the Nurburgring where he retired. Two more retirements followed until he scored a 4th place finish in the 1934 German Grand Prix which was followed by successive 3rd and 2nd place finishes at Vivorno and Pescara respectively.

In August 1934 the original 3 litre / 183 cui 8 cylinder motor was replaced with a 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui 6 cylinder unit for voiturette races, making the car the first Maserati 6CM a full 18 months before the 6CM went into production in 1936. Tazio drove #3018 in voiturette spec to victories in the at Modena and Naples.

Tom Wheatcroft founder of the Donington Park Museum where the car is seen here owned the car for over thirty years before he passed away in 2009.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sig. Nuvolari’s Replacement” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will return tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Bugatti built for royalty. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Stop Gap – Williams Cosworth FX3B #FX3/2

Sunday’s for November will feature a few more Formula One Cars from the 1973 season, the season during which my interest in Motor Sport became a passion.

Today’s featured car the Williams Cosworth FX3 was designed in 1971 by Len Bailey who after working for British Motor Corporation, Daimler and Rover emigrated to the USA where he worked for American Motors on their first V8 and Ford on the prototype Mustang. Len returned to the UK with Ford Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) and worked on the original Ford GT Le Mans contenders and after SVO was taken over by JW Automotive he worked on the design of several mostly Ford powered prototype sports cars including the Ford P68 and later Mirage M6 both of which were powered by the Cosworth designed, Ford financed DFV.

Williams Cosworth FX3/2, Donington Park Museum

Williams had intended for the Len Bailey designed car to be built and running in 1971 but a shortage of funds meant the car was not ready until the 1972 British Grand Prix by which time Williams had done a deal with Politoys to call the car the Politoys FX3.

Williams Cosworth FX3/2, Donington Park Museum

1972 Le Mans winner Henri Pescarolo qualified the Frank Williams Racing Cars entered Politoys 26th on it’s debut at the 1972 British Grand Prix but retired after 7 laps due to a suspension failure which caused an accident from which Henri emerged unscathed.

Williams Cosworth FX3/2, Donington Park Museum

The Politoys was repaired in time for Chris Amon to drive it in the non championship John Player Challenge Trophy for which he qualified 20th but retired after 33 laps with engine failure.

Williams Cosworth FX3/2, Donington Park Museum

For 1973 Frank Williams did deals with Iso Rivolta and Marlboro for the 1973 season and his cars became known as Iso Marlboro Fords. For the start of the 1973 season the 1972 Politoys FX3 was upgraded to B specification with a shovel like nose replacing the winged original and a second car, the one featured today, was built up to join it though both cars known as Iso Marlboro Ford FX3B’s would only remain legal until the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix when new rules concerning fuel tank safety would make them both obsolete.

Williams Cosworth FX3/2, Donington Park Museum

Howden Ganley drove today’s featured car, seen at the Donington Park Museum, in five races 2 of which were non championship events with a best result of 7th in the 1973 Brazilian Grand Prix. Tony Trimmer scored the models best in period result at Brands Hatch where he finished 4th in the non championship Race of Champions watched by a 14 year old who became the author of today’s piece.

For the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix Williams had 3 new cars built to meet the new safety requirements that were designed by John Clarke with IR model numbers.

Today’s featured car was next seen racing on two occasions in Formula Libre events at Mallory Park in 1983 powered by a Formula 5000 motor and driven by Alistair Thompson to 2nd place and 4th place finishes. Later still a Ford Cosworth DFV was refitted to #FX3/2 the car was raced by Richard Peacock.

After spending much of the 1990’s in Italy it would appear that #FX3/2 is currently being offered for sale by Hall & Hall in Bourne, Lincolnshire.

My thanks to everyone who contributed to the Williams FX3B thread at The Nostalgia Forum for additional information relating to today’s post.

Thanks for joining me on today’s “Stop Gap” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be returning to the Monday Pick Up feature. Don’t forget to come back now !

Errata, my thanks to Tim Murray for pointing out it was Len Bailey who designed the Williams FX3 not Len Terry as originally stated and subsequently corrected. Apologies for any confusion.

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Abundant Noise – MATRA MS11

Last Tuesday I looked at the prototype Ford Cosworth powered MATRA MS9 Primer Car driven by Jackie Stewart for the Ken Tyrrell run Matra International team in the 1968 South African Grand Prix.

MATRA MS11, Donington Park Museum

This weeks car is the MATRA V12 powered MATRA MS 11 run by the works MATRA Sport team, what turned out to be the second prong of MATRA’s bid to win the World Constructors Championship in 1968.

MATRA MS11, Donington Park Museum

The Ford powered MS 10 and MS 11 had similar chassis however unlike the Ford DFV V8 the MATRA V12 was not a stressed member of the chassis meaning that the V12 was carried on a separate subframe for which two pontoons were built behind the rear chassis bulkhead as had been used on the 1967 MS7 Formula 2 car.

MATRA MS11, Donington Park Museum

Jean Pierre Beltoise was chosen to drive the car initially and he was joined later in the season by Henri Pescarolo in a second MS11 for the last three races of the season.

MATRA MS11, Donington Park Museum

The 390hp 60° V12 features 4 valves per cylinder and double over head camshafts per bank that are driven by a train of straight cut gears from the front. Disappointingly the V12 could not match the horsepower of the Ford Cosworth DFV first seen in 1967.

MATRA MS11, Donington Park Museum

The elaborate exhausts are said to make “abundant noise” described as either music or a shriek depending on your tastes when mechanical mayhem is unleashed.

MATRA MS11, Donington Park Museum

Beltoise tried the MS11 at the ’68 Spanish Grand but ended up driving Jackie Stewarts Cosworth V8 powered Matra MS10, in which he finished 5th, after the Scot had damaged his wrist ligaments in an earlier Formula 2 race.

Beltoise gave the MS11 it’s debut race at the following Monaco Grand Prix where he retired with bent suspension having qualified 8th 6 places behind the Ford powered MS10 which was now driven by Johnny Servoz Gavin, who also retired with accident damage.

The MS11’s best result came in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix where Beltoise qualified 16th 11 places behind Jackie Stewart’s MS 10 and ended up finishing 2nd over 30 seconds behind the Scotsman on the occasion of MATRA’s first Formula One Championship win.

The MS11 never did beat the Cosworth powered MS10 in qualifying and in the races only beat the Ford powered car when it lasted longer. Henri Pescarolo’s best result in his MS11 was 9th in Mexico.

At the end of the 1968 season MATRA CEO Jean-Luc Lagardère made the wise choice to drop the V12, pending future development, and the works team and put all of it’s efforts behind Jackie Stewart and the Ford Powered MATRA run by Ken Tyrrell’s MATRA International that I’ll be looking at next Tuesday.

Thanks for joining me on this “Abundant Noise” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at the weekends Goodwood Festival Of Speed. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Third Time Lucky – McLaren Ford M7A

After the disappointments of the Ford Indy derived V8 and Serenissima V8 used in the 1966 McLaren M2B, the interim BRM V8 Formula 2 based McLaren M4B and BRM V12 powered M5A of 1967 Bruce Mclaren bought 5 Ford Cosworth DFV motors for the 1968 season which were used as in the integral structure of the McLaren M7A designed by Robin Herd, Gordon Coppuck and Bruce himself.

McLaren M7A, Donington Park Museum

The M7A’s and 3 derivatives, M7B, M7C, and Alfa Romeo powered M7D were entered by the works team from 1968 to 1970. For 1968 the works Formula One McLaren’s were sponsored  by Shell while the McLaren Can Am Cars were sponsored by Gulf.

McLaren M7A, Donington Park Museum

Reigning World Champion Denny Hulme left Brabham to join McLaren in 1968 and on the M7A’s debut at the non Championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch Bruce came first and team mate Denny Third. The M7A’s came in first and second at the non Championship International Trophy at Silverstone with Denny Hulme came edging the team founder.

McLaren M7A, Donington Park Museum

On their third championship appearance, after Spain and Monaco, Bruce McLaren became the second man to win a Grand Prix bearing his own name crossing the line first to win the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix. It would prove to be his forth and final Grand Prix victory.

McLaren M7A, Donington Park Museum

Denny Hulme won the Italian and Canadian Grand Prix towards the end of the season and finished third in the World Drivers Championship behind Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart, Bruce finished fifth in points standings. McLaren finished second in the constructors Championship behind Lotus but ahead of the Ken Tyrrell entered Matra driven by Jackie Stewart all three constructors used Ford Cosworth DFV motors.

McLaren M7A, Donington Park Museum

In 1969 Bruce only drove an M7A in South Africa where he finished fifth before focusing on the M7C, which will be the subject of a future blog, which featured a more substantial monocoque. Denny meanwhile continued driving the M7A throughout the 1969 season winning the season finale in Mexico. Denny finished the season 6th in points with Bruce 3rd, the Mclaren team finished 4th and last of the Ford Cosworth DFV powered teams in the constructors championship.

The M7B fitted with outrigged panier fuel tanks made only one works championship appearance at the 1969 South African Grand Prix where Bruce Mclaren finished 5th. He later sold the car to Colin Crabbe who’s Antique Automobiles team entered it in four races for Vic Elford who finished a best fifth in the 1969 Dutch Grand Prix.

In 1970 McLaren adapted an M7 to take a non stressed Alfa Romeo V8 which became known as the M7D the car recorded three DNQ’s, did not qualify, a not classified finish in France and a DNS, did not start, in the 1970 British Grand Prix. After the first four events Nanni Galli took over the M7D from Andrea de Adamich, recording the cars third DNQ at the Italian Grand Prix.

Privately entered M7A were driven in three races by Dan Gurney for All American Racers in 1968, best finish forth in the US Grand Prix, and Basil van Rooyen for Team Lawson in the 1969 South African Grand Prix where he retired with brake problems after completing 12 laps.

Thanks for joining me on this “Third Time Lucky” edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

06/07/13 Errata as Tim has pointed out below Bruce finished the 1960 season second in the World Drivers Championship and so his 3rd place in points in 1969 did not equal his career best as originally stated. Apologies for any confusion.

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The Kiwi Bear Corrections – McLaren Offy M15

Firstly a big thanks to racer Jerry Entin who kindly corrected a blog I posted a couple of years ago about Denis Hulme’s participation in the 1970 Indy 500 and has kindly sent some additional photo’s from the IMS Archive to complete the story.

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

For 1970 Bruce McLaren had Gordon Coppock design the first McLaren Indy 500 challenger, above the #73 McLaren Offy M15 is seen in the Indy pit lane with Denny at the wheel, Tyler Alexander crouched beside him and Teddy Mayer with clip board on the pit wall. Jerry tells me the little guy in the back ground is Chickie Hirashima a well known crew chief and Offy engine builder.

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

The turbocharged Offenhauser’s that McLaren used were prepared by George Bolthoff (R) with help from the legendary Herb “Herbie Horsepower” Porter (L) of Speedway Engines.

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Steve Arnaudin Copyright Ed Arnaudin 1970

Ed Arnaudin’s photo above show’s New Zealander Denny taking part in practice,

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

his team mate in the #75 McLaren Offy M15 was to have been fellow New Zealander Chris Amon with whom team owner Bruce McLaren had won the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours driving a Ford GT40.

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

Team owner Bruce McLaren, seen above squatting next to Denny, had tested the #79 M15 making a big impression driving in convoy with his #73 and #75 entries on the opening day of practice for the 1970 Indy 500 and Denny was to shake down the #79 back up car to cover all eventualities.

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

However the #79 developed a methanol fuel leak,

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

which caught fire, the only evidence of the fire in the photo above is the clearly visible heat haze above the far front wheel as Denny prepares to jump and roll away from his car which was still traveling at 70 mph.

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

Denny received severe burns to his hands which forced him to miss the Indy 500 and the next two Grand Prix however within a month he was back behind of the wheel of his McLaren Chevrolet M8D Can Am car winning the series with six race victories, a string of three third place finishes also helped Denny secure 4th place in the world drivers championship all while his hands were still healing.

McLaren Offy M15, Indy 500

Photo Courtesy Jerry Entin and IMS Archive 1970

Teddy Mayer engaged Peter Revson to replace Denny in the #73 for the Indy 500, Peter qualified 16th but retired and was classified 22nd.

McLaren Offy M15, Donington Park Museum

On seeing the extent of his countryman Denny’s injuries Chris Amon was not impressed with the Indy safety facilities and withdrew from the race.

McLaren Offy M15, Donington Park Museum

Chris’s place in the #75 was taken by Carl Williams who qualified 19th and brought the car home 8th to record McLaren’s first finish in the Indy 500. The teams next design the M16 would become the class of the field in early 1970’s taking wins with Mark Donohue driving in 1972 and Johnny Rutherford in 1974 and 1976.

McLaren Offy M15, Donington Park Museum

However team owner Bruce McLaren would not see any of these success he was killed a couple of days after the 1970 Indy 500 testing a McLaren Chevrolet M8D Can Am car at Goodwood. Team manager Teddy Mayer took over the running of the Bruce’s legacy which is now the second oldest team in Grand Prix racing behind Ferrari.

My thanks to Jerry Entin, IMS Archive, Ed and Steve Arnaudin who made today’s blog possible and apologies for any confusion caused by getting the car Denny was driving when he got injured wrong in the original post.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Kiwi Bear Corrections” 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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Pete Aron’s Yamura – McLaren Ford M2B

With the decline in fortunes of the Cooper Car Companies Grand Prix program, for which he had been driving since his arrival in Formula One in 1958, Bruce McLaren decided that with the success of his McLaren M1 sports cars he could follow his former mentor Jack Brabham, who left Cooper to build his own Formula One cars in 1962, and start his own Grand Prix team in time for the new 3 litre / 183 cui regulations which came into effect in 1966.

Through 1965 McLaren built and extensively tested the M2A which was designed by Robin Herd and fitted with a 4.5 litre / 274.5 Oldsmobile V8 from the McLaren M1 program.

McLaren Ford M2B, Donington Park Museum

The monococoque of the McLaren M2A made extensive use of compressed balsa wood sandwiched between thin sheets of aluminium called Malite which made the monocoque much stiffer than a conventional monocoque as had been successfully used in the Lotus 25 and it’s successor the Lotus 33.

However Malite proved to be difficult to work with and repair and so for the McLaren M2B the use of Malite was restricted to the inner skins and upper surfaces of the monocoque which still offered significant advantages to the stiffness of the structure.

McLaren Ford M2B, Donington Park Museum

Originally the M2B was powered by a V8 motor derived from Ford’s Indy programme, but this proved way to heavy allegedly when connected to the gearbox the whole power train weighed as much as some rivals entire cars, while later on a much lighter and less powerful Serenissima motor was also tried.

The two engines are easily distinguished the Indy derived Ford has exhausts between the Vee formed by the eight cylinders as seen here and the Serenissima had more conventional side exhausts.

McLaren Ford M2B, Donington Park Museum

Bruce McLaren made 4 starts in the M2B, after retiring at Monaco he realised the Ford based motor needed less weight and more power so he secured the use of the Serenissima’s as an interim measure. At the British Grand Prix Bruce scored his first World Championship point in a car bearing his own name. By the US Grand Prix improved Ford based motors were back from Traco and Bruce came in 5th, before retiring at the Mexican Grand Prix which closed the season.

Although the season was a failure the team learned from their mistakes and made do with BRM 2 litre / 122 cui V8 motors for 1967 before becoming one of the three teams using the Ford Cosworth DFV, alongside Lotus and Tyrrell in 1968.

The white and green colour scheme of the M2B is said to have been mandated by a deal between Bruce and the producers of the John Frankenheimer’s film “Grand Prix” which required the McLaren M2B to look like the fictional Japanese “Yamura” which James Garners character Pete Aron drove to a championship win in the film.

Thanks for joining me me on this Malite Monocoque 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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