Tag Archives: Drake

Pursuing The Unfair Advantage – Penske Cosworth PC3

After Mark Donohue drove his Penske PC1 to a 5th place finish in the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix Roger Penske, forever pursuing an unfair advantage, gave Geoff Ferris the go ahead to build a new car and ordered a March 751 for Mark to drive in the interim.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic

Mark finished 5th from 15th on the grid in the March on it’s debut at the 1975 British Grand Prix, retired with a damaged tyre on lap 1 of the German Grand Prix and then succumbed to injuries received from an accident during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic

Skipping the Italian Grand Prix Penske returned to the fray at the 1975 United States with today’s featured car the Penske PC3 chassis #PC3/01 and John Watson as his new driver.

Penske PC3, Chris Drake, Silverstone Classic

With it’s shovel nose the 3 litre / 183 cui Cosworth V8 powered PC3 bears some resemblance to the March 751 which Mark crashed in Austria however it retained the rear suspension layout of the PC1, and was, aside from it’s tall airbox, fully compliant with new regulations that would be mandated from May 1976.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

John qualified 12th for the 1975 US Grand Prix, but after a misfire was detected swapped over to take the start of the race in the older PC1 in which he finished 9th.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

#PC3/01 was raced on four occasions in 1976 with John scoring the models best finish in South Africa with a fifth place finish from 3rd on the grid.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic

But even as the team was celebrating it’s improved qualifying form Geoff was working away on the new PC4 which made it’s debut at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix.

Unlike #PC3/01 the second PC3 #PC3/02, in which John retired from each of his three starts, was immediately sold on and had a second career in the 1976 and 1977 British Shellsport Group 8 Championships, Derek Bell drove the car to a win at Oulton Park in April 1977.

Today’s featured car is seen at a recent Silverstone Classic meeting with Chris Drake at the wheel.

Thanks for joining me on this “Pursuing The Unfair Advantage” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Volvo powered Marcos. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Maserati Monday – Maserati 250F 2507/23/22

I thought it would be fun to give the pick ups, commercial and agricultural vehicles that have been a feature of Monday’s posts and restyle the day Maserati Monday, bookend the working week with two Italian marques can’t be bad, can it ?

Of the seven World Drivers Championship era’s perhaps the most romanticised is the 3rd from 1954 to 1960 when the rules mandated 2.5 litre / 152.5 cui motors to replace the 2 litre / 122 cui Formula 2 motors that had been used to determine the 1952 and 1953 World Drivers Championships.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

If one car epitomises the era more than other then it is the Maserati 205F versions which took part in the very first and very last championship race of the era winning the first the 1954 Argentinian Grand Prix in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and being long since surpassed by the rear engined cars from Cooper and Lotus when Robert Drake soldiered away to a 13th place finish in his Joe Lubin entered 250F, 7 laps down on the winning Lotus Climax driven by Stirling Moss in the last race of the 2.5 litre era the 1960 US Grand Prix.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

Apart from the 8 World Championship Grand Prix won by 250F variants, bettered only by Mercedes Benz with nine victories, while the 250F clocked up an unequaled 23 non championship Formula One race victories in the same era.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

Most of the twenty six 250F’s built led hard racing lives and consequently have complicated histories today’s featured car #2507 is no exception having originally been bought by Gilbey Engineering for Roy Salvadori to drive in 1954. Roy one a non championship race at Snetterton with the car and scored many other podium placings before he crashed at Oulton Park which led to the car being returned to the Maserati factory for repairs.

Maserati 250F, Albuquerque, Test Day, Mallory Park

Maserati replaced the chassis of 2507 and sent it back to Gilbey Engineering an now it get’s complicated, the Gilbey car was eventually retired after Ivor Beub had raced it, but the damaged Gilbey chassis was repaired and given a new identity #2523 for the 1956 season in which Bristol’s Horace Gould drove the car in the Belgian Grand Prix and Piero Taruffi in the French, on each occasion it retired.

Maserati 250F, Test Day, Mallory Park

In 1957 #2523 was rebodied and given a the identity #2522 and from then until 1959 it was driven by a dozen different drivers, including Taruffi, Gould, Harry Schell, Masten Gregory, Ivor Bueb, Hans Herrmann, Joakim Bonnier, Wolfgang Seidel, Carroll Shelby, Cliff Allison, Hernando da Silva Ramos and Fritz d’Orey of which Harry Schell scored the best result a second place in the non championship 1957 Grand Prix de Pau.

By 1960 #2507/23/22 had been shipped to Brazil Gino Munaron raced it at least once before selling it on, eventually the car was fitted with a Chevrolet V8 before being brought back to Europe by Colin Crabbe in 1972. The current owner, Jose Albuquerque seen enjoying the car at a Mallory Park test day a couple of years ago, acquired #2507/23/22 in 1999.

My thanks to David McKinney, Michael ‘Tuboscocca’ Catsch, John Winfield, Allan Luton and Alan Cox at the Nostalgia Forum for their patience and understanding answering my questions and not least to Tim Murray who kindly lent me a copy of David McKinney’s excellent book ‘Maserati 250F‘ which is as good as it get’s in print on the subject of these wonderful cars. New evidence is always being shed on the stories of these cars so if you know different to what is written above, please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Thanks for joining me on this “Maserati Monday” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be starting the first in a series of Bugatti blogs. Don’t forget to come back now !

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FI = 1 H.P. per CU. IN. x 283 – Chevrolet Corvette C1

With the arrival of the enthusiastic Zora Arkus-Duntov in GM’s engineering department, the famous Chevrolet small block in the engine bay and some competition in the form of the Ford Thunderbird, Chevrolet ramped up it’s commitment to building and American sports car in 1956 by replacing the first iteration of the Corvette which was considered low on performance, high on water leaks into the cockpit and less than a true sports car.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

Banished for ever in 1956 was the 155 hp triple carburetor Blue Flame six cylinder engine, the Corvette from 1956 on was strictly a V8 powered vehicle.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

For ’56 there was all new bodywork, replacing the first generations body that was close to the original concept Corvette first seen in 1953.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

The bold sculpted sides behind the front wheels really helped the second iteration two tone Corvette stand out from the crowd.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

As did the faux air scoops on the front wing/fender.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

There was a hard top hood option and the much improved soft top had a power assisted option as did the roll up glass window’s.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

The three speed manual transmission became standard but the, inferior performance wise, Powerglide automatic remained an option. The cockpit controls fittings and instrumentation of the ’56 and ’57 ‘vettes remained similar to the original Corvette cockpit.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

Following in the footsteps of 1953 Gutbrod and the 1954 Mercedes Benz 300SL in 1957 the GM Rochester constant flow fuel injection was an option for the Corvettes small block V8. This innovation while not widely taken up, 1040 FI units were sold, took the power up to 290 hp, however for marketing purposes the car was said to have 1 hp for every one of of the small block V8’s 283 cubic inches.

Chevrolet Corvette, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

Thanks to Zora Arkus-Duntov ’57 Corvettes could be ordered with ready to race options including the fuel injection, heavy duty suspension and if the advertising is to be believed even the power windows were said to be lighter than the manual window mechanisms.

Among the race outright Corvette winners in 1956 were Bob Stonedale, Mansfield, Bark Henry, Road America, Bill Pollack, Buchanan Field, Robert Bennet, Mansfield and most successful of all in ’56 was Dick Thompson who won at Beverly, Seafair, Thompson CT, and Palm Springs.

In 1957 Corvette drivers winning outright are known to have included Ruben Ciriacks and Peter Talbot at Hawaii, Ned Yarter at Willow Springs and Bakersfield, Jerry Parsons at Smartt Field, Bob Drake, Santa Barbra, Dick Thompson, Cumberland, Eagle Mountain, Marlboro, Viginia, Road America, Bob Byrd, John Masterson and Lloyd Gray at Cotati, Jim Jeffords, Milwaukee, Lloyd Porter at Bakersfield, Bark Henry, Lime Rock and Montgomery, Dean McCarthy, Watkins Glen, Jerry Austin, Pomona, Santa Barbra, Riverside, Palm Springs and Paramount Ranch, Bob Bent Cotati and Arcata, Leonard Butscher, Thompson CT, Fred Windridge, Watkins Glen and Bridgehampton, Dan Gurney at Riverside, John Wood, Willow Springs, H. C. Hoppe (Ladies Races) Bakersfield, Willow Springs and Orange County, Hugh Woods and Cal Bailey at Hourglass Field, Jack Bates and Frank Cairns at Pomona, John Voevodsky and Bill Moore at Phoenix and finally Elgin Holmes who won at Willow Springs and Orange County.

With Duntov’s vision the American sports car had finally arrived.

Thanks for joining me on this “FI = 1 H.P. per CU. IN. x 283” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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