Tag Archives: Field

MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally – Brands Hatch

After dropping off a nurse around 5am at a hospital in Plymouth a couple of weeks ago I got it into my head that I could just about make it home to Bristol swap my ambulance for my car and make it to Brands Hatch which was hosting the MGJ Engineering Winter Stage Rally in time for the 10:30 am start.

Ford Focus 05 WRC, Nigel Mummery, Fiona Scarrett, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

Despite the fact that it rained almost the entire 276 miles I made it just in time to see the #9 Ford Focus 05 WRC crewed by Nigel Mummery and Fiona Scarrett make a bit of a hash of the Druids Hairpin, which was being used in the opposite direction normally used circuit racing, on their way to a 35th place finish.

Darrian T9, Jeremy Straker, Simon May, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

As on the Brean Stages Rally a week earlier a Darrian T9 was present, in this case driven by Jeremy Straker with co driver Simon May seen above from the inside of Druids hairpin on their way to 64th place, last but one.

Peugeot 206, Mike Askew, James Baggott, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

The #49 Peugeot 206 crewed by Mike Askew and James Baggott is seen above under steering off track limits coming up Graham Hill Bend on it’s way to a 53rd place finish.

Nissan Micra, Matt / Suze Endean, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

I first came across Muriel the 1994 Nissan Micra at last years Autosport International and then again at the Hullavington Sprint, here she is again with Matt and Suze Endean aboard on her way to a 40th place finish, 2nd in Class A.

Subaru Impreza Wagon, Gary / Tom Bollands, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

Regular readers will know that I am a huge wagon fan (is anything that cannot accommodate a lawn mower in the back really a car ?) so I always back anybody driving a Subaru Impreza Wagon like the example driven, off track limits between the end of a stage and time control above, by Gary and Tom Bollands on their way to 44th place overall.

Ferrari 308 Michelotto Gr.4, Neil McMahon, Dave Mellett, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

There were two Ferrari’s on the rally, organised by Chelmsford Motor Club, above the example driven by Neil McMahon and Dave Mellett is seen opposite locking it’s way to a 55th place finish.

MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

Despite the cars being started at 30 second intervals things got a bit hectic among the lower order runners, above the #69 Peugeot of 50th place finishers Trevor and Louise Gilks made a mess of the first corner of the Rally School section of a stage in front of the #73 Subaru Impreza crewed by Chris Surman and Adam Quinn which finished 48th and the second Ferrari 308 GTB crewed by Kevin and Lee Jones which was disqualified for transgressing Regulation 24.4.5 which is not known to me at this time.

Ford Escort Mk2, James Sharrock, Stuart Faulds, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

James Sharrock and Stuart Faulds piloted their #6 Ford Escort Mk2 to a fine 3rd overall behind the 2nd placed Darrian T90 GTR driven by Ashley Field and Ryan Vickers.

Peugeot 306 Maxi, Chris West, Steve McNulty, MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally, Brands Hatch

The winning #3 Peugeot 306 Maxi is seen above heading through the paddock crewed by Chris West and Steve McNulty.

The final rounds of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship will be at Anglesey Circuit on March 20th, Cadwell Park on April 10th and Snetterton on a date in May to be confirmed.

Thanks for joining me on this “MGJ Engineering Winter Stages Rally” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another competition Camaro, don’t forget to come back now !

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MK IV Details – UK MKIVS Megameet

For those like me who chose to live a no budget life style running a vehicle is made a lot easier thanks to owners forums.

UK MKIVs Megameet

Soon after acquiring my Golf Mk IV a couple of years ago one of it’s tailgate struts started to come adrift and when I checked on the internet how I might fix it I stumbled on the UK MKIVs Forum which provided the answer.

Volkswagen Golf Mk IV, UK MKIVs Megameet

A couple of month’s ago I revisited the site to get some advice on brakes and noticed that a couple of members were organising a Megameet at Frankies Field, Grendon Lakes, Northamptonshire at the friendly price of completely free and managed to get to the last day of the meeting which included a show and shine competition and a game of cricket, above winner of the best engine bay award was “tolucophoto”.

Volkswagen Bora, UK MKIV's Megameet

Deleting door handles is one way to make ones car more aerodynamically efficient, apparently to open the doors on this Bora one has to press a button below the door mirror.

Volkswagen Golf Mk IV, UK MKIVs Megameet

Above a 2003 R32, one of each of the original four colours was present reflects a couple of fluffy white clouds.

Volkswagen Golf Mk IV, UK MKIVs Megameet

If you want to get down you need to ride on air, one day I hope to check out just how good the ride really is.

Volkswagen Golf Mk IV, UK MKIVs Megameet

All too soon the cricket was over, I never broke my duck in three innings nor did I make a catch, and the prizes had been awarded and it was time to say good bye, I look forward to returning to next years event when I hope to make a weekend of it.

More pics of the event on these links from dan Ward and LTgoodevil, my thanks to our hosts Dan and Royce.

Thanks for joining me on this “MK IV Details” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an easy to replicate, yet difficult to authenticate special edition. Don’t forget to come back now !

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’64 TdF Class Winner – Triumph Spitfire

To keep development costs down the Triumph Spitfire was based on the Triumph Herald chassis and running gear and like the Herald the bodywork was designed by Giovanni Michelotti.

Despite the unrivaled demand for British Sports cars it was a sign of the times that Triumph had to wait until it merged with Leyland before the Triumph Spitfire 4, later known as the Spitfire Mk1 could go into production in 1962.

Triumph Spitfire, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

For the 1964 season Triumph built four Spitfires in pale blue for the works and one in pale green for Stirling Moss to take part in tarmac based rallies alongside the four green Spitfires built for endurance racing at Le Mans.

Stirling Moss entered his light green Spitfire for his secretary Valerie Pirie in five events of which she only recorded a finish on the 1965 Tulip Rally.

Triumph Spitfire, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Of the rally cars today’s featured car ADU 7B was the most successful having taken part in 5 events from ’64 to ’65.

Rob Slotemaker and Terry Hunter won their class driving ADU 7B on the 1964 Tour de France and Terry Hunter drove with P Lier in the co drivers seat of ADU 7B to finish second overall and first in class on the 1964 Geneva Rally.

Triumph Spitfire, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

In 1965 an additional left hand drive Spitfire was built for Finish works driver Simo Lampinen.

It is believed ADU 7B is the only survivor of the series of Spitfires built for rallying.

Triumph Spitfire, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Mark Field of Jigsaw who was responsible for the recreation of the ADU 1B Le Mans racer found ADU 7B and restored it to it’s current condition which included returning the steering wheel to right where it had been when used by the Triumph works.

Thanks for joining me on this ” ’64 TdF Class Winner” 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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White Yellow Red – Triumph Spitfire #ADU1B

The Triumph Spitfire GT Coupé was originally concieved by Giovani Michelotti and Triumph in 1963 as a Coupé concept version of the 4 cylinder Triumph Spitfire Roadster. The styling won plenty of kudos, but the Spitfire’s 4 cylinder 1147 cc / 70 cui engine struggled to cope with the extra, steel, body weight.

Triumph Spitfire, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The Triumph racing department saw the advantage of using the sleek GT4 body for it’s upcoming Le Mans programme and grafted fibre glass copies of the fast back roof on to the tuned 1147 cc / 70 cui racers they were building with further body weight saved by using an aluminium bonnet / hood in place of the regular pressed steel item.

Triumph Spitfire, Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

Three Spitfires were entered for the 1964 Le Mans 24 hours in the 3 litre / 183 cui Prototype Class, the #49 bearing the UK licence plate ADU1B and painted with a white nose driven by Mike Rothschild and Bob Tullius qualified 51st but retired on lap 53 after an accident. The #50 bearing the registration ADU2B and painted with a red nose driven by future broadcaster David Hobbs and Rob Slotemaker was the only Spitfire to be classified, 21st from 48th on the grid.

Triumph Spitfire, Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

In 1965 four Spitfires returned to Le Mans. Now competing in the more appropriate 1.15 litre / 70 cui GT Class. Jean – Jaques Thuner and Simo Lampinen driving the #60 registered ADU4B with a Borneo Green nose came home a class winning 13th ahead of the #54 registered ADU3B with a white nose driven by Claude Dubois / Jean-Francois Plot who finished 14th.

Triumph Spitfire, Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

The #53 ADU2B still with a red nose and driven by Bill Bradley and & Peter Bolton retired after six laps with engine failure, while the #52 ADU1B now bearing a yellow nose and driven by David Hobbs and Rob Slotemaker qualified 48th only to retire after an accident on lap 71. The fate of ADU1B is not known to the author at this time, but it is thought the car no longer exists.

Triumph Spitfire, Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

Somewhere around 1990 the owner of today’s featured car Mark Field found a set of four 1960’s old english white painted magnesium alloy wheels being offered for sale at a car boot sale for the price of the tyres mounted on them. Mark established that they came from the works Triumph Spitfire project and soon set about recreating the team car ADU3B which unknown to him at the time still existed in France.

Triumph Spitfire, Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

A suitable donor Spitfire chassis was found and modified in the same way as the original Team cars, the mould for the roof was taken from ADU7B which was used in period as a works rally car. When it became known that ADU3B still existed Mark decided to recreate ADU1B, but with the red nose from ADU2B.

Triumph Spitfire, Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

The car was completed with all the mandatory modern day safety equipment in time for the fortieth anniversary of the Spitfire’s first appearance at Le Mans in 2004 and with sufficient original parts to be awarded it’s FIA papers to race in historic events ADU1B took part in the 2004 Le Mans Classic for the first time. The wheels Mark found in the car boot sale proved not to be suitable for further use and so the same pattern was remanufactured with modern materials to fit modern tyre sizes.

During the process of building the car Mark and his brither Jo set up a Triumph restoration business called Jigsaw and they hope to have two further recreations of the Spitfire team cars ready for this years Le Mans Classic.

Thanks for joining me on this “White Yellow Red” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Maserati Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Thanks for joining me on this “White Yellow Red” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Maserati Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Choices Choices – Simply Italian National Motor Museum Beaulieu

In the interests of keeping my regular Friday readers happy I needed little convincing by GALPOT regular David Roots to forgoe the delights of the Avenue Drivers Club monthly meeting at Queens Square, in order to take a trip to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu for the third Simply Italian parade on Sunday.

Ferrari F40, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

On the way down I passed at several cars making their way to Queens Square, a magnificent Alvis and several other vintage cars taking part in a Vintage Rally, and a number of classic sports cars taking part in a Classic Rally before stumbling accross this F40 as it slowly made it’s way through the achingly picturesque village of Beaulieu, pronounced ‘Bewley’.

Vignale Gamine, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

In the never seen one before category was the Vignale Gamine, one of just 300 vehicles, based on a FIAT 500 platform with a 21 hp 2 cylinder motor. This slow selling Alfredo Vignale pet project led to Carrozeria Vignale going out of business and the production facility being acquired by de Tomaso for their Pantera models.

Lancia Flamina, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

One of my favourite toys when I was not yet six was a Lancia Flamina similar to the 1962 Coupé seen here which had yellow jeweled headlights.

De Tomaso Pantera, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

Appropriately on the other side of the car park to the Vignale Gamine was this de Tomaso Pantera which with it’s Ford motor and running gear has to be one of the most practical and affordable ways of running a genuine Italian super car.

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Balboni, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

Speaking of practical this 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Baldoni, one of just 250 550 hp 200 mph 2 wheel drive super cars with a distinctive white and gold stripe was carrying a child seat on the passenger side. The owner told me he has had the car just nine weeks and in that time has driven it 5000 miles at 25 mpg on the road and as little as 5 mpg on track days. He has also had to replace a set of tyres !

HMS Sultan Field Gun, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

Around lunch time the grounds of the National Motor Museum echoed to the sound of LEFT ! RIGHT ! LEFT ! RIGHT ! LEFT ! RIGHT ! LEFT ! as a squad of 13 field gunners from HMS Sultan ended a 56 mile weekend yomp with a limber and 12 pounder field gun, of the type used during the Boer War, in tow. The gun and breach alone weighs some 400 kgs, nearly 900 lbs ! All of this was to honour the men of 40 Commando in the Falklands Conflict who covered the same distance in 1982 to retake Port Stanley and to raise funds the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity, follow this link to find out more and make a donation.

FIAT Panda 4x4, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

After lunch the results of a public vote for the most popular vehicle present was announced, the 1988 FIAT Panda 4×4 above, which came complete with a fitted tent was awarded a bottle of Beaulieu Bubbly, a local sparkling wine.

Lenham Healey ALFA Romeo Special, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

A well deserved second went to GALPOT regular David Roots and his Lenham based ALFA Romeo 4C Special,

Maserati Merak, Simply Italian, NMM Beaulieu

while most visitors votes went to this Maserati Merak.

My thanks and congratulations to David for telling me about this fabulous event which was interspersed with visits into the National Motor Museum which I shall cover in greater detail on Sunday.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Choices Choices’ 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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1% Efficiency Gain – Porsche 935 K3 #00017

The dominating sports car of the mid 70’s to early 1980’s was the Porsche 935, built for a set of regulations known as Group 5. The 935 was based around the Porsche 911, the works factory team developed three distinct versions in ‘76, ‘77 and ’78 when the Moby Dick version marked the high tide of factory 935 development. Porsche also built a customer version of the 935 the 935/77A.

Meanwhile the Kremer Brothers set about developing their own 935, the K1, based on the Porsche 934 model, that was available for the technically less demanding Group 4 regulations in 1976. In 1977 the Kremer brothers acquired a customer 935 and in 1978 followed their own development path based on the 935/77A to develop the K2.

Porsche 935 K3 #00017, Palo Alto

For 1979 their K3 model featured over 100 detail changes from the standard customer 935 ’77 which included a lighter air to air intercooler in place of the hitherto ubiquitous air to water sytem, composite carbon fibre panels which saved 30 kgs / 62 lbs. The DM 400,000 K3 was thought to have been 1% more efficient than the standard customer 935 ’77 which over an endurance distance of 6, 12 or 24 hours would accrue to a handy advantage.

The K3 scored the 935 models only win at Le Mans in the hands of the Klaus Ludwig and the Whittington Brothers Don and Bill and a string of customers were soon knocking on the Kremer Brothers door in Cologne asking for copies.

Porsche 935 K3 #00017, Palo Alto

It is believed the Kremer Brothers built 13 K3’s and supplied kits to update older 935 models. I have not managed to ascertain if this 935 K3 is one of the Kremer brothers built models or one built up from a kit around a donor car, it carries the paint work of a vehicle belonging to Ted Field that was raced by Ted, Danny Ongias and Milt Minter in the Daytona 24 hours that came in 3rd from 5th on the grid.

Canepa Design are known to have recently restored such a car and if as seems highly probable this is the same vehicle the chassis number of this vehicle is # 00017.

My thanks to URY914 at The Nostalgia Forum for confirming that this car may have been converted to Trans Am spec and entered by John Klug Racing in 1983 and to Geoffey Horton who kindly sent me these photos from Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance.

Thank you for joining me on this Interscope edition of Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, wishing you all a happy bank holiday Monday, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to to come back now !

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