Tag Archives: Gallagher

1967 Clubmans Champion – Chevron B2 #Heerey

One of the great joys of having a collection of photographs that rapidly became so vast there is no chance I will ever be able to write about them all, let alone remember them all, is stumbling across images of vehicles I know a lot more about since the last time I saw them, one such is today’s 1966 Chevron B2 seen in today’s photograph taken by Geoffrey Horton last year at the Sanoma Historics meeting.

Since I last saw this image I have written a little in recent weeks about the Chevron B1 and B2 models.

During the course of looking for information about those two models I found out, thanks to the efforts of Tony “Giraffe” Gallagher some years ago that, today’s featured car was originally owned by Howard Heerey who drove the car to 21 victories in 1967 which was enough to secure the National Clubmans Championship.

Chevron B2, Sonoma Historics

In the late 1960’s John Love of Barnsley and Barry Joel of Sheffield bought the car for £500 each, John eventually bought Barry’s share of the B2 modifying it and racing it to many successes particularly in the Northern Clubmans Championship.

John Love, a distant relative of the South African naturalised Rhodesian Formula One driver of the same name, found this car to be much better handling than his previous Lotus 7 but even with more horsepower was not as quick as the lighter 7.

He retired from racing in 1973 and sold the car to to Vin Malkie, “for peanuts” on the understanding that he would restore it as the historic racing car we see today.

In May 2009 new owner Edward Carden, brother of former Chevron B2 racer John Carden returned to the tracks with the refurbished car at Donington Park since when it has changed roll over bars several times.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing this photograph.

Thanks for joining me on this 1967 Clubmans Champion edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the story of a good samaritan from Nottingham in Scotland.

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No Added Lightness – Chevron B2

After building his first two Chevron cars, retrospectively called B1’s, for clubmans racing in 1965, Derek Bennett and his small team built four more clubmans cars, at his Chorley Old Road premises in Bolton, in 1966 which became known as B2’s.

Chevron B2, Oulton Park,

Three of the B2’s like the two B1’s were originally fitted with 1500 cc / 91.5 cui four cylinder Ford motors while a fourth was fitted with a 1 litre / 61 cui British Motor Corporation (BMC) engine.

B2 drivers included Howard Heerey, John Love in Barnsley, Geoff Temple, Barry Joel, John Carden and his brother Edward Carden who owns one of the B2’s which is now resident in the United States.

In an interview with Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher former B2 owner John Love recalled that the more powerful 120hp B2 was not as quick as his lighter Lotus 7, but that it handled “beautifully”.

Today’s featured car belongs to Vin Malkie owner of Chevron Cars who completed a restoration of the car in 2013.

Thanks for joining me on today’s “No Added Lightness” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again when I’ll be looking at another unloved Lola T400. Don’t forget to come back now !

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King Of Africa – Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64

In 1983 1982 World Rally Champions Audi were still the only team entering 4 wheel drive rally cars for the World Rally Championship, most teams like Lancia and Toyota still had faith that their 2 wheel drive Group B contenders were still the way forward.

Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Towards the end of 1983 Toyota entered it’s 380hp Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64 for the first time for the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland where locals Juha Kankkunen and Staffan Pettersson finished sixth and Swedes Bjorn Waldegård and Hans Thorszelius came home 10th.

Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

A couple of month’s later Bjorn and Hans won the Rallye Côte d’Ivoire on the west coast of Africa which began to cement the Celica TCT as the model was also known as the King Of Africa.

Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo TA64, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Bjorn and Juha would clock up five more African wins up until 1987 2 more on the Rallye Côte d’Ivoire in 1985 and 1986 and trifecta of Safari Rally victories in Kenya from 1984 to 1986, with Bjorn winning in both countries twice.

Special mention should be made of co driver Fred Gallagher who partnered Juha in 1985 and Bjorn in 1986 to win events twice !

Today’s featured TCT is painted up like Bjorn’s 1984 Safari winner registered in Cologne “K UM 210”, but is carrying different number plates.

Thanks for joining me on this “King Of Africa” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the first Japanese Car to win a Formula One Championship Grand Prix. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Light Rally History – Race Retro

Today’s blog features some of the tremendously storied rally cars that appeared at the recent Race Retro exhibition.

Austin Healey 3000 Mk1, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

From 1960 comes this ex BMC works Austin Healey 3000 Mk 1 among it’s achievement’s was a 17th place overall and first in class driven by Pat Moss, Stirling’s younger sister, and Ann Wisdom on the 1961 Tour Of Corsica.

FIAT 131 Abarth, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

When FIAT introduced the 131 Miafiori Abarth in 1977 the company went on a rampage of the World Rally Championship winning the titles in 1977, with the Olio Fiat colours seen here, 1978 and 1980 winning 20 World Championship Rallies over that period, I am not entirely sure of the history of this car registered in Jersey it appears in 1977 colours but with a 1980 head light and grill arrangement.

Ford Escort RS1800, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

The original STW201R a works Ford Escort RS1800 was driven to victory in the 1977 East African Safari Rally by Björn Waldegård and Hans Thorszelius, the car was subsequently handed to Ford Heritage only to loose it’s identity original works colour scheme and be crashed at the hands of a TV Journalist. This car appears to be a replacement painted in the Rothmans Rally Team colours as worn by Ari Vatanen’s cars when he won the World Rally Drivers Championship with Dave Richards in 1981.

Toyota Celica TC, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Björn Waldegård and Hans Thorszelius won the Safari Rally again in 1984 and with Fred Gallagher in 1986 driving the Toyota Celica TC models like the 1986 winner seen here, Finlands Juha Kankkunen with Fred Gallagher in the passenger seat won the Safari Rally in 1985 to make it a hat trick for the rear wheel drive Celica TC model.

Peugeot 309 Gti, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Englands only World Rally Champion Richard Burns drove this Group A front wheel drive Peugeot 309Gti to a 16th place finish with Robert Reid on his second Lombard RAC Rally start in 1991.

Ford Focus WRC, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Finally this 2001 all wheel drive Ford Focus WRC has won four Rallies outright, with Colin McRae winning the 2001 Cyprus and 2002 Acropolis Rallies with Nicky Grist, Jari Matti Latvala the 2003 Tempest Rally with Miikka Anttila and Nejat Avci winning the Pirelli Turkey Rally in 2005 with co driver Memisyazici Batuhan, today this car is owned by Steve Rockingham.

Thanks for joining me on this “Light Rally History” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Oldsmobile Thursday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Theme Lotus – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

On Friday I headed off under grey skies with friends, Tim, Pete and Dave to Goodwood House just outside Chichester for the Festival Of Speed.

AEC Swift, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The featured manufacturer this year was Lotus which was founded 60 years ago by Colin Chapman who’s cars not entirely uncoincidentally are currently also featured every Saturday here at GALPOT. Welcoming us on the way into Goodwood House was this 1967 AEC Swift based transporter used by Gold Leaf Team Lotus from 1967 to 1970 during which period team won two world drivers championships with Graham Hill(’68) and Jochen Rindt (’70) and two world constructors in the same years.

Race Track, Gerry Judah, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Gerry Judah’s art work on the lawn in front of Goodwood House featured no less than six cars five of them winners and a contemporary F1 car built in Enstone which I find as difficult to call a Lotus in the same way as I had trouble calling the Lotus 76 a John Player Special back in 1974.

Williams FW08B, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In the paddock there were several cars I had heard of but never seen in the flesh including the six wheel, 4WD, 1982 Williams FW08B which was never raced thanks to a late call to ban more than four wheels from Formula Once cars with only two to be driven from the start of the 1983 season.

BRM P15 Mk 1, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Of all the many stories of British grit in Grand Prix Racing perhaps none exemplifies how not to organise a team better than BRM which managed to organise the support in cash, kind and facilities from the British Motor Industry to make two of the most complex racing motors ever built. The first was a 1.5 litre / 91 cui supercharged V16 which comprised to 750 cc / 45.5 cui V8’s mounted back to back. The 500 hp motor, which could be taken up to 12,000 rpm, was more powerful than any of it’s contemporaries but the combination of organisational and design complexity did not result in a particularly reliable motor car. It did not win any championship Grand Prix, it was only entered in two but it did score championship points, and won a non championship 12 lap race at Goodwood. The most memorable thing about this vehicle is the sound it makes, utterly unmusical in comparison to a V8, and as harsh as granite, note two people in this photo are wearing ear defenders ! The smell of oil coming off it’s engine after the warming up session seen here was quite unforgetable too !

Maserati Tipo 151/3, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Amongst the sports cars this Maserati Tipo 151/3 is a 1980’s replica of one of three 151’s that were prepared for Le Mans in 1962 and then continually modified. The 151/3 seen here made of from orginal parts and fitted with the low Pierre Drogo body made from the same buck as the body made specially for the 1964 24 Hours at Le Mans where 151/3 was timed at 196 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, like the BRM P15 it suffered poor reliability and retired as it has had in ’62 and ’63.

Shelby American Cobra 'Daytona' Coupé, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Racing successfully against the original 151/3 were the Shelby American Cobra Coupé’s also known as the ‘Daytona’ Coupé. So far as I can tell this #12 car is chassis CSX2300 which scored a best 6th place finish at Daytona in 1965 with Ed Leslie and Allen Grant at the wheel, the cars next appearance was at Sebring where it carried the #12 with Leslie and Grant again driving finishing 13th.

Ford Mk IV, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt won the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours driving this Ford Mk IV, beating two Ferrari P4’s in the process thus avenging Enzo Ferrari’s last minuet refusal to sell out to Ford earlier in the decade.

Matra MS670 B, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Matra 670 B with a long tail, by Matra standards, won Le Mans in 1973 with Henri Pescarolo and Gerrard Larrousse at the wheel, also beating a Ferrari this time a 312PB driven by Art Mezario and Carlos Pacé.

Tony 'Giraffe' Gallagher, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Above regular GALPOT contributor, through The Nostalgia Forum, Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher happily accepts an invitation to sign 1980 IMSA Champion John Fitzpatrick’s programe.

De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Continuing the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this years Concours d’Elegance centered on numerous vehicles the Queen and other state dignitary’s have used, this De Haviland of Canada DHG – 1 Chipmunk was used by both HRH Prince Phillip and HRH Prince Charles for training purposes in the 1950’s and 60’s. Back in the day when I was a schoolboy and an RAF Cadet I went up in one of these on a couple of occasions, being handed the controls mid flight on one of them !

de Macross GT1, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The De Macross GT1 appears to be constructed from a mix of Korean Finance, Canadian Manufacturing and US Roush Yates power and any number of styling queues taken from an equally diverse range of vehicles. The drivers name on the side of the car was none other than that of motorsports TV presenter Justin Bell.

Goodwood Action Sports, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Keeping folks entertained on two wheels were a number of youngsters who were doing things on motor bikes that I have only been able to aspire to dreaming of.

Jaguar C Type, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Sir Stirling Moss shares a little joke with former Jaguar works test driver and team mate Norman Dewis as they prepare for a quick blast up Goodwood’s hill climb.

Lotus 49, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Jackie Oliver drove a Gold Leaf Team Lotus 49B in 1968 here he is seen driving the 1967 Lotus 49 chassis R2, later renamed R11, that Jim Clark used to win the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix the first of 155 Grand Prix victories for the Ford Corworth DFV engine that powered it and the first of 12 for the Lotus 49 type.

Eurofighter Typhoon, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Delivered nearly five years late and horrendously over budget the Eurofighter Typhoon made up for it with a simply stunning display of power, speed and maneuverability. With 40,000 lbs of thrust this plane can be flown like one of the better short nosed paper aeroplanes I used to make when I was a kid with the added bonus it does not crash when landing.

Ferrari 712, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Paul Knapfield’s Ferrari 712 chassis #1010 haa a long story to tell suffice to say here that in period it has underwent two body upgrades from it’s original 512S spec and an engine upgrade to make it the Ferrari with the largest Ferrari motor ever raced. This car will be the subject of a blog in the fulness of time.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Le Mans 24 hours will be remembered this year as the first ever to be won by a hybrid diesel, the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässer and Benoit Tréluyer beat the the sister car of Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen, with a regular diesel coming in third. McNish is seen driving the e-tron quattro above which despite the stickers is not necessarily the car that crossed the line first at Le Mans.

Vauxhall Firenza 'Old Nail', Goodwood Festival of Speed

The ‘Droop Snoot’ Vauxhall Firenza “Old Nail” belonging to Paul Chase-Gardener scored over 60 victories with Gerry Marshall at the wheel back in the 1970’s Gerry’s son Gregor, another contributor to GALPOT through The Nostalgia Forum, was scheduled to drive this car later in the weekend.

Citroen DS3 WRC, Goodwood Festival of Speed

There were several Citroen DS3’s entered on the Goodwood Rally stage I believe this may have been the DS3 WRC example of Thierry Neuville, but I’ll happily take a second better informed opinion if you have one to add below.

Skoda Octavia vRS, Goodwood Festival of Speed

One of the pleasant rewards for taking the time to walk to the top of the hill was finding this Skoda Octavia vRS, a car that might not ordinarily bring the phrase ‘psycho on tyres’ to mind however this one had it’s turbo 2 litre / 122cui engine uprated from 200 hp to 500 hp and along with a few other safety mods achieved 227.080 mph at Bonneville to claim the 2 litre production car class record with Richard Meaden at the wheel last year.

McLaren M6B 'McLeagle', Goodwood Festival of Speed

Four time World Drivers Champion Alain Prost was the honoured driver at Goodwood this year, though there were probably more vehicles present that were associated with Dan Gurney including the McLaren M6B, driven on this occasion by owner Andy Boone, which Dan modified so much it gained the ‘McLeagle’ sobriquet. Dan’s efforts were not enough to beat the Bruce and Denny show, Denny won the championship. Gurney’s best result with the car was a 4th place in the 1968 Can Am race at Riverside.

Chevrolet Silverado, NCWT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

It’s always great to see and hear a little NASCAR action, Goodwood marked the first occasion on which I have seen a Camping World Truck Series (CWTS) truck in action, the #3 Chevrolet Silverado was driven by Austin Dillon to the Championship last season his brother Ty was scheduled to drive over weekend.

MAN 8x8, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Largest vehicle on the track was the Race 2 Recovery MAN 8×8 Dakar support truck driven by Ben Gott. Race 2 Recovery plans to enter a team of Land Rovers in next years Dakar Rally all driven by injured soldiers. If you would like to help their cause you can find details on this Race2Recovery link.

DeLorean DMC-12, Goodwood Festival of Speed

All too soon after a pleasurably exhausting day wondering around the grounds of Goodwood House without having seen everything it was time to say a quick hello to a couple of friends and then rejoin my passengers for the two hour back to the future drive home, my nomination for top car in the car park award went to the DeLorean DMC-12 which was substantially re-engineered by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, prior to the commencement of production in 1981.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Theme 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 !

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Added Warrington – CGA Engineering

Thanks to Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher at The Nostalgia Forum I found myself going to Warrington with fellow TNFer and secretary of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club Tim Murray. The purpose of the journey was to visit Colin Bennett and his sons who run CGA Engineering.

Colin who worked with Emerson Fittipaldi on a Brazilian excursion with the Lotus Formula 2 team in 1970 has run a huge variety of cars including March, Fittipaldi, Surtees, Williams and Ligier in a variety of British and European Series.

Benetton B191, CGA Engineering

After a welcome which included tea and donuts Colin let half a dozen TNFers loose in his workshops to nose and poke around a mouth watering selection of vehicles, amongst the many demonstrations was how easy it would be to fire up an ex Schumacher 3 .5 litre / 213.5 cui Benetton 191 chassis #6 powered by a Ford HB engine, we were one click of a switch away from having our ears blown off !

Lola T70, CGA Engineering

At the opposite scale of the age range Colin was rebuilding a Lola T70 carrying the chassis plate SL76/143, there is something appealingly Romanesque about those knockoff wheel hubs.

March 71B, CGA Engineering

Sitting outside the workshops was a Formula 2 spec March 71B chassis #71BM -08 painted at the behest of current owner Katsu Kubota in the colours carried by one of my hero’s Ronnie Peterson who won the 1971 European Formula 2 Championship for open wheel 2 litre / 122 cui vehicles.

March 761, CGA Engineering

Back in 1976 I was extremely privileged to see this March 761 in action on a wet day of practice at the Nurburgring. The sight of this car driven by Ronnie Peterson in a series of controlled slides through a series of off camber blind apex corners is something I shall never forget. Ronnie qualified 11th and unfortunately was involved in a first lap accident.

Nissan R90CK, CGA Engineering

I was at Le Mans in 1990 when this Nissan R90CK qualified 5th for the 24 hour classic unfortunately the car retired on the opening lap, like the March 71B and 761/6 today this car belongs to Katsu Kubota and is scheduled to appear at the Silverstone Classic meeting I blogged about yesterday.

Williams FW06, CGA Engineering

The design details of the Williams FW06 by Patrick Head won much praise in 1978, although the car did not win any Grand Prix it marked the emergence of Williams Grand Prix Engineering into what would become a dominant force in Formula One in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

I shall look forward to bringing you more detailed blogs of some of these cars after I have seen them running in the weeks and months ahead.

My thanks to Tony, Colin and his sons for a memorable day.

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

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