Tag Archives: GALPOT

Behind The Picture House – Hornet

Almost nothing is known about today’s featured car before it was found in 1986 behind a picture house in Hereford by Martin Cowlin.

Hornet, Alistair Dent, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

Like the Cooper T3 I looked at a couple of weeks ago the ladder frame features suspension derived from a FIAT Topolino.

Hornet, Alistair Dent, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

The car is powered by a JAP motor was named a Hornet in the absence of any contemporary information by Martin.

Hornet, Alistair Dent, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

The Hornet is believed to have been originally built in 1948.

Hornet, Alistair Dent, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

John Dent bought the car sans motor in 1990 and sold it to his son Alistair in 2001.

Hornet, Alistair Dent, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

Alistair, who won the Parker Trophy with the Hornet in 2003,’06 and ’13, is seen in these photographs at the wheel of the Hornet at the 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Trophy Weekend at Gurston Down.

Hornet, Alistair Dent, 5th Tony Marsh Memorial Weekend, Gurston Down

If you have any further info on the Hornet please do not hesitate to chime in below or at the friendly 500 Racing facebook page.

My thanks to Alistair Dent for his contribution to today’s blog.

Thanks for joining me on this “Behind The Picture House” 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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Seven Figure Anonymous Commission – Ferrari F12 TRS

I can’t imagine the wealth required to even think about approaching Ferrari and Pinninfarina to comission a one off car but it must be well into the billions before one can afford a vehicle that is going to cost something north of seven figures like today’s anonymously commissioned Ferrari F12 TRS.

Ferrari F12 TRS, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The base vehicle of this commision is a £239,000 Ferrari F12berlinetta.

Ferrari F12 TRS, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The targa top body created by Flavio Manzoni is otherwise all new with a nod to the 1961 Le Mans winning Ferrari 250 TRI/61 in the treatment of the windscreen and side window’s.

Ferrari F12 TRS, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Like wise the see through bubble over the 730hp motor complete with red cam covers is a nod to Ferrari’s successful sports racing cars of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.

It remains to be seen if the owner will reveal him or herself, but in the meantime one can’t help but wonder how many similar projects never come to public attention.

Thanks for joining me on this “Seven Figure Anonymous Commission” 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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Sechzehnzylinder Monster – Porsche 917 PA #917-027

With few entrants ready, willing and or able to compete in the 3 litre / 183 cui prototype sports car class in April 1968 the governing CSI reduced the production numbers mandated to compete in the 5 litre / 302 cui sport category from 50 to 25.

With this change in regulations Porsche saw an opportunity to build a 917 Coupé powered by a Type 912 12 cylinder motor that would give it a shot at winning the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hour race.

Porsche 917 PA, Goodwood Festival of Speed

An unforeseen benefit of the Porsche 917 Le Mans programme arose when Porsche decided to have a crack at the North American Can Am series for unlimited sports cars in mid 1969.

For it’s first attempt at the Can Am series Porsche built two 917 PA spiders one of which would enter the fray midway through the 1969 Can Am series driven by Jo Siffert.

Porsche 917 PA, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Today’s featured car chassis #917-027 was the first of the two chassis and it was retained at the Porsche factory for development purposes.

It soon became apparent that the 917 PA was too heavy and not developing enough horsepower to compete with the dominant McLaren’s driven by Peter Revson and Denny Hulme so Porsche looked at two ways of getting more horsepower from the type 912 flat 12 motor they had developed originally to tackle Le Mans.

Porsche 917 PA, Goodwood Festival of Speed

One was to turbocharge the existing engine and the other was to add 2 additional cylinders to either end of the 912 flat twelve whose cam shafts were centrally driven.

After testing the 840hp 6.700 litre / 408.9 cui sixteen cylinder car Mark Donohue described it as a monster which in turbocharged form might have produced 2000hp.

Porsche 917 PA, Goodwood Festival of Speed

However the engineers at Weissach came to the conclusion that the 1000hp and more available from the turbocharged 12 cylinder motor would be more than sufficient to do the job, and so it proved.

George Follmer captured the 1972 Can Am title driving Roger Penske’s L&M Porsche 917/10 after Penske’s No 1 driver Mark Donohue was injured and had to miss 5 rounds of the nine race series.

Porsche 917 PA, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Mark Donohue followed that up in 1973 by capturing the title in Roger Penske’s Sunoco Porsche 917/30.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sechzehnzylinder Monster” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Coffee Croissant & Cars #09/14 – Avenue Drivers Club

Despite a modest drop in ambient temperatures and overcast skies there was another good turn out for Sunday’s Avenue Drivers Club meeting at Queen Square on Sunday.

Mercury Eight, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Highlights included this hot rod 1949 Mercury Eight with lowered roof and modern running gear.

Land Rover, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The blurb in the window of the 80″ wheel base suggested it was the 388th of the production line in 1948.

Cadillac de Ville, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

This 1965 Cadillac de Ville Convertible featured a nicely recessed aerial.

Ford Escort Sport 1300, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Built from 1971 to 1974 the Ford Escort Sport 1300 was the most basic of factory hot versions of the popular Escort range powered by a motor producing 75 hp, the one above was built in 1972, check out this link for the incredible amount of work many of these cars require to keep them on the road.

BMW 1502, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Another vehicle which the owner has put in an incredible amount of work is this 1976 BMW 1502 with flared wheel arches, lowered roof and Z3 tail lights. Originally fitted with a 80 hp 4 cylinder motor it now features what looks like an M60 V8 with at least 200hp.

VW 1600 E, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Finally one of my most popular blogs was about a VW Square Back called Kubrik, the 1600 E badge above was on the back of a similarly aged Fast Back. First seen in 1965 the Fast Back was supposed to replace the Notch Back, but customer demand for the later determined otherwise.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee Croissant & Cars #09/14” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a prototype 16 cylinder racing car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Intimate Communication – Bugatti Type 32R

Last week I looked at a Bugatti Type 32, today’s featured car is a Replica built by Bob Sutherland who became so fascinated by the type in the mid 1970’s he ended up building one.

Bob’s big break came when the Schlumpf Museum first opened it’s doors in 1978 allowing him and British restorer Peter Shaw to visit the car featured in last weeks blog to get all of the correct measurements in the absence of any period drawings.

Bugatti Type 32R, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Peter then built up the chassis and body in the UK while Bob in the USA bought a complete Type 35A motor and gave it to Bob Seiffert in Colorado to modify to Type 32 spec complete with a variant of the Type 30 crank case.

Bugatti Type 32R, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Peter built up the chassis and body in the UK while Bob in the USA bought a complete Type 35A motor and gave it to Bob Seiffert in Colorado to modify to Type 32 spec complete with a variant of the Type 30 crank case.

The late British collector Paul Foulkes-Halbard helped out by having casts made of several Type 32 parts, from his own collection, that had once belonged to Elizabeth Junek who purchased a Type 32 from Ettore Bugatti.

Bugatti Type 32R, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

When the Replica type 32 was completed it was driven at Tours on the route of the 1923 French Grand Prix in 1981 shortly after the Centenary marking Ettore Bugatti’s birth.

More recently in 1995 this Replica was driven in a race at Lagunna Seca by Bob Sutherland against French Voisin collector Philip Moch who had built a copy of the peculiar 1923 Grand Prix Voisin that, like the Type 32, had failed to impress at Tours in 1923.

Bugatti Type 32R, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

By all accounts the two replica’s stole the race despite not being front runners and to this day the race announcer does not recall which replica crossed the line first.

Bob Sutherland described driving the Type 32 thus in the US Bugatti Club magazine Pur Sang thus :- “You can well imagine that with no firewall there is intimate communication between driver and machinery. The clutch whirrs dangerously close to one’s left leg, the pipes get hot, oil splatters all over you, and there is a lot of exhaust, hot water, steam, noise and danger. The exhaust glows, gas dribbles steadily on your feet, and backfires light up the universe. All very exciting.”

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing these photographs of the Type 32 Replica taken at Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance in 2011.

Thanks for joining me on this “Intimate Communication” 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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Ditching The Iron Block – Maserati 200S #2408

In 1952 Giulio Alfieri led the development of the Maserati Type 52, which would become known as the Maserati 200S, that was to replace the iron block A6GCS sports racing cars.

Maserati 200S, Silverstone Classic

The new alloy block 2 litre / 122 cui 4 cylinder motor featured 2 valves per cylinder actuated by two overhead camshafts.

Maserati 200S, Silverstone Classic

The chassis frame shared many components with the Maserati 150S and the rear axle was inherited from the A6GCS. The first three 200S frames were manufactured in house while 25 more were outsourced to Gilco.

Maserati 200S, Silverstone Classic

The first five 200S aluminium bodies were fabricated by Celestino Fiandri with the remainder, as seen on today’s featured chassis #2408 by Fantuzzi.

Maserati 200S, Silverstone Classic

Chassis #2408 was sold in September 1956 to Brazilian Severino Silva who is known to have raced Maserati sports cars on at least two occasions bookending 1957.

Maserati 200S, Silverstone Classic

In December 1957 Severino entered his car, for himself and Italian Corrado Manfredini to drive in the Sao Palo Grand Prix. Severino and Corrado finished 6th after starting from 10th place on the grid in this vehicles only known in period competitive event.

I believe Roger Lucas has been the owner of #2408 since 2006 during which period he briefly had it painted red, but by 2009 it was carrying it’s Brazilian colours again.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ditching The Iron Block” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again, for a look at a Bugatti tomorrow. Don’t for get to come back now !

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Very Well Behaved – Delta E4 Coupé

Delta Motorsport was founded in 2005 by Managing Director Simon Dowson and Technical Director Nick Carpenter to transfer skills honed in motorsport to areas where innovative solutions are critical to performance, efficiency and optimisation.

Delta E4 Coupé, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 2011, with match funding from the East Midlands Development Agency and the Technology Strategy Board, Delta Motorsport built a small run of prototype electric E4 Coupés to show off their skills.

Delta E4 Coupé, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The carbon fibre chassis and body with Bristol Fighter like styling is powered by two Oxford YASA DD500 electric motors fed by an under-floor mounted 32kWh battery driving the rear wheels.

Delta E4 Coupé, Goodwood Festival of Speed

With a range said to be 140 miles from a 12 hour charge, the E4 Coupé will accelerate from rest to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 116 mph.

Delta E4 Coupé, Goodwood Festival of Speed

After driving an E4 Coupé around Silverstone race circuit happy housing guru and TV presenter Kevin McLoud described the vehicle as “very well behaved”.

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

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