Tag Archives: Gélin

Sherborne Details – Classics At The Castle

Last weeks Classics at the Castle threw up plenty of details and here is a small selection I managed to capture.

De Dion Bouton 10hp, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

It looks like this De Dion Bouton has been around for sometime it was offered for auction around 8 years ago it is thought to be a 10hp model from 1910, suitable for a DIY enthusiast with an aptitude for woodwork, as the saying goes.

Aston Martin DB4, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Looking pretty in light blue was this 1958 Aston Martin DB4 powered by a 6 cylinder 3670 cc / 223 cui motor designed by Tadek Marek.

Porsche 911R R, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

The most obvious give away that this Porsche 911R was a replica of the car Gérard Larrousse & Maurice Gélin won the 1969 Tour de France with was that it is a right hand drive model, apart from that it was convincing in many details including the lightened filler cap.

Sunbeam 16/20 Cabriolet, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Cool brass fittings for cockpit ventilation circa 1914 on a Sunbeam 16/20 Cabriolet.

Mazda MX5 BBR, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

Not sure how distracting speakers built in to the headrest of a 1991 Le Mans Special edition Mazda MX5 BBR Turbo would be, but they were dropped from later models.

Lamborghini Aventador, Classics at the Castle, Sherborne

With a zero to 100 km/h time of just 2.9 seconds tail lights are all one is likely to see of a 2012 Lamborghini Aventor.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sherborne Details” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for some Chrome, Stripes and a Sheriffs Car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Monte Hat-trick – Porsche 911S

From 1968 to 1970 Porsche scored three 1-2 victories on the fabled Monte Carlo Rally. In 1968 Vic Elford and David Stone driving a Porsche 911T won the event ahead of the 911S driven by Pauli Toivonen and M Tiukkanen, the following year Bjorn Waldegård and Lars Helmer driving a 911S finished ahead of the similar car driven by Gerárd Larrousse and JC Perramond. In 1970 the Porsche hat-trick of wins came when Waaldegård and Helmer drove today’s featured car to victory over Larrousse and M Gélin in another 911S.

Porsche, 911, Advertisement

The 1970 Monte Carlo had featured a concentration run to the Principality starting from eight European cities and was run in mild conditions. Porsche, Ford Alpine Renault and Lancia all entered significant works teams expected to challenge for top honours. British press interest in the, once, prestigious event was so low that Motor Sport correspondent GP, Geraint “Gerry” Phillips, opined, in March 1970, that what the Monte Carlo Rally needed to reengage Fleet Street was “… a bunch of hippies to entrench themselves on the Turini (rally stage) and spray the spectators with LSD.” !

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Having won on the dry Monte Carlo Waldegård and Lars Helmer proved the versatility of the 911 by winning the Swedish Rally run on snow by 23 mins, after having a clutch replaced that required the engine to be removed in a freezing lay-by.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The second 911S model introduced in 1969 features a 2 1/4″ longer wheel base than the original, to improve the handling, though there was no increase in the overall length of the car.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The motor for the 911S was increased in size from 2 litres / 122 cui to 2.3 litres / 134 cui and with fuel injection this competition car produced 230hp, 50 more than the fuel injected road going version of the 911S.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Swede Bjorn Waldergård was a front line rally driver from 1962 to 1992, the World Rally Championship (WRC) started in 1973 and he won 16 of the 95 WRC events in which he started. His wins included the three toughest events on the WRC Circuit, the Safari, Acroplolis and RAC rallies in 1977 when he was driving for Ford. In 1979 Bjorn won the World Rally Drivers Championship driving for the works Ford and Mercedes Benz rally teams. Winning the Safari Rally for the third time in 1990, with Fred Gallagher, driving a Toyota Bjorn became the oldest person to ever win a World Championship Rally a record he holds to this day.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

In his report on the road going Porsche 911S for Motor Sport in February 1970 Dennis ‘DSJ’ Jenkinson observed that a 911 cost twice as much as the 4.2 E-Type Jaguar he bought in 1966, to replace his Porsche 356, and that by 1970 the 911S had risen in price to become half the cost of a Lamborghini Miura, he concluded “It is all a question of keeping a sense of proportion.”

Thanks for joining me on this “Monte Hat-trick” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a slightly more outrageously flared Porsche 911. Don’t forget to come back now !

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500lb Competition Diet – Porsche 911 R Replica

In 1967 Porsche put it’s 911 model on a competition diet to bring the weight down by 230 kgs / 500 lbs to 810 kgs / 1786 lbs to produce a new model the 911 R.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

A limited run of 4 factory cars and 19 customer 911 Rs were built by Baur at their body shop in Stuttgart with fibreglass paneled doors, bonnet / hood and boot / trunk lid. Additional weight saving was achieved by using plastic door hinges and bumpers.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The standard interior was completely deleted in favour of the bare essentials needed for racing or rallying competition, the lightweight side windows were louvred at the rear.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Power from the flat six motor was raised from the original type 901 130hp to 210 hp using the type 901/22 motor from the 906 Carrera or 230 hp from the four cam type 901/21 motor.

Porsche 911 R, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Homologation for the GT class required a minimum of 500 identical vehicles to be built, so with only 24 cars completed the 911 R was forced to run in the prototype class against the likes of mighty Ford Mark IV’s and Ferrari P4s which both had motors more than double the size of the 911 R’s 2 litre / 122 cui flat 6.

As a consequence notable results were hard to come by although the 911 R did score two outright wins the first in the 1967 when Hans Hermann, Jochen Neerspach and Vic Elford shared chassis #3, fitted with a 4 cam motor and Sportmatic transmission, to win the 84 hour Marathon de la Route at the Nurburgring.

Tour de France, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The second significant 911 R victory came in 1969 when Gérard Larrousse & Maurice Gélin won the 1969 Tour de France beating the Chevrolet Corvette driven by Henri Greder and André Vigneron as seen in the black and white photo seen above in a 1970 advertisement for Dunlop tyres.

Today’s featured car seen at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed is a replica 911 R that started life as a far more humble 1967 4 cylinder Porsche 912, according to the blurb in the windscreen this car took over 1200 hours to complete.

Thanks for joining me on this “500lb Competition Diet” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a couple of Porsche 912s.

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Photographers Brush – GALPOT Automobilia

A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a clear out whilst reorganising my library and the time has come to dispose of a number of items which may be of interest through my lightpress account on e-bay.

Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

From this weeks collection of advertisements appearing in Connaissance des arts Magazine that I posted this week is this October 1970 advertisement for Dunlop SP Sport Tyres featuring 4 images of cars in competition.

Beltoise, Matra MS11, Dutch GP, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The first “1. Grand Prix de Hollande 68. 1er : Jackie Stewart” is incorrectly labelled as Jean Pierre Beltoise is seen driving a V12 Matra MS11, identifiable by it bulky exhaust, at 1968 Dutch Grand Prix carrying the #16 appears which appears to be an altered number as Beltoise actually drove the #17, Stewart drove the #8 Ford DFV, less bulky exhausts, powered Matra MS10 that won the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix. As can be seen in this linked photo Beltoise helmet is dark not white and has also come under a photographers touching in brush.

Tour de France, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The second shows Gérard Larrouse / /Maurice Gélin #181 Porsche 911, Greder / Vigneron #143 Corvette C3, and Rouget / Depret #192 Ferrari 250 LM chassis #5981, at the start of a race at Reims which was part of the 1969 Tour de France won by Larrouse and Gélin.

Porsche, Tour de Corse, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des art

“3. Tour de Corse 69. 1er : Gérard Larrousse” is also incorrectly labelled as Gérard won driving a white Porsche 911 bearing the #70 competition number. The car in the third photo seems to be competing in the 1968 Tour de Course, won by Jean Claude Andruet with Maurice Gélin driving an Alpine A110 and is thought to have either Claude Ballot-Lena or Gerhard Schuler at the wheel, neither of whom was classified at the finish.

Stewart, Matra Ford MS80, French GP, Clermont Ferrand, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

“4. Jackie Stewart, Champion du monde 69, en action.” shows Jackie Stewart in his Matra Ford MS80 on his way to victory in the 1969 French Grand Prix at Clermont Ferrand, which coincidentally is also well known as the home of Dunlop’s rival tyre manufacturer Michelin.

The strap line for the ad approximately translates as “Dunlop SP Sport Nouveau profile born of (the) competition. For you.”

My thanks to Paul ‘Macca’ M, Ray Bell, Tim Murray and Nanni Dietrich at The Nostalgia Forum for their help unpicking the mysteries of today’s ad.

Thanks for joining me on this “Photographers Brush” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Coffee and Croissants with the Avenue Drivers Club. Don’t forget to come back now !

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