Tag Archives: Italian

Bertone Century – Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

2011 GALPOT Review #3 – Motoring Events

This week I am reviewing the GALPOT year 2011, on Monday I looked at some of the Museums I have visited and yesterday I looked at some of the Concours d’Elegance events covered on GALPOT thanks to Geoffrey Horton, today I am reviewing some the motoring events I have attended which includes any gathering short of a full blown racing.

By the end of January cabin fever was setting in and I leaped at the opportunity to go to my first Pistonheads Sunday Service which was convened at the BMW Plant car park just outside Oxford. I am not sure how many people attended but I was pleased to see several Bristol’s including this 405 Drophead.

April sees Bristol host it’s Annual Italian Auto Moto Festival a display of all things Italian on two and four wheels. Despite the presence of a fabulous array of red Friday cars the undoubted star of this years festival for me was the Cobra killing de Tomaso Mangusta.

I managed to make two trips to Silverstone this year the first for the Silverstone Classic Press Day which was a testing session with a veritable armada of Press Corps present. Star of the day was the Hesketh 308B the same chassis that James Hunt drove to Hesketh’s only Grand Prix victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1975.

Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher from The Nostalgia Forum kindly organized a trip to CGA Engineering in Warrington where former Lotus employee Colin Bennett and his sons were workong wonders with racing cars spanning the late 1960’s to the early 1990’s including the Formula 2 spec March 71B chassis above decked out in Vick’s livery in tribute to Ronnie Peterson.

Thanks to the generosity of David Roots from the Bath & West Car Club I received an invitation to attend the Classic and Sports Car Action Day at Castle Combe. A tight schedule meant I focused my attention entirely on the vehicles in the car park including this Hillman Avenger Tiger Replica.

If your a fan of simple joys, it hard to believe that you will not leap at the chance to jump in the dinky little Morgan 3 Wheeler at some point in your life, I saw this one several times during the course of the year at, Silverstone, Goodwood and during several visits to the Morgan factory.

A hectic July weekend saw me pop into the Silverstone Classic for the first of the three days of entertainment, I probably saw more cars in action and photographed more than in any single day in my entire life that Friday. Among the many revelations was this Morgan Triumph SLR which I mistook for some unknown Italian exotica on the day, unfortunately all the action I saw was qualification sessions, I’ll try and make more time for the event in 2012. Many thanks to garyfrogeye amongst many others who helped me out by contacting Mr John Sprinzel who along with the recently departed Chris Lawrence was responsible for this masterpiece of British craftsmanship.

If I had my way every Wednesday I’d be up at the crack of dawn, sometimes earlier, and head 125 miles north to Mallory Park for the finest full English, breakfast, that money can buy and enjoy a veritable pot puree of vehicles being run in and tested around the track. Sadly this year I only made it the twice but it was worth it, where else could I see a vintage Riley being driven flat out next to a spec series Ford Ranger ?

Thanks to another tip from David Roots I made a, very long, diversion on my way from Bristol to the airport to the Haynes International Motor Museum to see the Rare Breeds show. I was not disappointed, I still have many of the vehicles I saw that day to blog about in the coming month. Above is a rotary 3 cylinder motor that tilts to engage the clutch of the Lafitte 5 CV.

Among many firsts in 2011 I managed a visit to the worlds first purpose built motor racing venue, Brooklands which dates to 1907 and sadly fell into disuse in 1939 with the onset of World War 2. I was there for the William Boddy Tribute Meeting to honor a journalist who was in part responsible for realizing my own passion for all things motoring and who did much to help save what is left of the Brooklands track today. One of the highlights of my motoring year was seeing a handful of cars from Brooklands heyday being driven over the crumbling but none the less hallowed concrete.

The day after Brooklands I visited Dyrham Park which used to be a Hill climb venue in the 1960’s where a demonstration of vehicles that were and would have been, entered in the original events took place. Unfortunately today’s safety requirements make it quite impossible for a modern competitive event to take place at Dyrham Park but it was wonderful to see so many cars being driven with a modicum of spirit up the hill.

Unfortunately my hard drive went on tilt after my visits to Brooklands and Dyrham Park so I will not be able to post any further images from these two events.

A couple of weeks ago I was near Manchester for a TNF meeting with my friend Tim who had never been to Oulton Park before, so we made the short diversion from a friends house and found a track day in progress, one of the star vehicles was this 130 hp Simca 1000 which once belonged to Frank Breidenstein – President of ”Simca Heckmotor (rear engine) Deutschland”.

My sincerest thanks to everyone who made these adventures and the blogs that came form them possible, not least Tim who is both a fountain of useful information and a handy map reader.

Thanks for joining me on this events edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me for a review of 2011’s racing action tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Looking for Automotive Seasonal Gift Idea’s? Visit Automobiliart Now !

Awful In Everyway ? – Ferrari 400i

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Allegedly an oafish TV presenter of a well known pseudo comedy motoring program who probably couldn’t tell you the difference between a gear knob and a knob of butter once described the Ferrari 400 as ‘awful in everyway’.

Personally I don’t see how any car with a chassis that owes it’s heritage to the Ferrari Daytona and with a Ferrari V12 engine, no matter how strangled to meet emissions regulations, can be awful in any way.

Certainly the 400i body, designed by Pininfarina, is not as appealing as the GTC and Daytona models that preceeded it but IMHO it’s seventies boxiness is a good deal less retro and a good deal more appealing than the mindset of the oaf described in the opening paragraph.

The coupé was first launched as the 365 GT 2+2 in 1972, by 1976 that model was re badged the 400 which became the 400i in 1979, when this particular car seen at Bristols Italian Auto Moto Festival was built. The ‘i’ denotes fuel injection which was fitted in place of the previous carburetors.

Although compliant with US regulations, unlike the 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer, none of the 422 manual GT or 883 Automatic 400i variations, or indeed any Ferrari 400 models were officially imported into the United States, doubly surprising since the 400 was the first Ferrari to be offered with automatic transmission.

Thanks for joining me on this fuel injected edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Ciao Enzo – Ferrari F40

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Today’s Ferrari Friday blog is dedicated to the person who first suggested Ferrari Friday blogs to me many months ago, Jr Cracker, otherwise known to me as Mike who’s Birthday it is tomorrow.

The Ferrari F40 what was technical tour de force intended to bring together 40 years of learning and achievement in one road vehicle to celebrate the first 40 remarkable years in the story of Ferrari S.p.A.

With a tested 200 mph capability the F40 held the title of worlds fastest production car, when it was launched in 1987, to underline it’s technical superiority.

The F40 was not only the companies most powerful and fastest car, but at US$ 400,000 in 1987, it was also the most expensive car Ferrari had ever offered for sale.

1,315 examples of this type were manufactured between 1987 and 1992 the last of them selling for a rumoured US$1.6 million.

Many of the technical specifications were advanced from the Ferrari (288) GTO including the twin turbo V8 engine which in this application was increased to 3 litres / 183 cui producing 470 hp.

Keeping such a powerful motor cool in such a small vehicle required ventilation through the rear screen.

Until 1990 F40’s like this particular 1989 example, seen at the Italian Auto Moto Festival, were bereft of power sapping catalytic converters.

During Bonneville Speedweek 2006 Amir Rosenbaum recorded a top speed of 226 mph in his lightly modified F40, standard versions could reach 120 mph in just 11 seconds faster than both the Lamborghini Countach and Porsche 959 which were it’s main competitors.

Enzo Ferrari knew when setting out the specifications of the F40 that this would be his final engineering statement and it was indeed the last vehicle bearing his own name that he was to commission before his death aged 90 in August 1988.

Thanks for joining me on the F40 Edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Baby Testarossa – Ferrari 348 TS

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On Monday I looked at the GMC Syclone that was faster than a Ferrari, up to the 1/4 mile, today I am looking at the Spyder version of the Ferrari 348 that Car & Driver pitted the Syclone against in a road test.

The Ferrari 348 replaced the Ferrari 328 in 1989,

taking many of it’s striking styling queues from the Testarossa launched in 1984. The side mounted radiators meant passengers did not get toasted by the radiator pipes that ran alongside the cabin of the earlier 328 which featured a radiator mounted in the nose.

The 300 hp V8 motor was mounted longitudinally with a transverse gearbox ahead of the rear wheels, the opposite configuration of the earlier 328 which featured a transverse V8 engine and longitudinal gearbox.

While the Syclone proved faster than the 348 up to the 1/4 mile it soon ran out of puff when it reached 126 mph meaning this is the view Syclone drivers would get of the Ferrari as it powered up to 166 mph in a straight race.

8844 of these vehicles were produced from 1989 to 1995.

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

Pininfarina Renaissance – FIAT 130 Coupé

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Returning to the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival back in April today’s car is the stylish sharp edged FIAT 130.

Launched to much acclaim at the 1971 Geneva Motor show the FIAT 130 Coupé was designed by Paolo Martin at Pininfarina and won a design prize which marked a renaissance for a company that had fallen from favour since it’s heyday designing the Fiat 1800 Peugeot 404 and Austin A55 and A60 concepts for large volume producers in the late 50’s and early 60’s.

This smart new vehicle was powered by a 165 hp 3235 cc / 197 cui twin over head cam V6 designed by Aurelio Lamperdi designer of the original 4 cylinder Testa Rossa engine.

Just 4,294 examples of the FIAT 130 Coupé were produced from 1971 to 1977, this marked the end of FIAT’s presence in the Executive end of the automotive market, future vehicles for this market segment were handled by the Lancia marque which was also owned by the FIAT conglomerate.

Thanks for popping in to today’s Paolo Martin styled edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Springbok Special – ALFA Romeo GTV6 3.0

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The ALFA Romeo GTV 2.5 was in production from 1980 to 1987 it featured a a fuel injected 156 hp 2,492 cc / 152 cui V6 motor from the Alfa 6 model, a rear mounted gearbox to optimise weight distribution just like the Porsche 924/944/968 and an attractive Giorgetto Giugiaro body with a bulge in the bonnet / hood to accommodate the V6 engine.

These vehicles won four consecutive European Touring (stock) Car titles, however out in South Africa the touring cars were running to different regulations with a 3.5 litre / 213 cui class cut off as opposed to the 2.5 litre 152 cui class cut off as used in much of the rest of the world.

In order to race competitively against BMW which ran 3.5 litre engines in South African Touring Car Races ALFA Romeo in South Africa approached Autodelta the competition arm of ALFA Romeo who obliged by supplying enough parts developed for a rally programme to build around 220 2934 cc / 179 cui carbureted V6 engines which were assembled and tuned in South Africa.

The outcome was a vehicle that in 1983 beat BMW to win the South African Touring Car Championship and in mid 1984 was declared the fastest South African assembled vehicle with a top speed of 139 mph / 224 kph.

With that ALFA Romeo Montreal inspired NACA duct in the bonnet and deep spoiler this 3 litre GTV6, belonging to Richard an acquaintance from ‘The Nostalgia Forum‘, is quite easy to distinguish from its 2.5 litre brethren.

My thanks to Richard for bringing his pride and joy to the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival.

Hope you have enjoyed todays Springbok edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring