Tag Archives: Jones

Unable To See Anyway – Marmon Wasp #199753

Howard Marmon founded the Marmon Motor Company which was owned by Nordyke Marmon & Company of Indianapolis, Indiana in 1902.

By 1909, the year Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IMS, held it’s first events, Marmon were manufacturing a 32hp 270 cui four cylinder Model 32.

I believe Bruce Keen led a trio of such cars to 3rd, 4th and 5th place finishes in the 1909 300 mile Wheeler-Schebler Trophy Race that was called after 235 miles, when the track began to break up and Bruce had struck a pot hole and struck a bridge support that gave his mechanician James Schiller a fractured skull.

Marmon Wasp, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Jackson driver Leigh Lynch was running 14 laps clear of the Marmons when the race was called, though the trophy was withheld and victory never officially declared out of respect for the two spectators and mechanician Claude Kellum who were killed in an earlier accident involving Charlie Merz’s #10 National.

Over the winter IMS repaved it’s fragile track surface with 3.2 million 10 lb Indiana bricks, earning the venue it’s Brickyard nick name and the performance of the four cylinder Marmons improved such that Ray Haroun won the now 200 mile 1910 Wheeler-Schebler race in his #33 Marmon and became the first official winner of the Tiffany designed Trophy.

During the same winter of 1909/10 founder and chief engineer Howard Marmon working with Ray Harroun, also a mechanical engineer known as “The Little Professor”, developed two Model 32 chassis into open wheel race cars for the 1910 AAA season for races permitting non stock vehicles.

Marmon Wasp, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

On today’s featured car, which became known as the Marmon Wasp, built to compete in the under 450 cui open class two extra cylinders were added to the Model 32 four cylinder engine bring it’s capacity up to 447 cui / 7,325 cc.

I suspect the lesser known and sleeker Marmon Yellow Jacket was built to compete in the under 300 cui open class, Ray won the 1910 Remy Brassard Trophy for such cars at Indy, but otherwise I know next to nothing about it other than it first appeared being tested in March 1910, if you know anything about this car please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Two days after his victory in the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy and on the same day as his Remy Brassard win, while testing the #32 Wasp at Indianapolis a tyre blew entering the north east turn which sent Ray and the Wasp into the wall at a reported 78 miles an hour.

Marmon Wasp, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The damage looked worse than it was and in June 1910 the Marmon concern were reported as being “much elated” at how easily the Wasp was repaired, I believe Ray drove it to victory in three open class races at the opening meeting at Churchill Downs, otherwise known as the home of the Kentucky Derby, in 1910.

During the course of 1910 Ray also won the 200 mile race at Atlanta, and 100 mile race at Playa del Rey in Los Angeles and at the end of the year Chris G. Sinsabaugh, an editor at Motor Age named Ray as de facto National Champion based on merit and Ray’s race performances, this was not a title recognised by the AAA contest board who did not keep any score of points for a championship at that time.

In 1911 IMS switched from running a multi weekend multi race strategy to running a single race every year on Decoration Day, known as Memorial Day since 1967, weekend called the International 500-Mile Sweepstakes or Indy 500 that these days is marketed with the strap line “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

Marmon Wasp, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

For the first running of the Indy 500 the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy was replaced by the Borg Warner trophy and the race was open to cars with a maximum engine capacity of 600 cui / 9832 cc that competed for $25,000 in prize money with $10,000 going to the winner.

Ray Harroun had wanted to stop driving race cars at the end of 1910, but was persuaded by Marmon to drive the Wasp one more time, he said he had been offered a dozen other drives for the inaugural Indy 500 and chose the Wasp, that had one of the smallest engines of any car in the race, only because he had never opened it up to it’s maximum potential in 1910 and that he was knew he was not experimenting with anything untried.

Forty cars met the 75 mph qualifying speed required from a flying start along a 1/4 mile distance of the front straight and Ray’s 28th starting position was determined, as were all the others, by the order the entries, of the qualifiers were, received in.

Marmon Wasp, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

During the month of practice for the 500 The Little Professor determined that by running at as close to 75 mph laps as possible his reduced tyre wear would give him a race winning advantage over the whole race distance.

Before the race objections from his fellow competitors, to his running without a riding mechanician who could warn him of vehicles approaching from behind, saw Ray fit a 3″ by 8″ mirror over the cockpit cowling so that he could see his competitors.

Running his 75 mph laps as planned Ray handed the Wasp, running in second place to the #28 FIAT driven by David Bruce – Brown, over to his relief driver 22 year old Cyrus Patschke on lap 64.

Marmon Wasp, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Cyrus was instructed to follow the #28 FIAT for 35 laps before coming in to hand the Wasp back over to Ray, with Ray back behind the wheel David’s relentless pace eventually led to a blow out which handed the lead and eventual victory to Ray in the #32 Wasp.

After changing just four Firestone tyres, three of them offside rears, Ray was credited with a total race time of 6 hours, 42 minutes 8 seconds and an average speed of 74.602 miles per hour, despite an official timing wire being broken during a mid race accident meaning that laps 138 through 176 were not officially recorded !

Ralph Mulford driving a Lozier had changed 14 tyres during the race, losing an estimated 14 mins in the pits, on his way to a second place finish.

Marmon Wasp, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

After the race 32 year old Ray announced that 500 miles was “too long a race for one man” and that he was retiring permanently because racing was “too dangerous”.

Ray Harroun, still second in the all time IMS winners list with eight victories recorded between 1905 and 1911, stayed retired from the drivers seat and initially continued working for Marmon until switching to Maxwell, he then worked for the company he founded bearing his own name from 1917 to 1922 before joining Lincoln Products in 1927, he retired from the motor industry aged 79 and passed away a week after his 89th birthday in 1968.

Ray is seen in Ed Arnaudin’s photo below reunited with the Wasp for the 50th anniversary Indy 500 celebrations in 1961, he later admitted that the vibrations caused by the brick surface of the track ensured he “could not see anything anyway” in his innovative rear view mirror.

Marmon Wasp, Ray Harroun, Indianapolis Motor Speedway,

Cyrus Patschke also had a spell at the wheel of the 5th placed Joe Dawson #31 Marmon during the 1911 Indy 500, but never raced at Indy again.

Joe Dawson became the second Indy 500 winner driving for another Indianapolis manufacturer National in 1912.

The Marmon Wasp was kept by Marmon until the 1950’s when it was acquired by the IMS museum and restored by the museum staff AJ Fairbairn, Wilhelm “Bill” Spoerle and Barney Wimmer in 1989.

During the Indy 500 centenary celebrations in May 2011 the Wasp was driven by 1963 Indy winner Parnelli Jones and threw a rod through the block, a botched hasty repair made the problem worse and when the photo’s at Goodwood Festival of Speed were taken in June 2011 the car was not a runner, repairs were effected in 2012 that restored the car to running condition.

Marmon kept manufacturing cars culminating in the Worlds Most Advanced Car until going into receivership in 1933, Jeep designer Arthur William Sidney Herrington rescued the name, which still operates as Marmon Herrington and Marmon Group, initially for various commercial and military vehicle projects but now focuses on axle manufacture and the conversion of vehicles to all wheel drive.

My thanks to Steve Arnaudin for kindly scanning and forwarding the photograph taken at Indy in 1961 that was taken by his late father Ed Arnaudin.

Thanks for joining me on this “Unable To See Anyway” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Mercedes Monday tomorrow.

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Cambrian Rally – Conwy County

Cambria is the Latinised form of the Welsh name Cymru from Old Welsh combrog and Proto-Brythonic word kom-brogos, meaning fellow countryman or compatriot, known to much of the rest of the world as Wales.

After studying Welsh rock strata in 1835 Adam Sedgwick named the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era the Cambrian period which characterised by the rapid diversification of lifeforms, known as the Cambrian explosion, some of which have been well preserved in the sedimentary rocks exposed in Wales.

Snowdon, County Conwy

500 million years after the Cambrian explosion 266 of the direct descendants of some of those lifeforms gathered in County Conwy to take part in the 61st running of the annual Cambrian Rally organised by the North Wales Car Club on Saturday February 13th.

The Cambrian Rally has moved from being the concluding round of the MSA Welsh Rally, Ravenol BTRDA Rally, FMP and ANWCC Forest Rally Championships last year to being the season opener for them this year.

 Mini John Cooper Works WRC, Conner McCloskey, Damien Duffin, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

With the intention of making a 4am departure from Bristol to see the opening stage of the Cambrian Rally I left home promptly at 5.30 after being unexpectedly invited out for tapas and sing a long the night before.

The delay was fortuitous as I ended up not far from Snowdon on the third Penmachno stage of the rally which sent the cars around the perimeter of the quarry where the #7 2012 McGeehan Motorsport Mini John Cooper Works WRC crewed by Conner McCloskey and Damien Duffin, who finished the event 4th overall, are seen above.

FIAT Abarth 131 Rally, Matthew Robinson, Sam Collins, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

Walter Rohrl, a hero in my youth drove a FIAT Abarth 131 Rally to claim his first World Rally Championship in 1980.

I believe the 1978 #30 FIAT Abarth 131 Rally seen above started as a more pedestrian brown model before being converted by RSD Rally Sport Development into a competition version, Matthew Robinson and Sam Collins retired the #30 from the event after exceeding the time limit before stage 6.

Hillman Avenger, Barry Jordan, James Gratton-Smith, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

In the 1970’s it would appear there were plans within the British product planning arm of the Chrysler Europe empire to produce an Avenger to compete with the Ford Mexico with a BRM developed 16 valve twin cam head.

It would appear a few heads got built and at least one was fitted to a car used by factory personnel but the project stumbled at this stage, I am not sure if the #64 1971 Hillman Avenger 1500 GL Luxe has one of the 16 valve twin cam BRM heads fitted but the BRM livery on the rear piqued my interest, the car driven by Barry Jordan and James Gratton-Smith unfortunately also retired, after Stage 3.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, Jayne Auden-Rowe, David Auden, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

The #75 1998 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI seen above crewed by Jayne Auden-Rowe and David Auden was classified 50th overall.

Skoda Favorit, Paul Ellis, Simon Jones, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

I could not resist going back to the puddle in the quarry as the final competitors went through Paul Ellis and Simon Jones make a splash in their way to a 70th place finish overall in their #120 1992 Skoda Favorit.

Ford Fiesta R200, Glynne Jones, Glenn Mercer, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

Similarly Glynne Jones and Glenn Mercer go temporarily amphibious in their Ford Fiesta R200 on their way to a 77th place finish overall.

Ford Fiesta 2000, Stephen Simpson, Andrew Roughead, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

Andrew Roughead moved from co – driving Andrew Fenwicks 6th placed Proton S2000 the week before on the Legend Fires North West Stages to sit beside Stephen Simpson in his #12 2010 Ford Fiesta S2000 seen above lifting a rear wheel on the final Great Orme Stage on their way to 8th place overall.

Ford Escort L, John Rowlands, Glenn Latham, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

Lifting a front wheel in classic Mk2 style is the #20 1976 2 litre Ford Escort L crewed by John Rowlands and Glenn Latham which came home 15th overall.

Peugeot 309 GTi, Tim Cains, Richard May, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

The sun came out for a short while and is seen above illuminating the faces of 36th place finishers Tim Cains and Richard May in their #85 1988 Peugeot 309 GTi.

Nissan Micra Tropic, Niel Andrew, Dominic Adams, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

54th place finishers overall and 2nd in the 1400C class were Niel Andrew and Dominic Adams in the #86 1994 Nissan Micra Tropic seen above heading into the sunset sans rear bumper cover.

Ford Fiesta S2000, Charles Payne, Carl Williamson, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

After nearly 48 mins of competitive driving Charles Payne and Carl Williamson in their #3 2009 Ford Fiesta S2000 came home just 1 second behind the winners …

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, Luke Francis, John H Roberts, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

… Luke Francis and John H Roberts in their #6 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX who also won this event in 2012.

Volkswagen Lupo E, Paul Barbet, Chris Sheriden, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

Paul Barbet and Chris Sheriden above are heading to an evening 81st place finish overall in their #127 2001 Volkswagen Polo E.

As darkness rapidly fell after the action was over I managed to stumble back across Great Orme back to the car park after another great days entertainment.

Thanks for joining me on this Cambrian Rally edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at the last of this month’s featured Camaro’s. Don’t for get to come back now !

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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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Brean Stages Rally – Brean Leisure Park,

A couple of weeks ago I popped along to Brean Leisure Park where Club Rally Sport West were celebrating the 20th Anniversary edition of the 2 day Brean Stages Rally which was the first round of the Subaru WRC Spares ASWMC Sealed Surface Stage Rally Championship, the AWMMC Heart of England Rally Championship and BP Motor Bodybuilders & Engineers CMSG Stage Rally Championship which between them attracted 96 entries.

Ford Anglia, Andrew Phipp / Colin Silvester, Brean Stages Rally, Brean Leisure Park,

Cars of all ages were competing above the #22 1966 Ford Anglia Super with a decidedly non standard 2 litre / 122 cui engine was built in 1966, Andrew Phipp and Colin Silvester retired on stage ten of 12.

MG Maestro, Kevin/Megan McCarron, Brean Stages Rally, Brean Leisure Park,

The 1984 MG Maestro driven by Kevin and Megan McCarron was classified 63rd overall one spot ahead of an MG Metro driven by Stewart Wood and Bryony Edmund.

Proton Compact GTi, Ryan Fagan, Jordan Joines, Brean Stages Rally, Brean Leisure Park,

Ryan Fagan and Jordan Joines failed to get a full day’s competition in on either of the two day’s of the even in their 2001 Proton Compact GTi.

Darrian T9, John Lewis / Paul Jones, Brean Stages Rally, Brean Leisure Park,

At the sharper end of the field John Lewis and Paul Jones guided their #33 Darrian T9 into 22nd place.

Ford Escort Mk2, Josh Payton / Marcus Mizen, Brean Stages Rally, Brean Leisure Park,

Having entertained us with his car control at the wheel of a BMW in the Bristol Pegasus Motorsport December Auto Test at Aust Sevrvices Josh Payton and Marcus Mizen were still ‘avin the crack in their 2 litre / 122cui Vauxhall Red Top powered 1981 Ford Escort Mk2 on their way to a Class win and a highly respectable 8th place overall.

Subaru Impreza WRC, Ian Godney / Chrstopher Gifford, Brean Stages Rally, Brean Leisure Park,

Try as they might Godspeed and even Godspeed brakes were not enough to get Ian Godney and Christopher Gifford in contention of the win of the two day event, by the end of which their 1998 Subaru Impreza WRC was looking particularly second hand.

Subaru Impreza S12 WRC, Steve / Yvonne Furzeland, Brean Stages Rally, Brean Leisure Park,

Comfortable winners of the 2016 Brean Rally Stages for the second year running were Steve and Yvonne Furzeland in their 2006 Subaru Impreza S12 WRX.

Thanks for joining me on this Brean 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 a Camaro. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Firing Up Brand Awareness – BMW GTP

The early to mid 1980’s were boom years for many capitalist economies as the price hike in fuel prices provoked by the 1970’s fuel crises became normalised as increased oil production outside the OPEC nations that forced the crises became more economically viable.

In 1983 Nelson Piquet became the first driver to win the World Championship driving a vehicle with a turbo charged motor, his Brabham BT52 being powered by a BMW engine that brought the Bravarian brand much attention, despite Ferrari winning the 1983 Formula One Constructors Championship, in almost all of the global automotive markets except the biggest one in the USA.

BMW GTP, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

To fire up brand awareness in the USA for the 1986 season BMW tasked McLaren North America to run two BMW North America financed cars in the increasingly popular IMSA GTP series for prototype 2 seat coupé racing cars.

Time and considerable development expense was saved when BMW commissioned March to build four GTP chassis based on the previous race winning March 82G, 83G and 84G GTP prototypes that had been run with Porsche Flat 6, Buick V6 and Chevrolet V8 engines.

BMW GTP, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

The BMW GTP prototypes, said to have been designed by Gordon Coppuck, were fitted them with 2 litre / 122 cui 4 cylinder 16 valve turbo charged motors and to be driven by American young guns Davy Jones and John Andretti backed up by the more experienced pairing of John Watson and David Hobbs.

During testing for the Daytona one of the cars caught fire and wary of adverse publicity the team withdrew it’s cars from the season opening 24 Hours race.

BMW GTP, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

A second car burned during qualifying at Sebring and it’s sister was withdrawn after a separate accident, but in the remaining races the cars proved fast, regular top ten qualifiers, but fragile recording 8 did not finishes plus two accidents from 17 starts.

At Watkins Glen the team locked out the front row of the grid and the pole sitting youngsters Davy and John drove their BMW GTP to the models only victory in the Watkins Glen 500 while the sister did not finish.

BMW GTP, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

At the end of the year BMW announced it’s imminent withdrawal from International motor sport after the BMW powered Brabham F1 team scored only two points and BMW powered vehicles from both series appeared to attract more publicity for catching fire than for racing success.

BMW saw out it’s contract to supply motors to Brabham for one more season and the GTP programme was shut down immediately, although two of the remaining BMW GTP’s, two replacements for the ones that were destroyed were sent to McLaren North America, appeared in 1988 as Buick powered March 86G’s with Gianpiero Moretti’s Momo Racing in 1988.

BMW GTP, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

The BMW GTP, like the one seen here at last years Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham, should not be confused with the four Group C spec Nissan V6 turbo powered March 86G’s or the IMSA spec Buick V6 turbo powered 86G supplied to Conte Racing all of which were also raced during 1986.

Thanks for joining me on this “Firing Up Market Awareness” 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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Classic Competition Cars – Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

Today’s blog is all about some of the classic competition vehicles at last weekends Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham.

Rosemary Smith,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

A couple of weeks ago I went to a talk at which Rosemary Smith, winner of the 1965 Tulip Rally driving the Hillamn Imp above, was to be the guest of honour, unfortunatley she had a fall and so could not make it so it was great to see her on her feet again at the Classic Motor Show despite the fact that some of her bones were still on the mend.

MG B Roadster,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

Rosemary drove a Ford Cortina Lotus on the 1968 London to Sydney Rally and finished 48th six places behind Jean Denton who drove the MGB GT Roadster seen above in need of some tlc, who finished 42nd.

Discovery Beetle,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

Among the taller vehicles at the show was the road legal Gulf liveried Discovery Beetle, above, built on a shortened 1996 Land Rover Discovery chassis and fitted with a 300 TDi which being lighter and more aerodynamic than a standard Discovey goes well on the road and is perfect for off road trials.

Cooper Daimler T87,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

Having acquired a 1966 Cooper T81 formula one car and fitted it with a 7.2 litre / 440 cui wedge engine for hill climbing Martin Brain acquired a 1967 Cooper T87 Formula 2 chassis and had it fitted with a 2.5 litre / 152 cui Daimler hemi V8, more commonly found in the SP250 and V8 250 Daimler models, for hill climbing on tracks with tighter corners. The car was rescued from a Swedish Museum in 2011 by Gillian Goldsmith better known as a successful equestrian and car racer Gillian Fortescue-Thomas who has since competed with the Cooper Daimler as has her daughter Samantha.

Gould NME GR61X,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

Powered by a 650 hp Nicholson McLaren Engines (NME) 3.5 litre / 213 cui development of the Cosworth HB Indy car engine the Gould NME GR61X is the most successful car ever to compete in British Hill Climbing with Scott Moran claiming 133 wins and Roger Moran claiming a further 16 and Alex Summers 8 since the cars first appearance in April 2005.

Empire Wraith,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

Successful Trike hill climber and Empire Racing Cars founder Bill Chaplin called Dutch born Formula One aerodynamicist Willem Toet, most recently at Sauber, to work on the Empire Wraith hill climb challenger which is powered by a 180hp Suzuki GSR K8 motor. This example built at the Empire factory in Stathe Somerset in 2013 is the first of three built to date and is driven by Clive Austin and Chris Aspinall.

Healey Westland,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

In 1948 Donald Healey and Geoffrey Healey drove the Healey Westland above to a ninth place finish on the Mille Miglia, the following year Tommy Wisdom and Geoffrey finished 10th in the same event in the same car.

Marcos Prototype,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

By 1959 former de Haviland aircraft engineer Frank Costin had a CV that included designing the Vanwall Grand Prix challenger that won the inaugural World Constructors Championship in 1958 and subsequent demand for his attention included that of Jem Marsh with whom he founded Marcos Engineering in Dolgellau, North Wales. The prototype Marcos, using the same plywood construction techniques de Haviland used to build the Mosquito fighter bomber the Vampire jet fighter, built in 1959 powered by a Ford 100E engine is seen above awaiting some well earned tlc having disappeared in Lincoln for many years.

Italia 2000GT,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

Only 329 Italia 2000 GT’s were built by Vignale and in 1996 Jorg Von Appen had #210, one of five Italia’s he owned converted to race spec to take part in the TR Race series, it survived four races and was recently purchased by the proprietor of Patterson’s Original Pickles.

Porsche 904 Carrera GTS,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

After withdrawing from Formula One at the end of 1962 Porsche built their first tube framed fiberglass bodied sports car which would culminate in the development of the 917 and later 936 models, originally known as the 904 Porsche badged the car Carrera GTS in deference to Peugeot’s ‘digit “0” digit’ numbering system. The GTS seen here was I believe used in competition by Claude Barbier and possibly later by Cyr Febbrairo.

BMW GTP,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

No doubt much to the annoyance of Formula Ring Meister Bernie Ecclestone the manufacturer who supplied the engines for his Formula One Brabham team split it’s efforts in 1986 between Formula One and the IMSA GTP series and invested in four March 86G chassis and fitted them with a 2 litre / 122 cui version of the BMW engine that had powered Nelson Piquet to the World Championship in 1983. A BMW GTP was driven to it’s only victory by Davy Jones and John Andretti in the Watkins Glen 500, while the Brabham BMW team scored on 2 championship points in the worst season for the team up to that time.

Eagle HF89,  Classic Motorshow, NEC, Birmingham

Dan Gurney’s All American Racers graduated to the IMSA GTP class in 1989, after claiming the driver’s and constructors’ championships in the GTO division Chris Cord in 1987, the teams all new HF89 was designed by Ron Hopkins and Hiro Fujimori and the following year Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio II drove HF89’s to three victories in the Topeka 300, Sears Point 300 with Rocky Moran and Del Mar Fairgrounds Road Circuit in November 1990.

Thanks for joining me on this “Classic Competition Cars” edition of Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Carrera Panamericana challenger. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Five Cylinder Tim – MANBAT Pegasus Sprint Castle Combe

Last month saw the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club organise it’s final sprint of the year the MANBAT Pegasus Sprint at Castle Combe, as ever with an event involving over 100 competitors many members of the BPMC the Bristol Motor Club and a few others besides along with the team at Castle Combe all mucked in to make it happen.

GTM K3, Graham Matthews, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

Here are a few random snaps of the day taken from my vantage point on the start line that I hope give a flavour of the day that was probably better suited to ducks than Motor Sport, above Graham Matthews only made one successful practice run in his GTM K3 before withdrawing from the event.

Marcos Mantis, Philip Jones, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

Before the weather was forecast Philip Jones must have fancied his chances of Marcos Mantis competing for the fastest time of the day in his 4.6 litre V8 powered machine but he had to settle for 1st in the Road going Specialist Production Cars class and consul himself that the conditions kept him 14 secs off the fastest time of the day.

MG PA, Howard Harman, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

If there had been a prize for being quickest of the two pre war MG’s present it would have gone to Howard Harman seen above in his 1 litre MG PA who was one and a half seconds quicker than Martin Price in his 1 1/4 litre MG TA.

TVR Vixen, Ian Stallard, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

Given the power of some of the more recent TVR’s present it is perhaps surprising that the fast TVR time was set by Iain Stallard, above, in his four cylinder Ford powered TVR Vixen which had less than half the cubic inch capacity of all the other TVR’s present.

Triumph TR3A, Tom Purves, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

Tom Purves Triumph TR3A was the oldest and slowest representative of the marque present of those who set a time.

JCB LOADALL, Les Rawlins, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

Les Rawlins, Castle Combes Mr Fixit, might have struggled to set a competitive time in his JCB LOADALL, fortunately his skills fixing the barriers were only called on the once.

Mitsubishi EVO6 GSR, Mike McBraida,MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

Mike McBraida set fastest time at the wheel of his turbocharged Mitsubishi EVO6 GSR in the Road going Series Production Cars over 2600cc class.

Reliant Scimitar GT, Nick Hall, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

The Reliant Scimitar GT driven by Nick Hall was third in the Road going Specialist Production Cars, Car engines over 1800cc and Motor Cycle engines class.

Audi Quattro, Tim Clarke, MANBAT Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe

Winner of the MANBAT Pegasus Sprint was Tim Clarke who set the fastest time of the day in his five cylinder turbocharged Audi Quattro, a car last seen on these pages indulging in a spot of lawn mowing at Hullavigton.

My thanks to all those who contributed to such a splendid day in the rain, and thanks for joining me on this “Five Cylinder Tim” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a cool one off contender for the Carrera Panamericana. Don’t forget to come back now !

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