Tag Archives: Martin

9 Mins Of Fame – EMKA C84/1

Trained accountant Steve O’Rourke and EMKA productions became the management team for Pink Floyd post Syd Barrat and both Steve and drummer Nick Mason shared an interest in racing cars.

EMKA C84/1, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Steve’s international racing career got of the ground with a Ferrari 512BB which he entered and drove from 1979 to 1980 scoring a best 7th place finish in the 1980 Silverstone 6 hours with Chris Craft and Vic Norman.

EMKA C84/1, Rudolf Ernst,  Silverstone Classic Test Day,

In 1981 Steve had Michael Cane Racing convert Niki Lauda’s 1979 Project Four Motorsports BMW M1 Procar to a more liberal Group 5 spec and raced that for two season’s scoring a best 2nd place in the 1981 Silverstone 6 Hours whith Derek Bell and David Hobbs sharing the cockpit, Nick Mason also co drove Steve’s BMW M1 on it’s two outings in 1982.

EMKA C84/1, Rudolf Ernst,  Silverstone Classic Test Day,

For 1983 Steve made the bold decision to follow in the footsteps of Robin Hamilton and Nimrod to build his own Aston Martin powered Le Mans challenger the EMKA C83/1.

EMKA C84/1, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Len Bailey who was based at Gomm Metal Developments in Woking did the design work, Gomm did the metal work, the fibre glass body was constructed by Protoco, Aston Martin Tickford supplied 5,340 cc / 325.8 cui V8 engine and the whole car was prepared for competition by Micheal Cane Racing.

EMKA C84/1, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

On it’s debut at Silverstone the C83/1 was driven by Tiff Needell, Jeff Allam and Steve, they qualified 17th but retired on the last lap due to a failed wheel bearing. Nick Faure replaced Jeff at Le Mans for the 24 hour race where the car qualified 25th and finished 17th despite spending 2 hours in the pits with a suspension problem.

EMKA C84/1, Rudolf Ernst,  Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Due to uncertainty over the 1984 fuel regulations the C83/1 did not race again until 1985, by which time the ground effect venturi had been replaced with a flat floor, the rear suspension had been revised and the car had been renumbered as C84/1.

EMKA C84/1, Tiff Needell, Mark Galvin, Steve O'Rourke, Brands Hatch, 1000 kms

At Silverstone the C84/1 driven by Steve, Tiff and Bob Evans was nearly four seconds a lap in qualifying than two years earlier and qualified 15th for the six hour race but it retired again this time due to an engine issue.

Nick Faure again drove the car at Le Mans in 1985, in place of Bob, and the trio were now nine seconds a lap faster in qualifying and started from 13th on the grid. By employing an out of sequence fuel strategy Tiff Needell was able to lead the 24 Hour classic for 9 mins during the opening hours before finishing a respectable 11th.

C84/1 appeared at Spa where James Weaver took over the guest seat from Nick Faure and at Brands Hatch, as seen in the last photo where Mark Galvin took over from James. The car qualified 17th and 10th respectively, retiring from both races fuel pressure and drive belt issues respectively.

Steve retired from competition until 1991 when he returned racing GT’s winning the British GT GT2 and GT1 class drivers championships with co-driver Tim Sugden in 1997 and 1998 respectively, his highest Le Mans finish was 4th also in 1998 when he shared his McLaren with Tim and Bill Auberlen.

A second EMKA was built in 1989 using the discarded ground effect floor from the C83/1 and spare parts from C84/1 including the revised type of suspension, with the original red C83/1 bodywork.

Owner Rudolf Ernst is seen at the wheel of C84/1 in the photo’s above taken at the Silverstone Classic Test Day earlier this year.

Thanks for joining me on this “9 Mins Of Fame” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another Le Mans Challenger from Mercedes Benz. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Brynfan Tyddyn Winner – Kieft CK52

After a brief and unsuccessful attempt at hillclimbing in a Marwyn 500 Swansea born Cyril Kieft ended up buying the Marwyn company when it folded.

8 or 9 Kieft Mk 1’s incorporating Marwyn parts and ideas were manufactured for the 1950 season with the works teams greatest achievement being the capture of 13 records in the 350cc and 500 cc class at Monterey using Norton Engines and with Stirling Moss, Ken Gregory (Moss’ manager) and Jack Neill doing the driving.

Stirling and Ken had plans to build their own 500 Formula 3 car to beat the predominant Coopers for 1951, but were short of finance.

Kieft CK52, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

When they approached Cyril with the idea of employing Ray Martin to design and build a car to Stirling’s specifications Cyril agreed and with Stirling aged just 21 and Ken as co directors Kieft Car Construction Ltd, a new entity, was founded in Wolverhampton.

The CK51 with a Norton engine was an immediate success with Moss scoring a debut win, 27 seconds ahead of Alan Brown’s Cooper Mk V at Goodwood in May 1951, unfortunately Stirling’s growing list of commitments elsewhere meant the main beneficiary of the new Kieft would be Don Parker.

After testing Stirling’s prototype Kieft Don bought a Kieft CK51 and incorporated many of his own idea’s into it. With his personalised Kieft Don won the 1952 Autosport Formula 3 Championship, Light Car Challenge and Veterans Trophy and the national title again in 1953 missing out on a hatrick by just one point to Les Leston in 1954.

Kieft CK52, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Ironically while Don Parker was clocking up 30 wins during the 1953 season Stirling concluded that the Cooper Mark IV was a better bet than the Kieft CK52, like the one seen in these photographs, and he resigned as director of Kieft as a result.

This particular car was sold to Dick Irish of Cleveland Ohio who raced it to numerous victories the most notable of which was the Brynfan Tyddyn Challenge Cup run over a road course north of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Kieft moved on to building Formula 2 cars in 1953 and aborted Formula One project intended for the 1954 season.

Kieft CK52, Race Retro, Stoneleigh,

Don Parker kept faith with Kieft until 1956 when he too inevitably bought a Cooper.

Today’s featured car returned to the UK in 2005 and after it was restored was raced by Nigel Ashman who drove it to the 500cc Owners Association Club Championship title in 2010.

Thanks for joining me on this “Brynfan Tyddyn Winner” 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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Five In The Car Park – Silverstone Classic

To celebrate Silverstone Classic’s Silver Jubilee I thought it would be fun to select 25 highlights from the last four years that I have been attending the event, today I am looking back at 5 of my favourite classics seen in the Sliverstone Classic car park over the years.

Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk2 Touring Spider,Silverstone Classic

My car of the day on my first visit to Silverstone Classic in 2011 was this 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk2 Touring Spider which Mr Alexander Smith won in a Daily Express competition with his catch phrase “Who Said A Spider Couldn’t Fly ?”.

Ferrari 250 GT Europa, Silverstone Classic

Two years later my car of the day was this 1955 Ferrari 250 GT Europa #0373GT in which Oliver Gendebien and his co driver Pierre Stasse finished the non stop 1956 2,000 mile Liege Rome Liege Rally 3rd overall.

Lotus Seven Series IV, Silverstone Classic

By no means the rarest, nor necessarily most popular, of cars, but one I used to lust after as a school kid was the chunky Series IV Lotus Seven this 1970 example on Wolfrace Alloy wheels appeared at the 2012 Silverstone Classic.

Lamborghini Jota, Silverstone Classic

Mr Piet Pulford spent 15 years and large sums of money turning a beaten up Lamborghini Muira he found in the States into this copy of the one off racing spec Jota that was destroyed by fire in Italy in 1972.

BMW 3.0 CSL, Silverstone Classic

One of the more lurid colour schemes seen at Silverstone Classic was that on this 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL.

Thanks for joining me on this “Five In The Car Park” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking a pony. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Supercharged Six – Amilcar CO

The Amilcar CO was a production two seat racing car, very much in the mould of the contemporary but larger Bugatti Type 37, designed by Edmond Moyet and put into production in time for the 1926 racing season.

Amilcar CO, Matthew Blake, VSCC, Prescott,

Power came from a development of the Amilcar C6 models 1094 cc / 67 cui six cylinder motor which in this application featured a twim cam hemi head, crankshaft running on roller bearings, dry sump lubrication and two stage Roots supercharger which added up to over 100hp.

Amilcar CO, Matthew Blake, VSCC, Prescott,

Despite costing more than the larger capacity Bugatti Type 37 it is believed 40 CO’s which were capable of over 170 kmh / 10 mph were built.

Amilcar CO, Matthew Blake, VSCC, Prescott,

During 1926 it is said that the C6 and CO models recorded over 70 victories with works driver André Morel leading the way winning the 1100cc race (Gran Premio del Vetturette) run concurrently with Italian Grand Prix and Charles Martin finishing 4th overall and first in the 1100cc class in the JCC 200 mile race at Brooklands.

Indeed an even faster single seat MCO variant of the CO would continue winning 1100cc events well into the 1930’s with Le Havre Amilcar agent José Scaron being a regular winner.

Seen in these photographs is the 1926 CO, first registered in the UK on October 24th 1938, driven by Matthew Blake at Prescott.

Thanks for joining me on this “Supercharged Six” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at Shaun The Sheeps Land Rover. Don’t forget to come baahck now !

08/02/15 Thanks to Tim Murray for pointing out the 1100 cc race at Monza was run concurrently with the Italian GP over the first 40 of the 60 laps run for the Grand Prix and that Charles Martin did not win the JCC 200 mile race at Brooklands as originally stated.

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Conquering Europe :- ERA R3A

In 1933 Raymond Mays the leading founder of ERA (English Racing Automobiles), set out to manufacture racing cars capable of upholding British prestige in Continental European races.

ERA R3A, Mark Giles, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone.

In 1934 ERA completed three vehicles and ERA R3A seen here was the third and first ERA to be built with a 2 litre / 122 cui motor.

ERA R3A, Mark Giles, Spring Start, Silverstone.

Raymond Mays drove R3A until it was sold at the end of 1935 and counted among his successes in the car an outright standing start world 1km record and more importantly the marques first victory in Europe.

ERA R3A, Goodwood Revival.

For the 1935 Eifelrennen meeting at the Nurburgring a 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui six cylinder voiturette class motor and Raymond drove the car to victory in the Voiturette Race beating the Maserati of Hans Reusch.

ERA R3A, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone.

R3A remained a voiturette when it was sold in 1936. In 1937 Charlie Martin recorded another win in the Voiturette event supporting the German Grand Prix at Avus .

ERA R3A, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone.

In 1938 Roy Hesketh bought R3A and took it home to South Africa where it remained until at least 1957. Current owner RT Skipworth is a second time custodian of R3A having first owned it 1998 to 2003 and then again since the start of 2014.

ERA R3A, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone.

R3A was fitted with an original spec 2 litre motor in 1976 and it is in this form that Mark Gillies can be seen driving the to victory in the 80th ERA Anniversary race during the VSCC Spring Start meeting at Silverstone earlier this year.

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

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185mph Motorway Test – AC Cobra Coupé #A98

Having concluded that the original AC Shelby Cobra Roadster needed some more straight line speed in order to compete with the Ferrari 250 GT0’s at Le Mans both Shelby and AC set about building Coupé’s independently of one another in late 1963.

AC turned to Alan Turner to design their Cobra Coupé for the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours. The less than complete car was taken to the Le Mans Test Weekend in April 1964 and Paul Bolton recorded the 27th fastest time in the 355 hp Coupé chassis #A98. Upon completion and with a spoiler fitted to help reduce lift the car was tested at the high speed MIRA test facility for which it proved to be too fast.

AC Cobra Coupé,  Goodwood Revival

In order to test the cars top speed it was decided to go and test it on Britain’s M1 motorway at 4 am two weeks before the 1964 Le Mans 24 hours and both Jack Sears and Paul Bolton took turns at driving the car up a couple of junctions and returning at a time of day when there was no other traffic on the road.

Based on the revs used as reported by the drivers, axle ratio and tyre sizes the AC engineers calculated on their slide rules that the car had reached 185 mph.

AC Cobra Coupé,  Goodwood Revival

One of the people present at the test was AC owner Derek
Hurlock’s nephew Tony Martin, who held an administrative position at the Sunday Times and spilled the beans to reporters with whom he worked later in the day.

Naturally the story was taken up and made front page news, however the incident did not contribute to the implementation of a blanket 70 mph on British Motorways in 1964 as a trial and made permanent in December 1965, as has become myth. The Ministry of Transport had been working on that legislation since far earlier in an effort to reduce death’s on Britain’s motorways which had been unrestricted since the first section of the Preston By Pass that was to become the M6 was opened in 1958.

#A98 was taken to Le Mans where it was qualified in 13th and gave the GT class winning Shelby Daytona Coupé designed by Pete Brock and driven by Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant a good run for it’s money until fuel starvation intervened.

Foul play was suspected when newspaper was found in the petrol tank, after being told by their tyre supplier to not change their tyres Paul suffered a tyre failure on lap 77 which put him in hospital and caused a Ferrari avoiding the incident to leave the track which killed 3 spectators in an unauthorised spectating area.

It took an AC enthusiast 12 years to rebuild the wreck of #A98 into the condition seen here at Goodwood Revival in 2012.

Thanks for joining me on this “185 mph Motorway Test” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a unique British built US entered vehicle that competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Versatile Winner – Ginetta Zetec G12 by DARE

A contemporary of the similarly mid engined Lotus Europa, the Ginetta G12 launched in 1966 was designed for the club racer which could be bought for £1,200 in component form.

Ginetta Zetec G12, Prescott

The car was built round a tubular space frame with the fibre glass panels bonded to the frame to make up the cockpit.

Ginetta Zetec G12, Prescott

Numerous motors were fitted to G12’s including the 1 litre / 61 cui Ford (Cosworth) SCA from formula junior, 1.5 litre 91.5 cui Coventry Climax pre 1966 Formula One Motor, 1.6 litre Lotus Twin cam as used in the Elan and Lotus Cortina models, 2 litre Martin V8 and in at least one instance a 3.5 litre / 214 cui all aluminium Buick V8.

Stephens, Ginetta Zetec G12, Prescott

In it’s first year of track competition was the most successful G12 driver winning 11 national races and setting 5 fastest laps in 1966. By the following year the new Chevron B6 provided stiff competition for the G12 and by 1968 it had been succeeded by the open G16. G12’s were raced internationally at Spa and the Nurburgring but without any notable results.

Stephens, Ginetta Zetec G12, Prescott

The G12’s were however good hillclimbers and sprinters with successes by Walter Flückiger won the Swiss Hillclimb championship in his SCA powered example in 1968 and repeated the experience in 1969 after chopping the roof off. Similarly David Render drove his Buick powered example, chassis 05, to the British Sprint Championship title in 1971.

Ginetta Zetec G12, Prescott

It is thought around 27 of these cars may have been built between 1966 and 1968, it appears several may have ended up in Japan. As with the Ginetta G4 production of the G12 was restarted by DARE.

Ginetta Zetec G12, Prescott

Today’s featured 2 litre / 122 cui Zetec powered example, built by DARE, is seen at Prescott where it was driven by Nick Stephens, it should be good for rest to 60 mph times in the region of 4.9 seconds with a top speed of 150 mph. Last time I saw it in November it was for sale, if you would like to speak to the owner do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thanks for joining me on this “Versatile Winner” 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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