Tag Archives: Pegasus

Romano’s Granddaughter – Lotus Elise Series I

In 1993 Lotus was purchased from GM by Romano Artioli chairman of the revived Bugatti manufacturer, and the following year the Type 111 was conceived by Julian Thompson with Richard Rackman and given the Elise name after Romano’s Granddaughter Elisa.

Lotus Elise Series 1, Bristol Classic Car Show, Shepton Mallet

The Series 1 Elise was launched in 1996 powered by a mid mounted 4 cylinder Rover K Series motor that produced just 118 hp, however thanks to the fiberglass body and bonded aluminium chassis the Elise only weighed 725 kg / 1,600 lbs so the car could accelerate from rest to 60 mph in just 5.8 seconds with a top speed of 124 mph.

Lotus Elise Series 1, Bristol Pegasus Motor Club, BAWA

Getting in and out of a Lotus Elise are probably the most difficult features of the car, the ergonomics are secondary to track day performance, but apart from that the Elise is said to be great fun to drive and economical to run thanks to the light weight and virtually non existent load capacity beside the passengers.

Lotus Elise Series 1, Bristol

In 1996 Romano had sold Lotus on to current owners Proton in order to fund the losses that had accumulated due to the insolvency of Bugatti.

Thanks to changes in crash sustainability regulations the Series 1 Elise was replaced in 2000 after more than 8600 had been built by the more sustainable and consequently slightly heavier Elise Series 2.

The top and bottom cars featured today are standard ’98 and ’97 1.8i models while the middle one is a later ’99 111S which came with variable valve timing 143 hp and a 130 mph top speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “Romano’s Granddaughter” 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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The Sunlight Textile Services – Pegasus Sprint

Last Saturday I had another 6am start, but this time not to go and spectate at an event but to act as a marshall for the The Sunlight Textile Services Pegasus Sprint run by the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club. Despite a healthy breakfast which included melon, tangerine, kiwi and a banana by the time I got through signing on I was ready to wolf down a traditional Full English Heart Attack in the Castle Combe Canteen. Even with long johns double layer trousers, three fleeces and a coat I was going to get cold under the cloudless skies with temperatures peaking at 8 degress C but with the wind chill factor making it feel like 9 below zero.

Lotus MG Mk 6, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

In between my second breakfast and the marshalls briefing I managed to snap Jack Taylors 1954 Lotus MG Mk VI this car is chassis #6-18 in theory the 24th Lotus ever built, it’s powered by an MG XPAG motor and appears to have a one off body, quite possibly by Williams and Pritchard though I have yet to confirm that.

Lotus Mk 6, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Wondering around the pits during the half hour lunch break I managed to take a few more photo’s including John Marshall’s Lotus Mk VI, followers of my blogs at the much missed Rowdy.com, and I know there are one or two of you, will remember me originally mis recognising this car as a Lotus 7. Many mis recognitions since I have found out it was also originally supplied with an MG motor and gearbox which has since been swapped for a Ford 100E motor and Triumph gearbox. In John’s hands this car has won at least 54 trophy’s most no bigger than egg cups.

MK K3, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Perhaps the most extraordinary car and for my money cor of the day was Jeremy Hawkes 1933 MG K3, built as on offset single seater to compete at Brooklands where like the 24 litre “Napier Railton” it holds a record in perpetuity, for vehicles up 1100 cc / 67.126 cui having recorded laps in excess of 120 mph.

MG TA Midget, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Anthony Smith brought his 1937 MG TA along to compete in the production road going A2 class.

MG A Coupé, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

This was only the second occasion on which I have ever seen a contemporary MG A Coupé this one was driven by Martin Wollacot in Class A2.

Bristol 403, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Regular readers might recognise this Bristol 403, which was not competing from the first Coffee Croissant and Cars blog I posted back in April.

SEAT Leon Tdi, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

SEAT’s León Cupra R (Typ 1M) was voted 7th best hatch back of all time in a poll conducted by Autocar in 2010, four years after production had switched to the newer Typ 1P. This 2004 Tdi Cupra R shows signs of how tricky the conditions were forcing the brothers who competed with it to go home after the practice sessions were completed to repair the damage which was incurred some where between Avon Rise and Quarry Corner during the second practice runs.

Nissan GTR R35, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Richard Girling was running his 1st generation 2009 all wheel drive Nissan GTR R35 in the most powerful A4 road going series production class, his car left the factory with 478 hp and a conservative 193 mph capability matched by a rest to 60 mph of 3.2 seconds. Needless to say the car looked quick on the track.

FIAT X1/9, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Micheal Kason was running his 2 litre / 122 cui FIAT X1/9 in the modified limited prodiction class C3, notice it sits on slick tyres which would not have been easy to heat up in the prevailing conditions.

Porsche 911 GT3, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Running in the largest C4 modified production class were Andrew Fraser and Tim Painter in this 2004 Porsche (996) 911 GT3. This car is for sale at £37,500, if you would like Andrew and Tim’s phone numbers send me an e-mail and I’ll gladly forward the details, usual disclaimers apply.

Triumph TR7 V8, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

Last runners of the day were David Hardcastle and Simon Allaby who were competing in the Revington TR / TR Register Sprint & Hillclimb Championship.

Darrian T98-GTR, Bristol Pegasus MC Sprint, Castle Combe

I did not manage to get many photographs of the on track action but while taking a break from marshaling duties I did get a photo of Ian Hall’s 5.2 litre / Darrian T98 GTR which set fastest time of the day by nearly ten seconds.

Thanks to a combination of few too many thrills and spills with short hours of sunlight competitors only got one timed run in before the event started to get too far behind schedule for everyone to get a second time in. Out at Tower we were great full for the hour or so this spared us standing in the delightful sunshine but freezing wind.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Sunlight Textile Services – Pegasus Sprint” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Special Equipment – Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

A couple of weeks ago you may remember I attempted my first navigation exercise with Bristol Pegasus Motor Club membership secretary Bob in his ‘daughters’ Mini Cooper. Today I am looking at Bob’s own car his Lotus Elan Coupé S/E otherwise known as an Elan S3 FHC (Type 36).

Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

Like the racing Lotus 26R the Elan Coupé S/E has a fixed hard top unlike the original Lotus 26 Elan’s which were all convertibles.

Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

The first 36 Coupé’s were introduced in September 1965, with a 105 hp version of the Lotus Twin Cam 4 cylinder engine.

Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

An S/E version as seen here became available in July of the following year with a 118hp ‘L Block’ version of the Lotus Twin Cam.

Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

S/E Coupés are distinguished from all earlier Elan models by the repeater lights on the front wings and stainless steel trim on the sides.

Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

Bob’s car was built in 1967 by which time Lotus had won two of an eventual seven Grand Prix constructors titles with the Lotus 25 and Lotus 33.

Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

The Elan S3 body was the first Elan to have a boot lid that extended all the way to the tail of the car.

Lotus Elan Coupé S/E

It is estimated that approximately 1,200 Elan S3 FHC’s were built between 1965 and 1968 when the S4.

My thanks to Bob for his help with this blog.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Special Equipment’ edition of ‘Getting’ 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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Supercharged Map Reading – BPMC Navigation Exercise

At long last the 2012 motor sport season has got under way, though not in quite the way I have ever experienced ever before. A couple of weeks ago I was informed that Bristol Pegasus Motor Club (BPMC) Membership Secretary Bob Bull was looking for a navigator to take part in the January BPMC Navigation exercise. I got in touch with Bob and he kindly agreed to take me along on Friday despite the fact that I have not read an Ordnance Survey map in something approximating 4 decades, since being introduced to the modern talking route finder a couple of years ago I have rarely had use for any kind of map at all !

BPMC Navigation Exercise

This event was organised on three levels Beginners which included Bob and I, Novices for those competent at reading maps who were given an additional false origin exercise, a tulip reading exercise, a map feature reading exercise and herringbone reading exercise. Finally for the Experts there were map reading, false origin, tulip not in the correct order, map feature an a herringbone exercise. I’ll come back to the more difficult exercises in a future blog.

BPMC Navigation Exercise

Photo Courtesy Dick Craddy

Bob kindly came and picked me up on Friday night in his ‘daughters Mini Cooper S’ a tidy supercharged model that would be ranged against the Mazda 6 of BPMC Chairman Andy Moss with co driver Chris Goodchild (above) ,

BPMC Navigation Exercise

Photo Courtesy Dick Craddy

the Peugeot 106 Rallye of Chris Thompson and Alan Dillamore …

BPMC Navigation Exercise

and the Ford Fiesta driven by Martyn with his teenage daughter Katie Davies doing the co driving. We all met with the event organiser Dick Craddy at map reference 494 943 on O/S Map 162 for a 19:30 start.

BPMC Navigation Exercise

Bob and I arrived at the lay-by nice and early and wondered if we might try navigating by stars on what was a clear and dark night on the Welsh Boarder.

BPMC Navigation Exercise

Once everyone had arrived and signed on Dick went through some basics about not using anything other than normal driving lights, observing the highway code at all times and he warned us that the local constabulary had been informed of our presence and that we should expect to see them at anytime, before handing us our instructions. In our case a list of fifty 6,7 and 8 figure map references with questions about features we could expect to find when we reached them.

BPMC Navigation Exercise

Photo Courtesy Dick Craddy

Before setting off we plotted the map references and after the first dozen I realised I had forgotten to label them so we had to start again, nothing like starting at the bottom of the learning ladder. After what must have been nearly an hour I had about half the references plotted and Bob put the Supercharged Mini in gear and off we set towards our first map reference a junction in Mynydd-bach where we had to find out how many miles the sign post to Brynbuga read before heading in the opposite direction towards Shirenewton !

BPMC Navigation Exercise

So far so good but then things soon started to get complicated, somewhere between reading the map and looking for clues as to where we actually were I missed a junction and we found our selves on a single lane track facing Chris Thompson coming from the opposite direction ! Chris kindly backed up to let us pass, somehow, it still escapes me how, we managed to do a figure of 8 and ended up back in Shirenewton. Doh ! we retraced our steps and found the junction we missed, found the correct answers to the questions and headed on toward Llanvair Discoed and found the answers to around a dozen questions before deciding to call it a day and heading to the final meeting place a pub next to Tintern Abbey. Note to self not all pubs are marked on an Ordnance Survey Map as PH (Public House) or Inn.

BPMC Navigation Exercise

Needless to say we did not do very well coming in well and truly last, but Bob kindly offered to redo the exercise with me in a couple of weeks. They say practice makes perfect so if all goes well we will be back for crack at the next Navigation event a little the wiser.

If you live in the Bristol area and fancy having a go at this entertaining low cost sport why not check out the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club site join the club for just £10 and give it a go. The next BPMC organised Navigation Exercise is on March 16th.

Congratulations to Andy and Chris who easily won even with a deduction for being previous winners !

My thanks to Bob for his patience and taking me along, Dick for organising the event and providing some of the photo’s for today’s blog.

Thanks for joining me on this Supercharged Map Reading 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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The Regency Laundry Pegasus Sprint

A week last Saturday I got up at 6 am and headed down the hill to meet Mark a fellow member of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club at 7:15 am to catch a lift out to Castle Combe where we were both volunteer marshalls for a day at The Regency Laundry Pegasus Sprint.

21st Pegasus Sprint

Unlike the Wessex Sprint held at Castle Combe which started from the pit lane earlier this year the start of the Pegasus Sprint was at the entry to Camp Corner with the usual finish line on the straight following Camp meaning the sprint course was just over a lap and measured 2.05 miles.

The Regency Laundry Pegasus Sprint,

Participants from an additional twenty clubs, including the Morgan CC were invited to take part around 120 entries were expected to make two practice runs in the morning and two competitive runs in the afternoon.

Matthew Oakley, TVR Griffith, The Regency Pegasus Sprint, 15 10 2011

For the morning sessions I was assigned to the inside of Quarry Corner with fellow members Andy and Lewis. We all agreed that the TVR would probably provide the most entertainment during the day and we were not dissapointed. Matthew Oakley’s #100 6158 cc / 376 cui TVR Griffith sounded like it was running a super charger though this was not marked on the entry list.

TR Register, The Regency Pegasus Sprint, 15 10 2011

At Quarry the morning passed relatively uneventfully no spiners, cars with all four wheels off the track or anything of significance to report from a marshaling perspective. Things were a good deal more exciting at The Esses just down the track from us where several competitors spun, dropped oil and in a couple of cases completely failed to take the Esses and headed safely down the escape road.

John Dando, Volvo 144, The Regency Pegasus Sprint, 15 10 2011

After a fabulous courtesy chicken curry at The Tavern I had about ten minuets to take some more snaps in the paddock before joining Andy and Lewis at Avon Rise for the afternoon sessions. Above John Dando driving his magnificent Volvo 144 was the sole representative of the Volvo Owners Club present.

Toby Harris, Ford Puma, The Regency Pegasus Sprint, 15 10 2011

Toby Harris sharing the turbocharged #31 Ford Puma, fitted with what appeared to be carbon fibre bonnet and boot panels, above with Lisa Selby was particularly impressive for it’s neutral handling in the corners making it look smooth and fast.

Tim Painter, Ferrari F360, The Regency Pegasus Sprint, 15 10 2011

Tim Painter driving his heart warming Ferrari 360 around Castle Combe for the first time did not have such an easy run of it managing just one clean run.

Colin Early, Darrian T9, The Regeny Laundry Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe 15/10/2011

Appearing with rally spec ground clearance was this 2 litre / 122 cui mid engined Darian T9 shared by Colin Early, seen above and Carole Torkington.

Matt Hillman, SBD Westfield, The Regeny Laundry Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe 15/10/2011

Among the fastest cars of the day was the #79 SBD Westfield S2000 of Matt Hillman seen driving above and Steve Broughton, this car has all the go faster bits including Kevlar steering wheel and sequential gearbox.

Jenson Convertible Interceptor,The Regeny Laundry Pegasus Sprint, Castle Combe 15/10/2011

Finally as the days track activities drew to a close this Convertible Jenson Interceptor pulled up behind our marshalling post in the hands of a new owner who had just purchased it for a very reasonable £24,000. More on this car on Sunday.

I’d like to thank Mark for saving me a long uphill walk by dropping me off right outside my house.

Thanks for joining me on this Regency Laundry edition of ‘Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Vintage Vauxhall. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Wessex Sprint – Castle Combe

This week I will be catching up with a couple of days activity at Castle Combe, a morning at Mallory Park and a visit to the Bugatti Trust at Prescott.

A couple of weeks ago I took some advice from our Prime Minister, David Cameron, and had great fun doing my bit for the motor racing community by marshaling at the Wessex Sprint, organised by the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club, of which I am a new member and the MG Car Club (SW).

A sprint is an event in which competitors race against the clock on this occasion around a single lap of the Castle Combe Circuit. Here are a few snaps taken during the lunch break and suspension of the competition.

MG J2, Castle Combe

Jeremy Hawk told me his MG J2 above has been in his family since 1953 when it was acquired for the princely sum of £85 some years later it made STD at a sprint at Castle Combe just like it did last week.

Peugeot 309 GTi,

This #73 Peugeot 309 GTi was shared by Tom Siebert and Henry Siebert Saunders was completely stripped out and running with plastic side window’s to reduce weight.

Audi Quattro

Car of the day IMHO, if only because of the sound of it’s 5 cylinder turbocharged motor, was the #75 Audi Quattro shared by Tim Clark and Andy Tanner, wondering if anyone knows if this a genuine works car ? It certainly looked and sounded the part. Andy just beat Tim to win the Modified Limited Production Class.

MGB Kayne Special, Castle Combe

The Rover V8 powered MGB Kayne Special shared by John and Jonathan Biggs ran in the Sports Libre Class.

Terrapin Kawasaki, Castle Combe

Tim Moreton and Dean Robertson shared the ‘Dick’ Terrapin a Kawasaki powered vehicle with a Wharholian paint job.

Royale Vauxhall RP 30

I do not remember the last time I saw a Royale RP 30 in action, but the first time was around 31 short years ago ! This example driven by Bob and Anne Adams is powered by a Vauxhall 16v motor in place of the Ford Pinto with which it was originally supplied to race in Formula Ford 2000 events. Bob took the Racing Cars over 1600 cc class honours.

Pilbeam Vauxhall MP62

Proudly displaying it’s V8 kills from a couple of years ago was the similarly Vauxhall, 4 cylinder, powered but methanol fuelled Pilbeam MP62 chassis #14, built in the late 1980’s, of Kevin Lealan who won the Fastest Time of the Day award.

Start line marshalls

Running cars one at a time in batches of four meant my fellow start line marshals and I only got a break from the action for lunch, very nice sweet and sour chicken with rice & chips, then again later when the weather turned sunny, the sunlight interfered with the timing beam until the beam receiver was fitted with a shroud and on a couple of occasions when the Castle Combe farmer wanted to cross the track in order to bring in his hay bales.

I would recommend volunteering to be marshal to anyone who is interested in getting involved in motor sport, you will probably have a fun day and get to make a few good friends in the local motor sport community.

Thanks for joining me on this Wessex Sprint edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at this weekends racing at Castle Combe. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Follow That ‘Burb ! – Independence Day Touring Assembly

Yesterday evening Martin and Nick of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club were responsible for organising an Independence Day Touring Assembly, in aid of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and it was a good excuse to take some foreign guests staying with us out for an evening ride.

Independence Day Rally, BPMC

We assembled at The Parkway in Stoke Gifford where an eclectic collection of vehicles had gathered including

Hudson Suburban Sedan, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

a 1935 Hudson Suburban Sedan,

Ford V8 Pilot, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

and 1950 Ford V8 Pilot,

Independence Day Rally, BPMC

Ken kindly let our guests, Pablo from Barcelona seen here, jump into his Marlin 5exi.

Chevrolet Suburban, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

Soon it was time to go to The Griffin in nearby Warmley to pick up some members of Bristol Hotrods who joined us on our cruise. Not knowing exactly where I was going I took the advice to ‘follow that ‘burb’ referring to a large gold Rover V8 powered 1964 GMC Suburban belonging to Chris, who some of you may remember got me interested in drag racing not so long ago.

Independence Day Rally, BPMC

After a 20 min drive round what counts as Bristol’s ring road

Monarch GP, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

we arrived in the car park of The Griffin where I was surprised to find chain drive fan Duncan waiting for us in another of his amazing Edwardian vehicles a Monarch GP powered by an 8.4 litre / 512 cui Curtiss V8 aircraft engine.

Independence Day Rally, BPMC

No sooner had I taken a snap and we were on our way to our final destination in a convoy vaguely reminiscent of the Whacky Races, behind me here are a Parsons trials car, Duncan in his Monarch, what appears to be a genuine C type Jaguar and a Ford Hotrod.

Independence Day Rally, BPMC

Our final destination was the Book Barn in Hallatrow about 20 miles south of Bristol where coffee and a fine selection of used books was to be found including a Spanish English Dictionary for Pablo.

Ford, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

Outside I took the opportunity to get a closer look at some of the hotrods that had joined us from The Griffin, including this exquisitely painted Ford which was built from a kit,

Ford Anglia, Ford, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

this chopped Coupe which apparently started life as a humble 1949 Ford Anglia and is now fitted with a Supercharged Rover V8

Ford Coupé, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

and The Alchemist based on a 1933 Ford Coupe with tasty patina powered if I heard correctly by a 5300cc / 323 cui ‘Hemi’ V8.

Independence Day Rally, BPMC

Paulo from Milan took a real shine to the C – Type,

Marlin 5exi, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

but after a 20 mile ride with Ken he was left most impressed by the Marlin 5exi.

TVR Griffin 500, Marlin 5exi, Independence Day Rally, BPMC

My thanks to Martin and Nick who organised a splendid Assembly to everyone who came along and particularly to Ken and Rob, seen above in his TVR Griffin 500, for giving Paulo and Pablo rides in vehicles neither will forget in a hurry.

Hope you have enjoyed todays Independence Day Assembly edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a replica concept car. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Please spare a thought for Nick’s wife Cherry who had the misfortune to get clobbered by a 4ft iron bar in a freak accident while at Goodwood on Friday. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Cherry.

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