Tag Archives: Wheeler

Pur Sang De La Route – Renault R8 Gordini

When Renault decided to replace it’s rear engine rear wheel drive Dauphine models in 1962 it choose ignore the front engine front wheel drive layout used on the Renault 4 first seen in 1961 and kept the Dauphine layout for the R8 and later more luxurious R10 models designed by Philippe Charbonneaux.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

During the design stage of the R8 it appears there were plans for ALFA Romeo to expand their relationship with Renault to include building a version of this car which never came to fruition, however the unusual styled bonnet / hood with its central crease, shared with the 1960 still born prototype front wheel drive ALFA Romeo tipo 103, is possibly a remnant of the initial co operative intention.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

Novel features for a car of this size at this time were all round disc brakes and the 43hp 1 litre / 61 cui Cléon-Fonte engine featured a sealed for life cooling system first seen on the Renault 4.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

While the R8 was narrower than the Dauphine it replaced the front seats were actually wider than those on it’s predecessor.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

“Le sorcier” Amédé Gordini produced a cross flow cylinder head for the larger 1108cc / 67 cui R8 engine which when fitted with twin Solex carburetors produced 89hp which was fitted to a close ration four speed gearbox for the R8 Gordini model that featured uprated rear suspension and marketed, only in blue with white racing stripes, as a “pur sang de la route / thoroughbred of the road” in 1964, with it’s 110 mph capability it was faster than the contemporary luxury Citroën DS19.

Jean Vinatier, seen at the wheel in the opening scenes of the clip above, with co driver Roger Masson drove an R8 Gordini to victory in the 1964 Tour de Course tarmac rally in Corsica this was followed by two more victories on the same event by Pierre Orsini with Jean-Baptiste Canocini in 1965 and Jean-François Piot with Jean-François Jacob in 1966 completing a hat trick of Tour de Course victories for the model.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

In 1967 the face lifted R8 Gordini featured additional Cibie Oscar driving lights and the engine capacity was increased to 1255 cc / 76 cui which with the cross flow head and twin Weber carburetors produced 99hp.

Renault R8 Gordini, Rally Day, Castle Combe,

More major international Rally successes followed on the Rallye du Maroc won by Robert La Caze
with Raymond Ponnelle in 1967 and Jean-Pierre Nicolas with Jean de Alexandris in 1968, the following year Marc and Hélène Gérenthon won the inaugural Rallye Côte d’Ivoire, while in 1970 Bob Watson with Jim McCauliffe won the five round Australian Rally Championship in their R8 Gordini.

The 1970 example seen in these photographs taken at the recent Castle Combe Rally Day was first registered in the UK in September 2002 and has been seen in the hands of Renault gear box expert David Wheeler on the La Vie En Bleu Prescott Hillclimb.

Thanks for joining me on this “Pur Sang De La Route” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Rally Day tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Indy Monza Daytona – Kurtis KK500C

In 1954 Kurtis Kraft built nine Kurtis KK500C roadsters and today’s featured car chassis #376 was entered for the 1954 Indianapolis 500 International Sweepstakes as the Merz Engineering Special for Fred Agabashian to drive.

Kurtis 500C, Silverstone Classic, Test Day,

Fred qualified the #77 for the 24th spot on the grid and finished in 6th place third best of the 9 KK500C’s which all made the start.

Kurtis 500C, Silverstone Classic, Test Day,

The following year Walt Faulkner took over the #77 for the Indy 500 and starting 7th went one better than Fred and finished 5th.

Kurtis 500C, Silverstone Classic, Test Day,

For 1956 chassis #376 was rebranded as the Hoyt Machine Co Special and entered in the Indy 500 as the #10 for Ed Eliian who qualified 14th but had to retire 40 laps short of the full distance with brake issues.

Kurtis 500C, Silverstone Classic, Test Day,

Jimmy Reece qualified the #5 Hoyt Machine Co Special 6th at Indy in 1957, but retired 18 laps short of the full distance with throttle issues.

Kurtis 500C, Silverstone Classic, Test Day,

In 1958 Gene Hartley failed to qualify the Hoyt Machine Co Special for the 500 but with Jimmy Reece back at the wheel the car finished 5th in the race of the Two Worlds at Monza.

Kurtis 500C, Silverstone Classic, Test Day,

After returning from Italy #376 was rebranded as the Wheeler Foutch Special and entered for Red Amnick for the Indy 500, Red qualified the #87 26th but retired after an accident and completing only 45 laps.

In April 1959 Dempsey Wilson qualified #376, now returned to Hoyt Machine Co Special colours, 4th for the Daytona 100 USAC race run at the then brand new Daytona Superspeedway.

Dempsey spun the #24 out at turn 2 on lap 28 of the Daytona 100 and then took over the #75 Racing Associates Kazuma for the 2nd event of the day a shortened 50 mile “Libre”, open to all comers, race from which he was flagged running in 9th place having completed only 17 of the scheduled 20 laps.

Chassis #376 was retired from competition in 1962 and was fitted with a V8 and clothed as a road car until 1995 when it was returned to the condition in which it is seen today, this car is considered one of the most original roadsters to have survived having never been converted to a super modified spec for dirt track racing.

My thanks to Willem Oosthoek and Jerry Entin at The Nostalgia Forum for anticipating my question regarding events at Daytona in April 1959.

Thanks for joining me on this “Indy Monza Daytona” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a seriously modified FIAT. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Chased By A Panda – Exeter Trial 2013

A couple of months ago I was offered the opportunity to navigate a unique Parsons Trials car on the Exeter Trial by owner Alan “Spence” Spencer. After Alan kindly agreed to make a few modifications so that I could sit in the car properly by raising the seat and adding four inch screen to afford some protection from the on coming wind I agreed to join him and had been looking forward to the experience ever since.

Parsons, Exeter Trial, Cirencester

Alan is seen above strapping himself into the Parsons at the first rendezvous Burford Services, Cirencester where we joined 39 other motor cars at close to midnight. The Exeter Trial was first run on Boxing Day 1910 by the Motorcycle Club from London to Exeter and back. As the roads got better so the trials went off road to maintain some degree of challenge for those taking part. The first part of the 2013 Exeter Trial was a regularity run over an 88 mile prescribed route to the Haynes International Motor Museum with an easy target time of 2 hours, mercifully I had prepared my wardrobe well and was comfortably warm sitting in the Ford Kent powered Parsons despite being exposed to the elements.

Gregory, Exeter Trial, Cirencester

Among assorted Skoda’s, VW Beetles and an Mazda MX5 with an urban paint job starting from Cirencester was this rare #222 Gregory trials car driven by Josh Moss and Chris Ferin. At the Haynes motor museum there was a compulsory two hour break during which I enjoyed a hearty Full English Heart Attack breakfast and a 1/2 hour flat on my back to ease the inevitable stiffness that occurs after sitting in a confined space for 2 hours in ambient temperatures a couple of degrees above freezing.

Ford Special, Exeter Trial, Cirencester

Above the #223 Ford Special of Alex Wheeler and Tony Underhill is parked up alongside the #222 Gregory and ahead of a couple of Suzuki X-90’s that were also taking part at the Musbury Garage checkpoint.

After a very quick observed stopping and reversing test at Haynes we headed for the first off road trial at Windwhistle Hill, by now I had a good grip on the abbreviations used in the route notes which Spence had thoughtfully copied and mounted onto a neat illuminated roller box as used by bomber command navigators in WW2 and by Denis Jenkinson to help Stirling Moss to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia. In the pitch black of the night from the navigators seat of the Parsons at five in the morning the Windwhistle Hill observed section appeared to take place on a very wet and rutted and rocky forestry track, getting down to the start of the time section it was almost as much fun as roaring back up to the top for a clean run which included a compulsory stop and restart halfway up.

Mercedes Simplex, Exeter Trial, Musbury Garage

From Windwhistle Hill we proceeded 5 miles to the next observed section Underdown II following the magnificent chain driven 1903 Mercedes 60 hp Simplex of Ben and Roger Collings with a burbling 4 cylinder 9.235 litre / 563 cui motor which was being guided by chain drive aficionado Duncan Pittaway and Ant Lucas in a raucous TVR V8S. The Mercedes needed a guide on account of the fact that nominal navigator 70 year old Roger Collings, seen above, was fully occupied holding on to two handles to stay in his completely exposed seat.

Volkswagen Beetle, Normans Hump, Exeter Trial

Above the #238 Volkswagen Beetle of Nicola Butcher completes a clean run of Norman’s Hump.

After another clean run up Underdown II we headed for the Musbury Garage check point, as we were running ahead of scheduled time Spence pulled over for a quick cat nap before we pulled into the Garage to get our route card signed. Day light was appearing as we reached observed Section 3 known as Norman’s Hump where there was a long queue of competitors waiting.

FIAT Panda Sisley, Crealy Park, Exeter Trial

We began to feel like we were on a roll as we cleaned Norman’s Hump and the following observed sections Waterloo, Strets, Core Hill and Bulverton Steep which were all on wet surfaces thanks to the yule tide deluge that had ceased earlier in the week. Over the last few morning sections we were running last on the road with the course closing FIAT Panda 4×4, seen above, on our tail.

Parsons, Crealy Park, Exeter Trial

This was not helped by the fact that Spence used an electric pump to inflate his tyres after each section which lost us time, unfortunately the Parsons, seen above at Crealy Park, is not really big enough to carry a time saving gas bottle as many other competitors did. For most of the observed sections we were running between 10 and 15 psi on the rear tyres for extra grip, too low a pressure to be running on the road sections to be safe.

Allard M Special, Crealy Park, Exeter Trial

Just after 10 we arrived at the Crealy Park time control where Spence borrowed Duncans jack to swap the rear wheels over because the tyres on both sides had slipped on the rims, he also checked over the levels which were all fine during the one hour compulsory stop while I took a few snaps of some of the other vehicles taking part including the #242 Allard M Type Special of William Holt and Martyn Wyatt above. After a brunch, chicken and fried rice with satay sauce that I bought at our local take away just before setting off from Bristol, we headed into the sunshine towards afternoon sections starting with Tillerton Steep.

Marlin Roadster, Crealy Park, Exeter Trial

Above Chris Hickling and Wendy Bayless from Falmouth are seen in front of their #207 Marlin which suffered a puncture on Norman’s Hump.

If the morning had proved to be ecstatic with clean runs then Tillerton Steep began a run of drip fed cruel agony as there was a restart on a large slab of wet rock which offered absolutely zero traction. We had failed our first test though we managed to get up the remainder of the course on our second attempt.

BMW 2002, Tillerton Steep, Exeter Trial

Above the Edna Perryman climbs into the back seat, of the #237 BMW 2002 while Colin awaits to cross the ford prior to their run up Tillerton Steep. Note the course closing Panda behind the Mercedes.

We then followed the Mercedes Simplex to Fingle Hill which we cleaned, with slightly raised spirits we continued the short distance to Wooston Steep behind the 1903 Mercedes Simplex which pulled an awesome handbrake turn to line up for the gates that marked the entrance to the path that led to the observed section. Wooston Steep which had two finishes according to class, being in the toughest class 8 we had to make a run past a left fork up to the top, unfortunately we got caught in the ruts which turned left and lost too much momentum to complete the test. The Exeter Trial is about completing ‘cleaning’ all the sections if one completes all sections no more than ten mins behind schedule one is awarded a Gold medal, if one fails one section but completes all the rest within 20 mins of the target time one earns a silver and a bronze is awarded if all bar two sections are completed within 30 mins of the target time.

Mercedes Simplex, Fingle Hill, Exeter Trial

Above Ben Collings blasts up Fingle Hill while Roger hangs on to the 1903 Mercedes Simplex as best he can.

After a third observed Autotest at Wooston Steep it was off to Ilsington Parish Hall for another compulsory hour break during which I enjoyed some decaffinated coffee and some lovely cake. Next it was off round the corner to Simms a long wait ensued as many cars failed to get to the top after the restart. We eventually blasted up the first part of the hill but could not manage the second and ended up being carefully guided, who almost manhandled the car back to the corner so that we could reverse down the remainder of the course. Our shot at a medal was over and dissappointed we headed for Tipley Hill where another long queue awaited us. By now it was getting dark and colder again and since we were no longer in with a chance to win a medal we elected to skip Tipley Hill and headed for the final section Slippery Sam a cross between a rock garden and a bomb hole of a hill, again we flew up the first part but needed two attempts to clear the restart after which we flew around the last couple of corners bouncing over ground that would be an easy test for a four wheel drive but was a thriller in the tiny Parsons.

Skoda Estelle, Simms, Exeter Trial

Above part of discipline of the Exeter Trial is having the patience to sit in long queues in narrow lanes, above the #227 Skoda Estelle of Ben & Rosin Giles awaits it’s turn to get to the start of Simms.

We then headed to the Trecarn Hotel Babbacombe where exhausted we handed in our time card for the final time, glad to be in one piece, and that it had neither snowed or rained during the exhilarating 19 hour 250 mile drive. After a shower we joined many of the competing crews for dinner where tails of triumphs and failure were exchanged. I eventually crashed out feeling like I was still moving !

My thanks to Alan Spencer for taking me along on the Exeter Trial in his little Parsons which will be the subject of a future blog, thanks also to all the marshalls and organisers who put the time and effort in to making the event happen, I hope the opportunity to participate comes round again in the not too distant future.

Thanks for joining me on this “Chased By A Panda” 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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Mechanical Orchestra – TVR T350

TVR T350, Pistonheads, BMW Plant

The TVR T 350 is probably as close as one can get to a four wheeled motorcycle that will scare a young mans prospective in laws to death, it’s small and according to one journalist in 2004 the engine belongs in an orchestra pit.

TVR T350, Pistonheads, BMW Plant

The T 350 comes with TVRs own 350 hp 3605 cc / 219.9 cui Speed Six all alloy 24 valve engine that is canted over at 30 degrees so that it fits into the svelte T 350 body that measures just over 13 feet long by six feet wide by 47 inches high.

TVR T350, Pistonheads, BMW Plant

TVRs under the direction of previous owner Peter Wheeler dispensed with creature comforts like interior lights, air bags and traction control, though these vehicles did come with air conditioning.

TVR T350, Pistonheads, BMW Plant

Weighing just 2,616 lbs / 1,187 kg performance from rest to 62 mph was 4.4 secs up to 100 mph in 9.5 secs with an official top speed of 175 mph.

TVR T350, Pistonheads, BMW Plant

Production of the T350 ran from 2002 until 2006 when Russian/Greek/British baby oligarch Nikolai Smolenski took over the company and soon after halted production of all TVR models.

Allegedly Mr Smolenski has announced various plans to restart production most recently with a Corvette powered model which might be built anywhere between Blackpool and Cape Town, here is hoping this hairiest of automobile brands finds its way back to the market soon.

My thanks to the Pistonhead who brought this T350 along to the Sunday Service at the BMW plant back in January.

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

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Dark & Sinuous – TVR Tuscan

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TVR Tuscans were manufactured in Blackpool in the UK from 1999 – 2006

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This 2001 model will have been available with either 360 or 380 hp variation of a 3996 cc / 243 cui straight six engine.

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The sinuous fibreglass body fits over a tubular steel chassis.

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TVR’s then Chairman Peter Wheeler was quite adamant that TVR’s were safer without airbags, particularly in convertibles arguing that if somebody were to die in one of his cars as a result of an airbag he ‘would not be able to live with himself‘.

My thanks to the Pistonhead who brought this Tuscan along to the Sunday Service at the BMW plant back in January.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s dark & sinuous edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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