Coffee, Croissant & Cars #09/13 – Avenue Drivers Club

On second Sunday’s of the week in Bristol there is nowhere quite like Queen Square in Bristol for car enthusiasts to go for the monthly gathering of the Avenue Drivers Club.

Sunbeam 14/40, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

I managed to get down there at 8:30 am for the last meeting and already enthusiasts were coming in thick and fast. Around 2850 Sunbeam 14/40’s like the example above were built between 1924 and 1926, among novelties for the period were standard front brakes.

Abarth, 500, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

Amongst those I met on the day was regular GALPOT reader Colin who owns this 2010 Abarth 500 one of the earliest imported examples of the type that did not spend it’s early life on the Hertz Rental fleet.

Triumph 2500 PI Mk2, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

Readers of last Tuesdays blog might remember that Brian Culcheth and Johnstone Syer drove a Triumph 2500 PI Mk2 like the 1970 example seen here to a second place on the London to Mexico World Cup Rally.

Moss Monaco, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

John Cowperthwaite designed and built the first Moss Kit Car in Sheffield around 1981, it is thought 70 Moss Monaco‘s have been built, mostly using either Triumph Herald or Ford Escort motors and running gear.

Plymouth Special De Luxe Coupe, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

Plymouth’s first new model after the 1939/45 was was the Deluxe, introduced in 1946, which came with a push button on the dash to start the 95 hp straight six motor. The example above appears to be a 1948 Special De Luxe Coupé.

Ford Ranchero, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

Looking like it came out of the Twighlight B&W TV series was this 1957 Ford Ranchero, which circulated the Square once before seemingly vanishing into thin air.

VW Golf VR6 MkIII, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

The secret of low riding is air suspension, this two owner Golf VR6 MkIII rides on air suspension sourced from a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) trailer.

Lincoln Continental, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

Looking suitably presidential with it’s red flashing lights mounted behind the grill and suicide rear doors was this 1964 Lincoln Continental which was imported into this country in 1991.

McLaren 12C Great , Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

Embarrassingly when I saw this Mclaren Great 12C I half expected Austin Powers to step out. It turns out that McLaren have been supporting an innovation initiative with these Union Jack liveried cars with the strap line, Innovation Is Great Britain.

Porsche 911 RS, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Sq, Bristol

Finally rumour had it that the owner of this Porsche RS had to break out a pick axe to remove some rubber sleeping policeman his ex wife had installed in a shared drive way, just to get the RSR bodied Porsche onto the road !

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars #09/13” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me for Americana Thursday tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a racing Corvette C2. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Photographers Brush – GALPOT Automobilia

A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a clear out whilst reorganising my library and the time has come to dispose of a number of items which may be of interest through my lightpress account on e-bay.

Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

From this weeks collection of advertisements appearing in Connaissance des arts Magazine that I posted this week is this October 1970 advertisement for Dunlop SP Sport Tyres featuring 4 images of cars in competition.

Beltoise, Matra MS11, Dutch GP, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The first “1. Grand Prix de Hollande 68. 1er : Jackie Stewart” is incorrectly labelled as Jean Pierre Beltoise is seen driving a V12 Matra MS11, identifiable by it bulky exhaust, at 1968 Dutch Grand Prix carrying the #16 appears which appears to be an altered number as Beltoise actually drove the #17, Stewart drove the #8 Ford DFV, less bulky exhausts, powered Matra MS10 that won the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix. As can be seen in this linked photo Beltoise helmet is dark not white and has also come under a photographers touching in brush.

Tour de France, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The second shows Gérard Larrouse / /Maurice Gélin #181 Porsche 911, Greder / Vigneron #143 Corvette C3, and Rouget / Depret #192 Ferrari 250 LM chassis #5981, at the start of a race at Reims which was part of the 1969 Tour de France won by Larrouse and Gélin.

Porsche, Tour de Corse, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des art

“3. Tour de Corse 69. 1er : Gérard Larrousse” is also incorrectly labelled as Gérard won driving a white Porsche 911 bearing the #70 competition number. The car in the third photo seems to be competing in the 1968 Tour de Course, won by Jean Claude Andruet with Maurice Gélin driving an Alpine A110 and is thought to have either Claude Ballot-Lena or Gerhard Schuler at the wheel, neither of whom was classified at the finish.

Stewart, Matra Ford MS80, French GP, Clermont Ferrand, Dunlop SP Sport, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

“4. Jackie Stewart, Champion du monde 69, en action.” shows Jackie Stewart in his Matra Ford MS80 on his way to victory in the 1969 French Grand Prix at Clermont Ferrand, which coincidentally is also well known as the home of Dunlop’s rival tyre manufacturer Michelin.

The strap line for the ad approximately translates as “Dunlop SP Sport Nouveau profile born of (the) competition. For you.”

My thanks to Paul ‘Macca’ M, Ray Bell, Tim Murray and Nanni Dietrich at The Nostalgia Forum for their help unpicking the mysteries of today’s ad.

Thanks for joining me on this “Photographers Brush” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Coffee and Croissants with the Avenue Drivers Club. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Race It Again Sam – Aston Martin DB2/4 Serafino #LML/761

In 1953 the Aston Martin DB2/4 featuring a single piece windscreen and 2 nominal rear seats, which made it a 2+2, replaced the two seat DB2 model.

Aston Martin DB2/4 Serafino, Danville, Concours d'Elegance

#LML/761 was ordered without a factory body by Casablancan resident Mr J O’Hara and sent to Serafino Allemano in Italy to be fitted with a unique body.

Aston Martin DB2/4 Serafino, Danville, Concours d'Elegance

Mr O’Hara raced the car locally and when he complained to his friend and Aston Martin proprietor David Brown that it was neither fast enough, nor the handling good enough Brown arranged for the car to be upgraded which I believe included replacing the original 2.6 litre / 158 cui straight six with a 3 litre / 183 cui straight six with an attendant increase in horsepower from 120 to 140 hp.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton who saw this car at last years Danville Concours d’Elegance and kindly shared the photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Race It Again Sam” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at some more French cars advertisements. Don’t forget to come back now !

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High Class Motor Business – Aston Martin DB2

David Brown Engineering Limited was founded in 1860 to manufacture gears and gearboxes in Huddersfield, by 1898 the company was specialising in machine cut gears. Percy and Frank Brown took over the business when their father died in 1903 and expanded production to include bearings, and worm gears. During the 1914-’18 war they also built propulsion units for warships.

Aston Martin DB2, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

In 1931 (later Sir) David Brown became managing director after his father died and in 1936 the company entered into a partnership with Harry Ferguson to build agricultural tractors. By the end of the thirties Brown and Ferguson parted ways and Brown launched a new tractor design in 1939 of which over 7,000 would be built.

Aston Martin DB2, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

In 1947 after seeing an advertisement in The Times offering a “High Class Motor Business” David Brown bought Aston Martin, then Lagonda the following year and the Tickford coachbuilder, in to whose premises Aston Martin production would be moved, in 1955.

Aston Martin DB2, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

David Browns ownership of Aston Martin led to the DB prefix for models, a 2 litre sports car manufactured from 1948 to 1950 was retrospectively known as the DB1. The Aston Martin DB2 replaced the 2 litre using a upgraded DB 1 chassis to take a 2.6 litre / 158 cui development of the twin overhead cam straight six engine which W O Bentley and William (Willie) Watson had originally designed for Lagonda.

Aston Martin DB2, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Three Aston Martin DB2’s were sent to Le Mans in 1950, George Abecassis and Lance Macklin finished fifth overall ahead of Charles Brackenbury and Reg Parnell to score a one – two class victory.

Aston Martin DB2, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

A car tested with the Frank Feeley designed coupé body was tested in 1950 and shown to be capable of reaching 60 mph from rest in 11.2 seconds with a top speed of 116 mph. In all 411 DB2’s were built between 1950 and 1953.

Today’s featured 1952 DB2 is seen at an Avenue Drivers Club meeting earlier this year.

Thanks for joining me on this “High Class Motor Business” 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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Seductive Swede – Aston Martin DB2 Coupé #LML/50/44

When Geoffrey Horton sent me photo’s of today’s featured 1951 Aston Martin DB2 Coupé my first thought was cool another Ferrari with an unusual body, however when I looked up the auction lot number at Bonham’s The Quail event I was surprised to find that the car is in fact a British product with some significant Scandinavian alterations.

Aston Martin DB2 Coupé, Bonhams, The Quail

The Aston Martin DB2 designed by Claude Hill traces it’s ancestory back to the Aston Martin Atom I looked at last week and through the post war 2 litre sports retrospectively known as the DB1, however the DB2 has a shorter chassis and benefits from a 125hp 2.6 litre / 158 cui 6 cylinder motor designed by none other than W.O.Bentley while he was working for Lagonda, a company purchased by Aston Martin’s owner David Brown in 1947 expressly for the rights to the six cylinder motor.

Aston Martin DB2 Coupé, Bonhams, The Quail

#LML/50/44 was originally sold to Swedish customer Sölve Relve in 1951 with the steering wheel on the right, Sweden at the time like Britain drove on the correct left hand side of the road.
Later the car belonged to Swedish racing driver Sture Nottorp who amongst his achievements counted driving a 2 stroke SAAB 93 to a 12th place finish at Le Mans in 1959 with countryman Gunnar Bengtsson. I have yet to see any evidence that Sture raced this DB2, if you have any such evidence please do not hesitate to chime in the new facebook friendly comments section below.

Aston Martin DB2 Coupé, Bonhams, The Quail

In 1960 Yngve Eriksson bought the car and had the body work face lifted with a larger grill, fared headlights larger rear window and had the steering moved from the right to the left which is why the car now has a Ferrari like appearance.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Seductive Swede” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a very original standard Aston Martin DB2. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Prettiest Ferrari ? – Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale Coupé #0313EU

A couple of weeks ago today’s featured Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale Coupé chassis #0313EU sold for US$ 2.8 million / 1.8 million pounds.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

The car was built in 1953 with a unique body designed by Giovanni Michelotti and built by Vignale.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

When US Ferrari distributor Luigi Chinetti took delivery of it he had no hesitation in sending to the 1954 New York Auto Show where it was at the center of the Ferrari stand.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

The #0313EU remained in the USA for most of it’s life being painted red with a black roof, from the original colours seen here, in 1954, in 1960 it was painted purple (!) and later that year it was fitted with a supercharged Chevrolet V8.

Ferrari 250 Europa Vignale, Bonhams, The Quail

In 2001 the correct type motor #0331 was installed in the car and by last year the paintwork was restored back to it’s original colours.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo’s taken at Bonhams, The Quail.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Prettiest Ferrari ?” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a one off Aston Martin. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Baroque Tooth Racer – Chevrolet Corvette C1 #008

Continuing Americana Thursdays month long celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the USA’s first mass produced sports car today’s 1958 Chevrolet Corvette belonging to Brad Goldstone was photographed by Geoffrey Horton at Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance in July.

Chevrolet Corvette, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

The third and final incarnation of the C1, solid axle, Corvette was introduced in 1958 with a baroque tooth grill, the styling was gradually simplified until production of the C1 ended in 1962.

Chevrolet Corvette, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Not much is known about #008 before 1968 when the car was raced at Mid Ohio by James A Murray of Lombard IL, 1972 James was 5th in The Great River regional points standings.

Chevrolet Corvette, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

In 1989 Don Rettig purchased #008 from James and raced it before selling it to Brad with a blown 4.6 litre / 283 cui motor a couple of years ago. Brad’s mechanic “Frank Alaimo from A & E auto repair sourced a date correct seasoned but never used block.” The fuel injection was rebuilt by Jim Lockwood, the motor with fuel injection produces 290 hp, compared to the stock 230hp from a single 4 barrel carburetor version.

Chevrolet Corvette, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

It is believed #008 was supplied with the Regular Production Option (RPO) 684 package that included heavy duty brakes with cooling fins and scoops for the drums, 5 leaf rear springs and heavy duty shock absorbers. John Fitch helped develop these parts during a research and test program run at Sebring in 1956. Apparently the aircraft specification Ceremetalix brake linings are so good under intense racing use that they will wear out the brake drums before they need replacing.

Chevrolet Corvette, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance

Brad says of his car ” I love this Corvette and have gone through her front to back at this time so she is “race ready”! My intention is to campaign her with CSRG next season and see where we go from there.”

I am sure everyone at GALPOT will join me in wishing Brad the best of luck.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs and to Brad Goldstone of San Francisco Sports Cars for telling me about his magnificent Baroque Tooth race car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Baroque Tooth Racer” 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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