Bertone Century – Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

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Last weekends Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival (BIAMF) celebrated the centenary of the foundation of the Bertone coach works.

One of the coolest cars in the show was this Bertone designed FIAT X1/9 which has been upgraded with a super charged Lancia Volumex motor.

Like the X1/9 the Fiat Strada was designed by Bertone and like the X1/9 the body work of the Cabrio variant was also manufactured by Bertone, above is a second generation Super Strada Cabrio. Note outside the UK and USA the Strada was known as the Ritmo.

The Maserati Merak is celebrating it’s fortieth anniversary this year, the tight packaging of the mid mounted 3 litre 183 cui V6 must represent a mechanics nightmare !

Another model celebrating it’s fortieth anniversary is the Lancia Beta which was initially launched as in front wheel drive Belina form as seen above. The first new Lancia to be developed and manufactured under FIAT ownership the final Beta variation was mid engined Beta Montecarlo, Scorpion in the US.

The Lancia Delta is commonly known for it’s square styled Rally dominating four wheel Integrale variant’s, I had completely forgotten there was ever a second generation Delta like the 1997 3 door HPE version seen above. These 3 door HPE models were produced from 1995 to 1999.

The Bristol Mod Scooter Club were out in force as usual at the BIAMF this work in progress Lambretta suggests their number is growing.

MV Agusta was the featured motor cycle manufacturer of the BIAMF, the tight fit of F4 exhausts look like a work of art.

My thanks to everyone involved in putting on the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival, looking forward to seeing what gems turn up next year.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Bertone Century’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be reviewing the Spring Performance Car Action Day at Castle Combe. Don’t forget to come back now !

Big Valve Special – Lotus 74 Europa Special

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In 1971 Chief Engineer Mike Kimberley oversaw the development of the upgraded Lotus Europa Twin Cam Type 74. featuring a 105 hp Twin Cam motor coupled with a stronger Renault 4 speed gearbox.

The upgraded Europa featured a 105 hp Twin Cam motor coupled with a stronger Renault 4 speed gearbox.

After the first 1580 Europa Twin Cams has been built the Europa model was again upgraded with a 126 hp ‘big valve variant of the twin cam motor.

The first 200 ‘Big Valve’ Europa’s were planned as a limited ‘Europa Special’ edition of 200 featuring the black and gold “John Player Special”, tobacco brand, paint work of the works Lotus Racing cars which won the 1972 World Constructors Championship and World Drivers Championship with Emerson Fittipaldi at the wheel.

The 200 ‘Europa Special’ limited edition vehicles, all featuring a 5 speed gearbox, launched in September 1972 are distinguishable by a numbered badge on the dash panel.

Such was the popularity of the Europa Special that the model was continued after the initial planned batch of 200 had been built sans numbered dashboard badges and in a variety of colours including black and gold until 1975.

I was unable to discern if the 1972 Europa Special seen here is one of the first 200 numbered cars, or one of post limited edition models, when I saw it at last years Goodwood Festival of Speed. Note how the rear bodywork has been tidied up to give better rear visibility when compared to the Type 54 Europa I looked at last week.

A Europa with the big valve motor was tested in period carrying a passenger from rest to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds and with a maximum speed of 122 mph. In all 3130 big valve Europa Specials were built from September 1972 to 1975.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Big Valve Special’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho’ on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be reviewing last weeks Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival. Don’t forget to come back now !

12 05 09 Lotus Type 74 disambiguation, it has come to light that at least one internet source lists two Lotus Type 74’s one the Europa Twin Cam / Europa Special and the other an open wheel Formula 2 car, former Lotus employee Rob, Kayemod on The Nostalgia Forum, has kindly informed me that the Formula 2 cars were only ever referred to at the Lotus factory as “Texaco Stars” in deference to their sponsor and that the Type 74 designation seems to have been applied to the racing car retrospectively.

Happy Days – ‘Rush’ Snetterton Set

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A little departure from the usual Ferrari Friday blog to day but I as you will see not completely un Ferrari related. The last time I visited the former home of the 96th Bombardment Group (H) 8th USAAF was to test my 27hp 2 CV on the Snetterton Circuit in preparation for a 24 hour event in Ireland.

On Tuesday evening I saw a twitter post from the @RealRonHoward to go and visit the set of his current project called ‘Rush’ which is all about the relationship between off track friends and on track rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda which culminated in the tumultuous 1976 season which I have retold from Ferrari and McLaren perspectives in past blogs.

Setting off at 2am I arrived at Snetterton just after 7am to find not very much happening, I even got inadvertently got ushered into the pit area where the crew were grabbing breakfast and sorting themselves out for a tough days shooting. I then made my way to the Bombhole, a corner with a nasty dip marking the apex where I found preparations underway for several scene’s which were to represent the controversial ‘wide vehicle’ 1976 Spanish Grand Prix.

After watching the driver representing John Watson getting in and out of his car numerous times as he retired with a blown motor several cars came round together representing James Hunt in the #11 ‘wide vehicle’ McLaren M23, Jaques Laffite in the #26 Ligier JS5 and Niki Lauda in the #1 Ferrari 312 T2 on the right John Watson’s double can be seen having exited the smokey #28 Penske PC3 for the millionth time that morning.

Among my fellow extra’s I met Jess who thoughtfully brought his copy of the 1976 – 77 Autocourse Annual to make sure Ron was keeping his legendary reputation for details correct.

I was not exactly sure which, from a choice of two, style AGV helmet wore for 1976 Spanish GP,

Looking at Autocourse it was immediately clear Ron was on the button with that particular detail.

Somewhere around mid day Ron came over to thank the by now 50 enthusiasts who had managed to come along and soon after we were invited over to the other side of the circuit to watch what was going on in the pits for the next batch of takes representing the 1976 German Grand Prix the one race of the 1976 season where I was present !

Above a shoot is prepared with Guy Edwards #25 Hesketh 308 on rain tyres with Laffites Ligier on slicks as unseen in the pit lane Niki Lauda is about to come out on slicks prior to his near fatal crash on the drying Nurburgring that would take a hefty points advantage out of Lauda’s 1976 season but still left him in with a fighting chance at the 1976 seasons finale.

Ron can be seen above in the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi Evo Camera Car that was probably the best sounding car at Snetterton on Wednesday.

Left to right the Hunt, Laffite and Lauda stand in drivers have a quick break between shoots.

As one wag amongst the enthusiasts noted the Renault Traffic took the wrong option tyres before getting chased down by Niki Lauda in the 1975 Ferrari 312 T, not sure why this car and it’s sister with Clay Regazzoni at the wheel were bereft of any sign writing or sponsors logo’s, perhaps a test session was being reenacted. The cars we saw on Wednesday were all £50,000 50 foot specials designed to look right at a distance at a fraction of the cost of insuring let alone hiring the real cars of the period, many of which still exist and indeed are still raced. Some of the real cars are and have been used for close ups and to get the sound track right.

I was curious as to why the Penske PC3 was selected and not the much sharper and race winning Penske PC4, turns out that John Watson drove the PC 3 for the nearly the entire first half of the 1976 season, another detail the legendary Ron Howard got right for the Spanish Grand Prix sequences.

I understand that Rob Austin was responsible for building the Ferrari 312 T and T2 vehicles, WGK Motorsport the McLaren M23 and Hesketh 308D vehicles and Mirage Motorsport the Ligier JS5 and Penske PC3 vehicles which I believe are powered by Rover V8 motors and were built in just 3 months.

After watching seven hours of watching the set action I reluctantly headed for home, with a renewed appreciation for all the work that goes into making a film on my favorite subject.

Thanks for joining me on this Happy Days edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Lotus Europa Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

Hilly Country Gathering – Classic Motorsports Mitty presented by Mazda

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For the last 36 years Classic Sports and Racing Car enthusiasts have been gathering year for the Classic Motorsports Mitty for what is now claimed to be the oldest such gathering on the east coast. Kerry Williams kindly sent Steve Arnaudin his photo’s of last weekends event with permission for them to be used here.

Among the classics present was this 1st generation convertible Chevrolet Corvair.

One of 15 racing Corvairs present the #51 above is a second generation model distinguished by it’s arrow like shape when seen from above.

While I cannot speak for the historical authenticity of either of the vehicles above, they look like a pair of Ford GT40’s of the type Ford would come to dominate Le Mans with during the mid to late 1960’s.

Robertson Racing is based in Braselton, GA, not far from the Road Atlanta track from 2008 until 2011 they raced Kevin Doran built Ford GT’s in the GT2 category of the American Le Mans Series. The highlight of their four years in the sport was a 3rd in class finish at Le Mans in 2011. The car with the yellow stripes appears to be chassis #JE5-004066-002 and the one with the red stripes appears to be chassis #JE5-004066-004.

All thought the Penske above is carrying the #8 as used by Rick Mears on the 1987 Penske PC16 the sidepods are more reminiscent of the 1988 PC 17, if you happen to know which car this is, or who is driving it please do not hesitate to chime in below.

The first of two vehicles I have never heard of before are the Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) TR 250 K concept vehicle built in 1967 around a Triumph TR6 chassis and motor, some would have you believe this car should have been developed into the Triumph TR7.

Finally I’d like to suggest that if your 500 hp Viper is feeling a bit tame and you happen to have US $187,710 in spare change you might take car & cash over to Hennessey who will double the horsepower with a pair of Turbo Chargers and give the body and chassis some modification and leave you with a Hennessey Venom 1000 timed from rest to 200 mph in just 20.3 seconds by Road & Track, now that is what I call ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ !

My thanks to Kerry Williams for permission to use his photo’s and to Steve Arnaudin to think to forward them.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Hilly Country Gathering’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you join me tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

“We’ve Got A V In Our bonnet” – Ford Corsair 2000E

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The UK Ford Corsair sharing mechanical components with the Cortina, Classic and Capri was a midsize car launched in 1963.

Drawing on styling queues from the contemporary US Ford Thunderbird it was initially powered by a 1500cc 91.5 cui Ford Kent engine.

In 1964 twins Tony & Micheal Brookes set 13 World Speed Records in Italy for 1500 cc / 91.5 cc cars in a Corsair GT managing to average over 100 mph over a distance of 15,000 miles / 24,000 kms.

Errata 12 05 08 It has transpired that the record setting at Monza by a Ford Corsair is a myth that started with a Ford Corsair sales booklet. It would appear that a team of five drivers Eric Jackson, Ken Chambers, John Beckhart, Michael Bowler and John Maclean go to Monza and set some records in a Ford but in a Ford Zodiac IV not in a Ford Corsair. Apologies for any confusion caused.

Eric Jackson and Ken Cambers did however narrowly beat the RMS Windsor Castle in a race from Cape Town to Southampton in 1967. Owners of the Windsor Castle, Union Castle, were apparently gracious in defeat pointing out that all though they were not as fast as the Ford Corsair their passengers traveled in considerably more comfort.

In 1965 the Kent straight four motor was phased out in favour of the Essex V4 which led to the strap line “I’ve got a V in my bonnet”, the Essex V4 in both 1663 cc / 101 cui and later 1996 cc / 121.8 cui forms was out of balance configuration which led to rough idling and course characteristics making a mockery of the strap line “Smooth Silent V Power” that was also used when the V4 Corsair was launched.

Performance of the V4 was down with a maximum of just 95 mph achievable even with the larger engine as seen in the 2000E variant seen here at the 33rd Bristol Classic Car Show.

The 2000E, executive, featuring dechromed sides, leaving the door handles looking oddly exposed, upgraded cabin fittings, lots of dials, and reversing lights, was undercut the Rover 2000 model against which it was competing for sales by £310, £1357 for the Rover against £1047 for the 2000E.

With vestiges for the Jet Age styling prevalent in the 1950’s the Corsair was in production until 1970 with 310,000 units built.

Thanks for joining me on this “We’ve Got A V In Our bonnet” edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again, tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Towing and Competing – Kayne Special III

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A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to meet MG Special Builder and Frogeye restorer Colin Cooper. Today I am looking at his third, and final, Kayne Special III.

Colin originally conceived the Kayne Special III as a towing car for his Kayne Special II as seen above at Oulton Park in 1983 and his Killeen K1 which I’ll be looking at next Tuesday.

However since he was taking part in events which allowed a driver multiple entries he decided to see what the Kayne Special III could do. Colin is seen above at Baitings Dam in 1984.

Kayne Special III was designed from scratch to Colin’s own design between 1981 and 1983.The green radiator cowl seen on the Kayne Special III above at Castle Combe like the more substantial safety cage was fitted after Colin sold the car.

Colin cut all of the square section tube chassis members with a hacksaw, no short cuts were taken with angle grinders, tacked all the members together and then had the chassis frame mig welded by a friend.

The 3.5 litre / 215 cui V8 motor came from a Rover SD1 complete with an automatic transmission which was attached to a rear axle sourced from an MG B. Note the steering column needs two universal joints to avoid fouling on the right hand bank of cylinders, this feature resulted in the Kayne Special III being unsuitable for anybody to drive with shoes size 7 1/2 or larger.

Running on 14″ MG B wire wheels at the front and 15″ MG C rear wheels at the rear and with a 0-100 mph capability in the region of 15 secs Colin could tease motorcyclists with his beautifully finished Kayne Special III.

With the automatic transmission Colin could drive the car to within 1 second of the times he achieved with the Kayne Special II. By 1984 Colin had fitted a manual transmission.

Colin sold the Kayne Special III when he retired from competition in 1985 for £2,700. The present owners and drivers of the car are John and Jonathon Biggs.

My thanks to Colin Cooper for sharing his memories and providing his photographs and to Chris Winstanley for allowing me to use Frank Halls photograph.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Towing and Competing’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Never Seen It As Bad As This ! – Prescott Speed Hill Climb

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Britain’s wettest drought in history continued apace this weekend, but I did not let that get in the way of attending 3 very different events in 3 days. I’ll not be blogging them in order for any particular reason but I’ll start with the last one, Prescott Speed Hillclimb which I attended yesterday afternoon, first and post blogs on the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival on Sunday and the Spring Performance Car Action Day at Castle Combe next Monday.

I got to Prescott yesterday afternoon just in time to have a quick £3.00 bacon sarnie and have a quick look around the paddock before making my way to the top of the hill. The last time I saw a March 792 sporting Philip Morris Marlboro colours for Swedish hot shot Eje Elgh, like the one above belonging to Stuart Ridge, was 25th March 1979 at Silverstone.

The two days had much in common it was close to freezing at Silverstone and only 4º C yesterday, at both events it was absolutely tipping with rain but mercifully there are a few more trees at Prescott which gave a vestigal illusion of shelter from the strong Easterly winds. Above Robert Lancaster-Gaye above heads for a over 2000 cc / 122 cui Road Going class win in his Porsche 996 GT3.

Before I left home I checked the weather and there were severe weather and flood warnings for the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside in which Prescott is located. Andrew Russell could not get below 60 seconds in the Modified Series Production class Hillman Imp powered Ginetta G15.

With a 120 mph capability and 0-60 time of 5 seconds the Westfield iRacer is shockingly quick for a vehicle that is barely audible thanks to it’s two 100 hp electric motors which drive each rear wheel. The iRacer was being demonstrated in racing spec which has a 15 minute battery life. 2/3rds of the battery weight can be saved for hill climb events which, in the UK, rarely last more than a minute per run.

Part of the attraction of going to Prescott was the promise of seeing some big brutal cars with plenty of horsepower, nothing quite prepared me for the two Chevrolet Specials and Jagernought Rover which were built for sand racing in the Channel Isles, thats Gurnsey, Jersey and Alderney in the English Channel. Scot Rayson’s Chevrolet Special above used to be Jaguar powered, it still has the Jaguar running gear but is now powered by a 6.3 litre 384 cui Chevy V8. Spare a thought for the Sand Racers who as I write this are headed back across the English Channel in significantly less than calm waters.

One reason today’s blog was posted a little late is that the intelweb will tell you the driver of the car above is Tricia Davis to add to the confusion the programme tells me that the car is a Reynard 913 which it most certainly is not. The programme tells me Tricia did not take part while a Terry Davis did but also in a Reynard. I believe most of the photo’s on the interweb showing this helmet and ascribing it to Tricia are incorrectly labeled and vice versa for Terry Davis. I further believe that Terry has acquired or at the very least borrowed an OMS 25 for the event. My ears were too wrapped up against the weather to discern if this information was disseminated over the Prescott tanoy. Please correct me below if I have that completely wrong !

As I was walking down the hill during the event one marshal quipped that he had never seen the conditions so bad, fortunately this did not stop Wallace Menzies claiming a Race Cars over 2000 cc / 122 cui class victory in the #4 Cosworth powered Tillicoultry Quarries DJ Firestorm, that’s a Firestorm model manufactured by DJ Race Cars. To the left of the #4 DJ Firestorm Lee Adams can be seen telling a journalist….

how he stormed up Prescott in 43.82 seconds to claim fastest time of the day (FTD) in his giant killing up to 1600 cc / 97.6 cui class GWR Raptor Extreme, seen commencing his final run above.

My thanks to the Prescott press office for a hot off the press copy of the unconfirmed results which not only allowed me to share the information here but also warmed my hands up nicely as I walked back to the car.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Never Seen It As Bad As This !’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I shall be looking at continuing the series of blogs on Colin Coppers specials looking at the Kayne Special III. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Bertone Century – Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

Big Valve Special – Lotus 74 Europa Special

Happy Days – ‘Rush’ Snetterton Set

Hilly Country Gathering – Classic Motorsports Mitty presented by Mazda

“We’ve Got A V In Our bonnet” – Ford Corsair 2000E

Towing and Competing – Kayne Special III

Never Seen It As Bad As This ! – Prescott Speed Hill Climb