Meica Red 908 – Bertone X1/9

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Marcello Gandini working for the Bertone studio is credited with designing the FIAT X1/9 which was based on the futuristic boat inspired Autobianchi A112 Runabout of 1969.

FIAT launched the X 1/9 in 1972 with Bertone responsible for building the monocoque body at it’s Torino factory and FIAT’s Lingotto factory responsible for the final assembly.

With 140,500 units produced unto 1982, FIAT handed over the final assembly responsibilities and marketing for the X 1/9 to Bertone in 1982. Bertone continued to develop the X 1/9 applying rust protection and revised seating to accommodate taller driver. 19,500 X 1/9’s were manufactured with Bertone badges.

The X 1/9 featured a rear mounted 4 cylinder transverse motor and transmission taken from the 1970 European Car of the Year Award wining front wheel drive FIAT 128 featuring and iron block and alloy head with a single overhead camshaft.

This 1989 example would appear to be painted Meica Red 908 a paint code borrowed form the Volvo colour palate which was used on the rare Volvo 780 Coupé which was also built by Bertone at the same time.

The longitudinally compact transverse mid engine and transmission layout not only gave the car excellent handling characteristics but also luggage space under the bonnet hood in the front and in the boot / trunk behind the engine.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Meica Red 908’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Open Wheel Trainer – Lotus 31 Ford

On Luck – Ferrari 312 #0007

Personal Luxury – Ford Thunderbird Continental

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Following the announcement of the Chevrolet Corvette sports car in 1953, Ford responded by developing the Ford Thunderbird which was differentiated from the Corvette by it’s emphasis on luxury and comfort over performance.

Former GM Executive Lewis D. Crusoe and Ford Stylist George Walker found inspiration for the Thunderbird design from a sports car they saw in Paris. They worked with Ford Designer Frank Hershey on the two seater.

Ford Stylist Alden Gibberson was given a Saks suit complete with 2nd pair of trousers as his reward for coming up with the Thunderbird name which was first seen in public at the Detroit Motor Show in early 1954 and went in to production for the 1955 model year.

Despite many competition features like the stone guard grill over covering the front head lights the original Thunderbird was not intended for competition use.

The intake on the bonnet / hood is just for show, as was the 150 mph speedometer fitted to the first series Thunderbirds which had a top speed of around 100mph.

The distinctive Thunderbird rocker covers belie the fact that the 190 hp 4.8 litre / 292 cui Y block V8 was sourced from Fords Mercury division.

The detailing is typical of 1950’s dream cars note the V8 badge incorporates the Y which denotes the engine type.

As I understand it the removable glass fiber hard top was part of the Continental option package …

as was the bumper mounted spare wheel.

The first series Thunderbird out sold it’s Corvette competitor 20 fold with over 16,000 unit’s produced in the first year of production.

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

Colonists Return – Ford Capri RS3100

NASCAR Contender ? – MG MGA 1600 Mk II

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Launched in 1960 the MGA 1600 MK II was the last of the MG A series cars to enter production. From the front the 1600 MkII wasdistinguishable from the original MGA 1600 by the bottom of the radiator grill with the bars either side of the central grill bar dropping away more radically on the later model.

There were many changes under the bonnet / hood that included a larger 1622 cc / 98.9 cui 90 hp 4 cylinder motor up from 1588cc / 96.9 cui which combined with larger valves and reworked combustion chambers in the cylinder brought the power up from 78 hp to 90 hp.

The new motor combined with new rear axle ratio’s improved the cars top speed to 102 mph, thought the acceleration from rest to 60 mph was slightly slower than than the model it replaced at 13.7 secs, as was the fuel consumption which dropped to 22.3 mpg imperial.

The is no truth in the internet rumour that Spencer Tracey backed his Dodge into an MGA at the Drive In in the film ‘Guess who is coming to dinner’, it was a hopped up hi boy. Among the films the MGA did have bit parts in was “Fast Lady”, blink and you might miss it in the linked trailer.

There is also speculation on the internet that Smokey Cook may have driven an MGA at Bowman-Gray Stadium in 1963 to record the last start by a foreign manufacturer in a NASCAR race until the arrival of Toyota in the 21st Century. No pictorial evidence has been found of what type of MG Smokey drove that day, though at least one photo has been found of Fred Harb driving a TD at Bowman fitted with a small block Chevy V8 allegedly picked up with a transmission for just $150 from a junk yard. It seems most likely that this is the type of “hobby stock class” grid filler from the tracks regular series rather than a specially prepared for NASCAR MGA. If you know different and have either documents or photographs to prove what kind of MG Smokey Cook drove at Bowman in 1963 please chime in below.

Like the MGA Twin Cam and 1600 De Luxe the 1600 MkII and MkII De Luxe had disc brakes all round with competition center lock wheels an optional extra. Between 1960 and 1962 MGA production tailed off with just 8,719 of these Mk II vehicles being built. Total MGA production between 1955 and 1962 reached 101,081 making it the all time best selling sports car of the day. Amazingly all but 5000 of the total MGA production run remained in the country of origin.

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

16 09 12 Errata :- it has come to my attention that the original set of photo’s posted with this blog were of the earlier MG 1600 not the MkII with the distinctive grill now seen above at the 2012 Goodwood Revival. Apologies for any confusion.

Firing Up 2012 – Race Retro

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Thanks to my membership of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club I enjoyed my second trip to Race Retro over the past weekend.

Just like last year I had trouble getting out of the car park thanks to the fabulous collection of sports cars fellow enthusiasts had brought out for a spin in the glorious sunshine. This Bertone X1/9 particularly caught my eye, I spent many years lusting after an X1/9 when I left school. I eventually ended up with a slightly more practical , cheaper to insure FIAT 128, I’ll be taking a closer look at the X1/9 on Sunday.

Silverstone Auctions have taken the place of H&H Auctions as Race Retro’s Auctioneer partners, among the unusual gems scheduled to go under the hammer was this Twini Austin Cooper S a replica of two experimental works cars originally built in 1963 that raced in the Targa Florio. This replica was built on a 1965 chassis with two Cooper S motors, gearboxes and disc brakes all round.

In the Rally shed it was nice to see the replica South African Chevrolet Firenza CanAm now fitted with a huge rear wing reminiscent of Formula 1 & Can Am cars in 1968 and as used in the original Chev Dealer Team car in 1974.

Nanette seen above on the Brooklands stand was a special built by Felix Scriven in 1925, it was originally fitted with an unreliable Sage motor, which contributed to this car originally being called, Mother Goose until a 4 cylinder Hooker motor that originated from the Marlborough Thomas special and which could be configured as either a 1.5 litre / 92 cui or 1.75 litre / 107 cue motor according to which of two crankshafts was used.

Among the anniversaries being celebrated at Race Retro was the 30th anniversary of the Porsche 956 which evolved into the 956B and 962 and 962 C series that dominated Le Mans, the Daytona 24 hours, Group C and IMSA from 1982 until 1987. The #1 above appears to be a 956 with distinctive 1982 paintwork while the #8 in the background carries the 1988 bodywork of the 962 C commonly carried by chassis #116.

The multiple award winning success of “Senna” the documentary on the Brazilian Triple World Champion has focused interest in his cars, the Toleman TG184 was of the type that Senna drove once his team had secured a supply of Michelin tyres after the first two races of Senna’s 1984 rookie F1 season.

The town of Bourne in Lincolnshire will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of BRM’s World Championship year on October 7th. Graham won the championship driving a BRM P57 with a BRM V8 similar to the #7 in the photo above, though after all these years BRM are probably still at least as well remembered for building a supercharged 1.5 litre 92 cui V16 in 1949 and possibly the most complex racing motor of all time the 3 litre / 183 cui H16, which is said to make so much noise the first time it was opened up in anger every one in the pits at Riems dived for cover as it came down the start finish straight for the first time ! I’ve made it a mission to try and hear the H16 in action this year and hope to be at BRM Day at Bourne in October.

Finally on a personal note it is 40 years since I bought my first copy of Motor Sport, the December 1972 edition was packed with the details of the 1972 Canadian and US Grand Prix’s which Jackie Stewart won in anticipation of an extremely successful final 1973 season. On the Motor Sport stand above is the 1934 Riley Ulster Imp in which after a successful post WW2 competition history the car was acquired by Leslie Hawthorn the proprietor of the Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham who gave it to his son Mike who raced this car on his competition debut at the Brighton Speed Trials where he won his class and drove it in his first race which ‘The Farnham Flyer’ also won on his way to becoming the first ten British World Champions.

I’ll be posting more blogs featuring vehicles seen at Race Retro 2012 in the coming days and weeks, starting tomorrow with an unusual MG-B.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Firing Up 2012’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring