Plagerised Brazilian ? – Jensen Interceptor

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Last year I looked at the Avalone 11 a prize winning copy of the MG TF. So it should be perhaps no surprise to learn that prior to the Avallone a little known sports car of Brazilian origin designed by Spaniard Rigoberto Soler Gisbert, the Brasanica Uiraputu built between 1964 and 1966 appears to have proved a significant inspiration of a well known British Sports car the Jensen Interceptor launched in 1966.

The Interceptor was designed by Carrozzeria Touring, Jensen broke with it’s policy of manufacturing fibreglass bodies for this model instead using steel bodies initially manufactured by Vignale in Italy.

By 1975 when this particular model, seen at Castle Combe, was produced Interceptors were powered by 7212 cc / 440 cui Chrysler V8’s, 232 Interceptors built between 1971 and 1973 had the 390 hp Six Pack (SP) six barrel carburation similar to the Plymouth Road Runner amongst others.

The Interceptor was a high spec vehicle with electric windows, very much a novelty in Europe until the 1980’s, reclining front seats, wood rimmed steering wheel, hi fi radio with twin speakers and an electric clock. From 1968 power assisted steering was also standard.

The convertible Interceptor with a hydraulic power operated hood was launched in 1974 by which time the Interceptor was being built in MK III form with vented front discs and 5 spoke cast alloy wheels. It is thought just 267 convertibles were made when production ceased in 1976.

Like the Jensen S-V8 the Interceptor concept has refused to die various attempts to keep the design alive have been made since production ceased in 1976 and today Interceptors are being remanufactured into R spec fitted with GM LS3 motors. In September rumours appeared on the internet that plans are afoot to launch an all new albeit retro styled aluminium bodied Interceptor to enter production by 2014.

Thanks for joining me on this Interceptor edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will start your week with me tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

You can’t go wrong with a Bristol under the bonnet #2 – Lotus X

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The Lotus X was a variant of the Lotus marks VIII and IX, built in 1955 to accommodate a larger engine than its siblings.

Using essentially a strengthened chassis the Lotus X carried a 6 cylinder 2 litre /122 cui Bristol engine as used by Lotus competitors Cooper and Lister.

Only 6 or 7 Lotus Mk X’s are thought to have been built and some of them raced with Turner or Coventry Climax motors instead of the Bristol as used by Team Lotus.

The Lotus X was driven to victories in both Europe and the United States. This particular Bristol engined example is seen at the recent Silverstone Classic with Nick Adams at the wheel. Nick and Co Driver Adrian Hall drove this car to three straight victories in 2008 and were awarded the Woodcote Cup.

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

Engine Upgrade – Ferrari 365 GT 2+2

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Today for Ferrari Friday we are revisiting the Silverstone Classic where I saw this Ferrari 365 GT 2+2.

The 365 series of Ferrari’s appears outwardly similar to the 330 Series apart from some minor details the Pininfarina bodies of the two series can be difficult to tell apart.

However underneath the bonnet/hood the Colombo V12 engine had been upgraded from 4.0 litres / 244 cui to 4390 cc / 267 cui which would become best known for it’s application in the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 launched like the 365 GT 2+2 in 1968.

Between 1968 and 1970 around 800 365 GT 2+2’s were built with leather seats, electric windows and power assisted steering making the model one of Ferrari’s best selling models at the time.

This particular car appears to have been first registered between late 1970 to early 1971 possibly making it one of the last of the 54 Right Hand Drive 365 GT 2+2’s known to have been built.

Thanks for joining me for Ferrari Friday at ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Why Worry No: 6 ? – Scammell Highwayman

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I hope you’ll forgive me taking a break from my usual Thursday Americana blog so that we can to start celebrating regular GALPOT reader and contributor Steve Arnaudin’s Birthday a day early with a look at a 1961 Scammell Highwayman.

This particular vehicle is part of a fleet of vehicles used by John Carter and Sons to transport their steam fair around Britain.

So far as I can discern Carter & Sons operate 7 Scammells in their fleet of 15 vintage trucks.

“Why Not” is regularly tasked with pulling 40 tons of Steam Fair paraphernalia and with that weight can reach 40 mph, too slow to be seen on Britain’s motorway network which normally requires vehicles to be able to maintain a minimum speed of 50 mph.

A big clue as to why Steve might remember this type of vehicle is the number 6.

Highwayman were commonly used to pull Scammell low loading trailers which were built at the Scammell works at Moor Park just outside North London.

Joby Carter reckons that each of his trucks covers around 1000 miles per year some of them only need to be filled with diesel once a year !

One of the problems of running a fleet of vintage trucks is keeping the Gardiner diesel engines maintained this truck is 50 years old and the mechanic who has been looking after them should have retired some time ago.

In case your wondering why this truck might be of interest to our GALPOT birthday boy may I heartily recommend to you 42 mins 10 seconds of this linked surreal youtube clip for all to be revealed.

Happy Birthday and best wishes tomorrow Steve !

Be Seeing You !

Hitchhikers Guide To Disambiguation – Ford Prefect

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Many readers may think Ford Prefect is the character Ix from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse who disguised himself as an out of work actor after getting stuck on planet Earth for 15 years while visiting the Earth to update the Guide in either the radio comedy, tv series, book, radio adaption of the books or film ‘The Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy.

In fact a Ford Prefect, note not “PERFECT” as many have incorrectly read and or heard the second word, is a motor car which Ix mistook for a superior form of life when visiting earth in the Sci Fi comedy.

The Ford Prefect was in production from 1938 to 1959 in four distinct evolutions.

With the front wings incorporated into the overall 3 box design of the body we can say for sure this is a series 3 or 4 car.

The absence of a rakish small chrome strip from the front of the existing chrome waste strip down to the wheel arch further suggests this is an earlier 100E Series 3 car which was in production from 1953 to 1959.

The tax disc in the front window of this car suggested that it had stopped being used as a daily driver in 1979 which seems strangely at odds with what looks like a vehicle that is more than capable of passing an MOT (a safety inspection required in the UK before a vehicle can be taxed) when I saw it at the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum where many of the cars are regular runners.

Powered by a 1172 cc / 71.5 cui 4 cylinder side valve engine mated to a 3 speed manual gearbox the Series 3 Prefect was tested as being capable of accelerating from rest to 60 mph in 32.2 seconds and having a top speed of 71 mph.

The four door version of the otherwise visually similar Ford Popular and Anglia models was also built under license in Latvia where it was sold as the Ford-Vairogs Junior.

There was an estate / station wagon of the Ford Prefect known as the Squire while the estate / station wagon version of the similar Ford Anglia was know as the Ford Escort. For reasons long forgotten in the mists of time the French and Greek translations, among others, of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy incorrectly give the name chosen by Ix while staying on earth as Ford Escort, though Ix probably chose that name for the same reasons as he chose Ford Prefect in the English version, and most other translations of the book, namely to an alien it probably looks like cars are the most intelligent species on the planet.

Thanks for joining me on this Hitchhikers Guide edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow when I’ll be trading in Science Fiction for a big Voyager. Don’t forget to come back now !

Vintage Splits – Vauxhall 30/98

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Two weeks ago I blogged about some Vauxhall 30/98’s that I saw at VSCC meetings on the Hills at Prescott and Loton Park. Todays Photographs are of another 30/98 I saw earlier this year at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The known history of elements of this car date back to the 1949 when Alan Southon built a Vauxhall 30/98, registration HAA 383, from parts that were once on the inventory of the Phoenix Green Garage in Hampshire. Sometime after completion Alan used the car in the Brighton Speed Trials.

During the 1950’s the remains of HAA 383 were found in a field in Scotland and the car was reassembled by Carrick Watson still with the registration HAA 383, body number OE 101, chassis number OE 304 and engine number OE 232.

At some point the body OE 101 was reunited with it’s original OE 101 chassis in return for a new chassis and body. The new body was fitted to chassis OE 304 along with an older OD engine.

While the new chassis received the OE 232 engine, a Peppercorn Tourer style body, a Peugeot front axle, a back axle from a Vauxhall 23/60 and the number plate that was generated when Alan Southon built his car from the parts obtained from the Phoenix Green Garage.

HAA 383 has since competed in a number of VSCC events and taken part on the Fluella Pass Hill Climb near Davos in Switzerland. The car has also recently been fitted with a replacement cylinder head made in Australia where 60% of all 30/98’s were originally sold.

My thanks to Pre War Car on who’s site further details about HAA 383 are to be found.

Thanks for joining me on another Carceology edition of ‘Getting’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow ! Don’t forget to come back now !

The Regency Laundry Pegasus Sprint

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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 !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Plagerised Brazilian ? – Jensen Interceptor

You can’t go wrong with a Bristol under the bonnet #2 – Lotus X

Engine Upgrade – Ferrari 365 GT 2+2

Why Worry No: 6 ? – Scammell Highwayman

Hitchhikers Guide To Disambiguation – Ford Prefect

Vintage Splits – Vauxhall 30/98

The Regency Laundry Pegasus Sprint