Polymethyl Methacrylate Wheel – Delahaye 135MS Chapron Vedette

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The competition version of the 135M that I looked at last week, known as the 135MS, had a more powerful motor giving up to 160hp and a wheel base a shade under 10 inches / 25cm shorter.

Delahaye 135MS, Chapron Vedette Convertible

The 1947 example featured today was sent to Henri Chapron for the Vedette, French for star, Cabriolet bodywork.

Delahaye 135MS, Chapron Vedette Convertible

Henri Chapron set up his studio in Paris in 1919 and started designing bespoke bodywork the following year.

Delahaye 135MS, Chapron Vedette Convertible

Chapron’s method of design was to dictate his ideas to an artist and then keep having the drawings refined until they matched his minds eye.

Delahaye 135MS, Chapron Vedette Convertible

The interior of this car features a steering wheel made from polymethyl methacrylate, a synthetic organic polymer known then by the trade name Plexiglass and known today by the trade name Lucite.

Delahaye 135MS, Chapron Vedette Convertible

This Vedette was sent to the 1947 Paris Motor show where it won the Concours d’Elegance thus vehicle is regarded as one f the finest examples of Chapron’s skills.

Delahaye 135MS, Chapron Vedette Convertible

After the demise of the likes of Delahaye in the mid 1950’s Henri Chapron continued designing cabriolet body work for Citroen DS and SM models, he and his 250 craftsmen are believed to have built around 8,000 bespoke bodies by the time his studio shut down in 1985 seven years after it’s founder died aged 92.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton who took these photo’s of the Chapron Vedette at the Palm Springs Desert Classic last year.

Thanks for joining me on this ” Polymethyl Methacrylate Wheel” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a trip to the Classic Motor Show in Birmingham. Don’t forget to come back now !

Coquettish Tease – Maserati Mistral Spyder

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Despite using many different motor configurations by 1963 when today’s featured Maserati Mistral model was launched it was the six cylinder sports and racing cars for which the marque had best become known.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Mistral was designed in Coupé form by Pietro Frua with additional input on the spyder from Giovanni Michelotti as a replacement for the 3500GT which had been in production since 1957.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Bodies for both the 828 Coupés and 125 Spyders that would be built were supplied by Maggiora of Turin up until 1970 when the last straight six DOHC Maserati was phased out.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Mistrals were built with three engine sizes 3.5, 3.7 and 4.0 litres / 244 cui all of which were fitted with Lucas fuel injection.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Today’s featured 1964 vehicle is fitted with the smaller 3.5 litre / 212 cui motor which produced 235 hp which was transmitted to the rear wheels by a 5 speed ZF manual gearbox.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Coquettish tease Olimpia Segura, played by Brit Ekland, manages to secure a Maserati Mistral Spyder from a would be suitor in the 1967 film The Bobo set in Barcelona and staring Peter Sellers.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coquettish Tease” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1963 NASCAR race car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Improved Qualifier – Shadow DN3 #5A

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The Shadow team finished it’s debut 1973 season with two 3rd place finishes, one 6th and one top 10 start with it’s original DN1 model.

Both 1973 Shadow Formula One works drivers Jackie Oliver and George Follmer retired from the Shadow Formula One programme to concentrate on the successful 1974 Shadow Can Am programme.

Shadow DN3, Sonoma Historics

American winner of the 1973 British and Canadian Grand Prix Peter Revson was employed as the Shadow Formula One team leader for 1974 and he was joined by 1973 Formula Two Champion Jean Pierre “Jumper” Jarrier.

The teams existing designer Tony Southgate devised today’s featured car the Shadow DN3 which featured a longer and wheel base and wider track than it’s predecessor.

Shadow DN3, Sonoma Historics

Peter Revson showed the new car was a vast improvement on the old qualifying 4th, 6th and 9th, in the first three events of the season, he retired in Argentina and Brazil and finished a distant 6th in the rain soaked non championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.

Unfortunately Peter was killed while testing his DN3 for the following race in South Africa an event from which the devastated team withdrew.

Shadow DN3, Sonoma Historics

Jean Pierre Jarrier and the team bounced back with a third place finish in the non championship International Trophy at Silverstone and was joined by Brian Redman for the next three races.

At Monaco Jean Pierre qualified 6th and finished an impressive third behind Ronnie Peterson and Jody Schekter.

After Monaco Brian, who finished a best 7th in the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix decided to quit the Shadow team in favour of a Formula A/5000 programme in the US with Jim Hall and Carl Hass which would net him three consecutive championships and a lot more cash than Shadow had available.

Brian was replaced by Bertil Roos for the Swedish Grand Prix where Jean Pierre qualified 8th and finished 5th.

Welshman Tom Pryce joined the Shadow team at the Dutch Grand Prix where Jean Pierre qualified 7th ahead of his team mate in 11th and both cars failed to finish.

Tom qualified a season high 3rd at the French Grand Prix where he was eliminated in his second consecutive start line collision.

Over the remainder of the season the teams qualifying performances slipped back and the teams remaining point came from Tom’s best 6th place finish in the 1974 German Grand Prix.

I believe the car seen at the Sonoma Historic Meeting by Geoffrey Horton in these photographs is chassis #5A first qualified 5th by Tom in the 1974 British Grand Prix where he finished 8th and driven by Tom to 6th in the German Grand Prix from 11th on the grid.

Tom also drive this car in the Canadian and US Grand Prix retiring from both and there is an unconfirmed possibility that this would have been the chassis James Hunt drove in an exhibition race supporting the 1974 Monterey Grand Prix for Formula A/5000 cars, coincidentally won by Brian Redman.

This exibition race between the Shadow Formula One cars and Shadow Can Am cars has been described as one of two grudge matches between Jackie Oliver and George Follmer who respectively won and finished 2nd in the 1974 Can Am championship.

For some reason Jean Pierre Beltoise was scheduled to drive alongside his countryman “Jumper” Jarrier in the teams second DN3, but when he could not make it due to injury one of the Shadow Teams 1973 Can Am drivers, James Hunt, was given the drive in the exhibition race.

James qualified fastest but finished second to “Jumper” but ahead of George in the surviving Cam Am Shadow DN4.

Looking at the photo in this link one can see Tom’s name is taped out on the side of the car James drove at Laguna Seca which alludes to the possibility the car he drove was quite likely chassis #5A, as I say this to not confirmation, but points to a better than even chance that he did.

Two years after the Laguna Seca Exhibition race chassis #5A appeared at the 1976 British Grand Prix, sans airbox, entered for Mike Wilds to drive by Team P. R. Reilly, unfortunately Mike was six seconds off the pace and unsurprisingly failed to qualify.

Mike then drove #5A in two Shellsport Group 8 races at Snetterton and Brands Hatch finishing 2nd and 6th respectively before the car appears to have been retired from competition.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for spotting the today’s featured Shadow at Sonoma Historics and sharing these photograph of it.

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

Another Alternative C-Type – Sulprizio Hagemann GMC

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Like Walt Hansgen a few years earlier when United Engineering & Machine co owner Babe Sulprizio found he was too many dollars short to own a C-Type Jaguar he set to building his own special in 1955.

Sulprizio Hagemann GMC, Rolex Reunion, Laguna Seca,

Babe started by building a steel tube ladder frame to which he fitted Jaguar Mk VII independent front suspension and rear axle , a Morris Minor steering rack and a 5 litre / 302 cui GMC six cylinder ‘Jimmy’ motor mated to a 4 speed Moss gearbox.

It is said the ‘Jimmy’ GMC motor was chosen after the local Oakland Chevrolet assembly plant refused to supply a 265 cui V8.

For the bodywork Babe took his chassis with some sketched bodywork idea’s to expert english wheelman Jack Hagemann. Babe insisted the completed body be painted bright red which led to the car often being mistaken for a Ferrari.

I have not been able to establish any competition results for the car which appears to have been known as the Hagemann GMC or Sulprizio Hagemann GMC, if you know of any please do not hesitate to chime in below.

In 1976 the current owner bought the car and appears to have installed a Jaguar XK 120 motor, XK 150 disc brakes and tired of telling the inquisitive his car was not a Ferrari had it repainted in metallic British Racing Green.

Note this car is not to be confused with the 1957 Cozzi Jaguar Special which was also painted red and fitted with a Jack Hagemann body.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo of the Sulprizio Hagemann GMC taken at last years Rolex Reunion at Laguna Seca.

Thanks for joining me on this “Another Alternative C-type” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Shadow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Aircon & Electric Windows – Ferrari 250 LM #5995

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Today’s featured Ferrari 250 LM chassis #5995 was originally supplied in 1964 to Count Volpi di Misurata patron of Scuderia Serenissima.