Tag Archives: Adams

Cambrian Rally – Conwy County

Cambria is the Latinised form of the Welsh name Cymru from Old Welsh combrog and Proto-Brythonic word kom-brogos, meaning fellow countryman or compatriot, known to much of the rest of the world as Wales.

After studying Welsh rock strata in 1835 Adam Sedgwick named the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era the Cambrian period which characterised by the rapid diversification of lifeforms, known as the Cambrian explosion, some of which have been well preserved in the sedimentary rocks exposed in Wales.

Snowdon, County Conwy

500 million years after the Cambrian explosion 266 of the direct descendants of some of those lifeforms gathered in County Conwy to take part in the 61st running of the annual Cambrian Rally organised by the North Wales Car Club on Saturday February 13th.

The Cambrian Rally has moved from being the concluding round of the MSA Welsh Rally, Ravenol BTRDA Rally, FMP and ANWCC Forest Rally Championships last year to being the season opener for them this year.

 Mini John Cooper Works WRC, Conner McCloskey, Damien Duffin, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

With the intention of making a 4am departure from Bristol to see the opening stage of the Cambrian Rally I left home promptly at 5.30 after being unexpectedly invited out for tapas and sing a long the night before.

The delay was fortuitous as I ended up not far from Snowdon on the third Penmachno stage of the rally which sent the cars around the perimeter of the quarry where the #7 2012 McGeehan Motorsport Mini John Cooper Works WRC crewed by Conner McCloskey and Damien Duffin, who finished the event 4th overall, are seen above.

FIAT Abarth 131 Rally, Matthew Robinson, Sam Collins, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

Walter Rohrl, a hero in my youth drove a FIAT Abarth 131 Rally to claim his first World Rally Championship in 1980.

I believe the 1978 #30 FIAT Abarth 131 Rally seen above started as a more pedestrian brown model before being converted by RSD Rally Sport Development into a competition version, Matthew Robinson and Sam Collins retired the #30 from the event after exceeding the time limit before stage 6.

Hillman Avenger, Barry Jordan, James Gratton-Smith, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

In the 1970’s it would appear there were plans within the British product planning arm of the Chrysler Europe empire to produce an Avenger to compete with the Ford Mexico with a BRM developed 16 valve twin cam head.

It would appear a few heads got built and at least one was fitted to a car used by factory personnel but the project stumbled at this stage, I am not sure if the #64 1971 Hillman Avenger 1500 GL Luxe has one of the 16 valve twin cam BRM heads fitted but the BRM livery on the rear piqued my interest, the car driven by Barry Jordan and James Gratton-Smith unfortunately also retired, after Stage 3.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, Jayne Auden-Rowe, David Auden, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

The #75 1998 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI seen above crewed by Jayne Auden-Rowe and David Auden was classified 50th overall.

Skoda Favorit, Paul Ellis, Simon Jones, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

I could not resist going back to the puddle in the quarry as the final competitors went through Paul Ellis and Simon Jones make a splash in their way to a 70th place finish overall in their #120 1992 Skoda Favorit.

Ford Fiesta R200, Glynne Jones, Glenn Mercer, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

Similarly Glynne Jones and Glenn Mercer go temporarily amphibious in their Ford Fiesta R200 on their way to a 77th place finish overall.

Ford Fiesta 2000, Stephen Simpson, Andrew Roughead, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

Andrew Roughead moved from co – driving Andrew Fenwicks 6th placed Proton S2000 the week before on the Legend Fires North West Stages to sit beside Stephen Simpson in his #12 2010 Ford Fiesta S2000 seen above lifting a rear wheel on the final Great Orme Stage on their way to 8th place overall.

Ford Escort L, John Rowlands, Glenn Latham, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

Lifting a front wheel in classic Mk2 style is the #20 1976 2 litre Ford Escort L crewed by John Rowlands and Glenn Latham which came home 15th overall.

Peugeot 309 GTi, Tim Cains, Richard May, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

The sun came out for a short while and is seen above illuminating the faces of 36th place finishers Tim Cains and Richard May in their #85 1988 Peugeot 309 GTi.

Nissan Micra Tropic, Niel Andrew, Dominic Adams, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

54th place finishers overall and 2nd in the 1400C class were Niel Andrew and Dominic Adams in the #86 1994 Nissan Micra Tropic seen above heading into the sunset sans rear bumper cover.

Ford Fiesta S2000, Charles Payne, Carl Williamson, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

After nearly 48 mins of competitive driving Charles Payne and Carl Williamson in their #3 2009 Ford Fiesta S2000 came home just 1 second behind the winners …

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, Luke Francis, John H Roberts, Penmachno, Cambrian Rally,

… Luke Francis and John H Roberts in their #6 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX who also won this event in 2012.

Volkswagen Lupo E, Paul Barbet, Chris Sheriden, Great Orme, Cambrian Rally,

Paul Barbet and Chris Sheriden above are heading to an evening 81st place finish overall in their #127 2001 Volkswagen Polo E.

As darkness rapidly fell after the action was over I managed to stumble back across Great Orme back to the car park after another great days entertainment.

Thanks for joining me on this Cambrian Rally edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at the last of this month’s featured Camaro’s. Don’t for get to come back now !

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Championship Dinger UnStuck – Brands Hatch 1000 Kilometers

Thirty years ago this weekend give or take a day or two I found myself at Brands Hatch for the 1000 kms race, only the second Group C race I had seen, thanks mostly to the fact that my mate Sven was racing his Ford Capri in the supporting Uniroyal Production Saloon car race.

Jaguar XJ6, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

My pit pass from the support race got me into the pits prior to the start of the main event and I wasted no time taking pics of the leading runners from Lancia, Porsche and Jaguar who had locked out the first three rows of the grid in Noah’s Ark fashion during qualifying, above is the Tony Southgate designed Jaguar XJ6 driven by recent Formula One returnee Alan Jones who joined TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) regular Jean-Louis Schlesser in the leading TWR entry that qualified 5th, but retired from the event early with engine damage after the throttle jammed open.

Porsche 962C, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass qualified 4th on the grid in the #1 Porsche 962C seen above and finished second in the race experiencing only one problem, a faster than mandated refueling stop, which the team corrected by holding the car in the pits for an additional 10 seconds on the cars final fuel stop.

Lancia LC2 85, Wollek, de Cesaris, Baldi, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

The Lancia LC2’s with 800 hp qualifying motors, against Porsches 720 hp qualifying spec, locked out the front row with the #4 driven by Ricardo Patrese and Alessandro Nannini on pole, but in the final hour when the Lancia’s were running 3rd and 4th team mate Andrea de Cesaris ran into the pack of Patrese’s car damaging the exhaust on the #4 forcing a quick stop for repairs to secure it again which left the #5 Lancia Andrea shared with Brilliant Bob Wollek and Mauro Baldi to claim 3rd one lap down on the leading Porsches.

Gebhardt  JC843, Adams, Taylor, Harrower, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

One car I had been particularly looking forward to seeing in the flesh was the super slippery Group C2 #75 Gebhardt JC843 seen above driven by Nick Adams, Ian Taylor and Ian Harrower, on this occasion the 3.3 litre / 201 cui Cosworth DFL car finished tenth, 46 laps behind the winning Porsche, from 15th on the grid.

Ecosse C285, Wilds, Mallock, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Winners of the Group C2 class were Ray Mallock and Mike Wilds in the Ecurie Ecosse #79 Ecosse C285 which was similarly Cosworth DFL powered, starting from 14 on the grid Ray and Mike came home 6th, 19 laps behind the winning C1 car, but crucially 11 laps ahead of the C2 turbocharged Carma powered Alba AR6 driven by Martino Finotto, Almo Coppelli and Carlo Facetti.

Porsche 962C, Derek Bell, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Starting from third on the grid thanks to the efforts of Hans Stuck was the #2 Porsche 962C he shared with local boy “Dinger” Derek Bell who crossed the line less the 12 seconds ahead of the #1 Porsche and in the process Hans and Derek more or less secured their first World Endurance Drivers Championship, this would become Derek’s first drivers championship ever in over 18 years as a professional.

My belated thanks to Sven who got me into see the show.

Thanks for joining me on this “Championship Dinger Unstuck” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be locking at a Formula One Toleman that nearly never ran for the want of a tyre contract. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Americana – Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

Last month Geoffrey Horton kindly asked Karl Krause to take some photo’s of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion festivities at Laguna Seca, I’ll be running a couple of blogs featuring a selection of the vehicles that were present starting with five American vehicles and one from Canada today.

Ford Model T Speedster, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

First up is a the #81 1922 Ford Model T Speedster known as the Hudkins MoTor Special in deference to Bruce Hudkins who built the immaculate boat tail body.

Caballo de Hiero, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

Fast forward 31 years to 1953 when a pioneering Hot Rodder Akton Miller took it upon himself to build the #11 “Caballo de Hiero”, Iron Horse, above using a Ford Chassis and an Oldsmobile motor to take on the might of Europe from Lancia, Ferrari, Talbot Lago and Jaguar in the 1953 Carrera Panamerica in which he and co driver Douglas Harrison finished a respectable 14th overall, the following year they returned and came home an even better 7th overall covering the 1921 mile route at an average speed of 94.1 miles per hour.

Bocar XP5,  Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

In the late 1950’s BOb CARnes set out to design and build the fastest and safest sports car in the world that would be both fully operable on ordinary roads and track, at a price within the reach of ordinary people. By 1959 he was on his 5th design the XP5 like the example owned by Wesley Abendroth above which I believe is chassis XP5043, that when powered by a 290 hp Corvette V8 was easily capable of 160 mph.

Dailu Mk2, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Laguna Seca,

Even more obscure and rare than the Bocar XP5 is Greg Meyer’s Dailu Mk2 built by DAvId Greenblatt and LUigi Cassiani in Canada. After the pair turned constructors and successfully built the Chevrolet powered Dailu Mk1 to improve upon Davids 1960 Sadler Mk IV, they built the Dailu Mk2 with a coupé fiberglass body, Jaguar XKE rear suspension, and a 430hp Ford Traco engine. John Canon drove it to victory on it’s debut and owner Peter Lerch continued the cars winning ways even after electing to remove the roof.

Ford GT40 MkII, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Laguna Seca,

Probably best known of today’s featured cars is the Ford GT40 MkII chassis P/1015 which Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby drove to victory on it’s debut in the 1966 Daytona 24 Hours and was then driven by Ken and Denny Hulme to a second place finish in the Le Mans 24 Hours, subsequent starts in the same events in 1967 yielded no finishes.

Chevrolet Monza, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Laguna Seca,

Fourteen years further down the line and Chris Cord Racing were entering the second of their DeKon Engineering built Chevrolet Monza’s for Jim Adams in the IMSA GTX series. Other drivers of chassis #1012, seen above now owned by Ken Epsman, in the 1980 – 81 time frame included team owner Chris Cord, Rick Koop and a chap, or these days I believe more correctly a chapess, called Bruce Jenner who is apparently a darling of the moment in the media .

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for organising these photographs for me and to Karl Krause for their execution, more will follow next week.

Thanks for joining me on this “Americana” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1975 World Constructors Winning Ferrari. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Tailor’s Superleggera – Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta #0088E

In 1913 Domenico Caraceni the father of Italian tailoring founded the bespoke made to measure tailors bearing his name that by the 1930’s expanded to include ateliers in Rome, Milan and Paris and would later count Italian, Greek and British Royalty along with Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli, shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, and Hollywood actors including Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant among it’s clientele.

Domenico named his son after his brother Augusto who opened the Paris atelier and by the time he grew up Dr Augusto Caraceni had acquired a taste for racing the products of Enzo Ferrari, who was ofcourse another Caraceni customer.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Today’s featured car was the seventh Ferrari 212 Export chassis, of a total 27, to be built the frame being completed on 26th January 1951.

Walter Seghedoni and foreman Amos Franchini oversaw the completion of the rear axle assembley on February 14th and the race tuned engine with triple Weber carburetors on February the 16th.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

#0088E was the first 212 Export chassis, of a total 4, to receive a Superlegerra Berlinetta body by Touring.

A certificate of origin was issued on the 23rd of February and the next day the car was test driven at the factory.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

After the car was distributed to dealer Mambretti Sonzogni in Rome it was sold to Dr Augusto Caraceni on 20th April 1951.

In September 1951 Dr Augusto competed with this car on the Stella Alpina Hillclimb where he finished 5th overall and 2nd in class this was his only known competition at the wheel of #0088E.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

In 1952 Dr Augusto appears to have sold #0088E to Conte Antonio Naselli in order to make way for a more powerful Ferrari 225 Export which he drove in the 1952 Mille Miglia.

Conte Naselli is believed to have driven #0088E on the Giro di Sicilia and Stella Alpina Hillclimb in 1952 though there are no records available to confirm his results. Note the louvered window vents which Touring were using three years later on the body for an 1954 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint 2 which I looked at some years ago.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

It is believed the Conte had #0088E painted Amaranto as it appears today post a restoration in 2008.

After passing through seven more owners hands in Italy the car was acquired in 1963 by Lowell Musick an employee of the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach California.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Mr Musick entrusted the mechanical upkeep of #0088E to Charles Betz of Orange, California, a renowned Ferrari enthusiast and owner of many of early Ferrari’s.

While #0088E was in Mr Betz care his business partner Fred Peters took a shine to the car and eventually purchased it from Mr Musick and stored in a controlled state until 2008 when the restoration mentioned earlier commenced.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Berlinetta, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Over a period of six years Steve Beckman’s Metalworks in Costa Mesa took care of the bodywork, Bob Wallace took care of the original 2.5 litre Colombo V12, Cork Adams took care of the wheels, South Bay Chrome looked after the bright work, MoMa the original instrumentation, Pete Engel installed a new period correct naturale lastico upholstery and Charles Betz oversaw the reassembly with a non original slip differential that was fitted to improve safety.

The bills for the above came to an estimated US$600,000 which was recouped in January 2014 when the car was sold for US$3.19 million including buyers premium at Bonhams’ Scottsdale auction to New Haven CT Pemier Classic Car dealer Dennis P. Nicotra of New Haven, CT.

After showing #0088E at Pebble Beach last year, where it was awarded third in class, the car was registered in the UK on the 14th of October presumably in the name of it’s new owner Austrian Martin Halusa.

Five days after these photo’s were taken at the Silverstone Classic Press day Mr Halusa competed on the Tour Auto with Nicola von Donhoff in the co drivers seat of 0088E.

Thanks for joining me on this “Tailor’s Superlegerra” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for a bus man’s holiday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Going Places In Style – Marcos Mantis

The first Marcos Mantis better known as the Mantis XP was a radical marine ply racer that raced once in 1968 before being sold to an American client, the second Mantis iteration today’s featured 2+2 Mantis M70 was launched in 1970 and remained in production until 1972 when the company was liquidated, in 1997 a third iteration 2 seat Mantis was launched as a road car and later spec racer.

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

Styling of the Mantis was by Denis Adams and Jem Marsh while ex Lotus engineer Brian Cunnington was responsible for the chassis, made from square section tubular steel, and production engineering.

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

The Mantis was initially offered as a complete vehicle with a Triumph 2.5 PI straight six motor and 4 speed Triumph gearbox driving an axle from the Ford Capri parts bin.

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

The promotional brochure for the Mantis highlighted the models all round visibility, handling and “the boot, with a capacity of 10 cubic feet, makes the Mantis ideal for the man who is going places and wants to travel in style.”

Marcos Mantis M70, Silverstone Classic,

In all 32 Mantis models were built before Marcos was liquidated in 1972, some of the later examples were supplied in kit form at 5/6ths of the price of the complete car.

In the mid 80’s Autotune who had acquired the moulds and manufacturing rights to the Mantis recommenced production of the model, as a kit car requiring a Ford Cortina Mk II or Mk III donor car, which was renamed as the Autotune Mirage.

Today’s featured 1971 Mantis seen at Silverstone Classic several years ago is described by one of it’s owners as “The one Jem Marsh had with the Rover 3500 V8 EFI lump.”

Thanks for joining me on this “Going Places In Style” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another “Goddess”. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Cast Iron, Glassfibre And Marine Ply – Marcos 1800 GT

To create the sensation of the 1964 Racing Car Show, Marcos kept faith with the marine ply chassis construction method espoused by former de Haviland aero engineer Frank Costin, glueing no fewer than 386 pieces of marine ply together which were then bonded to a glass fiber body to end up with a strong and above all light monocoque chassis.

Marcos 1800 GT, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Marcos turned to Volvo for a supply of cast iron block B18 engines, more commonly found in the Volvo’s P1800 Coupé, with either four speed or five speed manual gearboxes fitted.

Marcos 1800 GT, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

At the rear the first 33 1800 GT’s were fitted de Dion suspension, which was dropped in favour of a cheaper Ford live axle for the remaining 73 1800 GT’s that were built up until 1966.

Marcos 1800 GT, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

The scintillating glass fibre body was the work of the Adams brothers Denis and Peter, featuring a forward hinging front to ease access to the engine.

Marcos 1800 GT, Andrew Smith, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

With 96hp the 1800 GT could accelerate from rest to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 116 mph, however a works entry for Jem Marsh, John Quick and Peter Taggart at Le Mans in 1968 with a slightly larger B20 motor still failed to qualify.

Marcos 1800 GT, Andrew Smith, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Despite it’s enthusiastic reception the car proved to be an expensive slow seller, it was not very profitable even after the live axle, which helped drop the price from £1500 to £1340, was adopted.

Marcos 1800 GT, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

In 1966 the 1800 GT gave way to Ford and Triumph powered models, but today the 1800 GT, such as the example raced by Andrew and Tom Smith seen in these pictures at the recent Silverstone Classic Press Day, is a more highly prized vehicle because it is the last Adams bodied Marcos legible to be driven in Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) events.

Thanks for joining me on this “Cast Iron, Glassfibre And Marine Ply” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a convertible Citroën. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Exciting Grand Touring Car – Marcos Fastback GT

Welcome to the first of a short series of Marcos Monday blogs, featuring the marque that was founded by Jem Marsh and Frank Costin in North Wales in 1959 to manufacture a series of “Ugly Duckling” Xylon one litre / 61 cui GT sports racing cars that featured chassis built from laminated 3mm marine ply, gull wing doors and a four pane windscreen, aimed at 750 Motor Club competitors.

Nine Xylons were produced before a refined model that retained the gullwing doors was introduced in 1960 of which a further 39 powered by a variety of motors up to 1.5 litres / 91.5 cui were produced up until 1963 when Marcos moved to a premises at Bradford Upon Avon in Wiltshire.

Marcos Fastback, David Chaney, Cadwell Park

When brothers Dennis and Peter Adams began to work on a successor to the Gullwing GT they conceived an open roadster, however success on the track with earlier models, future Grand Prix and Le Mans stars Jackie Stewart won his first race with a Xylon and Jackie Oliver raced a Gullwing GT, meant a continued demand for a closed car and so the original design was compromised with the fastback hastily added as an afterthought.

The fast back was launched at the 1963 London Racing Car Show as the “The Most Exciting Grand Touring Car In The World” for a basic price of £775 “including disc brakes.”

Only 18 Fastbacks were produced and future Le Mans legend Derek Bell raced one scoring at least one class win with it at Brands Hatch in September 1965.

David Chaney’s example seen above at Cadwell Park in 1989 was originally built in 1963 and is listed in the 1989 programme as being powered by a 1650cc / 100 cui motor that is probably derived from a 4 cylinder Ford.

Unable to keep up with the initial demand Peter Adams own roadster was converted to the fastback configuration as were a couple more otherwise complete roadsters.

Thanks for joining me on this “Exciting Grand Touring Car” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be celebrating the 60th Anniversary of an aerodynamic Citroën. Don’t forget to come back now !

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