Tag Archives: B

Norma Ann Sykes – MG B Mark III

For 1974 US federal regulations mandated low impact bumpers which led to some seriously non collectible vehicles being built like the Volvo 240, aand US spec Jenson Healey, FIAT X1/9, MG B and MG Midget.

The Mark III MG B was introduced in 1972 with the biggest benefit being a new and improved heater for the occupants.

In 1974 chrome bumpers were replaced with steel reinforced rubber items that formed part of the restyled nose at the front. Apparently in MG circles these bumpers are referred to as ‘Sabrinas’ a name derived from a well endowed British model Norma Ann Sykes who was better known as Sabrina in her acting career which started with a small role in the 1955 film Stock Car.

To complete the transformation from cool low slung roadster to the dork car look US Federal regulations mandated a minimum height for head lights and so the MG like many other sports car manufacturers that decided to simply raise the ride height of their cars rather than start with new designs or heavily restyled versions to meet the regulations.

Like Concorde sports cars as they had been known were effectively ruled out of the market in the USA, manufacturers did not seriously look at the Sports Car market again until the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and since then the minimum ride headlight regulations have been dropped.

MG B manufacture came to an end in 1980 and MG did not replace it until 1992 when 2000 limited edition MG B like R8’s were manufactured.

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

Escape The Option Trap – MG B GT

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The MGB GT was launched in 1965 with a ground breaking Pininfarina inspired hatchback and the latest 5 bearing 95hp 1798 cc / 109.7 cui 4 cylinder motor as used in the the MGB Roadster.

In 1970 a version of the GT was launched complete with a black grill as seen above replacing the previous chrome item, reclining seats added to the 4 speed synchromesh gearbox which became available in 1967.

The MGB GT was recognised as an aspirational car by the likes of Playboy which featured an MGB GT in one of it’s advertisements linked here, notice how in the ad the MG owner attracts the females rather more than the Mercury Cougar standing next to it !

MG’s own advertising for the B GT focused on the fact that it’s fully loaded specs allowed owners to escape the option trap as seen in the link here. The 50 spoke wire wheels were standard in some markets though they would eventually be replaced with Rostyle steels wheels.

The extra weight of the roof over the MGB Roadster hindered the B GT’s acceleration though it increased the top speed from 100 to 105 mph. The last MG B GT’s to imported into the USA officially were 1974 though production of the GT continued for other markets until 1980.

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

Wade In The Water – MGB Roaster DRX 256C

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Today’s MG is a special B built with aluminium body panels at Abingdon to take part in the Sebring 12 Hours.

The car as seen here features a ‘Droop Snoot’ nose of the same type worn by it’s sister car DRX 255C at Le Mans in 1965.

However DRX256C, to the best of my knowledge, was never raced at Le Mans in period and certainly not with the Syd Enever designed nose

which I believe first appeared at Le Mans in 1963 fitted to a ‘B’ registered ‘7 DBL’ then in 1964 fitted to ‘BMO 541B’ and finally DRX 255C in 1965.

Paddy Hopkirk and Andrew Hedges qualified DRX 255C 46th and averaging 98 mph came in 2nd in class at the Le Mans 24 hours behind a Porsche 904 GTS.

Andrew Newton is the current owner of DRX 256C Barrie Williams and former Grand Prix Driver Mike Wilds are well known UK club racers. The drivers of DRX 256C at Sebring in 1965 were American Brad Picard and Canadian Al Pease.

Picard & Pease qualified 50th and finished 32nd 6th in class in a race that is best remembered for a flash flood which saw some parts of the track under 6 inches of water.

Some drivers described them selves as being up to their elbows in water during pit stops,

and I believe the lead Jim Hall / Hap Sharp Chaparral 2a recorded a lap time of 12 minuets at one point during the deluge.

I highly recommend viewing the Shell Promotional Film called the 12 hour Grind with commentary by Chris Economaki which can be seen on youtube starting with this link for those wishing to fast forward to see what happened when the heavens opened up the wet action starts here, I have never seen anything quite like it.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Wade in the Water’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow, don’t forget to came back now !

Opel Manta i200

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With the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz almost over, closing date for entries is this Sunday, it’s time to return to shake off the cobwebs and return to blogging about all things motoring. To start the New Years blogs I am looking at a hot version of the Opel Manta B the i200.

The second incarnation of the Opel Manta known as the ‘Opel Manta B’ was launched in 1975, and like its predecessor was based on the current model Opel Ascona saloon / sedan, the ‘B’ version of which was also used as a platform for the British range of GM products the Vauxhall Cavalier.

Confusingly for the automotive historian the Opel Manta ‘B’ and first generation Vauxhall Cavallier all featured a droop snoot nose while the saloon / sedan Ascona ‘B’ featured a common to period blunt nose.

In 1979 Opel started a rally competition program for both the Ascona and Manta models with the ‘400’ suffix added to competition variants of both models. This competition program led to several limited production runs of hot versions of the road going Manta’s being produced including i200 seen here which was manufactured in 1984.

‘i’ was a common suffix at the time usually signifying a vehicle fitted with a then less than common fuel injection system, while the i200 certainly had a 1979 cc / 120.7 cui overhead cam four cylinder motor tuned to produce 125 hp, the ‘i’ in i200 stands for the German tuning firm Irmscher who along with Cosworth were responsible for producing the competition versions of the Manta. Irmscher are credited with producing the body kit comprising rear spoiler and side skirts of the i200 model.

Of the 700 Opel Manta i200’s manufactured just 25 are thought to have been made in right hand drive form for the UK market most like this one in Arctic White with racing stripes as used in period by the Rothman’s cigarette brand which sponsored Opel’s competition program.

The Manta which was available in notch back as seen here or hatchback bore a passing resemblance to the larger contemporary Chevrolet Monza.

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

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Get Smart – Opel GT

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Opel is the German brand name used by GM since it acquired the Opel manufacturing operation in 1931. The Opel GT owes it’s origins to the 1965 Opel Experimental GT concept car that predates the similar British GM Vauxhall XVR I looked at last week by a full year.

The GT show’s some styling influence from the ’68 Corvette thanks to the work of GM Styist Clare MacKichan. The GT had pop up lights that were hinged on a longitudinal axis so that they opened out from the centre using a leaver in the cockpit. Allegedly this was a difficult manual task to perform.

A choice of either 67 hp or 102 hp motors was available with the GT most of the GT’s were sold with the larger motors which has made those with the smaller motors very much more collectible today.

The steel bodyshell for the GT was manufactured in by French locomotive manufacturer Brissonneau & Lotz, the motors and running gear came from more mundane Opel family models in particular the Kadet ‘B’, the round rear lights came from the Opel Record.

Opel GT’s were distributed by Buick in the USA and when Buick took over sponsorship of the series in 1969 and 1970 Maxwell Smart was issued with a Gold Opel GT to replace his earlier Sunbeam Tiger and Volkswagen Karmann Ghia transport.

Unusually for a company associated with producing family transport the Opel GT was an uncompromising fast back with not boot, the only space for luggage was on the parcel shelf that covered the spare wheel in the back and the only access to it was through the side doors. On the other hand the diminutive design could comfortably accommodate some one 6’ft tall.

This 1971 model seen at Goodwood revival is one of 99,863 models sold between 1968 and 1973 with the larger motor. An additional 3,573 Opel GT’s were sold with the smaller motor. A bargain basement GT/J version was available through the later years of production which had most of the bright work deleted.

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

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Looking for Automotive Seasonal Gift Idea’s? Visit Automobiliart Now !

Too Dangerous To Race – Ferrari GTO

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The Ferrari (288) GTO was designed to meet the 4 litre Group B regulations for rallying and racing sports cars which came into effect in 1982 .

To be homologated, granted approval, to compete in the liberal loose Group B classes of rallys and races 200 identical examples of a model had to be manufactured.

From 1984 – 1986 272 examples of the Ferrari 288 GTO were manufactured with a view to competing against the similar, albeit fitted with 4 wheel drive, Porsche 959/961.

The 288 GTO was loosely based on the Ferrari 308 GTB though the rear bodywork was extended to incorporate the engine which was now longitudinally mounted rather than transversely mounted as in the 308 GTB.

Pininfarina designed body panels for the 288 GTO were manufactured from a combination of fibreglass, aluminium and F1 technology Kevlar however in the interests of safety the door panels were made of steel.

With four hundred horsepower available, in road trim, from the twin turbo charged 2855 cc / 174 cui V8 it is regrettable that the 288 GTO never saw any competitive action as a result of the Group B regulations being deemed to dangerous for competition after a number of fatalities in Group B rally events during 1986. By 1987 the Group B regulations and even more lax Group S regulations had been suspended in the interests of safety.

This 1985 model, known officially as a Ferrari GTO but often called 288 GTO to distinguish it from other Ferrari GTO models, is seen at the recent Italian Auto Moto Festival in Bristol.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s homologation edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil psycho on tyres’ and that 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

Tag Archives: B

Norma Ann Sykes – MG B Mark III

Escape The Option Trap – MG B GT

Wade In The Water – MGB Roaster DRX 256C

Opel Manta i200

Get Smart – Opel GT