Tag Archives: Bristol

Securing The Boondocks – Hullavington Wessex Sprint

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On Bank Holiday Monday the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club ran it’s Wessex Sprint at the Hullavington airfield, normally a site open to the public, today’s random selection of photographs were taken in between keeping the perimeter road free of dangerous mowing tractors, cyclists, joggers and dog walkers.

Van Diemen DC 93 M, Hullavington Wessex Sprint

It was a thrill to finally catch sight of Dave Cutcliffe’s much modified Formula Ford Van Diemen DC 93 M which is powered by a turbocharged motor cycle engine, Dave was disappointed to be a second off fastest time of the day, but given he had an ECU fault in the morning had to settle for fastest in the top racing car class.

Peugeot 309 GTi, Ray Sissins, Hullavington Wessex Sprint

Ray Sissins from nearby Devizes is seen above negotiating the second chicane in his 1987 #21 Peugeot 309 GTi.

Audi Quattro, Andy Trayner, Hullavington Wessex Sprint

Andy Traynor celebrated what would turn out to be the fastest time in his class with 11 seconds of lawn mowing before the second chicane on his final run of the day in the Audi Quattro he shares with Tim Clarke.

Andrew James, Nissan GTR, Hullavington Wessex Sprint

Andrew and Robert James brought their Nissan GTR all the way over from Bridgend and secured the top two spots in the top Road Going Production Class with Robert pipping Andrew seen above running the #35.

Radical SR4, Stewart Lillington, Hullavington Wessex Sprint

2nd in the Sports Libre Class was Stewart Lillington seen above driving the #77 Radical SR4.

Hawke DL16, Jeremy Hawke, Hullavington Wessex Sprint

Regular readers might remember blogs about Jeremy Hawkes MG J2 and MG K3, he also runs this #91 Hawke DL16 thanks to his Dad who helped him out with the costs towards the engine and gearbox.

Jeremy is particularly keen to hear from any one who has a photo or photo’s of Jan Lammers driving a #36 Hawke to a 19th place finish in the B.R.D.C. Vandervell British F3 Championship at Donington Park on the 27th of August 1977, chime in below if you can help.

Thanks for joining me on this “Securing The Boondocks” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be returning to this month’s Le Mans series. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Bigger Faster 124 – FIAT 125

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Like the FIAT 124 I looked at last week, the FIAT 125 launched in 1967 shared some parts with it’s predecessor notably in this instance the longer chassis from the FIAT 1500.

Fiat 125, BIAMF, Bristol,

The doors and passenger compartment of the FIAT 125 are identical except that the rear seat is mounted 3 inches further back thanks to the slightly longer wheel base.

Fiat 125, BIAMF, Bristol,

The 90hp twin overhead cam 1600 cc / 97 cui 4 cylinder motor was shared with some of the later FIAT 124 Sport Coupé and Sport Spider models as was the initial 4 speed gearbox.

Fiat 125, BIAMF, Bristol,

Like the FIAT 124 the 125 was a global car with examples built in Argentina, Columbia, Chile and Morroco while further 125P variants with less powerful motors were built in Poland, Yugoslavia and Egypt. FIAT stopped building the 125 in 1972 but production continued elsewhere until the early 1990’s.

This particular car seen at the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival was built in 1969 and first registered in the UK on April Fools day of the same year.

Thanks for joining me on this “Bigger Faster 124” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking for answers to the story about a mysterious 500 Formula 3 car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Coffee, Croissant & Cars 05/15 – Avenue Drivers Club

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The second Sunday of the month at Queen Square in Bristol is maintaining it’s standing as one of the more extraordinary word of mouth gatherings for petrol heads in the country.

Land Rover, Ford, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

At this month’s gathering I tried to pay a bit more attention to some of the low riders present including the 1960 Land Rover 80 fitted with a 4 litre / 244 cui version of the Buick derived Rover V8, which is dwarfed by the 2008 Ford RBP Super Duty that was imported into the UK in December last year.

Volkswagen Lupo, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Among the smallest of the low riders present was this 2004 Volkswagen Lupo.

BMW 635i, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Low riding BMW’s are not that unusual but this is the first 1980’s E24 635 CSi I have seen so dramatically stanced.

Avenue Drivers Club, Jaguar X Type S, Queen Square, Bristol,

Leaping forward back to 2008 is this stanced diesel powered Jaguar X Type S the like of which I have also never seen before in the flesh.

Audi RS5 Quattro, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Amazingly this Audi RS7 Quattro is a 2014 model first registered, given that car was fitted with 19″ wheels as standard one would have to conclude the wheels on this one are well over 20″.

Datsun Sunny, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Back in the day when I used to deliver Datsuns new for a dealer in London I realised that they did exactly what they said on the tin and unless one was deliberately trying to break one they would run until the body rotted off, above is a stanced 1982 Datsun Sunny Estate with a well above average preserved body.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars 05/15” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another Pony. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Code C,A or K – Ford Mustang GT

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After retooling in August 1964 Ford offered it’s sensational Mustang with a GT equipment package that included a V8 motor, grille-mounted fog lamps, rocker panel stripes, and disc brakes, an instrument panel with a speedometer, fuel gauge and unnumbered temperature, oil pressure and ammeter gauges in five round dials.

Ford Mustang GT, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Today’s featured car is registered as a “Mustang GT” and carries a 289 / 4.7 litre V8 though it is unclear if today’s featured car has a 200hp C Code 289 with a two barrel carburetor or perhaps one of the four barrel carburetor options either 225hp A Code 289 or 271hp “Hi Po” K Code 289.

Ford Mustang GT, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

As can be seen this particular vehicle has been prepared to racing spec with bonnet / hood pins and roll cage and it appears to have been raced by Louis Bracey in HSCC events in recent years.

Thanks for joining me on this “Code C,A or K” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a poor mans 250 GTE. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Promotion To Track Control – Bristol Llandow Sprint

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On Saturday I picked up Bristol Pegasus Motor Club Secretary Tim Murray and headed across the the the Severn to Llandow where we joined other club members and those from Bristol Motor Club for the Bristol Llandow Sprint.

I earned a promotion from marshaling at the second corner to the control tower where I was responsible for safely releasing the cars onto the track roughly three at a time, below are an arbitrary selection of competitors vehicles I saw in the paddock during the lunch brake.

Ralt RT 33/34, Bristol Llandow Sprint

Above the #105/805 Sims Formwork 1990 Ralt RT33/34 SRD Formula 3 car shared by David, who took Fastest Time of the Day honours and Roy Sims who took the top class up to 2 litre / 122 cui class award.

Austin Mini 1275 GT, Bristol Llandow Sprint

While her Dad Mark was busy with Chief Marshall Duties and her mum Zoe was working busy with Race Administration duties Claire Tooth was busy pedaling her nicely prepared #4 1979 Austin Mini 1275 GT who finished 4th in the Road going series production up to 1400 cc / 85 cui class.

Megapin Mk3, Bristol Llandow Sprint

The late Ian Scott built a series of motorcycle engine powered Megapin’s in the garage behind his house in Carlisle Cumbria, Gordon Hick’s #95 Megapin Mk3 is powered by a 600cc / 36 cui motor but still came 5th in the Racing Cars up to 1100 cc / 67 cui class.

Austin Healey Sprite, Bristol Llandow Sprint

David Tandy left his Austin 7 at home and brought along his much modified Mk 1 Austin Healey Sprite to compete in the MG Car Clubs Championship and finished 13th in class.

Austin 7 Special, Bristol Llandow Sprint

Even more highly modified is Terry Griffin’s single seater Austin Seven Special, complete with ‘Brooklands’ exhaust box, which won the Austin 7 championship for track cars class.

Ford Escort 1600GT, Bristol Llandow Sprint

Finally before returning to my control tower duties I snapped Richard Hearnden’s modified #50 1975 Ford Escort 1600GT which finished second in the modified series production class up to 1800 cc / 109 cui, that started life as a rather more pedestrian Escort 1100L.

Bristol Pegasus Motor Clubs next Sprint will be The Hullavington Wessex Sprint on May 25th and entries and marshals are still being sort, for further information see the BPMC website linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Promotion To Track Control” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another Pony. Don’t forget to come back now !

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One Hundred And Sixty Three Feet – Maserati Coupé

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Today’s featured 2002 Tipo M138 Maserati Coupé is a descedant of the original Ghibli, Khamsin, Shamal, 3200 GT line of 2+ tourers.

Maserati Coupé, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Fest, Bristol

As with the Tipo AM115 Ghibli Giorgetto Giugiaro was responsible for styling the Maserati Coupé although he was no longer working for Ghia, a company which had long since been acquired by Ford, but instead ItalDesign.

Maserati Coupé, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Fest, Bristol

The Coupé is powered by a 385hp 4244 cc / 259 cui Ferrari / Maserati F136 R V8 that in this particular vehicle powers the rear wheels through a paddle shift ‘Cambiocorsa’ electrohydraulic manual transmission, instead of the regular 6 speed gear box.

Maserati Coupé, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Fest, Bristol

Reaching 110 mph in a 13.2 second sprint from rest over a 1/4 mile the Coupé, unofficially also known as the 4200 GT, is capable of coming to a complete stop from 70 mph in just 163 feet.

Maserati Coupé, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Fest, Bristol

The owner of this Coupé had a DMS ECU fitted which along with modified rear silencers / mufflers and a BMC Air Filter facilitate 380hp being delivered to the rear wheels.

Thanks for joining me on this “One Hundred And Sixty Three Feet” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I shall be looking a Zepplin powered Maybach Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Patrick Joyce Rally Car – Citroën Xantia SX

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In 1987 Dan Abramson working for Bertone drew the first sketches of the X1, the car that would become the Citroën Xantia.

Citroën Xantia GX, The Plinth, Bear Pit, Bristol,

The Xantia replaced the popular mid range BX series, designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone that was in production from 1982 to 1994.

Citroën Xantia GX, The Plinth, Bear Pit, Bristol,

The most innovative feature of the stylish Xantia was the Citroën DS derived “Hydractive” suspension first seen on the Citroën XM.

Citroën Xantia GX, The Plinth, Bear Pit, Bristol,

Hydractive suspension computer-controlled version of Citroën’s famous hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension that now includes a programmed self-steer rear axle to enhance the cars responsiveness and driving pleasure.

Citroën Xantia GX, The Plinth, Bear Pit, Bristol,

Sold with a wide range of engine options, mostly 4 cylinder, the Xantia range was topped by a 3 litre / 183 cui V6.

Citroën Xantia GX, The Plinth, Bear Pit, Bristol,

Xantia’s were manufactured from 1993 to 2001 at Citroën’s factory in Rennes factory in Brittany, France with additional units being built in Iran’s capital Tehran.

Citroën Xantia GX, The Plinth, Bear Pit, Bristol,

With a name derived from the Greek Xanthos meaning light it seems highly appropriate, however coincidentally, that Bristol artist Patrick Joyce should use his 1996 Xantia, seen in these photographs on The Plinth in the centre of Bristol Bear Pit, to shed light on the Motor Nuerone Disease he was diagnosed with in 2008.

Citroën Xantia GX, The Plinth, Bear Pit, Bristol,

The statement for this work reads “… A life long lover of cars, he (Patrick) designed this piece for a Rally around the coast of Ireland – his last serious driving trip before the progression of the condition meant he had to hang up his crochet backed driving gloves. The markings on the car are all riffs on existing Rally Car branding altered to reference the challenge of his (MND) condition…”

You can follow Patrick’s MND awareness activities on his Patrick The Incurable Optimist website linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Patrick Joyce Rally Car” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Chrysler. Don’t forget to come back now !

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