Tag Archives: British

Palmers Parts Bin – Wolseley 4/44

After designing the MG Y Type the 1939 – 1945 hostilities saw Gerald Palmer engaged in war work that included designing medical equipment for the front line the development of a two stroke motor and the production of de Havilland Tiger Moth flying training aircraft.

Wolseley 4/44, Bristol Classic Car Show, Shepton Mallet,

After the war Palmer was employed by Jowett to design what became the Jowett Javelin and in 1949 Palmer rejoined the Nuffield Organisation to design the Wolseley 4/44, MG ZA, the replacement for the MG Y type, and the Riley Pathfinder all three of which shared unique combinations of parts from the Nuffield Organisations parts bins.

Wolseley 4/44, Bristol Classic Car Show, Shepton Mallet,

Of the three new models launched in 1953, now under the merged with Austin British Motor Corporation (BMC) banner the Wolseley 4/44 was the least powerful being fitted with a detuned 46 hp single carburettor 4 cylinder XPAG motor first seen seen on the MG TB Type Midget dating back to 1939 and on the TC, TD, and least powerful of the TF models.

Wolseley 4/44, Bristol Classic Car Show, Shepton Mallet,

Fitted with modern rack and pinion steering, snuggle friendly 4 speed column change gearboxes the up market pretensions of the car were reaffirmed by leather seats and walnut veneer trim.

Wolseley 4/44, Bristol Classic Car Show, Shepton Mallet,

With the absence of a motorway network the 4/44’s top speed of 73 mph was matched by a rest to 60 mph time of 29.9 seconds which might be described as adequate.

Wolseley 4/44, Bristol Classic Car Show, Shepton Mallet,

Note that indicators were by door post mounted semaphore with only left hand drive models having indicators built into the rear light clusters.

29,845 Wolseley 4/44’s were built between 1953 and 1956 when the model was replaced by the similar 15/50.

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

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Pete Aron’s Yamura – McLaren Ford M2B

With the decline in fortunes of the Cooper Car Companies Grand Prix program, for which he had been driving since his arrival in Formula One in 1958, Bruce McLaren decided that with the success of his McLaren M1 sports cars he could follow his former mentor Jack Brabham, who left Cooper to build his own Formula One cars in 1962, and start his own Grand Prix team in time for the new 3 litre / 183 cui regulations which came into effect in 1966.

Through 1965 McLaren built and extensively tested the M2A which was designed by Robin Herd and fitted with a 4.5 litre / 274.5 Oldsmobile V8 from the McLaren M1 program.

McLaren Ford M2B, Donington Park Museum

The monococoque of the McLaren M2A made extensive use of compressed balsa wood sandwiched between thin sheets of aluminium called Malite which made the monocoque much stiffer than a conventional monocoque as had been successfully used in the Lotus 25 and it’s successor the Lotus 33.

However Malite proved to be difficult to work with and repair and so for the McLaren M2B the use of Malite was restricted to the inner skins and upper surfaces of the monocoque which still offered significant advantages to the stiffness of the structure.

McLaren Ford M2B, Donington Park Museum

Originally the M2B was powered by a V8 motor derived from Ford’s Indy programme, but this proved way to heavy allegedly when connected to the gearbox the whole power train weighed as much as some rivals entire cars, while later on a much lighter and less powerful Serenissima motor was also tried.

The two engines are easily distinguished the Indy derived Ford has exhausts between the Vee formed by the eight cylinders as seen here and the Serenissima had more conventional side exhausts.

McLaren Ford M2B, Donington Park Museum

Bruce McLaren made 4 starts in the M2B, after retiring at Monaco he realised the Ford based motor needed less weight and more power so he secured the use of the Serenissima’s as an interim measure. At the British Grand Prix Bruce scored his first World Championship point in a car bearing his own name. By the US Grand Prix improved Ford based motors were back from Traco and Bruce came in 5th, before retiring at the Mexican Grand Prix which closed the season.

Although the season was a failure the team learned from their mistakes and made do with BRM 2 litre / 122 cui V8 motors for 1967 before becoming one of the three teams using the Ford Cosworth DFV, alongside Lotus and Tyrrell in 1968.

The white and green colour scheme of the M2B is said to have been mandated by a deal between Bruce and the producers of the John Frankenheimer’s film “Grand Prix” which required the McLaren M2B to look like the fictional Japanese “Yamura” which James Garners character Pete Aron drove to a championship win in the film.

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

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BP Green – Ferrari 250 GTO #3767GT

In July 1962 British racing driver David Piper took delivery of a British Petroleum (BP) Green right hand drive (RHD) Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #3767, Italian registration MO 79460 and raced it in Europe, Africa and the United States before selling it on to Ed Cantrell.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Pipers best result with the car was an overall win in the Kyalami 9 hours with South African Bruce Johnstone, the following year David shared another Ferrari 250 GTO chassis #4491GT with South African Tony Maggs to win the Kyalami 9 Hours again in 1963.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Ed Cantrell shared the driving #3767 with former owner Daivd Piper in the 1963 Sebring 12 Hours where they finished 14th overall and 5th in class. The continued to be raced through 1963 until the end of 1964 when Tom Fleming and Ray Heppenstall appear to have been entered to drive #3767 by the North American Racing Team in the Nassau Trophy Race where they finished 14th.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Ten years later Anthony Bamford acquired the car and it was given the British registration plate 63 GTO which remains legal to this day.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

#3767 is seen here at last years Goodwood Revival meeting where Joe Bamford and Alain de Cadenet, who owned the car prior to selling it to Anthony Bamford in 1974, shared the driving in the RAC TT celebration race in which they were unclassified.

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

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Flint Stones – Surtees Ford TS14A #03 & #04

In 1972 new regulations were rushed through for Formula One cars mandating deformable structures be fitted to the sides of the vehicles in an attempt to reduce the risk of cars bursting into flames in the event of a side impact. Two sets of regulations were written one for more or less immediate effect in 1972 and a seperate more robust set of deformable structures regulations for 1973.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

Towards the end of the 1972 season John Surtees 1973 challenger was the first to appear at the 1972 Italian Grand Prix built to the latest safety regulations. John qualified 19th and retired from what turned out to be his final Grand Prix race after 113 starts over 13 seasons which included six wins and one World Drivers Championship. Tim Schenken qualified 31st in the final race of the 1972 season at Watkins Glen but also retired.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

During the off season John Surtees was caught on the hop with the wrong tyre contract after Firestone which had been used by the 1972 Champions Emerson Fittipaldi and Lotus were to quit the sport at the end of 1973 and would not be developing their tyres any further through the 1973 season while their supply contracts to the likes of BRM, Surtees and Williams ran out.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Silverstone Classic

So with little hope of achieving any worth results Surtees ploughed on through the 1973 season. Nominal team leader Mike Hailwood managed a season best qualification of 6th in the 1973 US Grand Prix, using the #04 chassis seen carrying the #23 race number here at Wings and Wheels at Dunsfold Aerodrome, and a best season race finish non points 7th in the 1973 Italian Grand Prix.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

Team mate Carlos Pace meanwhile scored a season high 5th in the 1973 Italian Grand Prix and finished 4th in the German Grand Prix and 3rd in the following Austrian Grand Prix as well as taking fastest lap on the way to both points scoring finishes. Carlos finished 11th in the Drivers Championship and Surtees 9th in the 1973 Constructors championship. For 1974 Surtees built two new TS16 cars to be driven by Carlos Pace and Jochen Mass. When sponsorship for the season failed to materialise Carlos found his way into a drive at Brabham.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

Mike Hailwood drove a third works car for McLaren in 1974 until an accident at the Nurburgring prematurely ended his career. Jochen Mass would end up taking over the drive at the end of 1974.

The low point for the Surtees team in 1973 came at the British Grand Prix where they had three cars of Hailwood, Pace and Mass all wiped out in the first lap collision at Woodcote Corner that eliminated a six additional vehicles see this linked clip, note that thanks to the new deformable structures no fire’s were started in the accident.

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Broken Wrist – Lotus Ford T 91 91/7

After the controversy of the 1981 season with the twin chassis Lotus 88 the Lotus team upgraded it’s conventional single chassis Lotus 87 for the 1982 season giving it the Lotus T 91 tag. Still powered by the by now venerable Ford Cosworth V8 the Lotus 91 was one of the more attractive entries on the grid.

Lotus Ford 91, British Grand Prix, Brands Hatch

The 91 was a modest improvement on the Lotus 87 Nigel Mansell scoring a seasons best 3rd place finish on his debut in the model in the Brasilian Grand Prix. At the Canadian Grand Prix Nigel Mansell broke his wrist in an accident and after sitting out the Dutch Grand Prix where he was replaced by Roberto Moreno who failed to qualify. Nigel came back for the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch where he is seen in today’s photographs.

Lotus Ford 91, British Grand Prix, Brands Hatch

Unfortunately Nigel was not fully recovered and he could only qualify 23rd on the grid in chassis #91/7 before retiring from the race due to the discomfort from his wrist. While waiting for his wrist to recover properly Nigel missed the following French Grand Prix where Geoff Lees stood in and finished 12th.

Lotus Ford 91, British Grand Prix, Brands Hatch

Team mate Elio de Angelis scored a famous victory with his Lotus 91 at the 1982 Austrian Grand Prix where he held off, eventual 1982 champion, Keke Rosberg and his Williams to win by just half a cars length. The 1982 Austrian Grand Prix was the first, of two, for de Angelis, the last for a Ford Cosworth powered Lotus and the last for Colin Chapman who succumbed to a heart attack in December 1982.

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

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International Gold Cup Winner – Surtees Ford TS7 #01

After quitting Ferrari midway through 1966 John Surtees joined the Cooper Maserati team and finished the season second to Champion Jack Brabham who became the, first and so far only driver to win the Formula Championship in a car of his own design. At the end of the 1966 season John drove a Lola T70 in the inaugural Can Am championship run by his own team winning three races and beating Mark Donohue to the Championship.

Surtees TS7, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold

For 1967 ‘Big John’ joined the Honda Grand Prix team which netted a win in the Italian Grand Prix while he returned to defend his Can Am championship but with only a single win he could not keep up with the Bruce and Denny show which was gathering steam taking 5 victories between them in their orange McLaren Chevrolet M6A’s.

Surtees TS7, British Grand Prix, Silverstone

Two unreliable seasons in formula one followed first with Honda in 1968 and then BRM in 1969, but in 1969 John started building his first cars, designed by Len Terry the TS5’s were designed for the stock block Formula 5000 series, Team Elite ran one of these cars and with Trevor Taylor at the wheel it scored four straight victories.

Surtees TS7, British Grand Prix, Silverstone

After his poor run of results with the BRM P138 and P139 which netted a season best 3rd place finish John determined he would enter the 1970 season as a constructor designing the TS7 seen here with help from Sahab Ahmed and a plucky draughtsmen with not much Formula One experience but plenty designing consumer electrical goods namely Peter Connew.

Surtees TS7, British Grand Prix, Silverstone

Seen here earlier this year in the Wings and Wheels paddock at Dunsfold Aerodrome, with an 8′ wheel base the Surtees TS7 was a typical period garagistes car with a monocoque held together by three bulkheads, a Ford Cosworth DFV motor acting as stressed member of the chassis with a Hewland DG300 five speed gearbox at the back.

Surtees TS7, British Grand Prix, Silverstone

John made his debut with his new car at the 1970 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch where Peter Connew’s cousin took the photo below. Peter can be seen at the extreme top right of the photo standing next to him is Sahab Ahmed.

Surtees TS7, British Grand Prix, Silverstone

John scored a season high 5th place finish with the TS7 at the Canadian Grand Prix and won the non championship Oulton Park Gold Cup with the same chassis which was restored to it’s present condition in 2010. In 1971 Brian Redman drove this chassis to a seventh place finish in South Africa, Allan Rollinson then drove it to a 9th place finish in the International Trophy at Silverstone and finally a week after wining the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours with Helmut Marko, Gijs van Lennep drove the car to an 8th place finish in his home Dutch Grand Prix run at Zandvoort.

My thanks to Barry Boor for sharing his photograph.

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

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Improvement Is Not Enough – Lotus Ford 81 #R2

Through out the 1970s Colin Chapman had come up with a string of innovative if not always successful designs and concepts for his Formula One team on the successful side there was the wedge shaped Lotus 72 which remained competitive from 1970 to 1974, the Lotus 78 wing car which won more races than any other design in 1977 but did not win the championship and the Lotus 79 ground effects car which clinched the 1978 World Championships for Mario Andretti and Lotus.

On the less successful side Colin had developed the Lotus 76 with it’s novel twin wing and push button clutch which was abandoned in 1974, Lotus 77 with it’s infinitely variable suspension geometry which caused team leader Ronnie Peterson to quit the team, before it was turned into a one time race winner with Mario Andretti at the wheel in 1976 and the Lotus 80 which took the ground effects concept a little too far and was abandoned after just three starts in 1979.

This left Lotus and Ferrari tied on championships for the 1970’s with three drivers titles each and four constructors titles each with Lotus winning 35 races between 1970 and 1979 to Ferrari’s 39.

Lotus 81, 1980 British Grand Prix, Brands Hatch

1980 proved to be a bad year for both Ferrari and Lotus, Ferrari were busy building a new turbo charged motor and the Ferrari T5 used in the interim was an improvement on the previous years championship winning Ferrari T4, but was way behind the development curve of its competitors, Colin Champman’s Lotus 1981 mean while did not appear to feature any innovations and is probably best described as an improvement on the 1978 championship winning Lotus 79, but was also way behind the development curve of it’s competitors.

Mario Andretti and Elio de Angelis were employed to drive the new cars and it was de Angelis in his second season in the sports top tier that scored the teams best result a second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix along with three further top six, points paying finish. Mario meanwhile had a miserable last season at Lotus with nine retirements and just a single sixth place finish in his last race for the team in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

The Lotus 81 introduced future world champion Nigel Mansell to Formula One when he became a third member of the team for three races towards the end of the year starting at the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix. Nigel recorded two retirements and a DNQ but had done enough to secure a seat with the team for the following season.

Lotus finished the season in a poor and distant, by their standards 5th place in the constructors championship while Ferrari finished an even more disappointing 10th.

Elio de Angelis is seen above in chassis 81 #R2 on the opening lap of the 1980 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch from which he retired. 81/R2 was used by all three Lotus drivers in 1980, Mario scored a best 7th place finish at Monaco, Elio a best 4th place finish at the 1980 US GP at Watkins Glen while Nigel failed to qualify R2 at the 1980 Italian GP at Monza.

For 1981 chassis 81/R2 was updated to B spec which included a tea tray front wing, as a has been in use by Ferrari since 1974. Nigel Mansell raced the car four times in 1981 scoring a best 10th place finish in the 1981 South African Grand Prix, the cars last race was the 1981 Argentinian Grand Prix from which Nigel retired. The car was subsequently taken to races as a spare car up until the French Grand Prix after which it was replaced by the new Lotus 87/88 design.

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

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