Tag Archives: Chevrolet

Don’t Tell Enzo – Chevrolet Corvette Italia by Scaglietti

The idea for having an Italian coach builder make a stylish body for a reliable American Corvette germinated in the mind of Chevrolet Dealer Gary Laughlin when he was horrified by the repair bills accruing to his Ferrari Monza in particular the crankshaft.

Teaming up with racers Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby, Gary approached Chevrolet’s General Manager Ed Cole and secured three complete Corvette rolling chassis and shipped them to Scaglietti who at the time was responsible for building the 250 “Tour de France” Berlinetta’s for Ferrari. Wanting to keep his American connection away from the prying eyes of Enzo Ferrari it was 18 months before Gary received today’s featured car back with a continental look.

Laughlin is said to have been unimpressed with the fit and finish of the car he received and the two remaining cars were sent back with aluminium bodies and unfinished interiors. Chevrolet also pulled the plug on the project by declining the ad hoc supply of rolling chassis in the long term.

The car seen here, courtesy of Geoffrey Horton at the recent Dana Point Concours d’Elegance, now belongs to the Peterson Museum and is the only one of the three with a manual transmission. The other two cars all have further detail differences, the one in this linked photo has no bumperette / overiders front or rear, while the third has no intake on the bonnet / hood no vents in the front wings / fenders but it does have quarter bumpers on the front, full rear bumper and a Chevrolet like grill decoration in the nose as can be seen in this linked photograph.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s images from Dana Point Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this “Don’t Tell Enzo” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the Ferrari with the largest V12 ever built at Maranello. Don’t forget to come back now !

Full Size Wheels – Shadow Mk III

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As we saw last week Shadow owner Don Nichols had a thing about keeping the frontal area of his Can Am challengers to a minimum by using under sized wheels. For the 1972 season Shadow Mk II designer Peter Bryant convinced Don it would be better to build a car with bigger wheels in order to gain an increase in cornering performance that would be the result of the improved suspension geometry bigger wheels would afford.

Two Shadow Mark III’s were built two using the Shadow Mk II chassis tubs raced in 1971 and a third Mk II chassis tub was built and appears to have remained unraced in either 1971 or 1972. Confusingly that third unraced chassis tub, has been built into the only car now in the 1971 Shadow Mk II spec which I looked at last week.

Aside from the larger wheels and improved suspension geometry which required new suspension pickup points, the Mk III had mid mounted radiators which replaced the single front mounted radiator of the Mk II. A variety of different front aerodynamic appendages were tried on the front of the Mk III as the season progressed suggesting that moving the weight of the radiators back may not have done any favours to the front end handling of the car.

Jackie Oliver was again retained as the teams primary driver and he proved capable of competing with the other Chevrolet powered Can Am challengers in qualifying, only failing to qualify inside the top 10 on one occasion, however by 1972 Porsche has significantly raised the bar with a pair of Penske entered RC Cola Porsche 917’s. Reliability was still not Shadow’s strong suit and Jackie managed only a single second and third place finish during the season. Joining Jackie as team mates during the year were Brazilian Carlos Pacé, who managed a 4th place at his third and final run in the car at Edmonton, and NASCAR winner Donnie Allison.

In fact Donnie only ended up doing some qualifying laps in the final race of the season at Riverside, seen on this link wearing the red helmet, before having to hand his car over to Jackie Oliver who had attempted to qualify his own car, that had been fitted with a turbocharged Chevrolet big block, before it blew a piston.

Today’s featured car, which I believe is built around the first Shadow Mk II chassis tub, is owned by Fred Cziska and seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed with Scott Dmek at the wheel.

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

Coffee, Croissant & Cars – Avenue Drivers Club

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Last Sunday I went to my third meeting with the Avenue Drivers Club meeting which took place just a stones throw from GALPOT Towers in Queens Square.

While I have heard of and seen a few Soviet Built UAZ’s in my travels to foreign climbs but this is the first one I have dared to see up close let alone photograph. I am not sure of it’s age but I am guessing it was originally supplied for military service which would make the model either a UAZ 469 or more likely a post 1985 UAZ 31512, these vehicles had a great reputation for reliability until first the factory started using cheaper materials for construction and then counterfeit spare parts flooded the market.

Among the many vintage vehicles present was this ‘long rad’ 1935 Model Y Ford one of around 1300 survivors of the of 170,000 built between 1933 and 1937.

Present at many of the show’s and meetings I have been to this summer has been this 1991 Nissan Figaro a retro styled vehicle that takes it’s design queue’s from the seven iterations of the Datsun Sports / Fairlady roadsters produced between 1959 and 1970.

Looking tres cool on it’s non factory alloy wheels was this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette C1, the interior if which was as immaculate as the exterior.

Vauxhall 30/90, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

Car of the day for me was this 1922 Vauxhall 30/90 a work in progress that was repatriated from a former British Colony in the 1970’s. Where as in Britain such vehicles exterior panels will have corroded away in the former colony, where this car spent the first fifty years of it’s life, the metal work remained in good shape but the extensive original wooden body frame had been completely munched away by termites !

This 1963 Trojan 200 three wheeler complete with single door opening forwards from the front and a soft top was built under licence from the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. Trojan went on to become a manufacturer of many racing cars including under licence several Mclarens models powered by Chevrolet V8’s for both Can Am and Formula 5000 and a one off Formula One car.

The 1974 Vauxhall Victor above was being offered for sale for £1,000 if your interested I have the phone number, usual disclaimers apply.

Close second in my favorite cars of the day was this Sunbeam Pick Up which started life as a 1929 Sunbeam 20/9. The vintage cars alone have made my outings to the Avenue Drivers Clubs meetings on the second Sunday of every month more than worth the effort.

Gracie above is a 1972 SAAB 96V4 which had less than 10,000 miles on the clock in 2006 due to the original owners putting it in storage two years after they bought after giving up driving. The car was found in a wooden garage 25 years later and underwent a thorough restoration of it’s mechanical parts which had deteriorated through lack of use.

Not sure at the time of writing weather the 3 litre / 183 cui twin cam powered 1927 Sunbeam 2 seater is a 20 hp or 35 hp model but it looks and sounds very purposeful with its tail faired in like the hull of a boat.

Personifying the gentrification of Bristol’s Queens Square was this elegant 1958 Jaguar MkIII, the car is powered by the same 190 hp motor as used in the Jaguar XK140 launched two years earlier.

Finally I had a long chat with Rich who owns the 1963 Volvo 121 above and his friend Matt, turns out they spotted this left hooker on the internet and then went to Sweden to go and get it. Their journey back through Germany was enlivened by a perished connection between the steering shafts. Rich has all the original documentation for his pride and joy and reckons it has covered over 300,000 kilometers about 240,000 miles.

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

Formula One Wheels – Shadow Mk II

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A couple of weeks ago I was delighted to receive today’s featured photo’s from Geoffrey Horton of a Shadow Mk II , a vehicle that had been built for Jackie Oliver to drive in the 1971 Can Am Series.

The story of the Shadow racing team begins with an orphan Don Nichols who as a child was influenced by The Shadow radio series, after service in the ’39 – ’45 war and a career in military intelligence Don appears to have gravitated to the world of motor racing supplying American tyres to the Japanese racing fraternity during the 1960’s.

In 1970 Don founded Advanced Vehicle Systems which built a red vehicle notorious for it’s tiny size and wheels designed by Trevor Harris called the Shadow Mk I. The car qualified well with first George Folmer and then Vic Elford at the wheel, but was hampered with a 100% unreliability record not finishing any races.

in 1969 Peter Bryant had designed and entered his titanium chassised Ti 22 Can Am car which Jackie Oliver had been qualifying even better, than the Shadow, ever since it was first seen and managed two 2nd place finishes in 1970.

Bryant ran out of funds for the Ti 22 and both he and Jackie Oliver joined Don Nichols for the 1971 season. Don was keen that Peter keep the frontal area of the Shadow Mark II to a minimum and so the Mk II was designed around Formula One size wheels and tyres which were smaller than those ordinarily found in Can Am.

Powered by a 8.1 litre / 494 cui Chaparral prepared Chevrolet V8 Jackie scored a best third place finish at Edmonton when the car appeared painted white with black lettering on all the upward facing surfaces except the rear wing. Jackie used chassis Mk II #1 through out the 1971 season.

As we shall see next week Peter Bryant was responsible for designing the 1972 Shadow MK III and Jackie for driving it. What I did not know until recently was that Advanced Vehicle Systems built three Mk II monocoque tubs and that all three were used to build the Shadow Mk III which ran on full size Can Am tyres.

In 2009 Don Nichols sold off the chassis, seen here at Marin Sanoma Concours d’Elegance where it won it’s class, which is actually the third chassis that was only ever raced in Mk III specification. Mr Losher the owner decided, that as the first two chassis are still in 1972 Mk III spec, he would build his up to the older 1971 Mk II Formula One wheel spec.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sending me these photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Formula One Wheels” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho” on tyres”, next week I’ll be looking at the Shadow Mk III on Americana Thursday, meantime I hope you will join me for another edition of Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

43rd Wedding Anniversary – Dana Point Concours d’Elegance

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Such is the inclement weather here at GALPOT Towers that when my landlady asked for a theme for her 50th Birthday Party I had no hesitation when I suggested having a Diving Suit Party, dry wit after all is an Englishman’s stock in trade, so it’s always a pleasure to receive photo’s from Geoffrey Horton’s adventures in the sunny world of the California Concours d’Elegance scene.

Above is Dana Point where Geoffrey and his wife Gayle spent the weekend celebrating their 43rd Anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

During their stay they entered their Jaguar XK140 FHC SE in the Concours d’Elegance in which this 8 litre / 488 cui 1924 Bentley Hawkeye Special was also taking part.

Among the Mercedes Benz vehicles entered was this 25 hp rear engined 1935 130 H Cabrio,

and class winning 1937 540K W24 Roadster with up to 180 supercharged hp capable of reaching 110 mph.

Marginally more modest from 1937 was this 320 Cabriolet B W124 similar to the four door type used as German military staff cars in films including The Great Escape, The Longest Day, The Train and Schindler’s List.

The Mercedes Benz 230S W153 above was developed for taking part in trials and rallies, hence the unusual bumpers which feature front and rear designed for co drivers to stand on should a redistribution of weight be required to aid traction or steering. Only 52 of these cars were ever built.

Leaping into the post ’39-’45 War era I believe this 1953 Kurtis 500M has appeared in a previous GALPOT post, I find it’s chunky styling even more appealing from the rear.

Like wise an Arnolt Bristol has appeared on these pages before, the green example above is from the final 1959 year of production which totaled just 200.

Only three Chevrolet Corvette Italia’s were built in 1959 with coachwork by Scaglietti in Italy. The idea for the car was born out an expensive to replace Ferrari crankshaft required by Gary Laughlin who turned to Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby to help in realise an exotic hand built car with affordable and reliable mechanical components. The example, above, owned by the Peterson Automotive Museum is the only one of the three built with a manual transmission.

Not for the first time this 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne, from the Mullin Automotive Museum, won the best in show award, it won at Pebble Beach last year too ! Among it’s novel features are a radial engine as used more commonly in aircraft, and a pneumatically operated retractable roof.

Finally I hope you will join me in congratulating Geoffrey and Gayle not only on their 43rd wedding anniversary but also on winning their class at the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance with the faithful Jaguar XK140 FHC SE that has been a part of their lives for 26 years.

My thanks to Geoffrey for his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “43rd Wedding Anniversary” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Theme Lotus – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

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On Friday I headed off under grey skies with friends, Tim, Pete and Dave to Goodwood House just outside Chichester for the Festival Of Speed.

The featured manufacturer this year was Lotus which was founded 60 years ago by Colin Chapman who’s cars not entirely uncoincidentally are currently also featured every Saturday here at GALPOT. Welcoming us on the way into Goodwood House was this 1967 AEC Swift based transporter used by Gold Leaf Team Lotus from 1967 to 1970 during which period team won two world drivers championships with Graham Hill(’68) and Jochen Rindt (’70) and two world constructors in the same years.

Gerry Judah’s art work on the lawn in front of Goodwood House featured no less than six cars five of them winners and a contemporary F1 car built in Enstone which I find as difficult to call a Lotus in the same way as I had trouble calling the Lotus 76 a John Player Special back in 1974.

In the paddock there were several cars I had heard of but never seen in the flesh including the six wheel, 4WD, 1982 Williams FW08B which was never raced thanks to a late call to ban more than four wheels from Formula Once cars with only two to be driven from the start of the 1983 season.

Of all the many stories of British grit in Grand Prix Racing perhaps none exemplifies how not to organise a team better than BRM which managed to organise the support in cash, kind and facilities from the British Motor Industry to make two of the most complex racing motors ever built. The first was a 1.5 litre / 91 cui supercharged V16 which comprised to 750 cc / 45.5 cui V8’s mounted back to back. The 500 hp motor, which could be taken up to 12,000 rpm, was more powerful than any of it’s contemporaries but the combination of organisational and design complexity did not result in a particularly reliable motor car. It did not win any championship Grand Prix, it was only entered in two but it did score championship points, and won a non championship 12 lap race at Goodwood. The most memorable thing about this vehicle is the sound it makes, utterly unmusical in comparison to a V8, and as harsh as granite, note two people in this photo are wearing ear defenders ! The smell of oil coming off it’s engine after the warming up session seen here was quite unforgetable too !

Amongst the sports cars this Maserati Tipo 151/3 is a 1980’s replica of one of three 151’s that were prepared for Le Mans in 1962 and then continually modified. The 151/3 seen here made of from orginal parts and fitted with the low Pierre Drogo body made from the same buck as the body made specially for the 1964 24 Hours at Le Mans where 151/3 was timed at 196 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, like the BRM P15 it suffered poor reliability and retired as it has had in ’62 and ’63.

Racing successfully against the original 151/3 were the Shelby American Cobra Coupé’s also known as the ‘Daytona’ Coupé. So far as I can tell this #12 car is chassis CSX2300 which scored a best 6th place finish at Daytona in 1965 with Ed Leslie and Allen Grant at the wheel, the cars next appearance was at Sebring where it carried the #12 with Leslie and Grant again driving finishing 13th.

Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt won the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours driving this Ford Mk IV, beating two Ferrari P4’s in the process thus avenging Enzo Ferrari’s last minuet refusal to sell out to Ford earlier in the decade.

The Matra 670 B with a long tail, by Matra standards, won Le Mans in 1973 with Henri Pescarolo and Gerrard Larrousse at the wheel, also beating a Ferrari this time a 312PB driven by Art Mezario and Carlos Pacé.

Above regular GALPOT contributor, through The Nostalgia Forum, Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher happily accepts an invitation to sign 1980 IMSA Champion John Fitzpatrick’s programe.

Continuing the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this years Concours d’Elegance centered on numerous vehicles the Queen and other state dignitary’s have used, this De Haviland of Canada DHG – 1 Chipmunk was used by both HRH Prince Phillip and HRH Prince Charles for training purposes in the 1950’s and 60’s. Back in the day when I was a schoolboy and an RAF Cadet I went up in one of these on a couple of occasions, being handed the controls mid flight on one of them !

The De Macross GT1 appears to be constructed from a mix of Korean Finance, Canadian Manufacturing and US Roush Yates power and any number of styling queues taken from an equally diverse range of vehicles. The drivers name on the side of the car was none other than that of motorsports TV presenter Justin Bell.

Keeping folks entertained on two wheels were a number of youngsters who were doing things on motor bikes that I have only been able to aspire to dreaming of.

Sir Stirling Moss shares a little joke with former Jaguar works test driver and team mate Norman Dewis as they prepare for a quick blast up Goodwood’s hill climb.

Jackie Oliver drove a Gold Leaf Team Lotus 49B in 1968 here he is seen driving the 1967 Lotus 49 chassis R2, later renamed R11, that Jim Clark used to win the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix the first of 155 Grand Prix victories for the Ford Corworth DFV engine that powered it and the first of 12 for the Lotus 49 type.

Delivered nearly five years late and horrendously over budget the Eurofighter Typhoon made up for it with a simply stunning display of power, speed and maneuverability. With 40,000 lbs of thrust this plane can be flown like one of the better short nosed paper aeroplanes I used to make when I was a kid with the added bonus it does not crash when landing.

Paul Knapfield’s Ferrari 712 chassis #1010 haa a long story to tell suffice to say here that in period it has underwent two body upgrades from it’s original 512S spec and an engine upgrade to make it the Ferrari with the largest Ferrari motor ever raced. This car will be the subject of a blog in the fulness of time.

Le Mans 24 hours will be remembered this year as the first ever to be won by a hybrid diesel, the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässer and Benoit Tréluyer beat the the sister car of Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen, with a regular diesel coming in third. McNish is seen driving the e-tron quattro above which despite the stickers is not necessarily the car that crossed the line first at Le Mans.

The ‘Droop Snoot’ Vauxhall Firenza “Old Nail” belonging to Paul Chase-Gardener scored over 60 victories with Gerry Marshall at the wheel back in the 1970’s Gerry’s son Gregor, another contributor to GALPOT through The Nostalgia Forum, was scheduled to drive this car later in the weekend.

There were several Citroen DS3’s entered on the Goodwood Rally stage I believe this may have been the DS3 WRC example of Thierry Neuville, but I’ll happily take a second better informed opinion if you have one to add below.

One of the pleasant rewards for taking the time to walk to the top of the hill was finding this Skoda Octavia vRS, a car that might not ordinarily bring the phrase ‘psycho on tyres’ to mind however this one had it’s turbo 2 litre / 122cui engine uprated from 200 hp to 500 hp and along with a few other safety mods achieved 227.080 mph at Bonneville to claim the 2 litre production car class record with Richard Meaden at the wheel last year.

Four time World Drivers Champion Alain Prost was the honoured driver at Goodwood this year, though there were probably more vehicles present that were associated with Dan Gurney including the McLaren M6B, driven on this occasion by owner Andy Boone, which Dan modified so much it gained the ‘McLeagle’ sobriquet. Dan’s efforts were not enough to beat the Bruce and Denny show, Denny won the championship. Gurney’s best result with the car was a 4th place in the 1968 Can Am race at Riverside.

It’s always great to see and hear a little NASCAR action, Goodwood marked the first occasion on which I have seen a Camping World Truck Series (CWTS) truck in action, the #3 Chevrolet Silverado was driven by Austin Dillon to the Championship last season his brother Ty was scheduled to drive over weekend.

Largest vehicle on the track was the Race 2 Recovery MAN 8×8 Dakar support truck driven by Ben Gott. Race 2 Recovery plans to enter a team of Land Rovers in next years Dakar Rally all driven by injured soldiers. If you would like to help their cause you can find details on this Race2Recovery link.

All too soon after a pleasurably exhausting day wondering around the grounds of Goodwood House without having seen everything it was time to say a quick hello to a couple of friends and then rejoin my passengers for the two hour back to the future drive home, my nomination for top car in the car park award went to the DeLorean DMC-12 which was substantially re-engineered by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, prior to the commencement of production in 1981.

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

Coffee, Croissant & Cars – Avenue Drivers Club

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Last Sunday I had a lie in thanks to the Avenue Drivers Club meeting taking place just a stones throw from GALPOT Towers. As I wended my way down to Queens Square a few throaty exhausts wafted across the relatively still morning air and cranked up my anticipation for what I might find.

Among the vintage vehicles that turned up was this 1927 Austin Seven complete with child seats for the two young ‘uns that came along.

Possibly the largest vehicle present was this Mopar Beast a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 V8 Magnum, a badge on the side of the cab suggested that it had passed through Regency Conversions of Fort Worth, Texas, exactly what they might have done to it I cannot say.

Another of the larger vehicles present was this 1958 Alvis TC 108G one of just 37 with elegant Graber styled bodywork.

When I first saw the car above, I paid no attention to the number plate and thought it was a 3rd Generation Camaro or even a Firebird. A closer inspection revealed it to be a 1995 AC Ace built in the UK and powered by a 5 litre / 302 cui quad cam Ford V8.

Now in far better condition than it was when it left the factory is this 1962 Lotus Elite, resplendent with the yellow cam cover of it Coventry Climax motor peeking through the bonnet. With a little luck I may be able to get some photo’s of a couple of Lotus models missing from my Saturday Lotus blogs courtesy of the owner of this car.

Continuing the theme of contrast this mid sixties 4.7 lire / 289 cui Ford Mustang and 1988 Ferrari 328 GTS present alternative approaches to performance motoring.

Strangest vehicle of the day award goes to this 2003 Cadillac De Ville, looks like a soft top but is actually a simulated soft top, the logic of which somehow completely escapes me, if you know or can fathom the reasoning for this option please do not hesitate to chime in below.

This DAX and 1983 Ford Escort RS 1600i present further contrasting performance options, the DAX is probably the newer of the two vehicles. You could have used some of the chrome/polished steel features in the engine bay of the RS1600i to straighten your hair !

Perhaps the biggest contrast of the day was provided by this 2003 SMART and the Chevrolet aluminium block powered Ford hot rod which with the supercharger boost turned right down easily produces over 600 horsepower making the Chevy powered Ford easily the most powerful car present.

I don’t recall ever seeing a Crossley, not to be confused with Crosley, before nor a Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Edition 125 which is 80 years younger than the 1932 Crossley 10 standing next to it.

While the Crossley bore some impressive patina my Patina of the Day award went to this 1924 Lanchester 23 a two ton vehicle which was more powerful and cheaper than the equivalent Rolls Royce of it’s day, was and possibly still is capable of 70 mph and has a city friendly 44′ turning circle.

I saw only two two wheeled vehicles and again they could not have been more different a 1959 Vespa and a far more recent, I’ll stop short of saying modern, Harley Davidson with all the trimmings.

Should you find yourself in Bristol on the second Sunday of the month I really cannot recommend a visit to Queens Square around 9 am for Coffee, Croissant and Cars highly enough. As everyone was preparing to leave David Roots kindly offered me a lift home in his Alfa Romeo 4C Special which made the perfect end to a morning of strong contrasts.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope 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: Chevrolet

Don’t Tell Enzo – Chevrolet Corvette Italia by Scaglietti

Full Size Wheels – Shadow Mk III

Coffee, Croissant & Cars – Avenue Drivers Club

Formula One Wheels – Shadow Mk II

43rd Wedding Anniversary – Dana Point Concours d’Elegance

Theme Lotus – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Coffee, Croissant & Cars – Avenue Drivers Club