Tag Archives: Chevrolet

Two Timing – Shakespeare County Raceway

The day before Memorial day I attended the Yanks and Gary’s 34th Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway for an afternoons two timing entertainment.

Situated just outside the Shakespeare central known in the tourists guides as Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare County Raceway is built on the site of Long Marston Airfield which served as a Wellington Bomber base during the 1939/45 war.

Looking like it had just come off the set of “Two Lane Blacktop” was this 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. The crew running it told me the 7.4 litre / 451 cui V8 was “misfiring all over the place”, a possible victim of cavitation in the fuel system thanks to the phenomenal weather we were experiencing.

A strong contingent of European based vehicles were present at the “Yanks and Gary’s 34th Picnic event including this first generation 103E Ford Popular Coupé rig powered by a 5.7 litre / 347 cui V8. The Popular was a post ’39/’45 war austerity vehicle that was only ever offered as a saloon / sedan.

There were not many cars present at Shakespeare County Raceway that could boast Farina styling, but this 1098 cc / 67 cui Austin A40 Countryman van was one of them.

Another novelty vehicle was the NC Engineering Ford V8 powered Trabant that was being given it’s first run after it’s former Cadillac motor had been replaced. interestingly everybody who was involved in the preparation of this vehicle has been invited to to drive it in competition.

Among the fabulous US vehicles running at the event was this 1932 High Boy “Roadster” which like the Popular Coupé is powered by a 5.7 litre / 347 cui V8. This car reminded me of Leonard Williams High Boy Roadster before it became the worlds first privately owned Gas Turbine Car.

From the plethora of vehicles bearing original patina was this 1948 Plymouth Special De Luxe Coupé complete with a 5.2 litre / 317 cui V8.

My undoubted “Star of the Car Park” was this 1958 Buick Special Convertible which looked, as did several other cars present, like it had just come off the golf course at a Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Sporting a top of the Le Mans range 5.7 litre / 350 cui motor was this Pontiac, like many competitors present the driver was wielding his own spanners to keep this fine looking car in a top state of tune.

I did not know it when I took this photo but going on the engine size of 7457 cc / 455 cui this is a rare, though I am not at all sure exactly how rare Hurst Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. In 1972 following a fatal accident with the Indy 500 no manufacturer was keen on providing a pace car so transmission specialists Hurst stepped in with a couple of hot 455 cui Cutlass Supremes in both Coupé and Convertible forms. The 1972 pace car became well remembered after Linda Vaughan was hired to appear on the back of one of the convertibles with an outsize Hurst Shifter on the boot / trunk.

One reason I was keen to attend this meeting was to get a photo of fellow Bristol Pegasus Motor Club member Crazy Chris Hartnell pulling a wheely in his slingshot Backdraft, his weather helmet was present, dry, casting a shadow, and not shaking but just like the last time he tried this the cameraman was too slow and will have to try again next time. Chris managed two 145+ mph practice runs on the day.

Since this was a practice day many interesting combinations of vehicles were being run, like the Caterham above which got well and truly dusted by the 425 cui Buick Nailhead powered slingshot ‘Soul Town Shaker’ driven by Keith Crampton.

After doing a lovely burn out while being watched by the driver of the, probably Rover V8 powered, Fiero Euro 427, the seen was set for a slightly more competitive run off than the previous Caterham Slingshot combination.

However all present were to be reminded of Shakespeare’s quote from King Lear “As Flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods, they kill us for their sport” as soon after leaving the Fiero Euro 427 standing on the line the Camaro made a dramatic exit stage left,

punched straight in to the guard railing …

and eventually came to rest at the quarter mile mark. Fortunately “th’ gods’ who would kill us for their sport’ were in benevolent mood and after he had been released from the Camaro the driver was seen walking unaided to the ambulance for a precautionary medical.

The camera gods were also smiling, after the accident I foolishly took my camera strap off to stretch out on my perch in the grandstands, waiting for confirmation that there would be no further activity on track before the curfew. When the announcement finally came I forgot that I’d taken my camera strap off got up and heard the sickening thud of my camera bouncing off the grandstand decking and into the 20 foot void beneath the grandstand and eventually hit the surface below.

I went to survey the damage and amazingly although the battery had dropped out the camera was fine as demonstrated by the fine shot of the 1938 Ford V8 Pickup above.

After all the excitement it was time to head home, but there was one final surprise as I left the gate …

… a Dodge Challenger STR8 bedecked in wedding bands, a perfect car for a wedding.

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

5900 Miles To Fame And Fortune – Chevrolet Master 85 Coupé

Hot One Of Fifteen – 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Indy Pace Car

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For 1955 Chevrolet launched it’s second generation full size Bel Air range, to replace the almost entirely new 1954 Bel Air. with two tone paintwork and for the first time a new 4.3 litre 265 cui V8 ‘small block’ engine option that would remain part of General Motors product mix with many improvements over several decades.

The crisp clean styling of the 1955 Bel Air was set off by a Ferrari inspired chrome square potato chip grill as seen on the car below photographed at last years Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Alongside two straight six motor options the new ‘small block’ came tuned with either a 162 hp Turbo-Fire with twin barrel carburetor, 180 hp Power Pack Super Turbo – Fire with four barrel carburetor or towards the end of the model year a 195 hp competition option with a high compression motor.

Being selected to perform pace car duties for the 1955 Indy 500 is reckoned to have given Chevrolet’s Bel Air marketing campaign a terrific boost, it is said that a fleet of 15 two tone Red & White Bel Airs were in attendance at what proved to be an unforgettable race.

Chevrolet Sales Manager Thomas H Keating was given the honour of pacing the field for the Indy 500 on May 30th 1955 and he can be seen at the wheel of what Keating claimed to be a 180 hp vehicle, on this linked photo, sitting beside him is thought to be Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. The linked photo is telling for what it does not show, namely it is quite clearly not about to pace the Indy 500 and as we shall see it might not even be the actual vehicle used to pace the event.

The give away as to which vehicle paced the event can be seen at 13m 37 secs into this linked clip when the pace car that actually led the field away can be clearly seen to be carrying a movie camera in the boot / trunk necessitating a rather large slit to afford the camera rearward vision and to accommodate the upper film reel. No one knows for sure what happened to that particular car after the event.

Bill Vukovich looked to be on course for a third straight Indy victory in 1955 with a 17 second lead on the 57th lap, of 200, when he ran into someone else’s accident and ended flying over the back stretch perimeter fence and coming to rest up turned and on fire giving the two time defending champion no chance of survival. Bob Sweikert who had worked his way up from 14th on the grid, and was second in the John Zink Special at the time of the accident crossed the line 3 hours 53 mins and 59 secinds after the Bel Air pace car had entered pit road to start the race.

Bob took home one of the fifteen Bel Air pace cars with his wife and their kids, he went on to win the 1955 AAA big car championship and Midwest Sprint Car Championship, becoming the only winner of what is known cumulatively as the American Motor Sports Triple Crown. The following year Sweikert was killed in a sprint car accident at Salem Speedway racing Ed Elisan whom he had raced as a teenager in his home town of East Bay California.

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

Hilly Country Gathering – Classic Motorsports Mitty presented by Mazda

Never Seen It As Bad As This ! – Prescott Speed Hill Climb

Head Over Heels – Malta Classic Car Collection

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The Malta Classic Car Collection, in the north east town of Qawara, don’t pronounce the Q, was founded by property developer Carol Galea who found his genetic pattern contained a deep rooted head over heels passion for cars which he has admired, driven raced and collected.

The impressive split level museum houses a cosmopolitan collection of vehicles including this 1957 BMW 250 Isetta bubble car a forerunner of the contemporary Smart Cars, the brainchild of Renzo Rivolta who was behind the Iso Grifo Super 7 I looked at some months ago.

Built by the Stuttgart coachbuilders Baur on the 2 stroke Auto Union 1000 chassis the 55hp Auto Union 1000 Sp was launced in 1958. Known in the German Press as “baby Thunderbird” 6,640 of these 2 door Coupés were built when production ceased in 1965 by which time ownership of Auto Union had been transferred from Mercedes Benz to Volkswagen.

Although forst seen in 1957 the ALFA Romeo Giuleitta Sprint Speciale was only in production from 1959 to 1966. With a 112hp double overhead cam motor and a drag co-efficient of just 0.28, same as a C6 Corvette the ALFA Romeo Giuleitta Sprint Speciale provided stiff competition for the Porsche 356.

The classic four taillight arrangement on this Chevrolet Corvette C1 were first seen in the 1961 – 1962 models and have featured on Corvette’s ever since up to and including the present day. The single colour paint scheme suggests this might be a 1962 model.

Another vehicle in the collection coincidentally launched in 1957 is the Borgward Isabella Coupé built in Bremen Germany. Unfortunately despite the success of the whole Isabella range Borgward went bankrupt when the German economy dipped in the early 1960’s.

Based on the lumpy but loveable Jaguar XJS coupé the vehicle above is one of 67 shooting brake conversions by Lynx known as the Eventer built during the mid 1980’s. IMHO the Eventers looks exceed the standard XJS by some considerable margin.

The name Panhard goes back in the motoring world to the late 1880’s, Citroen acquired a 25% stake in the company in 1955 since when Panhard production appears to have been phased out in order to avoid competition with Citroen’s products and in order to increase production facilities for Citroen’s product lines. The Panhard 24 bt manufactured between 1964 and 1967 is a 2 door five seater powered by an horizontally opposed air cooled twin cylinder motor. Unfortunately with Citroen refusing to countenance the development of a four door model Panhard’s days as a motor car manufacturer were numbered, the company still exists as a military vehicle manufacturer.

Among the pick up’s in the collection is this cool Morris Minor 1000 which is fitted with a load space bedecked in varnished wood !

I am not sure why Austin’s marketing department took a liberal interpretation of the word coupé which usually applies to a hard top vehicle when they named the 42 hp Austin Somerset Coupé, which is actually a convertible, but 7,243 of them were manufactured between 1952 and 1954 by Carbodies, better known these days as the manufacturer of London Cabs. This particular car is said to have been used by HRH The Queen of England during her visit to Malta during a Coronation visit in 1952.

Finally in foyer the fun roadster above looks like an original FIAT 500 but is actually based on much later FIAT 126 mechanical components from the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

If you find your self in Malta I’d highly recommend paying the Malta Classic Car Collection a visit.

My thanks to Barry Boor who’s hospitality made this blog possible.

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

Firing Up 2012 – Race Retro

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Thanks to my membership of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club I enjoyed my second trip to Race Retro over the past weekend.

Just like last year I had trouble getting out of the car park thanks to the fabulous collection of sports cars fellow enthusiasts had brought out for a spin in the glorious sunshine. This Bertone X1/9 particularly caught my eye, I spent many years lusting after an X1/9 when I left school. I eventually ended up with a slightly more practical , cheaper to insure FIAT 128, I’ll be taking a closer look at the X1/9 on Sunday.

Silverstone Auctions have taken the place of H&H Auctions as Race Retro’s Auctioneer partners, among the unusual gems scheduled to go under the hammer was this Twini Austin Cooper S a replica of two experimental works cars originally built in 1963 that raced in the Targa Florio. This replica was built on a 1965 chassis with two Cooper S motors, gearboxes and disc brakes all round.

In the Rally shed it was nice to see the replica South African Chevrolet Firenza CanAm now fitted with a huge rear wing reminiscent of Formula 1 & Can Am cars in 1968 and as used in the original Chev Dealer Team car in 1974.

Nanette seen above on the Brooklands stand was a special built by Felix Scriven in 1925, it was originally fitted with an unreliable Sage motor, which contributed to this car originally being called, Mother Goose until a 4 cylinder Hooker motor that originated from the Marlborough Thomas special and which could be configured as either a 1.5 litre / 92 cui or 1.75 litre / 107 cue motor according to which of two crankshafts was used.

Among the anniversaries being celebrated at Race Retro was the 30th anniversary of the Porsche 956 which evolved into the 956B and 962 and 962 C series that dominated Le Mans, the Daytona 24 hours, Group C and IMSA from 1982 until 1987. The #1 above appears to be a 956 with distinctive 1982 paintwork while the #8 in the background carries the 1988 bodywork of the 962 C commonly carried by chassis #116.

The multiple award winning success of “Senna” the documentary on the Brazilian Triple World Champion has focused interest in his cars, the Toleman TG184 was of the type that Senna drove once his team had secured a supply of Michelin tyres after the first two races of Senna’s 1984 rookie F1 season.

The town of Bourne in Lincolnshire will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of BRM’s World Championship year on October 7th. Graham won the championship driving a BRM P57 with a BRM V8 similar to the #7 in the photo above, though after all these years BRM are probably still at least as well remembered for building a supercharged 1.5 litre 92 cui V16 in 1949 and possibly the most complex racing motor of all time the 3 litre / 183 cui H16, which is said to make so much noise the first time it was opened up in anger every one in the pits at Riems dived for cover as it came down the start finish straight for the first time ! I’ve made it a mission to try and hear the H16 in action this year and hope to be at BRM Day at Bourne in October.

Finally on a personal note it is 40 years since I bought my first copy of Motor Sport, the December 1972 edition was packed with the details of the 1972 Canadian and US Grand Prix’s which Jackie Stewart won in anticipation of an extremely successful final 1973 season. On the Motor Sport stand above is the 1934 Riley Ulster Imp in which after a successful post WW2 competition history the car was acquired by Leslie Hawthorn the proprietor of the Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham who gave it to his son Mike who raced this car on his competition debut at the Brighton Speed Trials where he won his class and drove it in his first race which ‘The Farnham Flyer’ also won on his way to becoming the first ten British World Champions.

I’ll be posting more blogs featuring vehicles seen at Race Retro 2012 in the coming days and weeks, starting tomorrow with an unusual MG-B.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Firing Up 2012’ 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