Tag Archives: Chevrolet

Classic Racing Americana – Silverstone Classic

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This weeks Americana post comes from Silverstone Classic where an interesting selection of vehicles was on display.

Rigling Buick, Bachmann, Maserati Centenary Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The Maserati Centenary Trophy featured three US cars two of which appear to have been Indy 500 racers including the Rigling Buick, seen with Heinz Bachmann at the wheel above, possibly raced as a Schafer 8 Special between 1931 and 1934 by Paul Schafer who was joined with a second Schafer 8 Special in the 1934 Indy 500 by Al Miller who finished 6th. Coincidentally Paul carried the #26 in the 1934 race and Al the #36.

Kurtis KK500G, Fred Harper, Maserati Centenary, Silverstone Classic

The second Indy Car in the Maserati Centenary Trophy was the 1957 Kurtis KK500G driven by Fred Harper, this car was bought by Ray “The Flying Grocer” Crawford in 1957. Ray was a rare owner driver who failed to qualify the Meguiar Mirror Glaze Special at Indy in 1957 and 1958, but he did bring the car to Europe both years and raced it in both of the “Race of Two Worlds” events held at Monza, Italy in 1957 and 1958 finishing 7th and 4th respectively.

Corvette Stingray, Craig Davies, Chopaed International Trophy, Silverstone Classic

Craig Davis driving the #99 Corvette Stingray drove to an entertaining 13th place finish with Tim Harvey in the Chopard International Trophy, here the car is seen having just passed the #112 Cobra driven by Tim Summers.

Ford Falcon, Martin Melling, Mustang Celebration Trophy, Silverstone Classic

Seeing a Ford carrying a #88 these days seems a little strange, but this was Silverstone not Darlington, the ’64 Ford Falcon above was driven by Martin Melling to a 32nd place finish in the Mustang Celebration Trophy Proudly Presented by Pure Michigan.

Ford Mustang, Jackie Oliver, Mustang Celebration Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The #3 ’65 Ford Mustang above was driven by former Le Mans winner, Grand Prix driver and Arrows Formula One team owner Jackie Oliver to a fine fifth place in the Mustang Celebration Trophy Proudly Presented by Pure Michigan.

Intrepid RM1, Peter Garrod, Group C Endurance, Silverstone Classic

Finally it was great to see the 1991 Chevrolet powered IMSA Intrepid RM1 get a run in the Group C race with Peter Garrod at the wheel. The Intrepid designed by Bob and Bill Riley an built by Pratt & Miller was a forerunner of the Riley Scott’s US Prototype Sports Cars that would win 32 races between 1995 and 2005.

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

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BPMC Bring Your Car Evening – Redhill Village Hall

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A couple of weeks ago the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club (BPMC) and a few friends met at Redhill Village Hall for a BBQ and autosolo on their football/soccer pitch.

Rolls Royce Phantom II, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

Oldest of the vehicles present was this magnificent 1929 Rasberry and Cream Rolls Royce Phantom II which I believe served as a funeral directors vehicle before being restyled recently as a 2 seat coupé.

Sunbeam Tiger, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

Parked up right next to me was this purposeful 1965 Sunbeam Tiger.

Chevrolet Corvette C3s, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

A pair of ’80 & ’81 late C3 Chevrolet Corvette’s came along as did a single C6.

TVR Tuscan, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

TVR kept making spartan lean machines right until the end of 2007, above a 2001 Tuscan with orifices in the wings that look like they should conceal weapons of mass destruction instead of headlights and indicators.

Factory Five 65 Coupé, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

BPMC Social Secretary Nick Woods looks like he has just won the lottery behind the wheel of a friends ’08 Factory Five 65 Coupé, the bad news was the autosolo in which he was about to compete mandated drivers wear a black sack over their heads and were to be guided by their sighted passengers. Nick was navigated round the autosolo bollards by yours truely it took us nearly 30 seconds just to get off the start line such was the noise of the Roush V8 in front of us.

Toyota Hilux, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

Though the Factory Five was wholly unsuited to the purpose of driving round the bollards, the event was won by a slightly smaller and considerably less powerful Saab, the most unsuited vehicle but most entertaining vehicle in the event was the ’95 Toyota Hilux Monster truck with 36 inch wide tyres driven by Scott Grey and his partner.

It turns out that Redhill Village Hall has Classic Gatherings most months on the third Thurday of the month, the next is on July 17th see their Classic Car Evening Gatherings page on facebook for further details.

Thanks for joining me on this “BPMC Bring Your Car Evening” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be revisiting a Maserati I recently wrote about. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Coffee Croissant & Cars #06/14 – Avenue Drivers Club

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Today’s blog comes from last month’s Avenue Drivers Club meeting at Queen Square where I marveled not only at the range of vehicles but the quality of the sunlight that enabled be to capture a few details I might ordinarily miss.

Bentley Arnage T, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Above a headlight cluster from a 2005 Bentley Arnage T automatic.

Sunbeam 3 litre TC Six, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

When Sunbeam wanted to take on the world of advanced motor engineering they went straight to the top and hired two FIAT employees; Vincenzo Bertarione and Walter Becchia who designed the first Sunbeam twim cam engines in 1923 starting with a 2 litre 122 cui straight six, which won the 1923 French Grand Prix and progressing to a 3 litre / 183 cui straight six as the 1927 example seen above, which after surviving an accident finished second in the 1925 Le Mans 24 hours.

Riley RMD, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

From 1949 to 1951 just 502 Riley RMD drophead coupé were built. Despite it’s regal interior opulence as seen in the 1950 example above, the would be the last convertible to carry the Riley name.

Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 20 Camper Special, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

For those into seriously long road trips Chevrolet built a Camper Special on the C/K 20 pickup trucks, this one dates from 1973, the idea is to take the tailgate off and slide a camper pod onto the load platform. Sounds easy but from experience best not done in a garage with a low ceiling.

Dodge Challenger, Avenue Driver Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The waste line on this ’71 Dodge Challenger is in my humble opinion a work of pure art, like taking a smidgen of Devon cream from the pot on the end of your little finger it’s perfect.

Toyota Supra Twin Turbo, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Back in the day when I was selling cars a turbo was something to aspire to and twin turbo’s were something strictly for the track, just as I left the trade Toyota introduced the 320 hp sequential twin turbo Supra Mark IV in 1993, a car that would remain in production until 2002. The tail lights seen here are on a 1994 model.

If you at a loose end in the Bristol area tomorrow morning you could do worse than pop down to Queen Square for Coffee Croissant and Cars.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee Croissant & Cars #06/14″ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you join me again tomorrow when I’ll be featuring a gathering that included a blind folded guy driving a monster truck ! Don’t forget to come back now !

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Americana – San Marino Motor Classic

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San Marino Motor Classic, Horton/ McNabb

The first weekend of June saw Geoffrey Horton take his Jaguar XK140 FHC seen above to the San Marino Motor Classic.

Duesenberg Model A, San Marino Motor Classic, Horton/ McNabb

Among the US vehicles on display was this 1921 Duesenberg Straight Eight also known as the Model A first seen in 1920 but which did not go into production until 1921 by which time the motor had been fitted with an overhead camshaft.

Chrysler Imperial, San Marino Motor Classic, Horton/ McNabb

Powered by a 6.3 litre / 384 cui L head straight 8 the 1932 Chrysler Imperial was also marketed as the ‘Imperial 8’.

Ford Thunderbird, San Marino Motor Classic, Horton/ McNabb

In 1957 Ford built two competition Thunderbirds with supercharged Lincoln motors and Jaguar transmissions, of which I believe only one original, the #98, still exists. The car above appears to be a copy of the #99 which was dubbed the Battlebird by the media back in the day.

Chevrolet El Morocco, San Marino Motor Classic, Horton, McNabb

I had great fun trying to figure out if the vehicle above was either a 57′ Chevrolet or a Cadillac and it turns out to be a bit of both. Cadillac owner Ruben Allender came up with the idea of offering a $1,000 conversion to turn a Chevrolet into a Cadillac in 1956. It is thought 20 examples were built in the first year and possibly 16 more in 1957 when production ceased.

Watson Offy, San Marino Motor Classic, Horton/ McNabb

Finally for today I’ll leave you with this delicious vehicle labelled as a “1961 Indy Roadster”. The #41 was carried by Johnny Boyd’s Leader Card 500 Roadster sponsored Watson Offy in the 1961 Indy 500. Johnny qualified 20th and retired at just over half distance with a broken clutch.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton and Paul McNabb for sharing today’s photographs more of which will appear on Tuesday and Friday next week.

Thanks for joining me on this “Americana” 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 !

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I’m Sorry, I Haven’t A Clue – Sonoma Historics

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Most teachers know that they can walk into a room with a dozen students and tease pretty much anything they want to teach out of them, on almost any subject, over the space of an hour or so. In the spirit of such student participation I’m inviting you dear reader to help me out here, because at fast glance I’m sorry to say I haven’t a clue about what any of today’s six featured vehicles are, neither manufacturer or age.

Sonoma Historics

At first sight this green racer looks like a cross between the second incarnation of the Bristol 450 Le Mans racer and the later Bristol Arnolt. The British registration plate on the back reads “SAR 336”. At a guess this vehicle is British and Bristol powered but do you know where the body came from and when ?

Sonoma Historics

Chip slicer radiator grills, as on the vehicle above, often point to a Ferrari or Chevrolet but I cannot think of any models from those manufacturers who built anything that looked like this. If you think you know what this might be, please do not be scared to chip in below.

Sonoma Historics

California is the home of the fiber glass special and the white racer above looks like one of the majority I have not heard of. The HM sticker tells us it probably ran in SCCA events for vehicles up to 750 cc / 45.7 cui. Does anyone recognise this pint size racer ?

Sonoma Historics

My first thought was that the vehicle above was a Kes Kastner & Pete Brock designed Triumph TR250K, but it is not. Confusingly it says Phoenix on the front and advertises Piranha kits on the side, I feel like a fish out of water on this one too, can you help ?

Sonoma Historics

The rear body reminds one of the Lotus 19 and Lotus 23 sports racing cars, but everything forward of the roll bar does not. All suggestions welcome below.

Sonoma Historics

Finally the Can Am type vehicle above looks part McLaren and part Chaparral with out fitting the mould of either, unusually for a vehicle of this type, if it is a Can Am car, it appears to have an aluminium body at a time when fiber glass was very much de riguer.

If you can help identify any of these vehicles please do not hesitate to chip in below, as soon as I have all the answers I’ll do a follow up blog.

My thanks to Karl Kause and Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs taken at Sonoma Historics at the end of May.

Thanks for joining me on this “I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some of the vehicles at the recent San Morino Motor Classic. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Metric Vs Imperial – Chevrolet Impala Convertible

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The fourth generation Chevrolet Impala launched in 1965 ditched the GM X frame B body in favour of the GM perimeter frame B body and became the most successful US seller ever with over 1 million units sold.

Chevrolet Impala Convertible, Goodwood Revival

The fourth generation Impala’s received annual face lifts and the one seen here at Goodwood is a 1968 model that was imported to the UK from possibly Norway in 1978.

Chevrolet Impala Convertible, Goodwood Revival

Amusingly if one was to check the registration of this vehicle on the DVLA website it shows that the official motor size is 307cc, which should of course read 307 cui or 5000 cc. This 200 hp motor could be ordered with either two-speed Powerglide or three-speed Turbo Hydramatic transmission.

Chevrolet Impala Convertible, Goodwood Revival

New features on the ’68 Impala included hidden windscreen wipers, and triple “horseshoe” shaped taillights, I remember the latter making a big impression on me when I first saw them aged about 10 in 1969.

Chevrolet Impala Convertible, Goodwood Revival

The Impala was still the biggest seller in 1968 of the 710,900 Impala’s sold 24,730 were convertibles.

Thanks for joining me on this “Metric Vs Imperial” 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 !

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Importing A Ladder – Maserati 250F #2530/32

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Somewhere around 1980 Pink Floyd Drummer Nick Mason entered into negotiations to purchase ERA 10B and found that he could only buy the car on condition that he bought a Maserati 250F, today’s featured car, as part of the package.

Maserati 250F, Rob Hall, Cholmondeley Pageant Of Power

Nick bought both cars and found that the 250F had a 1957 lightweight chassis which turned out to be #2530 to which people had fitted numerous incorrect parts including a Chevrolet V8.

Maserati 250F, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham

Nick described the car as a “basket case” and recalls the car being described as a ladder for import purposes.

Maserati 250F, Rob Hall, Cholmondeley Pageant Of Power

#2530 was originally fitted with a V12 motor but never raced with it, later in 1958 #2530 was fitted with a six cylinder motor and sent to South America. It appeared in the 1960 Argentinian Grand Prix with the chassis number #2532 where Gino Munaron drove the car to a 13th place finish.

Maserati 250F, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham

To keep you on your toes Antonio Creus drove another 250F in the 1960 Argetinian Grand Prix this was chassis #2526 which carried the #2530 ID tag ! Antonio retired from with driver fatigue.

Maserati 250F, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham

Towards the end of 1960 Brazilian Rugeno Peruzzi bought the car and between 1962/64, according to David McKinney’s Maserati 250F, it appears to have been raced by Camillo Cristofaro with a Chevrolet V8 in the engine bay.

Maserati 250F, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham

Colin Crabbe found the car with out any identity in the early 1970’s and Nick had the frame replaced by a new one to the correct 1957 lightweight specification.

Maserati 250F, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Rob Hall is seen yumping #2530 at Cholmondeley Pageant Of Power at the top of the post while Charles Knill-Jones, a member of the Ten Tenths team which looks after Nick Mason’s many cars, is seen in period attire hustling Nicks 250F around Castle Combe at last years Autumn Classic meeting.

My thanks to Castle Combe historian Pete Stowe for letting me know who was driving #2530 at Castle Combe.

Thanks for joining me on this “Importing A Ladder” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a vintage Bugatti. Don’t forget to come back now !

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