Tag Archives: Classic

Terry’s Jam Jar – Ford Capri II 2.0S

To Shepton Mallet – 33rd Bristol Classic Car Show

Despite living in Bristol for 20 years come autumn I did not hear about the Bristol Classic Car show until last April. One of the reasons for this is that two years before I moved to Bristol the show moved to it’s current venue the Bath & West Show Ground just outside Shepton Mallet a good twenty miles south of Bristol and a similar distance from Bath !

Among the highlights of the show, which I attended for the first time on Saturday and selected from over 700 photo’s that I took was this 1972 Ford Cortina MK III with unusual bulges in the bonnet and bearing the legend ‘UREN’ in place of the usual ‘FORD’. Jeff Uren’s Race Proved company beefed up the mid size Rep Mobile MK III running gear to take a 218hp 3.0 litre / 183 cui Essex V6 motor more commonly found in the large Ford Zodiac to turn this car into 130 mph road burner with a 0 – 60 mph time of 7 seconds.

Another 1972 Ford that caught my attention was this 5.8 litre / 351 cui Gran Torino, not sure if that’s a Windsor or Cleveland motor nor even if there is any external way of knowing, if this happens to be your specialist subject please do not hesitate to register and chime in below.

Only 104 Healey Silverstone’s were manufactured between 1949 and 1950 so it was no great surprise to find that the example seen here is a replica, these days more commonly referred to by auction houses as ‘Evocations’, built around a shortened 1951 Healey Tickford Saloon chassis, a model of which only 222 were built from 1950 to 1954. Coincidentally this was lot 104A in the Charterhouse Auction that took place yesterday, Sunday. Lot 104 A was expected to fetch UK £30 – 40,000 about a twentieth of the price of one of the genuine Healey Silverstones still in existence.

After World War 2 many aircraft companies diversified into automobile manufacture including Bristol & Armstrong Siddeley. German aircraft manufacturers were forbidden to make aeroplanes and so Fritz Fend approached Messerschmitt with the idea of manufacturing a humble Kabinenroller (scooter with cabin) bubble car in 1952. A KR200, 10 hp 200 cc / 12.2 cui like the model seen here but with a modified body managed to average a record 64mph over 24 hours at Hockenheimring in 1955 ! Note the cabriolet version in the back ground.

When I saw this mascot I thought it ought to belong to a Citroen 2CV powered with a Indian Motor, however it actually sits atop the radiator of a 1930 MG 18/80 Six MK II Saloon that will feature in a Tuesday MG blog in the fullness of time.

Yitzhak Shubinsky of the Israeli Autocars Ltd saw an Ashley 1172 Special and a new chassis by Leslie Bellamy at a racing car show and came up with the idea of fitting the chassis with body work from the Ashley Special in 1960. He approached Reliant who had previously worked on the Autocar Carmel and Sussita models to build the prototype seen here known as the Sabra. Reliant ended up building the first 100 Sabra models, powered by a 4 cylinder 1703cc / 104 cui usually found in the Ford Consul Mk2, and exported to the USA until Autocars Ltd Israel were ready to start assembling the cars themselves.

When I first set eye’s on this 1951 Singer Roadster my first thought was that it looked just like Noddy’s car familiar to many kids my age born around 1959 from the Noddy’s Car picture book by Enid Blyton. Closer inspection of the book cover linked here reveals a few similarities particularly a two tone paint scheme but beyond that all resemblance is mostly a figment of my imagination.

If ever a car said 1980’s it must be this 1985 Subaru XT 4WD Turbo Coupé which helped transform Subaru from farmers choice into a performance geek choice, the car was brim full of technology that was ahead of most of the opposition including computer controlled air suspension and ‘cybermatic’ steering which varied the amount of power assistance to the steering. Apparently one of these cars went straight from the docks into the Patrick Collection, when the collection was broken up the car was disposed of with out ever being driven on public roads and disappeared with out trace. If you know the where abouts of this XT 4wd Turbo Coupé please get chime in below.

Regular GALPOT readers will know I am a big fan of the Atwell Wilson Museum in Calne, the Museum are raffling the 1979 Triumph Dolomite 1500 SE seen here, tickets will be available from the Museum until the prize draw in December, I bought my first ticket at the show and hope to purchase a few more in the coming months, only 2163 of a planned 2500 of these ‘black beauties’ fitted with Triumph Spitfire sports car wheels were built.

A large selection of British Motor Corporation / British Leyland front wheel drive vehicles were on view in both the car parks and in the exhibition halls among the rarer was this range topping 1972 Vanden Plas Princess 1300 variation of the BMC ADO 16 vehicle which was also manufactured with Austin, Morris, MG, Riley Kestrel, and Wolseley badges between 1962 and 1974 during period these vehicles were amongst the biggest sellers in the UK until they were toppled by Fords.

Among many stories from my days working at a Volvo dealership some of the funniest stories involve a fleet of hearses we used to look after so this 1988 Volvo 740 His & Hearse naturally raised a possibly macabre smile.

I’ll wind up today’s review of the 33rd Bristol Classic Car show, sponsored by Footman James Insurance with this amazing 1973 Wolseley Six “Landcrab” which has been kept in this immaculate condition for 39 years ! It has never been restored and has over 30,000 miles on the clock, a testimony to the rewards of regular servicing and timely repairs.

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

Fireball Dyna Flow – Buick Roadmaster Coupé

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From 1936 to 1996 Buick manufactured eight generations of Roadmaster, with an interruption from 1959 to 1990, Roadmasters were Buicks flagship model from 1946 to 1957 sharing underpinnings with contemporary entry level Cadillacs and senior Oldsmobiles.

The car seen in Geoffrey Horton’s photo’s seen here at the 2012 Ranchero Mirage Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance feature a 1949 Roadmaster from the first year of production of the fifth 1949 -1953 generation which were the first to feature a two part curved ‘observation car’ windscreen. Note the bombsite mascot is a feature of all post 1946 Roadmasters.

The three Ventiports on front wing / fender of this Roadmaster indicates that is probably powered by a 5.2 litre / 320 cui ‘Fireball’ straight eight motor originally good for 165 hp, which following a change in carburation dropped to 144 hp in 1946 but was raised again in 1949 to 150 hp by increasing the compression ratio.

New for 1948 was a two speed Dyna Flow transmission developed from Buicks tank manufacturing program during the Second World War, making this the first model ever to be sold with a torque converter. For 1949 Dyna Flow became the mandatory transmission on all Roadmasters.

When the Roadmaster was first launched in 1942 the Coupé featured the same fastback Sedanette styling that had been a sensational feature of the 1941 Buick Century and Special models.

During 1949 the Roadmaster accounted for 27% of Buicks production with around 88,130 units sold.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sending me his photographs.

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

Errata this vehicle was originally incorrectly identified as forth generation 1948 model, however since then it has become apparent that 1948 Roadmasters had a flat windscreen and did not feature the VentiPorts in the wings / fenders. This text has been updated to reflect details of the ’49 Roadmaster. Apologies for any confusion caused.

Continental Elegance – Delahaye 135 Competition #46864

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Photographs of today’s featured car, a Delahaye 135 Competition, come courtesy of Geoffrey Horton from February’s Dessert Classic Concours d’Elegance.

The 135 Competition chassis was designed as a road car, this one has a Figoni & Falaschi body originally built in 1936. at least half a dozen French Coachworks offered bodies for the 135 chassis so no two are exactly alike.

Underneath the striking bodywork the 135 featured independent front suspension and 120 hp 3.6 litre / 217 cui six cylinder motor.

Variations of the 135 chassis recorded victories 1935 Coupe des Alpes, 1937 Monte Carlo Rally and 1938 Le Mans 24 Hours events.

Between 1935 and 1938 it is believed 453 Delahaye Competition chassis were built.

My thanks to Geoffry Horton for sending me his photo’s of this magnificent vehicle.

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

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 !

Big Bertha Power – Hupmobile Speedster

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Hupmobile, founded by former Ford and Oldsmobile employee Robert Craig Hupp and his brother Louis Gorham Hupp was a Detroit automobile manufacturer from 1908 to 1940 which built it’s reputation on solid some say stodgy 4 cylinder automobiles.

In 1925 Hupmobile introduced it’s first 8 cylinder model abandoning it’s traditional customer base with the onset of the depression as in pursuit lucrative top end markets.

Raymond Loewy is credited with the design of this 1932 Speedster powered by a 103 hp straight eight motor, referred to in advertising for an earlier model as giving ‘Big Bertha’ power.

The car featured, in these photo’s by Geoffrey Horton taken at the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance, is thought to be the only survivor of three built that were aimed squarely at the market segment occupied by Packard and Auburn.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sending me the photographs.

Thanks for joining me on today’s Big Bertha Power edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Armless Fun – Ford P100

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The origins of the car based Ford P100 pick up lie in South Africa where the first P100’s were built using the front half of a 2 door Ford Cortina Mk 3 and a ladder chassis for the rear in 1971.

Similar vehicles followed with the front half of 4 door Ford Cortina Mk’s 4 and 5 from 1977 and 1980 respectively, with export of the model to Europe beginning in 1982.

In 1988 with the withdrawal of Ford from South Africa a new P100, designed by Ford of N
Britain such as the one featured today, with the front half of the 4 door Ford Sierra shell was built in Portugal and offered with either a heavy duty 205 block 2 liter / 122 cui Pinto or 1,8 liter / 109 cui turbo diesel motors.

The running gear for the P100 came from the parts pins of the Ford Granada saloon sedan and Ford Transit Van models and the pick up was given a 1000 kg / 2200 lbs load capacity.

With so much of the P100 being based on a car it does not cost an arm and a leg to run a modified one with lots of competition parts, Armless Fun has front panels below the bonnet hood that come from the Ford performance ‘RS’ catalog including the aggressive twin head light units.

Armless Fun seen here at last years Silverstone Classic goes further than most in the modification stakes having a supercharged 4.6 liter / 280 cui Rover V8 derived motor under the bonnet / hood providing just enough power to make Armless Fun UK Burnout Champion from 2007 – 2010.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Armless Fun’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a vintage MG. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring