Tag Archives: Colmar

Unlisted – Bristol Blemheim S4

Every once in a while I stumble across a car that stands out from all the others of the marque for no discernible reason that I can accurately pin point. The Bristol Blenheim S4 pictured below at the Bristol Owners Club Concours d’Elegance last year, is one such vehicle that ever since I have seen it I immediately associate with the Bristol marque in much the same way as I associate big red buses with London.

Bearing a superficial resemblance to earlier Blenheim models this S4 has subtle alterations to every single panel, each shaped in aluminium with an english wheel, save those at the front and rear which are made from kevlar.

Power comes courtesy of a 5.9 litre / 360 cui dual fuel Chrysler derived V8 good enough to propel this nearly 4000 lb vehicle from rest to 60 mph in around 6 seconds, considerably less time than it took me to write this sentence !

Yet for all of it’s impressive size and performance it would be so easy to simply not notice the car at all, it simply refuses to scream it’s presence in the way an Italian car with similar capabilities would almost certainly do, and that is perhaps why I love Bristol Cars so much they are understated yet more than a match for most.

The interior of the S4 is significantly tidied up over previous Blenheim models with a walnut dash and Connolly leather seats.

The S4 is the only Blenheim to feature rear proprietary lights from Audi, giving the rear end a fresh look. Amazingly the S4 is no where to be found in Bristol Cars Sales literature, it is a one off ordered and built to the customers exacting specifications in 2009, this S4 represents a zenith on the arc of development for the Blenheim which traces it’s ancestry back to the 603 model first built in 1976. A unique car regrettably with a terminal place in the production history of Bristol Cars.

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

Tuning Options – Lotus 26R #26-R-20

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The Lotus 26, designed by Ron Hickman of Black and Decker Workmate fame, was first shown to the public in October 1962 with the more familiar Elan name. The Elan was Lotus second attempt at making a primarily road vehicle after the all fiberglass unitary bodied Elite, which had proved too expensive for Lotus to manufacture and make a financial return.

Unlike the unitary bodied Elite the Elan’s fiberglass body was mounted on a ‘steel backbone chassis’ a variation on an idea which can be traced back at least to Rover in 1903 and was subsequently examined and or used by among others Morgan (1910), Tatra (1923) who still use the idea on their contemporary heavy military vehicles, Joseph Ganze’s Adler MaiKaefër (1931), Porsche Type 12 (1931) that with Tatra patents and under Ganzes influence became the VW Type 1 (1938), Skoda 420 Popular (1934), Mercedes Benz 170V (1935) and 170 H (1936), MG R-Type (1935), the Polish PZInz 403 Lux-Sport (1937), Clisby Special (1952), fiberglass bodied TVR MK1 / Grantura (1958), Alpine A108 (1959) that evolved into the fiberglass bodied Alpine A110 (1961) and Triumph Herald (1959), a design which was used to form the basic Vitesse (1962), Spitfire (1962) and GT6 (1966) backbone chassis.

Mounted in the, fabricated from sheet steel, back bone chassis was a 1558cc / 96 cui 4 cylinder iron block aluminium head Lotus Twin cam engine, which was matched with independent suspension and disc brakes on all for wheels. The Elan was sold with either soft or removable hard tops. Soon after becoming available racing teams turned their attentions to preparing the nimble Elan for racing with the likes of Lotus works driver Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart all competing in privately entered Lotus Elan’s.

For 1964 Colin Chapman incorporated many of the ideas learned from the Elan privateers into the 26R built specially for racing, such as the example of Tony Thompson seen at Cadwell Park back in 1989 above, of which 97 were built in 2 distinct series between 1964 and 1966.

The hard top roadster only 26R was around 200lbs lighter that the original Elan, had revised suspension and could be ordered with either Cosworth or BRM tuning package for the Lotus Twin Cam motor, whose 116E block can be traced back to the Ford Consul Capri. Legend has it that the best tuning option was the Cosworth block matched with a BRM head, though I cannot rationalize why this might be the case nor have I substantiated this, if you know please do not hesitate to chime in below.

John Miles is credited with being the most successful 26R driver ‘in period’ clocking up 15 wins for the Willment team to secure the 1966 Autosport Championship. It is thought that 97 26R’s were built and supplied either complete or in tax saving kit form between 1964 and 1966.

Race preparation expert and Lotus aficionado Tony Thompson was in the middle of forth and final HSCC Classic & Sports Car championship wining season when I took these photo’s at Cadwell Park where he dominated the race. Tony possibly lays claim to being the most successful R26 exponent in historic events having used this same #26-R-20 chassis to win the HSCC championship from ’85-’87 and finished runner up in ’88/’90/’91 and 1993 before turning his attentions to racing a Formula Junior Lotus 27 in which he won the FIA Formula Junior championships 1996 to 1998 inclusive !

Thanks to Ray Bell, Pete Taylor, Tim Murray, Steve Holter, Roger Lund, David McKinney, willga, AAGR, David Birchall, JtP1, cheapracer, Greg Mackie, Geoff Butcher, Lee Nicole, johnny yuma, Catlina Park, 312f1, and Karl Ludwigsen who kindly responses to the ‘Backbone’ thread at The Nostalgia Forum and helped identify some of the vehicles with backbone chassis prior to the advent of the Elan.

Further thanks to David Birchall, Edward Fitzgerald, Pete Taylor and ‘the Oracle’ for identifying Tony’s chassis number and clearing up a few other aspects of Elan identification.

Thanks on this ‘Tuning Options’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a unique Bristol. Don’t forget to come back now !

Stewart’s Nemesis – Ferrari 312 B2 #007

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In 1970 Ferrari launched the first in a long line of Grand Prix cars powered by flat 12 motors that would eventually power Niki Lauda to World Championships in 1975 and ’77 and Jody Scheckter to a Championship in 1979.

The initial incarnation of the flat 12 powered Ferrari Grand Prix challenger was known as the Ferrari 312 B, B for boxer although the motor is actually a 180 degree V12 design ie the crank pins operate pairs of pistons rather than individual pistons as on a true boxer motor. The 312 B in the hands of Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni scored 4 championship Grand Prix wins at the end of 1970 in the absence of Jochen Rindt who would be declared the World Champion posthumously.

For 1971 Mario Andretti joined Ickx and Regazzoni and won the South African GP in a 312B and a non championship race at Ontario before the team introduced the 312 B2 of the type seen here at the Donnington Park Museum. The new car showed some initial promise with Ickx winning the Dutch Grand Prix second time out in part thanks to the superiority of the Firestone wet weather tyres but there after the B2’s suffered appalling reliability with Ickx and Regazzoni and Andretti scoring points on just 4 occasions from 15 further starts between them in the remaining 1971 season.

Things did not improve much in 1972 when Lotus and Tyrrell’s now joined by McLaren’s superior reliability left only scraps on the table for forth placed Ferrari who’s highlight of the year was a one two finish at the Nurburgring for Ickx and Regazzoni after Regazzoni was involved in contact with Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell that all but ended the Scotsman’s 1972 World Championship challenge.

For 1973 Ferrari would have it’s first ever monocoque chassis, built in England, prepared in the guise of the 312 B3 for what would be an even more disastrous season than 1972, but for the first three races of the season the old B2 wheeled out and driven by Ickx and Arturo Mezario the B2 scored 11 of the teams 12 points that saw Ferrari plummet to 6th in the constructors championship.

This particular chassis appears to be #007, the four B2 chassis numbers carried on where the B finished off and so were numbered 005 to 008. Andretti drove this car to 4th place finishes in Germany ’71 and South Africa ’72 and Clay Regazzoni drove the car at the ’72 German Grand Prix to the 2nd place finish that all but ended Stewart’s championship run in the process.

My thanks to galbet and Sire Bruno de Losckley at Ferrari Chat for helping to sort out which car this is.

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

Unlucky In Love – Auburn 851 SC Speedster

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The Auburn 8-851 SC was a response to the failure of the previous 12 cylinder 12-160 model to sell at Dodge V8 prices, customers, even during those depression years up to 1933, erroneously thought there had to be something wrong with the product to be offered at such bargain prices !

Restyled by Gordon Beuhrig, of a model originally designed by Alan Leamy, the Speedster is one of the all time most memorable elegant designs from nose to boat tail.

The 8 indicating 8 cylinders was dropped from the model name to become ‘851’ which was available with a normally aspirated straight 8 Lycoming motor or a 150 hp supercharged one.

The casual observer looking at the front of an Auburn was never left in any doubt about the Supercharged version of the “851” chrome headers of the SC were matched by tasteful text on the bonnet / hood which shouted out top of the range model …

even on the intake side of the motor !

Fabled speed merchant Ab Jenkins took a stock 851 SC Speedster and ran it for 12 hours at an average speed of 100 mph soon after the model launched on January 1st 1935. Ab Jenkins was then employed to test each 851 SC Speedster to over 100 mph before shipment, the plaque on this one shows Ab tested the car to 100.6 mph.

Around 5000 normally aspirated and supercharged version of the ‘851’ were sold in 1935, but the following year sales of the same model rebadged ‘852’ tanked leading EL Cord to wind up production at the 40 year old Auburn company for good.

This particular car was purchased by Eduardo Montinola as a courting gift for Philippine model Susan Magalona who married Eduardo’s rival Carlos Ledesma a sugar baron in what was described as the marriage of the year, in the Philippines, with gifts that included a truck full of peanuts ! The Marriage was loveless and annulled and Susan subsequently married millionaire diplomat by the name of Federico Elizalde.

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

Beneath The Paint – Ford Capri 3000 GXL Auto

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My heart skipped a beat when I saw this fabulous Ford Capri wearing the colours of the early 1970’s works Ford ‘Cologne’ factory racing team, the last time I recall seeing a road going Capri like this in the flesh was around 1974 !

In 1970 Ford Germany built 50 RS2600 variants of the Capri to satisfy the FIA minimum build racing requirements (also known as homologation), the flared arches on the vehicle seen here at last years Silverstone Classic suggest that this might be on of those fifty specials who’s build quality was so low that they were not fit to be sold for road use.

The fifty homologation RS2600’s featured light weight glass fiber doors, boot and bonnet/hood.

Beneath the flared arches the RS 2600’s were fitted with distinctive gold centered BBS wheels, which became as iconic and synonymous with the 1970’s as Minilites had with the 1960’s.

The homologation RS 2600’s were also fitted with plastic window’s and painted with fewer coats of paint than their road going siblings all in an effort to save weight.

Success came to the works Ford Team managed by Jochen Neerpasch in the form of two European Touring Car Championships for Germans Dieter Glemser in 1971 and Jochen Mass in 1972, although on both occasions Alfa Romeo’s running in the lower Class 2 division secured the manufacturers championships.

Unfortunately despite the paintwork this car does not turn out to be one of the homologation specials at all, they were all left hand drive vehicles, a check of the registration reveals this car started out as a Dagenham (UK) built Capri 3000 GLX Auto in 1972 fitted with a 3 litre / 183 cui ‘Essex’ V6, registration details also suggest that this car is now fitted with a 3.5 litre motor which is probably one of the Buick derived Rover aluminium V8’s which are the most readily available for such conversions in the UK.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Beneath The Paint’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be going Auburn. Don’t forget to come back now !

Quintessential British Sports Car – MG J2

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The MG J series produced from 1932 to 1934 came in 4 distinct models the J1 a 2 door 4 seat open or closed sports car with a 847 cc / 51 cui motor, J2 a two seater open only version, as seen in todays blog, of the J1, J3 similar to a J3 but with a 750 cc / 45 cui supercharged motor and the J4 a pure racing version of the J3 with a 72 hp supercharged motor.

The 1932 J2 is easily distinguishable by the front cycle style mud guards which in 1933 were replaced with front mudguards joined by running boards to the rear wings a feature that was to remain with all subsequent MG sports cars all the way through to the TF model which was manufactured until 1955.

The 36 hp motor, was similar to that used in the earlier M-Type looked at last week, featuring a cross flow cylinder head and twin SU carburetors but only a two bearing crankshaft which had a limited life at maximum rpm. The Castrol GTX oil breather catch tank is a relatively recent requirement for competition.

Lifting the side opening bonnet panels of the J2 reveals the four speed gearbox and foot wells. The steering column operates Marles steering gear and the drivers side front brake cable can be seen emerging from the chassis rail above.

The two humped dash scuttle of the J Series would turn out to be another trade mark MG feature that was continually carried forward over twenty years to the 1955 MG TF. Note the how the potential crankshaft saving engine revolution counter dominates the dash board instrumentation.

Just over 2000 J2’s were built out numbering the combined total of all the other J series MG’s by more than 2 to 1, this particular example, seen at last years Wessex Sprint, was acquired by Mike Hawke for £85 in October 1953, the car cost just short of £200 new in 1932.

Mike is known to have campaigned this car successfully at both Castle Combe and Silverstone before passing the car on to his son Jeremy who won his class at Castle Combe on the day these photo’s were taken.

Thanks for joining me on this Quintessential British Sports Car edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me tomorrow when I’ll be featuring a hot version of “The car you always promised yourself. Don’t forget to come back now !

Torino Transformation – SIATA 400F

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: Colmar

Unlisted – Bristol Blemheim S4

Tuning Options – Lotus 26R #26-R-20

Stewart’s Nemesis – Ferrari 312 B2 #007

Unlucky In Love – Auburn 851 SC Speedster

Beneath The Paint – Ford Capri 3000 GXL Auto

Quintessential British Sports Car – MG J2

Torino Transformation – SIATA 400F