Tag Archives: Colmar

Short Nose Aubergine – Ferrari 275 GTB #7447

Today’s featured short nose Ferrari 275 GTB #7447 is believed to have been delivered originally to some one only known as Branchi in Italy in 1965.

The rest of the known to the internet history for #7447 is equally vague, while the car was in the care of Don Micheletti it is reported as having a ground up restoration in the 1970’s which included replacing the original Weber 40 DCZ carburetors with 40 DFI’s.

Ferrari 275 GTB, Hillsborough, Concours d'Elegance

It is not known how long current custodian Maurilio Tazio De Nicolo has owned the aubergine car but he has been taking it to Concours d’Elegance events since 2013.

Since then #7447 has been awarded a Platinum at XXII. Cavallino Classic in Jannuary 2013, Platinum at Concorso Italiano in 2014 and Best of Ferrari’s at the same event.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photograph taken at this years Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance where #7447 was awarded second in the Ferrari 1956 – 68 class.

Thanks for joining me on this “Short Nose Aubergine” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be stepping back thirty years to revist Brands Hatch. Don’t forget to come back now !

Rising To The Top Again – Mercury Monterey 4 Door Sedan

With the dropping of the Park Lane and Montclair models in 1961 the the fifth generation Monterey was reinstated at the top of the Mercury model range when it was launched in 1961.

Mercury Monterey 4 Door Sedan, Goodwood Revival,

Styling of the new Monterey was similar to the 1961 2nd Generation Ford Galxie but with many detail differences in the trim detailing which was more refined on the Mercury.

Mercury Monterey 4 Door Sedan, Goodwood Revival,

Initiallly a choice of either 4.8 litre / 292 cui Y-block, or 5.8 litre / 352 cui and 6.4 litre / 390 cui FE V8’s was offered.

Mercury Monterey 4 Door Sedan, Goodwood Revival,

The engine choice was supplemented for the 1962 model year only with a 3.7 litre / 223 cui Milage Maker straight six for the 135 hp Monterey Six for “Top of the line luxury and power for the big car man”.

Mercury Monterey 4 Door Sedan, Goodwood Revival,

The big luxurious Mercury with a 120″ wheel base was offered with 2 doors in hard top and convertible form and three 4 door
versions were estate/wagon, pillarless hard top and sedan.

Mercury Monterey 4 Door Sedan, Goodwood Revival,

Today’s featured 1962 Sedan, seen at Goodwood Revival some years ago, is powered by a 5.8 litre / 352 cui motor FE motor that in this application were marketed as a Marauder engine up until 1962 after which it was marketed as the Monterey pending the arrival of the bigger 6.7 litre / 406 cui motors for the 1963 model year.

Thanks for joining me on this “Rising To The Top Again” 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 !

The Crumpled Cup Auto Solo – Rolls Royce Car Park Filton

On Sunday I headed down to Queen Square for the regular second Sunday of the month Avenue Drivers Club meeting only to find all access roads blocked by Bristol Half Marathon stewards one of whom apparently had no idea where Queen Square was, which made for an interesting point of departure for a conspiracy theory which I shall refrain from repeating here.

MCW Metrobus MkII, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Later at mid day I made my way over to the Rolls Royce Car Park at Filton for the Bristol Pegasus Motor Clubs first Crumpled Cup Autosolo. Upon reflection I wish I had stopped off longer at The Ark Bus, 1982 MCW Metrobus, a faith in motion project, to ask for some much needed devine intervention to help me to remember the three different routes through the 31 cones that were to make up the three timed tests of the event.

01 Crumpled Cup_5894sc

The Volkswagen Golf Mk IV Estate is not an obvious choice of vehicle for this type of event and certainly not when carrying more than half a tank of fuel, but I determined that I would have fun and that I did in spades despite the fact that of my nine runs, three times through each of the three routes I actually only managed to complete the course correctly on five occasions ! Fortunately this was still better than some so I did not come last in the front wheel drive class.

Honda Civic, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton,

Martyn Mitchell warned me that his Honda Civic would only be in contention for the slowest time of the day and perhaps next time he will join me by the bus in some requests for devine intervention on the memory front.

Citroen Saxo, George/Ashley Pope, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Father and son George and Ashley Pope shared their Citroën Saxo to take front wheel drive honours with Ashley only scoring two clean runs on the final test which ironically was the only test on which George scored only one clean run, George was the comfortable winner of the front wheel drive class and would have finished 3rd overall had the event been run as an open competition between all eight competitors.

Westfield SEiW, Andy Moss, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Struggling with the turning circle of his self built Westfield SEiW was club chairman Andy Moss.

Vauxhall VX220, Martyn Lidbury, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Despite having the smaller Lotus Elise size front tyres on his Vauxhall VX220 Martyn Lidbury also struggled with the turning circle of his car which otherwise made all the right noises as he drove it to third in class on his first event with the club.

Westfield SEiW, Ben Bishop, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Second in the rear wheel drive class was Ben Bishop in his Westfield SEiW with the second best score overall too.

Mazda MX5, Chris Buckley, Rolls Royce Car Park, Filton

Lowest scores of the day were recorded by Chris Buckley in his supercharged Mazda MX5 who only scored maximum points on his very first run of the afternoon.

Everybody seemed to enjoy the event which I hope shall be the first of many to come, my thanks to Pete Goodman for getting permission from Rolls Royce to use the venue, to Alan Spencer for organising the event, to Tim Murray the events secretary and score keeper, marshals Ann Mitchell and Nick Woods and not least my fellow competitors who made the 4 hours of the competition fly by.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Crumpled Cup Auto Solo” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Mercury Monterey. Don’t forget to come back now !

Floride – Renault Caravelle

After the run away success of the Volkswagen, Beetle based, Typ 14 Karmann Ghia launched in 1955, particularly in the United States, Renault thought they might be able pull off a similar feat by building Coupé and Convertible versions of the humble rear engined Renault Dauphine that succeeded the 4CV.

Allegedly the idea for the new Coupé and Cabriolet Dauphine variants was suggested at a convention of North American distributors that took place in Florida where Renault Chairman Pierre Dreyfus picked up the ball for the idea which instantly became known as the “Renault Floride”.

Renault Caravelle, Haynes International Motor Museum

The design was the work of Pietro Frua working for Ghia in Italy and the production of the bodies for the Dauphine chassis was by Société des usines Chausson in Paris while final assembly was completed by Brissonneau and Lotz at Creil in Picardy.

Not wishing to offend the other 49 states in the US of A Renault called the new model the Caravelle in all English speaking markets a year after the Floride was launched at the Paris Motor Show in 1958.

Initially powered by a standard 37 hp motor or Gordini tuned 40hp version the Floride / Caravelle remained in production until 1968 by which time only 117,000 units had been built compared to the 445,000 Karmann Ghia’s Volkswagen built between 1955 and 1974.

The example seen above at the Haynes International Motor Museum was registered in the UK on the 25th of January 1968.

Thanks for joining me on this “Floride” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be competing in my first Auto Solo. Don’t forget to come back now !

Development & Publicity – Mercedes Benz 300 SLR # no.1

Earlier this year Geoffrey Horton kindly forwarded some of today’s photos taken by Otto A Rentsch a tool and die maker at Adam Stamping in Union, New Jersey.

Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, Adam Stamping, Union, New Jersey.

Adam Stamping was owned by Geoffrey’s uncle George Tilp who was selected by Mercedes Benz to run a highly successful team of works built and supported 300 SL’s driven by Paul O’Shea and Phil Hill from 1955 to 1957.

Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, Otto R Rentsch, Adam Stamping, Union, New Jersey.

In 1958 Mercedes Benz shipped a 1955 World Sports Car Championship winning type 300 SLR complete with the “Blue Wonder Rennwagen Schnelltransporter” to Georges facility in New Jersey prior to the vehicles being loaned to the Ford Museum in Michigan, Otto A’s son Otto R is seen above at the wheel of the car with it’s distinctive sign writing down the side.

Mercedes 300 SLR, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

It turns out that the 300 SLR sent to the USA for the loan to the Ford Museum was none other than the original 300 SLR chassis no.1.

Mercedes 300 SLR, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

No.1 was used for extensive pre 1955 season testing and later for practice on the Mille Miglia, where of course there was no qualifying, but according to Mercedes this car was never raced.

Mercedes 300 SLR, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

Along the side of the car the five one – two victories scored by no.1’s siblings are recorded; the Stirling Moss / Denis Jenkinson partnership beat the solo Jaun Manuel Fangio on the Mille Miglia, Fangio then beat Moss at the Eifelrennen where Karl Kling finished fourth in a third 300 SLR behind a Ferrari 750 Monza driven by Marsten Gregory, Fangio also finished ahead of Moss in the Swedish Grand Prix.

Mercedes 300 SLR, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

Moss partnered by John Fitch beat Fangio and Kling at the Tourist Trophy where Kling was joined by Wolfgang von Trips and André Simon in the third placed 300 SLR, before Moss teamed up with Peter Collins to beat Fangio and Kling again on the Targa Florio where Fitch and Desmond Titterington finished fourth behind the Ferrari 857 S driven by Eugenio Castellotti and Robert Manzon.

Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, Adam Stamping, Union, New Jersey.

The one omission from these results being of course the 1955 Le Mans race where the 300 SLR driven by Fangio and Moss was leading the Jaguars by two clear laps when it was withdrawn on the orders of the board of the Mercedes board of directors after parts of the sister car driven by Levegh ploughed into the spectator enclosures killing 82 spectators and injuring 100 more following an accident involving a slower car.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for initially forwarding Douglas Rentsch’s photographs and to Otto R Rentsch’s son Douglas for kindly giving me permission to use them, the remaining photo’s of no.1 were taken at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “Development & Publicity” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Renault. Don’t forget to come back now !

Wanted Gofer – Lola Hart THL1 #85-002

It must have been soon after I had helped my school friend Sven by cleaning the windscreen of his Ford Capri during the 1985 Willhire 24 hour race at Snetterton that I realised a year after leaving college my life did not appear to be going anywhere particularly fast and that I ought to expand my horizons when I saw a vacancy for a gopher for Carl Haas’s FORCE Formula One team being run by Teddy Meyer, in Autosport.

Without hesitation and in possession of the aforementioned experience, along with the requisite van driving experience, a clean driving licence and a B.A. Hons in European Business (2,2) from Trent Polytechnic I applied the same day thinking no one on gods great earth could possibly match my credentials… I was of course completely wrong, I got a nice letter from Mr Meyer informing me I had not been selected for interview and wishing me luck for the future, I can’t say I was not disappointed, but at least I had made one attempt, no matter how ill judged, to run away with the circus.

Lola Hart THL1, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Late in 1984 Carl Haas secured sponsorship for his Champ Car Team which won the ’84 Championship with Mario Andretti from Beatrice Foods, part of the agreement included a deal to part fund and expansion by Haas into Formula One with Carl Haas’s FORCE being responsible for the design, Ford for the exclusive supply of a new Cosworth turbocharged V6 motor and 1980 World Champion Alan Jones who was to make his second return to Formula One since officially retiring at the end of 1981.

For some reason probably not unconnected with the fact that Haas had been the long time US importer of Lola, Andretti drove the T800 in 84 and T900 in ’85, Lola was nominated as the car’s manufacturer although they had no input to either it’s design or manufacture, ex Williams employee Neil Oatley designed the THL1 which was initially adapted to take the Hart turbocharged 4 cylinder engine while the Cosworth was readied for the 1986 season.

Lola Hart THL1, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The THL1 appeared at the Italian, European, South African and Australian Grand Prix at the end of 1985 and retired from all but the South African event where Alan Jones qualified a season high 18th but was unwell and did not take the start.

At the start of the 1986 season the Cosworth V6 was still not ready and so Alan was forced to soldier on with the Hart motor in Brazil and Spain, he qualified 17th for the latter, but was involved in a collision with Jonathon Palmers Zakspeed which saw both cars retire on the opening lap.

Alan, 1978 Can Am2 Champion driving a Haas Lola, was joined in 1986 by Patrick Tambay who had also won Can Am2 championhships with Haas in 1977 and 1980. Like Alan he had to make do with a Hart powered THL1 for his first three starts, Patrick out qualified Alan qualifying a promising 11th at San Remo where he retired, as in Brazil, but he brought his THL1 home to a non points paying 8th from 18th on the grid and in so doing became the only driver to bring a THL1, chassis #85-002 seen in these photographs taken at Goodwood, across the finish line of a Championship Grand Prix.

The teams fortunes improved moderately with the arrival of the new turbocharged Cosworth V6 powered THL2, Alan scored a best 4th at Monza where he was followed home by Patrick in 5th, at the following Belgian Grand Prix Alan finished 6th and by the end of the season a change of management and policy at Beatrice saw them terminate their sponsorship leaving Haas with little option but to close his team down, while Alan sold his Ferrari and headed home to Australia.

Thanks for joining me on this “Gopher Wanted” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the very first Mercedes Benz 300 SLR. Don’t forget to come back now !

Monterey ALFAs – Rolex Monterey Motorsposts Reunion

For our fifth visit to this years Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion I’ll be looking at some of the ALFA Romeo cars present snapped by kindly snapped for us by Karl Krause.

ALFA Romeo Monza, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

From 1932 the battle worn 8 cylinder ALFA Romeo Monza, of the type that won the 10 hour 1931 Italian Grand Prix driven by Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari, the #31 seen here is owned and driven by Peter Giddings.

ALFA Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Seven years later ALFA Romeo built the 120 hp 6C 2500 Super Sport owned and driven by Conrad Stevenson, the development and production of the 6C 2500 continued after the 1939-’45 hostilities until 1952.

ALFA Romeo Guilia Spyder, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

ALFA Romeo introduced the Giulia Spyder alongside the Giulia Saloons / Sedans in 1962 although they were actually more closely related to the Giulietta’s that remained in production from 1954 to 1965, the 1963 Giulia Spyder above is owned and driven by Peter Inshaw.

ALFA Romeo TZ1, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

In 1963 ALFA Romeo launched the Giulia TZ also known as the TZ1 to replace the Giulietta SZ, unlike the Giullia Spyder the Giulia TZ was based on the chassis pan and running gear of the Giulia Saloons / Sedans, pay attention at the back I shall be asking questions later ! The #3 ’63 Giulia TZ is owned and driven by Joe Colasacco.

ALFA Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

The sinuous curves and dihedral opening butterfly doors all made the 1968 ALFA Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale one of the worlds most expensive cars in 1968, which maybe why the one seen above is one of only 18 built.

ALFA Romeo GTV, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Jon Norman started racing ALFA’s in 1968 and in 1971 started racing this 1971 ALFA Romeo GTV in the Trans Am series 44 years later he is still racing it in historic events.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for organising these photographs for me and to Karl Krause for their execution.

Thanks for joining me on this “Monterey ALFAs” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a turbocharged Formula One Lola. Don’t forget to come back now !