Tag Archives: Corvette

Classic Clubs – Silverstone Classic

Today’s blog is dedicated to all the hundreds of car clubs and thousands of classic car enthusiasts who brought classic cars along to Silvertone Classic as we take a look at some of the clubs present.

Aston Martin Owners Club, Silverstone Classic

No less than three, from a total production of 100, of the 2002 limited edition Aston Martin DB7 Zagato’s headed the Aston Martin Owners Club parade.

Berkeley Enthusiasts Club, Silverstone Classic,

Celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary in style was the Berkeley Enthusiasts Club, above a Berkeley Foursome and B105 lap the Silverstone Circuit.

BMW Car Club, Silverstone Classic,

Complementing the 40 metre BMW wheel and Village Green the BMW Car Club was out in strength, above a Z3 and Z1 lap the circuit during one of the parades.

Classic Corvette Club UK, Silverstone Classic

Classic Corvette Club UK was celebrating it’s 35th anniversary, the ’78 Indy 500 Pace Car Limited Edition above was built a year before the formation of the club. This one has the desirable 220hp L82 motor option, the 1978 Indy 500 was won by Al Unser in his Cosworth DFX powered Lola T500.

Daimler & Lanchester Owners Club, Silverstone Classic

The Daimler & Lanchester Owners Club always have a fine display of SP250s at this event and this year was no exception.

Mustang Owners Club of Great Britain, Silverstone Classic

The Mustang Owners Club of Great Britain were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Pony Car, above a ’70 convertible stands next to a ’69 Shelby GT 500.

Ginetta Owners Club, Silverstone Classic

Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of the Ginetta G33, one day when I’m in a position to buy one I’ll become a member of the Ginetta Owners’ Club.

Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, Club, Silverstone Classic

John James of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club was able to help me out with an Otter Switch for GALPOT’s most famous XK140 owner Geoffrey Horton in California.

Lamborghini Club UK, Silverstone Classic

The original competition spec prototype Lamborghini Muira Jota burned to the ground on the, unopened, Brescia ring road in April 1971, a member of Lamborghini Club UK has built this wonderful replica of the Prototype originally built by Bob Wallace.

Mercedes Benz Club, Silverstone Classic

Amongst the Mercedes Benz Club members vehicles was this imperiously tailfined 1967 Mercedes Benz 200.

Morgan Sports Car Club, Silverstone Classic

Wecoming Morganeers was the Morgan Sports Car Club with 5,000 owners world wide.

Piper Sports And Racing Car Club, Silverstone Classic

Catering for just 80 examples ever built is the Piper Sports And Racing Car Club which is primarily concerned with preserving the marque for whom Tony Hilder designed the 30″ GT’s first seen in 1968.

Porsche Club Great Britain, Silverstone Classic

Porsche Club Great Britain is the UK’s only officially recognised club for the marque and has close links with Porsche AG and the marques official importer Porsche Cars Great Britain.

Stag Owners Club, Silverstone Classic

Driven by a zest for life for those united by a common interest in the Triumph Stag classic car is the Stag Owners Club.

Karmann Ghia Owners Club, Silverstone Classic

The Karmann Ghia Owners Club attempts to support all aspects of ‘KG’ ownership from purists who want to see original cars to those whose interests include customisation, lowering and performance modifications.

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

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 !

140mph Tortoise – Gordon-Keeble

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Like the Warwick GT the origins of Gordon-Keeble lie in Peerless Cars Ltd. In 1959 co founder of Peerless John Gordon teamed up with engineer and racing driver Jim Keeble to build a GT car for USAF pilot Rick Neilson who suggested fitting a a 4.6 litre 283 cui Corvette V8 into a Peerless chassis.

The steel body for the Gordon GT was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro working for Bertone who crafted it. The Gordon GT was assembled from scratch over 3 months just in time to be exhibited on the Bertone stand at the 1960 Geneva Show, where they it was well received. Autocar would later test the Gordon GT and proclaim that it was “the most electrifying vehicle that it has ever tested.”

Gordon Keeble, Haynes International Motor Museum

The Gordon GT was later taken to the USA where Chevrolet executives gave the green light for the supply of 5.4 litre / 327 cui to be fitted to a production version of the Gordon GT known as the Gordon-Keeble.

During an advertising shoot for Gordon-Keeble a tortoise wandered on to the set and it became immortalised in the Gordon-Keeble badge. The prototype achieved 70 mph in first gear and had a top speed of 140 mph.

Gordon Keeble, Goodwood Revival

Due to problems with the supply of some parts, in particular the Adwest steering boxes which were held up due to ‘industrial action’ by Adwest employees, the Gordon-Keeble did not go into production until 1964, by which time it was decided to use a fiber glass body similar to the Bertone original built by Williams and Pritchard.

Gordon-Keeble struggled financially until 1965 when it collapsed with 91 cars built. The company was almost immediately revived as Keeble Cars Ltd who built 8 more cars to the Gordon-Keeble specification before insolvency struck again. One further example was constructed from parts in 1971.

Gordon Keeble, Haynes International Motor Museum

In 1968 John de Bruyne bought the rights to manufacture the Gordon-Keeble and he built a further two cars badged as De Bruynes that were shown at the ’68 New York Auto Show.

The two cars seen here’ at Haynes International Motor Museum and Goodwood Revival were both first registered in January 1965, the blue one on the 12th and the red on the 14th.

Thanks for joining me on this “140mph Tortoise” edition of “Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for a look at an Indy Car tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Bertone With A Hint Of Michelotti – ISO Rivolta IR

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Welcome to the first December 2013 edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. This months Sunday posts will feature five ISO Rivolta’s to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the first ISO Rivolta cars the first of which was the Isetta perhaps the best known examples of which were manufactured under licence by BMW.

ISO Rivolta IR, Auto Italia, Brooklands,

By the 1960’s Renzo Rivolta set his ambitions a little higher and decided to build a vehicle which would compete against the FIAT 2300 Coupé> Rivolta commissioned Bertone to design a body which would enclose independent front suspension, a de Dion rear axle and a Chevrolet Corvette V8 motor which over the years of production from 1962 to 1970 would produce between 300 – 350 hp.

ISO Rivolta IR, Auto Italia, Brooklands,

The recirculating ball steering required five turns lock to lock on the car which had a, large, turning circle of 12.5 m / 41ft. The car was fitted with a leather interior which included a standard floor mounted 4 speed manual gear stick.

ISO Rivolta IR, Auto Italia, Brooklands,

The stylish IR touring car appears to owe a nod of inspiration to the three Vignale built Ferrari Coupes; 212 Inter, 375 America and 250 Europa who’s design was credited to Giovanni Michelotti.

Dependent on the engine tuning option the rest to 60 mph time for an IR, like the one seen here at Auto Italia Brooklands, was in the 8 second range with a top speed of over 140mph quoted for the most powerful models.

Thanks for joining me on this “Bertone With A Hint Of Michelotti” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a cute li’l pick up from France. Don’t forget to come back now !

Greenwoods Last Customer C3 – Chevrolet Corvette C3 Greenwood #12

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The last in this series of Americana Thursday blogs celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Chevrolet Corvettes features the last of the 12 customer Corvette racer built by John Greenwood as seen in these photo’s taken by Geoffrey Horton at the recent Rolex Reunion meeting run at Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca.