Tag Archives: Daimler

Thanks to the generosity of Ted Walker I found myself making a trip to the National Exhibition Centre at Birmingham at the weekend for The Footman James Classic Motor Show, billed as ‘The place to share your passion for cars”, today’s blog features a random selection of some of the 1500 motor vehicles that were on display.

On the Daimler SP250 Owners Club stand was this unique 1960 AHC Daimler SP250 was rebodied by King & Taylor so that it could be used for a prototype electro hydraulic operated rigid roof that was patented by Anthony H Croucher in 1964.

After a six year hiatus in car production Lea Francis prepared the Lynx Roadster in 6 months using a chassis which dated back to the 1948 14hp Sports, a Ford Zephyr Mk II 6 cylinder motor with new rack and pinion steering and disc brakes in time for the 1960 Earls Court Motor Show. Seen on the Lea Francis Owners Club stand is the 2nd car of three built, which appeared on the Earls Court stand in this colour but sans motor. No orders for the ‘new’ car were taken and the Company went into receivership in 1963.

Whilst I have never been a motor cycle man I do hope at some time in my life I might get to ride a Triton like this 1959 750 example, on a suitable piece of open track, these café racer specials combine a Norton frame said to be the best handling at the time, with a Triumph twin motor said to be amongst the most reliable at the time.

What do Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari have in common ? These names all appear on agricultural vehicles. Here on the Lamborghini Club UK stand is a 1960 Lamborghini 2241 R.

The Peel P50 was designed to take carry one person and a brief case to work, indeed a 6′ 5″ TV presenter once did exactly that droving through office corridors and driving into a lift to reach his office, in the worlds smallest production car a record it has held since 1962. I am not sure if the one seen here is a replica, one of the new one built since 2011 or one of the 27 known survivors from the original batch of 50 built on the Isle of Man, but it was used earlier this year for a chocolate TV advertisement.

The de Tomaso Guará was the last project brought to fruition by founder Alejandro de Tomaso. Between 1993 and 2004 around 50 are thought to have been built the one seen here on the de Tomaso Drivers Club stand being one of no more than 12 Barchetta’s.

Unfortunately when I was visiting the show was still not open to the public so many of the stands were unmanned so I did not find out anything about this Bubble Top Hot Road on the National Street Rod Association stand. If you know anything about the bubble top please chime in below.

A couple of weeks I made my first ever e-bay bid for a Wartburg 353, albeit for a 1/32 scale slot car racer. Seeing the real thing I regret not being more experienced at the time, the slot car went for just £8.00. This particular model on the Wartburg Trabant IFA Club stand started out life as a taxi in East Germany and has been restored to original colour and condition.

Perhaps the ultimate in bling is this 1931 Cadiallac 355 on the American Auto Club North West stand, according to the description it is covered in 23.5 carat gold leaf, has a mink over carpet, and 7 diamonds in each wheel ! The car spent many years in a German motor museum where it is described as having been the property of the pianist Liberace, who was very popular in Germany, however no one is able to verify the veracity of the claim but on the other hand who else could possibly have anything approaching such chintzy taste in motor vehicles ? If this floats your boat the car was for sale.

Several rare and storied Sunbeam Tigers were on the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club stand, the one seen here is one of only 10 Right Hand Drive Mk II models built, the first 6 went to police traffic enforcement agencies and four more went to dealers, this one went to the Hatfield Rootes Group dealers W Waters & Sons and remained in the family until 2009.

This 1958 Elva Mk III is usually on view in The Technology Collection at the Bexhill Museum. Bexhill on Sea has a ‘disputed’ claim to being the birth place of British Motor Racing and was home to Elva until the company moved to bigger premises in Hastings where I believe this Mk III would have been built.

This March 75A Formula 5000 has gone through many changes the original ’75 Formula 2 chassis tub was swapped for a ’76 Formula 1 chassis tub in 1977, the engine was originally a 3.4 litre / 207 cui Ford GAA V6 before it got swapped for a 3.0 litre /183 cui Ford DFV V8 and then a 5 litre / 305 cui Repco V8 it has won races driven by yet to be World Champion Alan Jones in ’75, Damien Magee in ’76, Guy Edwards in ’77 and to sprint victories Terry Smith Brighton and on the Isle of Man in ’79 and ’82 respectively. 75A/1 is now fitted with an original spec Ford GAA V6 motor and the March 761 formula 1 chassis tub from it’s second 1977 incarnation.

On the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club stand there were several cut away items on display including this Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II.

This 1987 Ford P100, on The Mk III Cortina Owners Club stand, would originally have carried a Ford Sierra front end but it has been modified to carry older Cortina Mark III wings and bonnet and nose. It is fitted with a Ford Cologne 2.9 litre / 176 cui V6.

Austin’s Allegro replaced the various badge engineered ADO16s in 1973 with its curiously for the time rounded styling and a novelty ‘quartic’ steering wheel that was subject of much period derision. The ‘quartic’ steering wheel was quickly and quietly dropped. In 1975 Series 2 Allegros, like the 1977 HL seen here were introduced. I was recently at a talk given by Mike Nicholson who was a works British Leyland co driver who took part in the 1975 RAC Rally with Pat Ryan and he reckoned reliability issues aside it was not a bad car. The car above seen on the Allegro Club International stand was bought for parts in 2007 and when it was realised the body was still solid it was repaired and sold by the current owner to friend, requiring further repair the current owner bought it back fixed it up and took it on last years Rat Rod Rally2Romania, to find out what happens next you will have to read the Allegro Club International newsletter, Quartic.

On the Ford Sidevalve Owners Club stand I found a manufacturer I have never heard of. Shirleys were built at the Monks Path Garage at Shilrley, Solihull outside Birmingham. Originally these GRP bodies were known as Kenmars. This Mark II with revised nose was purchased as a body believed never to have been fitted to a chassis in 2007, it now sits atop 1949 Ford Anglia chassis and running gear. Production of Shirleys came to a halt in 1962.

Silverstone Classic were represented by this 2012 Volkswagen Type 2 (T2c) production of which will be coming to a halt in Brazil next year.

On the MotorSport Magazine stand I found this Connaught Type A Formula 2 car, I’m not sure of it’s history but it will give me something to work on. If you know the history of this car please chime in below.

Finally on the Classic of the Year stand this Bristol 411 was on display voting is closed and the winner will be announced on November 21st. The Bristol was bought and restored by the present owner in time for him to take it to Amsterdam where he celebrated his 50th Birthday.

My thanks again to Ted Walker of Ferret Photographic for facilitating today’s blog.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Footman James Classic Motor Show” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Goodwood Revival 2012 – #1 Track Action

2 Replies

I planned to get up at 4am on Friday and head to Goodwood at 5 prompt, the first part of the plan worked well but by the time I’d corrected a false start and gone back home to collect my ticket it was 5:30 am before I hit the road in earnest.

As I arrived at Goodwood the 8 O’clock news headline on the radio was about a controversy surrounding pictures of naked Royalty that had been published in France. I switched the radio off before the whole story had been told and headed off into a car park full of classic and cars where I found this mascot on a Daimler LQ20.

As I approached the bridge that acted as an entrance into the circuit I observed a tent full of people being transformed from 21st Century to mid 20th Century citizens for what is one of the worlds biggest, if not the biggest, three day Fancy Dress Nostalgia events.

Once inside evidence of the Dan Gurney for President campaign was hard to ignore, I bet the guy I would vote for is faster than any other presidential candidate that ever lived.

On my way to the pits I popped by to say hi to Paul Chenard from Nova Scotia in Canada, Paul is seen above with one of the ten limited edition laser cut in steel Ferrari GTO’s he has recently been working on. Given that there were 15 250 GTO’s present to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the model which these day’s are conservatively valued at $20 million dependent on provenance I imagine Paul did not have to take too many of these cool pieces home with him.

Thanks to an armband kindly lent to me by the owner of the Porsche in this linked photo, I was able to get into the pits to see and hear some of the cars as they were being fettled ready for qualifying for the Goodwood Revival invitation races. Above the Walker Climax Tec Mec Tipo 10 apparently was commissioned by Rob Walker for Stirling Moss in 1960 but was never raced in period.

The Tartra T603 from the former Czechoslovakia easily won the unofficial biggest exhaust pipes in the pits competition, they are attached to an air cooled V8. The car qualified a respectable 8th for both rounds of the St Mary’s Trophy with John Haugland and Arne Berg driving in the first and second races respectively.

After a short break for lunch, during which I caught up with acquaintances from The Nostalgia Forum, I started an anticlockwise walk of the circuit as Kenny Brack was securing pole for the Shelby Cup in a Shelby Daytona Coupé. I got to the Lavant Corners in time to see a demonstration of pre 1939 Grand Prix Cars which included V12 and V16 Auto Unions, Mercedes Benz silver arrows models running together for what is thought to be the first time since 1939. Unfortunately the poor commentators had no idea who was driving what and the programme notes are no help either. Above two V16 Auto Unions lead a Mercedes Benz, the V12 Auto Union an ERA and a pair of 8 cylinder Maserati’s.

As the autumnal afternoon unfolded a seemingly endless stream of storied automobiles passed by including this recreation of a 39 inch tall prototype Maserati 151/3 driven by Jochen Mass and owner Barrie Baxter, which was invited to join the GT cars in the TT Celebration race.

After the many trials and all to few tribulations of BRM with it’s V16 P15 built in 1950 the team eventually evolved into Grand Prix and World Championship contenders winning the 1962 World Manufacturers and Drivers Championships with Graham Hill at the wheel of a V8 powered BRM P57, with 8 neat exhaust stacks, similar to the one above driven by David Clark in the Glover Trophy.

The last time I remember seeing Brian Redman at the wheel of an Aston Martin was at Donington Park in 1989 when he was driving the brutal Aston Martin AMR 1 Group C car. Here Brian is driving a 1957 DBR 1 of the type which, unlike the AMR 1, won at Le Mans in 1959 with Carol Shelby and Roy Salvadori at the wheel. Brian is seen above on his way to 18th on the grid for the Sussex Trophy race.

Having started the morning in the fog bound Channel Islands one of only two remaining Avro Lancaster PA474 bombers, powered by four Rolls Royce Merlin V12’s made a flyover of the track just before the day’s only scheduled race started.

Anthony Reid stormed off into what looked like an invincible lead for the 90 minuet Freddie March Memorial Trophy race as the evening drew to dusk. However a gear box fault meant that when owner Nigel Webb took over there was only one gear available, 4th and so the #24 C-type fell back to an eventual twelfth place. This meant that all Alex Buncombe had to do was keep his #12 Jaguar Heritage Racing C-Type,which had started with John Young at the wheel, on the road to keep the lead. Alex did take the win but only after a lawn mowing incident at St Mary’s corner which resulted in Alex loosing his head lights for a good half an our before remembering where the switch was.

Thanks for joining me on this Goodwood Revival 2012 – #1 Track Action edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be taking a look at some of the MG’s at Goodwood. Don’t forget to come back now !

Wings & Wheels – Dunsfold Aerodrome

Classics At The Castle – Sherborne Castle

1 Reply

Sherborne Castle is a 16th Century Tudor Mansion built for Sir Walter Raleigh who leased the grounds of the ruined old Castle from the crown in 1592. Last weekend David Root, wearing his Italian Auto Moto Club hat, kindly invited me to Sherborne Castle to visit a very busy Classics at the Castle event.

As one might expect from the grounds of such a storied estate many interesting automotive stories, myths and legends emerged from the day. The Lancia Delta Integrale seen above parked next to David’s Lenham Alfa was painted pearlescent white when it was purchased by Lance Bombardier Mark (Bing) Chandler several years ago. Mark intended to return the car to it’s original factory specification however before he could fulfill that dream he was killed in action in the Helmand province of Afghanistan while protecting the local population from insurgent intimidation. In memory to their son Marks parents have had the Lancia restored to it’s original factory specification.

As can be seen by the striking contrast between the Austin 7 Hamblin Cadet and the second generation Toyota 4Runner Sunday’s event catered for a diverse range of motoring tastes.

Some years ago the special above was labeled as being the Aston Martin DP155 however once some experts has compared it to period photo’s of DP155, a car that was raced in New Zealand by Reg Parnell in 1956, it was noticed the driver sat in a central position atop the transmission in DP155 and that a number of other features of the special in my photograph above did not match the description of DP155. The mystery of this specials identity has still not been solved four years after this linked thread was started on The Nostalgia Forum.

The AC (Brooklands) Ace above was the first of two Ace prototypes, the car seen above was also known at the “Ace of Spades” featured a Ford Taraus V6 motor and all wheel drive. Curiously both the prototype Aces, the second second Ace prototype is powered by a Lotus Engine and was built in 1997, are coming up for auction at Dorset Vintage & Classic Auction on September 20th.

Despite being born in an age where Ian Gilmore once told his sound engineers “We want everything louder than everything else”, it’s been a while since I sat in a vehicle with a hi fidelity system big enough to host a rave, I remember the first time I did so, in 1990, I played Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No:3 in G and was very moved despite not turning the volume passed the number 4 on the dial. The four door Escort Mark V is reminiscent of the 2 door Project 2000 Ford Escort Mk VI RS2000 built by Max Power magazine towards the end of the last century.

According to the blurb in the window of this 1937 32hp Daimler “… is widely repudiated to be the personal transport of King Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor and Mrs Wallis Simpson following his abdication and exile to France.” An odd use of the word repudiate which I have neither been able to refute or repute.

Perversely while the original 1973-1976 MGB V8 was only available with a GT Coupé body while the retro 1993-1995 MG RV8 was only available with a Roadster body. Some enthusiasts have taken it into their own hands to bring older GT’s up to RV8 spec complete with all the lower body panels from the newer model like the owner of the 1972 GT above which features a 190 hp 3947 cc / 240.8 cui RV8 motor.

With an 85 hp aluminium block motor with origins that date back to 1922, solid front and rear axles and a wooden frame to carry the body the 1955 AC 2 litre Saloon was not exactly ground braking, but it did handle and perform well with an 80 mph top speed, though not as well as the contemporary Bristol 403 which was capable of over 100 mph.

David and i looked at each other in disbelief as bidding got underway for Lot 15 a 1987 Bentley Mulsanne previously owned by Geoffrey Rose chairman of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) got underway for just £1,500 in the Charterhouse Auctions tent. Surprisingly what must be nearly a 3 ton vehicle finally went to someone for just £2,300 excluding the auctioneers commission. That is a lot of car for not much money, though taxing it and keeping it running for a year might cost a lot more than the car is actually worth.

Over a year ago some of you may remember I attended a Piston Heads meeting in the car park of the BMW factory, for the Classics in the Castle event the Piston Heads were asked to organise a classic and sports car run, the vehicles that took part in this event with in an event is deserving of it’s own blog which I may get round to when there are not quite so many events to cover in the off season. Among my favorites was this 1954 Austin Healey 100 BN1 which was first fitted with a Chevrolet V8 by Greg Gatehouse in California around 1965. It is now on it’s third V8 a Fastco 6276 cc / 383 cui crate unit. Amongst the other interesting upgrades is an button actuated hydraulic handbrake which replaces the conventional cable operated system.

FN are well known Belgian manufactuers of fire arms, in the early twentieth century they also manufactured cars and motorcycles. Above is a 1912 FN Roadster that was taking part in a smaller Vintage Run which also finished at Sherborne Castle last Sunday.

Disappointingly there was no Concours d’Elegance or even an audience vote for a popular car but the stands of the various clubs taking part were judged in a competition with the Austin A30/A35 owners club coming third, Porsche Club GB second and Wessex Ferrari being awarded first prize.

Many thanks to David Root and the members of the Italian Auto Moto Club who made today’s blog possible, and to Tim Murray who pointed me in the right direction regarding the green open wheel special.

Thanks for joining me on this “Classics At The Castle” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when all being well I be bringing you the latest from this weekends Silverstone Classic event. Don’t forget to come back now !

Perfect Daily Driver – Daimler Sovereign Coupé

1 Reply

Today’s post is dedicated to yet another GALPOT Birthday Boy Racer187 who some of you may know as the Rowdy Racer with a Daimler SP 250 I blogged about late last year.

Today’s vehicle in featured vehicle in honor of Ryan is a Daimler Sovereign Pillarless Coupé which of the badge engineered Daimlers is my personal favorite.

This particular Right Hand Drive (RHD) 4.2 liter six cylinder model, described by the owner a a ‘Perfect Daily Driver’ appears to have been driven around 500 miles from Remscheid in Germany all the way to the Goodwood Revival.

The Daimler Sovereign Pillarless Coupé was in production from 1974 to 1978 and apart from its fluted grill and badges was externally identical to the Jaguar XJ Coupé but less than a third of the Jaguar / Daimler Coupé’s were Daimler variations.

Due to issues with the paint going brittle as it oxidized and flexing in the pillar less roof vinyl roofs were standard on both variants of the Coupé to hide the cracked paint where the roof flexed. The vinyl roofs then acted as moisture traps when the paint beneath did crack causing rusting issues. Modern paints do not become so brittle and some restorations of these models have the vinyl roof removed.

This particular car has been subjected to a fully documented bare metal restoration which includes being repainted in Jaguar Squadron Blue.

What I particularly like about this restoration is that it features the correct vinyl roof and XJ / Sovereign Series II bumpers, all of the XJ / Sovereign Coupés were built with Series II bodies and chassis.

Wishing Racer187 aka Ryan Smith a very Happy Birthday.

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

Built by Craftsmen – Lanchester LD10 #L63579

5 Replies

Lanchester founded as the Lanchester Engine Company Ltd in 1899 by the Lanchester brothers Frederick, George and Frank who are credited with being the first British builders of a motor car, not a horseless carriage, in 1895 which ran on a public road in 1896. The brothers are also credited with being the original purveyors of disc brakes in 1902. Fredricks uncompromising attitude to mechanical perfection led Lanchester into financial difficulties and an eventual merger with the British Daimler Company in 1931.

The post war Lanchester LD10 was a compact companion to the Daimler range, like it’s bigger Bretheren Lanchester’s were built by craftsman at a time when most vehicles of this size were already much cheaper to build on assembly lines. Initially this model was available with a steel body by Briggs of Dagenham and later models like the one in these photographs with alloy body work by Barker.

This model is powered by a 4 cylinder 40hp overhead valve engine which transmits power to the rear wheels via a 4 speed preselector gearbox. This combination of engine and geabox was considered both reasonably powerful, with a 69 mph capability and exceptionally smooth for it’s time. The engine number of this particular vehicle is #18557.

It is thought 3,030 examples of this model were built between 1946 and 1951. This particular vehicle, chassis L63579, was built in 1951.

With thanks to David Roots who invited me to the Classic and Sports Car Action Day at Castle Combe where these photographs were taken.

Thanks you for dropping in on today’s 69 mph edition of “Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow ! Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring