Tag Archives: Ford

Li’l Pink Pony – Ford Mustang

Coffee, Croissant & Cars #7 – Avenue Drivers Club

The festive spirit was gathering pace, at Queen Square, Bristol yesterday, no sooner had I arrived and I was being proffered charity mince pies ! Extremely delicious they were too !

MG NA Magnette, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Among the many visitors to the Avenue Drivers Club meeting was what appears to be a 1934 MG K1 one of it’s club badges indicates that it may have spent some time in South Africa. 14 01 13 Further investigation has revealed this car is actually an NA Magnette.

The difference between a 1952 Riley RMA and 1952 Riley RME is indicated externally by the larger rear window of the later model which leads me to conclude the model seen here is the RMA.

Appearing to have come past just for a cruise around the block was this 1958 Ford Thunderbird.

These two Austin Healey Sprites were built in 1960 on the left and 1958 on the right.

The owner of this Ford Consul has only had the car for a couple of weeks, he told me he had owned many Mini’s before buying the four cylinder Ford.

This 1966 Morris 1800 has attended many of the same show’s I have this year, it was bought and prepared for a local classic Rally on a very small budget, running to hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.

One of the first cars to offer seeing round corner capability was the 1968 version of the Citroen DS that was first seen in 1955. This DS19 was built in 1972.

Another classic from 1972 was this Hillman Avenger fitted with what appear to be period correct aftermarket Cosmic alloy wheels.

Car of the day was this 1972 Crayford Ford Capri GT 3000, built in a period when Ford did not have time to satisfy a demand for convertible versions of it’s cars. Crayford took on the job fitting it with a white interior and walnut veneer.

When production of the Ford Capri ended in 1986 Ford left the massed produced Coupé market to the likes of Toyota and their Supra models the vehicles above were manufactured in 1989 on the left and 1992 on the right.

In 1990 I went to Connecticut for a week to attend a friends wedding, while I was there I hired a Ford Thunderbird similar to this 1992 example, I could not believe how big it was for a two door, at one point I found the car could carry 4 adults and two small children with a modicum of comfort from one side of town to the other !

Above another reminder that the season of Goodwill is upon us took the form of this Morris Marina Estate which dates from circa 1973.

Finding out about the Avenue Drivers Club has been one of this years simple joys for me, what could be easier or more fun than rolling 5 mins down a steep hill and finding yourself having a couple of hours of fun looking at some of the huge variety of veteran, vintage and classic cars that come from your environs and enjoying a Coffee & Croissant with some of the owners ? My thanks and seasons greetings to everyone who has brought their cars along. Next meeting January 13th 2013 !

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars #7″ of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Above another reminder the

Supercharged Striped Snake – Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Improvement Is Not Enough – Lotus Ford 81 #R2

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Through out the 1970s Colin Chapman had come up with a string of innovative if not always successful designs and concepts for his Formula One team on the successful side there was the wedge shaped Lotus 72 which remained competitive from 1970 to 1974, the Lotus 78 wing car which won more races than any other design in 1977 but did not win the championship and the Lotus 79 ground effects car which clinched the 1978 World Championships for Mario Andretti and Lotus.

On the less successful side Colin had developed the Lotus 76 with it’s novel twin wing and push button clutch which was abandoned in 1974, Lotus 77 with it’s infinitely variable suspension geometry which caused team leader Ronnie Peterson to quit the team, before it was turned into a one time race winner with Mario Andretti at the wheel in 1976 and the Lotus 80 which took the ground effects concept a little too far and was abandoned after just three starts in 1979.

This left Lotus and Ferrari tied on championships for the 1970’s with three drivers titles each and four constructors titles each with Lotus winning 35 races between 1970 and 1979 to Ferrari’s 39.

1980 proved to be a bad year for both Ferrari and Lotus, Ferrari were busy building a new turbo charged motor and the Ferrari T5 used in the interim was an improvement on the previous years championship winning Ferrari T4, but was way behind the development curve of its competitors, Colin Champman’s Lotus 1981 mean while did not appear to feature any innovations and is probably best described as an improvement on the 1978 championship winning Lotus 79, but was also way behind the development curve of it’s competitors.

Mario Andretti and Elio de Angelis were employed to drive the new cars and it was de Angelis in his second season in the sports top tier that scored the teams best result a second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix along with three further top six, points paying finish. Mario meanwhile had a miserable last season at Lotus with nine retirements and just a single sixth place finish in his last race for the team in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

The Lotus 81 introduced future world champion Nigel Mansell to Formula One when he became a third member of the team for three races towards the end of the year starting at the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix. Nigel recorded two retirements and a DNQ but had done enough to secure a seat with the team for the following season.

Lotus finished the season in a poor and distant, by their standards 5th place in the constructors championship while Ferrari finished an even more disappointing 10th.

Elio de Angelis is seen above in chassis 81 #R2 on the opening lap of the 1980 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch from which he retired. 81/R2 was used by all three Lotus drivers in 1980, Mario scored a best 7th place finish at Monaco, Elio a best 4th place finish at the 1980 US GP at Watkins Glen while Nigel failed to qualify R2 at the 1980 Italian GP at Monza.

For 1981 chassis 81/R2 was updated to B spec which included a tea tray front wing, as a has been in use by Ferrari since 1974. Nigel Mansell raced the car four times in 1981 scoring a best 10th place finish in the 1981 South African Grand Prix, the cars last race was the 1981 Argentinian Grand Prix from which Nigel retired. The car was subsequently taken to races as a spare car up until the French Grand Prix after which it was replaced by the new Lotus 87/88 design.

Thanks for joining me on this “Improvement Is Not Enough” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Footman James Classic Motor Show – NEC Birmingham

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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 !

Definetly Not The Right One – Lotus Ford 80 #R1

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Colin Chapman described the Lotus Ford 80 at it’s launch in the Kentagon at Brands Hatch in 1979 as the best looking Lotus he had ever built. Reigning World Champion Mario Andretti said it would make the Lotus Ford 79 with which he won the 1978 World Championship look like a London Bus.

Unfortunately the car with the revolutionary venturi under the nose and a second under the rest of the body and with out the usual wings front and rear proved to be a bit of a handful with unpredictable handling once it started running on the track and it was only a matter of time before Colin Chapman and his engineers were removing the skirts that sealed the airflow beneath the nose and fitting conventional front wings to aid the aerodynamic poise and balance of the car.

The whole point of the design was to make the Lotus 80 faster down the straights than the Lotus 79 by not having any wings fitted at all. However all was not lost at Brands Hatch, as seen in Sven Platts photo below, the car was only used as a spare, but in the next race the Spanish Grand Prix Mario Andretti qualified a respectable forth behind the two hitherto dominant Ligiers that were the most effective copies of the previous seasons Lotus 79 and the more powerful Ferrari 312 T4 of Gilles Villeneuve.

Patrick Depaillier won the Spanish Grand Prix in his Ligier from Carlos Reutemann, in the Lotus Teams older Lotus 79, who finished ahead of Mario in the Lotus 80. The Spanish Grand Prix turned out to be the highlight of the Lotus 80’s short life, at Monaco Mario could only qualify 13th and at the French GP where a heavily revised second Lotus 80 was tested Mario qualified 12th but he retired with suspension and brake issues from each of these races respectively.

The final appearance of the Lotus 80 was at the British Grand Prix at Silvestone where I took the photograph below. Mario practised in the car but decided he was better off with his year old Lotus 79 which by now was swamped by new designs which emulated it and the more powerful, ultimately 1979 championship winning, Ferrari T4s.

I believe these photographs all show the same chassis namely Lotus Ford 80 R1 which today appears to be owned by Manfredo Rossi a member of the Martini Rossi family that sponsored team Lotus in 1979.

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

Coffee, Croissant & Cars #6 – Avenue Drivers Club

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One of the simple joys I have discovered this year is the Avenue Drivers Club meetings at Queen Square in Bristol, part of the pleasure of these events is that they are only 5 mins away from where I live and the other is the ever lengthening list of acquaintances I’m making. Yesterday morning I woke up to find my car frozen shut for the first time this year, once I had ‘broken’ in deiced the windows I set off to pick up my friend Tim. On the way back into town we caught up with Rich in his MG BGT as he tried to navigate his way through a couple of diversions.

After parking I Tim met several friends he had not seen in nearly a decade and we met Ted who brought out his trusty yellow 911 GT2. Ted kindly invited me to join him at the NEC for the Classic Car Show next weekend. Among the cars that I have not seen at the Avenue Drivers Club before is this 1953 Bristol 403.

The registration ST 1 was made famous back in the 1960’s by a TV series called The Saint about an international man of mystery played by (Sir) Roger Moore who drove a white Volvo P1800 on Minilite alloy wheels registered “ST 1” in the show, today the registration belongs to a Mercedes A190 Elegance.

Among a handful of Bentleys that put in an appearance yesterday was this smart 2002 Arnage Red Label, romantically named after a 90 degree right hand corner that is one of the two slowest corners on the Le Mans 24 hour circuit.

Proof positive of the Simple Joy nature of second Sunday Avenue Drivers Club meetings can be seen on the faces of the occupants of this 1965 Morris Minor 1000 Tourer.

At the more expensive end of the spectrum was this 2010 Porsche 911 GT3, which for some reason was running on 2003/4 registration plates.

Just as Ted was observing that there were not many motorcycles present this work of customised art turned up, cant imagine what riding it on cobbled streets must be like with what looks like a seriously masochistic saddle.

Again probably not the most of comfortable vehicles to drive across the streets was this 1972 Lotus 7 Series 4 complete with period Cosmic alloy wheels.

David Roots’s Lenham ALFA Romeo was parked up next to this pristine 1959 Lancia Aprilla.

13/11/12 Correction the vehicle above is a Lancia Appia not Aprila as stated above.

Looking photogenic as ever was this Jensen 541 which I showed a detail of in last months Avenue Drivers Club blog.

Harking back to 1948 was this Chevrolet Fleetline with what appears to be a non standard two tone paint job.

Another ’59er was this customised Ford Consul Mk II with fetching period sun visor.

You would not know it looking at it but this 1929 4 1/2 litre Bentley Vanden Plas has survived not one but two fires, the second of which melted the front bulkhead and original radiator core. It has since been restored using photogrpahs of it’s original body over a period of ten years.

John the owner of the 4 1/2 litre Bentley Van Plas was telling me that the owner of this 1965 Sunbeam Tiger used to go to school with the owner of the Bristol 403 at the top of this post and that they met for the first time since yesterday. As I said the Avenue Drivers Club is a great place to meet old friends and make new acquaintances.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars #6” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l 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