Tag Archives: Frua

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 !

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Not Quite A GT – Ligier Cosworth JS2 #2379 72 03

In 1970 former international rugby player and construction magnate Guy Ligier set about founding a sports car manufacturing company bearing his own name.

The original production model was to be the JS2 with a chassis designed by Michel Tetu, who would later be part of the Renault Le Mans and Formula One campaigns and a body designed by Pietro Frua.

The JS2 was originally intended to be powered by a 2.6 litre / 158 cui Ford Cologne V6 but that had to be changed to the 3 litre / 183 cui Maserati V6 as used in the Merak and Citroën SM, when Ford thought it might build a rival in the form of the Ford GT70.

Ligier JS2, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

Production of the JS2 never reached sufficient numbers for the sporting authorities to consider the car for GT racing so instead racing versions were run as prototypes.

The racing JS2’s were built with aluminium chassis and raced with Maserati V6 engines which proved a tad underpowered and unreliable, although the teams perseverance was rewarded with a victory in the 1974 Le Mans 4 hour race for Guy Chasseuil and in the 1974 Tour de France Automobile where Gérard Larrousse, Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Johnny Rives drove the winning JS2.

A second place finish for today’s featured chassis #2379 72 03 driven by Bernard Darniche and Jacques Jaubert emphasised the team’s mastery of the 1974 mixed discipline event.

Ligier JS2, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

With new sponsorship from Gitanes for 1975 Ligier exploited the Prototype regulations more fully by producing a silhouette JS2 body and fitting more powerful Ford Cosworth DFV motors to two of his three JS2 racing cars including today’s featured chassis.

The two DFV powered JS2s were sent to Mugello and Dijon netting a 7th for Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Jean-Pierre Jarier at the former and 6th for François Migault and Jean-Pierre Jarier at the latter.

Perhaps mindful of wanting to preserve their machinery for Le Mans only single car entries were sent to Monza and Spa where Beltoise and Jarrier finished 21st from 7th on the grid and François Migault and Jean-Louis Lafosse finished 12th from 5th on the grid respectively.

Ligier JS2, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

At Le Mans the two DFV powered JS2’s were joined by a third Maserati powered JS2 the latter to be driven by Beltoise and Jarier.

Unsurprisingly the Maserati was slowest of the three starting from 9th it was also the first of the three to retire after an accident.

Today’s featured car driven by Henri Pescarolo and François Migault qualified 5th but retired later in the race with a puncture.

The second DFV powered JS2 driven by Jean-Louis Lafosse and Guy Chasseuil qualified an impressive 3rd and survived to finish second only one lap down behind the Gulf GR8 shared by Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx.

After Le Mans 1975 Ligier retired from sports car racing in preparation for it Gitanes sponsored appearance in Formula One the following season.

Thanks for joining me on this “Not Quite A GT” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be paying a visit to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Four Doors – Maserati Quattroporte

Like the first Maserati 5000GT which was built at the request of the Shah of Iran the first Maserati Quattroporte was built at the request of a customer, in the Quattroporte’s case the interested party was none other than Imam and business man Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan IV who ordered a special Maserati 5000, chassis #103,060, with a body designed by Pietro Frua that was built by Vignale in 1962.

Maserati Quattroporte, Silverstone Classic

The following year Maserati commenced building production versions known as the ‘Tipo 107’ Quattroporte with 265hp 4,136 cc / 252 cui V8 motors and either five speed manual or 3 speed automatic transmissions.

Maserati Quattroporte, Silverstone Classic

Top speed for the first 230 Quattroportes built between 1963 and 1966 was claimed to be 143 mph.

Maserati Quattroporte, Silverstone Classic

In 1966 all Quattroportes were fitted with the US spec quadruple headlights as seen on this early 1968 example and from later in 1968 they were fitted with an upgraded 295hp 4.7 litre motor which increased the top speed to 160 mph which made the model the worlds fastest four door saloon / sedan.

Maserati Quattroporte, Silverstone Classic

500 Quattroportes were built between 1966 and the end of production in 1969.

Maserati Quattroporte, Silverstone Classic

Although production of the second generation Quattroportes did not commence until 1974 the Aga Khan and King of Spain took delivery of Quattroportes built on AM 121 Maserati Indy derived chassis in 1974. New Maserati owners Citroen pulled the plug on the Indy based Quattroporte before it went into full scale production.

Thanks for joining me on this “Four Doors” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an air cooled Amilcar. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Coquettish Tease – Maserati Mistral Spyder

Despite using many different motor configurations by 1963 when today’s featured Maserati Mistral model was launched it was the six cylinder sports and racing cars for which the marque had best become known.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Mistral was designed in Coupé form by Pietro Frua with additional input on the spyder from Giovanni Michelotti as a replacement for the 3500GT which had been in production since 1957.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Bodies for both the 828 Coupés and 125 Spyders that would be built were supplied by Maggiora of Turin up until 1970 when the last straight six DOHC Maserati was phased out.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Mistrals were built with three engine sizes 3.5, 3.7 and 4.0 litres / 244 cui all of which were fitted with Lucas fuel injection.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Today’s featured 1964 vehicle is fitted with the smaller 3.5 litre / 212 cui motor which produced 235 hp which was transmitted to the rear wheels by a 5 speed ZF manual gearbox.

Maserati Mistral Spyder, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Coquettish tease Olimpia Segura, played by Brit Ekland, manages to secure a Maserati Mistral Spyder from a would be suitor in the 1967 film The Bobo set in Barcelona and staring Peter Sellers.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coquettish Tease” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1963 NASCAR race car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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JK Car Corture – Maserati A6G 54 Frua #2114

Like Pinin Farina bodied A6G I looked at last week today’s featured Frua bodied A6G is believed to have been shown at the Paris Salon albeit in 1955 rather than ’54.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Pietro Frua was the son of a tailor and a mother who was a FIAT employee. He was an apprentice at FIAT where he was taught to become a draughtsman.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

At 22 Pietro became Director of Styling at the Stabilimenti Farina and in 1938 he struck out alone by founding his own styling studio. He was succeeded at Farina by Giovanni Michelotti.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 1944 Pietro bought a bombed out factory where he would design and build his cars.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Among his early clients were Maserati for whom he built 26 cars to three different designs.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Only seven of the 26 Frua Maseratis would be Coupés and only four were of the same design as today’s featured #2114, which is the third of the series.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 1954 Frua sold out to Ghia where he was appointed head of design.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Frua fell out with Ghia and eventually became an independent designer of vehicles for the German company Glas which was taken over by BMW, Maserati and Monteverdi.

Maserati A6G 54 Frua, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Today’s featured car #2114, seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed several years ago has belonged to Jamiroqui singing legend JK for around a decade and won many concours d’elegance awards during that time.

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

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Swedish Tease – Volvo 1800 ES

In 1956 Volvo launched a sports car the P1900 a fibreglass bodied roadster, inspired by the Chevrolet Corvette, if you have never heard of it, or seen it, that is because the P1900 was a disaster so bad that after using one on a holiday weekend incoming Volvo President Gunnar Engellau cancelled further production after just 68 units had been produced.

Volvo 1800ES, Cotswolds MM

Volvo’s next attempt to crack the sports car market hinged on a design by Italian design house Pietro Frua called the P1800. In 2009 Volvo admitted that there Italian designed car was actually designed by a Swede working at Frua called Pelle Petterson who’s father had designed the Volvo PV444.

The P1800 was eventually launched in 1961, with the same engine as used in the Volvo Amazon series, making the model 50 years old this year along with the much cheaper Renault 4 and slightly cheaper E-Type Jaguar. Originally scheduled to be built by Karmann in Osnabruck Germany until Karmann’s biggest customer Volkswagen intervened with an emphatic ‘Nein’ the P1800 was initially produced under contract by Jensen. After quality issues emerged production transferred from the UK to Sweden with the introduction of P1800 S which featured a larger 118 hp motor.

Volvo P1800ES, Cotswold MM

In 1970 the P 1800 E was introduced with fuel injection and in 1972 the last of the P1800 models, P1800 ES seen here, was launched with a novel one piece rear glass tailgate which transformed the coupé into a versatile eye catching shooting brake for which designer Jan Wilsgaard was responsible.

The P 1800 like many contemporary models was killed off my the 1974 US safety and emissions regulations, with some 39,407 Coupé and 8,077 Shooting Brakes built the P1800 was considered a far greater success than it’s predecessor. My overwhelmimg memory of driving P1800 models is that despite being 6′ tall I had the feeling I was sitting in a very deep bath tub and had a great deal of difficulty determining where the corners of the car were when shuffling these models through cramped garage space.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s one piece glass tailgate edition of ‘Gettin’ alil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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