Tag Archives: GALPOT

Inspirational Fish – Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Coupé

Larry Shinoda was responsible for the design of the second generation (C2) Corvette which took styling cues from the 1959 (Bill Mitchell) Stingray Concept Car.

Bill Mitchell is also credited with catching a Marko Shark which is said to have provided further inspiration for the C2’s design details.

Production of the C2 ran from 1963 to 1967 with numerous detail changes introduced during the run. This one is powered by a 360 hp 5.3 litre / 327 cui V8.

Featured here is a 1963 model distinguished by the twin horizontal air vents behind the front wheel.

The very first 1953 Corvette Logo was going to include the US flag on the left, however this plan was deemed an illegal use of the flag on a commercial product so the flag was replaced by one bearing the GM bow tie and Frances fleur-de-lyes which symbolizes peace and purity.

The bobtail on the 1963 Coupé would be reprised on the back of the 1971 Buick Riviera.

Independent rear suspension replaced the solid axles used in the original (C1) Corvettes.

The split rear screen was replaced in 1964 for a single screen.

Farther of the Corvette, program, Zora Arkus Duntov is said not to have been impressed by the split screen while his boss Bill Mitchell overruled him.

“Sting Ray” and “Stingray” logo’s were only applied to the C2 and C3 Corvettes from 1963 – 1982 except in 1968.

The most valuable Sting Ray’s are five light weight examples built in response to the Shelby Cobra project, all five are in private hands.

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

Metricated Austin 7 – BMW “Dixi” DA2 3/15 #14187

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Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach was founded in in 1896 to manufacture motorcycles and motorcars under the Wartburg brand. The Wartburg brand was discontinued in 1904 and replaced with the Dixi brand.

In 1927 Fabrik Eisenach bought a license to manufacture a Left Hand Drive version of the Austin 7.

The following year BMW wishing to enter the motor manufacture bought Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach which was experiencing financial difficulties.

Over the ensuing years the car was metricated and the engine was updated and upgraded by BMW, the Austin 7 motor’s ancestry can be traced through a range of BMW and later still Bristol six cylinder motor’s.

The 1929 model, seen here at Silverstone Classic, has an all steel body built by Ambi-Budd of Berlin.

This car spent most of it’s life in East Germany near the Polish border and had been off the road for 15 years before a restoration was started with the replacement of the kingpins, starter ring gear, wiring, fan pulleys, belt and blades, brake shoes, propshaft coupling, battery, windscreen and tyres.

Thanks for joining me on this “Metricated Austin 7” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Aim Sure – MG PA Supercharged Sports #P 0522

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Len Miller an aviator who lied his way into the RAF in 1942 by telling them he was a plumber, rather than reserved occupation marine engineer, purchased today’s featured MG PA, after meeting Guy Gibson, leader of the ‘dam busters’, in 1943 who drove an MG J2.

Len used to ferry his six crew mates, one on each corner one on the bonnet and one in the passenger seat across the airfield out to his 15 Squadron, motto “Aim Sure”, Lancaster Bomber during the 1939 – ’45 war.

In 1944 Len had to eject from his Lancaster at 20,000 ft, he lost and regained consciousness in time to open his parachute and landed well behind enemy lines in Germany.

His one man escape through Germany, occupied France into neural Switzerland is documented in the book “Bomber Squadron, the men who flew with 15 Squadron”.

Many years later this car was damaged after a roof collapsed across the radiator and bonnet during the Great Storm of 1987 on the night of the 15th/16th October 1987.

Repairs started a restoration which included replacing the cracked engine block, and the original seats with the Collingburn seats.

Soon after the restoration was completed the motor was fitted with a side mounted Arnott supercharger.

Len kept today’s featured car, which still bears 15 Squadron decals on the rear mudguards / fenders, for 59 years until his death in 2002. It fetched £36,500 at the Race Retro Silverstone Auction soon after it was photographed for this blog.

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

More, More, More – Dodge Ram Mega Cab 3500 4X4 Larimie

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When the Dodge Ram Mega Cab hit the market in late 2007 it was all about more, isn’t it always when anything new hits the market ?

The 2008 Mega Cab offered more space, more comfort and more practicality setting new standards in the ‘room with a view’ pick up market.

Mega Cab featured the largest ever cab with 143 cubic feet of interior space, room for six which included reclining seats for passengers in the back.

This particular model is powered by a 350 hp 6.7 litre / 408 cui straight six Cummins turbo diesel motor which can deliver class leading 650lb/ft torque.

Payload capacity for the Mega Cab was given as 3,150 lbs, that’s a little more than what a first generation generation Ford Thunderbird would weigh.

The emissions system of the Cummins diesel is Government certified 120,000 miles, that’s about 10 years for the average British motorist.

Unique features to the 2008 Larimie Spec Mega Cab include Dual Zone Climate Control, steering wheel mounted audio controls security alarm and Sentry Key® engine immobiliser.

Towing capacity for the 2008 3500 version of the Mega Cab is 16,000 lbs to give a gross combined weight rating of 24,000 lbs which was up 1000lbs from the 2007 model.

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

Enzo’s Big Banger – Ferrari 712 #1010

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Today’s featured Ferrari began life as a Ferrari 512S chassis #1010 which was qualified on pole for it’s first race by Mario Andretti at the 1970 Sebring 12 hours. Andretti and co driver Art Mezario retired from the race leaving Andretti free to jump into the sister car, chassis #1026, which up to that point had been driven by Ignazio Giunti / Nino Vaccarella, from seventh on the grid. Andretti famously chased down the Solar Productions Porsche 908 which was driven primarily by Peter Revson and shared with Steve McQueen to win the race.

During the remainder of the 1970 season #1010 was driven by the likes of Jackie Oliver, Peter Schetty and Jackie Ickx who teamed up with Giunti won the season finale 1970 Kayalami 9 Hours.

For 1971 a larger 6.3 litre / 384 cui V12 replaced the original 5 litre / 305 cui motor and Art Mezario used it to win the Interserie (Unlimitied Can Am style) race at Imola under the watchful of eye of Enzo Ferrari himself. Later in 1971 #1010 appeared at Watkins Glen with new open body work and now with a 6.86 litre / 418 cui V12 for Mario Andretti to drive in the Can Am Series. Despite a lack of development Andretti managed to qualify 5th and finish 4th only for the car to disappear for the remainder of the season.

For 1972 Luigi Chinetti acquired the largest Ferrari V12 engine ever built along with chassis #1010 in which to run it and entered Jean-Pierre Jarier in for two more Can Am races, he finished 4th from 10th on the grid at Road America where it had become obvious the by now turbo charged Porsche 917’s were in a completely different class from the Ferrari 712 and indeed the rest of the field.

Brian Redman had the honour of driving the car for the last time in the 1974 in the Watkins Glen Can Am round, which almost eliminated all non turbocharged vehicles with a maximum permitted fuel limit, he qualified 19th and retired with broken rear suspension. Today Enzo’s Big Banger chassis #1010 is run by Paul Knapfield and is seen here at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “Enzo’s Big Banger” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I shall be looking at the original version of the Lotus 49 that revolutionised Grand Prix Racing in 1967. Don’t forget to come back now !

Don’t Tell Enzo – Chevrolet Corvette Italia by Scaglietti

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The idea for having an Italian coach builder make a stylish body for a reliable American Corvette germinated in the mind of Chevrolet Dealer Gary Laughlin when he was horrified by the repair bills accruing to his Ferrari Monza in particular the crankshaft.

Teaming up with racers Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby, Gary approached Chevrolet’s General Manager Ed Cole and secured three complete Corvette rolling chassis and shipped them to Scaglietti who at the time was responsible for building the 250 “Tour de France” Berlinetta’s for Ferrari. Wanting to keep his American connection away from the prying eyes of Enzo Ferrari it was 18 months before Gary received today’s featured car back with a continental look.

Laughlin is said to have been unimpressed with the fit and finish of the car he received and the two remaining cars were sent back with aluminium bodies and unfinished interiors. Chevrolet also pulled the plug on the project by declining the ad hoc supply of rolling chassis in the long term.

The car seen here, courtesy of Geoffrey Horton at the recent Dana Point Concours d’Elegance, now belongs to the Peterson Museum and is the only one of the three with a manual transmission. The other two cars all have further detail differences, the one in this linked photo has no bumperette / overiders front or rear, while the third has no intake on the bonnet / hood no vents in the front wings / fenders but it does have quarter bumpers on the front, full rear bumper and a Chevrolet like grill decoration in the nose as can be seen in this linked photograph.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s images from Dana Point Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this “Don’t Tell Enzo” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the Ferrari with the largest V12 ever built at Maranello. Don’t forget to come back now !

On Prince’s And Pharoh’s – NSU Prinz 30

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NSU was founded as a knitting machine manufacturer in 1873, moving into bicycle manufacture in 1886 and motorcycle manufacture in 1901 by which time it had ceased making knitting machines. In 1905 NSU began manufacturing motor cars of their own design before production was given over to the manufacture of FIAT cars under license in 1929. The production of FIAT’s under the NSU-FIAT brand continued until 1967. Thereafter FIAT cars were manufactured at the same factory under license but marketed under the FIAT brand until 1973.

Capitalising on the goodwill and reputation of it’s motorcycle business, the first motorcycle to reach 200 mph was an NSU in 1955, the company moved back into manufacture of a car of it’s own design in 1957 with the NSU Prinz 30.

Although billed as a Wunder Buy! full four seater in reality the rear seats were only suitable for small children.

In order to keep the maintenance to a minimum the rear mounted 20 hp 583 cc / 35.6 cui air cooled two cylinder, motor cycle derived, engine, gearbox and transaxle were contained in a single casting meaning that the lubricating oil level could be maintained from a single filler, the only other lubrication required was for the king pins on either side of the front suspension.

Production of the Prinz 30 lasted until 1962 by which time models were also being built in Australia, the Prinz 30 floor pan and drive was also used to launch Egypt’s entry into motor vehicle manufacture for various NSU Ramses vehicles including the Utilica and Gamila the latter featuring a Vignale styled cabriolet body.

Thanks for joining me on this “On Prince’s And Pharoh’s” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Americana Thursday when I’ll be looking at an Italian Styled Chevrolet. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: GALPOT

Inspirational Fish – Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Coupé

Metricated Austin 7 – BMW “Dixi” DA2 3/15 #14187

Aim Sure – MG PA Supercharged Sports #P 0522

More, More, More – Dodge Ram Mega Cab 3500 4X4 Larimie

Enzo’s Big Banger – Ferrari 712 #1010

Don’t Tell Enzo – Chevrolet Corvette Italia by Scaglietti

On Prince’s And Pharoh’s – NSU Prinz 30