Tag Archives: GALPOT

The Right One – Chevrolet Corvette

Project Panda – Ford Zodiac Mk4

In 1961 Vice President of Engineering at Ford of Britain Harley F Coop, who had worked on the Continental Mk II and Ford Falcon , became involved with Project Panda to design a vehicle to replace the Mk3 Zephyr / Zodiac range. The cars were to be fitted with V6 motors replacing the straight 6’s which had been used.

Despite having a shorter motor the resultant Mk 4 Zephyr and Zodiac models had a long bonnet and short boot, this was because of the independent rear suspension which could not accommodate the spare tyre in the rear so, Coop placed the spare tyre at an angle ahead of the radiator at the front of the car.

The Zodiac powered by the top of the range 3 litre / 183 cui V6 made an excellent towing vehicle however it would appear that the one off camper carried by this 1970 model, seen at the Goodwood Revival, was designed and manufactured by the Walkett brothers who are best known for their Ginetta sports cars.

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

12 05 08 While searching for information about the Ford Corsair I came accross a myth about the Corsair setting a number of records at Monza in 1967, it transpires these records were actually set by Eric Jackson, Ken Chambers, John Beckhart, Michael Bowler and John Maclean driving a Ford Zodiac MK IV averaging 100 mph for an entire seven days and nights on the Ford repaired Monza banking.

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Looking for Automotive Seasonal Gift Idea’s? Visit Automobiliart Now !

Get Smart – Opel GT

Planet of the Bee’s – Piaggio Ape Cross Country

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It is well known that Rolls Royce once avoided extreme embarrassment in Germany by a last minute change of name of one of their models from Silver Mist to Silver Shadow.

It must be questioned if inventor of the Vespa scooter Corradino D’Ascanio and Enrico Piaggio who’s company manufactured the scooters were aware of the English meaning of “Ape” when they named their chose the name for their three wheeled pick up in 1947 or if they were just monkeying around.”Ape” pronounced ‘ah-peh’ in Italian translates to bee in English.

Ape’s have been in continuous production since then with a variety of motors this 2004 model has a 49 cc / 3 cui motor which allegedly has good torque though low gearing keeps the top speed down to around 40 mph.

As well as being a tremendous success in Italy variants of the Ape are even more popular in India where the design serves as the most numerous form of motorised Taxi known as tuk-tuks which are manufactured by Piaggio India.I well remember a hair raising ride on a tuk tuk in New Dehli many years ago which convinced me that if I wished to leave India alive I’d probably best taking four wheeled transport for the rest of my stay.

But after I took a ride on a New Dehli bus and I was not so sure that was any safer.

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

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Looking for Automotive Seasonal Gift Idea’s? Visit Automobiliart Now !

Weekend Racer – Maserati A6G/54 GT Zagato Coupé

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From 1947 to 1956 Maserati built several series of 2 litre / 122 cui sports cars with 6 cylinder motors for racing and road use.

By 1954 the twin cam six cylinder motor was producing 150 hp and the first of a total of 60 A6GCS/54 models were made available.

The A6GCS/54 models were built with Belinetta, Barchetta and Spyder bodies supplied by either Frua, Ghia, Allemano or Zagato.

There are two variations of the Zagato coupé body on the A6G/54 GT chassis, two vehicles were built with double bubble roofs and 20 were built without.

The 1956 vehicle seen in today’s photographs at Silverstone Classic is thought to be the 7th from the non double bubble production run of 20, it is said to have been delivered to Maserati’s concessionaire in Rome, Gugliemo (Mimmo) Dei.

It is also said that this car was raced by gentleman racer Guiseppe Musso brother of Grand Prix driver Luigi Musso, though I have not been able to establish exactly in which, of the many events Guiseppe competed in, he drove this particular car.

Their was an earlier series of the Maserati A6G/54GT Zagato Coupé, known as the Maserati A6G 2000 Zagato Coupé, though so far as I have been able to ascertain the two models are otherwise as idententical as one might expect from a production run of hand built motor cars except the A6G 2000 is said to have been fitted with a less powerful motor.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Zagato edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Looking for Automotive Seasonal Gift Idea’s? Visit Automobiliart Now !

Pop Up Swansong – Ferrari 456M

2 Replies

The Ferrari 456 launched in 1995 was the long awaited V12 powered 2+2 replacement for the Ferrari 412 GT which had been out of production since 1989.

During the intervening 6 years if you wanted a 2+2 Ferrari you had to make do with the mid engine 8 cylinder Mondial 2+2.

Ferrari reentered the front engine rear wheel drive GT market with a V12 that owed nothing to the Ferrari 412 but was derived from the 65 degree Ferrari Dino V6 motor which in V12 form with 4 valves per cylinder and two overhead camshafts could produce an unstressed 436hp.

In 1998 the 456 was upgraded to 456M (Modificata) spec, externally distinguishable by the fog lights mounted in the grill, like the 1999 example seen here earlier this year at the Siverstone Classic.

456M spec motors were said to be good for an even smother 442hp thanks in part to a change in the firing order of the 12 cylinders and in part to the improved Bosch electronic engine management system.

There are a number of extremely rare variations on the 456 platform, these include two four door saloon / sedans built for the mysterious Nafsas Al Khaddaja allegedly resident in Belgium.

Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei is said to have ordered 7 456 GT Venice 4 door shooting brakes, but found he only had $9 million dollars in spare change when it was time to pay for them so only took six of them home without any change.

The Sultan of Brunei had two 456 Spyders built while Mike Tyson had an aftermarket Spyder conversion on his.

Finally there is Shaquille O’Neal’s example which features a number of aftermarket modifications to accommodate his 7′ 1″ frame including much longer seat rails and a unique, for a 456, targa top.

The 456M was the last Ferrari to feature pop up headlights which were no longer necessary at the time the car was launched in 1995, but remained since they had been a requirement at the time the design of the model commenced. In all 3,289 456 variants had been produced when production switched to the 612 Scaglietti in 2003.

Fellow blogger Jay Wollenweber spotted the older 458 model on the sunny streets of San Ramon recently.

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

PS Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

Looking for Automotive Seasonal Gift Idea’s? Visit Automobiliart Now !

Automobiliart – Paul Chenard

1 Reply

One of the amazing things about the internet is the way it brings people together regardless of physical or geographic location, a case in point cropped up last year when I was looking for a photograph of McLaren drivers Denny Hulme and Peter Revson for an ongoing documentary project and found exactly what I was looking for on the Automobiliart blog run by Paul Chenard.

I e-mailed Paul and he kindly put me in touch with the owner of said photograph and thanks to our shared interest in motor racing and Gilles Villeneuve in particular Paul and I have remained in touch ever since.

Paul, who hails from Nova Scotia, trained as a graphic designer and in the 1980’s he engaged his passion for the history of Grand Prix and Sports/GT racing by collecting vintage toy racing cars, books and reference material on racing history.

In 2007 Paul decided to combine his professional work with his interest in motor racing and set up Automobiliart.com to market his works which are made using a variety of media.

Unusually, and this is why I like Paul’s work, he captures the “feeling” I get when spectating at races and looking at racing cars so well I can almost smell them.

In September I had the opportunity to meet Paul at Goodwood, above he can be seen promoting his entertaining “Silver Clouds: 1934 Grand Prix Season” limited edition 40 page hand assembled book, designed written & illustrated by Paul, a book Mercedes Benz thought so good they ordered two, of the only 50 copies to be printed, for their museum.

You can find a fine selection of more of Pauls work, which make excellent seasonal gifts, on this link to the Automobiliart.com website.

Last week I mentioned to Paul that I was compiling questions for a seasonal quiz and he has kindly agreed to donate one of these sets of blank greetings cards to the winner of the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz which will be running from December 26th to January 2nd.

The cards, which measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

The winner of the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will get to choose one set of cards from either the SportsGT, Phil Hill Ferrari 156 F1 “Sharknose”, 1934 Grand Prix Season

Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s or

Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars sets.

Full details of the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will be announced with the first questions on December 26th.

Thanks for joining me on this Automobiliart edition of “Getting’ 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

Tag Archives: GALPOT

The Right One – Chevrolet Corvette

Project Panda – Ford Zodiac Mk4

Get Smart – Opel GT

Planet of the Bee’s – Piaggio Ape Cross Country

Weekend Racer – Maserati A6G/54 GT Zagato Coupé

Pop Up Swansong – Ferrari 456M

Automobiliart – Paul Chenard