Tag Archives: Goodwood

All Aboard – Busman’s Holiday

Seems summer in the UK is not summer without the traditional four days a week torrential rain, ice cream on a day so hot it has melted onto the pavement by the time one has trousered the change after paying for it and a ride on a classic bus to no place in particular.

Bristol K5G, Castle Combe,

For the last couple of years the 1941 Bristol K5G, above, has served as the Race Winners Victory Parade lap vehicle at Castle Combe, it was one of a fleet of 272 K5G’s purchased by Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company between 1938 and 1941 as part of their tram replacement programme, it was sold on to Brighton and Hove District in 1955 and they are believed to have taken the roof of the top deck.

Bristol L5G, Frenchay Car Show, Bristol,

Longer than the double decker is the Bristol L5G which like the K5G went into production in 1937, Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company bought this example in 1948 and it is seen at the Frenchay Car Show transporting passengers to the Frenchay Flower Show.

Bedford OB, Silverstone Classic,

Seen above on a parade lap at Silverstone Classic last year is a 1950 Bedford OB which I believe has recently been restored in Northumberland, like the Bristol K5 and L5 series the 28hp OB went into production in 1937 this one has I believe a 29 seat Duple Vista type body and is awaiting period correct headlights.

Mercedes Benz, Silverstone Classic,

Officially the Mercedes Benz seen above, in the Silverstone Classic campsite earlier this year, is registered as having been built in 1959, I believe the destination reads “rarely on schedule” in Norwegian, that might be because it is pining for the Fjords.

AEC Reliance MU3RV, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs,

Built in 1958 the AEC Reliance MU3RV above is seen on the BRM Day Parade through Bourne, Lincolnshire a couple of years ago, it is one of three such vehicles fitted with Yeates Europa body work for John Boddy & Son in Bridlington, it later was operated in the Scottish Borders before going to the holiday resort town of Skegness.

Leyland Leopard L2, Goodwood Revival,

With a Cavalier body by Harrington the 1962 Leyland Leopard L2, seen above at Goodwood Revival, would originally have been built to undertake inland and continental tours.

Leyland Atlantean, Brooklands Museum,

Looking in need of a little TLC is this 1966 Leyland Atlantean, with bodywork by MCW seen at the Brooklands Museum, back in the day when I was a British Overseas Airways Corporation passenger this was one of 15 vehicles on which I may have traveled twixt London Victoria and Heathrow Airport at speeds of up to 70 mph on my way to the sunny climbs of Zambia for my school holidays.

Bristol LH, Frenchay Car Show, Bristol

Finally back at the Frenchay Car Show the Bristol LH above served with the Bristol Omnibus Company from 1972 to 1980 before finding it’s way to Llangadog, Carmarthenshire, Wales where Thomas Bros. continued to operate her until 1997.

My thanks to all those who take pleasure in maintaining and operating these vehicles.

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

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Spoiler Homologation Special – AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue Edition

The AMC Javelin was AMC’s iron in the Pony Car fire to compete against the Mustang, Cougar, Camaro, Firebird and the last entries into the Pony market segment the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda on offer from the big three in Detroit, it was styled and developed by Richard A Teague and launched in 1968.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Short of resources the Javelin was developed from the 1966 AMX and AMX II concept cars and only offered with the two door semi fast back body style powered by one of three engine options all of which could be specified to burn either regular octane or premium octane fuel.

02AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue_8516sc

Despite not having a competition department, any technical support, performance parts or even a test facility of any kind AMC approached Ron Kaplan and Jim Jeffords of Kaplan Engineering to run two Javelins in the SCCA Trans Am series, in 1968.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

The team with drivers George Follmer and Peter Revson who got replaced half way through the season by Lothar Motschenbacher finished a commendable 3rd with an enviable record for getting their cars to the finish.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Kaplan ran the team again in 1969 with Ron Grable and John Martin who like Revson was replaced mid season by Jerry Grant, things between AMC were not so smooth second time round which was compounded by budget cuts that saw Kaplan take all of AMC’s inventory from their workshop to AMC’s zone office in El Segundo, California at the end of the season.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

AMC did a deal with Roger Penske for the 1970 season who with the aid of Mark Donohue picked up the pieces and developed them in Pennsylvania into a more competitive package.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

In order to run with the duck tail spoiler Mark had developed for the Trans Am race programme AMC built 2,501 Javelin SST Mark Donohue Editions that included the spoiler, a 5.9 litre / 360 cui motor and a variety of other options that makes these cars easy to replicate and difficult to verify in the absence of a specific vehicle identification code.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Mark was joined by Peter Revson and the team finished 2nd to Bud Moore’s Ford team in the 1970 Championship, before going on to win both the 1971 and ’72 Trans Am championships with the second generation Javelin.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Today’s featured 1970 Mark Donohue edition belongs to Klass Van Dijk who was so impressed with a 1974 AMC Gremlin he bought in the 1990’s that he founded the Rambler AMC Museum in Berlikum, Holland which now houses more than 50 AMC’s, a small collection of Chevrolet Corvair’s of the type his father drove and an eclectic mix of other vehicles.

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

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Diesel Record Breaker – Peugeot 404 Diesel

The Pininfarina styled Peugeot 404 was launched in 1960 and by 1964 it was available with 4 different body styles and a 63hp diesel engine option.

Peugeot 404 Diesel, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

In 1965 Peugeot built today’s featured single seat 2163 cc / 130 cui 4 cylinder diesel powered 404 prototype to help publicise the capabilities of the at the time relatively under used, outside the commercial vehicle arena, alternative to petrol.

Peugeot 404 Diesel, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

In June 1965 Peugeot took the car to Montlhery outside Paris and set a new 5,000 km / 3106 mile diesel record by averaging 99 mph.

Peugeot 404 Diesel, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

One month later the motor was replaced with a smaller 1,948 cc / 118 cui 4 cylinder diesel and the car was driven at an average speed of 100 mph for 11,000 km / 6,835 miles around Montlhery, in all the record breaking car captured 40 world diesel records.

Peugeot 404 Diesel, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

A 1965 group test of diesel powered cars from Peugeot, Mercedes Benz and Austin showed the 63hp diesel Peugeot comfortably out performed it’s competitors in every area except fuel consumption at which the Austin was the more miserly.

The 404 Diesel which still belongs to Peugeot is seen in these photographs at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “Diesel Record Breaker” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at all 11 Super Saturday winners at this years Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Load Bearing Steel Roof – Citroën DS23 Familiale

Three years after the launch of the Citroën DS series a Estate/Station Wagon variant was launched in 1958.

The major difference between the Estate / Station Wagon and Saloon / Sedan, aside from the vast cargo capacity was that the new variant was built with a steel roof to which a standard roof rack was fitted.

Citroën DS23 Familiale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

All of the Estate / Station Wagon DS’s had three rows of seats, with the middle three all folding down to allow access to the rear.

Different markets were supplied with different variants with different names in France the down market ID based and higher spec British and Australian DS based le “Break” were fitted with two side facing seats in the cargo area where as the Estate in the UK, Wagon in the US and Station Wagon in Australia were all fitted with a forward facing third row of seats.

Citroën DS23 Familiale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Ambulance versions of the Familiale were also built with a 60/40% fold down split in the 2nd row of seats to accommodate a stretcher and at their Slough plant in the UK a three door hearse was also built.

Fans of horse racing in the UK became particularly familiar with a 1974 DS 23 which was converted by the British Broadcasting Corporation into a Colour Roving Eye.

Citroën DS23 Familiale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Colour Roving Eye comprised a colour television camera and cameraman on the roof, a Band V transmitter within the cargo area, with a small generator on a trailer in tow to provide the necessary electrical power for the equipment.

The heavily laden vehicle, chosen for it’s smooth ride over uneven terrain such as that found next to race courses was ideal for live transmissions.

Citroën DS23 Familiale, Goodwood Festival of Speed

It was regularly seen in long shots during live transmissions at the start of horse races being driven at speed alongside race courses before the transmissions cut to close up shots as the races were in progress.

The Italian registered DS23 Familiale example seen in these photo’s at Goodwood Festival of Speed was built in 1973 and fitted with both a factory fit sun roof and factory fit air conditioning options.

Thanks for joining me on this “Load Bearing Steel Roof” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a visit to Pendine Sands. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Formula One Ferraris – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

In the final look at Ferarri’s at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed today I’ll be looking at the Formula One cars which covered the 15 year period between 1975 and 1990.

Ferrari 641, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

In reverse order, Ferrari managed to lure Alan Prost away from McLaren to join Nigel Mansell and drove the Enrique Scalabroni and Steve nichols designed 641 to five victories, to Nigels one, and second place in the World Drivers and Manufacturers Championship after an alleged rival settled the outcome of the drivers championship by deliberately punting Alain into a gravel trap in the first corner on the opening lap of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Ferrari 126 CK, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Gilles Villeneuve drove the Ferrari 126 CK chassis #052 seen above to two of the most memorable consecutive Grand Prix victories I have ever seen at the 1981 Monaco and Spanish Grand Prix.

Ferrari 312 T5, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

A year earlier Gilles and team mate reigning champion Jody Scheckter struggled with the normally aspirated Ferrari 312 T5, Gilles drove chassis #048 seen above to a sixth place finish in the German Grand Prix which was one of just five points scoring finishes for the team in 1980…

Ferrari 312 T5, Rick Hall, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

… while chassis #042, seen with Rick Hall at the wheel above, was raced twice by Jody and once by Gilles during 1980 and failed to finish on each occasion.

Renault RS10, Ferrari T4, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

One of the highlights of the 1979 season was Gilles epic dice with René Arnoux for 2nd place in the closing stages of the French Grand Prix, Gilles drove the 312 T4 chassis #041 and René the Renault RS10 chassis #RS10/03 both of which are seen above.

Ferrari 312 T, Rob Hall, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Finally in forty years ago Niki Lauda finally delivered the World Drivers and Manufacturers championships, for the first time since 1964, ably backed up by Clay Regazzoni driving the Ferrari 312 T, chassis #024 seen above being driven by Rob Hallwas driven to victory by Clay Regazzoni in the 1975 Italian Grand Prix and on it’s final appearance at the 1976 US Grand Prix West.

Thanks for joining me on this “Formula One Ferraris” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the last of a series of Formula Junior open wheelers. Don’t forget to come back now !

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À Vendre – Shadow Matra DN7 #DN7/1A

Like the story À Vendre by French author Guy de Maupassant, published in 1885 the story of the Shadow DN7 is short.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

While looking for an advantage over his fellow Cosworth DFV powered Formula One powered competitors Shadow owner Don Nichols came to an agreement with Matra to run a new 500hp development of their V12 which had won Le Mans three years running from 1972 – ’74.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Matra had unsuccessfully run variants of the same V12 in 1968 and from 1970 to ’71 scoring a best 2nd place finish in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix when Jean Pierre Beltoise finished second behind the Ford DFV powered Matra chassis driven by Jackie Stewart.

Shadow DN7, Grant Beath, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Shadow DN7 is similar to the 1975 Cosworth DFV powered Shadow DN5 designed by Tony Southgate, but has a larger fuel capacity and a different arrangement for the larger side mounted radiators.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Shadow DN7 was entered for former Matra sports car driver Jean Pierre Jarier alongside the regular marginally less powerful but lighter DFV powered Shadow DN5 driven by Tom Pryce in the 1975 Austrian and Italian Grand Prix, both circuits for which put a premium on out right power over handling.

Shadow DN7, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

On both occasions “Jumper” Jarier out qualified Tom, but on both occasions he also retired with fuel system issues, while Tom went on to finish a team season high third in Austria and 6th in Italy.

Shadow DN7, Grant Beath, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Having proved the potential of the V12, but also failing to really impress, the DN7 was never to race again, Matra deciding to supply the fledgling Ligier team with it’s V12 for the 1976 season.

Don was sent one of the three Matra MS 73 engines built for the 1975 season so that he could display the car as complete, but it had a whole in it so that it could not run.

Current owner Grant Beath bought the DN7 from Don at the beginning of the decade and after failing to find one of the two complete MS 73 motors had his damaged one returned to running order in France.

Like the house that is the subject of the short story by Guy de Maupassant it turns out that the subject of this story is for sale, if you are in the market for a one off formula one car that makes the sweetest of V12 sounds then you can leave a message below or you can get in touch with Bill Harding or Rick Hall at Hall & Hall whose contact details can be found on this link.

Usual disclaimers apply.

Thanks for joining me on this “À Vendre” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 2+2 Marcos. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ferrari Sports Car Racers – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Today’s post will be looking at some of the Ferrari Sports Racers at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed some of which will be familiar and others not.

Ferrari 312 P, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Former British Hill Climb champion David Franklin was celebrating his first fifty years in motorsports driving Arnold Meiers svelt 1969 Ferrari 312 P Coupé chassis #0872 with which I first became familiar on my first visit to Goodwood in 2009.

Ferrari 512 M, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

I have seen Nathan Kinch’s Ferrari 512 M #1030 once before at Silverstone Classsic, but have yet to write about it, maybe next year.

Ferrari 712, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Perhaps the ultimate variation of the Ferrari 512 S is Paul Knapfield’s chassis #1010 which was fitted with a 7 litre / 427 cui V12 and open spyder body work for Jean Pierre Jarier to drive in a couple of Can Am races in 1972.

Ferrari 250MM, Holly Mason Franchitti, Goodwood, Festival of Speed,

In 2012 Anette Mason had the privilege of driving the 1.2.3 liveried Ferrari 250 MM chassis #0353 MM (# 0239 EU) her daughter Holly Mason Franchitti had the honour this year…

Ferrari BB 512, Anette Mason, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

… while Mum was kept busy driving the period correct British Racing Green 512 BB previously owned and raced by her husband’s former band management EMKA and raced by former band manager Steve O’Rourke.

Ferrari 458 GT3, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Finally I believe the f.f. Course Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 above is or has been raced in British GT and or Britcar championship events, though I have yet to pin down it’s precise history or who was driving the car at Goodwood, if you can help please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ferrari Sports Car Racers” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Formula Jr open wheel racer. Don’t forget to come back now !

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