Tag Archives: Horton

43rd Wedding Anniversary – Dana Point Concours d’Elegance

Such is the inclement weather here at GALPOT Towers that when my landlady asked for a theme for her 50th Birthday Party I had no hesitation when I suggested having a Diving Suit Party, dry wit after all is an Englishman’s stock in trade, so it’s always a pleasure to receive photo’s from Geoffrey Horton’s adventures in the sunny world of the California Concours d’Elegance scene.

Above is Dana Point where Geoffrey and his wife Gayle spent the weekend celebrating their 43rd Anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

During their stay they entered their Jaguar XK140 FHC SE in the Concours d’Elegance in which this 8 litre / 488 cui 1924 Bentley Hawkeye Special was also taking part.

Among the Mercedes Benz vehicles entered was this 25 hp rear engined 1935 130 H Cabrio,

and class winning 1937 540K W24 Roadster with up to 180 supercharged hp capable of reaching 110 mph.

Marginally more modest from 1937 was this 320 Cabriolet B W124 similar to the four door type used as German military staff cars in films including The Great Escape, The Longest Day, The Train and Schindler’s List.

The Mercedes Benz 230S W153 above was developed for taking part in trials and rallies, hence the unusual bumpers which feature front and rear designed for co drivers to stand on should a redistribution of weight be required to aid traction or steering. Only 52 of these cars were ever built.

Leaping into the post ’39-’45 War era I believe this 1953 Kurtis 500M has appeared in a previous GALPOT post, I find it’s chunky styling even more appealing from the rear.

Like wise an Arnolt Bristol has appeared on these pages before, the green example above is from the final 1959 year of production which totaled just 200.

Only three Chevrolet Corvette Italia’s were built in 1959 with coachwork by Scaglietti in Italy. The idea for the car was born out an expensive to replace Ferrari crankshaft required by Gary Laughlin who turned to Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby to help in realise an exotic hand built car with affordable and reliable mechanical components. The example, above, owned by the Peterson Automotive Museum is the only one of the three built with a manual transmission.

Not for the first time this 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne, from the Mullin Automotive Museum, won the best in show award, it won at Pebble Beach last year too ! Among it’s novel features are a radial engine as used more commonly in aircraft, and a pneumatically operated retractable roof.

Finally I hope you will join me in congratulating Geoffrey and Gayle not only on their 43rd wedding anniversary but also on winning their class at the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance with the faithful Jaguar XK140 FHC SE that has been a part of their lives for 26 years.

My thanks to Geoffrey for his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “43rd Wedding Anniversary” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

But Is It A Real Car ? – Ferrari 330 GT #7123

All Adjectives Used To Define Exquisite – Marin Sanoma Concours d’ Elegance

Fireball Dyna Flow – Buick Roadmaster Coupé

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From 1936 to 1996 Buick manufactured eight generations of Roadmaster, with an interruption from 1959 to 1990, Roadmasters were Buicks flagship model from 1946 to 1957 sharing underpinnings with contemporary entry level Cadillacs and senior Oldsmobiles.

The car seen in Geoffrey Horton’s photo’s seen here at the 2012 Ranchero Mirage Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance feature a 1949 Roadmaster from the first year of production of the fifth 1949 -1953 generation which were the first to feature a two part curved ‘observation car’ windscreen. Note the bombsite mascot is a feature of all post 1946 Roadmasters.

The three Ventiports on front wing / fender of this Roadmaster indicates that is probably powered by a 5.2 litre / 320 cui ‘Fireball’ straight eight motor originally good for 165 hp, which following a change in carburation dropped to 144 hp in 1946 but was raised again in 1949 to 150 hp by increasing the compression ratio.

New for 1948 was a two speed Dyna Flow transmission developed from Buicks tank manufacturing program during the Second World War, making this the first model ever to be sold with a torque converter. For 1949 Dyna Flow became the mandatory transmission on all Roadmasters.

When the Roadmaster was first launched in 1942 the Coupé featured the same fastback Sedanette styling that had been a sensational feature of the 1941 Buick Century and Special models.

During 1949 the Roadmaster accounted for 27% of Buicks production with around 88,130 units sold.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sending me his photographs.

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

Errata this vehicle was originally incorrectly identified as forth generation 1948 model, however since then it has become apparent that 1948 Roadmasters had a flat windscreen and did not feature the VentiPorts in the wings / fenders. This text has been updated to reflect details of the ’49 Roadmaster. Apologies for any confusion caused.

2012 Ranchero Mirage Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance – Palm Springs

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It is a huge pleasure to know that the 2012 Concours d’Elegance season got underway a couple of weeks ago in Palm Springs, not least because thanks to Geoffrey Horton I’ll be able to shore some photo’s of altogether sunnier climbs as Europe struggles to get spring underway.

Geoffrey sent me a stack of photo’s of which I have picked a few to give a flavour of the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance today, starting with Barney Oldfield’s 1909 Benz about which at the moment I know very little, but which in the coming weeks I hope to find out more for a future post.

The only thing I know about this 1936 Delahaye 135 Competition is that the exquisite bodywork is by Figoni et Falaschi, likewise I hope to find out more for a future post.

It looks like the air display team was flying Harvard trainers but I can’t be absolutely sure about even that !

The 1946 Kurtis Millar was one of the few new cars built for the 1946 Indy 500, it was raced without success by Leon Duray in ’46, ’47, ’48, I look forward to sharing a few more of it’s secrets in the week leading up to the Indy 500 in May.

The forth generation Buick Roadmaster is probably best remembered for the introduction of the Dyna Flow automatic transmission that had previously fitted to WW2 ‘Hellcat’ Tanks also manufactured by Buick. Dyna Flow was the earliest automatic transmission on a passenger vehicle to make use of a torque converter for smooth, if inefficient automatic changes of gears.

Above is one of around 20 Kurtis Kraft 500M models built between 1954 and 1955 complete with fibre glass body and 135 mph capability.

On the 15th October 1957 film maker Peter H. Backhaus and his wife Marlotte set off on a round the world voyage in a two tone red and white Goggomobil Coupé TS 300 similar to the one above. They reached Japan where a technical defect requiring new parts that were refused entry by customs officials meant that Glass GmbH who manufactured the Gogomobil and sponsoring the adventure ended up having to supply Peter and Marlotte with a new car, a later Isar T700 model which meant once they had completed their circumnavigation Peter and Marlotte had to film the entire journey to Japan a second time so that only the second car appeared in the documentary Backhaus made of the journey.

The entire enterprise took some 5 years, but the film “Traumreise zu Dritt – Im Goggomobil um die Welt” “Dream trip threesome – In Goggomobil around the World” was a huge hit when it was released in Germany in 1964.

Among the many racers from the late 60’s early 1970’s was this 3 litre / 183 cui V8 ALFA Romeo T33 sports prototype which appears similar to the 1971 spec 33/3 driven by Henri Pescarolo and Andrea de Adamich which out lasted the Porsche 917’s at Brands Hatch to win the BOAC 1000kms. Similar T33/3’s of Vaccarella / Hezemans and de Adamich / van Lennep survived to take a one two on the Targa Florio in 1971 after all the Porsche 908’s crashed. Despite the best efforts of the Andretti family, where he had been staying, to wear him out, Ronnie Peterson with de Adamich also won the Watkins Glen endurance race in a T33/3.

Finally anyone with cash burning holes in their pockets might like to consider purchasing a 700 hp NuArt Can Am and taking part in the spec series Unlimited Racing Championship which is scheduled to run with 4 ALMS ‘Heritage’ Series race weekends and eight additional race weekends.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s fabulous photographs.

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

Pillarless Coupé – BMW 327/28

Road Legal Ferrari’s A Brief History – Niello Serrano Concours

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For Ferrari Friday GALPOT continues yesterdays perusal of vehicles on display at the Niello Serrano Concours thanks to Geoffrey Hortons photographs.

First up a Ferrari 250 GT/E 2+2, one these models was Enzo Ferrari’s daily driver, early GALPOT readers may remember such a vehicle appearing in a previous blog, albeit modified into a replica 250 GT SWB Competizione.

More exclusive, one of just 200 models built between 1965 and 1968, is this Ferrari 275 GTS powered by a 3.3 litre / 201 cui V12.

The V6 Ferrari Dino had been in production for two years and two distinct series from 1969 to 1971 before the first Series III Dino’s were manufactured for the US market, this is one of 1,431 Series III Dinos produced between 1971 and 1974.

Manufactured between 1971 and 1972 the Ferrari 365 GTC/4 is a 2+2. One of the 500 examples produced appeared in the 1977 film Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo alongside several other Ferraris including a slightly more powerful 365 GTB/4 Daytona with which the GTC/4 shares a common chassis.

Representing Maranello’s prancing black horse for the 1980’s at Niello Serrano was this Ferrari 328 GTS of which some 7400 were manufactured between 1985 and 1989.

Ferrari returned to manufacturing motor cars with the engine in front of the driver in 1996 with the beefy 550. With a boot / trunk large enough to carry a set of golf clubs the Ferrari 550 was turned into a handy racer at Le Mans by the likes of Prodrive.

Twentieth model in Ferraris catalogue of street legal exotics is the Ferrari 360 a model produced from 1999 – 2005 which you may remember from an earlier blog was made available with an optional Tubi Style exhaust to provide extra horsepower and amplify the sound.

With a 200 mph top speed the Ferrari F430 that replaced the 360 in 2004 arguably had no need of gimmicks like optional Tubi Style exhausts. It looks good, sounds good and goes fast, pretty much everything one could want from a Ferrari except of course it’s replacement the F458 Italia.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing the delights of the California Concours season with us at GALPOT, I look forward to seeing what motoring delights he will find next year.

Thanks for joining me for Ferrari Friday, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an innovative Lotus with a body designed by Peter Kirwan-Taylor. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring