Tag Archives: Ickx

Fury’s Experiment – Ferrari 312 B3 #009 Spazzaneve

In the autumn of 1972 I was sitting in my dorm at school thumbing through a copy of Autocar when I came across a 4″ x 2″ photograph of today’s featured car the, there was only ever one, Ferrari 312 B3 nick named the Spazzaneve or snow plough. I reached for a pair of scissors and cut the photo out and stuck it to my bedside table where I could see it from my bed and would day dream of driving this compact vehicle to to dozens of Grand Prix victories.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Being only 13 at the time and some months away from becoming fully mentally engaged with Formula One, I had no idea that it would be 40 years before I got to see this car in the flesh, partly because it was an experimental model and never raced in anger, partly because it’s designer Mauro ‘Fury’ Forghieri was to be moved to another job soon after #009 was built and tested and partly because Enzo Ferrari was ill which allowed FIAT management at helm of the good ship Ferrari and they wanted Franco Rocchi and Giacomo Caliri under the direction of FIAT’s Stefano Colombo to design Ferrari’s 1973 Grand Prix challenger.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

The 312 B3 Spazzaneve was a significant departure from Foghieri’s previous model the not entirely unsuccessful Ferrari 312 B2.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Like many designers of the time, including Tyrrells designer Derek Gardner, Mauro was concerned with improving the handling of his cars by packaging all the heavy items, radiators, fuel, oil and water tanks and so forth as close to the centre of the cars gravity as possible.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Interestingly this experimental vehicle did not feature inboard front brakes, as did both contemporary Lotus and Tyrrell designs which would have reduced the unsprung weight of the car to the benefit of the handling and brought these items closer to the cars centre of gravity further reducing the chassis ‘polar moment of inertia’ which has the benefit of reducing chassis stresses and improving handling.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

To improve front end grip radiators were mounted behind the front wheels and are fed fresh air by the large NACA ducts in the nose.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

The hot radiator air was then expelled through the ducts behind the mirror.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Thanks to Regazzoni at The Nostalgia Forum I have been told that Mauro Fogheri’s dedication on the side of the car translates as “With this one [the car] I could understand many more things. With sympathy and a bit of envy Mauro Forghieri”

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Thanks to GD66 and domenico also at The Nostalgia Forum these signatures have been identified as those of Jacky Ickx, top, and Chief Mechanic Giulio Borsari bottom.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

I have not seen any photos of Ickx’s team mate Art Mezario driving the car in period, but there is no reason to suppose he didn’t, Art has demonstrated #009 since.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

The cockpit for anyone taller than an average horse jockey is incredibly cramped.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Note the front support has three different anchor points, linked here is a photo of Jacky Ickx driving #009 with the wing mounted all the way forward on square shouldered Firestone tyres, and another of #009 with the rear wing mounted further back on round shouldered Goodyear tyres linked here. Jacky and Art can be seen chatting in the back ground in the latter.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Like Derek Gardner’s Tyrrell 006 design the Spazzanave was found to be very nervous to drive, unlike Tyrrell Ferrari ditched the low polar momentum concept and built 3 freshly designed cars which resulted in Ferrari’s worst season to date, while Jackie Stewart drove the Tyrrell OO6 to his third World Drivers Championship in 1973.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Soon after returning to work in 1973 Enzo Ferrari withdrew his team from the 1973 World Championship for a short sabbatical and recalled Mauro Fogierhi to his former position to rework the 1973 cars with his low polar momentum idea’s. The following season the 1974 version of the Ferrari 312 B3 was developed into a championship contender.

Ferrari 312 B3 Spazzaneve, Hall & Hall, Bourne, Lincs

Thanks to a touch of galvanic corrosion twixt wheel nut and wheel my school boy day dreams were partly realised while visiting Hall & Hall in Bourne when I was asked to apply the brake pedal in an effort to help free the wheel nuts of the car. Christmas certainly came a couple of weeks early this year.

I understand #009 is for sale, unfortunately I do not have the readies to relieve Hall & Hall of the responsibility of looking after Spazzaneve, if you do contact details can be found on this link.

My thanks to Ted Walker of Ferret Fotographics for taking me to visit Hall & Hall and to Rick Hall for permission to take these photographs.

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

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Championship Dinger UnStuck – Brands Hatch 1000 Kilometers

Thirty years ago this weekend give or take a day or two I found myself at Brands Hatch for the 1000 kms race, only the second Group C race I had seen, thanks mostly to the fact that my mate Sven was racing his Ford Capri in the supporting Uniroyal Production Saloon car race.

Jaguar XJ6, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

My pit pass from the support race got me into the pits prior to the start of the main event and I wasted no time taking pics of the leading runners from Lancia, Porsche and Jaguar who had locked out the first three rows of the grid in Noah’s Ark fashion during qualifying, above is the Tony Southgate designed Jaguar XJ6 driven by recent Formula One returnee Alan Jones who joined TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) regular Jean-Louis Schlesser in the leading TWR entry that qualified 5th, but retired from the event early with engine damage after the throttle jammed open.

Porsche 962C, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass qualified 4th on the grid in the #1 Porsche 962C seen above and finished second in the race experiencing only one problem, a faster than mandated refueling stop, which the team corrected by holding the car in the pits for an additional 10 seconds on the cars final fuel stop.

Lancia LC2 85, Wollek, de Cesaris, Baldi, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

The Lancia LC2’s with 800 hp qualifying motors, against Porsches 720 hp qualifying spec, locked out the front row with the #4 driven by Ricardo Patrese and Alessandro Nannini on pole, but in the final hour when the Lancia’s were running 3rd and 4th team mate Andrea de Cesaris ran into the pack of Patrese’s car damaging the exhaust on the #4 forcing a quick stop for repairs to secure it again which left the #5 Lancia Andrea shared with Brilliant Bob Wollek and Mauro Baldi to claim 3rd one lap down on the leading Porsches.

Gebhardt  JC843, Adams, Taylor, Harrower, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

One car I had been particularly looking forward to seeing in the flesh was the super slippery Group C2 #75 Gebhardt JC843 seen above driven by Nick Adams, Ian Taylor and Ian Harrower, on this occasion the 3.3 litre / 201 cui Cosworth DFL car finished tenth, 46 laps behind the winning Porsche, from 15th on the grid.

Ecosse C285, Wilds, Mallock, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Winners of the Group C2 class were Ray Mallock and Mike Wilds in the Ecurie Ecosse #79 Ecosse C285 which was similarly Cosworth DFL powered, starting from 14 on the grid Ray and Mike came home 6th, 19 laps behind the winning C1 car, but crucially 11 laps ahead of the C2 turbocharged Carma powered Alba AR6 driven by Martino Finotto, Almo Coppelli and Carlo Facetti.

Porsche 962C, Derek Bell, Brands Hatch 1000 kms

Starting from third on the grid thanks to the efforts of Hans Stuck was the #2 Porsche 962C he shared with local boy “Dinger” Derek Bell who crossed the line less the 12 seconds ahead of the #1 Porsche and in the process Hans and Derek more or less secured their first World Endurance Drivers Championship, this would become Derek’s first drivers championship ever in over 18 years as a professional.

My belated thanks to Sven who got me into see the show.

Thanks for joining me on this “Championship Dinger Unstuck” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be locking at a Formula One Toleman that nearly never ran for the want of a tyre contract. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Aeon Springs – Hesketh 308C #308C/1

For most of the 1975 season the dream of Lord Hesketh to run an independently funded Grand Prix team from the stables at his family pile, Easton Neston, Towcester, in Northamptonshire looked to be paying dividends which culminated with a win in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix for James Hunt driving a Hesketh 308B.

Even as James was crossing the finishing line in Holland the finishing touches were being added to, what I believe is, today’s featured Hesketh 308C chassis #308C/1 that was built to conform to new regulations that were to be mandated from the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix onward.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

As well as having the increasingly popular low monocoque, a mandatory front cockpit roll over protection the 308C, conceived by Dr Harvey Postlethwaite, was notable for dispensing the the traditional springs and shock absorbers in favour of Aeon hollow rubber springs as first tried on the 308B.

James Hunt drove 308C/1 on three occasions finishing 8th from 11th on the grid in the non Championship Swiss Grand Prix, 5th form 8th on the grid in Italy and 4th from 15th on the grid at Watkins Glen in the US.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

A second 308C chassis was completed but during the off season Lord Hesketh had to call time and sold both 308C’s and the rights to Frank Williams who, with new backing from naturalised Canadian oil tycoon Walter Wolf, also picked up the temporarily out of work Dr Harvey Postlethwaite.

The Lord handed over the remains of his own team to his team manager Bubbles Horsley who continued running Hesketh until it folded for good in 1978 while James Hunt moved to McLaren where he achieved his ambition.

Hesketh 308C, Derek Jones, Silverstone Classic,

Despite starting the 1976 season with proven Formula One winner Jacky Ickx to drive the renamed FW05 with rookie Michele Leclere in the second car the FW05’s did not shine.

After Jacky posted a best 3rd, driving 308C/1 – FW05/1, in the non championship race of Champions and failed to qualify for four championship races he parted company with the team, who had already released Michele, after the British Grand Prix.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

For a few races Wolf Williams soldiered on with a solo effort for Art Mezario who failed to finish any of his six starts in the car. while

Second drivers Chris Amon, who wrote off the second 308C chassis in practice in his final Formula One appearance, Warwick Brown and Hans Binder all failed to impress in the last three races of the season.

Hesketh 308C, Derek Jones, Silverstone Classic,

At the end of 1976 Frank Williams and Walter Wolf parted ways, Frank went on to run a second hand March for Patrick Neve engineered by former Wolf man Patrick Head at Williams Grand Prix Engineering.

While Walter retained Dr Postlethwaite and hired Jody Scheckter to form Walter Wolf Racing who hit the ground running at the start of the 1977 season.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

#308C/1 went on to make an appearance at Brands Hatch in the 1978 Aurora AFX Series driven by John Cooper who finished 8th.

American Derek Jones, seen driving the 308C above at Silverstone, tweeted that this car was run by Simon Hadfield, who is said to have taken #308C/1 to Monaco for the Historic event earlier last year by formulajunior.com.

If you know different please do not hesitate to chip in below.

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

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Eau d’Guest – McLaren Cosworth M23 #M23/4

Today’s featured car McLaren M23 #M23/4 appeared in another blog earlier this year in the colours of 1974 sponsors Texaco and Marlboro.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

The car was built in 1973, when McLaren were sponsored solely by Yardley and was driven to a third place finish in the 1974 German Grand Prix by Jacky Ickx in a one off drive.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

Peter Revson drove #M23/4 in the last three races of his career at McLaren finishing 3rd in Monza, winning in Canada and finishing 5th in his home US Grand Prix before leaving to join Shadow for the 1974 season.

McLaren M23, Gregor Fisken, Silverstone Classic

During 1974 both Denny Hulme and Emerson Fittipaldi raced #M23/4 in Marlboro colours with Emerson finishing a best 3rd in the non championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

After Mike Hailwood crashed his Yardley sponsored McLaren M23 at the 1974 German Grand Prix and effectively ending his Formula One career, #M23/4 was returned to Yardley livery for David Hobbs to drive in the Austrian and Italian Grand Prix, he finished a best 7th in Austria.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

For the final two races of the 1974 season Jochen Mass was invited to drive the car and he also scored a best 7th in the US Grand Prix.

McLaren M23, Silverstone Classic

During 1975 #M23/4 made two race appearances in Marlboro livery, Emerson finishing second at the non championship International Trophy at Silverstone and Jochen retiring from the German Grand Prix.

There after I believe #M23/4 was turned into a show car and it maybe that it was during this time the car acquired it’s post 1976 US Grand Prix West extended side pods with the two distinctive vents.

The car is seen with Gregor Fisken at the wheel during the Silverstone Classic meeting earlier this year.

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

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World Champions At Last – McLaren Cosworth M23 #M23/4

The final destination of the 1974 World Drivers Championship was in doubt until the lastof the season with Jody Scheckter driving for Tyrrell, Clay Regazzoni driving for Ferrari and Emerson Fittipaldi driving for McLaren all in with a shout.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Emerson Fittipaldi sealed the deal with a fourth place finish at the US Grand Prix which along with wins in Brazil, Belgium, Canada and six further points scoring finishes gave him a 3 point advantage over Clay Regazzoni who failed to add to his points tally at Watkins Glen.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

For 1974 McLaren had lengthened the wheel base and widened the track of Gordon Coppucks M23 design which was first seen in South Africa in 1973.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

McLaren had also attracted Philip Morris sponsorship that had previously gone to BRM and managed to leverage Texaco sponsorship along with 1972 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi from Lotus.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Denny Hulme was Emerson’s team mate and he contributed to McLaren winning their first World Constructors Championship, at their 9th attempt, by winning the opening race of the 1974 Championship season in Argentina.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

So far as I have been able to ascertain today’s featured car is the forth M23 chassis, which was first raced in the 1973 German Grand Prix when Jacky Ickx made a one off appearance for the team and drove it to a third place finish behind the Tyrrell’s of Jackie Stewart and Francoise Cevert.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Peter Revson then drove #M23/4 to a third place finish in the Italian Grand Prix a win in the Canadian Grand Prix, which would prove to his last Grand Prix win, and a 5th place on his final drive for McLaren in the 1973 US Grand Prix.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Emerson Fittipaldi best results with #M23/4 in 1974 were a 3rd place in the 1974 Race of Champions and a 4th place finish in Sweden, after Mike the Bike Hailwood’s crash at the 1974 German Grand Prix #M23/4 reverted to Yardley colours for the remainder of 1974 to be driven by David Hobbs in Austria and Italy and Jochen Mass in Canada and the United States. With Mass scoring a 7th place at Watkins Glen that matched the older Hobbs 7th place finish in Austria the young German secured himself a ride as Fittipaldi’s team mate to replace the retiring Denny Hulme for the 1975 season.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

#M23/4 only made two appearances in the 1975 season in the non championship International Trophy at Silverstone where Emerson finished 2nd and in the 1975 German Grand Prix where Jochen retired after an accident on the opening, which is said to have reduced #M23/4 to “vitual scrap”.

At Stonleigh #M23/4 appears in these photographs with the correct 1974 colour scheme and early season airbox, extended side pods as fitted to Jochen’s car in the 1975 German Grand Prix but curiously the extended side pods have orifices which did not appear until the Spanish Grand Prix in 1976.

Note: Jochen took the start of the 1975 German Grand Prix in #23/4, distinguished at this meeting by it’s white front wings and hastily applied black #2 race number on the side pod, according to contemporary reports by Dennis ‘DSJ’ Jenkinson and not #M23/6 as indicated by RacingSportsCars.com

My thanks to BSC at The Nostalgia Forum and Allen Brown at OldRacingCars.com for their help identifying the chassis number of today’s car.

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

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For Those Who Go – Porsche 953

In 1977 Terry Sabine got lost on his motor bike in the Lybian desert while taking part in the Abidjan-Nice Rally. Upon his return he promised to share his fascination with the desert with as many people as possible by creating “A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind” which took the form of the Paris Dakar (PD) a 10,000 mile mostly off road rally raid event.

Porsche 953, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Paris Dakar is run for motor cycles, 4 wheel vehicles up to 3,500 kgs / 7,716 lbs vehicles over 3500 kgs / 7,716 lbs with numerous sub divisions within the three basic classes. All service vehicles must be entered as competitors.

Porsche 953, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The first event was run in 1979 with the four wheel class won by Alain Génestier and Joseph Terbiaut driving a Range Rover, other winning vehicles up to 1984 included an Volkswagen Iltis, Renault 20 and Mercedes 280 G by multiple Grand Prix and Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur in 1983, all of them were all wheel drive vehicles.

Porsche 953, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 1983 Porsche built 3 cars for the 1984 event based on the 911 SC RS, a type I shall look at tomorrow, with 3 litre / 183 cui motors producing up to 300 hp, but featuring mechanical all wheel drive and over 12 inches of suspension travel to cope with the sand dunes in the Sahara desert. These three cars are known as 953’s but at the time were also variously referred to as 911’s, 911 SC RS 4×4’s or any combination there of.

Porsche 953, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Rene Metge and Dominique Lemoyne driving the #176 won the event at Porsche’s first attempt, Ickx and Brasseur came home 6th in the #175 while Roland Kussmaul and Erich Lerner finished 26th meaning all three cars survived the challenge.

Porsche 953, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 1987 the #175 and #177 cars were repainted green for the Folténe team led by former Grand Prix driver Jacques Laffite who shared the ex #175 Ickx car with Pierre Landereau which appears to have retired from the event at the earliest opportunity once a minimum of sponsor obligations was met, while the other car driven by Jacques brother in law Jean Pierre Jabouille and G.Levent retired after hitting a bolder.

Toady’s featured car, seen at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is owned by the Porsche Museum, it carries an odd combination #176 with the names of Ickx and Brasseur on the roof and I have been unable to determine exactly which of the three 953’s this is.

It is possible today’s featured car might be the car Laffite drove in 1987 and Ickx drove in 1984, but it would appear more likely to be the repaired Jabouille car from 1987 that Kussmaul and Lerner drove in ’84, if you know please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Porsche went on to develop all wheel drive on its 959 and 961 twin turbo competition models, Metge and Lemoyne won the 1986 PD with the 959. The all wheel drive system was then used in the Carrera 4 road model range.

Event founder Terry Sabine was killed with 4 others in the 1986 PD when his helicopter crashed into a sand dune during an unexpected sand storm.

The PD became the Dakar in 2009 and relocated to Argentina after political tensions led to the abandonment of the event in 2008.

Thanks for joining me on this “For Those Who Go” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at another Porsche 911 variant. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Comeback Kid – Porsche 936 #001

The Porsche 936 was the successor to the 908 and 917 models, it was used to win the World Sports Car Championsip in 1976. Three chassis based on many parts from the Porsche 917 parts bin were made.

All three chassis won the Le Mans 24 hour race; chassis #002 in 1976, #001 in 1977, both with a 540 hp 2140 cc / 130 cui turbocharged flat 6 motors and #003 in 1981 with a 600 hp 2649 cc / 161 cui turbocharged flat 6, a design that had started out as the alcohol burning engine used by Danny Ongias in the unraced Interscope Parnelli Indy Car. Remarkably Jacky Ickx co drove each of these 936’s to Victory Lane at Le Mans.

Porsche 936, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

This car represents chassis #001 which was slated to be driven by Juergen Barth and Le Mans rookie Hurley Haywood in the 1977 Le Mans 24 hours, a fuel pump replacement in the 3rd hour dropped #001 down to 42nd place. Around this time Henri Pescarolo’s engine had expired in the sister #002 chassis and Pescarolo’s team mate, Jacky Ickx, was drafted in to join Barth and Haywood.

By his own admission Jacky drove the race of his life through the night and after 19 hours the #001 was in the lead of the race, the three works Renault Alpines dropped out while dominating the race in the Porsche’s absence with engine failures. With 45 mins to go the engine in #001 developed a second misfire, the mechanics shut down the problematic cylinder by taking out the spark plug and blanking the fuel injector.

Porsche 936, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Ten mins before the end of the race Juergen Barth was then sent out with a stop watch taped to the steering wheel and instructed to complete the last two laps, within the necessary percentage of each other, to seal an unlikely victory by 11 laps over the Renault powered Mirage GR8 of Vern Schuppan and Jean Pierre Jarrier.

During the race a wheel balance weight tore off the right front wheel ripped through the wheel arch, and both stalk mounted mirrors were lost. The large air box was primarily used to cool the turbocharged air running through the intercoolers.

Porsche 936, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

The following year Bob Wollek joined Juergen Barth in #001 and when the sister #003 car retired after an accident Jacky Ickx joined Bob and Juergen too however this time they could only finish 2nd to the Alpine Renault of Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud.

#001’s next two appearances were at the Silverstone 6 hours and Le Mans 24 hours in 1979 it qualified on pole for both of these events, but was classified 10th at Silverstone after an accident which caused Jochen Mass and Brian Redmans retirement from the lead at Silverstone. Bob Wollek and Hurley Haywood retired with engine failure at Le Mans in 1981 as has Jurgen Barth and Reinhold Joest driving #001 at Le Mans in 1976. The cars final appearance as a works car was at the 1981 Le Mans 24 hours where despite starting from 2nd on the grid Jochen Mass, Vern Schuppan and Hurley Haywood could only finish 12th.

Porsche 936, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

The following linked films document the 1977 Le Mans race; the first shows fabulous in car footage of a lap of Le Mans the second show’s the start and continues into the evening and the third the finish, I afraid most of the commentary is in German except a couple of interviews with Jacky Ickx and Hurley Haywood.

Thanks for joining me on this “Comeback Kid” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for the 1000th edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. Don’t forget to come back now !

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