Tag Archives: Jaguar

Hard Day’s Night – Silverstone Classic

On Saturday I got up at 5am in order to get to the start of proceedings for at the Silverstone Classic meeting. After a scenic drive through Gloucestershire with a little early morning fog along the A40 I arrived in good time.

Jon Milicevic, driving a Cooper T59 comfortably won the days opening Formula Junior race, for cars built between 1959 and 1963, from another Cooper T59 driven by Sam Wilson.

Simon Hadfield and Micheal Lyons provided the early entertainment in the Peter Gethin Trophy race for stock block open wheelers, Simon’s F5000 Trojan T101 set up for good performance through the corners can be seen being hounded by Micheal Lyons F5000 Lola T400 which was set up for better straight line performance. Unfortunately Simon who started from third lost it after 6 laps handing pole man Micheal a narrow victory over Mark Stretton driving a much smaller capacity Formula 2 March. Simon recovered to take third.

During the lunch break I caught up with several members of the TNF Forum including John who makes the annual pilgrimage from Australia, on this occasion he brought a pre production copy of F5000 Thunder the Titans of Australian Road Racing 1970 – 1982 co authored by Ray Bell and Tony Loxley, if your a fan of Formula 5000 I guarantee you will enjoy the many stories in this 406 page book with over 800 photographs which ever part of the world you happen to live in.

The Alan Mann Trophy for under 2 litre / 122 cui touring cars looked to be a walk over for the #51 ALFA Romeo driven by Alex Furiani despite the best efforts of Jackie Oliver, who will be celebrating his seventieth birthday in a couple of weeks, driving the #100 BMW 1800 TiSA seen here sliding through Maggotts in third place. An incident requiring the safety car disrupted the event which was won by Sean McInerney driving the #67 Lotus Cortina who started from 38th on the grid ! Simon Hadfield did well to recover from a stop go penalty to bag second place on the last lap to finish less than two seconds behind McIerney in the #1 Lotus Cortina co driven by Leo Voyazides which had started on pole.

Alex Buncombe made the most of pole position in the Stirling Moss Trophy driving the #46 Costin bodied Lister Jaguar he was sharing with Andrew Smith which was never lost it’s lead on it’s way to victory. Second place was initially disputed by the #33 Knobbly Lister Jaguar, of Jon Minshaw and Martin Stretton which made a great start from 6th on the grid, the #61 Birdcage Maserati of Jason Minshaw and the McIntyres #15 Lotus seen above. The #33 Lister failed to finish while the McIntyre Lotus 15 and Jason’s Birdcage finished 3rd and 4th respectively behind the Dodds Cooper Monaco T49.

Two races for Formula One cars were next up after lunch, The Daily Express Trophy for 1970 to 1983 cars was led by Micheal Lyons in the #24 Hesketh 308E who unfortunately could not get his car to complete lap nine after slowing for an incident between two cars which were stopped on the track. A lucky victory therefore
handed to Bill Coombs in the #33 Tyrrell 009 when the race was called early to clear up the mess. Steve Hartley in the #31 Arrows A4 was classified 2nd with Micheal Fitzgerald seen above in 8th place came through to claim 3rd in his #28 Williams FW08.

The pre ’66 rear engined Grand Prix cars race was won by Jason Minshaw from John Harper both driving Brabham BT4’s above 8th place Roger Willis, driving his #48 Cooper T51, is seen leading a pack through the ‘Arena’.

As the Gentleman Drivers Pre ’66 bus got underway I made my way over to the “Wing” pits complex on an open top Leyland Bus, coming the other way we encountered this 1963 GUY Arab Mk 5. Soon after the Mk 5 was built GUY was taken over by Jaguar.

During the Silverstone Classic meeting pits access is unrestricted as evidenced by this photo of Mike Whitaker Snr’s pit stop. I am sure back in the day brake coolers were not ‘de rigueur’ when his 1965 4.7 litre / 286 cui V8 powered TVR Griffith was built. Mike retired shortly after this photo was taken, the race was won by Jon Minshaw and Mike Stretton driving an E-Type Jaguar.

This mid 1990’s Renault Williams Laguna Touring Car is probably legible, for but was not entered in the Fujifilm Touring Car Trophy, it reminded me of the time in late 1998 when I seriously under estimated the power of Play Station and found myself engrossed in a game called TOCA 2 featuring a similar Laguna and seven other vehicles from the same era.

As I got to the end of my pits walkabout, which included a spell on the pit wall during the Gentleman’s race, I stumbled across a hive of activity as the Morgan ‘celebrity” drivers prepared to qualify for their race. Above well known racer and AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson signs an autograph before qualifying third ahead of fellow musician Jay Kaye. Qualifying and the race was won by TV star Kelvin Fletcher who regular readers may remember I saw a couple of months ago driving a #17 Mini at Castle Combe. Brian and Jay came second and third respectively in the race.

I returned to the car after my pit visit for a cat nap which lasted a little longer than intended so I unintentionally missed a couple of races however fortunately I woke up in time to catch the finale of the day for Group C Endurance cars, Gareth Evans won the race despite a late spin relatively easily from Roger Willis in his Lancia LC2. Above the race was not the most entertaining but for my money seeing the Group C cars race in the early evening was worth the price of entry on it’s own. Above one car I did not get to see race in period was the 6 litre / 366 cui IMSA GTP Jaguar XJR 5 seen here with Don Miles at the wheel, after qualifying last from 21 Don finished 12th from 16 finishers. Absolutely cream crackered after a Hard Day’s Night I got home just after midnight and slept like a log.

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

Coffee, Croissant & Cars – Avenue Drivers Club

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Last Sunday I went to my third meeting with the Avenue Drivers Club meeting which took place just a stones throw from GALPOT Towers in Queens Square.

While I have heard of and seen a few Soviet Built UAZ’s in my travels to foreign climbs but this is the first one I have dared to see up close let alone photograph. I am not sure of it’s age but I am guessing it was originally supplied for military service which would make the model either a UAZ 469 or more likely a post 1985 UAZ 31512, these vehicles had a great reputation for reliability until first the factory started using cheaper materials for construction and then counterfeit spare parts flooded the market.

Among the many vintage vehicles present was this ‘long rad’ 1935 Model Y Ford one of around 1300 survivors of the of 170,000 built between 1933 and 1937.

Present at many of the show’s and meetings I have been to this summer has been this 1991 Nissan Figaro a retro styled vehicle that takes it’s design queue’s from the seven iterations of the Datsun Sports / Fairlady roadsters produced between 1959 and 1970.

Looking tres cool on it’s non factory alloy wheels was this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette C1, the interior if which was as immaculate as the exterior.

Vauxhall 30/90, Avenue Drivers Club, Bristol

Car of the day for me was this 1922 Vauxhall 30/90 a work in progress that was repatriated from a former British Colony in the 1970’s. Where as in Britain such vehicles exterior panels will have corroded away in the former colony, where this car spent the first fifty years of it’s life, the metal work remained in good shape but the extensive original wooden body frame had been completely munched away by termites !

This 1963 Trojan 200 three wheeler complete with single door opening forwards from the front and a soft top was built under licence from the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. Trojan went on to become a manufacturer of many racing cars including under licence several Mclarens models powered by Chevrolet V8’s for both Can Am and Formula 5000 and a one off Formula One car.

The 1974 Vauxhall Victor above was being offered for sale for £1,000 if your interested I have the phone number, usual disclaimers apply.

Close second in my favorite cars of the day was this Sunbeam Pick Up which started life as a 1929 Sunbeam 20/9. The vintage cars alone have made my outings to the Avenue Drivers Clubs meetings on the second Sunday of every month more than worth the effort.

Gracie above is a 1972 SAAB 96V4 which had less than 10,000 miles on the clock in 2006 due to the original owners putting it in storage two years after they bought after giving up driving. The car was found in a wooden garage 25 years later and underwent a thorough restoration of it’s mechanical parts which had deteriorated through lack of use.

Not sure at the time of writing weather the 3 litre / 183 cui twin cam powered 1927 Sunbeam 2 seater is a 20 hp or 35 hp model but it looks and sounds very purposeful with its tail faired in like the hull of a boat.

Personifying the gentrification of Bristol’s Queens Square was this elegant 1958 Jaguar MkIII, the car is powered by the same 190 hp motor as used in the Jaguar XK140 launched two years earlier.

Finally I had a long chat with Rich who owns the 1963 Volvo 121 above and his friend Matt, turns out they spotted this left hooker on the internet and then went to Sweden to go and get it. Their journey back through Germany was enlivened by a perished connection between the steering shafts. Rich has all the original documentation for his pride and joy and reckons it has covered over 300,000 kilometers about 240,000 miles.

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

43rd Wedding Anniversary – Dana Point Concours d’Elegance

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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 !

Theme Lotus – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

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On Friday I headed off under grey skies with friends, Tim, Pete and Dave to Goodwood House just outside Chichester for the Festival Of Speed.

The featured manufacturer this year was Lotus which was founded 60 years ago by Colin Chapman who’s cars not entirely uncoincidentally are currently also featured every Saturday here at GALPOT. Welcoming us on the way into Goodwood House was this 1967 AEC Swift based transporter used by Gold Leaf Team Lotus from 1967 to 1970 during which period team won two world drivers championships with Graham Hill(’68) and Jochen Rindt (’70) and two world constructors in the same years.

Gerry Judah’s art work on the lawn in front of Goodwood House featured no less than six cars five of them winners and a contemporary F1 car built in Enstone which I find as difficult to call a Lotus in the same way as I had trouble calling the Lotus 76 a John Player Special back in 1974.

In the paddock there were several cars I had heard of but never seen in the flesh including the six wheel, 4WD, 1982 Williams FW08B which was never raced thanks to a late call to ban more than four wheels from Formula Once cars with only two to be driven from the start of the 1983 season.

Of all the many stories of British grit in Grand Prix Racing perhaps none exemplifies how not to organise a team better than BRM which managed to organise the support in cash, kind and facilities from the British Motor Industry to make two of the most complex racing motors ever built. The first was a 1.5 litre / 91 cui supercharged V16 which comprised to 750 cc / 45.5 cui V8’s mounted back to back. The 500 hp motor, which could be taken up to 12,000 rpm, was more powerful than any of it’s contemporaries but the combination of organisational and design complexity did not result in a particularly reliable motor car. It did not win any championship Grand Prix, it was only entered in two but it did score championship points, and won a non championship 12 lap race at Goodwood. The most memorable thing about this vehicle is the sound it makes, utterly unmusical in comparison to a V8, and as harsh as granite, note two people in this photo are wearing ear defenders ! The smell of oil coming off it’s engine after the warming up session seen here was quite unforgetable too !

Amongst the sports cars this Maserati Tipo 151/3 is a 1980’s replica of one of three 151’s that were prepared for Le Mans in 1962 and then continually modified. The 151/3 seen here made of from orginal parts and fitted with the low Pierre Drogo body made from the same buck as the body made specially for the 1964 24 Hours at Le Mans where 151/3 was timed at 196 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, like the BRM P15 it suffered poor reliability and retired as it has had in ’62 and ’63.

Racing successfully against the original 151/3 were the Shelby American Cobra Coupé’s also known as the ‘Daytona’ Coupé. So far as I can tell this #12 car is chassis CSX2300 which scored a best 6th place finish at Daytona in 1965 with Ed Leslie and Allen Grant at the wheel, the cars next appearance was at Sebring where it carried the #12 with Leslie and Grant again driving finishing 13th.

Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt won the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours driving this Ford Mk IV, beating two Ferrari P4’s in the process thus avenging Enzo Ferrari’s last minuet refusal to sell out to Ford earlier in the decade.

The Matra 670 B with a long tail, by Matra standards, won Le Mans in 1973 with Henri Pescarolo and Gerrard Larrousse at the wheel, also beating a Ferrari this time a 312PB driven by Art Mezario and Carlos Pacé.

Above regular GALPOT contributor, through The Nostalgia Forum, Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher happily accepts an invitation to sign 1980 IMSA Champion John Fitzpatrick’s programe.

Continuing the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this years Concours d’Elegance centered on numerous vehicles the Queen and other state dignitary’s have used, this De Haviland of Canada DHG – 1 Chipmunk was used by both HRH Prince Phillip and HRH Prince Charles for training purposes in the 1950’s and 60’s. Back in the day when I was a schoolboy and an RAF Cadet I went up in one of these on a couple of occasions, being handed the controls mid flight on one of them !

The De Macross GT1 appears to be constructed from a mix of Korean Finance, Canadian Manufacturing and US Roush Yates power and any number of styling queues taken from an equally diverse range of vehicles. The drivers name on the side of the car was none other than that of motorsports TV presenter Justin Bell.

Keeping folks entertained on two wheels were a number of youngsters who were doing things on motor bikes that I have only been able to aspire to dreaming of.

Sir Stirling Moss shares a little joke with former Jaguar works test driver and team mate Norman Dewis as they prepare for a quick blast up Goodwood’s hill climb.

Jackie Oliver drove a Gold Leaf Team Lotus 49B in 1968 here he is seen driving the 1967 Lotus 49 chassis R2, later renamed R11, that Jim Clark used to win the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix the first of 155 Grand Prix victories for the Ford Corworth DFV engine that powered it and the first of 12 for the Lotus 49 type.

Delivered nearly five years late and horrendously over budget the Eurofighter Typhoon made up for it with a simply stunning display of power, speed and maneuverability. With 40,000 lbs of thrust this plane can be flown like one of the better short nosed paper aeroplanes I used to make when I was a kid with the added bonus it does not crash when landing.

Paul Knapfield’s Ferrari 712 chassis #1010 haa a long story to tell suffice to say here that in period it has underwent two body upgrades from it’s original 512S spec and an engine upgrade to make it the Ferrari with the largest Ferrari motor ever raced. This car will be the subject of a blog in the fulness of time.

Le Mans 24 hours will be remembered this year as the first ever to be won by a hybrid diesel, the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässer and Benoit Tréluyer beat the the sister car of Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen, with a regular diesel coming in third. McNish is seen driving the e-tron quattro above which despite the stickers is not necessarily the car that crossed the line first at Le Mans.

The ‘Droop Snoot’ Vauxhall Firenza “Old Nail” belonging to Paul Chase-Gardener scored over 60 victories with Gerry Marshall at the wheel back in the 1970’s Gerry’s son Gregor, another contributor to GALPOT through The Nostalgia Forum, was scheduled to drive this car later in the weekend.

There were several Citroen DS3’s entered on the Goodwood Rally stage I believe this may have been the DS3 WRC example of Thierry Neuville, but I’ll happily take a second better informed opinion if you have one to add below.

One of the pleasant rewards for taking the time to walk to the top of the hill was finding this Skoda Octavia vRS, a car that might not ordinarily bring the phrase ‘psycho on tyres’ to mind however this one had it’s turbo 2 litre / 122cui engine uprated from 200 hp to 500 hp and along with a few other safety mods achieved 227.080 mph at Bonneville to claim the 2 litre production car class record with Richard Meaden at the wheel last year.

Four time World Drivers Champion Alain Prost was the honoured driver at Goodwood this year, though there were probably more vehicles present that were associated with Dan Gurney including the McLaren M6B, driven on this occasion by owner Andy Boone, which Dan modified so much it gained the ‘McLeagle’ sobriquet. Dan’s efforts were not enough to beat the Bruce and Denny show, Denny won the championship. Gurney’s best result with the car was a 4th place in the 1968 Can Am race at Riverside.

It’s always great to see and hear a little NASCAR action, Goodwood marked the first occasion on which I have seen a Camping World Truck Series (CWTS) truck in action, the #3 Chevrolet Silverado was driven by Austin Dillon to the Championship last season his brother Ty was scheduled to drive over weekend.

Largest vehicle on the track was the Race 2 Recovery MAN 8×8 Dakar support truck driven by Ben Gott. Race 2 Recovery plans to enter a team of Land Rovers in next years Dakar Rally all driven by injured soldiers. If you would like to help their cause you can find details on this Race2Recovery link.

All too soon after a pleasurably exhausting day wondering around the grounds of Goodwood House without having seen everything it was time to say a quick hello to a couple of friends and then rejoin my passengers for the two hour back to the future drive home, my nomination for top car in the car park award went to the DeLorean DMC-12 which was substantially re-engineered by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, prior to the commencement of production in 1981.

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

Sunday Morning Lotus Hunting – Prescott

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Apologies to readers of the regular Tuesday MG blogs which will return next week. On Sunday I attended the Speed Hill Climb at Prescott in search of a couple of Lotus models for Saturdays Lotus blogs.

On arrival in the paddock I found much more than I bargained for, this GSM Delta Ford will feature in a forthcoming blog thanks to the owner Clive Scott who told me all about the car and his families involvement with it’s manufacture. Clive finished the day forth in a class of 15.

For a moment I thought this Ginetta G12 might be yet another car once owned by David Render, but Nick Stephens told me that this was not the case with his Ford Zetec powered example.

Derek Kessell has owned this Maguire Mini Cooper S for 24 years, it has never been raced and only ever used on hillclimbs. It was originally built with a Mini Clubman estate / station wagon body.

The tyres on Bill Chaplin’s Force Empire DS600 Suzuki show how tricky the conditions at Prescott were on Sunday Morning, full wets on the front and intermediates on the back, notice also a wild array of tweaked aerodynamic appendages that would not look out of place on a Formula One Car which helped Bill claim third fastest time in a class of 12.

Tina Hawkes driving her OMS Hornet Suzuki turned around her third fastest timed run in the lottery morning conditions, seen here, to a fastest time in class in the dry afternoon run.

Last week I received an e-mail from John Biggs owner of the Kayne Special III, above, asking if I could put him in touch with Colin Cooper who built the car. When I met John on Sunday he told me that Colin had come to visit Prescott on Saturday and that they had a long chat about the car.

I know this is not a property blog, BUT, Pardon Hill House just has to be one of the most desirable properties on the planet for any motorsport enthusiast. You can see the Prescott Hill Climb course right in front of you from the benches right outside the back gate. Here’s hoping my lottery numbers come up before it is too late !

In the wake of the successful Lotus 79 in 1978 almost all open wheel cars the following season were built to take advantage of ground effects with varying degrees of success. Future Ferrari and Mclaren F1 driver Stephan Johansson was one of several drivers who started the 1979 with a Chevron B47, quite possibly the one in the photo above, but switched before long to the more successful March chassis on his way to claiming 4th spot in the 1979 British Formula 3 championship. Chris Bentley Jones who drove the car on Sunday claimed third fastest time in class.

Sandra Tomlin, above, managed to avoid the wooden spoon in class and pip her son Oliver with whom she shares the wheel of the Pilbeam MP97 Judd.

I received a tip off last week that a couple of Lotus 51’s would be at Prescott like the won driven by Briony Serrell above, Brioney finished with 5th best time in a class of 13.

Martin Tippet’s Lotus 51 was suffering from electrical issues and he could only manage 8th best time in class.

My thanks to Les Buck who is seen driving his Lotus 61 above, finished forth in class, for tipping me off last week at Brooklands that this event was taking place.

The two rounds of the Midland Hillclimb Championship main event were convincingly dominated by championship leader Trevor Wills driving the #3 OMS CFO6 Powertec SBD seen above.

Finally just as I was leaving a couple of dozen Jaguar XK’s appeared, including this 1956 XK 140, fitted with easy to clean steel wheels, which reminded me that GALPOT regular Geoffrey Horton would soon be getting up to compete in a Concours event in California with his own example of the model.

Further information on the timing results for this event can be found on Roger Warren’s excellent Resultsman website.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sunday Morning Lotus Hunting” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an extraordinary FIAT 600. Don’t forget to come back now !

Dick Mayo Sprint – Castle Combe

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Another weekend another hectic schedule, on Saturday I spent the day marshaling at Castle Combe for the Dick Mayo Sprint run by the Bristol Motor Club (BMC), returning a favour when Zoe Tooth of the BMC kindly sat took the passenger seat when I tried to defend my Cross Trophy some months ago.

I was paired up with Richard, a new BMC member, to look after the marshals post on the inside of Old Paddock Bend on what turned out to be a windy but mercifully mostly dry day. Since I was the senior marshal on the post with a novice and there was only two of us, there was no opportunity to ‘stand down’ and take any photo’s of the on track action. During the lunch break, after a delicious sweet and sour pork with rice and chips, I managed to make a quick tour of the paddock to take a few snaps with my mobile phone.

Of the open wheelers only the Formula Ford spec #24 RAY GR095 of Paul Jevons was not covered against the elements, given that Pauls Ray was the only open wheeler running on treaded tyres, without any aerodynamic down force and probably the least horsepower it is perhaps not surprising he finished last in the F2 Racing Car Class.

Porsche Club GB were present in force at the Dick Mayo Sprint the stand out example of the marque being the #59 Porsche 914/6 belonging to Wayne Eason running a 3 litre / 183 cui flat 6 in the 161 to 205 bhp class, despite what ought to be superior handling of it’s mid engine layout Wayne’s 914/6 was beaten by the two rear engine 911 variants running in his class.

Amongst many Caterham 7’s and Lotus Elise variations the whistling supercharged, Lotus 2-Eleven track day car of fellow Bristol Pegasus Motor Club (BPMC) member James Spear stood out out as a novelty, James came third in the 12 strong Road Going Specialist Production Cars Class behind a Noble and a Westfield (Caterhan 7 look a like).

Running in the same class and coming 5th, as James, was yet another fellow BPMC member Julian West in his #132 GTD manufactured by GT Developments in Poole Dorset and not to be confused with the Tornado TSC GT40 replicas which are built in Kidderminster.

The Gold Leaf Team Lotus tribute liveried #143 Caterham 7 Roadsport, above, of Chris Bennet came in 5th in the smaller capacity Road Going Specialist Production Cars Class.

Porsche Club GB member Paul Kenelly ran his 1962 #148 Jaguar E-type coupé in the largest engine capacity class of the four Roadgoing Series Production classes finishing with the 9th best time from 10 in his class.

Terry Graves driving a Gould managed to record fastest time of the day, as the final runners came out rain made the track so damp the last competitor manged a time that was a full minute and more slower than the best time of the day, ironically by the time Richard and I had put our extinguishers out on the track ready for collection and jumped in his Subaru and returned to the paddock the sun was out and the track was dry ! Above the Morgan 3 wheeler drew a lot of attention in the paddock as it arrived to be put on show for the following days BMC Family Clubs Day, which I will feature next Sunday.

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

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

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Among the hand chosen, to require all the “Adjectives Used To Define Exquisite”, participants gathered at Marin Sanoma Concours d’Elegance for the May weekend 18th – 20th was GALPOT’s Geoffrey Horton and his pristine Jaguar XK 140 FHC SE/MC.

So far as I can tell the vehicle above is a Hispano Suiza K6 built somewhere between 1934 and 1937 with bodywork by Pourtout. 204 K6’s were built in France before hostilities in Spain forced the manufacturer to abandon motor vehicle manufacture focus on the production of aircraft engines.

Consecutive three time Le Mans winner, driving Bentleys, Woolf Baranto ordered the Talbot Lago T150C SS with “Goutte d’Eau”, water drop, bodywork by Figoni & Falaschi in 1938. The car belongs to the Mullin Automotive Collection which celebrates the art deco movement at the Mullin Automotive Museum located in Oxnard California.

Judged to require all the adjectives to define exquisite at the 2012 Marin Sanoma Concours d’Elegance was the 1939 Delahaye Type 165 Cabriolet again with bodywork by Figoni et Falaschi and belonging to the Mullin Automotive Museum !

D-Type Jaguar chassis XKC#404 registered OKV 3 was part of a three car works team at Le Mans in 1954 where it retired with gearbox failure, at Rheims Peter Whitehead and Ken Wharton were able to make the car last 12 hours and crossed the line first. The car was acquired by John Love in 1959 and he drove it two victories before Neville Austin bought it drove it to two further victories, giving the car at least four known victories on the African continent.

Geoffrey Horton’s 1955 XK140 can be seen getting thoroughly inspected by the Concours d’Elegance judges above, he was awarded second place in the Imports to over $3,500 1946 through 1962 class.

The Ferrari above started life as a silver Ferrari 330 GT which appears to have been sold new to the German importer Auto Becker Gmbh & Co in 1965. Somewhere between 1965 and 2002 the body was replaced with a TR 59/60 replica as seen here.

The 1966 Porsche 906 above is credit with numerous class wins from 1966 to 1977 in the hands of drivers 1966 E-modified champion Don Wester, Lew Florence from 1967 – 68, Milt Minter and John Morton in 1970/71 and Harald Kirberg from 1971 to 1977 when the car appeared with a different body in the rejuvinated Can Am series.

Looking a tad workman like in the company outlined above was the Shadow Mk II above. A one off built for Jackie Oliver to drive in the 1971 Cam Am series. Powered by a 8.1 litre / 494 cui Chaparral prepared Chevrolet V8 Jackie scored a best third place finish at Edmonton when the car appeared painted white with black lettering on all the upward facing surfaces except the rear wing. This car now belonging to Mr Losher won the Closed Wheel Sports Racing Cars class of the Marin Sanoma Concours d’Elegance.

I hope you will join me in congratulating Geoffrey on his second place class award and thanking him for sharing his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “All Adjectives Used To Define Exquisite” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” and that you will join me again tomorrow when I shall be visiting Middle Barton Garage which is celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: Jaguar

Hard Day’s Night – Silverstone Classic

Coffee, Croissant & Cars – Avenue Drivers Club

43rd Wedding Anniversary – Dana Point Concours d’Elegance

Theme Lotus – Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Sunday Morning Lotus Hunting – Prescott

Dick Mayo Sprint – Castle Combe

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