Tag Archives: Jaguar

Convertible Concours – La Jolla Concours d’Elegance

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A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Horton dusted off his Jaguar XK140 and took it down to the La Jolla Concours d’Elgance, and kindly sent today’s photographs for me to share.

Jaguar, XK 140, XK 120, La Jolla Concours d'Elegance,

Above Geoffrey’s immaculate white XK140 is seen parked up next to the Steven Card’s XK class winning 1954 Jaguar XK 12O Convertible.

Bianchi S8 Cabriolet, La Jolla Concours d'Elegance,

Edorado Bianchi began manufacturing motor cars at his Milan factory in 1900, the Swiss Garber bodied 1929 Bianchi S8 convertible above was shown at the 1929 Geneva Motor Show, it was given the Aubery Taylor Award of Excellence for Best Upholstery at La Jolla, Bianchi became Autobianchi with FIAT’s help in 1955 nearly a decade after founder Edorado perished in a car accident.

Bentley 4 1/4 litre Roadster, La Jolla Concours d'Elegance,

Staying with the open top theme Brooke and Gary D. Moore’s French looking 1936 Bentley 4 1/4 litre with modern Roadster coachwork by Chalmers and Gathings built as a homage to Georges Paulin, above, won the Peoples Choice Award.

Mercedes Benz 300SL Roadster, La Jolla Concours d'Elegance,

The purple Hjeltness Restoration Incs 1957 Mercedes Benz 300SL Roadster above did not win any awards despite it’s unusually appealing, to my eyes, colour.

Ford Thunderbird Convertible, La Jolla Concours d'Elegance,

Warren Reidel’s 1963 Ford Thunderbird Convertible above was not a prize winner either.

Bizzarrini 5300GT Strada Barchetta, La Jolla Concours d'Elegance,

Giotto Bizzarrini supervised the production of 1 5300 SI Spyder and two Targa tops by Turin’s Stile Italia, Geoffrey’s photograph is the first I have ever seen of a 5300 GT Strada Barchetta I suspect it is either a post factory conversion or a new creation from old stock for owner Gerhard Eckstein.

McLaren 650S Spider, La Jolla Concours d'Elegance,

Last year, 2014, McLaren started building the 650S similar to the MP4-12C but with 25% new parts. The 650S Spider will reach 60 mph from rest in 3 exciting seconds and has a top speed of 204 mph.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this Convertible Concours edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an FIAT with a sting in it’s tail. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Coffee Croissants And Cars 01/15 – Avenue Drivers Club

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The second Sunday of the month saw the first Avenue Drivers Club meeting of the year at Queen Square in Bristol.

Singer Vogue, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Among the delights struggling to find somewhere to park was this 1969 Singer Vogue.

Jaguar XJ6, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Another 1969 car was this early, Mk 1, Jaguar XJ6 4.2 which the current owner bought fitted with E-type wire wheels, not recommended by the manufacturer for a vehicle of this weight, and a set of standard steel spares.

ALFA Romeo 1750 GT Veloce, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Built in 1971 but not registered in the UK until August 1972 was this ALFA Romeo 1750 GT Veloce, I suspect the vinyl roof and gold pinstripes might not have been original factory options.

MG Midget, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Sporting the original coffee and cream works MG colours above is a 1981 MG Midget with federal spec bumpers.

Vauxhall Viva, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

According to a sticker in the back window this 1971 Viva SL estate is maintained with “Genuine Scrapyard Parts” which appear to include a non standard turbo charged diesel motor which going on the officially registered 1686 cc / 102 cui size maybe of GM Poland Circle L origin.

Ford Mondeo TDCI 140, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol,

Also diesel powered, and keeping an eye on everything being orderly, ship shape and Bristol fashion were officers of the Avon Constabulary in their 2010 Ford Mondeo TDCI 140.

The next Avenue Drivers Club meeting at Queen Square will be Sunday February 8th.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee Croissants And Cars 01/15” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a short tale about a Porsche 917. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Methanol Motion – Delage SS Special

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Rod King’s potent Delage SS Special featured in today’s blog is built on a 1938 Delage chassis.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Loton Park,

The 2664 cc / 162 cui straight 6 motor appears to have been donated from a contemporaneous Jaguar SS100.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Prescott,

Unlike most Jaguar SS100 motors, which produced 100 hp when new, the one in the SS Delage Special has been supercharged.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Prescott,

The orange dot on the side of the car indicates to safety marshals in the event of an emergency that the motor runs on performance enhancing methanol which burns without visible flames.

Delage Special, Rod King, VSCC, Prescott,

Almost exactly a year ago Rod King’s Delage SS Special had a minor part in the second series finale episode of Father Brown called The Laws of Motion.

Thanks for joining me for this “Methanol Motion” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be reviewing my Christmas reading. Don’t forget to come back now !

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English Wheel Master Gomm – Gomm Jaguar Special

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The Gomm special is an amalgam of 1955 Jaguar XK 140 chassis, engine and running gear with bodywork craftsmanship attributed to a master of the english wheel Maurice Gomm.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

I believe the motor is a 3442 cc / 210 cui double overhead cam Jaguar straight six.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Charles Fripp, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The Maurice Gomm crafted body is said to have once been fitted to an ‘Alta GP chassis’ in these linked 2013 Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting race notes.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

So far the only photo’s I have been able to find of such a vehicle are recent ones of Amy Tomlin’s Alta Jaguar GP with cycle mudguards, if you know which Alta GP chassis the body on today’s featured car was fitted to, please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

While looking for information on the Alta chassis the body work featured here may have been attached to, I stumbled across this fascinating “Bring-A-Trailer” thread showing one of the last 4 unfinished Cunnigham CR3 chassis built with similar if not an identical right hand drive,RHD, body.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The Cunnigham CR3 chassis #5238 was bought separately form the body by Ben Shuckburgh and turned into a continuation Cunningham C4R featured on this link last June. If you know what became of the Cunningham’s body, seen in the Bring-A-Trailer thread please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, Charles Fripp, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Former Twyford Moors Classic Cars proprietor Charles Fripp commissioned his former business to fit the body to the XK140 chassis with racing suspension, Charles is seen at the wheel of his Gomm Jaguar Special in these photo’s taken at the Castle Combe Classic in October.

Thanks for joining me on this “English Wheel Master Gomm” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow for a look at Emerson Fittipaldi’s favourite McLaren. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Encore – Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

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Today’s blog takes one final look through the recent Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham.

Porsche 917K, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

It was difficult for sports car fans of a certain age to get passed the main entrance where this Porsche 917 Kurzheck, like the car which opened last Wednesday’s blog some of this one starred in a Steve McQueen film, in this case Le Mans, chassis #013 crashed during filming with David Piper at the wheel during filming and was rebuilt with a fresh chassis #034 to become #034/013. This car went on to win the Daytona 24 Hours with Pedro Rodriguez andJackie Oliver sharing the driving.

Tatra T97, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

The Tatra T97 featured a rear air cooled 4 cylinder boxer engine and influenced the design of the Volkswagen Beetle so much that VW made an out of court settlement with Tatra in 1961. Not copied by the Germans were the elegant Tatra door handles nor rear hinged front. suicide, doors as seen on the 1938 model above.

Commer QX TS3 Mk III, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

If you like engineering novelty you’ll love the 1955 Commer QX TS3 Mk III 7 ton truck, it is powered by a 3.3 litre 200 cui 3 cylinder motor with a pair of horizontally opposed pistons in each cylinder connected to a common crank, oh and it’s a supercharged two stroke diesel an was originally developed by the Germans for a bomber aircraft ! A cross section diagram of how the motor works can be found on this link.

Panther De Ville, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

On a more neo-classical note, but perhaps none the less bizarre, the crystals in the radiator cap of this Panther De Ville are real amethysts.

Aston Martin Vignale, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

Very much a work in progress was this unique 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 with body work by Vignale which I understand originally belonged to the King of Belgium.

Jaguar D-Type, Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham

Rounding out today’s final visit to this years Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham is this 1956 short nose D-Type Jaguar used by the works supported Ecurie Ecose team. Ron Flockhart won two races at Snetterton and Goodwood with this car chassis XKD 561 and many years later it was used as a road car for nearly a decade by a Lancastrian owner.

Thanks for joining me on this “Encore” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be celebrating Kevin Harvicks Sprint Cup win. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Unique GT Coupé – HWM Jaguar GT Coupé

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After the ’39 – ’45 war Hersham and Walton Motors (HWM) was operate by partners George Abecassis and John Heath. For the 1948 season John, a self taught engineer, built an Alta powered Special called an HW Alta which they both raced with some success.

The following season an open wheel HW Alta was built and encouraged by it’s success they built the first four HWM cars for the 1950 season, three works cars and one for a privateer, which could run in open wheel or closed wheel form.

HWM Jaguar GT Coupé, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone,

20 year old Stirling Moss was given his first break, beyond 500cc Formula 3, by the team and scored two third place finishes at Reims and Bari despite a lack of reliability and power from the Alta motors.

One of the original works cars retains it’s an Alta motor to this day, another became the first HWM Jaguar and the third went to Hollywood and became the Stovebolt Special.

HWM Jaguar GT Coupé, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone,

With the profits from selling their cars at the end of 1950 the team built new open wheel Formula Two cars for the 1951 and ’52 seasons but there competitiveness dwindled against the likes of Ferrari.

In 1953 HWM built another sports car now powered by a Jaguar motor with which George won a race at Snetterton. HWM focused on building and running Jaguar powered cars until 1956 when John Heath died from injuries sustained after an accident in the rain on the Mille Miglia.

HWM Jaguar GT Coupé, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone,

Thereafter George decided to focus on running the trading side of HWM which had become an Aston Martin dealer in 1951 and has remained so to this day to become the oldest Aston Martin dealership in the world.

The final HWM is today’s featured Jaguar powered HWM GT Coupé built, with unique bodywork the design of which is credited to Aston Martin’s Frank Feeley, as a road car which show’s how HWM might have progressed but for the unfortunate turn of events on the Mille Miglia.

Thanks for joining me on this “Unique GT Coupé” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Formula One BRM. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Another Alternative C-Type – Sulprizio Hagemann GMC

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Like Walt Hansgen a few years earlier when United Engineering & Machine co owner Babe Sulprizio found he was too many dollars short to own a C-Type Jaguar he set to building his own special in 1955.

Sulprizio Hagemann GMC, Rolex Reunion, Laguna Seca,

Babe started by building a steel tube ladder frame to which he fitted Jaguar Mk VII independent front suspension and rear axle , a Morris Minor steering rack and a 5 litre / 302 cui GMC six cylinder ‘Jimmy’ motor mated to a 4 speed Moss gearbox.

It is said the ‘Jimmy’ GMC motor was chosen after the local Oakland Chevrolet assembly plant refused to supply a 265 cui V8.

For the bodywork Babe took his chassis with some sketched bodywork idea’s to expert english wheelman Jack Hagemann. Babe insisted the completed body be painted bright red which led to the car often being mistaken for a Ferrari.

I have not been able to establish any competition results for the car which appears to have been known as the Hagemann GMC or Sulprizio Hagemann GMC, if you know of any please do not hesitate to chime in below.

In 1976 the current owner bought the car and appears to have installed a Jaguar XK 120 motor, XK 150 disc brakes and tired of telling the inquisitive his car was not a Ferrari had it repainted in metallic British Racing Green.

Note this car is not to be confused with the 1957 Cozzi Jaguar Special which was also painted red and fitted with a Jack Hagemann body.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo of the Sulprizio Hagemann GMC taken at last years Rolex Reunion at Laguna Seca.

Thanks for joining me on this “Another Alternative C-type” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Shadow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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