Tag Archives: Penske

Unlimited Perfection – Porsche 917/30 #002

There are some cars that stand head and shoulders above all others in terms of their achievements in their particular fields of endeavour even though their period of dominance is short lived. One such is the Porsche 917/30 as perfected into the ultimate race car for the 1973 Can Am Challenge for Group 7 unlimited sportscars by Porsche AG, Roger Penske and his driver Mark Donohue.

Porsche 917/30, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The origins of the space frame chassis and flat 12 motor that power this model lie in the Porsche 917 Endurance Sports Car programme that got underway after an unexpected change in sports car regulations designed to prolong the competitive viability of the Ford GT40’s and Lola T70 Coupé’s powered by 5 litre / 302 cui motors. The change in the regulations mandating vehicles of which at least 25 examples had been built with up to 5 litre / 302 cui motors were seen as an open opportunity by the engineers at Porsche to build a car with a competitive life limited to just three seasons of endurance racing from 1969 to to 1971. In that time Porsche and it’s preferred teams transformed the 917 from an initial limp biscuit into a preeminent sports car that conquered almost every race in which it took part laying the foundation of Porsche’s endurance racing reputation that was unrivaled until sister company Audi took up the mantel at the beginning of the 21st century. The Porsche 917’s achievements included back to back Le Mans wins in 1970 and 1971, back to back World Sports Car Championships in the same years and celluloid immortalisation by none other than the undisputed celluloid King of Cool Steve McQueen thanks to his film Le Mans.

Porsche 917/30, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Porsche’s first foray into the world of unlimited Can Am racing came in 1970 with a couple of 917 predecessors in the form of the 3 litre / 183 cui flat 8 powered 908 Spyders for Swiss driver Jo Siffert and Britain’s Tony Dean. Siffert was soon given a Porsche 917 PA Spyder fitted with a 4.5 litre / 274 cui flat 12 motor with which he finished a season high 3rd for the marque at Bridgehampton on his way to 4th place in the 1969 Can Am Challenge. The following season Tony Dean in his 908 was the only regular Porsche representative and he took an unlikely but popular win at Road Atlanta on his way to 6th in the 1970 Can Am Challenge standings.

Porsche 917/30, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Several of the closed cockpit 917K’s taking part in the 1970 Watkins Glen 6 hour race took part in the following days Can Am race at the same circuit and Siffert with a 5 litre / 302 cui flat 12 motor finished second to Denny Hulme’s Chevy 7 litre / 427 cui powered McLaren M8D.

Porsche 917/30, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Vasek Polak Racing acquired Siffert’s 917 PA for Milt Minter in 1971 while Siffert had a new 917/10 with updated bodywork that included a large rear wing but was still running a 5 litre / 302 cui normally aspirated motor. Siffert scored two season high second places and finished 4th in the 1971 Can Am Challenge two spots ahead of Minter.

Porsche 917/30, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 1972 Roger Penske became the works Porsche representative in Can Am with a pair of Porsche 917/10’s, now fitted with turbocharged 5 litre / 302 cui flat 12 motor’s Donohue finished 2nd in the opening round at Mosport but then broke a leg in a testing accident at Road Atlanta where George Follmer was hired at short notice to replace Mark. George won the race and four more that season to clinch the 1972 Can Am Challenge. Mark recovered to win a single race upon his return at the end of the season to finish 4th in the Challenge, behind Milt Minter who still had the old 917 PA fitted with the latest 917/10 body work and a variety of turbocharged and normally aspirated engines during the course of the season.

Porsche 917/30, Goodwood Festival of Speed

For 1973 Porsche, Penske and Mark worked on the definitive ultimate 917, today’s featured 917/30, which featured a longer wheel base and a turbocharged 5.4 litre / 329 cui flat twelve fitted with 2 spark plugs per cylinder that produced a conservative 1100hp, or up to 1500hp in qualifying trim with 39 psi / 2.7 bar of boost from the twin turbochargers.

Mark qualified on pole for all 8 races in the 1973 Can Am Challenge. In the first race at Mosport he finished a season low seventh, after tripping over a back maker which allowed Charlie Kemp to win driving the previous years Penske 917/10 model for Rinzler Racing. At Road Atlanta Mark experienced a fuel filler leak while leading forcing him to pit for the leak to be fixed. Mark rejoined the race to finish second to the other Rinzler Racing ex Penske 917/10 being driven by George Follmer.

Thereafter Mark won the remaining six races as he pleased to become the first Can Am Challenge winner to score points in all the challenge races. In 1974 the hitherto unlimited Group 7 cars were given their first restriction when the SCCA mandated a 3 miles per gallon fuel limit, this did not outlaw the 917/30 as is widely believed, in fact Roger Penske entered one of the 917/30’s for Brian Redman to drive at Mid Ohio.

Under strict instructions to use only the top three, of four, gears in order to minimise fuel consumption Brian qualified on pole and came home second, behind Jackie Oliver driving a Shadow DN4, after understeering, pushing, off the circuit during the race.

In 1975 Mark Donohue returned to the cockpit of a CAM2 sponsored 917/30 now fitted with twin inter coolers to raise the world closed circuit lap record from the 217 mph set by AJ Foyt, in his open wheel USAC Coyote, to 221 mph at Talladega Superspeedway. The record which was set in less than optimal dry conditions stood for two decades.

Today’s featured car seen at Goodwood Festival of Speed a couple of years ago is chassis 917/30 #002 which appears to have served primarily served as Mark Donohue’s spare for the 1973 season. Contemporary reports in Motor Sport suggest it was only raced at Watkins Glen after a suspension failure on Marks regular chassis #003 required #002 to be wheeled out for race duty, which included winning pole and leading from flag to flag to secure a 42 second victory over David Hobbs Carling Black Label Roy Woods Racing 1972 Mclaren Chevrolet M20.

917/30 #002, one of six 917/30’s built of which only three saw in period competition, now belongs to the Porsche Museum.

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

Share

Balena Close, Poole, Dorset – Penske PC1 #001

After he had finished fabricating the Len Terry designed Eagle monocoques for All American Racers (AAR) in California, John Lambert returned to the Untied Kingdom and started a new business which was located on a small industrial estate outside Poole in Dorset where the rent was cheap. When Len Terry fell out with Frank Nichols they wound up Transatlantic Automotive Consultants based in Hastings where they had designed the AAR Eagle and Terry went to join Lambert, with whom he had worked at Lotus and AAR, in Poole starting a new business together called Design Auto.

In 1969 Len Terry started to design a series of stock block Formula 5000 open wheel cars called Leda’s, John Lambert looked after the construction of them in a facility off Balena Close on the Creekmore Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Poole, Dorset. When Leda Cars ran into financial difficulty they merged into the Malaya Garage Group in 1970. Three years later Malaya Garage Group did a deal with New Zealand racer Graham McRae selling the Leda Cars premises “lock, stock and barrel” with the cars manufactured now rebranded as McRae’s.

At around this time Roger “The Captain” Penske and Mark “Captain Nice” Donohue were experiencing many successes on the US racing scene which included three Trans Am championships, then only for manufacturers, driving the Captains Chevrolet Camaro in 1969 and AMC Javelins in 1970 and ’71.

In 1972 Mark won the Indy 500 in Roger Penske’s McLaren M16 and at the end of the year drove Penske’s McLaren M19 in the Canadian and US Grand Prix finishing a more than credible 3rd in his debut Grand Prix. The following year Mark and Roger won the Can Am championship with the “Turbo Panzer” Porsche 917/30. Having achieved pretty much everything in the US, including a NASCAR Winston Cup win at Riverside driving a Penske AMC Matador to become the last ‘road ringer’ to win a non oval race in that series back in 1973 Mark announced he would hang up his helmet at the end of the season.

Roger Penske made plans for a Formula One team in 1974 and sent Heinz Hofer to look at Graham McRae’s ‘low profile’ premises on the Creekmore Industrial Estate in Poole, Dorset UK as a possible base and concluded a deal for the premises. The Ford Cosworth DFV powered Penske PC1 was built to a design by Geoff Ferris and Mark Donohue was persuaded to come out of retirement to drive the car on it’s debut in the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix where he qualified 24th and finished 12th 2 laps down.

Penske Ford PC1, US Grand Prix, Watkins Glen

At the US Grand Prix, where Mark Donohue and Roger Penske fan, Brian Brown took today’s photograph of Mark in the PC1 at Watkins Glen the car started 14th on the grid, but retired after 27 laps with rear suspension problems. Brian recalls his first visit to a Grand Prix thus :-

“I was of course very excited to be seeing Mark race again, but being that it was my first live Formula One event, I was equally excited to be seeing Mario’s effort with Vel’s Parnelli Jones and the rest of the grid in person. We owned a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona and a 246 GT Dino at the time, so were very supportive of the Ferrari effort too.

My brother, friends and I spent a great deal of down time in the Kendall Garage watching the teams go about their business of working on the cars. One thing that was apparent was the absolutely professional presentation of the Penske team. Everything was spotless, just like their successful Indy Car counterpart that I’d observed in person since 1969 at Indianapolis. I was then, as now, a huge fan of Mark Donohue and Team Penske, but that aside, I always felt that they had too many positive resources not to be successful in Formula One.

I knew racing well enough to understand how tall the task Mark and the Penske team had ahead of them, but I also had the highest faith in their collective talents that I felt, given time, they would come right. I look back now and remember how I’d call in to our local ABC news tv affiliate to get the results of the races in 1975, always asking about the top six finishers along with Mark and Mario’s results.

Then came Austria and it was over for Mark and eventually Penske stopped the project – I was always appreciative that they carried on to get the victory with John Watson in Austria a year after Mark’s accident, something of a vindication for the mighty challenges that Team Penske faced in their Formula One foray. Watkins Glen 1974 was the last I ever saw Mark in person and despite the nearly 40 years that have passed, it seems like yesterday.”

Penske ended up building 3 chassis to the PC1 design chassis #001 seen here achieved a best 5th place finish, from 16th on the grid in the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix. Three races later Penske ditched the PC1 in favour of a March 751 which was raced until a new challenger until the new Penske PC3 was ready. As Brian alluded to above Mark Donohue was killed during practice for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix after a tyre deflated pitching him off the track in to an accident which killed a marshal. Although Mark initially survived the incident he died the next day from a cerebral hemorrhage.

The debut of the Penske PC3 was delayed until the 1975 US Grand Prix where John Watson drove it in practice. Due to a misfire with the motor in the new car the team elected to wheel out today’s featured chassis one more time, John qualified 12th, finishing the race in 9th.

The following season Penske entered John in the PC3 and later PC4 models. With the latter the team won the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix, despite this success The Captain closed the Formula One program down at the end of 1976, deciding his future lay in the US racing seen where he would become the dominant force in Indy Car racing, with many of his winning cars being built in Poole, Dorset. Penske maintained facilities in Poole Dorset up until 2006. When the factory was closed one employee, Ivor, remained who had been part of the story going back to the Leda days, through the McRae years and into the Penske era.

In 2012 Brad Keslowski won his first NASCAR Championship driving a Penske entered Dodge a hitherto elusive goal on ‘The Captains’ to do list.

My thanks to Brian ‘ B² ‘ Brown for kindly agreeing to share his photograph; to kayemod, Nigel Beresford, Tim Murray, Tony Matthews, Dogearred and Doug Nye at The Nostalgia Forum for their help in piecing together the story behind Roger Penske’s presence in Poole, Dorset and a tenuous connection in the form of Lambert & Terry and their Leda Cars premises between the AAR Eagle and Penske Formula One efforts.

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

PS Shortly before this blog was posted some confusion has come to light about which buildings in Poole Penske and McRae occupied and when, local resident kayemod and Nigel Beresford who worked for Penske have confirmed that Penske took over the Balena premises from McRae, while artist Tony Matthews is sure he visited a second facility a couple of miles away on Factory Road to do cutaway drawings for McRae and Penske is not so sure the Balena Close address is correct. If any further developments come forth I shall post them below, and if you know the answer to the riddle please do not hesitate to chime in.

PPS Nigel Beresford has kindly confirmed with another former Penske employee Nick Goozée that the Balena Close facility is the only one Penske purchased from Graham McRae. My thanks to Nigel and Nick for settling the matter so promptly.

PPPS

Balena Close, Poole, Dorset

Kayemod Rob from the Nostalgia Forum has kindly sent me this photo showing “how that corner of Balena Close looks today, the small unit to the right is the original Penske UK base, formerly McRae Cars. The three parked cars more or less cover the width of the premises. The ‘Elegance’ unit to the left of Penske was once FKS Fibreglass, later Griffin Design. My ex-Specialised Mouldings chum stylist Jim Clark worked at FKS, and as well as Penske’s stuff, they also did almost everything for the Gulf GT40s and Mirages among others, their unit extended leftwards to fill the corner of the block. Penske later rented an identical unit to the right of the pic, which doubled their floor area, after some of the dividing wall was removed, they used to run their F1 operation out of that.”

Thanks Rob.

Share

Ultimate Cars Ultimate Race – Porsche 917K #053

If there is one race I’d love to be able to turn the clock back for in order to attend it would be the 1971 Le Mans 24 hours which for my money was the ultimate road race with the ultimate cars.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Lined up on the grid were seven Porsche 917’s with a variety of body configurations against 9 Ferrari 512s in both closed M spec, earlier open S Spec and two unique 512’s one from the Penske team which had a large rear wing and the F spec car of Scuderia Filipinetti that had a narrow cockpit built around a Porsche 917 windscreen.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The race was an uneven contest between the Porsches as the Ferraris suffered from inferior reliability and top speeds were down on the Porsche’s 230 mph plus capabilities. However it was the fastest to be run at the circuit until 2010.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The winning car chassis #056 seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed featured a special lightweight magnesium chassis built only for the works supported Porsche Salzburg team much to the annoyance of Porsche’s other works supported team run by John Wyer who’s employees had developed the Porsche body work in short (K Kurz) and long (LH Lang heck) tail forms and shared them freely with all the other teams running 917’s.

Porsche 917K, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Gils van Lennep and Helmut Marko shared the winning 600 hp 4.9 litre 299 cui aircooled flat 12 powered #22 car which traveled 3,107.7 miles in 24 hours covering 397 laps at an average speed of 138.6 mph the equivalent to five consecutive Coke 600’s !

They beat the next car driven by Richard Attwood, Herbert Muller and Brian Redman in a Gulf Porsche 917 by two laps, 16 miles, and the third finisher the Ferrari of Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz by 31 laps.

After the race chassis #053 was immediately retired and so has a 100% winning record.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ultimate Cars Ultimate Race” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1925 3 litre / 183 cui Bentley. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Jimmy Jimmy – Race Retro 2013

Despite the absence of any signs of a thaw to this winter and record fuel prices last weekends Race Retro held at Stoneleigh showed that there are plenty of people looking to have fun on four veteran, vintage and classic wheels powered by internal combustion motors during the season ahead here are some of the highlights.

Lotus Climax 25, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The central theme for this years Race Retro was the 1963 World Drivers Championship and World Constructors Championship wins for Jim Clark and Lotus. Above is the Lotus Climax 25 chassis R5 with which Jim narrowly failed to win the 1962 Championship thanks to a loose oil plug just twenty laps from home.

Lotus Elan 1500, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Among several other cars that Jim Clark drove, on the Classic Team Lotus stand, was this Lotus Elan 1500 road car which featured with a kilted Jim Clark in a Lotus ad campaign that can be seen in the back ground.

Lotus Ford 79, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Fifteen years after Lotus scored their first world constructors championship Mario Andretti won the 1978 World Drivers Championship and with the help of Ronnie Peterson secured Team Lotus their seventh and final World Constructors Championship with the aid of the Lotus Ford 79. Seen on the Vintage Race Car (Europe) stand above is the Lotus 79 chassis R3 which Mario drove to victory in the 1978 Spanish, French and German Grand Prix and that Jean Pierre Jarrier qualified on pole for the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix.

Lotus Ford 69, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Another interesting Lotus on display was the Lotus 69 Formula Ford car that Tiff Needel won in a competition run by Autosport in 1970. Tiff Needel went on to become a one time Grand Prix Starter in 1980 and sports car racer through until the 1990’s. Tiff will be racing his Lotus 69 with which he started his career at Thruxton’s Easter Revival meeting at the end of March.

Penske Mercedes Benz PC26, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Also on the Thruxton stand was one of the five 1997 Mercedes Benz powered Penske PC26s of the type which Paul Tracey drove to the Penske team’s 99th CART victory at Gateway. That victory would prove to be the last for a car designed and constructed by the Penske Cars workshop in Poole, Dorset, Engand and it would be three years before the Penske Racing would score their 100th victory in the CART Series.

Lola Chevrolet T140, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

On the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) stand was another car that was built in the UK at Lola Cars but raced exclusively in the United States Formula A open wheel series in period. This Lola T140 chassis SL140-7 appears to have been purchased from Lola’s US agent Carl Haas by a Honda dealer Jerry Rosbach in 1968 and raced very little before being crashed. It returned to the UK via e-bay and was restored by Hardy Hall restorations to near factory condition for it’s new owner Richard Summers.

WSM MGB, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

When I visited Race Retro for the first time in 2011 I came across a WSM Sprite for the first time. This year the MG Car Club stand featured the unique WSM MGB which like the Sprites features an aluminium body designed by Douglas Wilson Spratt and built by Peels Coachworks.

Rover 2000SC P6, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Polands reigning 1965 European Rally Champion Sobislaw Zasada entered the 1966 Monte Carlo Rally in this Rover 2000SC. Starting from Warsaw his rally came to an end against a rock face just outside Monte Carlo. Subsequently the car was driven by works driver Ann Hall who used it eventually as her daily driver. The car was used to develop the 2000 TC motor and for development of the second generation Rover 2200. It’s for sale if anybody is interested please do not hesitate to get in touch, usual disclaimers apply.

Ratty, Alpine Renault A110 Berlinette, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

In 1973 Alpine Renault claimed the World Rally Championship with the A110 Berlinette models, this particular originally works prepared competition car was acquired by Roger Clark for Pat Moss to drive in the 1973 British RAC Rally Championship. Pat named the car “Ratty” and after the 1973 chamionship it served as a show car before hibernating for 20 years.’Ratty’ was restored to running order by current owner Chris Rabbets of Roadspeed in 2003.

WB91, Time Traveller, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

I’ve been promising myself a trip to Santa Pod for some years now, Bob Hawkins 167 mph small block Chevy sling shot dragster WB 91 Time Traveller was a welcome reminder that I do not have the luxury of travelling back in time and so this year there will be no excuses.

BMC Ford, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

On Jubilee Day last year I managed to find my way to Aldershot Raceway where the #773 BMC Ford Heritage F2 stock car seen above was driven by Nick Whitby, turns out this is a replica of the car his built drove in 1968 with a BMC 1100/ADO16 look alike body and Ford chassis and motor of varying vintages. If you have never been to a stock car race I’d definitely recommend it as a fun day out with the kids the Heritage F2 calender can be seen on this link.

White Whistling Billy, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Finally had a great time talking to steam car enthusiast Dr Robert R. Dyke who has recreated a 120 mph White Sprint Car that used to rip up the dirt tracks in 1905. Nicknamed Whistling Billy the original set a closed track record of 74 mph on the 4th July 1905 of nearly 74 mph with Webb Jay aboard. The car is scheduled to appear at the Sywell Classic Pistons and Props event at the end of September.

My thanks to everyone who enthusiastically contributed to today’s blog at Race Retro 2013.

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

Share

Trans Am Golden Era – Carmel by the Sea Concours d’Elegance

Thanks once more to Geoffrey Horton today’s Americana Thursday blog features some of the highlights from the Trans Am cars on display at the recent Carmel by the Sea Concours d’Elegance. I can’t say for certain if all of these cars are the originals that raced in the series or faithful tribute cars built since, if you know for certain one way on the other about the details of any of these cars please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Penske Chevrolet Camaro, Carmel by the Sea Concours d'Elegance

The Trans Am Series ran uninterrupted from 1966 to 2006 and was revived in 2009. The golden era of the series is generally considered to have been from 1968 to 1972 when the 302 cui / 5 litre muscle cars from AMC, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Plymouth a duked it out for overall wins. Above is a #15 Penske Chevrolet Camaro which appears to be the car that came 3rd overall and 1st in class at the 1968 Sebring 12 hours driven by Mark Donohue and Canadian Craig Fisher.

Bud Moore Ford Mustang Boss 302, Carmel by the Sea Concours d'Elegance

The drivers Trans Am championship was not instated until 1972, it was won by George Folmer driving an AMC Javelin, above is a Boss 302 Mustang of the type George used in 1970 when he was driving for the Bud Moore team.

Bud Moore Ford Mustang Boss 302, Carmel by the Sea Concours d'Elegance

Parnelli Jones also drove in Bud Moore’s Trans Am team in 1970, he drove a #15 similar to the one above, linked here is an excellent clip of Parnelli which show’s just why the Trans Am series was so popular.

Chaparral Chevrolet Camaro, Carmel by the Sea Concours d'Elegance

Texan Jim Hall built three Chaparral Camaro’s in 1970 for the Trans Am Series, they were raced by Hall himself along with Vic Elford, Ed Leslie and Joe Leonard, this car may well be the one that Vic Elford drove to a win at Watkins Glen in 1970.

Classic Wax Dodge Challenger, Carmel by the Sea Concours d'Elegance

Finally I featured the Classic Wax Dodge Challenger driven by Sam Posey in the 1970 Trans Am series some time ago. Being my all time favourite car from the series I hope you’ll forgive my indulgence by showing it again.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo’s from the Carmel by the Sea Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Trans Am Golden Era’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again when I’ll be featuring some of the Ferrari’s that were present at Carmel by The Sea on August 14th. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Happy Days – ‘Rush’ Snetterton Set

A little departure from the usual Ferrari Friday blog to day but I as you will see not completely un Ferrari related. The last time I visited the former home of the 96th Bombardment Group (H) 8th USAAF was to test my 27hp 2 CV on the Snetterton Circuit in preparation for a 24 hour event in Ireland.

Snetterton

On Tuesday evening I saw a twitter post from the @RealRonHoward to go and visit the set of his current project called ‘Rush’ which is all about the relationship between off track friends and on track rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda which culminated in the tumultuous 1976 season which I have retold from Ferrari and McLaren perspectives in past blogs.

Rush Set - Snetterton

Setting off at 2am I arrived at Snetterton just after 7am to find not very much happening, I even got inadvertently got ushered into the pit area where the crew were grabbing breakfast and sorting themselves out for a tough days shooting. I then made my way to the Bombhole, a corner with a nasty dip marking the apex where I found preparations underway for several scene’s which were to represent the controversial ‘wide vehicle’ 1976 Spanish Grand Prix.

Rush Set - Snetterton

After watching the driver representing John Watson getting in and out of his car numerous times as he retired with a blown motor several cars came round together representing James Hunt in the #11 ‘wide vehicle’ McLaren M23, Jaques Laffite in the #26 Ligier JS5 and Niki Lauda in the #1 Ferrari 312 T2 on the right John Watson’s double can be seen having exited the smokey #28 Penske PC3 for the millionth time that morning.

Rush Set - Snetterton

Among my fellow extra’s I met Jess who thoughtfully brought his copy of the 1976 – 77 Autocourse Annual to make sure Ron was keeping his legendary reputation for details correct.

Rush Set - Snetterton

I was not exactly sure which, from a choice of two, style AGV helmet wore for 1976 Spanish GP,

Rush Set - Snetterton

Looking at Autocourse it was immediately clear Ron was on the button with that particular detail.

Ron Howard, Rush, Snetterton

Somewhere around mid day Ron came over to thank the by now 50 enthusiasts who had managed to come along and soon after we were invited over to the other side of the circuit to watch what was going on in the pits for the next batch of takes representing the 1976 German Grand Prix the one race of the 1976 season where I was present !

Rush Set, Snetterton

Above a shoot is prepared with Guy Edwards #25 Hesketh 308 on rain tyres with Laffites Ligier on slicks as unseen in the pit lane Niki Lauda is about to come out on slicks prior to his near fatal crash on the drying Nurburgring that would take a hefty points advantage out of Lauda’s 1976 season but still left him in with a fighting chance at the 1976 seasons finale.

Rush Set, Snetterton

Ron can be seen above in the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi Evo Camera Car that was probably the best sounding car at Snetterton on Wednesday.

Rush Set, Snetterton

Left to right the Hunt, Laffite and Lauda stand in drivers have a quick break between shoots.

Rush Set, Snetterton

As one wag amongst the enthusiasts noted the Renault Traffic took the wrong option tyres before getting chased down by Niki Lauda in the 1975 Ferrari 312 T, not sure why this car and it’s sister with Clay Regazzoni at the wheel were bereft of any sign writing or sponsors logo’s, perhaps a test session was being reenacted. The cars we saw on Wednesday were all £50,000 50 foot specials designed to look right at a distance at a fraction of the cost of insuring let alone hiring the real cars of the period, many of which still exist and indeed are still raced. Some of the real cars are and have been used for close ups and to get the sound track right.

Rush Set, Snetterton

I was curious as to why the Penske PC3 was selected and not the much sharper and race winning Penske PC4, turns out that John Watson drove the PC 3 for the nearly the entire first half of the 1976 season, another detail the legendary Ron Howard got right for the Spanish Grand Prix sequences.

I understand that Rob Austin was responsible for building the Ferrari 312 T and T2 vehicles, WGK Motorsport the McLaren M23 and Hesketh 308D vehicles and Mirage Motorsport the Ligier JS5 and Penske PC3 vehicles which I believe are powered by Rover V8 motors and were built in just 3 months.

After watching seven hours of watching the set action I reluctantly headed for home, with a renewed appreciation for all the work that goes into making a film on my favorite subject.

Thanks for joining me on this Happy Days edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Lotus Europa Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Hilly Country Gathering – Classic Motorsports Mitty presented by Mazda

For the last 36 years Classic Sports and Racing Car enthusiasts have been gathering year for the Classic Motorsports Mitty for what is now claimed to be the oldest such gathering on the east coast. Kerry Williams kindly sent Steve Arnaudin his photo’s of last weekends event with permission for them to be used here.

Chevrolet Corvair, Road Atlanta, Classic Motorsport Mitty

Among the classics present was this 1st generation convertible Chevrolet Corvair.

Chevrolet Corvair, Road Atlanta, Classic Motorsport Mitty

One of 15 racing Corvairs present the #51 above is a second generation model distinguished by it’s arrow like shape when seen from above.

Ford GT40, Road Atlanta, Classic Motorsport Mitty

While I cannot speak for the historical authenticity of either of the vehicles above, they look like a pair of Ford GT40’s of the type Ford would come to dominate Le Mans with during the mid to late 1960’s.

Ford GT, Road Atlanta, Classic Motorsport Mitty

Robertson Racing is based in Braselton, GA, not far from the Road Atlanta track from 2008 until 2011 they raced Kevin Doran built Ford GT’s in the GT2 category of the American Le Mans Series. The highlight of their four years in the sport was a 3rd in class finish at Le Mans in 2011. The car with the yellow stripes appears to be chassis #JE5-004066-002 and the one with the red stripes appears to be chassis #JE5-004066-004.

Penske PC17, Road Atlanta, Classic Motorsport Mitty

All thought the Penske above is carrying the #8 as used by Rick Mears on the 1987 Penske PC16 the sidepods are more reminiscent of the 1988 PC 17, if you happen to know which car this is, or who is driving it please do not hesitate to chime in below.

TR250 K, Road Atlanta, Classic Motorsport Mitty

The first of two vehicles I have never heard of before are the Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) TR 250 K concept vehicle built in 1967 around a Triumph TR6 chassis and motor, some would have you believe this car should have been developed into the Triumph TR7.

Hennessey Venom 1000, Road Atlanta, Classic Motorsport Mitty

Finally I’d like to suggest that if your 500 hp Viper is feeling a bit tame and you happen to have US $187,710 in spare change you might take car & cash over to Hennessey who will double the horsepower with a pair of Turbo Chargers and give the body and chassis some modification and leave you with a Hennessey Venom 1000 timed from rest to 200 mph in just 20.3 seconds by Road & Track, now that is what I call ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ !

My thanks to Kerry Williams for permission to use his photo’s and to Steve Arnaudin to think to forward them.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Hilly Country Gathering’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you join me tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share