Tag Archives: Sports Car

More Than I Expected – Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina

In March 2005 Andrea Pininfarina grand son of Battista Farina founder of Pininfarina asked James Glickenhaus if he would be interested in commissioning a one off car to which James replied that he would like a modern version of the mid sixties Ferrari P series sports racing car. Three months later a deal was concluded in which James would receive his dream car for a cost of $4,000,000 (US$ Four Million).

Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina, The Quail

James bought the last Ferrari Enzo 2003 US spec and took it along with his 1967 Ferrari P3/4 chassis #0846 which won the 1967 Sebring 12 Hours to Pininfarina for them to have a car to work on and from. Today’s unique vehicle still carries it’s Enzo identity plate.

Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina, The Quail

The body Pininfarina came up with is in my humble opinion a huge improvement on the original Enzo, it has a drag coefficient of just 0.34 which powered by a 660 hp version of the Enzo’s V12 motor will allow the car which is some 595 lbs / 270 kgs lighter than the original Enzo to reach 60mph from rest in 3 seconds and on to a top speed of 233 mph.

Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina, The Quail

The interior leather trim was chosen by James’s daughter and the seats tailored to fit James and his son after their bodies were scanned to get the most accurate measurements known to man.

James publicly took delivery of this unique car in August 2006 at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and has said subsequently “The price was agreed to in advance and if anything I feel they gave me more than I expected.” Ferrari and Pininfarina similarly probably also got far more than $4 million dollars of publicity from the project as nearly everyone who has seen the car since, myself included, has wanted to get in a newspaper story about it.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs which were taken earlier this year at The Quail.

Thanks for joining me on this “More Than I Expected” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the final incarnation of the Connew. Don’t forget to come back now !

Brighton Speed Trials Under Threat of Permanent Cancellation !

In their infinite wisdom, Brighton & Hove City Council are seeking to ban the Brighton Speed Trials from 2014.

If you care about speed and or motorsport history, please sign this linked petition to save Brighton Speed Trials in 2014 and beyond.

It’s a faf to Register before signing, but relatively painless compared to loosing the event which has been run with few interruptions since 1905.

You do not need to be resident in Brighton or even the UK to sign.

Thanks and please spread the word through whatever social media you have at your disposal.

Aerodynamic Jewel – Ferrari 400 Superamerica Aerodynamico Coupé S1 #3221SA

After weeks of being adrift thanks to a few server issues it feels great to be finally back up to speed with to speed with today’s Ferrari Friday blog. My thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding during this challenging time for GALPOT.

Ferrari 400 Superamerica, Blackhawk, Museum

The Ferrari 400 Superamerica was launched in 1959 with a 340hp 4 litre / 244 cui Columbo V12 which replaced the Lampredi V12 that had been the mainstay of the America series Ferrari’s going all the way back to 1950.

Ferrari 400 Superamerica, Blackhawk, Museum

Chassis #3221SA the 18th of 25 such cars built was delivered to a French customer in 1962 and for a while belonged to the Marquis de St. Didier and later, in the 1980’s, to the President of Cartier Alain Dominique Perin.

Ferrari 400 Superamerica, Blackhawk, Museum

Pininfarina offered Coupé, Cabriolet and Spider bodies for the 400 Superamerica Series 1 which was produced until 1962 when it was replaced by Series 2 of which 22 were built up until 1964.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs taken at the Blackhawk Museum.

Thanks for joining me on this “Aerodynamic Jewel” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Formula 5000 car that unexpectedly beat a top drawer Formula One field. Don’t forget to come back now !

Monte Hat-trick – Porsche 911S

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From 1968 to 1970 Porsche scored three 1-2 victories on the fabled Monte Carlo Rally. In 1968 Vic Elford and David Stone driving a Porsche 911T won the event ahead of the 911S driven by Pauli Toivonen and M Tiukkanen, the following year Bjorn Waldegård and Lars Helmer driving a 911S finished ahead of the similar car driven by Gerárd Larrousse and JC Perramond. In 1970 the Porsche hat-trick of wins came when Waaldegård and Helmer drove today’s featured car to victory over Larrousse and M Gélin in another 911S.

Porsche, 911, Advertisement

The 1970 Monte Carlo had featured a concentration run to the Principality starting from eight European cities and was run in mild conditions. Porsche, Ford Alpine Renault and Lancia all entered significant works teams expected to challenge for top honours. British press interest in the, once, prestigious event was so low that Motor Sport correspondent GP, Geraint “Gerry” Phillips, opined, in March 1970, that what the Monte Carlo Rally needed to reengage Fleet Street was “… a bunch of hippies to entrench themselves on the Turini (rally stage) and spray the spectators with LSD.” !

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Having won on the dry Monte Carlo Waldegård and Lars Helmer proved the versatility of the 911 by winning the Swedish Rally run on snow by 23 mins, after having a clutch replaced that required the engine to be removed in a freezing lay-by.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The second 911S model introduced in 1969 features a 2 1/4″ longer wheel base than the original, to improve the handling, though there was no increase in the overall length of the car.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

The motor for the 911S was increased in size from 2 litres / 122 cui to 2.3 litres / 134 cui and with fuel injection this competition car produced 230hp, 50 more than the fuel injected road going version of the 911S.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

Swede Bjorn Waldergård was a front line rally driver from 1962 to 1992, the World Rally Championship (WRC) started in 1973 and he won 16 of the 95 WRC events in which he started. His wins included the three toughest events on the WRC Circuit, the Safari, Acroplolis and RAC rallies in 1977 when he was driving for Ford. In 1979 Bjorn won the World Rally Drivers Championship driving for the works Ford and Mercedes Benz rally teams. Winning the Safari Rally for the third time in 1990, with Fred Gallagher, driving a Toyota Bjorn became the oldest person to ever win a World Championship Rally a record he holds to this day.

Porsche 911S, Goodwood, Festival of Speed

In his report on the road going Porsche 911S for Motor Sport in February 1970 Dennis ‘DSJ’ Jenkinson observed that a 911 cost twice as much as the 4.2 E-Type Jaguar he bought in 1966, to replace his Porsche 356, and that by 1970 the 911S had risen in price to become half the cost of a Lamborghini Miura, he concluded “It is all a question of keeping a sense of proportion.”

Thanks for joining me on this “Monte Hat-trick” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a slightly more outrageously flared Porsche 911. Don’t forget to come back now !

Ferrari Friday – 9th Danville Concours d’Elegance

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Geoffrey Horton attended this years 9th Danville Concours d’Elegance last month and kindly shared today’s collection of Ferrari photographs.

Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Pride of place belonged to this Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder PF Series I chassis #0408 MD which featured on this blog some time ago.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Danville Concours d'Elegance

I still have not established if the Ferrari 250 GT Lusso chassis #4237 like the one above is actually missing or not, if anyone has any information about #4237 please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Ferrari F355 Spyder, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Moving forward a couple of decades the Ferrari F355 was fitted with a Japanese starter motor in an attempt to bring the marque up to compete with and beat the Honda NSX on price, reliability and handling when it was launched in 1994.

Ferrari F360 Spyder, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Ferrari’s 20th convertible the 360 Spider was launched in 2000, former Ferrari Formula One Team technical director Ross Brawn had one as his company car.

Ferrari California, Danville Concours d'Elegance

The Ferrari California, launched in 2008, was originally designed as a Maserati but sold only as a Ferrari to recoup the development costs

Ferrari 458 Italia Spider, Danville Concours d'Elegance

If stealth is your rocks your boat I guess matt black is the way to go, but I’m not sure I could ever get used to it, matt black to me looks like the new primer, something unfinished or a work in progress which is I am sure the last thing I’d think of in the event I ever bought a Ferrari 458 Italia Coupé.

Ferrari F12berlinetta, Danville Concours d'Elegance

Despite being launched last year to replace the Ferrari 599, I still have not come across a Ferrari F12berlinetta like the one above, I must get round to making an appointment with my local stockist.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs more of which will appear in next Wednesday’s blog.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ferrari Friday” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll resume this month’s 50th Anniversary celebration of the Porsche 911. Don’t forget to come back now !

Those Who Love Speed – GALPOT Automobilia

A couple of months ago I had a bit of a clear out whilst reorganising my library and the time has come to dispose of a number of items which may be of interest through my lightpress account on e-bay. Thanks to everyone who has passed links on into the deeper recesses of the car loving world.

Sonauto Kneissl Porsche 911, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

This weeks advertisements taken from the French Magazine Connaissance des arts feature a Porsche 911 and Kneissl Skis in a rare example of cross brand marketing by their French distributor Sonauto of Paris.

Sonauto Kneissl Porsche 911, Advertisement, Connaissance des arts

The first ad is undated while the second, cedited to “Creation B R C – Photo Ronzel – Publipress” is dated October 1965 on the reverse the strap lines approximately translate as “Those who love speed adopt Kneissl for the pistes and Porsche for the road”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Those who love speed edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a trip to Morgan Hill just south of San Jose. Don’t forget to come back now !

Nathan D. Muir – Porsche 912

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From the outset an entry level Porsche based on the 911 model was planed to be fitted with a four cylinder motor to replace the Porsche 356 when production of the older model ceased in April 1965.

Porsche 912, Bristol

The new model was originally known internally as the 902 but after problems with the 901 model designation with Peugeot the new model was always publicly known as the 912, not to be confused with the Porsche project number 912 which referred to the flat 12 racing motors used to power the Porsche 917 racing cars.

Porsche 912, Bristol

Initial ideas for the 4 cylinder motor to be used in the 912 model included building a four cylinder version of the 6 cylinder 911 motor and an enlarged version of the 4 cylinder motor used in the Porsche 356 but eventually it was decided to lower the compression ratio of the original Porsche 356 motor and fit Solex carburettors of the 1582cc / 96.5 cui motor to produce 90hp.

Porsche 912, Bristol

To keep the costs down some of the standard features of the 911 were deleted from the 912, which outsold the 911 until the 912s production facilities were turned over to the Porsche VW 914-6 for the 1970 model year.

Porsche 912, Bristol

Although not as potent as it’s bigger 130 hp sibling the 912s lighter motor meant the smaller engine car had slightly improved handling which proved useful to Polish Porsche privateer Sobiesław Zasada who won the 1967 European Rally championship in his Porsche 912 which included an outright win in the 1967 Polish Rally.

Porsche 912, Bristol

A Porsche 912 was also entered in the 1967 Spa 24 hours for Hans Finke and Jean Sage, it qualified 33rd but failed to finish after an issue with the oil radiator. In 1968 Swiss duo James Bernard Fortmann and Urs-Peter Dietrich could not get with in 10 seconds of the qualifying time set by Finke and Sage at Spa the previous year but still started the ’68 edition of the Spa 24 hours in 51st and managed to bring their 912 home in 25th place.

Porsche 912, Bristol

Fans of Robert Redford may remember him staring in the 2001 thriller Spy Game, in the film Redford’s character Nathan D. Muir drives a Porsche 912, though it appears to be dubbed with a 911 engine sound except in the alternate ending version on DVD. More on how the 912 came to be chosen for filming on this link.

Porsche 912, Bristol

Regular readers may remember that a couple of years ago I featured a Porsche 912 in need of some TLC, I caught up with the car seen above again at the end of last year.

Porsche 912, Bristol

The transformation from junk yard dog to a 912 Carrera looks cool, officially the car is still listed as having it’s original size 1582cc / 96.5 cui motor.

Thanks for joining me on this Nathan D. Muir edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be featuring a couple of 1966 French Porsche advertisements. Don’t forget to come back now !

It’s Not A Peugeot – Porsche 901

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From Saturdays to Mondays this month I’ll be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911, a model which was originally called the 901.

In 1959 a prototype 4 seat two door Porsche, sketched out by Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche, was built known variously as the 695, T7 and 754, the front and extreme rear of which bears a resemblance to today’s featured Porsche 901 and later Porsche 911, but it had a more upright rear window than the coupé 2+2 of the later models.

Porsche 901, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The first public appearance of the Porsche 901 with a mock up 128hp, 2 litre, flat 6 motor was at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show. When the 901 was presented at the 1964 Paris Auto Salon Peugeot took exception to the 901 moniker as they were globally known for their model names featuring three digits with a ‘0’ in the middle. Porsche, after a legal dispute which Peugeot won, changed the name of their new model to 911, however not before 82 901’s had been completed as prototypes and show cars.

Porsche 901, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Of the 82 901 models built a few made it into private hands, one of which today’s featured car #27 is said to have been sold off the 1964 Earls Court Motor Show stand to an aeronautical engineer called Mr Sorjo Ranta. Mr Ranta kept the car until selling it to Ruf family, known for their Porsche tuning and restyling business.

Note some open sources say the RUF owned 901 is #37, if you happen to definitively know which number is correct please chime in below with references if possible, the #27 was quoted from the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d”Elegance information board at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “It’s not a Peugeot” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for a look at a 1967 Porsche 911R Replica. Don’t forget to come back now !