Tag Archives: Sports

Raced, Stolen & Broken Up – Ferrari 166MM Vignale Spyder S2 #0314M

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With the first of 8 victories in the last 11 Mille Miglia races run in 1948 Ferrari built a huge following for his sports cars and the following year returned and won with the 166MM model of which 33 similar chassis were built and clothed with bodies from Touring, Vignale, and Zagato.

Ferrari 166MM Vignale Spyder S2, William Boddy Tribute, Brooklands

Commencing in 1952 a second series of 13 166MM chassis was built, seven of which originally had Vignale bodies like the one on #0314M which was sold to Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi who drove #0314M in hillclimb and race events through the second half of 1953.

Edoardo’s best results were two thirds one at the Circuito di Senigallia and the other in the 12 hour race at Pescara where he shared the driving with a driver called Pinzero. At the end of the 1953 season the motor was upgraded to a 3 litre / 183 cui spec and the car was sold to Primo Pezzoli competed with the car and like it’s previous owner scored a season best 3rd on the Trieste-Opicina hillclimb.

The known competition history of #0314 resumed in 1959 when Arrigo Cantelli is thought to have used it for hillclimbing. In 1961 #0314M was acquired by German treasure hunter Helmut Frevel and the following year it scored a 2nd in the 7th Tuerckheim-Les Trois Epis hillclimb and 3rd in the 4th Macon-Solutre hillclimb though on neither occasion is Frevel thought to have been at the wheel.

Frevel’s work took him to South Africa in 1963 and he took #0314M with him until 1967. In 1993 owner Peter Glaesel had the car restored by DK Engineering in Watford. In 1998 Walter Fink acquired #0314M and it appeared in the 1999 and 2000 retro Mille Miglia events. The day after the latter the car was stolen and was not heard of again until 2008 when it was found striped of everything including the motor and gearbox in an Italian scap yard.

New owner Phillip Hylander sent the car back to DK Engineering to be restored to it’s present condition in 2009 and #0314M is seen in today’s photograph at the William Boddy Tribute at Brooklands several years ago.

Thanks for joining me on this “Raced, Stolen & Broken Up” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Nova. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Lower Exhaust More Hot Luggage – Ford GT 40 MK III #M3 1103

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Today’s featured car is a Ford GT40 Mk III chassis M3 1103, I believe the third of just seven built under JW Automotive’s direction at Slough.

Ford GT40 Mk III, Goodwood Revival

#M3 1103 was built in 1968 and sold to the Chairman of Beaverbrook Newspapers Sir Max Aitken who kept it for four years before selling it to someone who had flared wheel arches fitted to accommodate alloy wheels and repainted white with blue stripes.

The third owner kept the car at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu for many years through the 1980’s.

CKL Developments were responsible for preserving #M3 1103, which has less than 6,500 miles on the clock to it’s original condition and correct deep red colour for it’s forth and current owner.

Since my original GT40 Mk 111 post I have found out that the tailpipes on the Mk III were lowered to run alongside the gearbox, as opposed to over the top of the gearbox on all previous incarnations of the GT40, which allowed for a larger luggage space on top of the gearbox with the disadvantage that the luggage was now much warmer than had previously been the case.

The white car featured a couple of years ago is #M3 1107, the last of the GT40’s to be made in Slough, it has been retained by Ford since the day it was completed. #M3 1107 has been seen in numerous museums and for a while was used as personal transport by Ford’s über Public Relations executive Walter Hayes while he was based at Ford HQ in Dearborn.

#M3 1103 is seen above at the Goodwood Revival meeting where both it at #M3 1107 are regularly used as course cars during the running of the Goodwood Revival race meetings.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lower Exhaust More Hot Luggage” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me for a look at a one off vehicle commissioned from Ferrari and Pininfarina. 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.

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Cobra Caravan Itinerant – Ford GT40 Mk 1 #GT40 P/1084

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So far as I have been able to discern the chassis numbers for the production Ford GT40 Mk1 ran from P/1000 to P/1086, suggesting at least 87 production GT40 Mk1’s were built at Ford Advanced Vehicle facility in Slough, though as we shall see things are not always quite so simple.

Colvill, Ford GT40, Brands Hatch

Today’s featured car is a case in point, known as #P/1084 it has the highest chassis number of those known to have raced in period, though chassis P/1071 did not make it’s race debut until 14 month’s after #P/1084 appeared at Spa in May 1968 with Paul Hawkins and David Hobbs at the wheel.

However it turns out that #P/1084 started life as #P/1004 in 1965, a car that was entered into the 1965 Le Mans 24 hours by RRC Walker Racing and Shelby American for Bob Bondurant and Umberto Maglioli, this car running the #7 qualified third but retired with a leaking head gasket on lap 29, coincidentally the same lap as it’s sister #P/1005 driven by Ronnie Buckum and Herbert Müller retired with the same problem. #GT40 P/1004 then appears to have gone on Carrol Shelby’s promotional tour of America known as the Cobra Caravan.

When the JW Automotive Gulf team, operating from the same factory as Ford Advanced Vehicles had in Slough, needed a car for the 1968 Spa 1000kms they found they were a car short and so they rebuilt #P/1004 to 1968 specification and gave it a ‘new’ GT40 P/1084 identification although the factory records refer to the chassis entered at Spa where Hawkins and Hobbs finished 4th by it’s old number.

Some sources believe that #P/1084 was then shipped, by JW Automotive, to Watkins Glen two month’s later where Hawkins and Hobbs finished 2nd however I believe this is a typo, GT40 über authority Ronnie Spain identifies the car that Hawkins and Hobbs drove at Watkins Glen as GT40 P/1074.

During the 1970’s P/1084 was raced by Paul Wheldon for owner Connaught Engineering founder Rodney Clarke. Martin Colville seen in the #P/1084 here at Brands Hatch in July 1982 where Martin was taking part in a support race on the British Grand Prix weekend bought the car in 1981 and had a bubble fitted to the upper part of the drivers door to accommodated his frame.

Subject to revisions in Ronnie Spain’s much anticipated second edition bible on the subject “GT40: An Individual History and Race Record” this is my best understanding of the car known as #GT40 P/1084. If you know different please do not hesitate to chip in below.

My thanks to David McKinney, Pete Taylor and Ron54 at The Nostalgia Forum for their help in yet another carceology adventure.

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

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Salmon Over Metallic Grey – Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé #0476AM

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In 1955 Ghia built the body work for a new Ferrari for the last time, and one might well wonder if this had anything to do with the salmon over metallic grey paint job.

Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé, Blackhawk Museum

Today’s featured Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé chassis #0476AM, photographed by Greoffrey Horton at the Blackhawk Museum earlier this year, is not only the last Ghia bodied Ferrari it is also the only Ghia bodied 375 MM chassis making it unique among the 23 street and racing versions of 375 MM.

Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé, Blackhawk Museum

This particular car was shown at the 1955 Turin Motor and New York Auto shows before it found a home with a family in Milwaukee, WI. By 1970 #0476AM had recorded just 12,000 miles, four years later it was sold to a Milwaukee doctor who kept the car for 10 years.

Ferrari 375 MM Ghia Coupé, Blackhawk Museum

In 1984 #0426AM appeared in the Blackhawk Museum for a couple of years before going on a sojourn to Switzerland which lasted at least until December 2002 when the car failed to sell at auction. I am not entirely sure when #0426AM returned to the Blackhawk Museum, if you happen to know please do not hesitate to chip in below.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton once again for saving Ferrari Friday.

Thanks for joining me on this “Salmon Over Metallic Grey” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an open wheel Formula 5000 car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Hold The Rocker Panel Stripes – Ford GT40 Mk 1 #GT40 P/1034

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In order for Ford to meet the mandatory minimum 50 production number for it to be able to race, Ford sold at least four of it’s Mk1 GT40’s for road use with a minimum of primarily luxury modifications which included, interior carpeting, non-perforated leather seats, and leather door pouches, additionally today’s featured car #GT40 P/1034 was also fitted with wing mirrors, a heated rear screen and reversing light’s. Beyond that the car was equipped with a race tuned 380 hp, 289 cu. in. V-8 engine with four Weber 48IDA carburetors, five-speed ZF manual transmission, four-wheel independent suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes just like the racers alongside which it was built at Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough, England.

Ford GT40, Carmel by the Sea, Concours on the Avenue

This particular car, seen in these photographs by Geoffrey Horton at Carmel by the Sea Concours on the Avenue last year, was ordered by James Fielding, of Gloucester, England painted Pine Green with no stripes on the rocker panels. Fielding was Chairman of Heenan & Froude, the company that manufactured the dynamometers on which the GT40s were tested and P/1034 was the first GT40 to be delivered to a UK customer in March 1966. Fielding used it exclusively as a road car.

Ford GT40, Carmel by the Sea, Concours on the Avenue

Subsequent owners including Paul Weldon and Australian George Parlby raced the car in classic events, Parlby even had the car painted in the colours of the Gulf Oil Company during a rebuild.GT40 specialist and enthusiast Harley E. Cluxton III, of Scottsdale, Arizona acquired #P/1034 at one point and later it went to Germany where Peter Roessler drove it to victory in the Grand Prix of Stuttgart held at the Hockenheimring.

David Bowden, of Queensland, Australia acquired P/1034 in 1999 where it was again frequently successfully raced by the likes of Kevin Bartlett. In 2001 David had the car repainted it’s original Pine Green with a pair of non original silver stripes.

The current owner returned P/1034 to the USA and earlier this year turned down a high bid of $2,150,000 at RM Auctions for this sublime vehicle.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photograph’s of today’s featured Ford GT40.

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

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Black Or White – Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

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Today’s featured Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 is the ultimate road version of the 997 bodied GT3’s built between 2004 and 2012 topped only by the track only GT3 R and RSR models.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, Family Club Day, Castle Combe

GT3 cars are marketed as an entry competition model to Porsche customers the first was offered on the 996 bodied 911 in 1999. The GT3 RS models come fitted with a roll cage and carbon fiber seats for added safety.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, Family Club Day, Castle Combe

According to contemporary reports in Road & Track Porsche had to reopen the assembly line on which the 4 litre / 244 cui motor’s were built because the decision to build the GT3 RS 4.0 limited edition had come after the decision had been made to launch the new 991 bodied 911 series.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, Family Club Day, Castle Combe

The GT3 RS 4.0 493hp and can accelerate to 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds and on up to 193 mph, making it fractionally quicker than the one off 1998 Porsche 911 GT-98 Straßenversion I looked at yesterday.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, Family Club Day, Castle Combe

Only 600 GT3 RS 4.0s, like the one seen here at last years Family Club Day organised by the Bristol Motor Club at Castle Combe, were built and they were available only in black or white.

Thanks for joining me on this “Black Or White” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some more Porsche Automobilia. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ferrari Racing Treasures – Blackhawk Museum

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Today’s Ferrari Friday’s looks at a few of the Ferrari Racing Treasures at the Blackhawk Museum captured by Geoffrey Horton.

Ferrari 212 Export Touring Barchetta, Blackhawk Museum, CA

This 1952 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta features bodywork by Touring of Turin and was originally owned in 1952 by Baron Luigi Bordonaro di Chiaramonte of Palermo and as I posted last year the Baron raced the car successfully.

Ferrari 250MM Vignale, Blackhawk Museum, CA

Phil Hill’s 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Vignale #0260MM was featured on this blog a couple of years ago, it helped set up Phil’s career on the path to becoming a three time Le Mans winner and 1960 World Driver Champion all victories which were won driving Ferrari cars.

Ferrari 500 Mondial Spyder, Blackhawk Museum, CA

As I have found on many occasions in the past some Ferrari’s are a little more difficult to identify than others this particular 500 Mondial is one of those more difficult to identify as I found out last year.

Ferrari 750 Monza, Blackhawk Museum, CA

The Blackhawk Collections 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza with unique bodywork by Scaglietti has also featured on these pages before although it will be better remembered for appearing on the cover of Road & Track in December 1956 by many more. It is the car belonging to Tony Paravano that Carlyle Blackwell took a photo of.

Ferrari 625 LM Spyder Touring, Blackhawk Museum, CA

In 1956 Ferrari built 3 625LM’s with Touring bodies and 2,5 litre 4 cylinder motor’s, the one seen here carries the #11 which suggests this is the car that crashed at the start of the 1956 Le Mans 24 hours after it had won the Supercortemaggiore at Monza, fitted with a 2 litre engine with Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins at the wheel.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs, more on these cars will appear in the coming months.

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

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