Tag Archives: Super

Worlds Oldest MG – MG 14/28 Super Sports

Built on January 8th 1925 today’s MG 14/28 Super Sports, seen here at the recent Brooklands Double 12 meeting is the oldest known survivor of the MG Marque.

The very first 14/28 Super Sports were built to enhance the image of the Morris Bullnose at Morris Garages, from which the marque would eventually take it’s initials in 1928, at Alfred Lane, Oxford.

When production started in 1924 Morris supplied Oxford “Bull Nose” chassis, the engines were mildly tuned at Morris Garages and fitted with aluminium bodies.

These aluminium bodies were finished with two tone paint schemes.

Many early MG’s featured these ventilation ducts which featured an octagonal inlet on later models.

Like wise the instruments would be set in octagonal recesses on many later models.

In 1926 the Super Sport would be offered with a fabric body option when the distinctive Morris Bullnose radiator was replaced by a flat one.

This particular car was converted into a hay mower during the Second World War and was discovered in a dilapidated condition in 1990 by the present owner.

The 14/28 which cost £395 when new and was capable of 65 mph was replaced by the MG 14/40 also built on a Morris chassis with a tuned Morris motor in 1928.

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

I Am Not A Number – Lotus Super Seven 1500 Cosworth #SB1688

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Series 2 Lotus Sevens were introduced in June 1960 and remained in production until August 1968, they could be ordered either ready made or as complete knockdown kits (CKD’s). In order not to attract purchase tax the CKD’s were not allowed to be sold with instruction manuals on how to assemble the car. Ever the genius Colin Chapman sold his CKD’s with instructions on how to ‘disassemble’ his CKD’s.

The Super Severn 1500 Cosworth variation of the Lotus Seven S2 was first seen in 1961 featuring 1498 cc / 91.4 cui pre coss flow Ford Motor that was more commonly found in the Ford Consul Classic, it’s two door sibling the Consul Capri and later the Ford Cortina.

Alongside the fast bits like the Cosworth camshaft and close ratio gearbox, came a Standard 10 rear axle with drum brakes, a Triumph Herald steering rack, front hubs, fitted with 9″ Girling disc brakes and on this particular car fetching optional wheels with hubcaps from the Lotus Elan.

Television buffs will recognise the Lotus Super Seven as the vehicle Patrick McGoohan selected as “A symbol of all The Prisoner was to represent; standing out from the crowd, quickness and agaility, independence and a touch of the rebel” for his character in ‘The Prisoner’ TV series.

This 1963 model, one of 1310 Series 2 cars built, is thought to have originally been sold to a Clubmans racing driver and was found and restored by the current owner eighteen years ago.

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

Drive With Care – Dodge Coronet Super Bee

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The Dodge Coronet Super Bee owe’s its existence to the intra corporate rivalry between Plymouth and Dodge to become parent company Chrysler’s performance brand. Plymouth took the lead in that rivalry when it introduced the Road Runner in 1968 and under the of Dodge General Manager Robert McCurry Dodge responded with the first Super Bee later the same year.

Senior Designer Harvey J Winn is credited with coming up with the name and Super Bee logo which was also turned into a diecast medallion which identified Dodge’s performance model.

The face lifted 1969 model, seen here at Shakespeare County Raceway, is powered by the standard 335 hp 6276 cc / 383 cui Magnum V8, which was advertised with the “Cool It” strap line, as being fitted with 440 Magnum heads, valve gear, hot cam and manifolds.

Introduced for the 1969 model was this option, coded N-96, twin “Ramcharger” air induction hood that forces air into the carburetors, unlike the scoops on the “Coyote Duster” option hood for the Road Runner which ‘merely’ acted as vents.

Back in the day the N-96 hood commanded respect at the light’s today it command a premium over Super Bees not carrying this performance enhancing option.

Sitting on a 117 inch wheel base, one inch longer than the Road Runner, the Super Bee was 65 lbs heavier than it’s rival from Plymouth.

Inside the 1969 Coronet Super Bee featured a Dodge Charger Rallye instrument panel, and manual versions had a Hurst Shifter to operate the four speed transmission.

So far as I know the side vents unlike the bonnet vents are purely decorative, as they were on many contemporary vehicles like the Mustang.

Like the Road Runner the tail featured a wrap around strip, unlike the Plymouth, Dodge did not have to pay Warner Brothers a royalty for their logo.

Heavy duty features that came standard with the Super Bee included the clutch, suspension, shock absorbers and brakes which ensured that safety was no accident and that owners could drive with care as encouraged in contemporary sales literature.

1969 was the zenith of Dodge Coronet Super Bee production with 25,727 ‘383’ units produced, an additional 1,907 1969 models were manufactured with the Magnum 440 Six Pack and 162 with the 426 Hemi motor.

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

Jubilee Race Day – Castle Combe

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The weather took a turn for the better on the third day of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations as I headed for the Jubilee Race Day at Castle Combe.

The Super Mighty Mini’s were waiting in the holding area for the days first practice session to commence so I took the opportunity to have a wonder round the paddock.

Lloyd Allards Golf TDi was already queuing up for the practice seesion before the first got underway, unfortunately Lloyd did not complete the entire 2nd practice session and ended up scratching his entry from the Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship.

Novice entrant Penelope Jones had a highly entertaining side ways moment in the pre 1990 Mighty Mini practice session out at the Esses, she caught this slide beautifully and carried on at unabated pace to qualify 24th out of a 31. despite the rear of her car running so low that her tyres were catching on the body work.

Castle Combe VADABAR Sports & GT Championship series sponsor Douglas Watson is seen heading for scrutineering above in his V10 powered BMW E63 M6, prior to qualifying 18th, 2nd in class.

Ben Norton, driving the #111 Spectrum 10b, won pole by half a second for the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 Championship supported by Start Line from Roger Orgee. Before the race Orgee father reckoned that his son had not got the best from the #3 Van Diemen.

Designed in Wiltshire with the aid of a home made wind tunnel, the Loaded Gunn TS11 of Craig Mitchell managed to qualify 10th for the Open Sports and GT’s challenge before it was withdrawn from the race.

The opening race of the day was won by Adam Prebble in his Rover 220 Turbo seen taking the chequered flag ahead of Tony Hutchins in his Audi TT, William Di Claudio took class B honours in his Peugeot 106 and Charles Hyde Andrew Bird won Class C in his Ford Fiesta.

The opening lap of the first Super Mighty Mini race, seen above saw Pat Ford spin at Camp Corner in his pursuit of the leaders. The 25 minuet race was won by a contrite and apologetic Gary Patterson, ahead of Bob Bennetts and Neven Kirkpatric after leader Chris Morgan was accidentally taped into the barrier at Tower.

Tony Sinclair, driving the #1 Jade 3 in the special invitation class like wise took a flag to flag victory from pole in the Castle Combe VADABAR Sports & GT Championship. Last years champion Simon Tilling made a typically poor start but recovered some of his lost ground to finish 3rd behind the #86 Radical Prosport of Andrew Shanley. Gary Prebble took class C honours in his Mitsubishi Evo and heads the championship overall.

Jonathon Lewis, seen above, won both 25 minuet rounds of the Mighty Mini series. In the first race be came through from 4th on the grid to beat Chris Slade and Kevin Fletcher to claim top spot on the podium.

Roger Ogree in the #3 Van Diemen made good on his Dad’s assessment and snatched the lead at the start of the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 race while pole sitter Ben Norton dropped all the way down to 9th as seen in the photo above. However it was Steven Jensen driving the #22 Spectrum 011b who won the race after taking the lead on lap 3 while Ben Norton recovered to bag second place from Roger Ogree with two laps just to go !

Gary Paterson again had the measure of his competitors in the second, post 1990, Super Mighty Mini encounter and is seen above pedaling the #50 ahead of the #1 of Elliot Stafford, who finished second. Chris Morgan who recorded fastest lap finished third in his repaired Mini, resplendent with tank taped n/s wing / fender, that started at the back of the 18 car field.

With the #122 Loaded Gun being among several non starters in the Open Sports and GT Challenge race it was left to Tony Sinclair to win his second race of the day in his Jade 3. Bob Berridge in his Chevrolet V8 powered Aquila GR1 came second ahead of Craig Flemming in the race which was interrupted by a Red Flag to clear up the mess from George Mitchells accident. Above Martin Baker is seen exercising his recently completed Hillman Imp in anticipation of a forth coming Super Saloon race, Martin finished third in class behind Stuart Dixon and Dylan Popovic.

David Marcussen in the led going into Quarry Corner on the opening lap of the final Mighty Mini race of the day but it was Jonathon Lewis seen hidden behind David’s #42 that came home the winner ahead of David. There scrap for third was eventually settled in favour of the #17 driven Kevin Fletcher taking a break from his day job playing Andy Sugden in the agricultural television soap “Emmerdale”.

Steven Jensen won the “Driver of the Day” award for converting his third place start to a convincing victory in the Formula Ford race.

Thanks for joining me on this Jubilee Race Day edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Futuristic French Le Mans Index of Performance challenger. Don’t forget to come back now !

Hudson Super Six Special

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While out watching the vintage racers negotiate Prescott and Loton Park 18 months ago I caught some snaps of this 1917 Hudson Super Six racer being driven by James Collins.

The Hudson Super Six is powered by a 4700 cc / 299 cui straight six fitted with one of the earliest a balanced crwankshafts. James car is fitted with a radiator cowling that is said to have come from a Peugeot.

In 1917 Hudson built four 2100lb racing versions of there Super Six models, called Super Six Specials, these featured stock frames that had been shortened and lightened, blue printed 115 hp motors with larger valves and ports, high lift camshafts and light weight pistons along with a two carb manifold.

The Super Six Specials were taken by special railway cars that served as rolling workshops to tracks for Ira Vail, Billy Taylor, Ralph Mulford and AH Patterson to drive the cars up to August 1917 when the Great War required resources be used elsewhere.

Major wins were recorded at Omaha, Tacoma and Minneapolis with many placings and wins at minor events during the war shortened season.

In 1919 four of the 1917 Super Six Specials were entered privately for the Indy 500, Canadian Vail and US driver Ora Haibe qualified 10th and 26th respectively finishing the race in the same order 8th and 14th.

From what I have been able to gather it would appear James car is a tribute to the 1917 Super Six Specials.

My thanks to Hudson Forum members paulrhd29nz for identifying the radiator cowling, and oldhudsons for pointing in the direction of Don Butlers excellent History of Hudson.

Thanks for joining me on this Super Six 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 !

New Cortina is more Cortina – Ford Cortina Mk2

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The Roy Haynes designed second incarnation of the Ford Cortina MK2 was launched in 1966 with a range of 4 cylinder ‘Kent’ motors ranging 1.2 litres / 73 cui to 1.5 litres 91 cui.

Above is a 1966 1500GT with a Crayford Cabriolet Conversion seen last year at the Goodwood Revival.

The 1300 cc / 79 cui Cortina above was acquired as a used model by London based Australian Dental Surgeon ‘Doc’ Merfield who raced under the Team Boomerang banner. The ‘Doc’ fitted one of the five prototype Coventry Climax V8 ‘Godiva’ FPE Formula One motors and raced it from 1969 and 1973. In 1979 the car was discovered in East London without the engine and has been restored with a Donovan V8.

In 1967 Ford marketed a performance version of the Mk2 Cortina known as the Cortina Lotus, the reversal of the Mk1’s Lotus Cortina branding signifying that these cars were wholly manufactured by Ford where as manufacture of Mk1 Lotus Cortina was completed on the Lotus premises. The 108 mph Cortina Lotus like the one used the same Lotus developed motor as the Mk1 and the Lotus Elan. Later Cortina Lotus models were rebranded as Cortina Twin Cams. The Cortina Lotus was widely used in racing and rally competition until it was replaced by the smaller Ford Escort competition models in in 1968.

For those not interested in competing with their Cortina’s the 1600 GT powered by a ‘Kent’ motor was the performance Cortina of choice, Blown Hell above started life as a 1600 GT but has since been fitted with a supercharged 3.5 litre / 215 cui Rover V8 for drag racing.

The Cortina Estate / Station Wagon above was highly rated for it’s then unparalleled load space the car seen above at Shakespeare County Raceway started life as a Cortina ‘Super’ but has since also been fitted with a 3.5 litre / 215 cui Rover V8.

The most refined of the New Cortina models was 1600E launched in October 1967, this featured a 1600 GT Kent motor, Rostyle wheels, twin fog lights, bucket seats, sports steering wheel and instrumentation, along with luxury walnut woodgrain trim. I remember when my neighbor’s Dad showed up with a 1600E in 1968 every kid on the block including me could not wait to be taken for a ride in it !

Thanks for joining me on this New Cortina 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 Don’t forget …

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz

December 26th – January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards

Set 1 Sports & GT Cars

Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition

Set 3 1934 Season

Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s

Set 5 Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th – January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 1300, 1600E, 1600GT, Automobiliart, Cortina, Ford, GALPOT, Haynes, Lotus, MK2, Quiz, Roy, Seasonal, Super on January 4, 2012 by Ralph.

Baby Continental – Vauxhall 101 Super

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The Vauxhall 101 was the third generation Vauxhall Victor given the 101 badge because it had 101 improvements over it’s predecessor the Victor FB.

Like the contemporary fourth generation Lincoln Continental the 101 Super carried bright work on the leading edge of the front wings that ran from the top of the front bumper around the top edge of the front wings along the mid rift to the top of the rear wings and around to the top of the rear wings.

Imitating another feature that had been seen in the USA for some time the 101 was among the first British designs to incorporate the side light and indicator clusters into the front bumper.

The 101 was the last of the Victor models to feature an engine with rocker operated overhead valves. The 1595 cc / 97 cui 4 cylinder motor produced 66 hp.

There was a choice of transmissions standard column shifted 3 speed, 4 speed floor shifted or Powerglide Automatic.

Contemporary reports noted that the low gearing gave the car class leading acceleration, 0 to 60 in 20.4 seconds, but made the fuel consumption, 23.1 miles per gallon, worst in class by a full 10%.

Front servo assisted brake discs were options along with a radio that was integrated into the dash.

Between 1964 and 1967 219,814 101 Victor FC models were built along with an additional 13,499 VX 4/90 performance models using the same body. The 1966 model featured today was seen at the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum.

Thanks for loining me on this 101 edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 101, Atwell, Colmar, FC, GALPOT, Motor, Museum, Ralph, Super, Vauxhall, Victor, Wilson on November 15, 2011 by Ralph.

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