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Meridian Date – Bristol Concours d’Elegance

Yesterday I travelled 2 degrees, 35 mins 45.25 seconds East to the Meridian line at Greenwich in London with Florian, my guest from France, to see the Bristol Concour’s d’Elegance, where a fine selection of Bristol Cars and a single Fraser Nash BMW, representing over 60 years of automotive history was accumulating in the grounds of the Old Naval College.

Oldest car at the show was this 1939 Frazer Nash BMW 321, Frazer Nash were in partnership with the Bristol Aircraft Company when the latter diversified into the automotive market after WW2.

Several Bristol 400‘s, the manufacturers first model, were present all in immaculate condition, this 1971cc, 120 cui six cylinder being maintained by Bristol Owners Club (BOC) member Derek Hughes.

Among many Bristol models I saw for the first time was the 402 of which only 23 examples were built, this one belonging to Richard Weale.

I know the father of one GALPOT regular used to race an Arnolt Bristol so it was a particular thrill to see and above all hear this car being started up by Kenneth Andrén who brought his car over from Sweden.

There were several Bristol 406’s, which featured roof mounted indicator lights, present this one belonging to Edward Anderson.

Chrysler supplied the motor’s for all Bristol models starting with the 407 in 1961, this is the 6277 cc / 383 cui big block Chysler B series V8 fitted to the 411 Series 2 belonging to Jamie Davenport.

In 1976 the 603 model was introduced a car that owed no heritage at all to the Bristol 407 that had been continually upgraded from 1961 and formed the basis of a succession of new models. This is the cockpit of the 603E belonging to Fergus Taylor-Gregg.

Newest of the Bristol’s present was the 2009 Blenhiem Series 4 of Richard Levine.

91 year old Bristol Works Director, until the factory closed earlier this year, the sprightly Syd Lovesy was amongst those who handed out the prizes at the end of the day. Syd is seen here with Richard Vaughan and the unique 1963 Bristol Viotti 407 styling exercise that once belonged to comic actor Peter Sellers.

Concours d’Elegance award winning cars included the 400 of Ashley James, the 403 of John Manley, the 405 of Cyril Milward, the 411 Series 2 of Jamie Davenport, a 412, the Arnolt of Kenneth Andrén, and the last one I can positively identify in the line the Fraser Nash BMW 321.

Car of the day for me was definitely the Arnolt, hats off to Kenneth bring this car over from Sweden, thanks to everyone at the Bristol Owners Club who made this a day for Florian and I to remember.

Thanks for joining me on this Meridian edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow to see how the Aluminium Buick 215 V8 came to impact the British motor industry. Don’t forget to come back nowhttps://www.psychoontyres.co.uk/powered-under-licence-rover-p5b-3-5-litre-coupe/ !

The Unvanquished Tough Nut From Chippenham – Invicta S1

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Invicta is a name that has popped up from time to time in the automotive industry since 1900 when the name appeared on cars made in Finchley, London until 1905. The following year, 1906, the Invicta name was intended to be used by a vehicle manufacturer in Turin.

A third unrelated incarnation of the Invicta name was used by Clarks Eng. Wrks Ltd in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire in 1914.

The fourth and to date most successful incarnation of Invicta appeared when Noel Macklin teamed up with Tate & Lyle sugar heir Oliver Lyle in 1925. Based in Cobham, Surrey they aimed to build a range of vehicles that matched Rolls Royce for quality and Bentley for speed using proprietary 6 cylinder Meadows engines until it’s demise in 1935.

The fourth incarnation of Invicta achieved a fair ampun of publicity as a result of Noel Macklins sister in law Violette Cordery being awarded the Dewar Trophy in 1926 after averaging a fraction over 70 mph over 5,000 miles (8,000 kms) at Montlhery and again in 1929 after driving 30,000 miles (48,000 kms) in 21 days averaging a fraction over 61 mph at Brooklands. Donald Healey also won the Monte Carlo Rally outright in 1931, despite bending the chassis in an accident in Norway soon after the start of the event.

In 1946 the Invicta company was reformed in Virginia Water and produced a Meadows powered Black Prince, only 16 of which were manufactured before production ceased and the brand name was sold to Frazer Nash the vehicle manufacturer, not the same Frazer Nash that bought the remains of the Bristol Car Company recently.

The Invicta name has also twice been used by Buick as a model name.

The most recent incarnation of the Invicta vehicle brand surfaced in 2004 with this monster of a sports car, built in Chippenham, available with up to 600 hp from a hand built Ford Special Vehicles Team (SVT) supplied V8.

Carrying the same name as the most successful pre-war model, used to win the Monte Carlo Rally in 1931, the S1 is built around a steel tube space frame featuring a safety roll cage and is claimed to be the strongest chassis ever tested by UK safety officials.

The body, designed by Leigh Adams and his Automotive Design & Prototyping studio, is a single piece of carbon fibre which further reinforces the chassis strength.

Invicta claim the S1 will reach 60 mph from rest in 3.8 seconds and that the aerodynamics will keep the car stable to over 200 mph…. where permitted.

Production of the S1 is limited to 50 per year, when I was on my way to Castle Combe last weekend I heard one and then saw it come cruising past in my rear view mirror, this car has an awesome presence when on the move.

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

An Education – Bristol 405 Saloon

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Back in February I looked at the Bristol 405 Drophead, fit for for a Sheikh, today I am looking at the 4 door saloon, seen here at the recent Silverstone Classic, built on the same chassis design.

When launched at the Paris Motor Show in October 1954 the 405 experienced overheating problems while running in heavy Parisian traffic, this turned out to be due to a faulty batch of cylinder heads rather than the fog light blocking the radiator.

Once the overheating problem had been sorted customers were full of enthusiasm for this versatile model which was lighter than the preceding 2 door 403.

Larger doors and windows, than those seen on previous Bristol models, were accommodated by dropping the hitherto successful Superleggera body construction in favour of body work built around a wooden frame.

Unlike the 405 Drophead chassis which were sent initially to Abbots and later Tickfords for their bodywork to be built, the 405 Saloon had bodywork built in the Bristol works factory.

Gary Barker told the Adelaide Advertiser in 1956 “The Bristol 405 is a car in the very best tradition of high British performance.”

A maroon 405 Saloon was the star of the 2009 coming of age film ‘An Education‘.

My thanks to Christopher Balfour who’s book Bristol Cars A Very British Story supplied many of the background details for this blog.

Tomorrow I hope to be attending the Bristol Owners Club Concours d’Elegance a free event held at the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich – The Painted Hall.

It is sad to have to report that Chris Lawrence, one of the men behind the Morgan Triumph SLR cars that featured on a GALPOT blog two weeks ago, passed away on August 13th. Along with the SLR Chris was responsible for the Mini based Deep Sanderson and much more recently the Morgan Aero 8 amongst many other vehicle developments. I hope you will join me in sending condolences to Chris’s friends and family.

Thanks for joining me on this British Performance edition of ‘Getting a lil psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a large sports car from a revived brand that now hails from Chippenham, Wiltshire. Don’t forget to come back now !

My Word Is My Bond – Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible

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Today’s uniquely bodied Ferrari images come straight from the Carmel By The Sea Concours on the Avenue which was held on Tuesday courtesy of GALPOTS regular contributor Geoffrey Horton.

In 1955 a New Yorker Robert Lee set off on a Safari stopping over in Rome for a week on the outward journey. While in Italy Mr Lee went to Modena and visited Enzo Ferrari who suggested that if Mr Lee should ever want to buy a Ferrari he should buy one direct from the factory in Italy.

Mr Lee responded that he did not think a Ferrari would be up to running on the streets of New York, to which Enzo replied “If you buy a Ferrari, I guarantee it will run in New York City”.

In 1956 Mr Lee saw this 250 GT Convertible on the Ferrari stand at the New York Auto Show, when Mr Lee enquired about the possibility of purchasing it he was informed by Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari’s New York representative, that the car was not for sale and would be returned to Modena after the show.

Mr Lee then sent Enzo a Telegram reminding him of their meeting and offering $ 9,500 dollars, all he had, for the Convertible.

Soon after on the instructions of Mr Ferrari, Mr Chinetti asked Mr Lee to bring him a cashiers cheque for $9,500 and the worlds only 250 GT Boano Convertible, which is alleged to have cost $20,000 to build, would be his.

55 years and two restorations later this unique car still belongs to Mr Lee, possibly making it the worlds oldest Ferrari in continuous original ownership.

My thanks again to Geoffrey Horton, seen above with his sister Vanessa and XK140, for today’s photographs, I hope you will join me in congratulating Geoffrey on winning second place at the Carmel By The Sea Councours on The Avenue.

Hope you have enjoyed this Boano Convertible edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a large Bristol. Don’t forget to come back now !

Automobiles, Planes, Trains and a Giraffe – The Bugatti Trust

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On our way back from Mallory Park, Tim and I dropped by the Bugatti Trust which is housed next to the site of the Prescott Speed Hill Climb venue.

The Trust’s raison d’etre is to encourage research into Bugatti’s works, by experts and novices alike, an aim facilitated by a large archive of photographs, drawings, letters and articles accumulated by the father of the Trusts current chairman Hugh Conway.

The trust also houses a fascinating collection of Bugatti artifacts including this vertical 16 Bugatti King Aero engine designed by Ettore in 1916 and further modified for production by Charles King at Duesenberg Motors. This 500 hp 24.3 litre / 1482 cui leviathan featured two pairs of four cylinder blocks mounted side by side with two crankshafts geared to a central propellor shaft.

A small rotating selection of top quality cars is on loan to the Trust from Bugatti Owners Club members, this T35, which was built up from an assortment of pieces from a variety of T35’s, belongs to the well known drummer Nicholas Berkeley Mason who’s vehicles have featured in previous GALPOT blogs. Apparently, like all of his other vehicles, this car can be hired for film, television, and the media from Ten Tenth’s.

T37A, chassis #37282, on loan from Charles Trevelyan, was delivered to Omnia-Kraftfahrzeug-Handels GmbH of Munich in September 1927 for 48,930 FF.

Details in this photo of the T37A’s 1496 cc / 91 cui motor include the camshaft drive, top left at the rear of the motor, which is connected to both the dash board mounted magneto and the revolution counter which is driven by the pulley and rubber belt that can be seen on the left of the photograph.

The supercharger, lubricated by a drip feed, for the 4 cylinder motor can be seen beneath the vertical copper coiled pipe, the carburettor that mixes the air and fuel is mounted beneath the supercharger.

Contemporary to both the racing T35 and T37 is this T38 2 litre / 122 cui 8 cylinder touring car, unfortunately I did not get any clear shots of the detachable trunk at the back but it is a real work of art the finish of which I have only seen a copy of on The Pet MINI.

Rising to the challenge of beating Mercedes Benz and Auto Union Jean Bugatti sketched out the vehicle seen here with no less than three supercharged straight 8 motors with which to attack the speed record for vehicles driven on public roads in 1935. His still born car would have had around 1000 hp and should have been capable of around 250 mph.

Below the speed record vehicle is a model of Ettore Bugatti’s successful motorised railcar.

I am not entirely sure what the thinking was behind the T59 piano wire wheels first seen in 1933, it seems the wire spokes handled the cornering loads while the teeth of the outer wheel rim meshed with the teeth of the brake drum to transmit the power from the drive shaft to the tyres. How this was advantageous over the regular alloy wheels Bugatti had used up until this date I am not sure.

While most of the Bugatti Trust collection focuses of Ettore and Jean’s work there are some interesting pieces of work by other Bugatti family members including this sculpted giraffe by Ettore’s brother, Rembrandt Bugatti.

I really can’t recommend a visit to the Bugatti Trust highly enough and can’t wait to go back with a raft of new questions for the friendly and helpful members of the trust who make a visit such a delight.

Hope you have enjoyed this Bugatti Trust edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Testing ! Testing ! – Mallory Park

RIP Peter O’Shea – Castle Combe August Cup

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Thanks to the generosity of Simon Lewis I was able to see five, of the ten, races at Castle Combe this weekend in between looking after two otherwise empty houses and a dog called Zed, who naturally was not permitted to come with me to the race track.

You could have heard a pin drop as I arrived at the Circuit around mid day on Saturday, as I got out of the car and looked across Dean Straight and saw a large accumulation of circuit vehicles 2 ambulances and a police car the reason soon became clear, there had been an incident.

It transpired that a Formula Ford car had left the circuit at Bobbies Chicane and come to a rest in the infield during the 2nd lap of the Formula Ford qualification race. Seeing the driver motionless the race was immediately red flagged and marshals arrived at the scene seconds later to find the driver had suffered a heart attack, neither the the marshals, the circuit medics or the crew of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance were able to do anything to revive Peter ‘Pete’ O’Shea’ who was pronounced dead on the scene.

An hour or so later the time table for the weekends activities was hastily rescheduled with the planned Formula Ford races postponed for a day and racing resumed with Chaterham 7 Super Graduates reminding us why we were all at Castle Combe with a thrilling race.

Pole sitter Chris Rome was immediately swallowed up by a pack including Toby Briant, Luke Tzoufrou, Reece Somerfield and Neil Shinner who entertained us with a thrilling battle in which at least three of the Caterhams lost rear wings in an otherwise fair and good natured 4 way dice.

Neil Shinner seen here in 5th place eventually took a well earned win, with the top six finishers being covered by just 2 seconds.

The Sports & GT Championship proved a bit of a disappointment for Ian Hall who got bogged down at the start and was eliminated when he was clipped by Jeremy Irwin. Both Halls fearsome Darrian Wildcat T98 – GTR and Irwin’s Jertona 85/09 were eliminated on the spot. Pole sitter Simon Tilling did not get away cleanly either which allowed Andrew Shanley, in his #86 Radical Prosport, a few short laps of glory before Simon in his orange #23 Radical SR3 got up to speed and back into the lead and a comfortable race win.

The final race I saw on Saturday was for the Caterham Sigma and Classic Graduates the two classes started on separate grids 10 seconds apart with the Ford Sigma powered cars going first, each of the six starters led the class with victory going to John Gil this time the top 4 finished within 1 second of each other. The Caterham Classic Graduates race also had an interesting battle with the odd wing being lost in combat, John Parker won the class from James Carvey by over 3 seconds which did not reflect the close fought competition during the opening 10 laps of the 15 lap race.

On Sunday I arrived at the Circuit just in time to catch the main event of the weekend a one hour race for Sports 2000 cars. These vehicles first seen in the late 1970’s were an extension of the thinking behind Formula Ford and Formula Ford 2000 open wheel series but with closed bodies and like FF2000 used crate Pinto motors. I believe all three categories got started thanks to former Brands Hatch promoter John Webb.

Nowadays SRCC runs a championship for these cars in original Pinto form and for later Duratec powered cars which run with more sophisticated aerodynamic packages. This round of the series took the place of the cancelled round at Donington Park, due to problems with the local authorities regarding number of days permitted for racing. Sports 2000 teams can run either one or two drivers and must make a scheduled 4 minute pit stop during which refuelling is permitted.

After long time leaders Sherrington and Jenvey experienced suspension failure, Craig Mitchell driving the Duratec powered #22 Lola T88/90 won the event overall,

with Peter Williams and David Pittard coming second in the #88 MCR despite this early indiscretion at Bobbies chicane.

Mike Barnby won the single driver Pinto powered class in the #7 Tiga SC80 despite ignoring repeated black flags towards the end of the race which earned a formal reprimand from the stewards and 2 points on his racing license.

Peter and Harriet Needham won the two driver Pinto powered class in this Tiga SC82 ahead of

the Royal RP42 of William Howe and Formula Ford 1600 star of the 1970’s Wil Arif.

My own retro paint job of the day award went to Mike Johns Duratec Royale RP42 which looked good, but was not classified being 22 laps down at the finish.

Twenty Formula Ford 1600’s came out on Sunday and put on a splendid show in memory of Peter O’Shea, Petes Swift Cooper team mates all carried decals remembering their recently departed team mate and all FF 1600 drivers wore black armbands.

Rob Hall, seen leading above from Felix Fisher and eventual winner Ben Norton, were joined by Steven Jensen in an entertaining four way shoot out that was reflected all the way through the field, from the green flag all the way to the checkers

as evidenced by Adam Cooper, Edward Moore, Roger Orgee and Luke Cooper seen here entering Bobbies Chicane as one in an ultimately vane pursuit of David Vivian in 5th place.

Towards the back of the FF1600 race Pete O’Shea’s friend Darren Hamlen driving the oldest car in the race, the 1980 #74 Royale RP36 managed to pass the #21 Vector of Mike Madge for 12th.

Peter O’Shea was born in Ireland in 1958 and drove in Formula Ford races for three years most recently with the Swift Cooper Team, I hope you will join me in sending condolences to Peter O’Shea’s team, friends and above all his family.

A thread has been started in memory of Peter on this Castle Combe Forum.

My thanks to TSL Sports Timing for the results of all of the weekends races which can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on the Peter O’Shea memorial edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at last weeks action during a test day at Mallory Park. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: Tidesco

Meridian Date – Bristol Concours d’Elegance

The Unvanquished Tough Nut From Chippenham – Invicta S1

An Education – Bristol 405 Saloon

My Word Is My Bond – Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible

Automobiles, Planes, Trains and a Giraffe – The Bugatti Trust

Testing ! Testing ! – Mallory Park

RIP Peter O’Shea – Castle Combe August Cup