Tag Archives: V8

Hydraulic Brakes – Ford One Ton Pick Up

1939 saw Ford introduce numerous changes to it’s pickup range including the introduction of hydraulic brakes which most manufacturers had adopted many years earlier.

Ford 1 Ton Pickup, Shakespeare County Speedway

From the front the ’38 Ford Pickup’s were identifiable by the new oval grill, this feature was carried over into 1939. It would appear the grill on this vehicle is a ’38 type distinguished by the V8 logo below the mascot which doubles as the bonnet and hood release. The short base of the ornament on this vehicle indicates that it too is a ’38 item.

Ford 1 Ton Pickup, Shakespeare County Speedway

The brake master cylinder can be clearly seen attached to the front bulkhead on this particular vehicle.

Ford 1 Ton Pickup, Shakespeare County Speedway

Gone is the original 85 hp flat head V8 the motor under the bonnet / hood here is officially quoted as being 5.3 litres / 323 cui.

Ford 1 Ton Pickup, Shakespeare County Speedway

1938 saw the introduction of the 1 ton pick up to partly fill the gap between the 1 1/2 ton and half ton market segments in 1939 saw the introduction of the 3/4 ton size to cover all the pickup size bases.

Ford 1 Ton Pickup, Shakespeare County Speedway

By 1939 Ford was offering it’s truck in seven different colours, not sure if canary yellow would have been one of them but if you do please chime in below.

Ford 1 Ton Pickup, Shakespeare County Speedway

Amongst the options offered to ’39 Ford pickup customers were radio, heater, and passenger side windscreen wiper.

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

Big Rig Look – Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab

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After extensive customer research chief designer Philip E Payne took a gamble and went with the big rig look for the second generation (BR) Dodge Rams launched in 1994. He knew that by pandering to the majority of his clients he might loose a few of those who preferred softer styling.

Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The Big Rig look gave the new range of Dodge Ram’s instant recognition that was quite distinctive form the main rivals built by General Motors and Ford, and the look is even more distinctive on this ’95 1500 extended cab with the bug deflectors and sun shield, the only thing missing are the christmas tree lights usually found on big rigs.

Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The second generation Dodge Rams were powered by the same motors as the first series this one, seen at last year’s Avenue Drivers Club meeting in June, is powered by a top of the 1500 range 230 hp 5.9 litre / 360 cui Magnum V8.

Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Second Generation Rams were available in 1500 half ton, 2500 3/4 ton and 3500 dually one ton forms. The 2500 3/4 ton and 3500 one ton was available with a 8 litre / 488 cui V10 that was used as the basis for the Dodge Viper sports cars.

Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Ram body options included 2 door, 2 door extended cab and from 1998 Quad Cab 4 door extended cab with front opening “suicide’ doors. Special attention was given to the storage area’s inside the cab with a large glovebox, central armrest storage and further storage space behind the seats.

Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

1500 Rams could be ordered with either 6′ or 8′ beds. THis truck will have been fitted with an A518 four speed automatic transmission a descendant of the TorqueFlight 3 speed automatic transmission first seen in 1956.

Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The 1996 film Twister featured a similar 3/4 ton Ram 2500 with club cab on the back to the one seen here, sadly it was destroyed near the end of the story nearly bringing some pick up truck fans to tears.

Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Philip E Payne’s gamble with the big rig look paid off handsomely as Dodge went from it’s traditional third spot in truck sales behind Ford and General Motors to first in three years and stayed at the top from 1996 to 1999 by which time both Ford and GM had caught up with the big rig look.

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

“Tender At Heart” – Ford V8 30 Saloon

The 1938 Ford V8 30 Saloon appears to be a 1938 Ford de Luxe Sedan built for the British market complete with right hand drive.

Like the Deluxe the V8 30 was powered by a ‘flathead’ V8 with either 60hp or 85hp options.

New for 1938 was the distinctive heart shaped grill which is easily distinguished from the V shape grill of the 1937 models.

The remaining panels were identical to the earlier 1937 models, not even a new dash with recessed controls for safety could do much to stimulate sales. After the 1939/45 war the British built Ford V8 30 updated and given a brief new lease of life in the UK, marketed as the Ford Pilot.

In September 1939 Lenham, in Kent, Auxiliary Fire Station had a budget of £60 to acquire a Fire Tender and a Mr Hulland managed to acquire a Ford V8 30 hp Saloon for £30 and spent the remainder on having it converted. The depreciation from the new value of the vehicle at £230 in 1938 showing how desperate the times were at the commencement of the 1939/45 war.

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

Foot Warmer – TVR 400 SE

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The story of the TVR 400SE begins with Oliver Winterbottom who, after designing the wedge shaped Lotus Eclat and second generation Lotus Elite models launched 1974, was responsible for designing the wedge shaped TVR Tasmin launched in 1980.

Over the years the Tasmin which was originally available with 2 litre / 122 cui or 2.8 litre / 170 cui Ford sourced motors grew into a second incarnation with a 3.5 litre / 215 cui V8 that traces it’s history back through the Rover 3.5 litre Coupé to the aluminium V8 Buick 215 designed by Joe Turley for Buick Oldmobile and Pontiac vehicles launched in 1961.

Launched in 1983 the TVR Tasmin 350i which became the plain TVR 350i in 1984 had a 190 hp and a 130 mph capability. With it’s Rover power the 350i became marketable in the middle east where there was, and is, a resistance to anything associated with Ford due to it’s dealings with Israel. In 1984 a 390 SE engine package was offered to 350i customers with a blueprinted version of the V8 motor with 3905 cc / 238 cui cylinder capacity, high lift cam shaft large valves and Cosworth machined pistons which brought the power up to 275 hp.

In 1986 further improvements offered 300 hp from the 420 SE spec which could be ordered with a lighter and slightly more rounded 420 SEAC spec body. For 1988 introduced the 3948 cc / 240 cui 400 SE which offered marginal performance improvements over the 390 SE and used the Series 2 390 SE body with asymmetrical near side louvers in the bonnet and a slightly more tidy nose as seen on the example above.

With the increase in engine size and output from 100 – 160 hp for the Tasmin models to 275 hp for the 400 SE seen here the transmission tunnel was increased in size to accommodate ever larger transmissions required to cope with the extra horsepower and so the foot wells have decreased in size. The extra heat generated by the more powerful motors allegedly also means occupants feet are more exposed to heat soak than was the case in the original Tasmin.

Equipped with 8J x 15 inch wheels and ventilated disc brakes the 400 SE could reach 60 mph from rest in 5.6 seconds or 100 mph in 14.8 seconds and max out at 145 mph. In 1989 a final version of the TVR Wedge was introduced the 320 hp 450 SE good for 150 mph.

The rear deck spoiler on this 400 SE appears to have been sourced from the ’86-’88 420 SEAC which had up to 20% of its body panels made from light weight kevlar. The 400SE is renowned for making a phenomenal noise and exhilarating acceleration.

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

Killed By A Pony – Ford Falcon Sprint V8

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The stand out car in the Goodwood car park last week was this Ford Falcon Sprint V8, there is something about the unmolested patina of old racing cars I simply find irresistible, something all to easy to underestimate that speaks of both achievement and subsequent precarious survival.

There are four strands to Ford Falcon history, the US built cars such as the one seen here which were in production from 1960 until 1970, the Argentinian built Falcons in production from 1962 to 1991, the Australian built Falcons which have been in production since 1960 and the US built Falcon ‘E series’ 8 seat vans built from 1961 to 1967.

Allegedly Edsel Ford first came up with the Falcon name for the design of a luxury car in 1935, he felt the name did not quite fit and renamed the car Mercury which was launched as a luxury brand in 1938.

The Ford Falcon was launched in 1960, like the contemporary Chevrolet Corvair, Chrysler / Plymouth Valiant, Studebaker Lark and AMC Rambler, the design evolved from market research which identified that many US families were in the market for a smaller than full size second vehicle primarily to be driven by women. The first generation Falcons were in production from 1960 -1963.

The second generation Falcon was redesigned in 1964 and aimed at a more youthful market. Falcons were available in two door, 4 door, sedan, 2 door coupé like this 1964 model, 2 door convertible, 2 door coupé utility and 3 or 5 door station wagon forms.

Six engine options were available from 2.4 litre / 144 cui in line sixes through to 4.9 litre / 302 cui Windsor V8’s along with 4 transmission options 2 speed (ford o matic) auto, 3 speed auto and 3 or 4 speed manual.

Despite over a million sales in the first two years of the first generation Falcon, second series Falcon sales tanked thanks in no small part to another vehicle in the Ford range that was based on the second generation Falcon but aimed at an even more youthful market known as the Ford Mustang which was launched in April 1964.

To try and keep sales up the Sprint V8 with 4.7 litre / 289 cui, as seen here, and later even 4.9 litre / 302 cui variations were introduced but the slightly more expensive Mustang with the same power trains was the car everyone wanted.

The secrets of this particular cars past remain hidden to me for now, a signature above the lighter on the dash looks like that of two time British Saloon car champion Jack Sears. I have not been able to find any evidence Jack drove such a car after winning the 1963 British Saloon Car Championship driving a Ford Cortina GT, a Lotus Cortina and a Ford Galaxy 500.

Thanks for joining me on this Sprint V8 edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

1977 ECotY – Rover Vitesse

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There were not many four door executive vehicles that would look comfortable parked along side a Ferrari or Maserati in the 1970’s but the Rover SD1 powered by the familiar alloy Buick derived V8 and designed by David Bache is certainly one that could keep such company in any car park and not look out of place.

Thanks in part to a painfully slow process of rationalisation that was occurring at British Leyland during the early 1970’s involving many duplicitous departments and management within the nationalised organisation it took 54 months for the SD1 to move from drawing board to production.

David Bache was not in the least shy about his design influences incorporated into the SD1 including these indicator lights which are almost identical to those found on a Ferrari Daytona.

Built in a new purpose built £31 million factory in Solihull the SD1 was marketed as the Rover 3500 and launched in July 1976 to an ecstatic reception regarding the styling and performance, though the quality of some of the materials used and build were short of the market leaders particularly the emerging BMW brand. The deep front spoiler and BBS pattern wheels on this model signifies a later model in this case built in 1986.

The Vitesse badge hitherto associated with Triumph models belies the fact that the SD1 had technical and marketing input from the still separate and competing Triumph design and management offices. In late 1980 the Rover Vitesse, seen here at the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, was introduced as the performance version of the Rover 3500 and the Vanden Plas the Luxury version that included leather seats.

While the styling of the SD1 was ahead of it’s time the rear suspension was actually a technological step back from the de Dion suspension used on the previous Rover P6 to a live rear axle, though this made the cars easier and cheaper to build the move did not compromise the handling, much praised in the contemporary press, in anyway.

Since British Leyland had so many competing brands in its range the 1977 European Car of the Year award winner was not the money spinner that it should have been because it was priced so as not to compete directly with the Jaguar XJ6 against which it was seen in an extremely favourable light.

Thanks for joining me on the 1977 European Car of the Year edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a fully loaded turbocharged competitor of the Rover SD1. Don’t forget to come back now !

Racing Maloo – HSV Maloo

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Two weeks after starting the ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ blog I remember getting a huge thrill from discovering an HSV Maloo on the streets of Bristol and learning that it was the fastest pickup truck in the world.

Last weekend while at the Britcar British Endurance Championship Racing Weekend at Castle Combe I stumbled across another Maloo this time in full race trim including

slick tyres to compliment it’s 400 hp Corvette LS2 engine which according to one passer by in a Britcar T shirt is tuned to 600 hp good for reaching 60 mph in under 4 seconds.

When I got home I was surprised to learn that there is an Australian racing series for Ford and Holden pick ups, where pickups are known as Utes, which is part of a staircase to find talent for the top tier Australian V8 Supercar series.

Even more surprisingly I have found out that late last year an announcement was made by Britcar to the effect that they would organise a debut season for a UK V8Ute Series using only the rebranded Vauxhall VXR Maloo pickup model.

The cars were to be rented from Britcar with the rental cost including entry fees for a full season of races.

The plan was that at each meeting the Maloo’s would take part in three 40 minute races with mandatory pit stops for driver changes.

The projected series is on temporary hold, I look forward to an announcement from Britcar that the series will get a chance to go public and from Vauxhall that the VXR Maloo gets the opportunity to enter the UK market place.

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