Classic and Competition Car 53 February 2015 by Simon Wright

February 2015

Issue 53

Autosport International

HRCR Open day

Vintage Stony

Stratford

Armouries

Chateau Impney Hillclimb

Contents Page 3

News.

Page 16

Bettson Motor Bike.

Page 17

London Classic Car Show.

Page 21

Chateau Impney Revival.

Page 24

Vintage Stony.

Page 31 Page 34 Page 35 Page 37 Page 39 Page 41 Page 42 Page 44

Autosport International - The Racing Car show. HSCC Tribute to Sir Jack Brabham at ASI BTCC at ASI Classic Team Lotus celebrate Jim Clark 1965. Rallying at ASI Live Action Arena at ASI Coys Auction at ASI Performance Car Show.

Page 47

Tasman Revival Round 3 Hampton Downs

Page 53

Archive Photo of the month.

Page 54

HRCR Open Day.

Page 58

Stratford Armouries Classic Car Meeting.

Page 62

Closing Shot.

Front Cover. The Lotus Grand Prix car on the Formula 1 Grid at the Autosport International show © Simon Wright. HRCR Open day © Pete Austin. Vintage All content is copyright classicandcompetitioncar.com Stony © Janet Wright. Stratford Armouries © Simon unless otherwise stated. All photographs are copyright the original photographer and cannot be used for commercial Wright. Chateau Impney © Janet Wright.

purposes unless by prior approval of the original copyright holder. We try to ensure accurate and truthful reporting We now have a Facebook Group - Classic and Competition Car - but if you spot an error, please contact us and will we where you can join and keep up to date with additional verify and correct accordingly. We do not organise any Photographs, postings, and extra event photo galleries. Please events which are mentioned and we are not responsible if feel free to add personal postings and your own photos. the event does not take place or is cancelled. Please contact the event organiser before making a long trip.

Classic and Competition Car Facebook Group

February 2015

Classic and Competition Car is published by simonwrightphotos.com High View Drive, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 8HT E-mail simonwright57@hotmail.com Tel 07905 435973 Check out our new updated WEB site at www.classicandcompetitioncar.com regularly for additional photo galleries, wall papers and other additional content and join our Facebook Group Classic and Competition Car.

To Subscribe for free and be notified when the next issue is published please click here. To check out our web site with additional photos please click here Our Team. Simon Wright - Editor. Simon has been photographing and reporting on motor races for many years. Served an engineering apprenticeship many years ago. Big fan of the Porsche 917 Pete Austin. Pete is the man for Historic racing, with an extensive archive of black and white images covering the last few decades of motorsport in Britain. Very keen on BRM. Mick Herring Mick's first love is GT racing, including Historic, especially the Lola T70. Has an extensive knowledge of all things GT. Janet Wright. Janet has been taking photographs for many years, and is also very skilled in video. She likes Aston Martins

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Editorial. Show season is upon us at the moment in the UK. The Autosport Show and the new London Classic Car Show have now both taken place (See reports in this issue) and now the next show is Race Retro, the Historic Motorsport Show, held at Stoneleigh, near Coventry. The racing season is still taking place in warmer parts of the world, and in this issue we have a report from the latest round of the Tasman Revival championship from New Zealand, where they have assembled quite a field of Formula 5000 cars and have even got some of the original drivers over to re-unite them with their old cars. We also have dates of various championships announced in our News pages. See you trackside.

News

Example of a Chevron B8 driven by Steve Hodges - Not necessarily the car on display at Race Retro © Simon Wright

Example of a Chevron B27 driven by M Bletsoe-Brown - Not necessarily the car on display at Race retro

Race Retro to celebrate 50 years of Chevron. This year sees the 50th anniversary of the first Chevron, their B1, being built in Salford, and the marque will be celebrating at the Race Retro show at Stoneleigh between the 20th and 22nd of February 2015. The display will include five Chevron racing cars showing some of the wide range of classes that Chevron have produced. These will include the B1 Clubmans car, B8 GT car, the B16 Group 5/6 2 seater sports car, a B25 Formula 2/Formula Atlantic single seater, a B27 ex Dieter Quester car and finally the B62 which was designed as a Gp C2 sports car and only one was made before the company closed. February 2015

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New line up of Grids at Donington Historic Festival.

The three day Donington Historic Festival over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, 2nd to 4th May, sees a shake up to the race line up for 2015. For the first time at the Historic Festival there will be a race for Grand Prix cars from the 1950s and 60s on both Saturday and Sunday. There will also be the first round of the new HSCC Jaguar Heritage Challenge which will feature Big Cats like the E-Type, D-Type, C-Type, XK120, and Mk I and Mk II Saloons. Saturday will feature a 2 1/2 hour endurance race driving in to the evening featuring the sports cars that took place in the 1000 kms races of the early 1970s. As well as the sports prototypes of up to 5 litres, the race will also feature GT and Touring cars of the period, exactly as in the original races. The HSCC Historic Formula 2 race and Historic Formula Junior races will also remain on the event timetable for Saturday. There will be another Mini endurance race on Sunday, this time for the GT and Sports Car Cup, a series for pre 66 GTs and Pre-63 Sports cars that raced in the World Endurance championship of the period. More sports cars built up to 1955 will take part in the RAC Woodcote Trophy. Touring car fans will have plenty to keep them entertained with races for Pre 66 under 2 litre Touring Cars, HRDC’s “History of the BTCC 1958-66” and HSCC Super Touring Cars from pre-1980 to 1999. Bank Holiday Monday will see the Jaguars in action plus the Stirling Moss Trophy for pre-1961 sports cars and the Mad Jack race for pre-war sports cars, plus more touring car races including the Motor Racing Legends Historic Touring Car Challenge. As well as the races, there will be demonstrations from historic Formula 1 and Grand Prix cars to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the first ever Donington Grand Prix, plus Supercars across the decades. The mighty Group B Rally cars will be providing their usual rubber burning displays along with the iconic cars from the Historic rally Car Register and finally the Historic Karts will also be out on track. As usual the infield area will be taken over by the magnificent Car Club displays. For further information and to book advanced tickets see the web site www.doningtonhistoric.com February 2015

Jaguar Test driver awarded OBE Norman Dewis, the former Jaguar Test driver and works racing driver, was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the Queens New Years Honours list. The 94 year old is recognised as probably Britain’s greatest test driver, having helped develop vehicles such as the Le Mans winning D-Type Jaguar and was influential in the E-Type Jaguar. In a career spanning 33 years, he was involved in the testing and development of 25 major Jaguar models. These included the Le Mans winning C-Type and D-Type racing cars, the XK 140 and 150 sports cars, both of the Mk II Jaguar saloons 2.4 litre and 3.4 litre, the Mk VII and Mk VIIM, the E-Type, the XJ13 mid engined prototype, the XJ saloons, the XJ-S and © Pete Austin the XJ40 saloons. Jaguar have produced a short video in which Sir Jackie Stewart and Sir Stirling Moss both pay tribute to Norman for his hard work and dedication to Jaguar and their pleasure at his award https:// www.youtube.com/watch? Page 4

Shelsley Walsh 2015 Shelsley Walsh has a busy season ahead with both hill climb events and Breakfast club meetings. Organised by the Midland Automobile Club (MAC) these events run from February through to October. The Breakfast Club meetings are free to attend and run on Sunday mornings between 9am and 12 noon. The club ask people who wish to attend to pre-register on the Shelsley Walsh web site at www.shelsley-walsh.co.uk to give an indication of numbers. Dates for Shelsley events are 8th February 2015 Breakfast Club. 8th March 2015 Breakfast Club and Peter Blankstone Sporting Trial. 12th April 2015 Breakfast Club. 2nd-3rd May 2015 Speed in to Spring Hill climb. 10th May 2015 Breakfast Club. 6th-7th June 2015 Best of British Hill climb. 14th June 2015 Breakfast club. 4th July 2015 Reg Philips Trophy Hill climb. 5th July 2015 Vintage and PVT Hill climb (VSCC). 12th July 2015 Breakfast Club. 18th-19th July 2015 Classic Nostalgia Hill climb. 9th August 2015 Breakfast Club. 15th-16th August 2015 Championship Challenge Hill climb. 6th September 2015 Breakfast Club. 19th-20th September 2015 Autumn Speed Finale Hill climb. 11th October 2015 Breakfast Club. ÂŠ Simon Wright

February 2015

New 2nd Generation VW Polo R WRC. Volkswagen presented the new Polo R WRC to the World at Wolfsburg before it made its debut in defence of the World Rally Championship at the Monte Carlo Rally on the 22nd January 2015. With the aim of repeating their success of 2013 and 2014, the driver line up remains the same with double French World Champions Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia and team mates Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila both from Finland, and Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene both from Norway. The new Polo has been highly developed and sports a more aggressive look while attention to detail under the bonnet has improved many aspects of the cars performance while maintaining reliability, efficiency and performance. The aero package now includes a towering new rear wing which is incorporated in to the new colour scheme for 2015. The biggest innovation technically is the new hydraulically activated gearbox, operated via a paddle shift on the steering column. Three quarters of last years components have also been optimised with the aim of making everything simpler, lighter and stronger. Page 5

60th Anniversary of Citroen DS celebrated on Rally cars. As part of the celebrations for 60 years of the DS range, the three Citroen DS3 WRCs entered by Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT will carry an exclusive livery in this years World Rally Championship. Starting with the Monte Carlo rally, the cars driven by Kris Meeke, Mads Ostberg and Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi will appear in a striking White, Red and Gold colour scheme with a 60 spread across the rear wings. The team also have two new sponsors in Certina and Sparco.

Fiat 500 sets New Guinness Parking World Record. Stunt driver Alastair Moffatt, a master instructor at Stunt Drive UK, set a new Guinness World record for the tightest parallel park. During a performance in the Live Action Arena, part of the Autosport International Show, Moffatt managed to park in a gap just 7.5cm longer than the Fiat 500 he was driving. The Fiat 500C 1.2 Cult was standard apart from the ESc had to be disconnected to allow control of the car using the handbrake, a knob was added to the steering wheel and tyre pressures were increased to compensate for the abrasiveness of the surface in the hall.

New Classic Auction House set to launch. Created by a team from the highly respected Silverstone Auctions, CCA is a specialist Auction house for the sale of ‘everyman’ classic cars. From April, the new company will hold regular auctions at the Silverstone racing circuit. The first sale is due to take place on the 3rd of March 2015 in the F1 pit garage under the Silverstone Wing. The aim is to make buying and selling a classic car as easy as possible. For its first sale cars are invited for sale with an approximate value of up to £25,000. They plan to offer an impressive selection of cars such as Golf GTis, MGBs, Minis and Alfa Spiders etc at affordable prices. February 2015

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Donington Park race date announced for 2015 Donington Park has announced a full set of race dates for 4 wheeled action at the East Midlands circuit. For further information see www.donington-park.co.uk 28-29 Mar Sports and Saloon car races 750 Motor Club 18-19 Apr British Touring Car Championship 25-26 Apr GT & Formula car races MSVR 2-4 May Donington Historic Festival 9-10 May Sports & Saloon car races BRSCC 30 May Historic Sports car races HSCC 31 May Sports & Saloon car races MGCC 6-7 Jun British Superkart Grand Prix 28 Jun Aston Martin Owners Club races 4-5 Jul Masters Festival 11-12 Jul National Car Races Motors TV/BARC 25-26 Jul British Truck Championships & support races 2 Aug National Car races 360 MRC 22 Aug Funcup car endurance races 5-6 Sep Classic sports car races CSCC 12-13 Sep British GT & BRDC F4 championships 19-20 Sep GT & Formula car races MSVR 3-4 Oct Sports & saloon car races 750 Motor Club 17-18 Oct Sports & Saloon car races BRSCC 14 Nov Donington 1000kms race BRSCC © Janet Wright

February 2015

Race Retro,the International Historic Motorsport Show, runs from the 20th to the 22nd of February at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, and features the live action rally stage on the Saturday and Sunday. For further information, see the web site www.raceretro.com

The next car show at the NEC will be the Restoration & Classic Car show, which is held over the weekend of the 28th and 29th March 2015. See web site WWW.NECRESTORATIONSHOW.COM © Simon Wright

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Vauxhall celebrate 25 years of performance saloons. When launched in 1989, the Lotus Carlton was the fastest four door saloon in the World. The Straight Six twin turbocharged engine produced 377 bhp and could achieve 0-62 mph in just 4.9 seconds and had a top speed of 176 mph. With its chassis developed by Lotus, it was a highly dynamic car which could easily hold its own against the fastest supercars of the period in both handling and performance. The price was a massive £48,000 and a total of 440 Lotus Carltons were built between 1989 and 1994. The Vauxhall Omega was the next high performance saloon, built between 1993 and 1997 with a 3 litre quad cam V6 engine and produced 208 bhp. In 2007 the VXR8 was developed based on the Holden Clubsport R8 in Australia. With a 6 litre V8 engine developing 420PS it could do 0-60 mph in under 5 seconds. This was followed in 2009 by the limited edition Supercharged Bathurst S which developed 577PS and at only £45,000 it was the least expensive car at the time to have 500PS+. The latest version today is the VXR8 GTS which produces 576 bhp, more than its BMW M5 and Mercedes E63 AMG rivals and yet costs around £20,000 less than its rivals.

Bentley up to Speed. Bentley launched its new flagship model the Mulsanne Speed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It produces 530 bhp and has selectable sports steering and suspension on demand. The 6 3/4 litre twin turbo V8 does 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds and has a top speed of 190 mph.

Hyundai Motorsport confirm 3 driver line-up for Rally Sweden. Hyundai has confirmed it will enter three Hyundai i20 WRC cars in next months Rally Sweden, the second round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti will drive the No 7 and No 8 cars while Hayden Paddon/John Kennard will drive the third No 20 car. The trio will be Hyundai Motorsport’s primary driver line up for 2015. February 2015

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HSCC Dates for 2015.

The Historic Sports Car Club have announced their race dates for 2015 with their season opener over the Easter weekend at Thruxton. There are so many high light meetings which the HSCC are involved in this year including the Donington Historic Festival, the Silverstone Classic, the Brands Hatch Super Prix, Croft Nostalgia weekend, the Oulton Park Gold Cup and the Walter Hayes Trophy plus many other events. The dates are as follows: April 4th-5th Thruxton Easter Revival meeting. May 2nd-4th Donington Historic Festival. May 16th-17th Silverstone International Trophy (GP Circuit) May 30th Donington Park. June 14th-15th Autosport 3 Hrs Snetterton. June 27th-28th Wolds Trophy Cadwell Park. July 11th-12th Brands Hatch HSCC Super Prix (GP Circuit) July 24th-26th Silverstone Classic (GP Circuit) August 8th-9th Croft Nostalgia weekend. August 29th-31st Oulton Park Gold Cup. September 26th Brands Hatch (Indy circuit). October 17th Silverstone Championship Finals. Oct 31st-Nov 1st Walter Hayes Trophy, Silverstone. © Janet Wright

Coventry Transport Museum Closed for 2 weeks. As part of the £8.5 million redevelopment project funded by Heritage Lottery, Coventry Transport Museum will be closed for 2 weeks from Monday 23rd February 2015 to Sunday 8th March 2015 inclusive. The redevelopment should be completed in June 2015. The good news is that the free Classic Car Breakfast Club meetings are returning on a monthly basis during the summer. The first meeting of the year for classic car and motorcycle owners will take place on Saturday 11th April 2015 between 9am and 11am in Millennium Place outside the front of the museum. It is free to attend, but due to space restrictions, places are limited and owners must pre-register to be allowed to park in Millennium Place on the day. Dates for 2015 are 11th April, 9th May, 13th June, 11th July, 8th August, 12th September, and 10th October 2015. The Classic Car Breakfast Club meetings are arranged by the club and the museum is not responsible for the content or any changes to the programme.

Brabham BT41 Part of the HSCC display at the Autosport Show was the 1973 F3 Brabham BT41. This was the last of the production Brabhams. Best results 3rd Monaco Damien Magee. © Janet Wright

February 2015

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Hyundai show Plug-in Hybrid Electric vehicle in America. At the 2015 North American International Auto Show, Hyundai unveiled the World premiere of the Sonata Plug-in Hybrid car. This is the company’s first Plug-in Hybrid Electric vehicle and it can travel up to 22 miles on electric power alone and only takes 2 1/2 hours to recharge with a Level 2 Charger. They will be built at the Asan plant in South Korea and will be on sale in selected markets later this year. The 9.8 kWh lithium polymer battery pack is about 5 times larger than the Sonata Hybrids battery and is expected to give a 22 mile all electric only range, more than any other midsize Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The Plug-in hybrid uses the six speed automatic transmission with Hyundai’s Transmission mounted Electrical Device (TMED), a 50 KW Electric motor in place of a torque converter. The 50 KW electric motor is 32% more powerful than the motor used in the standard Sonata Hybrid and allows EV operation at higher speed. A 2 litre NU four cylinder CDI engine coupled with the electric motor allow the Sonata Plug-in Hybrid to operate like the Sonata Hybrid once the on-board battery is depleted. The Sonata PHEV Nu engine produces 154 bhp and 140 ib. ft of torque and is expected to deliver 93 mpg combined in EV mode. In charge sustaining mode it should return 38 mpg in the city and 43 mpg on the highway.

Bentley Motorsport announces full 2015 schedule.

After the success of the Continental GT3 in 2014, winning 3 races and finish second overall in the Blancpain Endurance series, the race program has been expanded all around the World for 2015. There will be Works, Works supported and Customer teams to cover six race series over 4 continents. The Works team Bentley Team M-Sport will return to the Blancpain Endurance Series. They retain drivers Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane from 2014. The second car will be driven by Spanish racer Andy Soucek, German Maximillian Buhk and Belgian Maxime Soulet. They will also tackle three of the Worlds premiere sports car endurance races, the Bathurst 12 hours in Australia, the ADAC Zurich 24 hr race at the Nurburgring in Germany and the Gulf 12 Hours at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. The first race of the season being the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour race in Australia. The factory will also support Bentley Team Dyson Racing in the Pirelli World Challenge season in the USA, Bentley Team HTP who will use 5 Continental GT3s to race in the Blancpain Sprint Series, Blancpain Endurance series and the ADAC GT Masters Championship and Bentley Team Absolute who will compete in the GT Asia series. Customer teams will increase the race coverage even further to include the Australian GT series. February 2015

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and transmission shifting performance. The interior boasts exceptional forward visibility, simple and intuitive controls and a class leading seat which has outstanding comfort, easy entrance and exit and excellent holding performance.The Instrument cluster features a dynamic TFT display.

Acura unveil latest (Honda) NSX Twenty five years after the original, Acura have shown the next generation NSX developed and produced in the USA. It will be manufactured exclusively at the Performance Manufacturing Centre (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio. It has a mid mounted twin turbo V6 engine with 9 speed dual clutch transmission and a 3 electric motor sports hybrid system. This provides all wheel drive with the front wheels driven by twin independent high output electric motors which deliver instantaneous torque response and dynamic left to right torque distribution. The third electric motor is the rear direct drive motor housed between the engine and transmission which supports acceleration, braking February 2015

The body is a new multi material design composed of a combination of aluminium and sheet moulding composite (SMC) fitted to a space frame chassis constructed of aluminium, ultra high strength steel and other advanced materials, anchored by a carbon fibre floor. The fully independent all aluminium front and rear suspension supports ultra high performance carbon ceramic brake discs. The model will be sold as a Honda in Europe. Page 11

ÂŠ Janet Wright

Plenty of action for Bentley drivers in 2015.

New Formula Libre Championship. The BARC have launched a new 16 round Formula Libre championship for single seater racing cars with a minimum of 3 classes - latest specification 2 litre Formula Renault, pre 2012 Formula 3 and Formula BMW cars. The championship will take part across six events starting at Snetterton on the 9th and 10th May 2015. With up to three rounds per meeting, subsequent events will take place at Rockingham, Thruxton, Croft and Oulton park before returning to Rockingham for the final two rounds in October. The championship was designed to cater for the three classes of cars that currently have no championship in which to compete. The Formula Renault cars are the same specification as the cars raced in Europe and give teams both in the UK and Europe, extra track time with their cars. Also with the demise of British Formula 3 it allows the owners of these older cars and the Formula BMW cars a place to race in 2015. Dates are as follows 9th & 10th May Snetterton Rounds 1, 2 & 3. 30th & 31st May Rockingham Rounds 4, 5 & 6. 13th & 14th June Thruxton Rounds 7, 8 & 9. 11th & 12th July Croft Rounds 10, 11 & 12. 15th August Oulton Park Rounds 13 & 14. 17th October Rockingham Rounds 15 & 16. For more details, competitors should contact Championship Manager Will Fewkes at wfewkes@barc.net February 2015

The Bentley Drivers Club (BDC) have a busy year ahead with key dates already fixed in the clubs calendar. The competition season starts on the 9th May 2015 with a sprint event at the highly secure Mira Proving Grounds in Warwickshire. June sees a switch to the Club weekend for the Summer Rally and Concours at the club house at Wroxton on Saturday 27th June. Race competitors will provide a feature display before setting off on a mass depart for Donington park where they will have an all Bentley 20 minute scratch race in the Aston Martin Owners Club (AMOC) meeting on the 28th June 2015. The highlight of the season is the annual Bentley Silverstone meeting on the 1st August 2015. This will be the 66th consecutive visit to the Northamptonshire circuit and the meeting will feature additional races for AC, MG, Porsche, Aston Martin and Morgan cars beside the two dedicated Bentley races, a scratch race, handicap race and an allcomers grid. As well as the track action, there will be hundreds of Bentley models on display and a club parade on track. For further information please see the clubs web site www.bdcl.org ÂŠ Simon Wright

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PILETTE GETS CHANCE TO RELIVE GOLDEN DAYS ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

New Zealand of second at Wigram and a win at the Surfers Paradise round in Australia. Team VDS was a proudly privateer operation which still exists today. It was set up by the titled Belgian Count Rodolph (Rudi) van der Straten Ponthoz, who had family links with the Stella Artois brewery. The team was one of the mainstays of the F5000 category in both hemispheres for over six years with Pilette racing in Europe, the United States and Australia and New Zealand. The team was one of the last to leave the category, running Australian Warwick Brown in a Lola T430 as late as 1978. Only three T430s exist today and all three were at Hampton Downs for the Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival meeting. Pilette completed a number of laps in one of the two 430s owned by Christchurch driver David Abbott. The MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series is organised and run with the support of sponsors MSC, NZ Express Transport, Bonney's Specialized Bulk Transport, Mobil Lubricants, Pacifica, Avon Tyres, Webdesign and Exide. ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

One of a number of Formula 5000 category originals to take up the offer of a demonstration drive in one of the MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series cars at Hampton Downs was Belgium driver Teddy Pilette. Now 73, Pilette is a two-time winner of the European F5000 championship (in 1973 and again in 1975) but is better known here for his exploits in Team VDS cars in the Tasman Series between 1971 and 1975. In 1971 Pilette finished sixth overall in debut down under behind the wheel of a McLaren M10B, with a best finish of third at Teretonga and second at Sandown. In 1972 he finished seventh (again in a McLaren M10B) with a best finish of second at Teretonga and third at Adelaide, then after skipping the 1973 series he returned in 1974 - with eventual series winner Peter Gethin in matching Chevron B24s - to finish third with a best finish in February 2015

Racing great Teddy Pilette who completed some demonstration laps in David Abbott's Lola T430 at the first Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival meeting at Hampton Downs 13

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Jean Pierre Beltoise 1937 – 2015. By Pete Austin

Jean-Pierre Beltoise, perhaps best remembered for his victory at a soaking wet Monte Carlo in 1972, sadly died last month at the age of 77. He had suffered two strokes whilst in Senegal. Born in the BoulogneBillancourt district of Paris in 1937 Beltoise started his motorsport career in the late 1950s racing motorbikes and in 1961 became French 250cc champion. More success followed culminating with 6th place in the 50cc World Championship in 1964. He then switched to cars but had a serious accident whilst driving a Rene© Pete Austin Bonnet in the 1964 Reims 12 Hours resulting in a badly broken arm from which he would never regain full movement. However, he went on to claim titles in F3 and F2 driving for Matra before moving up to Formula One with the French team. In 1968, driving a Matra MS11 V12, he finished runner up to Jackie Stewart in a wet Dutch Grand Prix. He continued to drive for Matra in both Formula One and sportscars and in 1972 signed for BRM. This resulted in his only Grand Prix win in Monte Carlo driving superbly in appalling conditions which also proved to be the last time the BRM marque would win February 2015

a Grand Prix. He continued to drive for the team for another two seasons until he retired from Formula One at the end of 1974. Louis Stanley, owner of BRM in its later years, summed up his Monaco victory as follows – “ Jean-Pierre never eased up throughout the long race, at times driving into a wall of spray with zero visibility as he overtook back-markers. His reputation as a brilliant driver was confirmed before a home crowd on French territory as the natural successor to national figures like Louis Chiron, Jean Behra and Maurice Trintignant. It was his first and only Grand Prix win – but what a victory.” Beltoise married Francois Cevert’s sister Jacqueline and had two sons, Anthony and Julien who are both involved in racing. Classic and Competition Car sends its sincere condolences to his family and friends. © Pete Austin

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Pat Carvath A tribute by Pete Austin. Pat Carvath, a long serving mechanic with the BRM team, sadly passed away on 24th January 2015 aged 79. Pat, who was the son of Bourne dentist, started his BRM career working in the engine shop on the V16. Following three years National Service he moved to the Formula 1 team in 1957. He was mechanic on Jo Bonnier’s car when BRM scored its first World Championship victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1959 and was also Graham Hill’s mechanic when Graham won the same race in 1962 and ultimately the World Championship. He left BRM at the end of 1974. His sister, Pamela, was married to BRM team manager and engineer Tony Rudd. A familiar face at BRM reunions (I last met him at the BRM Association Trackday last year where the accompanying photograph was taken) he will be sadly missed. Our sincere condolences go to his family and friends.

February 2015

Unipower GT race car.

The Unipower GT was the brainchild of ex Lotus and Rootes man Ernie Unger and Attila sports racer Val Dare Bryan. Based on Mini running gear, the square tubular spaceframe chassis was built by Arch Motors and the bodywork was made by Specialised Mouldings then fitted with modified Mini engine, suspension and brakes. Between 1966 and 1969 approximately 75 were built. This car was displayed at the 1967 Racing Car Show at Olympia and is fitted with a 1275cc Cooper S engine. It was bought by Janspeed for Geoff Mabbs to race first as a 1275, and then later in the 1150cc Special GT class for the 1967 season. In 1968 it was bought by Car and Car Conversions Advertising Manager Brian Harvey who sprinted and hill climbed the car. © Simon Wright

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Bettson Motor Bike. By Mick Herring. Having owned and repaired several Hillman Imps in my early motoring career, I know only too well the engine's virtues (and pitfalls). So it was with great interest that I saw, at a recent show, a motor bike sporting two of these lightweight aluminium engines, geared together and mounted at 180 ÂŠ Mick Herring degrees to each other, in line with the frame, in an 8 degree V8 configuration. This solves two problems, the torque reactions will cancel each other out and the inlet/exhausts will be on the outside of the engines (a problem shared with motorbike V8s, although they are mounted on a common crankcase). The pair of modified 998cc engines are joined by fabricated adaptor plates and a housing containing the gears that link the two cranks together, with the drive to the heavily modified Kawasaki Z1300 transmission being taken from, what used to be, the front of the right hand engine. The transmission, which now turns in the opposite direction, had its own engine section carefully machined away and is modified from shaft drive to chain drive. The two water pumps sit on top of the transmission and these, together with the cylinder heads being machined to accept "Wills Rings" instead of the normal head gaskets, ensure that the engines remain cool and intact via the two radiators that are mounted as panniers towards the rear, the top tubes of the frame serving as water return feeds. The frame is of welded stainless steel February 2015

construction. This is not the first time Imp engines have been used in motor bikes and before high powered Japanese engines became the norm, they were used in many racing sidecar outfits and hydroplanes. A worthy piece of engineering making use of classic components.

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London Classic Car Show 8th-11th January 2015.

brought the show to life as all kinds of classic cars were put through their paces as they were driven up and down the Grand Avenue, to the delight of the crowd. This meant that unlike other Classic Car shows, you could actually hear the cars and see them in motion rather than the more normal static displays of other shows. To hear classic Formula 1 cars as they roared around the circuit was enough to put a smile on everybody’s face. It was not just racing cars that graced the Grand Avenue, but all types of cars from pioneering veterans right through to

Show goers enjoying The Grand Avenue

Launched with a spectacular VIP preview evening on Thursday 8th January 2015, the first indoor classic car show of the year was the inaugural London Classic Car Show held at ExCeL in London’s Docklands. More than 25,200 visitors attended the show over the three full days, making it a success in its first year. The show had a new feature not seen before in a UK indoor show, the car catwalk, otherwise known as The Grand Avenue presented by Motoriety. Run the entire length of the hall, this area Bugatti on the Grand Avenue

February 2015

Ferrari on The Grand Avenue

Sixties supercars. These shows proved so popular, that additional shows had to be arranged. However, the car which stole the show and won the Peoples Choice Award was a Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder SWB once owned by film star James Coburn and valued at more than £10 million. Another celebrity who drew the crowds was TV Chef James Martin who provided show goers the opportunity to take a break at his James Martin Classic Cafe. Page 17

James Martin sits in an ex-Montoya F1 car on the Williams stand

Another high light was a display to celebrate the career of legendary Formula 1 racing car designer Adrian Newey featuring both racing cars he had designed and road and race cars he had driven. Adrian was present at the special VIP launch along with Red Bull team principle Christian Horner, ex Grand Prix drivers Martin Brundle and David Coulthard, Radio 2 broadcaster Chris Evans, TV chef James Martin and TV presenters James May and Jake Humphrey. James May from TV show Top Gear was also present to choose the car that changed the World. In typical Top Gear style of not appearing to take anything seriously, he chose the Corgi model of the James Bond Aston Martin DB5 of which more than six million were sold. Motorsport was well represented even though the Autosport International Show was taking place the same weekend less than 125 miles away at the NEC near Birmingham. Octane magazine and the Motorsport Hall of fame had a display of iconic cars from the Le Mans 24 Hours race, while several classic Grand Prix cars were also present including the classic February 2015

Ferrari 512 and Ford GT40. Le Mans icons on display

Motor Sport Hall of Fame

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yellow Camel Lotus and one of Jackie Stewarts Tyrell Ford Grand Prix cars. Unlike the Classic Motor Show which is held at the NEC in November where most Dealer displays of the displays are made by car clubs, the London Classic motor Show had a majority of stands from Classic Car dealers, which meant that many of the cars on display could be bought. The dealers reported many genuine enquires over the course of the show and some high value sales including a £1.5 million Ferrari, three £500,000 Aston Martins and a £500,000 E-Type Jaguar. There were also many more affordable classic cars up for sale as well as the big sellers and many trade stands and

Maserati display

February 2015

Aston Martin display at the London Classic Car Show

concessions reported higher than expected sales. One manufacturer that was celebrating was Citroen with the 60th anniversary of the DS range, with various class Citroen DS models being demonstrated on the Grand Avenue during the show. Aston Martin and Maserati were also pleased with the interest shown in their cars by the public during the show. The organisers were delighted with this first show. Event Director Bas Bungish said “The feedback from visitors and exhibitors has been universally positive. The 2016 London Classic Car Show will be at least 50% bigger with even more fabulous cars and more special displays. What’s more we shall be ensuring that we don’t lose the intimacy that made this year’s show so special”. The date for 2016 are the 18-21 February 2016. All photos courtesy of London Classic Car Show. Page 19

Citroen celebrated 60 years of the DS

February 2015

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ÂŠ Simon Wright

Chateau Impney Revival. By Simon & Janet Wright. After 48 years we have another motorsport venue returning to public use. This year (2015) on the 11th and 12th of July the Chateau Impney hillclimb will take place at this historic hotel located in Droitwich, Worcestershire, just a short distance from Junction 5 of the M5 motorway. ÂŠ Janet Wright The event was launched at a presentation on January 7th in front of local dignitaries, media and motoring club representatives. Rod Spollon, chairman of the Chateau Impney Hill Climb Club, and a panel of event officals including John Felix, Rod Spollon giving his presentation

February 2015

the Clerk of the Course and James Ashe, Media Director, revealed details of the new hill climb event with the emphasis on an inclusive event with local support. Around the room were several classic racing cars on display representing the types of car that the event hopes to attract to take part in July. These included the exGraham Hill works 2.5 litre BRM P48 used by current record holder Tony Griffiths, who in 1964 completed the old 550 yard course in just 22.07 seconds. Another classic was BRM P48 the Lotus 19 sports car as driven by such greats as Sterling Moss, Innes Ireland, Jim Clark and Graham Hill. Powered by a 2.5 litre Coventry Climax FPF engine and rare Collotti gearbox, it was the only Lotus 19 of the UDT Laystall team cars to run on wire wheels. This cost it several possible race wins when rear wheels fell off whist in the lead of a race. It did win the Oulton Park Gold Cup driven by Jim Clark, while Graham Hill became the first sports car driver to lap Snetterton at over 100 mph. The original event was run between 1957 and 1967 and was organised by the Hagley and District Light Car Club, which Page 21

and Grandstand access. The public will also be allowed free access to the H&H Classic car auction which will be taking place © Janet Wright

Lotus 19

now organises events at nearby Loton Park Hill climb venue, near Shrewsbury. The original event was a sprint, but the new event is now classified as a hill climb because the original course has been extended to 1000 yards to make a more exciting course, and this has given more gradient between the start and finish line, resulting in the hill climb classification. As the venue captured the publics imagination and was in the centre of the country, near to a town and easily accessible, the events became family affairs. © Janet Wright In keeping with this family feeling, it has been decided that this years event will have a common access ticket which will allow the spectators access to all the main aspects of the event, including paddock February 2015

at the event, as long as they register on the day. The organisers want the event to be incorporated in to the local area and are using local firms where-ever possible to provide catering, grandstand construction, filming etc. They plan to have large TV screens around the course so people won’t miss any of the action, but with the planned course, it is thought that spectators will be able to view around 60% of the track from the main spectator areas. There will be a Concours d’Elegance which will consist of five classes of five cars and it will be judged by the spectators, with the winners announced at the end of the weekend. There will Austin single seater also be a Regent Exhibition Trading zone with 100 stands with race preparers, restorers, car clubs, vintage clothing and automobile Page 22

memorabilia. The track surface has already been laid, and the course will be marked out with straw bales and tyre walls in keeping with the original circuit, whilst complying with modern health and safety standards. With the Hotel looking like an original French Chateau, the backdrop should be stunning. The competition entry is by invitation only, with a 200 car © Simon Wright

Jaguar XK

It is hoped that the event will attract 10,000 spectators this year and tickets can be booked from the official web site at http:// www.chateauimpneyhillclimb.com and children under 16 go free with a ticket holding adult. See the official launch video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e36kqGE4A0&feature=youtube_gdata_player Bugatti Type 51

entry split across 19 classes, to ensure an interesting and varied mix of vehicles, all built prior to 1967, and the organisers are working with local car clubs like the Midland Automobile Club (MAC), the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) and the Bugatti Owners Club (BOC) plus the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) plus the Hagley and District Light Car Club. Anyone with an interesting vehicle which meets the criteria is invited to contact the organisers via the official web site. February 2015

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Vintage Stony incorporating the Stony Stratford New Year’s Day Car Festival. 1st January 2015. By Simon & Janet Wright

Vintage cars filled the Market Square at Stony Stratford on New Years day 2015

February 2015

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Stony Stratford, near Milton Keynes played host to its largest gathering yet of vintage and classic cars on New Years day. This small town turned the whole of the town centre in to a large car festival, with many people travelling long distances to attend. The weather was dull, dry and very cold but it didn’t deter the enthusiast © Janet Wright owners from coming out to start the New year in their hundreds. Market Square was turned into a Pre war Vintage car and motorcycle area. So many cars turned up that additional space was found to the rear of an office block in Market Square for vintage cars and provided a walk way through to where the Post War classic cars February 2015

1903 Oldsmobile

were parked in the car park area in Cofferidge Close behind the High Street. There were so many classic cars arriving, that the organisers then took to parking them down each side of the High Street, where for once the double yellow line restrictions were lifted. The large market square had vintage cars round three of the four outer edges and a double row, back to back, in the centre of the square, while several rows of motorcycles took the fourth side of the square. The selection of vehicles was truly amazing with popular models from Austin and Ford plus some more unusual models from Humber, and Rover. One of the © Simon Wright oldest cars on show was a 1903 Oldsmobile, a curved dash runabout powered by a single cylinder 1560cc 5 HP engine. This is credited as being the first mass produced automobile, having been built on an assembly line from interchangeable parts. This model was built between 1901 and 1907 during which time over 19,000 were built. Being an American automobile, it originally sold for $650 which made it cheaper than its main competition, the Ford Western which cost about $200 more. Vintage Sunbeam arrives

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1912 De Dion-Bouton

manufacturers. The early De Dion-Boutons were all hand built. They were the first manufacturer to successfully produce a V8 engine in 1910, a 6.1 litre engine producing 35 CV (26 KW). A rare car was a more modern 1931 MG 18/80 Mk II Carlton Coupe. This was restored in 1981 and is thought to be one of only 2 surviving cars of the original 3 built by coachbuilders The Carlton Carriage Company. The Drop head Coupe designed body was fitted to a standard MG 18/80 chassis, powered by the

The single cylinder engine was flat mounted and water cooled, mounted in the middle of the vehicle. The petrol was gravity fed from a brass carburettor. The transmission was semiautomatic with 2 forward gears and one reverse using a planetary (Epicyclic) design. The car weighed 850 Ibs and had a top speed of 20 mph. Another special model was a French built 1912 De Dion Bouton. One of the earliest automobile manufacturers, De Dion-Bouton was the largest automotive manufacturer in the World in 1900, producing 400 cars and 3200 engines, which were used by up to 150 other automobile February 2015

1936 Riley 12/4 Special

1931 MG 18/80 Mk II Carlton Coupe 2 468cc straight six ohc engine with a four speed gearbox. Twin SU carburettors helped it develop 80 bhp. The hood design allows for the cantrail from the rear pillars of doors going forward, to fold inwards and the canopy can be rolled back and secured to give the body a Coupe de Ville appearance. The hood can also be folded right down to make the car a fully open road car. The more hardy drivers had arrived

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MG TF © Simon Wright

Rover 12

in a selection of early MG, © Simon Wright Riley and Amilcar open top sportscars, while others had taken the more luxurious approach and arrived in Vintage Rolls Royce, Lagonda and large Morris limousines. Moving out of Market Square and forward in time, the classic car sele ction was equally as large as the vintage selection. This area covered post World War 2 cars and included many classics from the 1950s and

60s such as the E-Type Jaguar, Volkswagen Beetle and the ever popular Mini. Some of the cars are replicas, but the care and attention to detail makes them appear just like the original models. One of the most striking cars in the high street

Riley 12/6 Lincock

Vauxhall Cresta Estate

was a Jaguar XJ13, a replica of the mid engined prototype built by Jaguar in 1966 as a potential Le Mans racing car. The original prototype was powered by a 5 litre DOHV V12 engine. Being not far from Luton, it was fitting that the Vauxhall marque was well represented with some

pristine examples of its saloon range from the 1950s The Vauxhall Wyvern, © Simon Wright

February 2015

Jaguar XJ13 replica

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Vauxhall Viva and Velox

1960s - The Vauxhall Cresta PA and the Vauxhall Victor FC, 1970s - The Vauxhall Viva HC and from the 1980s the Vauxhall Chevette HS2300. Modern supercars were well represented with a fifth generation Chevrolet Corvette C5, a Lotus Esprit Turbo, an Aston Martin V8

Ancient and modern

Vantage, a Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 and a Porsche 911. The event was a huge success and a great start for 2015. © Simon Wright

February 2015

Rolls Royce

American Dodge Challenger

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1937 Ford Y © Janet Wright

Vintage Ford Model T

February 2015

Bristol 403

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American Ford Hotrod

Vintage Hillman © Simon Wright

Clan Crusader © Janet Wright

Lagonda

Vauxhall Wyvern © Simon Wright

1925 Vaxhall 30/98

February 2015

Darracq © Janet Wright

Porsche Speedster

1935 MG PB

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Autosport International. The Racing Car Show. Birmingham NEC. 8-11 January 2015 By Simon & Janet Wright.

Funcup VW Beetle with optional extras

one hall dedicated to the Engineering Show. This allows firms to display their latest innovations in © Simon Wright Engineering development in relation to motorsport and high performance motoring. For the public weekend, the hall is transformed in to a hall dedicated to club racing including short oval and grass track racing. The Show was opened to the public on Saturday by a pair of British sportscar legends, Current FIA World Endurance Champion Anthony Davidson and three times Le Mans winner Allan McNish. On Sunday, the ribbon cutting honours went to former Grand Prix driver and BBC Commentator David Coulthard and Petter Solberg, former World Rally Petter Solberg Champion 2003 and newly crowned FIA World Rallycross champion 2014. Solberg had a busy weekend, giving many interviews on the different stages around the exhibition, as well as performing in the live action © Simon Wright

Celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2015, the Autosport International Racing Car show is an excellent start to the New Year for the racing enthusiast, and joined with the Performance Car Show, it offers all aspects of high © Simon Wright performance motoring under one roof. Europe’s largest motorsport show performed to a sell-out crowd over the four days. The first two days are trade days with Mini Pickup with two engines in the back

February 2015

Petter Solberg in the Live Action Arena

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arena show in front of the 5,000 capacity audience per show. A big crowd puller was the Autosport Stage where interviews were being conducted over most of the four days, with a list of people including David Choulthard, Allan McNish, Formula 1 © Janet Wright

The World Championship winning Mercedes Grand Prix car

rookie Will Stevens, top touring car drivers Colin Turkington, Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden, Andrew Jordan, Rob Huff, Audi Sportscar driver Oliver Jarvis and GP3 Champion Alex Lynn to name just a few. With over 700 exhibitors, there was plenty to see in the exhibition area, which had been split in to different regions - A historic motorsport area, club racing area, national motosport area etc. There was the usual Grand Prix grid, where most of the cars from the 2014 Grand Prix season were on display. The World Championship winning Mercedes took pride of place at the front of the display with the Red Bull next to it. Ferrari, Williams and McLaren made the rest of the front row on the large stand. February 2015

Behind them, but just as accessable to view, were Sauber, Lotus, Torro Rosso and Force India. Unfortunately neither Marrusia or Caterham had a car on display. This area was always busy with fans able to get a real close look at the cars they had seen all season on TV contesting the World Championship. It is interesting what you can notice when having time to examine the cars, for example the Lotus with its two pronged nosecone has one side longer than the other! Another very large historic display was celebrating 60 2014 Lotus Grand Prix car years of Motorsport News (Formerly Motoring News) with a display of cars covering different classes of motorsport covered © Janet Wright by the newspaper. These included a Williams FW07 Grand Prix car, a Lancia Stratos rally car, a Honda Accord from Lancia Stratos rally car

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the Super Touring period a Ford Mustang and a Jaguar D-Type, a Colin McRae Subaru Impreza Rally car and Petter Solbergs World Rallycross Championship winning Citroen DS3. ÂŠ Janet Wright

60 Years of Motorsport News display included Williams Grand Prix car and Honda Accord Touring car

February 2015

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HSCC celebrate Sir Jack Brabham. The Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) always has a theme for its stand at the Autosport Show and this year it was a celebration of Sir Jack Brabham. Every car on the stand was a Brabham to celebrate the engineering achievements of Sir Jack with eleven cars on display. These included the Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49 Grand Prix car from the 1980s, an ex Derek Bell Formula 2 Brabham BT30, and even a couple of open top Brabham sports cars from the 1960s. On the Friday, they also arranged for a selection of former Brabham racers to attend the stand for a photoshoot, including Tony Trimmer,

Formula 2 racers Chris Irwin and Robin Widdows, plus Alan Rollinson, Chris Craft, Mike Walker, Hugh Dibley and they were also pleased to welcome Sir Jack’s son David Brabham and Sir Jack’s grandson Sam, both who Ex Nelson Piquet Brabham BT 49 have continued the family tradition of racing. © Simon Wright

Some of the former Brabham Driver line up. Mike Walker, Tony Trimmer, Robin Widdows, David Brabham, Sam Brabham, Chris Irwin, Hugh Dibley, Alan Rollinson, Alec Poole.

February 2015

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ÂŠ Janet Wright

Andrew Jordans New MG

The British Touring Car Championship always has a large presence at the show, with both an official BTCC Infiniti are also set to make their debut in the 2015 British Touring Car stand and with BTCC cars Championship with the Infiniti Q50 driven by BTCC newcomers Richard appearing elsewhere, all Hawken and Derek Palmer Jnr. over the show. This year there were several exciting announcements made at the show for the 2015 season. The largest announcement was that three times World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx is joining West Surrey Racing for the coming season in a BMW. Another big story was former Champion Andrew Jordan has replaced Jason Plato at MG. Right: The Honda Civic Tourer of Gorden Shedden on the BTCC stand. February 2015

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Adam Morgans Mercedes © Janet Wright

2014 Champion Colin Turkington Ebay BMW

February 2015

Plenty of glamour at the show

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Classic Team Lotus had a special display this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jim Clark

and his victorious year of 1965 when he won the Formula 1 World Championship, the Indianapolis 500 in America, the Tasman Series in Australia and New Zealand and the Formula 2 Championship, all at the wheel of a Lotus. The cars on display were the Formula 2 Type 35 which won both the Autocar Championship and the Grand Prix De France Championship, the F2 Type 32 fitted with a 2.5 litre engine which won the 1965 Tasman Championship, a Type 38 similar to the Indianapolis winning car of 1965 and the Type 33 which won the F1 World Championship

1965 Formula 2 Championship winning Lotus 35 © Janet Wright

The Lotus Type 38 was used by Jim Clark to win the 1965 Indianapolis 500 race in America

February 2015

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Ian Cook Popbang colour painting

The 1965 Formula 1 World Championship winning Lotus Type 33 © Janet Wright

The 1965 Tasman Championship winning F2 Lotus Type 32 fitted with a 2.5 litre Coventry Climax engine

February 2015

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Wilson. At the other end of the time line was the latest WD40 Ford Fiesta RS of Stephen Petch which was © Janet Wright unveiled at the show ready for the 2015 season. There was also the Top Gear Magazine Hyundai i20 of Ollie Marriage and Jack Morton fresh from the 2014 Wales Rally GB. © Simon Wright

Malcolm Wilsons Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800

Rallying at ASI The Autosport International always has a good selection of rally cars on display to represent one of the most popular forms of motorsport within the UK. Rally Wales GB had a large stand near the entrance to the Engineering hall with a selection of modern and classic rally cars. There was a Subaru Impreza WRC of Colin McRae and Nicky Grist, next to a 1981 Rothmans Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800 of Malcolm

Fiat Abarth 131 © Simon Wright

February 2015

Mini Cooper

Ford Fiesta

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Ginetta Driving Experience

Renault R.S. 01 © Simon Wright

Angelic Bulldog Stream-liner project motorbike built to do 400 mph © Janet Wright

Nissan Academy Zytek LMP

February 2015

Ford Sierra RS500

Radical RXC Spyder © Simon Wright

Mitjet 21 - New Championship 2016

Anyone could try the Karting

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Live Action Arena Show. The forty minute show introduced action in to a static display show. Every ticket holder was given a seat in the 5,000 capacity grandstand in front of the oval circuit built in to one of the larger halls at the NEC. Each show contained short oval racing from stock cars, saloons and London Taxis, plus a Monster Truck display, a Supercar parade, Drifting demonstrations, and Petter Solberg showing off his World Rally Citroen with him out of the car as much as in it. The tyre smoke and noise added to the atmosphere, but ear plugs were available on request! There was even a freestyle MX team performing ariel tricks as they jumped their motorcycles over giant ramps in the centre of the hall.

Drifting display

February 2015

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Coys Auction. Another regular feature of the show is the Coys Auction. As usual there was a mix of racing cars and road cars up for sale, some with no reserve price listed. From a racing viewpoint, one historic car for sale was the former Kimi Raikkonen Championship winning Tatuus Formula Renault single seater from which he went straight to Grand Prix racing. The car was Tatuus Formula Renault offered with no reserve and sold for £10,620. A 1989 Reynard F3000 F89D 28 Judd sold for £41,000. The most expensive car that sold © Simon Wright was a 1969 Aston Martin DBS Vantage which fetched £169,800 followed closely by a 1991 Ferrari Testarossa with only 12,000 miles and 1 previous owner which February 2015

Piper GTR Le Mans

Fiat 1100S Berlinetta

sold for £131,720. One of the more reasonably priced cars was a 1971 Fiat 500L which went for £1,030. A 1985 Austin Mini Mayfair with only 3,241 miles on the clock reached £7,965. and © Janet Wright a 1973 VW Beetle 1303 fetched £2,950. Other interesting cars which failed to sell included a Piper GTR Le Mans, a fabulous Fiat 1100S Berlinetta and a Super Touring Honda Accord. Austin Mini Mayflower sold for £7,965

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Super Touring Honda Accord failed to sell © Janet Wright

1969 Aston Martin DBS Vantage sold for £169,800 © Simon Wright

February 2015

Italian Lancia failed to sell

Ferrari Testarossa sold for £131,720

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The Performance Car Show Run in conjunction with the Racing Car Show for the last few years, is the perfect compliment to the Racing Car show as it offers high performance road cars and exotic supercars on display for close examination to the sell out crowd. Star car this year was probably the new 950 bhp LaFerrari which had crowds admiring it all day, with it on display outside the, new for this year, local pub, the Pie and Piston Pub by Pistonheads. LaFerrari or the F150 is the first hybrid Ferrari with electic motors increasing the power while decreasing fuel consumption by up to 40%. The 6.3 litre V12 engine produces 789 bhp and is

supplemented with a 161 bhp KERS unit called HY-KERS which provides short bursts. Power is delivered to the rear wheels through a 7 speed dual clutch transmission system. To help stopping power, it is equiped with carbon ceramic Brembo discs on front and rear. The monocoque is made from carbon fibre, with double wishbone suspension on the front and multi link suspension on the rear. It has a top speed of 217 mph and can do 0-62 mph in under 3 seconds and reach 200 kph in under 7 seconds and 300 kph (186 mph) in 15 seconds. In testing it has lapped the Fiorano circuit in under 1 minute 20 seconds, the © Simon Wright

Lamborghini Huracan

fastest time ever achieved by a road legal Ferrari. Ferrari were also present in the Autocar Supercar display with a Ferrari 458 Speciale, alongside the new Lamborghini Huracan, the Hybrid BMW i8 and the Vuhl 05. The Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 is powered by a 5.2 litre V10 engine. It has a top speed of over 200 mph and can accelerate © Janet Wright from 0-62 mph in 3.2 seconds. The BMW i8 is a plugin hybrid sports February 2015

LaFerrari F150

BMW i8

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car with a 1.5 litre 3 cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and a 98 KW electric motor. The car has a top speed of 160 mph and can do 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds. It has a range of 23 miles using pure battery power with a top speed of 75 mph. It is also the first production car fitted with laser headlights. © Simon Wright

serve as a platform for future vehicles, including a roadster in 2016 and a coupe in 2018.Nobel Automotive revealed the prototype of the new open top Nobel Speedster M600 supercar, the Speedster, which features a semi-automatic gearbox mated to the M600’s usual 650 bhp twin turbo V8 engine. © Simon Wright

What Car of the Year - The Skoda Fabia 1.2 TSI 90 SE

Proving that the performance Car Show is not just about expensive supercars, the newly announced Car of the Year, the Skoda Fabia 1.2 TSI 90 SE was also on show, along with Sports Car of the year - The Porsche Boxster 2.7, Coupe of the year the Audi TT 2.0 TFSI Sport, and Hot Hatch of the year - Ford Fiesta ST-2 and finally the winner of the inaugural car of the year safety award award winner the Land Rover Discovery Sport. Zenos, which at last years show made its public debut, was back to unveil the E10 S lightweight sports car which will begin production this month. Powered by a Ford Ecoboost 2 litre turbocharged 250 bhp engine, the aluminium extrusion backbone and recycled carbon composite tub will do 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds. This will February 2015

Zenos E10 S

There were displays from various clubs showing racing versions of popular saloons and sports cars. The Porsche Club had a ‘grid’ of racing Porsche 911, 924 and Boxster models while there were various BMW racing saloons just across the hall. To continue the racing theme from popular saloons, The Ford RS Owners Club was next in the hall with various Escort and Sierra race and rally cars on the stand, including Manuel Reuters Ford Sierra RS Turbo. Apart from Nobel Automotive which had its own stand, the Nobel Owners club Page 45

Silverstone Classic celebrates Silver anniversary. This year is the 25th Silverstone Classic meeting and they had a large stand with cars representing the major races for this years meeting. The star car representing the Silver anniversary was a Group C Sauber Mercedes. Also © Simon Wright

Marcos 220 Spirit

had a display of various Nobel cars. Marcos had the 4th generation sports car on display with the prototype of the new Marcos 220 Spirit. © Simon Wright There were various forms of off road 4x4 vehicles scattered around the show, most at crazy angles, with wheels placed on ‘rocks’ to show their complete off road abilities that would put a mountain goat to shame, and to help compensate for the utilitarian designs, there were plenty of glamorous young ladies standing next to them to help draw the crowds. February 2015

on display was a Jaguar D-Type, a F1 Cooper, a Super Touring Honda Accord, an E-Type Jaguar, a Masters Grand Prix JPS Lotus and a Lola T70 Mk II Spider. The other half of the stand had various supercars representing all the car clubs that display at the Silverstone Classic. These included a Ferrari F40, A Jaguar XJR-15, a Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV and an Audi Quattro. Other clubs supporting the Silverstone Classic had stands within the stand, including Motor Racing Legends, Group C Racing, the HGPCA, Formula Junior and Masters Historic Racing. Page 46

2014/15 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Round 3 2015 Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival #1 Hampton Downs Nth Waikato New Zealand 16-18 Jan 2015 Prepared by FAST COMPANY of behalf of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Association www.F5000.co.nz

ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

Kiwi racing great Ken Smith (Lola T332 #11) dominated the first day of 2014/15 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series racing at the Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival meeting at Hampton Downs

February 2015

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SUPER-VET SMITH COMPLETES FIRST F5000 FESTIVAL MEET CLEAN-SWEEP ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

race to cross the line second behind Smith. Though rain fell briefly earlier in the day and threatened just before the start, the eight-lap race was held in warm, dry conditions with Proctor - who qualified third - attacking pole man Smith aggressively on the inside at Turn 1 just after the start. Smith fought him off and by the end of the first lap had established a handy lead over Proctor, fellow former series champion Steve Ross (McRae GM1) and visiting Australian driver Paul Zazryn (Lola T332). Smith, Proctor and Ross started pulling away on the second lap only to have their advantage negated on the third when the Safety Car was dispatched after Russell Greer spun his Lola T332 exiting Turn 1. Greer was able to restart the car and drive it back to the pits but the field remained behind the Safety Car for another full lap. Proctor was again aggressive off the re-start, this time trying to drive around the outside, but Smith again had his measure edging away this time to win the race from

Kiwi racing great Ken Smith (Lola T332 #11) competing in one of the 2014/15 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series races at the first Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival meeting at Hampton Downs

With a new benchmark time in qualifying and a lights-to-flag win in the first eight-lap race of the weekend, Kiwi super-vet Ken Smith (Lola T332) got his return to the MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series off to a storming start at the third round at Hampton Downs. With a best lap of 59.264 the 73-year-old in his 57th year of national level single-seater circulated under the category lap record - 59.483s then led the first race at the first New Zealand round of this year's trans-Tasman MSC series from start to finish. The points leader after the first two rounds of this year's series in Australia, Kiwi Clark Proctor (March 73A/1), had an early set-back with a slow puncture in qualifying, but fought back strongly in the February 2015

Proctor, Ross and Brett Willis (Lola T330). Like Smith, Willis was in comeback mode, in

Kiwi Clark Proctor (March 73A/1 #57) is the 2014/15 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series points leader heading into the third round at the Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival meeting at Hampton Downs

ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

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ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

Auckland driver David Banks qualified 10th and finished the first race eighth in his Talon MR1.

his case after a heavy crash at the second NZ Festival meeting last year, and after qualifying seventh capped off a strong return with a final lap move to claim take fourth place off fellow Lola driver Paul Zazryn. Early on in the race Alastair Russell (McRae GM1) was running as high as seventh but slipped back through the field as the race went on. UK-based series regular Greg Thornton swapped from his Chevron B24/28 to his Surtees TS8 for the race and ran in the top six, initially between Paul Zazryn and Brett Willis, while defending series champion Andrew Higgins (Lola T400) quickly made his presence felt to break into the top eight after engine issues in qualifying saw him start the race from the last row of the grid. Aaron Burson (Talon MR1/A) did well to qualify fourth quickest but slowed suddenly early in the race, forcing a closely following David Banks in the other Talon in the race to swerve February 2015 January 2015

to avoid him. What was the problem? "I accidentally hit the kill switch," Burson admitted. Banks, showing new speed which he attributed to the extra track time he is getting in an historic Formula Ford he has recently purchased, was able to continue and crossed the line in eighth place, just behind Greg Thornton and Andrew Higgins but in front of Ian Clements (Lola T332), Glenn Richards (Lola T400), visiting Australian driver Peter Brennan (Lola T330), and Alastair Russell. Enjoying a trouble-free debut in his recently finished high-wing McLaren M10A, meanwhile, was Tony Roberts, one of the men behind the Hampton Downs circuit, who crossed the line in 14th place in front of Peter Burson (McRae GM1), visiting English driver Robs Lamplough in the ex Howden Ganley Formula 1 BRM P180, and a three-car battle pack consisting of Tim Rush (McLaren M22), Warwick Mortimer (Surtees TS5) and Poul Christie (McLaren M10B). Unfortunate not to make it to the finish meanwhile, was series young gun Allan Dunkley in his giant-killing high-wing Lola ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

Kiwi racing great Ken Smith (Lola T332 #11) leads the pack

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T140. Dunkley qualified the Lola, the oldest car in the field, 13th but was forced out early in the race with a broken universal joint. Series super-vet Ken Smith (Lola T332) went on to complete a cleansweep of the three MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series races on the programme at the first Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival historic motor racing meeting at Hampton Downs on Sunday, winning both category races very much as he liked. Though track conditions mitigated against him taking a serious tilt at the track lap record, the 73-year-old who lives high in the Bombay Hills less than 20 minutes away from the circuit, maintained the advantage he established on Saturday, winning the first - eight lap race of the day from Clark Proctor (March 73A/1) and visiting Australian driver Paul Zazryn (Lola T332), then the 15 lap feature in the afternoon from Steve Ross (McRae GM1) and Greg Thornton (Surtees TS8). Unfortunately the early action in the combined MSC NZF5000/ Invited F1 cars races happened behind Smith with both red flagged Back for the MSC series at the Gulf Oil meeting at Hampton Downs is visiting Australian driver Peter Brennan (Lola T330)

ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

February 2015

ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

Steve Ross and Clark Proctor (March 73A/1) were this close early on in the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning.

and re-started, the first not once but twice. In that race, McRae GM1 driver Peter Burson had a brake issue, his car grinding to a halt on the first lap with the race immediately redflagged so it could be retrieved. The starting lights had only just gone out after the first re-start, however, when Glenn Richards (Lola T400) clipped Brett Willis (Lola T330) along the short straight between Turns 1 and 2 as a slowing Willis was pulling over with a broken half-shaft. That sent both cars spinning and collected by the following Surtees TS5 of Warwick Mortimer and McLaren M22 of Tim Rush. All four cars sustained damage, two of them heavy, leading to a lengthy delay while they were retrieved and the track cleared of debris. Smith then led away on the second re-start with Proctor and Ross disputing third until Zazryn and defending series champion Andrew Higgins (Lola T400) took advantage of a small mistake by Ross to slot him back to fifth place where he remained to the flag. Alastair Russell was again quick in his McRae GM1 before he was Page 50

forced out by a broken universal joint. After his brush with the armco on Saturday, Blenheim driver Russell Greer was back in business in his repaired Lola T32 though, using a rear wing and mount borrowed from Steve Ross to good effect to finish ninth between British driver Greg Thornton's Surtees TS8 and Australian Peter Brennan's Lola T330. In the feature race later in the day it was Clark Proctor's turn to bring out the red flag, the high-profile all-rounder with a background in stockcars but better known these days for his efforts in Targa New Zealand and now the MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series, running off the track at the hairpin with a sticking throttle. Once his cars was out of the gravel trap and back in the pits, the race ran like clockwork however, Smith stroking his La Valise-liveried Lola T332 home at a canter from Steve Ross and Greg Thornton a Defending series champion Andrew Higgins (Lola T400), seen here leading fellow Aucklander Aaron Burson (Talon MR1/A)

ÂŠ Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

weekend-best third (despite having to again use his second car, the Surtees, when flywheel issues kept his first, the ex Peter Gethin Chevron B24/28 in the pit garage). Auckland driver David Banks (Talon MR1) also enjoyed a strong run February 2015

this time, with his own weekend-best fourth, just in front of quick and consistent Aussie Paul Zazryn in fifth. Andrew Higgins was quick early on, only to be forced out by an engine issue. Enjoying a second top 12 finish in both Sunday races, however, was young gun Alan Dunkley (Lola T140), his team having repaired the damage to the universal that put the classic high-wing Class A car out in the first race of the weekend on Saturday. The MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series is organised and run with the support of sponsors MSC, NZ Express Transport, Bonney's Specialized Bulk Transport, Mobil Lubricants, Pacifica, Avon Tyres, Webdesign and Exide. Race 1 8 laps 1. Ken Smith (Lola T332) 2. Clark Proctor (March 73A/1) 3. Steve Ross (McRae GM1) 4. Brett Willis (Lola T330) 5. Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) 6. Greg Thornton (Surtees TS8) 7. Andrew Higgins (Lola T400) 8. David Banks (Talon MR1) 9. Ian Clements (Lola T332) 10. Glenn Richards (Lola T400) 11. Peter Brennan (Lola T330) 12. Alastair Russell (McRae GM1) 13. David Abbott (Lola T430) 14. Tony Roberts (McLaren M10A) 15. Peter Burson (McRae GM1) 16. Robs Lamplough (BRM P180 F1) 17. Tim Rush (McLaren M22) 18. Warwick Mortimer (Surtees TS5) 19. Poul Christie (McLaren M10A) dnf. Aaron Burson (Talon MR1/A), Russell Greer (Lola T332), Allan Dunkley (Lola T140), Lindsay O'Donnell (Begg FM5), Grant Clearwater (McLaren M10B), Shayne Windelburn (Lola T400) Page 51

Race 2 8 laps Above: In his repaired Lola T332, Russell Greer leads Peter Brennan 1. Ken Smith (Lola T332) 08:50.710 (Lola T330), Greg Thornton (Surtees 2. Clark Proctor (March 73A/1) +02.662 TS8) and Alan Dunkley (Lola T140) 3. Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) +13.780 4. Andrew Higgins (Lola T400) +13.943 5. Steve Ross (McRae GM1) +17.290 6. Aaron Burson (Talon MR1/A) +21.672 7. Ian Clements (Lola T332) +35.835 Right: Kiwi racing great Ken Smith (Lola T332 #11) 8. Greg Thornton (Surtees TS8) +36.145 leading Steve Ross (McRae 9. Russell Greer (Lola T332) +37.163 GM1), Andrew Higgins 10. Peter Brennan (Lola T330) +39.426 (Lola T400), Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) and the rest of 11. Alan Dunkley (Lola T140) +42.626 the field in the feature 12. David Abbott (Lola T430) +53.420 2014/15 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series 13. Tony Roberts (McLaren M10A) +01:01.472 race at the Gulf Oil 14. Robs Lamplough (BRM P180 F1) +01:01.779 Howden Ganley F5000 15. Grant Clearwater (McLaren M10B)+1 lap Festival meeting at Hampton Downs. 16. Poul Christie (McLaren M10A) +1 lap dnf; Alastair Russell (McRae GM1), Lindsay O'Donnell (Begg FM5), Brett Willis (Lola T330), Glenn Richards (Lola T400), David Banks (Talon MR1), Tim Rush, Warwick Mortimer (Surtees TS5), Peter Burson (McRae GM1), Shayne Windelburn (Lola T400) February 2015

Race 3 15 laps 1. Ken Smith (Lola T332) 16.22.542 2. Steve Ross (McRae GM1) +5.087 3. Greg Thornton (Surtees TS8) +36.044 4. David Banks (Talon MR1) +38.971 5. Paul Zazryn (Lola T332) +39.445 6. Aaron Burson (Talon MR1/A) +39.775 7. Peter Brennan (Lola T330) +49.583 8. Russell Greer (Lola T332) +50.526 9. Alan Dunkley (Lola T140) +51.592 10. Ian Clements (Lola T332) +59.581 11. Shayne Windelburn (Lola T400) +1 lap 12. Tony Roberts (McLaren M10A) +1 lap 13. Davis Abbott (Lola T430) +1 lap 14. Peter Burson (McRae GM1) +1 lap 15. Lindsay O'Donnell (Begg FM5) +1 lap 16. Robs Lamplough (BRM P180 F1) +1 lap 17. Grant Clearwater (McLaren M10B) + 1 lap 18. Poul Christie (McLaren M10A) +1 lap dnf. Andrew Higgins (Lola T400), Clark Proctor (March 73A/1) © Fast Company/Alex Mitchell.

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ÂŠ Pete Austin

Archive Photo of the month. By Pete Austin

February 2015

Elsewhere in this issue you can read the tribute to Jean-Pierre Beltoise who sadly passed away last month. This months archive image shows him in the Matra MS670C which he shared with Jean-Pierre Jarier at the 1974 British Airways 1000km at Brands Hatch. They went on to win the event. Being lapped in this photo is the Porsche 908/3 of Reinhold Jost and Mario Casoni which later retired with gearbox trouble.

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Historic line up Citroen DS21, Rover P5, Reliant Sabre Six, Volvo Amazon and Morris 1800

HRCR Open Day 10th January 2015 By Simon & Janet Wright with additional photos by Pete Austin. The Historic Rally Car Register annual Open day takes place at the National Heritage Centre, Gaydon at the start of the season so organisers can attract competitors to their various events taking place during the year. Car Clubs have stands spread across two halls of the conference facilities at Gaydon to promote various rally series and one off events with maps, posters and in quite a few cases, videos of previous events. © Janet Wright

There are usually two or three interesting rally cars on display inside the rooms, and outside there are various historic rally cars assembled in the display area. These are “working” classics, used for Road Rallies, single stage events and Historic Tours rather than the more exotic Group B monsters that are used for demonstration events all around Europe. That doesn’t mean they are any less interesting, just not as powerful. Popular classic rally cars like the Mini Cooper and Hillman Imp are represented along with Ford’s most successful rally car of all time, the Ford Escort and its predecessor the Ford Cortina Mk 1. Due to the large numbers of these vehicles which have competed in the past,

February 2015

MG C GT

Vauxhall Astra and Talbot Lotus Sunbeam

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touch of luxury in a sports car design. Another European design present was a Lancia Fulvia Coupe S3 which had been used for several Classic Touring Rallies in France. Staying with Italiain Classic, in the second hall was a lovely blue Ferrari Dino 246 GT which had been used on local classic touring rallies such as the Hills and Valley Tour organised by Kidderminster Motor Car Club © Simon Wright

Rally car line up outside the Heritage Centre

there are vast ranges of tuning parts available, which make them a relatively cheap option for some rallying fun. However, motorsport in general is all about diversity and some more unusual cars have been rallied in the past and several were on display at the Open day. © Janet Wright A Citroen DS21 would give a comfortable ride on any type of surface thanks to its hyrdro-pneumatic suspension, while the Reliant Sabre Six would have a more lively performace with its six cylinder 2.5 litre Ford engine in the coupe body design which could reach 60 Reliant Sabre Six mph in 12.2 seconds and has a top speed of 110 mph. The Mercedes Benz 280SL was a more upmarket rally car, offering both performance and a February 2015

German lineup Porsche 911 and Mercedes Benz 280SL

in 2014, while the first hall greeted you with a Alfa Romeo Guillia sprint in traditional Italian racing red. Returning much closer to home, the other cars on display indoors were a couple of original British Leyland Minis and an MGC GT Rally car. The © Pete Austin MGC GT was the six cylinder variation on the MGB which was originally for export to America. Outside the entrance doors to the conference halls were a Alfa Romeo Guilia Sprint 101

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Subaru Impreza, Mazda RX7 Turbo, Citroen DS21 and Rover

Open day including several famous drivers of the past. The most famous driver there was Paddy Hopkirk whose victory in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally at the wheel of a Mini Cooper S was celebrated with a painting mounted on the wall of the museum painted by resident artist Ian Cook. One of the more unusual cars outside was a Matra Murena, french built sports coupe from the former Grand Prix and Aerospace company. Paddy Hopkirk

pair of more modern rally cars, a replica of the works Talbot Sunbeam Lotus as driven by Henri Toivonen and Fred Gallagher which won the 1981 World Rally Championship, and a Vauxhall Astra Mk1 rally car. There was a really good turn out of people milling around the © Simon Wright

February 2015

Sunbeam and Hillman Imp

Matra Murena

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Ferrari Dino GT

Citroen DS21

February 2015

Talbot Lotus Sunbeam

MG Maestro

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Stratford Armouries January Classic Car meet. By Simon Wright.25th January 2015. January might have been a very cold month, but the last Sunday of the month saw a good turn out of classic cars arrive at the Stratford Armouries museum, near Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire. Located a couple of miles outside the town centre, there is ample free parking in the grounds of the museum, although the entrance has a few pot holes to contend with. This was one of many informal gatherings held throughout the year which allows like minded enthusiasts to just turn up and show their classic cars without having to prebook or plan ahead. There was a meeting here on Boxing day and that had attracted several Vintage cars, as reported in last months issue, but this month it was a purely classic affair with most of the cars from the 1950s or later. The most unusual vehicle was a 1950s American GMC 100 Pickup truck which looked immaculate and quite in character with the wooden

faced museum buildings, looking like a photograph from an American frontier town. In contrast, but maintaining the American theme, a much more modern, early 2000, American Police Interceptor arrived to Protect and to serve from the Office of the Sheriff of Greenlee County Arizona, complete with flashing lights, siren and officer in sunglasses and big brimmed hat. © Simon Wright

Jaguar XK120 and E-Type

Jaguar have always produced sleek looking cars, and there were several on display. The Jaguar Mk2 3.8 saloon is a classic and still very popular as both a quality road car and as a racing February 2015

GMC 100 Pickup Truck

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Jaguar XK140

saloon. The Jaguar XK120 and XK140 are very similar in appearance and have the classic Jaguar look for a sportscar that has never been surpassed. Finally the E-Type Jaguar was the car that even Enzo ferrari considered was the greatest sportscar ever built. The Germans have a knack for putting the engine in the boot with great sucess, and two of its finest examples were on display. The 1974 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 was a more upmarket model than the basic beetle, this one finished in a © Simon Wright nice two tone brown paint job. One of the most popular models in the World, over a million beetles have been built in this original design. The Porsche Speedster is another classic of German design, Volkswagen Beetle 1300

February 2015

Porsche Speedster

The thing about these informal type of car meets is that you never know what will turn up. there is usually a good mix of local and foreign cars and with this meeting being in the heart of the country, the local previous manufacturers reads like a who’s who of the British Motoring Industry. Located not far from Coventry, Birmingham and Abingdon, most of the former British Leyland © Simon Wright

Rover, Lancia, Austin Mini

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marques are always well represented with the usual MG B, Austin Mini, Morris Minor, Triumph TR sports cars of various vintage and Jaguar. You also get some not so common models appear like the Triumph Herald Coupe. Not many of the Coupe

Group between 1954 and 1955. It originated from Swallow Coachbuilding Co (1935) Ltd which was sold by Jaguar in 1945 to the Helliwell Group who were then taken over in 1946 by TI. They only produced the one model and built 276 using Triumph TR2 mechanicals. The TI tubular manganese-molybdenum medium carbon chassis was fitted with a steel inner structure and aluminium bodywork. They were built near Walsall in Staffordshire. The car was capable of 100 mph and could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 12.3 seconds. It is thought that pressure from the rest of the motoring industry caused TI to stop production in 1955. © Simon Wright

Triumph Herald Coupe

were built between 1959 and 1964 when the model was dropped due to it being in direct competition with the Triumph Spitfire. Another unusual car was the Doretti, an open 2 seater sports car built by Swallow Doretti part of the Tobe Investment (TI) © Simon Wright

Ford Cortina & Escort Mexico

Britain’s largest car manufacturer, Ford has always been popular with the enthusiast and one of its sporting models was the Ford Escort Mexico seen above next to one of Ford’s most successful cars, the Ford Cortina. The 1.6 litre Ford Escort Mexico was built in tribute to the success of the Ford Escort on the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally. February 2015

Doretti

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February 2015

Photos (Top row, left to right): Ford Mustang. Nissan Skyline. Hillman Minx. Morris Minor 2nd Row: Lotus Evora, Jaguar XK140,MG B, E-Type Jaguar and Lotus Esprit. Riley 1.5 3rd Row: Rover 20. Lotus Esprit Bottom row: Rolls Royce, Volvo, Ford Cortina, Ford Escort Mexico, Nissan Skyline Page 61

Closing Shot

ÂŠ Simon Wright

Seen at the Autosport International Show, the legendary Blue and Gold Sunoco colour scheme on the Penske Lola T70 Mk 3B. This was the winning car at the 1969 Daytona 24 Hours race, driven by Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons. February 2015

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