Showing posts with label Zagato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zagato. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Saturday, 26 July 2014
Sunday, 15 June 2014
Monday, 28 February 2011
Classic Expo - Race Retro, Stoneleigh, Coventry 1/2
A couple of weeks ago Tim Murray, Secretary of the Pegasus Motor Club, kindly invited me to join the club for a trip to Race Retro held at the Stoneleigh Park Exhibition and Conference Centre near Coventry, UK.
Here is an oversight of some of the details I saw in a hand full of the 500 plus photo's I took, I'd filled up my phone with images just getting from the Centre's car park to the Exhibition Hall !
Amongst the many celebrations at Race Retro was a celebration of the achievements of the Italian tuning house Abarth.
On the Minibus on the way up to Stoneleigh I found myself sitting next to the legendary classic slingshot drag racer Chris Hartnell whose infectious enthusiasm was all I needed to commit myself to going to a Drag event this season !
This is the view from Adz Prices 'Go Hard or Go Home' known, I believe, as an Altered, the car features a Topolino body and a 360 Mopar with Weland Tunnel Ram. Drag lingo is something I am going to have learn fast. I hope to come back to this vehicle with a full blog in the near future.
It's the 50th Anniversary since the launch of the iconic E-Type Jaguar. I'll be back with a few E-Type blogs to celebrate in the fullness of time.
Amongst the many Jaguars and Jaguar replica's on display was this fabulous XJR15 a model I had not seen in the flesh before.
There was an awesome display of rallying Lancia's including this Group B Delta S4 which was the highest evolution of rally cars ever devised, this particular all wheel drive car had a mid mounted engine that was both turbocharged AND supercharged. It was my good fortune to see this very vehicle in action when it came second in the 1985 RAC Rally on it's debut driven by Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki behind team mates Henri Toivonen and Neil Wilson. Another vehicle that will be the subject of a future blog.
With thanks to Tim Murray and the Pegasus Motor Club without home this blog would not have been possible.
Hope you have enjoyed the first half of my report on the Race Retro Exhibition and that you'll join me again tomorrow for part two. Don't forget to come back now !
Here is an oversight of some of the details I saw in a hand full of the 500 plus photo's I took, I'd filled up my phone with images just getting from the Centre's car park to the Exhibition Hall !
Amongst the many celebrations at Race Retro was a celebration of the achievements of the Italian tuning house Abarth.
On the Minibus on the way up to Stoneleigh I found myself sitting next to the legendary classic slingshot drag racer Chris Hartnell whose infectious enthusiasm was all I needed to commit myself to going to a Drag event this season !
This is the view from Adz Prices 'Go Hard or Go Home' known, I believe, as an Altered, the car features a Topolino body and a 360 Mopar with Weland Tunnel Ram. Drag lingo is something I am going to have learn fast. I hope to come back to this vehicle with a full blog in the near future.
It's the 50th Anniversary since the launch of the iconic E-Type Jaguar. I'll be back with a few E-Type blogs to celebrate in the fullness of time.
Amongst the many Jaguars and Jaguar replica's on display was this fabulous XJR15 a model I had not seen in the flesh before.
There was an awesome display of rallying Lancia's including this Group B Delta S4 which was the highest evolution of rally cars ever devised, this particular all wheel drive car had a mid mounted engine that was both turbocharged AND supercharged. It was my good fortune to see this very vehicle in action when it came second in the 1985 RAC Rally on it's debut driven by Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki behind team mates Henri Toivonen and Neil Wilson. Another vehicle that will be the subject of a future blog.
With thanks to Tim Murray and the Pegasus Motor Club without home this blog would not have been possible.
Hope you have enjoyed the first half of my report on the Race Retro Exhibition and that you'll join me again tomorrow for part two. Don't forget to come back now !
Monday, 7 February 2011
Double Bubble - FIAT 750 GT Zagato Coupé
Continuing the series of posts relating to Race 1 at Thompson CT on the 20th July 1958 captured on camera by Ed Arnaudin, today we are looking at the fascinating FIAT Abarth 750 Zagato driven by Paul Sagan to 6th place overall the only class H finisher.
After the 22 hp FIAT 600 was launched in 1955 Carlo Abarth set about maximising the potential of tuning the engine by increasing the size from 633 / 38.6 cui to 747 / 45.6 cui fitting a Nardi inlet manifold and increasing the compression ratio to produce 47 hp.
Meanwhile while Zagato set about building a Coupé based on the same car the 30 hp 600 TS, when Abarth saw the coupe he suggested to Zagato they work together to produce a vehicle for racing in the popular 750 cc 45.6 cui sports car class prevalent in national and international racing at the time.
Over 600 of these successful racing vehicles which won the SCCA class H in '59 '60 and '61, are thought to have been built between 1956 and 1960 when the maximum permitted engine sizes for the various national racing classes were changed. The 'double bubble' name which is derived from the two humps in the roof stuck in America where a chewing gum brand bearing the same name was popular.
Paul Sagan is known to have been successful driving Porsche 550's in 1956 and 1957 before he moved over to running the #27 FIAT Abarth 750 during and after which his record is sketchy though he seems to have returned to racing Porsches by 1961.
My thanks to Terry O'Neil for the race results and Steve Arnaudin for his Dad Ed's pictures, wishing Ed all the best on his return home from hospital.
Hope you have enjoyed today's double bubble edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres and that you'll join me again tomorrow for a look at the cool 2nd place Lotus IX of Race 1 at Thompson CT on the 20 July 1958. Don't forget to come back know !
After the 22 hp FIAT 600 was launched in 1955 Carlo Abarth set about maximising the potential of tuning the engine by increasing the size from 633 / 38.6 cui to 747 / 45.6 cui fitting a Nardi inlet manifold and increasing the compression ratio to produce 47 hp.
Meanwhile while Zagato set about building a Coupé based on the same car the 30 hp 600 TS, when Abarth saw the coupe he suggested to Zagato they work together to produce a vehicle for racing in the popular 750 cc 45.6 cui sports car class prevalent in national and international racing at the time.
Over 600 of these successful racing vehicles which won the SCCA class H in '59 '60 and '61, are thought to have been built between 1956 and 1960 when the maximum permitted engine sizes for the various national racing classes were changed. The 'double bubble' name which is derived from the two humps in the roof stuck in America where a chewing gum brand bearing the same name was popular.
Paul Sagan is known to have been successful driving Porsche 550's in 1956 and 1957 before he moved over to running the #27 FIAT Abarth 750 during and after which his record is sketchy though he seems to have returned to racing Porsches by 1961.
My thanks to Terry O'Neil for the race results and Steve Arnaudin for his Dad Ed's pictures, wishing Ed all the best on his return home from hospital.
Hope you have enjoyed today's double bubble edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres and that you'll join me again tomorrow for a look at the cool 2nd place Lotus IX of Race 1 at Thompson CT on the 20 July 1958. Don't forget to come back know !
Thursday, 20 January 2011
" Il Mostro " ahead of it's time ? - Alfa Romeo SZ & RZ
The Alfa Romeo SZ designed, in just 19 months, by Robert Opron, responsible for the equally alien Citroen SM, and Antonio Castellana with a little input from Zagato amongst others was dubbed The Monster when it was launched in 1990, one either loves or hates its 'back street speed shop' styling.
The Sprint Zagato was powered by a 210 hp 2,959 cc / 180 cui alloy V6, good for a 150 mph and matched to a superb chassis thanks to the work of Giorgio Pianta who fine tuned the Alfa Romeo 75 chassis inherited from the Group A / IMSA racing programme.
Unfortunately the SZ was launched in the middle of a world recession making it very difficult to sell the 998 Rosso Alfa coloured vehicles. It is believed that there were an additional 38 prototypes and pre production models, many of which are thought to have been scrapped.
Sales of the SZ were boosted by a 'one model' SZ Trophy racing series for which participants were offered a 25% discount on the purchase price of an SZ.
Despite the difficulty selling the SZ when production ceased in 1991 the roadster RZ version of the composite plastic bodied SZ was put into production and went on sale in 1992.
Like the SZ the RZ has a hydraulic lifting mechanism activated by a button which allows the ride height to be raised by 50 mm / 2 inches in order to negotiate bumps in the road surface.
The RZ proved even more difficult to sell than the SZ so production was abandoned after just 278 of the planned 350 were completed, in light of the success of the BMW Z series sports cars perhaps the SZ and RZ were just half a decade ahead of their time.
With thanks to E van der Beek and A.Ritzinger for additional information.
Hope you have enjoyed today's back street racer edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow on Ferrari Friday for a look at 3 flat 12 racers. Don't forget to come back now !
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