Dino Remembered - Ferrari 246S

At the end of 1955 Alfredo 'Dino' Ferrari proposed the idea of building a twin over head cam 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui V6 motor for use in second tier open wheel Formula 2 racing to his father Enzo. Soon afterwards 'Dino' was hospitalised with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, while in hospital 'Dino' discussed the technical details of his idea with legendary engineer Vittorio Jano.

Jano translated his disscusions with 'Dino' into what would become the first 'Dino' V6 which was used in Formula 2 races in 1957, by which time 'Dino' had fatally succumbed to his illness.

The motor had the two banks of cylinders unusually inclined at 65 degrees by 1958 a larger version of the 'Dino' V6 had been installed in Ferrari's Grand Prix cars and used by Mike Hawthorn to win the 1958 World Drivers Championship.

A 2 litre / 122 cui version of the 'Dino' engine was installed in a sports car, s/n #0740, for Peter Collins to drive at Goodwood in the 1958 Sussex trophy where he came 2nd. THe sports car was indistinguishable from the older Fantusi bodied 250TR apart from the 3 twin choke carburetors sticking out of the bonnet /hood where the larger engined 250 TR had 6.



Several more variations of the Dino V6 were built and raced including single over head cam versions with 60 degree inclinations between the cylinders. #0784 seen here in the hands of Bobby Verdon Roe at the Silverstone Classic was the last of the 246S models to be built in 1959.

#0784 was fitted with a twin cam V6 and uniquely with Formula One derived independent rear suspension. On it's debut Phil Hill and Graf Berghe 'Taffy' von Trips drove this chassis into second place in the 1960 Targa Florio. This would remain the cars best result despite the best efforts Richie Ginther, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Ed Hugus, Alan, Cornell jr, Ricardo & Pedro Rodriguez, and Bob Grossman.

In 1962 the car was fitted with the high tail body seen on the car today. Among it's many owners since the 1960's was Nick Mason's friend and Pink Floyd Manager Steve O'Rourke who was briefly the custodian of #0784 in 1997. More recently in 2009 Bobby Verdon Rowe and Nick Leventis took this 246S to victory lane in a one hour race at the Goodwood revival in 2009.

Thanks for joining me on the Dino V6 edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Booby Prize from Wide Track Country - Pontiac Firebird

In 1954 vice president of engineering at General Motors Oliver K Kelly called Packards head of Research and Development John DeLorean to offer him a choice of jobs across the five divisions on General Motors. DeLorean who at the time also had the choice of moving to Studebaker with whom Packard had just merged settled on becoming assistant to chief engineer Elliot 'Pete' Estes at Pontiac.



By 1963 John had become chief engineer at Pontiac, and Estes had become general Manager when they together with engine specialist Russell Gee and chassis engineer Bill Collins convinced the GM management to let them offer a $296 performance package on the Pontiac LeMans Coupé and Convertible body stiles that included a 325 hp 6.4 litre / 389 cui V8 motor normally found in the full size Pontiac Catalina and Bonneville models, from whence the 'Wide Track' strap line was born and named it GTO a name John picked up from the Ferrari 250 GTO.



The Pontiac GTO with initial production limited to 5,000, by a disbelieving Pontiac Sales Manager Frank Bridge, was an instant hit with Ronnie and the Daytonas, the youth market at which it was aimed and GM Management. The GTO was responsible for transforming the image of the brand from an 'aunties car' to a youth orientated performance brand with over 32, 000 units built in 1964.



As the GTO was launched John DeLorean moved on to the development of the Pontiac Banshee a concept car to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette which was killed by GM's top management. DeLorean seen as Pontiacs golden boy was promoted to head of the entire Pontiac division and given the consolation task of turning the Chevrolet Camaro into a Pontiac Pony Car with the proviso that there could be no alterations to the sheet metal except to the front and rear panels.



By incorporating a signature Pontiac split grill with built in bumper at the front and a version of the rear strip lights seen on the two Banshee concept cars the Pontiac Pony car was easily distinguishable from it's Chevrolet sibling, Having failed to acquire the Banshee naming rights from rocket scientist Eugene F. Lally, who had successfully raced a Corvette powered special of the same name, for less than ¢50 per car, the name Firebird which had been previously used by GM on three seriously out landish gas turbine concept cars, was eventually adopted for the Pontiac pony car.



The absence of marker lights, Federally mandated in 1968, and the E suffix on the registration plate confirm this as most likely one of the five variations of the 1967 model line up.



The Ram Air bonnet / hood suggests this car had the top of the range 6.6 litre / 400 cui motor installed when it left the factory.



Just over 100,132 1967 Firebirds are thought to have been manufactured of which 9,980 were convertible.

Thanks for joining me on this Wide Track Country edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

A little bit of this and a little bit of that - Vauxhall A/D Type 1914/1918

The Vauxhall A type was one of the preeminent 3 litre / 183 cui cars of its day competing for a share of a limited market for prestige vehicles alongside Bentley, Rolls Royce, Daimler for favour amongst European nobility.



The A-Type was the first production car designed by Laurence Pomeroy, it evolved through 4 distinct stages between 1908 and 1914 along the way amongst its notable achievements were many wins in a variety of events from trials and reliability events in the hands of customers while the factory built a single seat streamlined version that became the first 20 hp car timed at over 100 mph over a flying half mile at Brooklands.

Of the 940 total production less than two dozen are thought to have survived many of them are in the Antipodes where these rugged vehicles were extremely popular.

In 1912 Pomeroy introduced a new 4 cylinder engine design featuring a chain drive for the cam and magneto. The new engine was built in 3 litre / 183 cui and 4 litre / 244 cui sizes with the smaller engine being fitted to A types and the larger engine to the larger D-Type chassis, remember body work was usually supplied separately to customers bespoke requirements by independent coach builders. The D-Type won a contract from the Ministry of Defence for Staff Cars during the Great War 1914 - 1918.

This particular car owned by Dr. A. N. Lockhart and driven by James Gunn seen here at Prescott last year, comprises a 1914 A-Type chassis one of just four thought to be in the UK, with the larger 4 litre / 244 cui 1918 D-type motor.

My thanks to Dr A.N. Lockhart who's web page on the Vauxhall Type A and D's proved indispensable.

Thanks for joining me on this 244 cui edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Spirit of the 60's - Dyrham Park

On Sunday I ambled through the back lanes of Gloucestershire with a couple of friends to visit Dyrham Park a Neo Classic country mansion, that was built for William III's Secretary at War William Blathwayt, set in a 274 acre deer park.



The house was made over to the state in the late 1950's and the National Trust subsequently took over the running of the estate in 1961. That same year the Bristol Motor Cycle & Light Car Club organised a hillclimb on an 800 yard course that started at the Mansion house and went up the winding front drive towards the main gates of the estate.



To celebrate the centenary of what is now known as the Bristol Motor Club a Spirit of the 60's demonstration was organised at Dyrham Park to mark the six events that were organised from 1961 - 1966. Not all the vehicles present on Sunday, like Tony Wallens 1971 Lotus 69 were strictly of the correct period but they all added to flavour on another Indian Summers day.



Making his way through the hairpin to the start line is Chris Merrick in a Brabham BT18 / Buick V8 that once belonged to Bryan Eccles who set, probably for all time, the course record of 30.05 secs in 1966.



Some of you may remember I stumbled across a Berkeley B105 earlier this year at the Silverstone Classic, this 1959 example heading for the assembly area belongs to Neil Barber.



Steve Hillcox in the 302 cui Mustang Fastback can is seen above preparing to leave the assembly area for his run up the narrow 800 yard course.



Following the Suzuki Pace Car heading for the sweeps on one of the demonstration runs are Jeffrey Allen in his 1967 Mini Cooper, Steve Dowling in his 1959 Austin A35 and David Valsler in his Turner which he found in Ohio.



John Robbins above negotiates the hairpin in his 1967 VW Notchback ahead of Colin Gale in his 1966 Austin Healey Sprite.



I believe this is Ron Clements in his 1933 Morgan Super Sport which bears a quote from two time Le Mans winner Sir Tim Birkin on the side "Better to die at full throttle than to live behind a desk." Sir Tim died from as a result of burns sustained while racing a Maserati in the 1933 Tripoli Grand Prix.



One of the slower passes up the hill had they been timed would possibly have gone to former British Saloon car stalwart Vince Woodman on this Honda monkey bike,



though without doubt had the event been timed he would have been in the running for top tin top with his 3.4 litre 1973 Cologne Capri seen here rounding Neptune before the finish straight.



Somewhere between 4-5000 spectators are thought to have been entertained by over one hundred cars that each made several runs up the hill, apparently at one point the gates had to be closed because the A46 Bath Road had become blocked. At 4 pm the course car passed for the last time bringing an entertaining day to an end.

Thanks for joining me on this Dyrham Park edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't for get to come back now !

RIP WB - William Boddy Brooklands Tribute

On Saturday events conspired to allow me to visit for the first time the worlds first purpose built motor sport venue, Brooklands.



Brooklands was built in 1907, it was simultaneously also one of Britains first airfields. Brooklands became a centre of engineering excellence and racing continued their interrupted only by the Great War of 1914 - 1918. By 1939 what would become the all time lap record was set at 143.44 mph by John Cobb. A well known photo of John's record breaking run show's his 24 litre / 1461 cui Napier Railton, weighing several tons, flying along with all four wheels off the ground ! Such was the unevenness of the track. After the second world war racing failed to resume as industrial and residential pressures on the previously rural circuit took it's toll on the circuits fabric.



Enthusiasts gathered on Saturday to pay tribute to William 'Bill' Boddy MBE who in a career spanning 81 years served as editor of the publication Motor Sport from 1936 - to 1991. He famously kept the magazine going through out WW2 during his spare time while working for the Ministry of Aircraft Production.



Bill passed away in July and this Saturdays gathering included many of the actual cars, like this 1926 Sunbeam 3 Litre Super Sports, with which Bill had been associated during a career that played a significant part in firing this writers imagination during his miss spent youth. Owner of the Sunbeam Oliver Heal tells me WB was a passenger in this car one cold wet November day while being chaufferred by John Wyer future team manager at Aston Martin, Ford and of his own Gulf Sponsored JWA teams that successfully ran Ford, Porsche and Mirage chassis in sports car races.



In 1930 Bills first article published in Motor Sport was on the history Brooklands, the above 1907 Berliet V8 seen on The Hill is contemporaneous with the year the track opened 20 years before Bill made his first visit to Brooklands.



One of my favourite irregular features in Motor Sport is Bills 'Forgotten Makes' series into which category I would have to include this 1926 Gwynne 8 of which WB, as Bill was known to his readers, owned 3 using one as his transport through out WW2.



The 'racing dentist' Tony Brooks is seen above on the left retelling his memories of WB when his career was in the ascendant scoring the first Grand Prix win, since 1923, by an Englishman driving a British built car, the Connaught, at Syracuse in 1955.



While working at the Ministry of Aircraft Production WB met conscientious objector Denis 'DSJ' Jenkinson who was building a motorcycle by torch light in a shed during the WW2. WB would eventually employ DSJ, who was so obsessed with racing that when he settled down he eschewed both mains electricity and mains water, to become Continental Correspondent at Motor Sport. Among many cars that DSJ enjoyed was the red E-Type Jaguar above in which he drove 110,000 miles between 1965 and 1970 visiting all the top races and the best circuits in Europe during that time.



This 1947 Volkswagen was road tested by WB in 1952, he was so impressed VW's that he used them for editorial transportation. This particular vehicle is possibly also responsible for coining the 'Beetle' name for the model, VW importer and owner of this car John Colborne-Barber founded the VW Owners Club of Great Britain and published a magazine called 'Beetling' because contemporaries of his sons at school referred to this very car as a 'Beetle'.



Finally perhaps the greatest thrill of the WB tribute day was to see a few of the cars, including Cobb's Napier-Railton, that made history at Brooklands being demonstrated out on part of the remains of the famous 100 ft wide Brooklands banking. Sure they were only tootling about having fun, but the noise was absolutely unforgettable and sure to have been heard by the spirit of WB where ever it resides. A fitting tribute to the man who was involved in saving much of what remains at Brooklands for us to enjoy well into the future.

Thanks for joining me on this Bill Boddy edition of 'Gettin' a little psycho on tyres' I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

For A Few £'s More - Jensen S-V8

After the owner of WJ Smiths & Sons a body works passed away in 1934 two employees, the brothers Richard and Alan Jensen bought the assets and founded Jensen as a coachbuilding firm. Building customised bodies for proprietary chassis supplied by Morris, Singer, Standard and Wolseley. One of their early commissions was for a car based on a Ford V8 for Hollywood legend Clark Gable, this highly acclaimed car facilitated a deal with Ford to produce a limited edition of Jensen Fords.



The following year Jensen launched the Jensen S type also powered by a Ford V8. Jensen diversified into light commercial vehicles marketed under the JNSN brand and during the war were engaged to make tank turrets and specialised vehicles, ambulances and fire engines.



After the 2nd World War Jensen produced the Jen Tug light truck for hauling trailers around goods yards and won a number of contracts to produce bodies for among others the military all wheel drive Austin Gipsy, the Austin A40 Sports, Austin-Healey 100, Volvo P1800 and Sunbeam Tiger.



Concurrently Jensen built an Austin parts bin based Interceptor, and fibreglass bodied 541 Coupé. Perhaps their best known model is the Chrysler powered Interceptor introduced in 1966 with a steel body designed by Carrozzeria Touring and built by Vignale.



The Interceptor remained in production until the company folded in 1976, several attempts were made to revive production one resulting in 11 MK4 Interceptors being built. In 1998 the Ford Mustang Cobra V8 powered aluminium bodied Jensen S-V8, harking back to the 50's and 60's 541 and CV8 models was shown to the public and 300 orders were taken to build the car at a new £9 million facility at Speke in Liverpool.



Unfortunately quality problems including the manufacture of the aluminium body panels slowed the expected production rate and only 20 vehicles were produced, including the one seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed, before the company again went under in 2002. The Oselli company purchased a licence to complete a further 12 cars, all with heavier easier to manufacture steel bodies, and retained the parts from a further 6 vehicles for spares.

Since production of the 20 original £40,000 cars has ceased at an average unit cost to investors of £450,000 it has been claimed that Jensen went under for the want of just £500,000 to see them through.

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

Awaiting TLC #3 - Lotus Mark 6

Third in my occasional series of blogs about cars in need of tender loving care is this uniquely ungainly looking Lotus Mark 6 seen earlier this year at the Silverstone Classic.



The Lotus Mark 6 was the first Lotus design to go into to production and it was sold in kit form saving purchasers a small fortune in new car taxes. The reason this particular vehicle is both unique and ungainly is because it is the only Lotus Mark 6 built as a mud plugging trials car requiring more ground clearance than either the road going or track racing versions.



The chassis with Williams & Pritchard built body was originally supplied to Mr Horace Sinclair Sweeney in 1953 at a cost of £110. Once Mr Sweeney had finished installing the engine and running gear he entered and won the London Motor Club's Annecy Spring Sporting Trial on the 7th of June 1953.



The motor is an Aquaplane tuned 1172 cc / 71.5 cui side valve E93A unit sourced from a Ford 10 built in the 1930's.



In 1954 Mr Arthur Hay acquired this Mark 6 and over the next ten years won three Motor Cycling Club (MCC) Triple awards for completing the Exeter, Lands End and Edinburgh trials unpenalised in three separate calendar years. Since then car has remained in the Hay family, but unused since 1964.



The current owner hopes to restore the car to working order and use it for sporting trials as originally intended by Mr Sweeney.

Thanks for joining me on this mud plugging edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I shall be looking at a Jensen. Don't forget to come back now !