GALPOT Weekly #18

Looking forward to going to Race Retro in a couple of weeks and restocking my library of photo's with new material despite the fact I have far from finished with all the photo's I took last year.



Last week started with a bit of Armless Fun in the form of a multiple Burn Out championship winning supercharged Ford P100 pick up.



For Valentines Day GALPOT towers went romantic with a look at this two seater MG 'TF' sports car.



My school friend Sven's Ford Capri 2.8i, which gave me my first hands on experience in motorsport as part of the pit crew, was the subject of Wednesdays blog.



The Chrysler 300 letter series represented some exclusive muscle, on Thursday I looked at this Elwood Engel designed Chrysler 300L.



Jody Scheckter won the 1979 World Drivers Championship in 1979 and Gilles Villeneuve came second securing the Constructors Championship in the Ferrari 312 T4's I looked at on Friday.



Photo Ed Arnaudin

Jim Clark qualified on poll for the ill feted 1964 Indianapolis 500 but suffered tyre failure after just 47 laps, Parnelli Jones, who still owns this quad cam Lotus Ford 34 which I looked at yesterday, bought it and came in second at the Indy 500 in 1965.



Today's blog is all about the game changing Honda NSX super car that raised the bar for future Ferrari and McLaren Super Cars in terms of handling, refinement, performance and price.

Coming up next week a '66 Chevrolet El Camino, and a Special K Convertible Terraplane with around 50,000 miles on the clock, don't miss all this and more at GALPOT !

Thanks for joining me on this GALPOT Weekly #17 edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' I hope you'll have fun following the links above and that you will join me again at 'GALPOT' during the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #17

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly #17 a review of events on the 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' blog.



Photo Courtesy Wayne Graefen

The GALPOT week started a story about the restoration of an unusual half ton Terraplane Six Cab Pickup Express which dates back to 1934 that was found by Wayne Graefen in McMinnville Portland Oregon back in the mid 1980's.



On Tuesday I looked at the story behind the MG Bellevue Special a vehicle that was built by Wilkie Wilkinson for hire to drivers wishing to pit their skills against the fearsome Brooklands race track in the 1930's.



Ford's Escort Mk II a collaboration between Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany code named Brenda was the subject of Wednesday's blog.



For Americana Thursday I stuck with the Blue Oval and went behind the scenes to find out what lay behind the development 2013 Ford Fusion Sprint Cup car.



On Ferrari Friday I continued the potted history of the Flat 12 Ferrari Grand Prix cars with a look at the Ferrari 312 T3 which Gilles Villeneuve drove to his first Grand Prix victory in Canada in 1978.



Continuing my potted history of Lotus, on Saturday I looked at the Group 7 unlimited sports car class Lotus 30 which despite it's good looks is generally not recognised to have been one of Colin Chapmans best idea's although it did win a few races in the capable hands of Jim Clark among others.



The 325 hp TVR 400SE is the subject of today's GALPOT blog the last in the line of TVR Wedges based on a design by Oliver Winterbottom well known for two wedge shaped Lotus designs.

Thanks for joining me on this GALPOT Weekly #17 edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' I hope you'll have fun following the links above and that you will join me again at 'GALPOT' during the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #16

Welcome to GALPOT Weekley #16, this week my competition season kicked off with a navigation exercise.



Bob Bull kindly took me along, in his 'daughters' supercharged Mini Cooper S, as a navigator for the Bristol Pegasus Motor Clubs January Navigation Exercise. See how I got on by following this link.



My potted history of MG Cars continued on Tuesday with a look at Andrew Moreland's supercharged MG PA.




Wednesdays blog featured a special Ford Mexico that turned out to be a multi purpose vehicle having been used as a racer, run around and wedding car by it's original owner John Webb.



The 501st GALPOT blog featured a Kurtis 500S a sports car frame with an Indy winning heritage.



Photo Courtesy Sven Platt.

Ron Howard is making a film called "Rush" at the moment about the extraordinary 1976 Grand Prix season one of the vehicles that should feature in the film should be the Ferrari 312 T2 as driven by Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni that I looked at on Ferrari Friday. I wonder if Ron's legendary attention to detail will pick up that Niki's new car for the 1976 British GP, seen above, appeared in practice with his name missing from the side of the cockpit ? Details that maketh the film for us anoraks :-)



Photo Ed Arnaudin courtesy Steve Arnaudin.

Yesterday I looked at the first monocoque chassis car to appear at the Indianapolis 500 since the Cornelean driven by Louis Chevrolet in 1915. The Lotus 29 chassis 29/3 driven by Jim Clark led 28 laps in the 1963 Indy 500 before getting beaten by Parnelli Jones and then the following year the car was rechristened the Pure Firebird Special and given to Bobby Marsham to drive, see photo above. Find out what happened next on this Lotus 29 link.



Derek Buckler like Colin Chapman started out building a successful competition special and then built a small company making copies of it on the back of his success. Derek allegedly gave his first model the Buckler Mk V name so that customers would not think this was his first design.

Coming up next week I'll be looking at a commercial Terraplane that I had no idea even existed until a couple of weeks ago, on Tuesday I'll be looking at an MG that was prepared in Wandsworth for hire to racing drivers at Brooklands and on Thursday I'll be taking a behind the scenes look at Fords 2013 Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup challenger which already seems to have gone along way to achieving it's aim of re engaging the public.

Thanks for joining me on this GALPOT Weekly #16 edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' I hope you'll have fun following the links above and that you will join me again at 'GALPOT' during the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #15

Despite partying all night I am pleased to bring this weeks GALPOT Weekly back on to the Sunday schedule.



The GALPOT week started of with the top of the range Hemi powered Dodge RAM 1500 Larimie, that turned not to be an import from somewhere west of Cheyenne Wyoming.



The Tuesday MG series of blogs featured a well storied supercharged MG K3 that is a mixture of chassis and bodywork that can trace it's history back to two entries that came in first and second in class at the conclusion of the 1933 Mille Miglia.




The winner of the Ultra Marathon of all Rally events, the 1970 World Cup Rally was the subject of Wednesdays blog, the bombproof Ford Escort 1850 GT registered FEV 1 is possibly amongst the most loved and treasured of all Fords.



The vintage Hudson Super Six that featured in Thursdays blog appears to be a replica of the 1917 built Indy cars that took part in the 1919 Indy 500.



Ferrari Friday featured a period photo of a Jacky Ickx dominating the 1972 British Grand Prix in his Ferrari 312 B2 #005, Jacky was forced to retire while leading but one the subsequent German Grand Prix in the same car from team mate Clay Regazzoni driving chassis #007 which I featured last week.



Yesterday I looked at the Lotus 27 Formula Junior car that initially followed Colin Chapman's adage of "adding lightness" a step too far meaning the monocoque was a little too weak, until this was rectified Peter Arundell was having a lot of trouble defending his British Formula Junior title in 1963.



Today's GALPOT blog features an Alpine Renault A110 1600 S that was shipped all the way to Réunion a small island in the Indian Ocean where it dominated the mid 1970's Rally scene.

Tomorrow I'll be starting the week with a look at a multiple 'Burn Out' championship winning Ford P100 pick up, while another MG will be featured on Tuesday and on Wednesday the versatility of a special Ford Escort Mexico will be examined.

If you have missed any of this weeks GALPOT blogs you can catch up with the full blogs linked by the high lighted text above.

Thanks for joining me on GALPOT Weekly #15, I hope you will join me at 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' again in the week to come. Don't forget to come back now !

STOP PRESS Tomorrow's blog will tell the tale of the start of my 2012 competition season, not the 'Burn Out' Champion as mentioned above which will be held over to Monday 13th Feb.

GALPOT Weekly #14

Last week started with the answers to and the announcement that Mike Mansmith was the winner of, the Automobiliart / GALPOT Seasonal Quiz.



Mike chose the Grand Prix Engines of the 1950's set of cards by Paul Chenard. Congratulations Mike, thanks to everyone who participated and thanks to Paul at Automobiliart for generously donating the prize.



On Tuesday I had a look at an MG J2 a Quintessential British Sports Car that has been in the same family since 1953.



I looked below some impressive paintwork and RS body panels on Wednesday to find a Ford Capri GLX fitted with a Rover V8 motor.



The sad Philippine love story behind an Auburn 851 SC was the subject of Thursdays blog.



On Ferrari Friday I looked at the Formula One Ferrari 312 B2 chassis 007 which scored a best second place finish in the 1972 German Grand Prix when it was driven by Clay Regazzoni, next week I'll be talking looking at the car that one the 1972 German Grand Prix.



Über Classic racer Tony Thompson's successful Lotus 26R with which he won four championships and finished runner up four times between 1985 and 1993 was the subject of Saturdays blog.



Yesterday I had a look at the superb one off Bristol Britannia the only one ever made to S4 spec with a unique set of body panels. This is an extreme example of a company going out of it's way to build a car to a customers specifications.

This week at GALPOT starts with a blog on the High End Dodge Laramie and continues tomorrow with a storied MG K3.

Thanks for joining me on GALPOT weekly #14 I hope you enjoy catching up with any blogs you missed last week with the links above and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #13

Another busy week at GALPOT Towers has simply flown by so fast I have almost forgotten my weekly review !




Last week started with a look at a hot 1959 Chevrolet El Camino estimated to be capable of 130 mph when it was first launched !



On Tuesday I started an ongoing series of Tuesday MG blogs with a look at the 8/33 M - Type Midget that personifies the pre WW2 British Sports Car.



'The Car You Always Promised Yourself' in the form of a Ford Capri 1600 L was the subject of Wednesdays post, a pony car for us Europeans that became a smash hit particularly with medallion men in the 1970's.



Despite it's success on the track with the MT900 GT3, Mosler cannot generate sufficient sales to enter GT3 races without special dispensation, the Mosler MT 900 GT3 above, which I looked at on Thursday, belongs to Paul White who with Calum Lockie won Class A of the Britcar Championship in 2011.



Thanks to the launch of the Honda NSX, Ferrari had to significantly up their game in order to become a world class sports car leader when they replaced the 348ts with the Ferrari 355 two of which were featured on last weeks Ferrari Friday post.



On Saturday I took a look at one of the iconic Formula One designs of the 1960's the Lotus 25, both of the million dollar cars featured having fascinating well documented histories involving Jim Clark.



I rounded out last week with a look at a contender for one of the most beautiful models ever devised in Turin the extremely rare SIATA 400F.

This week I'll be announcing the winner of the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz and continuing the stories of MG and the Ford Capri.

Thanks for joining me on this 13th GALPOT Weekly edition of 'Gettin a li'l psycho on tyres' I hope you will have fun checking out some of last weeks posts, linked by the highlighted text above and that you will join me again in the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #12

Gettin' the enthusiasm cranked up has been a little difficult this week after taking the week of excess off and then going straight into an upbeat training program thanks to my friends dog 'Z' who requires three hours of vigorous exercise a day or he will tear my friends house apart while they are on holiday in the warm climbs of India.



Anyway enough moaning it's been another fun week compiling GALPOT in between physical exertions, Monday saw the last questions, on the works of Paul Chenard for the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz posted. If you have not given it a shot you have until midnight GMT tonight to post me your answers. From what I have seen so far no one has attempted to answer all the questions yet so why not give it a shot ? Here is a link to the first days questions :-)



For Tuesday I finally dusted of the cobwebs and posted my first 'proper' blog of the year all about a limited edition Opel Manta known as the i200 of which only 25 Right Hand Drive versions were built for the UK.



Wednesdys blog gave an overview of the Ford Cortina MK2 a car that knocked British Leyland from the top of the sales charts and saw Ford emerge as the dominant manufacturer in the UK through the 1970's and 1980's.



On Americana Thursday I looked at the humungus 'large and in charge' Duesenberg J Derham Tourster billed as the largest, fastest and most expensive vehicle of the depression era.



Lucien Bianchi won the 1962 Angola GP in this Ferrari 250 GTO #3527 that I looked at on Ferrari Friday. The recently repainted Russo Kev coloured car seen here on last years Tour Britannia now belongs to Baron Laidlow.




Lotus was the subject of yesterdays blog as has been the case on Saturdays for some weeks and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, the last Lotus Grand Prix car designed with customers in mind was the 1962 Lotus 24 #947 such as the one seen at Goodwood above.



Today marks another GALPOT first in so much as I am reviewing two books by Hazen Wardle who has been restoring this Triumph GT6 since 1997.

Tomorrow sees GALPOT return to the occasional series of Monday pick ups with a souped up El Camino.

Tuesday sees the first of a series of Tuesday MG blogs. I hope you will join me for all this and more in the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

PS Don't forget ... CLOSING DATE MIDNIGHT GMT TODAY !

Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz



December 26th - January 2nd

Win a set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards



Set 1 Sports & GT Cars



Set 2 Phil Hill World Drivers Championship 50th Anniversary Edition



Set 3 1934 Season



Set 4 Grand Prix Engines of the 1950's

or



Set 5 Mike Hawthorn's Race Cars

The Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will comprise 8 categories.

Overall winner chooses one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets shown above.

The cards measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

Which set will you choose ?

The free to enter Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will run from December 26th - January 2nd Entries close January 8th 2012, Winner announced January 16th 2012.

Full details on December 26th at GALPOT.