Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This #5

Connew PC1

GALPOT Weekly #44

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly #44 a review of the last seven posts at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres".

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Monday's post came about thanks to a reminder from Barry Boor on Sunday night I just managed to finish our "The Connew Story" film, linked here, in time to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Connew Grand Prix car's one and only Grand Prix appearance in the 1972 Austrian Grand Prix.

I have been working on for this film for the last two years and would like to thank everyone who has generously contributed to this no budget production, and to everyone who has, subsequent to it's appearance in the public domain, so graciously commented on the film and sent on links to friends and social networks, according to the youtube stats at the time of writing the film has been viewed over 1000 times.



Cream Crakers I a successful competition proven MG PA was the subject of Tuesday's blog, the car is seen here in the works brown & cream colours.



Wednesdays Continental Curiosity blog was about the Trojan 200, built in England under license from Heinkel Flugzeugwerke and marketed with the strap line Put The Family On The Road.



Marking the passing of the King in 1977 I posted a blog about the '59 Cadillac Series 62 4 Window Hard Top Sedan above, a model he appears never to have owned but closely associated with the birth and era of Rock'n'Roll culture.



Thanks to John Aibels wonderful photographs I looked at the Ferrari 250 LM #6217 on Ferrari Friday, this particular car was very successful on the Italian hills with Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi at the wheel in 1965 when Edoardo is known to have recorded at least eight overall wins in 1965.


Yesterday Lotus blog was about the one off all wheel drive gas turbine powered Lotus 56B R1 Grand Prix car, which closely resembles the 1968 Lotus 56 Indy 500 contender, most obviously the 56B has side tanks fitted to cope with the extra non stop distance, over 200 miles, the car was expected to cover in world championship races.



My 700th consecutive daily blog posted to day visits last weeks Summer Classic show at Easter Compton just outside Bristol. My vote for car of the show was this Lincoln Zephyr V12, above, which was visiting from Dresden a mere 800 miles away in Germany.

Thanks for joining me on this "GALPOT Weekly #44" edition of "Getting a li'l psycho on tyres" I hope you have enjoyed catching up with last weeks posts using the links provided and that you will join me at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" in the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

Sweet dreams are made of this #2 - Connew PC1 02

Continuing the improbable but never the less true story of the Connew Grand Prix team that I started on Boxing day today I am looking at some of the trials and tribulations the team had preparing for the French Grand Prix in 1972.



Having built thier car with a dummy engine as seen in the previous Connew blog, Peter managed to secure funding from a French consortium lead by Vincent Mausset to run Francois Migault in 5 races.



The funding took the form of a 'wad' of French Francs which Peter, his cousin Barry and chief mechanic Roger Doran could only exchange to Pounds Sterling at £30 a time, thanks to foreign currency exchange restrictions in operation at the time.



Peter managed to put a deposit down on a second hand Ford Cosworth DFV engine, in need of a rebuild, from Phil Kerr at McLaren, and purchased a brand new gearbox.



Francois borrowed a truck from his brother who was in the furniture manufacturing business with a company called SAPAL, in return for the truck which was used as the teams transporter SAPAL stickers appeared on the Connew.



While final preparations of the car were made for it's first Grand Prix and the truck was fitted out for racing car transporter duties, Barry got married, heroically spending just 24 hours with his bride before returning to help the team at it's lockup in Chadwell Heath. FInally the team was ready to go with a truckie named 'Mansell' at the wheel of the SAPAL transporter, in Portsmouth customs officials were reluctant to let the truck leave the country because it was on French registration plates but the driver 'Mansell' was English.



Once in France just outside Le Mans the trucks engine blew up. The truck was towed to Le Mans, Francois home town and the team used the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit, where these photos were taken, to do some testing while the truck was repaired.

On the first day of testing it became apparent that the cars suspension had been damaged in transit and with that the teams plans to go to the French Grand Prix had to be abandoned while repairs to the car were made.

To be continued....

With thanks to Peters cousin Barry Boor for the photographs if you'd like to read the whole story of how the Connew team came together over a period of two years and it's trials and tribulations the year after please read Barry's account of his part in this 'Boys Own' adventure here.

Hope you have enjoyed the second part of the Connew story and that you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don't for get to come back now !

Special Kit - Lenham Healey ALFA Romeo Special

Continuing yesterdays 'one off' theme today's photo's are of what is so far as I know a unique vehicle based on a Lenham Healey kit car. Built to use Austin Healey 100 motor and running gear the original kit vaguely resembled an Allard at the front and a boat tailed Bugatti at the back. The owner of this one installed a twin cam Alfa engine and completely reworked the nose as a homage to 1930s vintage racing ALFA Romeo's.



I understand that Lenham manufactured a variety of kit cars starting in the 1960's, the best known of which is probably the Lenham Sprite a Fast back GT fibre glass body built to accept Austin Healey Sprite or MG Midget running gear, they are also well known for making hard tops for Austin, MG and Triumph convertibles.

Lenham also made an outstandingly attractive sports prototype racing car the Lenham P70 in the late 60's early 70's which Vincent Mausset's Darnval Cars brand became involved with the intention of manufacturing a road going variant. Darnval went on to become named entrants of the Connew Grand Prix car featured a couple of months ago.

My thanks to 'trashbat' at the ALFA owners forum without whom I might have spent months trying verify the identity of the kit upon which today's special is based.

Hope you have enjoyed today's unique special and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look at another home built car. Don't for get to come back now !

Sweet dreams are made of this - Connew PC1 02

Imagine a recently graduated 24 year old industrial designer, who knows nothing about motor sport, but with a passing interest in large American chromed land yachts sitting in an office designing record players in East London, i pods if your not sure of what a record player is, and the phone rings. His friends are calling to see if he would like to join them on holiday with the intention of taking in the 1969 Italian Grand Prix.



When his boss tells our hero that it is not okay to take the time of work to go on holiday our hero offers his resignation, and joins his friends anyway.



At the Italian GP our hero falls in love with the sound of V12 engines as they accelerate between the corners of the Monza track.



Upon returning to England he finds out about a vacancy in the drawing office of a newly established Grand Prix team owned by a former multiple World Motor Cycle champion and one time World Grand Prix champion.



Our hero's attitude 'that there was no problem in this world that common sense and application with half an ounce of intelligence can not overcome' wins him the job, starting out knowing absolutely zero about the design of racing cars within months he is working on the design of a Grand Prix car.



When our hero sees the red car his new design is going to replace wheeled out into the sunshine for the first time, in that very instant he decides he is going to build a Grand Prix vehicle of his very own.



Our hero starts working from home, his parents home that is, on his own Grand Prix challenger, a friend tells our hero he may use a spare bedroom and lock up to start building his car, other friends chip in with time, suppliers 'lend' him various bits and pieces to be getting on with. As the design our hero then takes a job with an engineering company where he uses his and colleagues lunch hours to fabricate parts he cannot otherwise afford for his own Grand Prix challenger.



12 months after deciding to build his very own Grand Prix car our hero completes his chassis and he shows it to his cousin, a wood work teacher, who agrees to to join the team to make the bodywork using materials he has never used before.



Using only our heros own wages, friends time, goodwill and what can be scrounged including a dummy engine, once used by Jochen Rindt to win the 1969 US Grand Prix, gearbox and wheels our heros team push their improbably completed Grand Prix car one Sunday night out of it's lock up, down the London Rd in Chadwell Heath to the only place with enough light to take a photo of their pride and joy, the forecourt of their local petrol station.



If this story sounds incredible then I'd like to welcome you to the incredible story of Peter Connew who in 36 months made the transition from record player designer to Formula One designer and constructor of the Connew PC1 02 Grand Prix car seen here in late 1971. To be continued....


With thanks to Peters cousin Barry Boor for the photographs if you'd like to read the whole story of how the Connew team came together over a period of two years and it's trials and tribulations the year after please read Barry's account of his part in this 'Boys Own' adventure here.

Hope you enjoyed part one of my all time favourate Formula One story which will be continued at some future date, and that you'll join me tomorrow for a look at some teutonic efficiency at 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres'. Don't forget to come back now !