Showing posts with label Forum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forum. Show all posts
Saturday, 2 January 2016
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Allard + Farrell + Maserati = The Farrallac MK2
The origins of the Farrallac featured today lie in the Allard J2, chassis J1911registration JWP 800, that rising star Peter Collins purchased and took delivery of in Kidderminster on March 29th 1951.
[Photo supplied by David Hooper copyright holder unknown, this photo will be credited or removed upon request]
Peter Collins seen above, possibly at Westwood Park, on the left drove JWP 800 to victories at two national events held at Gamston and at least one more at Croft where he set an outright lap record.
After passing through the hands of a businessman in the Midlands JWP 800 ended up in the hands of cycle manufacturer Don Farrell who with his wife Stella, a champion cyclist, used the car to compete in hillclimbs and sprints.
In order to improve the stability and straight line speed of the cycle winged J2 Don built an all enveloping body for the vehicle and with the unoffficial aid of Allard draghtsman, later Chief Engineer, Dave Hooper fitted the car with wishbone front suspension.
The Farrallac Mk1 was used by the Farrells for two years until October 1959 when crossing the finishing line on a hillclimb near Marlow, having set Fastest Time of the Day a track rod broke which consequently sent the car over a barbed wire fence rendering JWP 800 beyond repair and left Don Farrell nursing his wounds in hospital.
While recovering Don planned The Farrallac Mk2 which he subsequently built in 1960
[Photo Courtesy David Hooper]
using the 400 hp 5980cc Cadillac engine,
Alvis gearbox and some of the suspension salvaged from JWP 800 which were fitted to a new twin tube chassis along with Alfin drum brakes.
David Hooper tells me the rear body work came from a J2
while the front was sourced from a Maersati.
With a top speed of 165 mph
The Farrallac Mk2 was campaigned by the Farrells covering standing 1/4 miles in 12 seconds.
In the mid sixties the Farrallac Mk2 passed into the hands of Burno Ferrari who replaced the Cadillac motor for a Ford then the car disappeared,
resurfacing in the hands of Tony Bianchi in the late 1970's.
Tony spent seven years bring the car back to health finding a Cadillac engine and fitting it with "Offy" cylinder heads from a stock car. Tony still owns the Mk2 33 years later.
Bob Bull the passenger above tells me he saw an indicated 160 mph as he hung on to his helmet flying along Silverstone's Hangar Straight.
My thanks to Bob Bull, Colin Warnes of the Allard Register, Allard Chief Engineer David Hooper, Simon Taylor, Classic and Sportscar Magazine (July 1985), The Nostalgia Forum members C Drewett, and Fuzzi for their photo's and help with information for today's blog.
Thanks for joining me on today's Farrallac edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' join me again tomorrow for another visit to Castle Combe. Don't forget to come back now !
[Photo supplied by David Hooper copyright holder unknown, this photo will be credited or removed upon request]
Peter Collins seen above, possibly at Westwood Park, on the left drove JWP 800 to victories at two national events held at Gamston and at least one more at Croft where he set an outright lap record.
After passing through the hands of a businessman in the Midlands JWP 800 ended up in the hands of cycle manufacturer Don Farrell who with his wife Stella, a champion cyclist, used the car to compete in hillclimbs and sprints.
In order to improve the stability and straight line speed of the cycle winged J2 Don built an all enveloping body for the vehicle and with the unoffficial aid of Allard draghtsman, later Chief Engineer, Dave Hooper fitted the car with wishbone front suspension.
The Farrallac Mk1 was used by the Farrells for two years until October 1959 when crossing the finishing line on a hillclimb near Marlow, having set Fastest Time of the Day a track rod broke which consequently sent the car over a barbed wire fence rendering JWP 800 beyond repair and left Don Farrell nursing his wounds in hospital.
While recovering Don planned The Farrallac Mk2 which he subsequently built in 1960
[Photo Courtesy David Hooper]
using the 400 hp 5980cc Cadillac engine,
Alvis gearbox and some of the suspension salvaged from JWP 800 which were fitted to a new twin tube chassis along with Alfin drum brakes.
David Hooper tells me the rear body work came from a J2
while the front was sourced from a Maersati.
With a top speed of 165 mph
The Farrallac Mk2 was campaigned by the Farrells covering standing 1/4 miles in 12 seconds.
In the mid sixties the Farrallac Mk2 passed into the hands of Burno Ferrari who replaced the Cadillac motor for a Ford then the car disappeared,
resurfacing in the hands of Tony Bianchi in the late 1970's.
Tony spent seven years bring the car back to health finding a Cadillac engine and fitting it with "Offy" cylinder heads from a stock car. Tony still owns the Mk2 33 years later.
Bob Bull the passenger above tells me he saw an indicated 160 mph as he hung on to his helmet flying along Silverstone's Hangar Straight.
My thanks to Bob Bull, Colin Warnes of the Allard Register, Allard Chief Engineer David Hooper, Simon Taylor, Classic and Sportscar Magazine (July 1985), The Nostalgia Forum members C Drewett, and Fuzzi for their photo's and help with information for today's blog.
Thanks for joining me on today's Farrallac edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' join me again tomorrow for another visit to Castle Combe. Don't forget to come back now !
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
The Real McCoy - Mini Cooper S
The 1964 Monte Carlo Rally boasted a superb entry including factory backed vehicles from Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, Saab, Volvo, Volkswagen and a fleet of 6 works Mini Coopers.
Starting from Athens, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Lisbon, Minsk, Monte Carlo, Oslo, Paris and Warsaw, the field converged on Rheims in France and from there on to 5 competitive stages and a couple of laps of the Monaco Grand Prix track.
The Ford Falcon Sprint of Bo Ljungfeldt won every stage of the rally including the laps around Monaco but in those days the overall results were determined by a handicapping system which translated stage times and engine size into points which meant Ljungfelds 305 hp 4.7 litre 289 cui Falcon did not have a sufficient time margin over the 70hp 1071cc / 65 cui Mini Cooper S seen here crewed by Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon which was declared the winner of the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.
33 EJB is thought to have been built in 1963 and crewed by Hopkirk and Liddon to 3rd overall and 3rd in class in the 1963 Tour de France prior to winning the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.
The car belongs to the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon and is seen here at the Prodrive workshops because the engine was not running properly.
Like the Revenge Mini Replica I blogged about some months ago 33 EJB also has it's Replica's like this one built in the USA.
Finally I'd like to correct an oft repeated error reference the registrations of the works Mini's on the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally seen in the 5th paragraph of this link.
What ever BMW or anyone else may say the registrations of the works Minis on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 were as follows :-
33 EJB #37, Hopkirk/Liddon, Cooper S, 1st overall/1st in class.
570 FMO #182 Makinen/Vanson, Cooper S 4th overall/2nd in class
569 FMO #105 Aaltonen/Ambrose, Cooper S 7th overall/3rd in class
477 BBL #39 Baxter/McMillan, Cooper 43rd overall/2nd in class.
18 CRX #187 Thompson/Heys, Cooper S crashed
277 EBL#189 Mayman/Domleo, Cooper S crashed
My thanks to Alan, Tim, Stephen, Darren, Fred at The Nostalgia Forum who helped me out with the registration numbers.
Hope you have enjoyed to days Handicap edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
Monday, 7 March 2011
Mission Possible - Bristol Cars Ltd
Last Monday 27 employees of Bristol Cars Ltd passed through these gates on their way to work.
This morning only 5 employees will return through these gates as the manufacturing arm of Bristol Cars Ltd has been placed into administration with RSM Tenon.
Tom Maclennan of RSM Tenon is quoted as saying " There have been a number of immediate redundancies due to the financial position of the company, (but) we are maintaining the sales and service operations so customers will continue to be supported."
Though not without some criticism over the way the company has been run in the past, there has been a significant amount of support for Bristol Cars Ltd on the internet, in the light of this unfortunate development, from owners and non owners alike as evidenced by threads on pistonheads.com, The Nostalgia Forum and particularly on the Bristol Owners Club forum where members recall many of the Bristol Cars Ltd team with fondness having known them for many years.
One member of the Bristol Owners Club, Teb Marius from the Netherlands with professional experience in handling these types of financial situations is calling for professional assistance from members and non members in the UK to investigate the possibility putting together a Bristol Owners Club led Consortium to negotiate a viable future for Bristol Cars Ltd with the administrators. Send Teb an e-mail if you can offer any such professional assistance.
Alternatively for anyone with the financial muscle who wants make a bid for the manufacturing division of Bristol Cars Ltd, Tom MacLennan and Trevor Binyon at RSM Tenon have been appointed joint administrators of the business and would be interested to hear from you.
In anticipation of good news about the future of Bristol Cars Ltd I hope you'll join me again at "Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres". Don't forget to come back now !
This morning only 5 employees will return through these gates as the manufacturing arm of Bristol Cars Ltd has been placed into administration with RSM Tenon.
Tom Maclennan of RSM Tenon is quoted as saying " There have been a number of immediate redundancies due to the financial position of the company, (but) we are maintaining the sales and service operations so customers will continue to be supported."
Though not without some criticism over the way the company has been run in the past, there has been a significant amount of support for Bristol Cars Ltd on the internet, in the light of this unfortunate development, from owners and non owners alike as evidenced by threads on pistonheads.com, The Nostalgia Forum and particularly on the Bristol Owners Club forum where members recall many of the Bristol Cars Ltd team with fondness having known them for many years.
One member of the Bristol Owners Club, Teb Marius from the Netherlands with professional experience in handling these types of financial situations is calling for professional assistance from members and non members in the UK to investigate the possibility putting together a Bristol Owners Club led Consortium to negotiate a viable future for Bristol Cars Ltd with the administrators. Send Teb an e-mail if you can offer any such professional assistance.
Alternatively for anyone with the financial muscle who wants make a bid for the manufacturing division of Bristol Cars Ltd, Tom MacLennan and Trevor Binyon at RSM Tenon have been appointed joint administrators of the business and would be interested to hear from you.
In anticipation of good news about the future of Bristol Cars Ltd I hope you'll join me again at "Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres". Don't forget to come back now !
Friday, 24 December 2010
Mini Van from the Dark Side of the Moon - Ferrari 250 GTO #3757
The first time I saw one of these, reg no: 5 RU #3869 GT belonging to Dave Clarke formerly of the Dave Clark Five, was on a fabulous summer afternoon in the car park of the Hotel opposite school I must have spent a good hour sitting on a wall leering at it longingly.
This particular example, third overall in the 1962 Le Mans 24 hours and winner of the Spa 500 kms race in 1963, has been the property of Nick Mason since the late 1970's.
Allegedly one frosty morning this vehicle was the only one of his fleet that would start and so Nick ended up taking his kids to school in it, the rumour is that his kids never wanted to be driven to school in anything other than the 250 GTO thereafter which must qualify this car for the title worlds fastest mini van.
I did not know much about it until acquaintances on The Nostalgia Forum put me right some months ago. Ironically I have Nick Masons autograph from that day in my 1981 British Grand Prix programme.
Hope you have enjoyed todays edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' from the Dark Side of the Moon and hope you'll join me again tomorrow for the first of my 12 vehicles of Chritmas series of blogs.
Slightly off topic I read this seasonal story yesterday and humbly recommend it to all.
With Seasons Greetings and best wishes for the New Year too everyone who has played apart in 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' no matter how great or small, thanks for being there to celebrate with.
PS 30 12 10 just found the photo above of #3757 taken at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
This particular example, third overall in the 1962 Le Mans 24 hours and winner of the Spa 500 kms race in 1963, has been the property of Nick Mason since the late 1970's.
Allegedly one frosty morning this vehicle was the only one of his fleet that would start and so Nick ended up taking his kids to school in it, the rumour is that his kids never wanted to be driven to school in anything other than the 250 GTO thereafter which must qualify this car for the title worlds fastest mini van.
I did not know much about it until acquaintances on The Nostalgia Forum put me right some months ago. Ironically I have Nick Masons autograph from that day in my 1981 British Grand Prix programme.
Hope you have enjoyed todays edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' from the Dark Side of the Moon and hope you'll join me again tomorrow for the first of my 12 vehicles of Chritmas series of blogs.
Slightly off topic I read this seasonal story yesterday and humbly recommend it to all.
With Seasons Greetings and best wishes for the New Year too everyone who has played apart in 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' no matter how great or small, thanks for being there to celebrate with.
PS 30 12 10 just found the photo above of #3757 taken at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Peoples car - Жигули (Zhiguli) 2106
Well OK it is a Lada but this one is branded for the home market. Avtovaz originally called Volzhsky Avtomobliny Zavod or VAZ for short marketed its FIAT 124 derivatives under the Lada brand for export, around 60 % of production and under the Zhiguli brand inside Russia.
The cars they built were initially beefed up FIAT 124's with thicker steel panels, smaller, more robust less powerful overhead cam engines not seen on any other FIAT vehicles, designed to run on low 93 octane fuel and fitted with aluminium rear drum brakes in place of discs. Perfect for harsh conditions from Siberia all the way down to deserts of Egypt.
A couple of batches of these vehicles were supplied to the militia with rotary wankel engines allegedly based heavily on Mazda technology. Many of these militia vehicles, all supplied without revolution counters did not make it as far as their first oil change, upon failure these the motors were swapped out for the more conventional 4 cylinder 1.2 / 73 cui and 1.3 litre / 79 cui units. Rotary Zhigulis are still to be found in the preowned car market of Moscow.
The overall body was little changed during production from 1970 to 1984 when the model was replaced by the Riva, itself a model once stripped of all the plastic and lights was pretty much the same as the 2103 series seen here.
I managed to decipher Жигули in cyrillic script on the badge with a little help from Alexey Rogachev on The Nostalgia Forum. Alexey informs me that the Zhiguli name is taken from the Zhiguli Mountains at the bottom of which is a town Tolyatti, named after an Italian communist, where these vehicles were built.
It is thought somewhere around 18 million Avtovaz FIAT 124 derived vehicles have been built since 1970, incredibly later Riva derivatives are still being assembled to this day in a Suzuki plant in Egypt.
Hope you have enjoyed this cyrillic edition of Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', and that you'll join me tomorrow Ferrari Friday. Don't forget to come back now !
The cars they built were initially beefed up FIAT 124's with thicker steel panels, smaller, more robust less powerful overhead cam engines not seen on any other FIAT vehicles, designed to run on low 93 octane fuel and fitted with aluminium rear drum brakes in place of discs. Perfect for harsh conditions from Siberia all the way down to deserts of Egypt.
A couple of batches of these vehicles were supplied to the militia with rotary wankel engines allegedly based heavily on Mazda technology. Many of these militia vehicles, all supplied without revolution counters did not make it as far as their first oil change, upon failure these the motors were swapped out for the more conventional 4 cylinder 1.2 / 73 cui and 1.3 litre / 79 cui units. Rotary Zhigulis are still to be found in the preowned car market of Moscow.
The overall body was little changed during production from 1970 to 1984 when the model was replaced by the Riva, itself a model once stripped of all the plastic and lights was pretty much the same as the 2103 series seen here.
I managed to decipher Жигули in cyrillic script on the badge with a little help from Alexey Rogachev on The Nostalgia Forum. Alexey informs me that the Zhiguli name is taken from the Zhiguli Mountains at the bottom of which is a town Tolyatti, named after an Italian communist, where these vehicles were built.
It is thought somewhere around 18 million Avtovaz FIAT 124 derived vehicles have been built since 1970, incredibly later Riva derivatives are still being assembled to this day in a Suzuki plant in Egypt.
Hope you have enjoyed this cyrillic edition of Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', and that you'll join me tomorrow Ferrari Friday. Don't forget to come back now !
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