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Forward Control Flathead - Fordson 7V

The Fordson 7V truck built in Britain from 1937 to 1948 had two enduring innovations.



The first was it's flathead V8 the first Ford V8 which was originally built in the USA in 1932. This motor in various guises from 136 CUI / 2.2 litre to 337 CUI 5.7 litre was in production until 1973 when German built trucks with a variation of this motor ceased production. This easy to maintain and upgrade motor was popular with hot rodders and racers alike, indeed Allard amongst other special builders also installed a variation this motor in some of its most successful competition models.



The second innovative feature of the Fordson 7V was the forward control cab which placed the driver alongside the motor which improved the drivers vision of the road and allowed for greater maneuverability in congested urban environments. This particular feature did not take off until the 1960's Ford having taken a step back placing the driver in the traditional position behind the motor with it's 1950's Trader models. Note the cab also has an unusual for the period one piece windscreen.



Fordson 7V's like this particular one were the vehicle of choice for Britain's National Fire Service during the 2nd World War and painted grey they were an all to familiar sight during the Blitz Krieg. The Fordson 7V chassis was also adapted during the 2nd World War to build the armoured flathead V8 powered tracked Loyd Carrier.



With the cessation of hostilities and the post war boom in motor racing Fordon 7V's fitted with Flathead V8's were much in demand for use as racing transporters giving many fire tenders a second lease of life.



The Clarke family use this 1937 example, seen at the Rare Breeds Show, to transport their collection of replica Stock Cars as raced in the 1950's.

Thanks for joining me on today's transporter edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres' I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be looking at British built variations of one of the worlds most popular cars. Don't forget to come back now !

Perfect Car For A Wedding #6 - Rolls Royce Corniche

I am off to a wedding today, the first one I have attended where my friends children are the ones getting married, so it seems appropriate to feature another Perfect Car for a wedding on today's blog.



Today's Rolls Royce is known as the Silver Shadow Mulliner Park Ward Drop Head Coupé which first appeared in 1967 was renamed Corniche in 1971 when this model scene at the Haynes International Motor Museum was built.



The Corniche assembled and finished in London by Mulliner Park Ward is based on the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow / Bentley T floor plan with the same 'adequate' aluminium 6230 cc / 380 cui Rolls Royce motor.



The Corniche name was first used by Rolls Royce in the 1930's for a Mark V prototype with Parisian coach work by van Vooren, legend has it that after 15,000 miles of Continental testing in Europe was awaiting repatriation to England when it was hit by a bomb at Dieppe docks.

In the UK it would probably take a particularly brave couple to opt for a convertible on their wedding day but then as they used to say in Rome 'Fortes fortuna adiuvat'. For the brave this Corniche can be hired from the Haynes International Motor Museum.

Wishing Lotti & Ronnie and all those getting married today all the best and many happy years together.

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

Rare Breeds - Haynes International Motor Museum

Last Sunday I made a 'little' detour to the Rare Breeds Car Show at the Haynes International Motor Museum on the way to the airport to pick up some friends.



Among the 70 odd vehicles on display were half a dozen Formula 500's some 50's (UK) Stock Car replica's, for those in the US these are more like 1/4 mile paved and dirt Late Sportsman race cars than NASCARs Stock Cars, and a number of interesting vehicles one is unlikely on an average everyday commute.



Around 10,000 Austin 3 litre vehicles nicknamed 'Land Lobsters' were built between 1968 and 1971 which though well appointed were no competition for the similarly sized Triumphs, Rovers and Jaguars which would soon all become merged into the same nationalised British Leyland conglomerate. There are thought to be around 60 of these vehicles left and this one has been in the Stephen's family since new.



Some of you may remember my blog on the wreck of a Bowden Super Two I wrote some months ago, this is an Austin 7 Hamblin Cadet with the smaller body that the Bowden Super Two bodywork was based on. At £34.10/- this was the cheapest bodywork on the market, it was made to fit pre war Austin 7's. The owner of this car is the son of Sid Hamblin who founded the SE Hamblin company and personally built this car.



The Austin Mini Wildgoose RV has also featured on GALPOT before, this is a 1967 model with larger wraparound cabin windows and a tilting roof incorporating canvas sides, looks a little less like an airport control tower than the original. This particular vehicle has had the original 850 cc / 51.8 cui motor replaced with a 1275 cc / 77 cui unit and gearing to match so that it can easily cruise above the minimum motorway speed limit of 50 mph.



My Uncle in Germany had a DKW 1000S before he swapped it for a more versatile square back. These two stroke powered cars were relatively expensive in the UK so not many were in imported although Jim Clark made his racing debut driving a DKW before going on to win two World Championships and the Indy 500. This Left Hand Drive (LHD) model was imported from Sweden via Norway.



From 1933 - 1939 Ford commercial vehicles in the UK were badged Fordson. This Fordson 7V served as an auxiliary fire tender during World War 2. Because of it's relatively powerful V8 motor 7V's were much in demand for use as racing car transporters after hostilities ceased.



E691 is a replica of Nev Hughes 1935 Model 48 Ford raced, in 1955, built by Keith Barber. Current owner Roy Clarke rescued it in 2006 and it recently featured, as did several of the vehicles seen in the back ground in an advertisement for the Audi R8 V10 Spyder. It can be seen painted black with red stripes under the 'B9' at 1m 01 secs in this clip.



Also featured in an earlier post has been a GAZ M21 Volga this 1962 model one of only two known to be in the UK is in considerably better condition than the one I featured on the former East German border in 2006.



Described as very difficult to drive this RHD Lafitte 5CV Cycle Car is positively bristling with innovative technology starting with an inverted Y 3 cylinder air cooled radial engine that tilts with a hand mechanism in order alter to the friction driven gear ratio. The Lafitte has way ahead of it's time independent front suspension but no foot brakes ! This car has recently been certified as roadworthy for the first time since 1964 but the owner thought discretion was the better part of valour and brought this amazing device to the show on a trailer.



There seems to be a lot of interest in triking at the moment stimulating no doubt Morgan's recent return to the manufacture of trikes. For those who cannot afford Morgan's starting price their are plenty of alternatives. The front wheel drive Spirit Gordini M3 started life as two separate front wheel drive Renault 5 / Le Car models one '79 tother '85.



Another new manufacturer to me is Tornado apparently founded in 1957 in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire by Bill Woodhouse and Tony Bullen. Amazingly this car had lain awaiting restoration when it's owner passed aeay and thanks to the Faithorpe Sports Car Club it was passed on to Bill Woodhouse who did not know what to do with it until two gap year students the Hillier brothers took it upon themselves to rebuild the car in order to gain engineering experience under the guidance of the current owner and founder of the company Mr Woodhouse. The Talisman is one of 186 Ford powered examples made.



Finally my car of the day award goes to this Triumph Spitfire based Special made by Martin Harcourt using an English Wheel and alot of effort to make the polished aluminium panels on this unique single seater. When it's complete Martin hopes to use his shiny special in sprints and hill climbs. I am sure he will have plenty of fun with it.

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

Battersea Dogs Car - Rover P6 3500 Series 1 Estoura

Thanks to a timely reminder from David Rootes I made it to the Rare Breeds Car Show at the Haynes International Motor Museum on Sunday.



Amongst a variety of rare vehicles was this 1969 Series I Rover 3500 which preceded the Series II Rover 2200 SC I looked at last week. P6 models fitted with the aluminium 215 Buick derived V8 are easily distinguishable from their 4 cylinder siblings by the extra air intake below the bumper.



The engine compartment of the P6 was originally designed to accommodate a Rover gas turbine motor, but this option never came to fruition and instead the 158 hp twin carburettor V8 as had been fitted to the the Rover P5B was fitted to the top of the range P6 models.



According to the owner of this Estoura variant only 157 P6 saloons were converted to estate / station wagon models between 1969 and 1976. This is the oldest of 4 Series 1 Estoura's known to have survived.



Conversion of the saloon P6 to Estoura spec included replacing the original roof and C pillars with a new pod, designed by Brian Roll, that was riveted and welded in by FLM Panelcraft of Battersea. Although the conversion was approved by Rover and did not affect warranties no rust protection was added to bare surfaces which were simply painted over with the out come that these cars are more prone to rot than standard P6's.



Once FLM had converted the P6 shell the cars were sent to either Crayford, HR Owen or Hurst Park Motors where a variety of interior and exterior trims were fitted.



The load space while significantly improved is not particularly deep or easy to access even for a canine compared to a modern day Estate / Station Wagon or MPV.

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

Nikita's Gull - GAZ M13 Chaika

It's always a great pleasure to blog about little known vehicles that were produced behind the Iron Curtain like today's car the GAZ M13 Chaika was seen at Haynes International Motor Museum a few weeks ago.



Since I first blogged about the GAZ M21 I have learned a little more about the company which was founded in 1929 in a cooperation between Ford and the Soviet Union as the Nizhegorodsky Avtomobilny Zavod, NAZ, Nizhegorodsky Automobile Plant, at Nizhny Novgorod in the Volga Region approximately 500 miles east of Moscow.



The factory started out making Ford Model A cars and Model AA light trucks known as NAZ-A and NAZ-AA respectively. In 1933 Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, after Maxim Gorky a writer who was born in the city and Nizhegorodsky Avtomobilny Zavod was renamed Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod shortened to GAZ.

Gorky, the city, was renamed Nizhny Novgorod in 1990 but the vehicle manufacturer retained the GAZ name.



The luxury M13 Chaika seen here was produced from 1959 to 1981, though the mechanical underpinnings remained in production until 1988 fitted with a marginally more modern body until 1988.



Styling of the Chaika drew heavily on the 1956 Mercury Montclair Phaeton with a potpourri of 1956 Cadillac Series 62 inspired features thrown in. With a 195 hp being transmitted from it's V8 engine via a copy of the push button operated Chrysler TorqueFlite transmission the Chaika, translates into 'gull', was capable of 99 mph.



Seems incredible in this day and age to even conceive the idea that such a luxury vehicle was not made for sale. All 3,100 examples of the Chaika made over a period of 22 years were added to motor pools and issued to top professionals, Communist Party officials, scientists, academics and VIP's. The KGB also ordered these vehicles in large numbers.



Despite being entitled to larger ZIL limousines the Soviet head of state Nikita Khrushchev is known to have expressed a preference for the GAZ M13 even having one kept at his dacha.



Three versions of the Chaika were manufactured most were M13 saloons, but for ceremonial purposes open a 4 dr M13b convertible was produced from 1961 to 1962. The estate / station wagon M13A Universal is the rarest Chaika produced in the 1960's primarily for use as ambulances and funeral cars.



At the time the Chaika was first in production the Soviet Union was leading the space race, a fact possibly not lost on the stylist responsible for the M13's tail light assembly....



though he may also have admired '56 Cadillac Series 62 for its attention to detail and copied the idea of routing the exhaust pipes through the rear bumper !

Thanks for joining me for today's motor pool edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you'll join me again tomorrow for a look at a handcrafted Lanchester. As they might say in Russia, Не забудьте вернуться сейчас!

The Alpine Job - Allard K1 #156

One of the cool aspects of The Italian Job (1969) is that it features 3 Mini get away cars one Red, one White and Blue.

On my recent visit to the Haynes International Motor Museum I was surprised to learn that the idea of continental forays in three patriotically colour co-ordinated vehicles was not born in the 'Swinging 60's' but rather dates back to at least 1947 when Allard entered three cars for the Alpine Rally one Red one White and one Blue.

David Hooper tells me that two of the cars used in this event chassis 156 seen here and 595 left the factory painted blue so presumably chassis 595 was repainted white especially for the Alpine event.



The model used by Allard on the Alpine adventure was the K1 fitted with a British built 3622 cc / 221 cui 85 bhp side valve Ford V8 with aluminium cylinder heads and twin carburetors, not to be confused with the externally visually similar 100 bhp 3917 cc / 239 cui Mercury V8 from the WW2 Universal Carrier known as the Bren Gun Carrier with which the Allard brothers had worked during the war and supplied as standard with the Allard J2 model.



The K1 chassis featured independent front suspension, Marles steering gear and hydraulic brakes.



Production of the Allard K1 ran from 1946 to 1948 with 151 examples built, though thanks to a rushed order an early K2 chassis, #1703, one K2 was delivered with a K1 body. Meaning there were actually 152 K1 bodied vehicles and only 118 K2 bodied vehicles built.



[Photo courtesy David Hooper]

Leonard Potter drove this particular vehicle, the only one of the 3 1947 Alpine team cars in original unrestored condition, to fifth place in class in the 1947 Alpine Rally despite a damaged front. There were no overall awards in this event until 1952 if there had been Potter would have been classified no better than 17th.

The remaining two cars did not fair so well Goff Imhoff in the white car (which according to some sources is described simply as pale) won a trophy on the manoeuvrability test at Aix but ultimately retired with a gearbox problem, while Maurice Wick retired with a big end failure.

My thanks to David Hooper for his photograph and recollections, to Colin Warnes of the Allard Registry along with David McKinney, Allan Lupton, Tim Murray, Peter Stowe, and Richard 'Vitesse2' Armstrong of The Nostalgia Forum, for rifling through a library of information that I can only dream of accessing.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Alpine edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow for a visit to an interesting collection of cars in Calne. Don't forget to come back now !

22 06 11 mikeC has kindly confirmed that the Allard team cars were definitely red, white and blue on the 1947 Alpine Rally.

Rare Side Vents - Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series 2 #1815GT

Despite the Haynes International Motor Museum having a room full of red vehicles only one of the Rosso Corsa cars is a Ferrari.



The Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series 2 was launched in 1959 featuring a Pinin Farina designed body that was simpler than the Series 1, in part was due to the intention of the Series 2 to be made for series production rather than to order.



This 1960 left hand drive model with a 3185 cc / 194 cui V12 was orginally exported to the USA and in 1987 was sold by Coy's of London with the registration 'Q 999 EGC'.



It is thought around 212 Series 2 models were manufactured as against just 36 of the Series 1 model.



While the Series 2 is known as a model manufactured in series this particular example has extremely rare, for the model type, side vents.

Thanks for joining me on this slightly tardy Ferrari Friday edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you'll join me for a stretch limo edition tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Lots of Red Cars - Haynes International Motor Museum

A couple of weekends ago I was in a bah humbug mood looking for something to do when a friend asked if I had ever been to the Haynes International Motor Museum, to which I had not and responded accordingly, before I knew it I was being whisked away towards Sparkford in deepest Somerset. The museum bills it's self as having the UK's largest collection of cars, numbering over 400, to which maybe added it probably has the largest collection of cars painted red ! John Haynes publisher of many DIY car repair manuals established the museum, which operates as an Educational Charitable Trust, in 1985. Apart from the accidental or otherwise concentration of red vehicles there are plenty of cars from all over the world some of which were models and or manufactures I had never heard of before. The vehicles are tightly packed at the moment, though unusually for a museum many, possibly even most, get a run round the museum grounds by the museum staff, while others can be hired for weddings and special occasions, a magnificent growling Viper got a quick blast round the museum while we were there. Plans are afoot to expand the museum is September this year and having managed to snap only 10% of the collection over the couple of hours of my visit I look forward to returning even with the building work underway, the ticket I purchased is valid for a year ! Look forward to sharing some of the stories behind these cars in future editions of 'Gettin' a little psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a trip to Silverstone. Don't forget to come back now !