Twincharged

Lancia Delta S4

Kenyan National Champion

Lancia Rally 037

Fantastic Futurist

Lancia Stratos Stradale

GALPOT Weekly #57

Welcome to GALPOT Weekley #57 a review of the last seven posts at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres". The week started with a meeting of the Avenue Drivers Club at Queen Square in Bristol, where this 1959 Lancia Appia was my car of the day. On Tuesday I looked at this MG Maestro 1600 which took part in a thrilling race for pro drivers event at the end of the 1983 season driven by rally ace Tony Pond who came home third with the front passenger door hanging off. Wednesdays post featured the last all new rear engined design from Volkswagen the Type 2 (T3)s which were manufactured between 1979 and 2003. This Plum Crazy Dodge Challenger R/T was the feature of Americana Thursdays post, probably my all time favorite Muscle Car. Ferrari Friday featured a Ferrari F60 Formula One car of the type that Kimi Räikkönen used to win the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix his last before winning the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the Genii team's Lotus branded challenger. Yesterday's post featured the Lotus Ford 80 probably one of the most visually sensual Formula One cars never to win a Grand Prix. Thanks to Geoffrey Horton today's featured car is a Huispano Suiza K6 convertible with body work designed by former dentist Georges Paulin who worked for Carrosserie Pourtout. Thanks for joining me on this "GALPOT Weekly #57" edition of "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" I hope you have enjoyed catching up with the last seven posts on "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" using the links and that you will join me daily during the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now.

GALPOT Weekly #43

Welcome to the review of the last seven "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" posts.



The week started with a look at a TATA Loadbeta TDI imported from India.



Tuesday's regular MG feature looked at an MG F-Type Magna which is powered by a six cylinder version of the 4 cylinder Wolseley Hornet motor that has dummy side panels to hide it's origins.



Lancia's Fulvia Sport 1.3 Zagato narrow angle V4 powered brightened up the week on Continental Curiosity Wednesday.



Americana Thursdays post featured this Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C3, the first US vehicle to feature a split roof Targa Top first patented by Gordon Buehrig in 1951.




Ferrari Friday's post looked at this Ferrari 512M replica and noted "Big" John's little remembered return to the Ferrari fold in a similar Ferrari 512S.



Yesterday's Lotus blog featured Bryony Serrells Formula Ford Lotus 51A, little different from the Lotus 51 apart from some brackets to mount an oil tank for drysumped motors which some of the later 51A's did not use.



Today's post features a rare, one of only 17 built, QSC Quantum Coupé a GRP shell which uses a Ford Fiesta (Mk 1) donor car for it's running gear.

Thanks for joining me on this GALPOT Weekly #43 edition of "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" I hope you have enjoyed catching up with last weeks blogs using the links provided and that you will join me in the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #3

Just noticed I got the dates completely wrong on last weeks GALPOT Weekly so I'll just number them for the time being. This week was highlighted by two Birthday Editions of Galpot.



Monday started with Racer 187's birthday edition looking at a RHD Daimler Sovereign Coupé from Remscheid, Germany that is/was looking for a new home.



On Tuesday I concluded a series on vintage Vauxhalls with a brief look at a Vauxhall Bearcat a 14/40 chassis fitted with a Stutz motor.



A trip to Shakespeare County Raceway on Wednesday revealed a dinky li'l hot rod in the form of a Ford Anglia sibling of the Ford Prefect I looked at a week earlier.



Returning to the mean streets of Bristol for Americana Thursday I had took a look at a 1975 Plymouth Voyager Sport probably as rare a sighting in this country as a Ferrari in the USA.



Continuing with another prancing horse saddled for carrying extra cases of beer, on Ferrari Friday I looked at the stylishly understated 365 GTC/4 2+2.



Yesterday it was off to Silverstone and Oulton Park for a look at a couple of 2 foot tall low riding Lotus 15's.



Today GALPOT rounds out the week as it started this time with the Jeff Fuller Birthday edition featuring some street and competition Lancia Beta Monte Carlo's.

Thanks for joining me on this weeks GALPOT round up if you have not already had a look at the full blogs summarized here I hope you'll find to click on he links down lighted in grey.

Coming up next week I'll be starting with a cute li'l pickup truck designed in Greece, looking at a British interpretation of the 50's American Dream Car concept and looking at the remains of the car that carried the inventor of the Gatso speed camera to victory in the Monte Carlo Rally, in 1953.

All this and more to come in the week ahead at GALPOT, I look forward to you joining me daily. Don't forget to come back now !

Goodwood Revival #5 - Ferrari Open Wheel

Last Friday I managed to get photo's of many of the Ferrari's on track and just the one off track at Goodwood. In order to break these photo's down into manageable blogs today I'll be looking at five of the single seaters present at last weeks Revival meeting.



Oldest of the open wheelers present was this 1952 Ferrari 500/625 chassis #0482, this type started life as a 2 litre / 122 cui Formula 2 vehicle for the 1952 and 1953 World Championship seasons and was then upgraded for the 1954 season to 2.5 litre / 153 cui for the 1954 World Championship which was run to new Formula One regulations. I am not entirely sure what the exact history of this particular chassis is.



So far as I can tell this Lancia Ferrari is a recreation of the 1956 D50a type, as used by Juan Manuel Fangio to win his forth World Championship in 1956. This particular car, built by Jm Stokes who has manufactured six such vehicles, has Alain de Cadenet operating the loud pedal of the throaty V8, by some considerable margin making the best sound of the day on the track.



This V6 powered 1959 #33 Ferrari Dino 246 owned by Ian Wade and driven by Rick Hall is also a recreation,



while the #12 1960 Dino seen here driven by Tony Smith is genuine with a history. The chassis number was originally #0007 Phil Hill led a Ferrari 1-2-3 victory at the 1960 Italian Grand Prix with this car. This was Phil's first ever Grand Prix win and the last ever recorded for a Formula One car with a front mounted motor. Genesis and Metallica manager
Tony Smith can be seen talking about and driving this car on this link.



Finally the 1961 Ferrari 156 #0002R, above with Jan Biekens at the wheel, is a recreation of the type of vehicle that Phil Hill drove to become the first American World Drives Champion. This car is a recreation, again by Jim Stokes, of 156 chassis #0002, with a 65 degree V6, as used by Oliver Geneblen to finish 4th in the 1961 Belgian GP, Geneblen's car was painted yellow in deference to the Equipe Nationale Belge team which entered him into the race.

Thanks for joining me on this open wheel edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be taking a look at some of the fashion that graced the Goodwood last weekend. Don't forget to come back now !

Not Quite 'The Right One' - Lancia LC2/85

Today I am starting a series of three consecutive blogs on cars that competed in the Group C World Endurance Championship, during the 1980's I had the good fortune to follow the Group C World Endurance Championship for sports cars from it's inception through some high's to it's eventual death.



The series was for closed 2 seater racing vehicles weighing a minimum 800 kgs / 1760 lbs with the only restriction on the engine being fuel consumption. The cars were expected to race for 1000 kms / 621 miles on 600 litres / 131.87 of fuel. It was soon realised by participants that they needed to run vehicles with around 600 hp to go the distance with the available fuel.



This endurance fuel mileage racing series did not always produce the most riveting races though it was certainly had a few outstanding ones, but something about the endurance and fuel consumption formula appealed to me and the cars looked absolutely fabulous.



History will recall the early years 1982 - 1987 were dominated by Porsche with only token resistance from today's car the Martini Lancia LC2 which was first raced in 1983. Lancia had tried to steal the 1982 World Endurance Championship for Drivers by building the LC1 to older group 6 regulations that only had one year of eligibility.



Not only did Lancia driver Riccardo Patrese come up short by 8 points to Porsches Jacky Ickx, but Lancia also in the process lost a whole years development on their Group C challenger to the all conquering Porsche 956 that Jacky Ickx had been driving.



The first problem the Lancia LC2 faced in 1983 was inferior Pirelli radial tyres which could not take the strain of the ground effect downforce generated by the aerodynamic venturi at the back of the car. The cars proved quick in qualifying but to add to the problems at Lancia the twin turbo Ferrari V8 motors could not back the speed up with reliability.



To cure the tyre issues the LC2's ran with Dunlop cross ply tyres in 1984, this necessitated a change in suspension geometry. The cars were fast in qualifying as they had been in 1983 but the Speedline wheels were now not up to the job. Again the cars were fast in qualifying but rarely reliable over a race distance.



For 1985 Lancia switched back to radial construction tyres now supplied by Michelin, the Dallara built aluminium chassis were widened with a pronounced step in the side bodywork.



Again the cars were quick in qualifying but the Ferrari engines were unreliable. Though the team did score it's one and only victory over the works Porsche team at Spa in a race that was called early out of respect foe Stefan Bellof who had been killed in the event. At the following race at Brands Hatch it looked like the Lancia team might score another victory over the works Porsche team when the two leading Lancia's inexplicably hit it each other causing sufficient delays for the works Porsche to win again.



The Martini Lancia LC2's only appeared in a couple of races in 1986 before they withdrew from road racing completely. With just one win against the main opposition and a couple of win's when the works Porsche team were not present the works Martini Lancia effort was justly reflected in three 2nd place finishes from 1983 - 1985 in the World Endurance Championship behind the mighty Porsche team.



This 1985 car features a slippery nose that was only ever seen at Le Mans.

Next weekend there will be a race for Group C cars at the Silverstone Classic in which this Lancia is scheduled to take part, I hope to be there it should be a magnificent event.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Martini edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be taking a look at a Group C challenger from Germany. Don't forget to come back now !

Classic Expo - Race Retro, Stoneleigh, Coventry 1/2

A couple of weeks ago Tim Murray, Secretary of the Pegasus Motor Club, kindly invited me to join the club for a trip to Race Retro held at the Stoneleigh Park Exhibition and Conference Centre near Coventry, UK.



Here is an oversight of some of the details I saw in a hand full of the 500 plus photo's I took, I'd filled up my phone with images just getting from the Centre's car park to the Exhibition Hall !



Amongst the many celebrations at Race Retro was a celebration of the achievements of the Italian tuning house Abarth.



On the Minibus on the way up to Stoneleigh I found myself sitting next to the legendary classic slingshot drag racer Chris Hartnell whose infectious enthusiasm was all I needed to commit myself to going to a Drag event this season !

This is the view from Adz Prices 'Go Hard or Go Home' known, I believe, as an Altered, the car features a Topolino body and a 360 Mopar with Weland Tunnel Ram. Drag lingo is something I am going to have learn fast. I hope to come back to this vehicle with a full blog in the near future.



It's the 50th Anniversary since the launch of the iconic E-Type Jaguar. I'll be back with a few E-Type blogs to celebrate in the fullness of time.



Amongst the many Jaguars and Jaguar replica's on display was this fabulous XJR15 a model I had not seen in the flesh before.



There was an awesome display of rallying Lancia's including this Group B Delta S4 which was the highest evolution of rally cars ever devised, this particular all wheel drive car had a mid mounted engine that was both turbocharged AND supercharged. It was my good fortune to see this very vehicle in action when it came second in the 1985 RAC Rally on it's debut driven by Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki behind team mates Henri Toivonen and Neil Wilson. Another vehicle that will be the subject of a future blog.

With thanks to Tim Murray and the Pegasus Motor Club without home this blog would not have been possible.

Hope you have enjoyed the first half of my report on the Race Retro Exhibition and that you'll join me again tomorrow for part two. Don't forget to come back now !

You can't reverse that thing here mate ! - Lotus IX

Moving up the field at Thompson CT on 20th July 1958 today Ed Arnaudin's photo's feature a Lotus IX driven by Len Bastrup a respected Lotus driver who finished 2nd in Race 1 for class G, HP & HM cars.



Around thirty Lotus IX models were manufactured from 1954 to 1955 with a variety of engines available from MG, Connaught and Bristol, this particular model had the most common 4 cylinder 1098 cc / 65.4 cui Coventry Climax Class G spec motor .

The body was penned by Frank Costin, brother of Mike who gave the Cos to Cosworth, and manufactured by Williams & Pritchard, who GALPOT regulars might remember were responsible for an all time favourite of mine the special body on a BMW 315/1.

Colin Chapman the dynamo behind Lotus Cars and accomplished racing driver entered a IX for the Le Mans 24 hours in 1955.

During the race he crashed his car into a sand bank. Thinking nothing of the incident he reversed out and was promptly disqualified for unauthorised reversing.



Len Bastrup was racing from at least 1953 to 1960 starting in MG's and then moving to Lotus cars in 1955. He shared a Lotus XI at the Sebring 12 hours in 1956 with Lotus founder Colin Chapman which burst into flames after an accident in practice which caused terminal damage and withdrawal from the race before it had started.

My thanks to Ed Arnaudin for the photographs, his son Steve for sending them on and Terry O'Neil for the race results.

Hope you have enjoyed today's 45.5cui edition of Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

HM Racer - Nardi MD4 Spyder

Todays post comes courtesy of photographer Ed Arnaudin who's photo's were kindly forwarded to me courtesy of his son Steve.



Featured today is a Nardi ND 4 Spyder, seen here at the New York Championship Race meeting, Thompson CT July 20th 1958 where it came in 11th driven by John Igleheart in Race 1, a race which I will be returning to tomorrow.

Enrico Nardi was an Italian racing driver, engineer and designer who worked for Lancia and the works Alfa Romeo Scuderia Ferrari Team. Enrico is credited with being one of the first two drivers to race the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, considered to be the very first Ferrari model in all but name, in the 1940 Mille Miglia.

In 1951 Nardi established his own workshops on Via Lancia, Torino to build prototypes and one of the strangest vehicles out side of Can Am 2 the twin boom Nardi Bisiluro for the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours.



The mid 1950's ND4 Spyder is one of many of Nardi's 750 cc vehicles which came in a variety of shapes powered by a variety motors including JAP, Crosley, Panhard and in the case of this particular vehicle a 4 cylinder 43 hp 747 cc / 45.5 cui FIAT unit sourced from the FIAT 600 parts bin.

John Igleheart driver of the #95 seems to have been a specialist at racing cars with small motors he is known to have raced from at least 1953 to 1968, he seems to have been most successful driving a 'Bobsy'.

My thanks again to Ed and Steve Arnaidin for todays valuable contribution and to Terry O' Neil for the race results.

Hope you have enjoyed today's 45.5cui edition of Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Top Gear - Lancia Thesis

Lancia was founded by Vincenzo Lancia in 1906 and was run by his wife, son and Vittorio Jano upon Vincenzo's death in 1937. The company was taken over by Fiat in 1969 and has been run as a Premier Fiat brand ever since.



The Thesis was powered by a variety of straight 5 and V6 engines with horsepower ranging from 170hp to 230hp, the top speed of the 230hp V6 is around 150 mph.



Lancia ceased trading in the UK in 1984 after their Ferrari powered Thema failed to sell beyond double figures, so it is always a surprise to see a contemporary Lancia in the UK. The Thesis was in production from 2002 - 2009.



Amongst Lancia trademarks is the use of the letters of the Greek alphabet for the names of it's models. Lancia like Alfa Romeo also make a variety of commercial vehicles rarely seen outside Italy.



Innovations introduced by Lancia include the first mass manufactured monocoque vehicle which dispensed with the separate chassis a type of construction prevalent in the motor industry today, they also introduced V6 and V4 engines along with the first 5 speed gear box's as options for their vehicles.



I was surprised to learn when researching the Lancia Thesis that Lancia was named the greatest car company of all time by the presenters of the 14th series 'Top Gear' a motoring TV show produced by Britain's impartial public broadcaster the BBC.

I'd like to thank everyone from the Rowdy and Cadillac Forums who visited and made the last couple of days here bumper events. Thanks for popping by Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres, don't forget to come back now !