Plymouth PB Sports Roadster

GALPOT Weekly #14/13

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly #14/13 a review of the seven blogs posted at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" from April 1st to April 7th. . Monday's post featured this Chevrolet AK Pickup, sans the anti rattle tailgate fastening that was mentioned in the Sales literature. 2013 marks the centenary of Morris car production so on Tuesdays this month I'll be celebrating with a look at some Morris Models which began with this 1925 Morris Oxford. On Easter Monday I visited the Thruxton Circuit for the first time in way too many years for their Easter Revival Meeting, Bristol Veterinarian Nelson Rowe, seen above driving the #87 1971 Crosslé 20F in second place was a two time winner on the day winning the Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Ford 2000 events. If your a fan of silky smooth engines you'll probably want to be driving a V12, the 1936 Lincoln Zephyr V12 featured on Thursday has some interesting options. Two wins were recorded by the Ferrari 750 Monza chassis #0504, featured on Ferrari Friday, the first was by Mike Sparken on on the cars debut in the gadir Grand Prix for sport cars and the second was in the hands of Marsten Gregory who won a race at the Portuguese track Monsanto in 1955. There were five Lotus Esprit X180R's built between 1990 and 1991 the one featured on Saturday is fitted with 1991 bodywork of the type that Doc Bundy used to win the IMSA Bridgestone Super Car Championship in 1992. This month's Sunday posts will feature four McLaren's, the manufacturer is celebrating it's fiftieth anniversary this year and is now the second oldest, behind Ferrari on the Formula One grid. The first car McLaren built was an upgrade on Roger Penske's Zerex Special sports car featuring a new chassis that was last seen in Venezuela. Bruce followed that up with another sports car the McLaren M1A which was produced in limited numbers by Trojan's subsidiary Elva who built the chassis I looked at on Sunday. Thanks for joining me on this "GALPOT Weekly #14/13" edition of "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" and thanks to all those who have spread the word by sharing by blogs on fb, Ryan ;-), and pressed the "Like" button when the blogs have appeared on the "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" facebook page. I hope you have enjoyed catching up using the links and that you will join me daily during the week ahead, don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #11/13

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly #11/13 a review of the last seven posts at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres". Monday's post featured this 1941 Prow Front Ford F1 1/2 ton Pickup styled by Ford's chief designer E.T. "Bob" Gregorie. This 1928 Singer 8 Junior Sport was the subject of Tuesday's blog, one just like it was observed by the Royal Automobile Club to have climbed the 1:4 Porlock Hill in Devon 100 times in 15 hours. Land locked Switzerland is better known for skiing in it's alpine mountains than manufacturing motor vehicles or the presence of any sharks but that did not stop Swiss Peter Monteverdi building four Dodge V8 powered super cars, one of which I looked at on Wednesday and giving them the Monteverdi Hai (Shark) model name. On Americana Thursday I looked at the history of the Cadillac Coupé de Ville and on the Cannonball Run. The Ferrari 250 GTO, above, that I looked at on Ferrari Friday had been raced on three continents before being purchased by the current owners family in 1974. Satoru Nakajima parted with Team Lotus after three relatively unremarkable years with a forth place finish and fastest lap at the 1989 Australian Grand Prix driving a Lotus Judd 101 similar to the one above that featured in yesterday's blog. The 1973 BRM P160 E which features today was shared 50 50 by Clay Regazzoni and Jean Pierre Beltoise it's best finish was in it's first race at the non Championship International Trophy at Silverstone where Clay scored a third place finish from an eighth place start. Thanks for joining me on this "GALPOT Weekly #11/13" edition of "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres", I hope you have enjoyed catching up with the last seven posts using the links provided and that you will join me again daily during the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #10/13

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly 10/13 a review of the seven blogs at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" posted between March 4th and 11th. The week started with a look at this 1939 Ford One Ton Pick Up the first Blue Oval pick up to be fitted with hydraulic brakes. Tuesday's post featured this li'l 1928 Singer 8 Saloon powered by a 16.5 hp motor who's crankshaft runs in just two bearings. Thanks to Geoffrey Horton Wednesday's post featured some California sunshine as seen at the Palm Springs Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance where this 1931 Chrysler Imperial was one of the stars of the show. Cadillac's 1941 Series 62 Coupé which quadrupled was the subject of Thursday's blog. Annie Soisbault drove this 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which was the subject of Ferrari Friday's blog, to a win in the 1965 Grand Prix of Paris. Thanks to US$ 35 million of funding from General Motors Lotus developed the Lotus M100 Elan which was launched in 1989, the 1991 Elan Turbo SE version seen here was the subject of Saturdays blog. The final post of the week featured two 1973 Surtees Ford TS14 Formula One cars which were hampered by their Firestone Tyres thanks to the suppliers imminent withdrawal from the sport and consequent lack of development. Thanks for joining me on this "GALPOT Weekly #10/13" edition of "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" I hope you have enjoyed catching up with the last seven posts using the links provided and that you will join me again daily in the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #60

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly #60 a review of the last seven posts at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" A converted Hillman Imp Super Pick Up was featured on Monday's blog, the donor car was given to the owner after the body work was found to be a little less than solid in some areas. Last of the current schedule of Hot Rover series was this shot silk chromescent MG ZT-T estate / station which was featured on Tuesday. Wednesdays continental curiosity was the Fiat 128 based Zastava Type 101, which has been marketed with many names including the Yugo 511 in the UK. On Americana Thursday I stepped up the pace with a look at this 2010 supercharged Shelby GT 500. Ferrari Friday's post was about this two owner 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza which has been raced by the likes of 1961 World Champion Phil Hill, Carol Shelby and it's current owner Jim Hall of Chaparral fame. Yesterday's Lotus blog was about the Lotus S2 Type 79 note to be confused with the Lotus 79 Formula One racing car. Todays post features this Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé designed for convivial motoring. Thanks for joining me on this " GALPOT Weekly #60" edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" I hope you have enjoyed catching up with the last seven posts using the highlighted links and that you will join me daily during the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

Jig Free - Lea Francis 30/230

In August 1895 Richard Lea and Graham Francis entered into a partnership to manufacture bicycles, like the another cycle turned motor manufacturer Rover, Lea Francis was based in Coventry. In 1903 Lea Francis manufactured three unconventional vehicles with complex three cylinder motors that were not a success and from 1912 to 1924 the company manufactured motor cycles.



Lea Francis entered motor car manufacture again in 1919 with vehicles using popular Meadows engines, Lea Francis became the first marque to offer a supercharged production car, the Hyper in 1927 and the following year a Hyper won the Tourist Trophy.



The company went bankrupt in the early 1930's and was revived in 1937 to produce a fresh vehicle designed by former Riley engineer Hugh Rose, the successors to this car proved popular after the second world war in saloon and sports car forms.



Car production ceased again in 1962 since when the company was kept alive by Barrie Price who provided spares and restoration services and occasional new low volume cars. In 1996 father of the Jaguar XJ220 Professor Jim Randle was engaged to design the 30/230 seen here at Goodwood Festival of Speed.



The aluminium bodied car was to be powered by a 235 hp 3 litlre / 183 cui V6 Vauxhall (UK GM) motor.



Among the novel features the chassis was made by riveting laser cut aluminium panels, a process that requires no conventional jigs, and a patented active suspension system.



Unfortunately, like the planed Lea Francis Limousine which aimed to fill the niche left by the Daimler DS240, the 30/230 did not go into production.

Thanks for joining me on this Lea Francis edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres'. I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be reviewing some of the event's at this weekend's Goodwood Revival. Don't forget to come back now !

Suspension by Chris Lawrence - Morgan Aero 8

Up until 2000 the last time Morgan had introduced a new body style was 1964, only 26 glass fibre bodied +4+ cars were built over 4 years and since that time Morgan have successfully focused on improving a design that dates back to 1936.



In 2000 Morgan launched a genuinely ground up new 'retro' design the Morgan Aero 8, a clear nod to Morgan's successful past with an eye on the future.



The heart of the Aero 8 was a 325 hp 4.4 litre / 268.5 cui BMW V8, with fake Morgan cam covers, capable of accelerating the car from rest to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and on to a top speed of over 170 mph.



The all new aluminium chassis, completely unrelated to the steel ladder chassis of earlier models, was developed with the help of Morgan's best known racing exponent and tuner Chris Lawrence. Unusually for a vehicle with this kind of performance the chassis and suspension are so stiff that the suspension does not have anti roll / sway bars.



The Aero 8 has since been offered as a limited edition coupé the Aero Max, of which just 100 have been built and the Targa topped Aero SuperSports. Production of these cars is coming to an end at the Morgan factory, in anticipation of a new Morgan 4 wheel model.

An insight into some of the work of Chris Lawrence, who passed away on August 13th, can be found on this link.

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

DIY with a Fiesta - Quantum 2 + 2

Mark and Harvey Wooldridge founded Quantum Sports Cars in 1987 to produce a Coupé kit car designed by Harvey to take Mk 1 Ford Fiesta running gear, 17 examples were built.



In 1991 Quantum introduced a saloon model with pop up headlights designed around Mk 2 Ford Fiesta running gear .



The 2+2 model seen here was also designed around Mk2 Ford Fiesta running gear and introduced in 1993. To date it is thought around 400 examples have been built, 2 + 2 kits built by Quantum Kit Cars Limited of Bristol are available from Quantum Heritage.



This particular Quantum stated life as a Mk 2 Fiesta with a 1600 cc / 97.6 cui motor in 1985/85 first registered in Shrewsbury. I am not sure when the car was given the Quantum body but it's driver informed me that it recently had a 2 litre / 122 cui engine installed as have many others of the type. Notice the smoked rear light clusteres which were sourced from the Ford Sapphire parts bin.



If you'd like to know more about the marque I'd recommend getting in touch with the extremely active Quantum Owners Club.

I hope you have enjoyed today's DIY edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't for get to come back now !

Whippin' up a storm - Tornado TSC GT40

A couple of years ago I stumbled across this replica GT40 in the paddock at Castle Combe.



This particular replica marketed under the model name TSC GT40 was manufactured by Tornado Sports Cars of Kidderminster, Worcestershire.



Father and son Alan and Andy Sheldon founded Tornado Sports Cars in 1984 to manufacture self assembly vehicles which could be built by enthusiasts using only simple hand tools.



The first self assembly model Tornado manufactured was the M6GT, a replica of Bruce McLarens well known M6GT road car project which was to take a Can Am Championship Winning McLaren M6 and turn it into a closed cockpit road car for the public to buy. Production of the Tornado M6GT ceased in 1992 3 years after the introduction of the incredibly successful TSC GT40 started.



In 1997 Allan Sheldon retired leaving Andy in charge. Amazingly 22 years after it's introduction the TSC GT40 is still in production with hundreds of kits having been sold in 31 countries.



To my eyes like David Pipers continuation Ferrari P4 the TSC GT40 seems to share rear light cluster designs originating in the humble little FIAT 850.

For further information on the TSC GT40 I recommend visiting the Tornado Sports Cars website which caters for the casual enthusiast like myself and the prospective customer.

Hope you have enjoyed this weeks home built editions of 'Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me for a special two for the price of one edition of Ferrari Friday tomorrow ! Don't for get to come back now !

PS If you have not had your fix of Fords today try catching up with the latest on the rumoured new Ford GT with Michele Rahal over on the Drive Channel.

Take a bow Dave Randall - Ginetta G4

A couple of months ago I was visiting my folks up near London, went for a walk and and stumbled into this wonderful 1966 Ginetta G4 belonging to Dave Randall.



He told me his car is fitted with a Ford 1500 cc 91 cui engine and that he races it in the HSCC Historic Road Sports Series. It turns out the next day Dave went to Mallory and scored a perfect Q1, F1, C1 and fastest lap !
Not bad racing against more powerful Morgan's and Triumphs.

Research has revealed that Dave won the 2010 HSCC Historic Road Sports Series Championship with one round to go. Congratulations Dave !

Wishing everyone a sunny day, don't forget to come back now !