Choking on a clothes peg - Austin 10

The Austin 10 produced from 1932 to 1947 was a mid range car fitting between the Austin 7 and Austin 12.



Austin kept the chassis low by dipping the chassis frames 2 3/4 inches between the front and rear axles.



Capable of 55 mph and 34 imperial mpg this pre 1934 version, originally registered in Derbyshire, would have cost £168 when new. The clothes peg operating the choke is a not a factory fitted item.



In 1939 the Austin 10 was restyled by Argenrtine Ricardo "Dick" Burzi and 53,000 '10s' were produced during the course of WW2 for use by the UK armed forces. After the war almost all Austin 10s were exported the first exported to the USA in July '45, in September '45 the first cars to be imported into Switzerland after the war were a pair of Austin 10s.

Hope you have enjoyed today's open top edition of 'Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres' and that you'll be up for getting down and dirty with me for some grass track fun tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Brotherly love - Riley 9

The chassis of the Riley 9 was designed by Stanley Riley while the hemi head 1087 cc 66 cui was designed by his brother Percy. Riley 9s were produced from 1926 - 1938 with a variety of body styles.



The twin cam engine with short push rods operating the 45 degree inclined valves proved particularly suitable for tuning and Riley 9s were raced with great success into the mid 1950's. This version, seen at Prescott top and Loton Park bottom, is owned by B Wildsmith and driven in VSCC events by Tim Hopkinson is a Special dating from 1929/34.

Hope you have enjoyed today's brotherly love edition of Getting a lil' psycho on tyres and that you'll join me tomorrow for a look at another quintessentially British motor car. Don't forget to come back now !

The slowest car they have ever built - Audi R8

For the 8th day of Christmas and first day of the New Year I present this Audi R8.



According to the on line publicity it takes 70 skilled workers to fit over 5,000 unique parts to each vehicle and build 25 of these cars a day.



These vents direct air straight through the car.



The aluminium space frame which includes 99 meters of welds, 782 punch rivets, 308 self tapping screws, and 113 weld studs takes 45 minutes to manufacture.



The R8 rides on a magnetic damping system which provides the the driver with two modes of ride, comfort or sport.



This is the first Audi to compete with Porsche it is not quite as quick to accelerate but has been demonstrated to have slightly better handling than the 997.



Powered by a 420 hp all aluminium dry sump 32 valve V8 with Fuel Stratified Injection, FSI, the R8 is capable of a 12.8 sec 1/4 mile and a top speed in excess of 185 mph.



Audi use 210 exterior LED's in the R8, 186 of them as brake lights which run at 5,700 degrees centigrade, they are said to use 50% less energy than conventional bulbs.



Expect to see racing versions of the R8 in two wheel drive form make an impact in GT3 racing in the coming year particularly at the annual 24 hour Nurburgring race.

Hope you have enjoyed to today's LED edition of 'Getting a lil' psycho on tyres and that you will join me tomorrow living the life of Riley. Wishing you all a healthy and happy New Year, don't forget to come back now !

Magnificent Seven - Ferrari F430 GTC

The F430 was in production from 2004 - 2009 starting with side vents harking back to the Ferrari 250 TR 61 Spyder Fantuzzi this car wreaks racing business from it's nose to Enzo inspired tail lights.

Particularly popular amongst sports stars and minor TV celebrities the F430 was tasked with going up against the teutonic might of Porsche in sports car classes GT2 and GT3.

These 4 litre F430 GTC photos are from the GT2 Class during the Silverstone 1000 kms last year.



Chassis #2408 Bruni/Bell, JMW Motorsport 23rd overall, 1st GT2.



Chassis #2636 Melo/Garcia/L Mansell, 26th overall, 4th GT2.



Chassis #2608 Kaffer/Montanari, Hankook Team Farnbacher, 27th overall, 5th GT2.



Chassis #2402, Rosa/Montermini/Cadei, FBR, 29th overall, 6th GT2.



Chassis # 2476, Basso/Tenchini/Plati, Easyrace, 34th overall, 11th GT2.



Chassis #2450, Daoudi /Hartshorne/Kutemann, JMB Racing, 35th overall, 12th GT2.



Chassis #2612, Farnbacher/Ehret/Beltoise, FBR, Not Classified.

Missing from this set is the Griffin / Bamford, Advanced Engineering car which came in 33rd overall, 10th GT2.

In case you have still not had enough Ferrari's I have updated last weeks 250 GTO blog with another photo I found of '250 GTO #3757' taken last year.

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Hope you have enjoyed my first 103 posts and you'll join me again tomorrow, don't forget to come back now !

All about the anodised alloy - Triumph Vitesse 6

The Triumph Vitesse 6 was a four seat sports car available as a four seat convertible.



Styled like the Triumph Herald, with separate chassis and body panels, by Michelotti, the Vitesse 6 is distinguished by the twin head light bonnet, a 6 cylinder engine and up rated brakes and front suspension.



From the rear there is little to help distinguish a Vitesse from a Herald apart from the anodised alloy bumper bar in place of the white plastic covered item of the Herald and the chrome mid rift trim of the Vitesse goes all the way back to the tail lights.



The twin carb 6 cylinder engine of the Vitesse 6 can trace its origins back to the 4 cylinder Standard 8 of 1953, a weld seam on the block shows where the 'extra cylinders' were added.



This model registered in Guildford in 1966 with around 80 hp has a top speed of 91 mph. The Vitesse was superseded by the Vitesse Mk2 in 1968.

I'd like to round out today's edition with congratulations to 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' contributors Ed and Steve Arnaudin, father and son who celebrate their wedding anniversaries today, not forgetting to congratulate their undoubtedly better halves :-)

Hope you have enjoyed todays 6 cylinder edition of 'Getting a lil' psycho on tyres and that you'll join me tomorrow for Ferrari Friday any one for seven Ferraris on 7th day of Christmas ? Don't forget to come back now !

Black Jack & Le Car - Renault 5

The Renault 5 was a versatile super mini launched in 1972, in Europe many countries ran a one make virtually stock Renault 5 Championship which brought many drivers their first taste of semi professional competition including Austrian Formula One driver Gerhard Berger.

In the States this vehicle known as Le Car dominated the 1977 SCCA Showroom Stock class C division and gained added notoriety when La Conner Washington police department traded in one of its full size cruisers for three Le Cars.



In 1980 three time world champion Sir Jack Brabham was persuaded to come out retirement for the first time in 10 years to take part in a British Saloon Car Championship race at Brands Hatch which took place on the same day as the British Grand Prix.

Though the car was giving away 200 cc 12 cui to the class leading Toyotas VWs and Audi 80's prepared by GTi Engineering, one of which was driven by the equally recently out of retirement Stirling Moss, it must be assumed that Black Jack was game for a laugh with his old sparing partner from the late 50's early 60's.

The Renault was woefully uncompetitive having neither the power or the handling to keep up with the class leading Audis but come race day Sir Jack Brabham had an ace up his sleeve, falling further and further behind the pack on the long Brands Grand Prix Circuit much to the amusement and in full view of 80,000 spectators Jack decided to take a 1 mile short cut by using the club circuit link road and so finished ahead of Stirling Moss on the road even though he was of course obviously disqualified.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Black Jack edition of 'Gettin a lil' psycho on tyres and that you will join me tomorrow for a 6 cylinder edition tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

4 Wheels & 4 Cylinders - Morgan 4-4

Morgan launched the 4-4 series in 1936 with a 2 seat body the first Morgan model to feature a 4 cylinder engine on a 4 wheel chassis.



The original 34 hp Coventry Climax engine was superseded by a 38.8 Standard overhead valve engine in 1939.



Four seat versions such as this are rarities introduced in 1937 just 99 were made until 1939 and 140 were produced from 1946 to 1950. I am not sure if this is one of the pre war or post war models.



Though it has undergone many changes the 4-4 series rebranded 4/4 in 1955 lays claim to being the motor car model with the oldest production run from 1936 to the present day only interrupted by WW2 from 1939 to 1946.

Hope you have enjoyed another ash framed edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me tomorrow for a mix of French and Australian humour, don't forget to come back now !