Replica Rallysprint - Triumph TR7

The Triumph TR7 was manufactured from 1974 to 1981.



Works competition versions of the TR7 run by British Leyland from 1976 to 1978 were initially powered by the Dolomite Sprint 16 valve engine and later switched to the ubiquitous (in the UK) aluminium Buick derived Rover V8.



This is vehicle has replica paintwork of a Triumph works rally car registered OOM512M was used in the single stage 1978 Texaco Rally Sprint a staged for TV event run at at Esgair Dafydd, in Wales, won by Per Eklund in a later Triumph TR7 with Tony Pond coming second in the #6.



If the registration plates on this particular are original then this TR7 was first registered in Birmingham in 1976 and it is fitted with the later Rover V8 engine according to the records made available to me.

My thanks to Tim Murray and RS2000 at The Nostalgia Forum for their help identifying the event in which OOM512M ran.

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

Sub 7 Second Family ? - Chevrolet Corvette C1

After a thrilling Aarrons 499 in April '09, my friends Throttleneckracing and Checkeredflagstilettos kindly took me back to Atlanta and put me up in a hotel using TNR's loyalty points and we had a great meal at a local Cracker Barrel.



That night my head still buzzing from a combination of jet lag, 3 days of Alabama sunshine and hundreds of laps of 200 mph racing action I found my self watching drag racing for the first time on the Speed Channel.



Despite the fact I was physically exhausted, I was enthralled and fully engaged mentally by the sight of earth shaking top fuel drag cars spitting flames a good 10 to 20 feet into the air.



A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I met Drag Racer Chris 'Backdraft' Hartnell on a Bristol Pegasus Motor Club trip to Race Retro at Stoneleigh and such was his enthusiasm for the sport I am determined to go and see a drag race at Shakespeare County Raceway this year.



If I am lucky I hope to catch site of this outrageous pro modified Corvette C1 run by Ian Hanson and his family team comprising his wife Pauline son Richard, brother Colin, sister in law Karen and nephew Tom.



Chris tells me that Ian's car has this outsize magneto to deliver charge to the spark plugs in place of a battery which would be run flat by the electrical requirements of this humongous motor.



The blurb on Ian's motor read something like "8860cc / 540 cui all alloy New Century Chevrolet Big Block, with forged Arias pistons, Brooks alloy rods, Howards billet crank, and Aviade dry sump oil system that is hiding behind an Enderie 'Big & Ugly' injector hat and fuel system with an 8/71 Teflon Stage 4 Littlefield Supercharger".



Last year Ian set a new Supercharged Outlaws UK et record of 7.29 seconds over a distance of 402 meters.



The record was set with the engine in a 'mild state of tune' producing around 1,700 (Seventeen Hundred) hp !



This year Ian will be turning up the boost a little further...



and attempt to cover the 402 meters in under 7 seconds.



I am sure you will join me in wishing Ian all the best, with a little luck I'll be there to see it, with a bit more luck I might just have time to take a photograph.

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

West Coast Detailing - Lotus XI

A couple of weeks ago I looked at Ed Arnaudin's photo of Floyd Aaskov's Lotus XI at Thompson CT taken in 1958, where you will find details about the Lotus XI model.



Today we are looking Carlyle Blackwell's photograph of Jack Nethercutt's Lotus XI at Paramount Ranch in 1956/57.

It would appear that Jacks Lotus XI ran a similar 4 cylinder 1098 cc /67 cui Coventry Climax engine to Floyd Aaskov. One thing that stands out about Jacks car is how amazingly clean it looks, it looks as well detailed in many other photographs I have seen of this vehicle.

Records indicate that Jack Nethercutt started racing in 1956 with a Mercedes Benz 300 SL, oddly records indicate Floyd Aaskov started racing in a similar model 12 months later on the east coast. In 1957 Jack started notching up regular GM class wins on the West Coast and in 1958 he acquired a Ferrari 500 TRC with which he started winning in the 2 litre / 122 cui EM class.

In 1959 Jack upgraded his 500 TR by fitting a 2.5 litre motor in and running in the 152 cui DM class in which he continued his record of accumulating class wins.

For 1960 Jack took delivery of a Ferrari 250 TR 59 with which he again took class wins in the 187 cui S1 division including a third overall in the Sebring 12 Hours. Half way through 1961 Jack swapped his Ferrari for a Lotus 19 and again running in the DM class continued his winning ways until 1964, taking a class win at the '62 Riverside 6 hours with a one off drive in a Morgan plus 4 along the way.

Records show that Jacks career ended in 1965 driving a Mirage Oldsmobile in the over 5 litre / 305 cui class still carrying the #102 but without much in the way of success.

Jack appears to have settled for running a Mirage Chevrolet for Scooter Patrick in the first Can Am championship in 1967.

A similar photograph by Carlyle Blackwell to photograph above appeared on the cover of Road & Track in March 1957.



The caption read "It was dry and hot at Paramount Ranch, near Los Angeles, the day Carlyle Blackwell shot our March cover - but no hotter than the Lotus Eleven, driven here by its owner, Jack Nethercutt."

My thanks to Carlyle Blackwell who took these photographs, to Ed Arnaudin who purchased the copy in the 1950's and to his son Steve for sending me the scan, thanks also to Jean L and JB Miltonian at the TNF Forum for their help in identifying the track and coming up with the R&T details.

I hope you have enjoyed today's West Coast detailed edition of "Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres" and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Austin Healey Sebring Sprite

The Austin Healey 'Sebring' Sprite name refers to any Austin Healey Sprite with front disc brakes and more recently to any Sprite with Coupé or Fastback bodywork.



Following a change in the sports car regulations in 1960 which allowed special bodies, rally and racing driver John Sprinzel commissioned Williams & Pritchard to build 6 aluminium bodied Sprites with coupé bodywork between Dec 1960 and May 1961.



This 1960 vehicle purchased new by Cyril Simson started life as a standard Austin Healey Sprite registered YLN13, Cyril changed the registration to S221 and raced it as part of Team 221 with two other sprites H221 and X221.



Paul Hawkins drove it to victory at Aintree and S221 was part of the Sprinzel Sprite Team that took team honours at the Nurburgring.



Originally powered by a 43 hp 948 cc / 57 cui motor this particular unit, prepared by Janspeed, was shown to be delivering over 85 hp at the recent Race Retro exhibition.



For 1961 the car was prepared by John Sprizel and it was one of the six Sprinzel cars sent to Williams & Pritchard to be fitted with a aluminium coupé body.



The car was then driven in practice by Stirling Moss for the Sebring 4 hours who promptly stripped the clutch and transferred to another team car after repairs were made Pat Moss & Paul Hawkins drove S221 in the four hour race. S221 was then prepared again overnight for Cyril and Paul Hawkins to drive in the Sebring 12 Hours where they came in 37th.



In August 1961 S221 was sold to Peter Clark and it was reregistered and rolled at the Karrussel on the Nurburgring. The car was repaired and an extended fast back body was fitted by Peel Coach works.

The longest term owner of this vehicle Colin Pearcy had Len Pritchard make a new alloy rear end and coupé top and most recent owner Chris Clegg reunited the car with its S221 registration and has driven it competitively for several years with Archers Motors taking care of the race preparation.

My thanks to Janspeed who facilitated the photo's of the engine and interior.

Hope you have enjoyed to days Sebring edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Leading From The Front - Ferrari F550

In 1996 the Ferrari F 550 saw the return of a model with a motor in the front to the top of the Ferrari range for the first time, since the much loved Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB4, in 20 years.



This top end vehicle was powered by a 485 hp twin cam 48 valve V12.



Featuring a tubular steel chassis the F550 was clothed with an aluminium body.



Capable of reaching 60 mph from rest in just 4.2 seconds the F550 could cover 402 meters in 12.5 seconds and had a top speed of 199 mph.



The F 550 was also used in sports car racing by several private entrants including Prodrive who built 10 vehicles for themselves and BMS Scuderia Italia. Victories included a Class win at Le Mans for Prodrive in 2003 and the FIA GT Championship for BMS Scuderia Italia in 2004.

Hope you have enjoyed today's front engine Ferrari Friday edition of 'Gettin a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow. Don'r forget to come back now :-)

The Olde Favourite - Jaguar E-Type #850216

Like the humble Renault 4, the E-Type Jaguar celebrates it's Golden Anniversary this year.



When the E-type Jaguar was launched in 1961 Enzo Ferrari could afford to pay the car a compliment by describing it as 'being the most beautiful car in the world', because he knew his own cars were generally lighter and had more powerful aluminium motors.



The E-type was a direct descendent of the three times Le Mans winning D- Type with an 3.8 litre / 231 cui evolution of the same iron block straight 6 double overhead cam XK6 motor.



This 1961 Series 1 model was delivered to Jaguar agent, Dumbuck Garage, run by Mr & Mrs Stewart parents of the marginally more famous Jimmy Stewart and younger brother the now infinitely more famous Jackie Stewart.



While the car was on the Dumbuck Garage demonstration fleet carrying the registration plate FSN 1 Jackie Stewart got married to Helen and was photographed sitting in this car with his bride on their wedding day.



Subsequently Jackie drove the car to several victories in 1962 which led to his first professional contracts with Ecurie Ecosse and John Coombs for 1963.



Allegedly this vehicle is known as "The Olde Favourite" in Jackie Stewarts family and is currently owned by Michael Wilkinson.

I hope you have enjoyed `The Olde Favourite' edition of "Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres" and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Asymmetrical Anniversary - Renault 4 GTL

With the demise of the Renault 4CV in 1961, Renault needed a new utility vehicle to compete with the ubiquitous if agricultural Citroen 2CV which had been in production since 1948.



Renault Chairman Pierre Dreyfus came up with an urban vehicle that was superior to the 2CV in almost every aspect in the form of the front wheel drive Renault 4.



Built from 1961 to 1994 the Renault 4 was powered by a variety of motors from 747 cc 45.6 cui to 1300 cc 78.7 cui all water cooled in line 4 cylinder engines. In the first year there was a baby R4 with a 603 cc 36.7 cui engine marketed in France only as the R3.



Over 8,300,000 Renault 4's were built, the 1st million had been built by 1966 in just over four years. Renault 4 was built / assembled at Billancourt, France in Australia, Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Slovenia, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Ireland, Morocco, Algeria and from 1965 to 1964 41, 809 R4's were built under licence by Alfa Romeo in Italy.



Few people outside Renault and the motor industry realise that the Renault 4 has an asymmetrical wheel base with the left hand rear wheel being mounted just ahead of the right rear because each wheel is sprung by its own torsion bar mounted across the width of the chassis.



Like the 2CV the Renault 4 has a box chassis unlike the 2CV the R4's chassis stiffness is dependant on all the body panels being attached.



A 20hp Renault 4 was entered in the 1962 Monre Carlo Rally in which it was classified last, an all wheel drive Sinpar version came 3rd in the 1980 Paris Dakar Rally and to celebrate it's 50th Birthday a team of three Renault 4's were entered in the 2011 Monte Carlo Rally.



Renault 4's are great fun to drive with dash mounted umbrella gear sticks and hand brake levers,
happy Golden Anniversary Renault 4 !

My thanks to Steve Arnaudin for reminding me of this anniversary.

Hope you have enjoyed today's asymmetrical edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow for another 50th Anniversary. Don't forget to come back now !