Too Dangerous To Race - Ferrari GTO

The Ferrari (288) GTO was designed to meet the 4 litre Group B regulations for rallying and racing sports cars which came into effect in 1982 .



To be homologated, granted approval, to compete in the liberal loose Group B classes of rallys and races 200 identical examples of a model had to be manufactured.



From 1984 - 1986 272 examples of the Ferrari 288 GTO were manufactured with a view to competing against the similar, albeit fitted with 4 wheel drive, Porsche 959/961.



The 288 GTO was loosely based on the Ferrari 308 GTB though the rear bodywork was extended to incorporate the engine which was now longitudinally mounted rather than transversely mounted as in the 308 GTB.



Pininfarina designed body panels for the 288 GTO were manufactured from a combination of fibreglass, aluminium and F1 technology Kevlar however in the interests of safety the door panels were made of steel.



With four hundred horsepower available, in road trim, from the twin turbo charged 2855 cc / 174 cui V8 it is regrettable that the 288 GTO never saw any competitive action as a result of the Group B regulations being deemed to dangerous for competition after a number of fatalities in Group B rally events during 1986. By 1987 the Group B regulations and even more lax Group S regulations had been suspended in the interests of safety.

This 1985 model, known officially as a Ferrari GTO but often called 288 GTO to distinguish it from other Ferrari GTO models, is seen at the recent Italian Auto Moto Festival in Bristol.

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

Black Cat - Jaguar XK120 #670138

I'd like to thank Geoffrey Horton for sending me these photographs of Phil Hill's Jaguar XK120 at the 2007 Danville Concours de Elegance.



This chassis #670138 is known to have been raced by Phil, who was guest of honour at Danville in 2007, in at least 3 races in 1950 in which he scored two second place finishes and a win in the 100 Mile race at Pebble Beach in November 1950.



Last week it came to light that I had overlooked something in my original blog on the XK120, namely that while the standard XK 120 took it's name from it's 120 mph capability, it has transpired that Norman Dewis was bolted into an XK120 with a streamlined roof and recorded a production car record speed of 172.412 mph on the 21st October 1953 driving along a stretch of Belgian Motorway known as the Jabbeke Straight, between Bruges and Ostend.

My thanks to Terry, Tim, Allan, and Tony at The Nostalgia Forum for the additional details and thanks again to Geoffrey for today's marvellous photographs.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Black Cat edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow, Ferrari Friday, for a look at my favourite road going V8 Ferrari. Don't forget to come back now !

Cobra Killer - de Tomaso Mangusta # 8MA 1216

This Mangusta is one of a handful of genuinely show stopping cars at the Italian Auto Moto Festival on Bristol last weekend and my personal favourite of those present.



When I was a kid and we got our first black and white television I was completely captivated by a Sci Fi puppet series called Thunderbirds and there were three real machines representing transport that seemed to capture that vision of the future, the Mangusta with its clean lines and gullwing engine cover, the supersonic Concorde and the ship named Queen Elizabeth 2 or QE2.



Mangusta translated means mongoose a carnivore immune to some snake venom known to kill vipers and typically avoid cobra's. However the myth is that Mongeese are cobra killers and that is why the name was chosen for this vehicle because de Tomaso wanted to build a car that was better than the Shelby Cobra after a misunderstanding about a supply of engines that went to Shelby.



The Giorgetto Giugiaro body is fitted on to pressed steel back bone chassis which has it's origins in de Tomaso's first road car the Ford 4 cylinder Kent powered Vallelunga.



401 Mangusta's are thought to have been built from 1964 to 1968 of which around 128 may have survived.



All bar one Mangusta were fitted with Ford V8's the 306 hp 4729 cc / 289 cui for the European Markets, and the 220 hp 4949 cc / 302 cui for the US Market, the US versions had pop up lights in place of the twin headlamps of the European versions. The odd Mangusta was built with a Chevrolet Small Block V8.



Tarantino aficionado's might recognise the 155 mph Mangusta from Kill Bill Vol. 2, see trailer at 1m 27 seconds, and Kylie Minogue fans might recognise the Mangusta from the 2001 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' video.



Chassis 8MA 1216 seen here was purchased by Alitalia pilot Giancarlo Furiosi and kept by him until 2009 when portrait photographer Jonathan Root acquired it.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Cobra Killer edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a black cat. Don't forget to come back now !

More Mini Fun - ABS Freestyle

While at Dundry for the Cross Trophy Car Trial on Sunday I came across several vehicles about which I knew very little including this ABS Freestyle.



Manufactured by Westholme Aviation Limited in Somerset this kit car was marketed by Funbuggies.



The steering gear from a Mini is bolted onto the front of the chassis, with integral roll cage,



and a similarly sourced engine and gearbox is bolted on to the back.



Extra grip to the rear, driven, wheels is afforded by the two spare wheels mounted on a separate cage behind the engine.



This ABS Freestyle which is SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) tested and road registered is shared by father and son Richard and Matthew who trailer the Freestyle to and from events as it does not offer much protection from inclement weather.

Unfortunately ABS Freestyles are no longer in production and Funbuggies appears to be no longer in business.

SOT further to yesterdays blog it turns out that not only did I win the front engine front wheel drive class in Sundays Cross Trophy Car Trial but Tim Murray informs me that my scores when adjusted by an index against all the entries in the other 'Clubsport' classes that I also won the Cross Trophy as well ! I am honoured, humbled and pleased as punch. Apparently the trophy will be awarded at the end of season AGM which will no doubt be the subject of another blog.

Hope you have enjoyed today's Freetstyle edition of 'Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow for a look at a show stopper. Don't forget to come back now !

Beginners Luck - Cross Trophy Car Trial

Yesterday marked my return to competitive driving, after a 21 year gap, as a rookie in the discipline of Production Car Trials, a low cost discipline that was just as unlikely as my first attempt at competition in a series for Citroen 2 CV's and in a vehicle with an equally unlikely competition history.



The Cross Trophy Car Trial was held in a field belonging to fellow competitor Duncan seen here at the wheel of his magnificent 1921 GN with his daughter just visible in the passenger seat.



A car trial is an event in which competitors are required to drive up a variety of 'off road courses' of varying difficulty, none of which on this event was more than a hundred yards long several of which were considerably shorter. The courses were marked out by Clerk of the Course Mal.



The aim of the competition is to see who can get the furthest up each hill with points being awarded on the number of markers cleared by the front wheels. Here the Westfield Ford of Malcom & Ann from Kidderminster can be seen scoring a perfect zero having cleared the last marker of a hill. The competitor with the lowest number of points wins his or her class.



I was running in the production front wheel drive class for vehicles which included this Citroen AX.



The 3 other classes included Front engine open sports cars, like this Scimitar SS1 1600 crewed by Dave and Chris from Yeovil who were running this car in for the much longer Lands End Trial next week,



front engine rear wheel drive saloon cars like this Ford Escort RS 1600 being driven by Nigel and his daughter Alice seen at the wheel here celebrating her 16th birthday,



and finally rear engine rear wheel drive cars like this Joyner being driven by fellow rookies to the discipline Ian & Tanya.



I had been unable to find a passenger for this event but fortunately 12 year old Laura seen here stepped in on the day and bravely sat alongside me in the 20 year old VW Passat as I struggled to find traction with clearly the largest car in the competition.



During scruitineering the battery and ballast security was checked, Malcom & Ann were carrying 280 lbs / 127 kgs of steel over the rear wheels of their Westfield, I had no ballast in the Passat. Tyre pressures for which a minimum permissible 14 psi was highly recommended were also checked during scruitineering.



Laura found my Passat considerably more comfortable than her Dad Andy's Marlin in which she was also a passenger and by the end of the day Andy, Laura and I had all swapped passenger roles, going up a slope in a light rear wheel drive vehicle seemed considerably easier than a heavy front wheel drive car like the Passat.



After a total of four attempts on each of the five hills the Bristol Pegasus MC's secretary Tim Murray, seen in the background here, added up the scores of all competitors and unbelievably yours truly was announced as winner of the front engine front wheel drive class, call it beginners luck or the versatility of the large and in charge Passat, I was thrilled to bits.

My thanks to Duncan, Laura, Andy, Mal, Tim, to my fellow competitors and everyone from the Bristol Pegasus MC who made this a memorable day out.

I hope you have enjoyed today's, Car Trial edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Eye popping variety - Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

Yesterday was a long day due to a variety of pleasurable commitments which meant I got up at 7 am so that I could go down to watch the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival being set up.



Getting up so early was not in the least disappointing , seeing my home city centre full of Ferrari's, Maserati's, a couple of De Tomaso's and a familiar Lamborghini amongst many others, some models of which I saw close up for the very first time.

It was a particular joy to briefly meet David who's Special ALFA Romeo Lenham Healey was featured on this blog some month's ago and Richard Harman who's extremely rare South African Autodelta 3 litre / 183 cui ALFA Romeo GTV6 will be feature on this blog in the not to distant future.



As the name suggests this Festival is a veneration of all modes of Italian powered personal transport including a stunning array of motor bikes, Benelli, Laverda, Ducatti, Moto Guzzi and MV Agusta among them, many worthy of inclusion in this blog and indeed one will also appear on this blog in the near future.



Finally mention should be made of the many 'Mods' who turned up on their Lambretta's and provided a welcome Quadrophenia inspired sound system to their area of the Festival.

I'd like to thank the organisers for arranging a memorable day out in my adopted home town and thank all those who took the time and trouble to bring their bella machina's from far and wide, I look forward to sharing more detailed images and stories of some of the 50 vehicles I photographed during my all too brief two hour visit.

Compared to last years excellent Festival the organisers excelled themselves and cranked up the level of expectation for next year up another notch.

Hope you have enjoyed todays Italian edition of 'Gettin a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow when God willing I'll be reporting on my competition debut in the discipline of Production Car Car Trial's. Please keep your fingers crossed for me and don't forget to come back now !

"Kahuna" Ed Arnaudin 1928 - 2011

It was with great sadness last Monday that I heard of the peaceful passing on April 3rd of Ed Arnaudin who's photographs, taken at sports car races spanning 1957 - 1959, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to research and share on this blog over the last six months.

Ed showed signs of a passion for engineering in childhood with an interest in midget racing and by building powered model planes, he went on to graduate as an Engineer from Columbia University.

While serving as an Officer with the United States Marine Corps in Korea Ed married his high school sweetheart Dorothy for whom he provided well in life and in death.



Ed's interest in racing continued from his childhood in to the late fifties when he attended sports car races where he took many of the photographs that have appeared in this blog.

In professional life Ed headed teams that were granted six US Patents from 1965 to 1975 relating to the production, coating, insulation and shielding of electric copper cables.



During the 1960's and 1970's Ed shared his passion for racing with his sons Rick and Steve at Indianapolis, photographs from this period will appear here in future blogs.

As a manager Ed became vice president of the Copperweld Corporation in which role he mentored younger executives who referred to him as "Kahuna" possibly a reference to the 1959 film Gidget in which the leader of a group of surfers is called 'The Big Kahuna'.

Ed was an active member of his church where he took leading roles in Sunday School and Bible Study.

A keen golfer until his health prevented him enjoying playing further Ed continued to enjoy the game from the 19th hole.

After surviving throat cancer, in retirement Ed returned to his love of model flying becoming an award winning model glider builder.

With racing interests that also included NASCAR and Formula 1 it was surprising to learn that Ed was of the opinion that the World of Outlaws sprint cars is the superior form of motor sport, perhaps a reflection of his life long consummate 'hard ass' exterior personality.

Ed is survived by his wife these past 60 years Dorothy, sons Rick and Steve, the latter who kindly sent me his Dad's photo's to share, five grand children and brother Robert, to all of whom I hope you will join me in extending sincerest condolences.

A service of witness to the resurrection and celebration of the life of Edwin H. Arnaudin ,Jr will be held tomorrow. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to The Brandermill Church, 4500 Millridge Parkway, Midlothian, VA 23112 and Bon Secours Hospice Foundation, 5875 Bremo Rd. Suite 710, Richmond, VA 23226.

My thanks to Steve for sharing the details of his Dad's life.

Please join me again tomorrow when I shall be sharing the latest from the Italian Auto Moto Festival held here in Bristol City Centre. Don't forget to come back now !