Ce n'est pas une ALFA Romeo - Jankowits #RO559

I have been following the car featured in today's blog for nearly a year and was pleasantly surprised to finally catch up with it at Goodwood Festival of Speed last week.



(Thought to be dated 1934 Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

Somewhere around 1934 two brothers Gina and Oscar Jankowits, with a background in architecture, from Flume on the Adriatic Coast then in Italy now in Croatia, set out to build an unusual car,



(Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

the two main distinguishing features of which were the mid engine rear wheel drive layout and a bench seat for three with the driver sitting in the middle.



(Thought to be dated 1937/8 Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

The chassis was built using C section lengths of steel, uses modified 1933 Buick brakes and modified 1935 Ford suspension, when it was completed the chassis was rigged up with rudimentary road going equipment and registered in Flume with the number 2757 - FM around 1938.



(Thought to be dated 1939/40 Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

The steel bodywork was then constructed,



(Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

and is thought to have been completed before the commencement of World War 2 hostilities in Italy.



(Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

For the duration of the hostilities the Jankowits was hidden away.



(Travel Permit Issued 24th December 1946)

After World War 2 Flume found itself in communist Yugoslavia and like many residents of the former Italian territory the Jankowits brothers obtained a permit, #2720, to visit Italy, on which a chassis number RO559 is hinted at, along with the ALFA Romeo engine number 700316, and did so never to return.



(Date unknown, Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

The brothers sold their car to a US Serviceman in Trieste who shipped it home. In 1967 Colin Crabbe the 'Indiana Jones' of finding long lost motor vehicles found the Jankowits in New York.



(Date unknown, Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

Not knowing what the vehicle was, but recognising the 6C ALFA Romeo motor, he contacted Luigi Fusi of the ALFA Romeo museum, who was familiar with all pre WW2 ALFA Romeo projects along with the people who worked on them



(Date unknown, Copyright holder unknown, image will be correctly credited or removed upon request.)

and was told that the Jankowits car was 'nothing more than a special'. Eventually the car was sold to Malcolm Templeton in Nothern Ireland. Collector Neil Crabb no relation to Colin, then purchased the Jankowits and sold it to Phil Bennett in Leeds and during his ownership the car was shown at Beaulieu National motor Museum.



The Jankowits was restored in 2004 near Modena and entered into an auction in Paris (Lot 52) , however the known history, in particular the claims that it was an ALFA Romeo with a racing history were so shaky that it was withdrawn from the sale.



More recently the Jankowits has turned up at a number of events remade into a pseudo racer with ALFA Romeo badges replacing the previous crests of the Swiss 'Graber' coach builder.



The new owner is completely convinced this car was designed and built as an ALFA Romeo racing car despite the fact there is not a single shred of verifiable evidence that the car is either an ALFA Romeo or took part in any competition.



While the chassis was fitted with wire wheels when it was first registered all the photo's of the car after it was fitted with it's steel bodywork up until 2004 show the vehicle was fitted with hub caps, for more leisurely road use, as do what appears to be the original drawings of the car.



Much has been made of the central driver position and bench seat for three, this turns out to be a completely impractical solution as the steering is very heavy and passengers are forever getting poked by the drivers elbow's while these idea's predated vehicles like the McLaren F1 it should be noted that Gordon Murray had the forethought to move the passenger seats back relative to the drivers seat in his design.

It has been suggested that the absence of a speedometer hints that the vehicle was intended for racing however I suspect that if the car was registered for the road back in 1938 without one, it is possible that a speedometer was not a legal requirement for vehicles in Italy at the time.



That the Jankowits brothers should choose to use a 6C 2300 ALFA Romeo motor for thei
r vehicle is not in the least surprising apparently their father ran ALFA Romeo dealership.



As has been noted by several observers the rear transmission axle with the differential ahead of the gearbox suggested in the drawings was not realised in the car we see today with the gearbox being placed ahead of a Lancia differential. This compromise might account for an erroneous belief that the engine bay looks too large for the engine and suggests the wheel base on the car we see today is longer than originally intended.



Make no mistake this is a beguiling beautiful vehicle that hides many secrets but,



there is absolutely no evidence that this vehicle was ever part of the ALFA Romeo design program, to suggest so does a huge disservice to the Jankowits brothers who should be given all the credit for this futuristic if ultimately somewhat impractical design.

My thanks to the many contributors of the relevant threads at the Alfa bb, TNF, and alfisti.hr forums for providing the bulk of the information on today's story and related photographs.

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

Exploring The Limits Of Handling and Performance - Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept Car (Replica)

The 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray concept car was based on the tubular steel chassis 1957 Corvette SS racing car that was abandoned after the 1957 Sebring 12 hours as a result of an agreement between members of the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) not to build factory developed racing cars.



Vice President of GM Styling William (Bill) L Mitchell is credited with designing and building the Stingray Concept Car featuring a fibreglass body which weighed in at 2,200 lbs around 1,000 lbs lighter than a contemporary production Corvette.



The one off concept was entered by Bill in numerous races from at least April 1959 to at least October 1960 mostly for Dick Thompson and a couple of races for John Fitch, by early 1960 Dick had clocked up several class BM wins.



Powered originally by a fuel injected 4.6 litre / 283 cui which was good for 315 hp at 6,200 rpm the car was used as a test bed for a four speed manual transmission once it's racing days were over. Today the car which resides General Motors Design Center has a 375 hp 5.5 litre / 327 cui motor fitted.



Styling of the Stingray Concept Car heavily influenced the styling of 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray production car. The strong line around the mid rift would become a feature on many vehicles of the 1960's the Chevrolet Corvair, Alfa Romeo GTV 2000, almost the entire 1960's BMW range, the Hillman Imp / Singer Chamoise and NSU Prinz to name but a few.



This particular replica which I have seen at Silverstone many times over the years appears to be based on a 1977 Chevrolet (Corvette ?) chassis and is powered by a 5.4 litre 283 cui engine.

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

Follow That 'Burb ! - Independence Day Touring Assembly

Yesterday evening Martin and Nick of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club were responsible for organising an Independence Day Touring Assembly, in aid of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and it was a good excuse to take some foreign guests staying with us out for an evening ride.



We assembled at The Parkway in Stoke Gifford where an eclectic collection of vehicles had gathered including



a 1935 Hudson Suburban Sedan,



and 1950 Ford V8 Pilot,



Ken kindly let our guests, Pablo from Barcelona seen here, jump into his Marlin 5exi.



Soon it was time to go to The Griffin in nearby Warmley to pick up some members of Bristol Hotrods who joined us on our cruise. Not knowing exactly where I was going I took the advice to 'follow that 'burb' referring to a large gold Rover V8 powered 1964 GMC Suburban belonging to Chris, who some of you may remember got me interested in drag racing not so long ago.



After a 20 min drive round what counts as Bristol's ring road



we arrived in the car park of The Griffin where I was surprised to find chain drive fan Duncan waiting for us in another of his amazing Edwardian vehicles a Monarch GP powered by an 8.4 litre / 512 cui Curtiss V8 aircraft engine.



No sooner had I taken a snap and we were on our way to our final destination in a convoy vaguely reminiscent of the Whacky Races, behind me here are a Parsons trials car, Duncan in his Monarch, what appears to be a genuine C type Jaguar and a Ford Hotrod.



Our final destination was the Book Barn in Hallatrow about 20 miles south of Bristol where coffee and a fine selection of used books was to be found including a Spanish English Dictionary for Pablo.



Outside I took the opportunity to get a closer look at some of the hotrods that had joined us from The Griffin, including this exquisitely painted Ford which was built from a kit,



this chopped Coupe which apparently started life as a humble 1949 Ford Anglia and is now fitted with a Supercharged Rover V8



and The Alchemist based on a 1933 Ford Coupe with tasty patina powered if I heard correctly by a 5300cc / 323 cui 'Hemi' V8.



Paulo from Milan took a real shine to the C - Type,



but after a 20 mile ride with Ken he was left most impressed by the Marlin 5exi.



My thanks to Martin and Nick who organised a splendid Assembly to everyone who came along and particularly to Ken and Rob, seen above in his TVR Griffin 500, for giving Paulo and Pablo rides in vehicles neither will forget in a hurry.

Hope you have enjoyed todays Independence Day Assembly edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a replica concept car. Don't forget to come back now !

PS Please spare a thought for Nick's wife Cherry who had the misfortune to get clobbered by a 4ft iron bar in a freak accident while at Goodwood on Friday. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Cherry.

Grand Prix City - Donington Park Museum

(Ayrton Senna & Juan Manuel Fangio)

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to drop in to the Donington Park Museum, home to the Donington Park Grand Prix Collection. Donington Park dates back to at least the Doomesday Book compiled in 1086 and is one of the longest established deer parks in the UK.



(1939 Auto Union Type D)

After serving as a Prisoner Of War camp for German officers in World War 1, a race track was built in 1931 for £12,000. The track played host to Grand Prix races featuring the Mercedes and Auto Union 'Silver Arrows' Grand Prix cars, Tazio Nuvolari driving an Auto Union during practice for the 1938 British Grand Prix fatally struck a stray deer.



(1942 Trippel SG 6)

During World War 2 Donington Park became home to 50,000 vehicles as the largest military transport depot in Europe. In 1971 local building magnate Tom Wheatcroft took over the Donington Park circuit and 8 years later racing was resumed after a nearly 40 year break. The highlight of the resumption of racing at Donington was almost certainly the 1993 European Grand Prix.



(1958 Vanwall VW9)

Tom Wheatcroft alongside his property developing business had a passion for racing, collecting vehicles associated with the circuits pre war history, vehicles used in WW2, during which Tom served in a tank regiment and British built Grand Prix cars.



(1973 March BMW 732)

He also sponsored and entered talented drivers, including Derek Bell, Richard Morgan and in particular Roger Williamson whom Wheatcroft financed in Formula 3 and 2 and an ill fated Grand Prix drive in which Roger met his untimely demise in a horrific accident during the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix.



(1970 McLaren Offy M15)

The Donington Park Museum houses the largest collection of McLaren



(1973 Williams - Ford FW 02)

and Williams vehicles outside of these two prestigious manufacturers own collections.



(1975 Hill - Ford GH2)

I spent several memorable hours going round the museum housing a veritable feast of some of the highs and low's of British Grand Prix endeavour. Situated just of the M1 near Nottingham, at just £8 a visit, I'll look forward to dropping in again when the opportunity next presents it's self.

Slightly off topic, wishing all GALPOT readers in the USA and US readers abroad Happy Independence day.

Thanks for dropping today's Donington Park edition of 'Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres' i hope you'll join me again tomorrow for a look an Independence day cruise in the UK. Don't forget to come back now !

50 Foot Special - Mercedes Chevy 300SL

Back in the 1950's US Mercedes Benz importer Max Hoffman is credited with encouraging Daimler Benz AG to build the Mercedes 300 SL (W198) based on the successful 1952 Le Mans Winning 300 SL (W194).

Chuck Porter amongst a few other US racing drivers took wrecked 300 SLs and turned them into full blown race cars giving them the 'SLS' moniker.



The body of today's car owned by multi championship winning driver and owner Dave Wolin is thought to have possibly started as such a project. The body is said to have been abandoned in a San Gabriel Valley back yard for 50 years after incurring the legal wrath of Daimer Benz AG for being too close a copy of the original.



When Dave found the body it had a tree growing in it ! After the body was rejuvenated it was fitted to a modern chassis powered by a Chevrolet small block crate motor. The power is transmitted through a four speed Richmond T 10 gearbox and Speedway Engineering Quick Change rear axle.



Dave successfully competes with this cool car in races, hill climbs and surprisingly, given that he modestly calls his Merc a 50 Footer*, also enters his Mercedes into Concours events such as the Sacramento State Capital Concours as seen here.

* Looks good from 50 feet but it's a racing car not a show car.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for the photos, for introducing me to Dave Wolin and to Dave for the additional photos and information about this ultra cool 300 SL.

I hope you have enjoyed todays Gull Wing edition of 'Gettin a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow for a trip to the Donnington Park Museum. Don't forget to come back now !

PS Recommend aficionados of the 1930's era Silver Arrow's visit my friend Paul Chenard's blog about his limited edition book 'Silver Clouds' on the 1934 season.