Who Said A Spider Couldn't Fly ? - Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark II Touring Spider AM/300/1161

The Aston Martin DB2/4 launched in 1953 was a 2+2 hatchback based on the Aston Martin DB2 dating back to 1950.



In 1953 David Brown the owner of the marque sent several bare chassis to a variety of Italian styling houses and coach builders and presented the finished cars at the great motor shows of the day where orders were taken for limited production runs.



The Mark II DB4/2 was launched in 1956 with a 140 hp 3 litre / 183 cui straight six motor. Three of these new chassis were sent to Carrozzeria Touring to have flamboyant Spider bodies designed by Signor Formenti fitted.



Formenti's design was a clean break from what had gone before with exceptionally clean lines for the period with unusual twin air scoops on the bonnet



and further air scoops ahead of the rear wheels.



Sales of the vehicle did not materialise as expected after the first car, seen here at the recent Silverstone Classic, was displayed at the 1956 Turin Motor Show and the second car had appeared at the Paris Motor Show.



After it's launch in Italy this particular vehicle was acquired by Associated Newspapers in London who ran a competition in the Daily Express in which the winner who could best sum up the drophead would take it home.



Mr Alexander Smith, entry "Who Said A Spider Couldn't Fly ?" was adjudged the winner, and took the, then left hand drive, car home.



AM/300/1161 remained in England and was converted to right hand drive while the two remaining examples were sold to customers in the United States where they remain to this day.

Although the first collaboration between Aston Martin and Carrozzeria Touring was not an immediate success the two companies worked together on a long line of vehicles that included the DB4/2's successors the DB4, DB5 and DB6.

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

16 Blocks of Classics ! - Carmel by the sea Concours d'Elegnce 2011

Here in the UK the Autumn is already closing in with days of rain. To cheer myself up with a hint of California sunshine I thought to share with you these fabulous photo's from last month's Carmel by the sea Concours d'Elegance kindly sent to me by Geoffrey Horton.



I understand for the day of the event sixteen blocks in central Carmel are closed down and given over to that part of the motoring fraternity that is fanatical about presenting their cars built between 1945 and 1989 in better than new condition. First up a Cadillac powered 1955 Allard J2R.



When I first started reading 'Motor Sport' in 1973 the car to have in touring car racing was the 3.0 litre / 183 cui BMW CSL which in full works Group 2 specification with 'batmobile' rear wing fairly wiped the hitherto dominant Ford Capri off the top place on the winners rostrum of the European Touring Car Championship. A #55 Jaegermeister sponsored 3.0 CSL looking very much like the car in Geoffrey's photo, but without the 1974 IMSA GTO spec vented flared wheel arches, driven by Derek Bell and Harald Ertl, won the RAC Tourist Trophy on the 23rd Sept 1973.



I have already posted a blog about the unique 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible, that was declared the winner of this years Carmel Concours, so with best wishes for the Birthday boy most of you know from his posts on this blog as Jr Cracker here is a Ferrari 250 GT Boano chassis 0553 GT which has gone through several colour changes and engine changes but after a twenty plus year gap now has it's original motor safely re-installed. Last sold in January 2008 for US$ 975.000.



The 1957 Indy 500 was won by Sam Hanks in the Epperly Belond Exhaust Special, Jack Turner driving the #19 Bardahl Special a Kurtis 500G started 19th and came in 11th last man to complete the full 200 laps.



I believe this wonderful Lola T70 Mk 2 is the only car to have ever to have won a Can Am race powered by a Ford V8, a 302 cui motor fitted with Westlake heads, which Dan Gurney used to take honours in the second ever Can Am race at Bridgehampton in 1966. John Surtees won the 1966 Can Am series in a similar, but Chevrolet powered, Lola T70 Mk 2.



The vintage and history of this Morgan 4-4 is still a mystery to me but nice to see someone flying the motherlands flag in a swinging sixties style.

My thanks to Geoffrey for his wonderful photos, I hope you will join me in wishing the man behind GALPOT's Ferrari Friday's, Jr Cracker, a very Happy Birthday !

Thanks for joining me on this Jr Cracker birthday edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be taking a close look at a rare Aston Martin by Touring. Don't forget to come back now !

Ciao Enzo - Ferrari F40

Today's Ferrari Friday blog is dedicated to the person who first suggested Ferrari Friday blogs to me many months ago, Jr Cracker, otherwise known to me as Mike who's Birthday it is tomorrow.


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The Ferrari F40 what was technical tour de force intended to bring together 40 years of learning and achievement in one road vehicle to celebrate the first 40 remarkable years in the story of Ferrari S.p.A.



With a tested 200 mph capability the F40 held the title of worlds fastest production car, when it was launched in 1987, to underline it's technical superiority.



The F40 was not only the companies most powerful and fastest car, but at US$ 400,000 in 1987, it was also the most expensive car Ferrari had ever offered for sale.



1,315 examples of this type were manufactured between 1987 and 1992 the last of them selling for a rumoured US$1.6 million.



Many of the technical specifications were advanced from the Ferrari (288) GTO including the twin turbo V8 engine which in this application was increased to 3 litres / 183 cui producing 470 hp.



Keeping such a powerful motor cool in such a small vehicle required ventilation through the rear screen.



Until 1990 F40's like this particular 1989 example, seen at the Italian Auto Moto Festival, were bereft of power sapping catalytic converters.



During Bonneville Speedweek 2006 Amir Rosenbaum recorded a top speed of 226 mph in his lightly modified F40, standard versions could reach 120 mph in just 11 seconds faster than both the Lamborghini Countach and Porsche 959 which were it's main competitors.



Enzo Ferrari knew when setting out the specifications of the F40 that this would be his final engineering statement and it was indeed the last vehicle bearing his own name that he was to commission before his death aged 90 in August 1988.

Thanks for joining me on the F40 Edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

La Machine - #17 Vollstedt - Offenhauser 77 (14)

As I have blogged elsewhere in 1978 the USAC Championship came to England and I was lucky enough to see the one of the two championship races at Silverstone and meet some of those involved at a meet and greet at Jubilee Gardens on the banks of the Thames in Central London.



One of the enduring memories of those two events was seeing the striking lines of Rolla Vollstedts #17 La Machine - Vollstedt - Offenhauser 77 [14], to my mind one of the most visually arresting open wheelers ever built, one that has a place of special veneration reserved at the top table in Art Tidesco's Automotive Temple of Speed.



1960 US Olympic Team Skiing alternate Dick Simon was the driver of the immaculately turned out Vollstedt. Simon's best finish in 1978 was 4th at Phoenix he also scored three further top tens finishing the season 18th in the Champ Car Series standings.



The master mind behind the car was Rolla Vollstedt, a man with more stories to tell than I'll ever have hot dinners. Rolla has been devoting his life to racing since 1937 when he took part in unsanctioned Oregon street races with a Buick Coupé in 1937.

Working with modest budgets among Rolla's many achievements since starting his team in 1947 are building the first rear engined Offenhauser powered Indycar complete with rear wing to improve traction and counting the legendary Jim Clark, in 1967, along with Janet Guthrie, the first woman to compete in the Indy 500 among the drivers of his Championship cars. Rolla was also the last owner to attempt to qualify an Offenhauser powered for the Indy 500 in 1983.

I would like take this opportunity to wish Rolla a happy 93rd Birthday Day and thank him for building one of the most alluring automobiles it has ever been my privilege to see.

Thanks for joining me on Rolla Vollstedt's Birthday edition of 'Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres', I hope you'll join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don't forget to come back now !

Tax Break Special - Volvo 940 SE Turbo Estate

The Volvo 940 Turbo SE Estate / Station Wagon was introduced in May 1991 and in the UK was aimed solidly at the company car market with a 2 litre / 122 cui turbocharged 4 cylinder engine that qualified for a lower rate of taxation than the 2.3 litre 900 series variants.



The SE was also loaded with goodies like colour coded mirrors, a more comprehensive set of front lights and a smaller black grill.



The B200ET and later B200FT engines which produced 150 hp were gems because they were fitted with a small diameter Garret T4 turbocharger which all but eliminated the throttle lag which was a common feature of the earlier turbocharged B230 motors that had been fitted with hefty Garret T3 units.



From the A pillar back the 940 Estate / Station Wagon is indistinguishable from it's predecessor the counterpart 740 apart from the more judicious use of black trim in place of earlier chrome items.

While not as rugged as the 200 series Volvo's, as this example shows, these vehicles are just as capable of surviving in presentable condition for nearly 20 years, a strong selling feature in the UK mired in the depths of a property market recession at the time of the vehicles launch.

Production of all 900 series models ceased in 1998 when the saloon / sedan variant's were known as S90's and Estate / Station Wagon's as V90's.

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

Battersea Dogs Car - Rover P6 3500 Series 1 Estoura

Thanks to a timely reminder from David Rootes I made it to the Rare Breeds Car Show at the Haynes International Motor Museum on Sunday.



Amongst a variety of rare vehicles was this 1969 Series I Rover 3500 which preceded the Series II Rover 2200 SC I looked at last week. P6 models fitted with the aluminium 215 Buick derived V8 are easily distinguishable from their 4 cylinder siblings by the extra air intake below the bumper.



The engine compartment of the P6 was originally designed to accommodate a Rover gas turbine motor, but this option never came to fruition and instead the 158 hp twin carburettor V8 as had been fitted to the the Rover P5B was fitted to the top of the range P6 models.



According to the owner of this Estoura variant only 157 P6 saloons were converted to estate / station wagon models between 1969 and 1976. This is the oldest of 4 Series 1 Estoura's known to have survived.



Conversion of the saloon P6 to Estoura spec included replacing the original roof and C pillars with a new pod, designed by Brian Roll, that was riveted and welded in by FLM Panelcraft of Battersea. Although the conversion was approved by Rover and did not affect warranties no rust protection was added to bare surfaces which were simply painted over with the out come that these cars are more prone to rot than standard P6's.



Once FLM had converted the P6 shell the cars were sent to either Crayford, HR Owen or Hurst Park Motors where a variety of interior and exterior trims were fitted.



The load space while significantly improved is not particularly deep or easy to access even for a canine compared to a modern day Estate / Station Wagon or MPV.

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

Gold Cup Classic - Oulton Park

Oulton Park circuit is one of Britain's more difficult tracks, while attending racing school there I spun off on two separate occasions, located near Little Budworth in Cheshire.



The last time I was spectating at Oulton Park in Cheshire then future world champion Damon Hill was given a one off drive in the British Formula 3000 Championship race by Colin Bennett and future Oulton Park circuit owner Dr Jonathan Palmer had a one off drive in the Celebrity car that featured in the Honda CRX championship in 1989.



On Bank Holiday Monday I got to the track for the second day of the Gold Cup Classic meeting, just as qualifying got under way for the Sir Stirling Moss trophy race. Former FIA Historic Formula One Champion Bobby Verdon Roe, seen here driving a 1957 Aston Martin DBR1, going through a much altered Druids Corner on his way to qualifying on pole.



Oulton Park now has a tarmac Rally Stage and an interesting variety of vehicles were to be found trying to navigate the slippery conditions, including this Surprising Skoda Estelle, keeping spectators entertained with numerous 360 degree spins.



The Historic Formula Ford race for Ford Kent powered single seaters built from 1969 - 1972 was highly entertaining with Rob Wainright piping Ben Mitchell and Benn Simms in a three way last lap shoot out. Former Grand Prix driver Ian Ashley driving the #62 Lola T200 is seen here passing Stuart Baird in the #6 Merlyn MK11A for fifth prior to Ian's early retirement.



I missed the Historic Touring Car race won by Mark Jones in favour of having lunch with friends from The Nostalgia Forum, afterwards the Derek Bell Trophy race for a mixture of open wheel cars was run. Richard Evans in a Formula Atlantic March 79B snatched a last lap victory from Michael Lyons Formula 5000 Lola T400. I did not realise it at the time I took the photograph above but this is a recreation of the Lotus Martin built to Formula One regulations in 1966.



Judy Lyons, Michael's mother, driving the #33 Lola T332 above, gambled on rain returning during the race and opted for intermediate tyres, at the end of the race she showed no sign of disappointment that her strategy had failed or that she was not classified in the final results.



The small grid of Group 6 2 litre / 122 cui cars for the Martini Trophy race included this Martini liveried Chevron B31 belonging to Graeme and James Dodd which failed to finish.



Charlie Kemp did his best to make a race of it driving the 1970 vintage #10 Lola T210 but was eventually unable to keep up with John Burton who took the Martini spoils driving a Chevron B26.



The E Type challenge was probably the race of the day helped by tricky weather conditions, earning my personal vote for driver of the day was Jon Minshaw who worked through the field from the back of the grid to second place behind Martin O'Connell in a race filled with lurid 'moments'.



John Ure and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards won the Woodcote Trophy driving a Cooper Bristol finishing ahead of the #57 Allard J2 seen here of Malcolm Verey and Dennis Welsh after Stephen Bond, who had rarely been more than a few car lengths behind the Cooper, lost up to a minute making his mandatory pit stop.



Benn Simms made up for his disappointment in the Formula Ford race by winning from the back of the grid in the Classic Formula 3 race driving the #1 March 803B seen here lining up
to pass the Keith White in the blue Ralt RT1.



Brian White and Keith Stantton drove their Triumph TR2 in both the Stirling Moss and Woodcote Trophy races, Brian is seen here exploring the outer limits of the track at Old Hall during Woodcote Trophy on his way to a 19th place finish.



Jon Minshaw teamed up with John Stretton to win the Woodcote Trophy in the #133 'Knobly' Lister Jaguar above lapping the D-Type of Ben Eastick which finished 7th.



Final race of the day was the 'Amitsead Barnet Financial Services' Historic Formula Ford 2000 championship race for Pinto powered cars circa 1978 - 1981 which was won by Nelson Rowe. Nelson Duke, in the yellow helmet above driving a Reynard SF79 about to pass the Delta T79 of Robert Trusting, impressed the event race sponsor 'Mallory Dan' sufficiently with his drive from the back of the grid to 13th place to win the FF2000 driver of the day award.



In between races and watching the rally car demonstration there was a feast of classic cars on display including my personal nomination for car of the day this Piper GT



After a great day out all too soon it was time to say 'until next time' to Barry, Roger, David, Mallory Dan, Alan, Phil and Simon from the Nostalgia forum and head for home.

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