Perfect Car for A Wedding #4 - Lincoln Town Car Widebody Limousine

Going through my back catalogue for last months Indianapolis 500 blog series I came across this pair of photographs of a Lincoln Town Car Widebody Limousine that ferried my friends Rick and Karen from the church where they got married to the wedding reception in Toronto.



This Limo, based on the first generation ('81 - '89) Lincoln Town Car, a full size saloon, that was powered by 4.9 litre / 302 cui Windsor V8. The Town car came with an early digital trip computer and novel for the period keypad entry system.



I am not too sure which body manufacturer was responsible for this particular Widebody, if you know please chime in below, but it would appear that Larry 'JR' Hagman owned one.

I hope you will join me in sending best wishes to everyone getting married this week.

Thanks for looking in on today's two way stretch limo edition of 'Gettin a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Rare Side Vents - Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series 2 #1815GT

Despite the Haynes International Motor Museum having a room full of red vehicles only one of the Rosso Corsa cars is a Ferrari.



The Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series 2 was launched in 1959 featuring a Pinin Farina designed body that was simpler than the Series 1, in part was due to the intention of the Series 2 to be made for series production rather than to order.



This 1960 left hand drive model with a 3185 cc / 194 cui V12 was orginally exported to the USA and in 1987 was sold by Coy's of London with the registration 'Q 999 EGC'.



It is thought around 212 Series 2 models were manufactured as against just 36 of the Series 1 model.



While the Series 2 is known as a model manufactured in series this particular example has extremely rare, for the model type, side vents.

Thanks for joining me on this slightly tardy Ferrari Friday edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you'll join me for a stretch limo edition tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Follow that Eldorado - Shakespeare County Raceway

A couple of months ago, on my way to Race Retro, I spent several hours in the back of mini bus with 'Crazy' Chris Hartnell seen here at the wheel of 'Backdraft' a sling shot dragster, in a very short time his enthusiasm for drag racing infected me and on Sunday I finally got a chance to to go to my very first Drag meet.



The meeting was held at Shakespeare County Raceway, in deepest Warwickshire, so deep I managed to get so completely lost trying to find the venue, no Sat Nav in this weekends borrowed wheels, that the only way I found it was by following a Cadillac Eldorado I fortuitously came across while trying to work out where I was at a T junction in the middle of nowhere that I could not find on my Google Map.



The sound of V8's being tortured for up to 10 secs from the car park was unlike anything I have ever heard before, made 43 cars flying round Talledega at 190 mph sound quite tuneful by comparison.



Bevis the owner of a sumptuous red 450 hp small block road going Chevy Impala, complete with one piece California rear bumper, the subject of a future blog told me that the really big Drag meeting was actually at Santa Pod near Northampton in September, but I was happy enough easing my way into the scene on Sunday.



Against my expectations there were a few UK bodied vehicles including this Morris Minor, a Rover 400 Funny Car, a standard looking TVR Tuscan, a Ford Anglia and a couple of Mark 2 Ford Cortinas, including an Estate / Stationwagon !



I had hoped to get a photo of Crazy Chris popping a wheely, unfortunately I was a bit slow on the camera shutter, still next time I'll know what to expect. If you have never been to a drag meeting I'd certainly recommend a visit, the atmosphere is extremely friendly and relaxed in the paddock and the action is short but intense on the track, I look forward to future blogs on some of the wild rides I saw on Sunday.

Thanks to 'Crazy' Chris Hartnell infecting me with his enthusiasm, I hope you have enjoyed today's Drag edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don't for get to come back now !

Added Warrington - CGA Engineering

Thanks to Tony 'Giraffe' Gallagher at The Nostalgia Forum I found myself going to Warrington with fellow TNFer and secretary of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club Tim Murray. The purpose of the journey was to visit Colin Bennett and his sons who run CGA Engineering.

Colin who worked with Emerson Fittipaldi on a Brazilian excursion with the Lotus Formula 2 team in 1970 has run a huge variety of cars including March, Fittipaldi, Surtees, Williams and Ligier in a variety of British and European Series.



After a welcome which included tea and donuts Colin let half a dozen TNFers loose in his workshops to nose and poke around a mouth watering selection of vehicles, amongst the many demonstrations was how easy it would be to fire up an ex Schumacher 3 .5 litre / 213.5 cui Benetton 191 chassis #6 powered by a Ford HB engine, we were one click of a switch away from having our ears blown off !



At the opposite scale of the age range Colin was rebuilding a Lola T70 carrying the chassis plate SL76/143, there is something appealingly Romanesque about those knockoff wheel hubs.



Sitting outside the workshops was a Formula 2 spec March 71B chassis #71BM -08 painted at the behest of current owner Katsu Kubota in the colours carried by one of my hero's Ronnie Peterson who won the 1971 European Formula 2 Championship for open wheel 2 litre / 122 cui vehicles.



Back in 1976 I was extremely privileged to see this March 761 in action on a wet day of practice at the Nurburgring. The sight of this car driven by Ronnie Peterson in a series of controlled slides through a series of off camber blind apex corners is something I shall never forget. Ronnie qualified 11th and unfortunately was involved in a first lap accident.



I was at Le Mans in 1990 when this Nissan R90CK qualified 5th for the 24 hour classic unfortunately the car retired on the opening lap, like the March 71B and 761/6 today this car belongs to Katsu Kubota and is scheduled to appear at the Silverstone Classic meeting I blogged about yesterday.



The design details of the Williams FW06 by Patrick Head won much praise in 1978, although the car did not win any Grand Prix it marked the emergence of Williams Grand Prix Engineering into what would become a dominant force in Formula One in the 1980's and 1990's.

I shall look forward to bringing you more detailed blogs of some of these cars after I have seen them running in the weeks and months ahead.

My thanks to Tony, Colin and his sons for a memorable day.

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

Monterey Classic Meets Woodstock - Silverstone Classic 2011

A couple of weeks ago I was looking around Silverstone regarding a film project while several teams representing over 100 years of the automobile history were fettling their vehicles for the forth comingSilverstone Classic 2011 meeting which runs from July 22nd to 24th. If your into powered transport be it steam, diesel, petrol, 2 wheeled, 3 wheeled, 4 wheeled or more you will probably find something of interest during the day and if your camping there will be 2 nights of music headlined by the likes of tribute bands Legend, Queen On Fire and The Rolling Stoned on the first night, followed by Suzy Quattro, 10cc, Wishbone Ash on the second night topped off with an afternoon of classical music from Tetra Electra, Tenors Unlimited and the 40 strong Amadeus Orchestra. What has really helped this event grow in stature is the participation of numerous owners clubs, the Jaguar Owners clubs have chosen this event to officially celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the E-Type and hope to gather over 1,000 of the 70,000 plus E -types built together at the same time, a race for E-types will be held with 58 entries. Other marques including Porsche who also intend to gather in similar numbers, with smaller marques like Bristol being represented by the Bristol Owners Club. Silverstone Auctions the event sponsors will be holding an auction at the Silverstone Classic on July 23rd that will include the sale of the last truely privately built and entered Formula One Car to win a Grand Prix. For those less inclined to the racing which will include classic saloons, sports cars and Grand Prix cars there will be a fun fair, arial displays and gathering of steam powered traction engines to keep you entertained during the daylight hours while you wait for the music to start. My thanks to Jonathon Gill who facilitated this fascinating day at Silverstone, I look forward to visiting the event in July and sharing more details of some of the vehicles I saw during preparations for it in the weeks ahead. Thanks for joining me on this Silverstone Classic edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I'll be sharing some photos of a fascinating workshop in Warrington. Don't forget to come back now !

Lots of Red Cars - Haynes International Motor Museum

A couple of weekends ago I was in a bah humbug mood looking for something to do when a friend asked if I had ever been to the Haynes International Motor Museum, to which I had not and responded accordingly, before I knew it I was being whisked away towards Sparkford in deepest Somerset. The museum bills it's self as having the UK's largest collection of cars, numbering over 400, to which maybe added it probably has the largest collection of cars painted red ! John Haynes publisher of many DIY car repair manuals established the museum, which operates as an Educational Charitable Trust, in 1985. Apart from the accidental or otherwise concentration of red vehicles there are plenty of cars from all over the world some of which were models and or manufactures I had never heard of before. The vehicles are tightly packed at the moment, though unusually for a museum many, possibly even most, get a run round the museum grounds by the museum staff, while others can be hired for weddings and special occasions, a magnificent growling Viper got a quick blast round the museum while we were there. Plans are afoot to expand the museum is September this year and having managed to snap only 10% of the collection over the couple of hours of my visit I look forward to returning even with the building work underway, the ticket I purchased is valid for a year ! Look forward to sharing some of the stories behind these cars in future editions of 'Gettin' a little psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a trip to Silverstone. Don't forget to come back now !

Butt Naked - Borg Warner Trophy

To round out my month of May centenary celebration of the first running of the Indianapolis 500 today I'll be looking at possibly the most coveted prize in all of motor racing, the Borg Warner Trophy seen here in 1960 courtesy of Ed Arnaudin
 

1960 Photo by Ed Arnaudin The Indianapolis 500 always run on Memorial Day weekend is full of traditions including the early morning explosion that signals the opening of the gates to The Brickyard at 6 am on race morning, the marching of bands starting at 8 am, which includes the Purdue University All American Marching Band who play the worlds biggest drum. The National Anthem and Invocation are followed by a rendition of Taps in remembrance of the fallen complete with a military flyover.



1961 Photo by Ed Arnaudin

Another traditional highlight since 1972 is Jim Nabors accompanied by the Purdue Marching band for a rendition of 'Back Home Again in Indiana' during the performance of which thousands of balloons are released, a tradition that started earlier in 1946.

Then there is the call for the 'Ladies and Gentleman' to start their engines in the build up to the race before the pace car laps and first fall of the green flag that gets the race started. Once the race is won the winner is ushered into Victory Lane and since 1936 in a tradition started by three time winner Louis Meyer the winner drinks milk, Meyer actually drank buttermilk.

Wilbur Shaw a three time Indy winner and President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway who was not partial to milk interrupted the milk drinking tradition from 1947 to 1955 with a bowl shaped trophy filled with iced water for the winner to drink.
 
Since 1956 milk was reinstalled on the winners menu and only Emerson Fittipaldi, owner of several orange groves, in 1993 has broken the tradition by drinking orange juice.

The winner is then photographed with the Borg Warner Trophy a tradition which also started in 1936. The Borg Warner Trophy was designed by Robert J Hill and Gorham Inc of Providence Rhode Island at a cost $10,000 in 1935. 

A likeness of all the winners faces back dated to first Indy 500 in 1911 adorns the 52 inch 153 lb sterling silver trophy which had to have its base expanded in 1987 to accommodate the faces of the most recent winners. Bobby Rahal's face, sans spectacles unlike Tom Sneva, was the last drivers likeness attached to the original trophy since then likenesses of winners have been attached to the base which was last extended in 2004. The trophy used to be displayed on the roll bar of the winners car however it is now so large and heavy that it is displayed along side the winners car. 

 
1960 Photo by Ed Arnaudin

One thing I discovered while preparing this blog and is verified by Ed's photo is that the flag man atop the trophy is cast as a traditional ancient Greek athlete and is in fact butt naked.

Louis Meyer described winning the Borg Warner Trophy like "winning an Olympic Medal". Prior to 1988 a 24 inch model of the trophy mounted on a walnut base was given to winners since 1988 winners have been given an 18" replica during preparations for the following years race. 

Also since 1936 the winner of the Indy 500 has taken home the Official Pace car, more on which will have to wait until next year. 

Wishing all the competitors in today's centenary running of the Indy 500 the best of luck.

 Evidence provided by Tim Murray shows that as of 2005 the Johnny Parsons spelling error I mentioned in my blog on the Wynns Friction Proofing Special had not been corrected. Apologies for any confusion caused.

Thanks to Steve Arnaudin for the scans of his Dad's slides also to Tim Murray and B² from The Nostalgia Forum for their help clarifying dates concerning the Borg Warner Trophy. 

That concludes what for me has been a fascinating month of May looking at a potted history of the Indy 500, thanks for joining me on today's 'Butt Naked' truth edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres', I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !