Perfect Car For A Wedding #5 - Vauxhall 14/6

Todays perfect car for a wedding is a 1934 Vauxhall 14/6 seen here at the Atwell Willson Motor Museum in Calne.



Vauxhall Motors Ltd was founded in 1857 to manufacture pump and marine engines, in 1903 Vauxhall also began manufacturing motor cars.



In 1925 the brand was taken over by General Motors who still own it today. Since the late 1970's all new Vauxhalls have in essence been badge engineered Opel's designed in Germany.



The name of the 14/6 derives from the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) taxable horsepower rating which gave HMRC (Her Majesties Revenue and Customs) in the UK a method of collecting road taxes.

RAC h.p. = D²*n/2.5 where D is the diameter of the cylinder bore in inches and n is the number of cylinders.



Like all tax laws this one ended up distorting the market place, in this instance by halting the development of efficient over spare cylinders because the tax laws favoured inefficient narrow bore cylinders with long strokes until the UK taxation structure was rethought in the 1940's.



Up until WW2 most signals from one driver to another were given by hand, trafficators to indicate when a turning maneuver was about to commence, such as these were optional extra's and were found on new cars until the early 1960's.



Distinctive sculpted chrome bonnet details like these were in evidence on some Vauxhall models like the Velox until 1957.



This particular car is available for hire from the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum Trust.

The museum is holding a classic festival this weekend, I hope to pop by on Sunday.

Wishing all those tying the knot today best wishes.

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

Towards Standardisation - Ferrari 250 GT PF Cabriolet Series I #9811GT

A couple of weeks ago I looked at a Ferrari 250 GT Pininfarina Cabriolet Series 2 which is on view at the Haynes International Motor Museum.



Today's featured car, seen competing in the regularity competition on the recent Tour Britannia, is the earlier Series I model which is immediately distinguishable by it's recessed headlights and headlight covers. Notice the chromed edge on the bonnet / hood air intake belies the fact that this in essence a production road car.



This particular Right Hand Drive (RHD), car was delivered painted Yellow to a customer in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1957.



Only 40 examples of this model were built including 4 prototypes of which only two or three appear to have been built to RHD specification. This particular chassis appears to be the 15th in the production run. These models were far from standardised in the traditional sense.



There were for example two distinct variations of the stylised tail lights fitted to the Series I 250 GT PF Cabriolets.



Early examples of this model were supplied with 2 rear quarter bumpers to match the pair of front nudge bars however later examples such as the one seen above were supplied with full width items.



Hong Kong businessman Sir Michael Kadoorie became the owner of this vehicle in 1998, he and co pilot Brian Lewis were not classified in the overall Tour Britannica results. Sir Michael counts among his collection of vehicles a Type 57 Bugatti, a 1932 Rolls Royce Phantom II Thrupp & Maberly and a 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Van Vooren Cabriolet.

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

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.