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Birkin’s Bentley Blower Single-Seater…

Posted: April 1, 2016 in Features
Tags: Bentley 4.5 litre Supercharged Single-Seater, Birkin and Couper Ltd, Hon Dorothy Paget, Tim Birkin, WO Bentley

One of the most glamorous, charismatic pre-war drivers was the Bentley-Baronet, Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin. Here taking to Brooklands on 11 March 1930 in his new 4.5 litre supercharged Bentley Single-Seater…

Birkin, Spa 1933 (unattributed)

His ‘Bentley Boy’ high-society image was combined with fearless driving talent. For a generation of British racing enthusiasts, ‘Tiger Tim’s’ moustachioed, goggled figure, in wind cap, usually with a polka-dot scarf fluttering in the slipstream personified an English ideal.

4.5 litre, SOHC 16 valve engine fitted with Amherst Villiers Roots Type 4 supercharger, 182bhp@3900rpm with 10 pounds of boost (Fox Photos)

With fellow enthusiast/racer Mike Couper, ‘Birkin & Couper Ltd’ was established at Welwyn where the prototype 4.5 litre Blower Bentley was produced in the summer of 1929. W.O. recalled: ‘They would lack in their preparation all the experience we had built up in (our own) racing department over 10 years. I feared the worst and looked forward to their first appearance with anxiety’.

This is the car/chassis which was transformed into the Birkin single-seater, chassis # HB3402 (unattributed)

Birkin ran his prototype tourer-bodied car, later rebuilt as the single-seater special in the Brooklands 6-Hour race on June 29,1929, it retired. At Dublin’s Phoenix Park race two weeks later the two supercharged Bentleys finished 3rd and 8th. In the RAC Tourist Trophy at Ards, Ulster, Bernard Rubin’s ‘Blower’ overturned while Birkin, who had challenged W.O. to act as his riding mechanic (the marque’s founder accepting), placed second overall and won his class. The third ‘Blower’ broke its engine.

4.5 blower build, chassis number unknown, March 22 1930. Ample! girder chassis, mechanical drum brakes all clear (Fox Photos)

Birkin then retired from the Brooklands 500-Miles and the entire team retired from the Double-Twelve race at Brooklands in May 1930.

Birkin practices a Bentley 4.5 blower for the 1930 Brooklands ‘Double 12 Hour’ race 8 May 1930 (Popperfoto)

Pit scene before the 1930 ‘Double Twelve’ at Brooklands, race won by the Barnato Bentley, 7 May 1930 (Fox Photos)

W.O. embittered by the collapse of his company, summed it up as follows; ‘The supercharged 4.5 never won a race, suffered a never-ending series of mechanical failures, brought the marque Bentley disrepute and incidentally cost Dorothy Paget a large sum before she decided to withdraw her support in October 1930…’ W.O. added the sting in the tail: ‘Tim managed to persuade Barnato to allow him to enter a team in the 1930 Le Mans (in which none survived) and we were obliged, in order to meet the regulations, to construct no less than fifty of these machines for sale to the public….

W.O’s. assertion that the ‘Blower’ Bentley ‘never won a race’ is wrong. The car featured here is the exception, it not only became a multiple Brooklands race winner but also holder of the Outer Circuit lap record there.

Gearbox 4 speed ‘D type close ratio, front and rear suspension beam axles with leaf springs with Bentley and Draper shocks (Fox Photos)

Birkin, disappointed by his failure at Le Mans in 1929 decided during the summer to make a firm entry for the BRDC 500-Mile race at Brooklands, using a car with the potential to break the Outer Circuit lap record there.

Bentley Motors had been wobbling in The Great Depression as sales of expensive cars plummetted when Tim Birkin became determined to supercharge the 4.5 litre Bentley.

Birkin’s normally aspirated Bentley 4.5 during the 1928 Le Mans, he finished 5th sharing with Jean Chassange. Car being passed is the Samuelson/King 2 litre Lagonda. Barnato/Rubin won in another Bentley (Heritage Images)

These were the great years of Bentley success with consecutive victories at Le Mans in 1927-30. Tim wanted more power and speed as W.O. explained: ‘Tim had a constant urge to do the dramatic thing, a characteristic which I suppose had originally brought him into racing. His gaily vivid, restless personality seemed to be always driving him on to something new and spectacular, and unfortunately our 4.5 litre car was one of his targets… Tim used all his charm and persuasion to induce first Amherst Villiers to build a special blower for his 4.5, next Woolf Barnato’ – company financier as well as leading team driver – ‘to give it his blessing, and finally the Hon. Dorothy Paget to put up the money for a works at Welwyn just north of London – ‘and to buy and modify the chassis’.

At Welwyn, this special track-racing ‘Blower’ Bentley was developed alongside the road-racing endurance sports cars (above). Captain, later Lt. Colonel, Clive Gallop was largely responsible for the new track-racing car. Working under his direction were foreman E.A. Jennings, Walter Whitcombe, Birkin’s riding mechanic, Messrs Logan and Newcombe, who were successively Bentley’s chief engine fitters; Mr Browning, the chief chassis fitter and Billy Rockell, the works’ supercharger fitter.

The Bentley chassis was of 10 feet 10 inches in wheelbase, it was chassis number ‘HB 3402’, the selected engine was ‘SM 3901’.

(Bonhams)

(Bonhams)

Amherst Villiers designed the supercharger and its configuration. The engine’s enlarged-diameter crankshaft, with 90mm journals and and special rods were detailed by Villiers’ chief draughtsman, Tom Murray Jamieson of later racing Austin and ERA fame.

The Villiers Roots-type supercharger used a standard casing as on the sports cars, but had larger rotors to increase boost. Otherwise, according to Clive Gallop at the time, the engine was the normal 4-cylinder with four overhead valves per cylinder actuated by a single-overhead camshaft.

The ports were highly polished as was as much of the cylinder head as possible, but not re-machined.

The body initially fitted was of ‘1½-seater’ form, with fabric skin stretched over a spring-steel lattice framework. The radiator was exposed whilst the supercharger, dumb-irons and carburettors were all partially cowled. The body was painted in a rich mid-blue.

‘Fill ‘er up matey’ Birkin, Brooklands 1930 (Popperfoto)

The Outer Circuit was a great challenge in 1929. The old concrete bankings and straights were frost-heaved, patched and bumpy. Given the pounding the track meted out a fuel tank design adapted from the 42-gallon Le Mans 24-Hour race type was mounted by means of a Le Mans-style cross-tube at the back which passed through the tank and which was carried within a rubber-lined trunnion on each of the two main frame rails. A third mounting point using a plate shaped to the match the front end of the tank, carrying a nickel-steel pin that accommodated the spider of a Hardy-Spicer universal joint was also used.

A structure rising from the chassis then carried another spider which coupled to that on the tank, thus providing a flexible forward mounting.

During practice on the eve the 1929 500-Mile race, the nickel-steel pin attached to the tank sheared due to embrittlement. Gallop drove the car back from Brooklands to Welwyn for repair without mudguards, lamps and starting handle and with a police car following him right into the factory yard!

A short term fix was a normal steel strap packed with rubber and felt placed round the front of the tank and then attached to the chassis by reinforced angle plates, welded into place.

Just after dawn on race day, Clive Gallop drove the car back to Brooklands doing 120mph along the Barnet Bypass road. The car was delivered just in time for the race start.

Gallop found the car so tractable on the road that eventually a Welwyn-Brooklands route was selected which included London suburban traffic. If a spark plug oiled up, Gallop’s standard procedure was to stop on the hill at Putney Vale, on the stretch passing the KLG spark plug factory where he would fit a fresh plug and then roll-start down the remainder of the gradient there.

When the big cars were finally flagged away in 1929 BRDC 500-Miles race, Birkin immediately set the pace, lapping at over 121mph. A great duel ensued between the ‘Blower’ Bentley and Kaye Don’s V12-cylinder Sunbeam. The blue Bentley began to spray a thin mist of engine oil from its bonnet louvres, the droplets coating the aero screen, cockpit coaming and driver’s head and shoulders. Birkin soon found his hands slipping on the steering wheel rim, and his vision impaired so he tore into the pits to clean up.

The Clive Dunfee/’Sammy’ Davis Speed Six Bentley took over the lead on scratch, while on handicap small-capacity Amilcars and Austin Sevens held the advantage. By 90 laps George Eyston’s Sunbeam ‘Cub’ was up into to second place and after 108 laps it led overall. Dudley Froy, partnering Kaye Don in the big Sunbeam, also led before retiring with a broken back spring – the Brooklands bumps offering no mercy – and Eyston’s Sunbeam would also break a spring.

Having rejoined Birkin then had further trouble, a hole in the exhaust system caused flame which blasted onto the fabric body skin and set it alight. Birkin returned to the pits trailing flame and smoke, the fire was quickly doused, but his race was over.

For 1930, Birkin then decided to attack track racing seriously with the single-seater. In its 1930 form with Villiers supercharger driven from the crankshaft nose and inhaling through two huge horizontal SU carburettors, the engine developed circa 240bhp on alcohol fuel mix. This was 65bhp more than a standard ‘Blower’ Bentley on petrol. Its rear axle featured a new nose piece housing a special pinion which provided a final-drive ratio of 2.8:1. Fuel flow at full throttle was quoted as being approximately one gallon every 74 seconds!

Reid Railton was commissioned to design a new (fire proof!) aluminium body to replace the fabric original, it was hand made for the car by A.P. Compton & Co of Merton. The regulation Brooklands silencer on the car’s nearside now bolted directly to the exhaust manifold. Front-wheel brakes were deleted and the car rode on 32-inch x 6.50 Dunlop Racing tyres.

The first Brooklands Meeting of 1930 saw Birkin battling against his starting penalty, taking second place in the three-lap Kent Short Handicap race despite a slipping clutch and with supercharger casing cracks hastily plugged just before the start, using plasticene. His flying lap was still clocked at 123.89mph. He then contested the meeting’s Surrey Short Handicap, setting fastest lap at 124.51mph.

In the four-lap Kent Long Handicap, Birkin then had the chance to overcome his penalty, winning by one second at 119.13mph average and setting fastest lap at 126.73mph.

This was the first race victory ever achieved by a ‘Blower’ Bentley. While Sir Henry, car owner the Hon. Dorothy Paget and their supporters were delighted, W.O. Bentley, whose distaste for supercharging was often declared had mixed feelings.

Birkin won the Brooklands Easter meeting Bedford Short Handicap before a 20,000 crowd, winning at 117.81mph and lapping at 134.24!

Birkin’s big beast leaves the ground on the Members Banking hump where the track crosses the River Wey, circa 1932 (Heritage Images)

As the late Bill Boddy recalled in his definitive ‘History of Brooklands Motor Course 1906-1940’ – ‘Plug troubles foiled Birkin’s hopes in the Dorset Lightning Short Handicap but he turned out again for a 3-lap match race against Dunfee’s GP Sunbeam. Sadly Dunfee’s car had thrown a rod, so Birkin came out alone, to attempt to beat Kaye Don’s lap record. The Bentley was in grand trim, roaring very high round the Byfleet banking, dropping to the Fork in a puff of dust, clipping the verge by the Vickers’ sheds and going onto the Members’ banking each time with that characteristic and disturbing little snake that those who saw the car in action are not likely to forget. From the notorious bump” – where the Hennebique Bridge near the end of the Member’s Banking had subsided slightly into the River Wey ‘… it leapt some 70 feet, clear of the Track, onto the Railway Straight. It was a grand sight, Birkin’s scarf flirting with the fairing behind his head as he held the car to its course. The ‘Blower’ Bentley certainly provided as great a thrill for the onlookers of the 1930s as had the V12 Sunbeam and the ‘Chittys’ for the 1920s…’.

Birkin contesting the 1930 French GP at Pau in his sports Bentley 4.5 blower (unattributed)

‘Tiger Tim’s heroic driving that resulted in a lap in 1 minute 13.4 seconds, 135.33mph, beating Don’s existing outright record by 0.73mph. On its standing lap the Single-Seater lapped at 133.88mph, then completed its succeeding three laps at 134.60, 134.60 and finally the new record 135.33mph.

Birkin’s Blower Bentley single-seater was clearly Great Britain’s fastest track racing car of the time. After that day’s racing he flew back to Le Touquet to claim the dinner that ‘Babe’ Barnato had promised him that morning if he could break the Outer Circuit lap record.

Kaye Don first equaled the new Birkin Bentley record in his V12 Sunbeam at Brooklands’ Whitsun Meeting and then shattered it by lapping at 137.58mph, a 2.25mph improvement.

4.5 blower engine in the Welwyn test cell (unattributed)

The Hon. Dorothy Paget entered Birkin to drive the Single-Seater again in the Brooklands August Bank Holiday meeting, only for the fuel tank to split causing his retirement from the feature ‘Gold Star’ Handicap.

High winds and the threat of rain made high speeds impossible in the Brooklands Autumn meeting, but Birkin and the Single-Seater reappeared for the BRDC 500-Miles on October 4. A front tyre burst at top speed during practice which both car and driver survived despite ‘some astonishing subsequent gyrations’. Birkin shared the drive with George Duller but the car ran badly and neither enjoyed the experience, their car ‘sounding like a motor cycle’ and finishing ninth. The 1930 Brooklands season closed with Kaye Don and his V12 Sunbeam holding the Outer Circuit lap record.

The Hon. Dorothy Paget loved being involved with competition but only if she was on the winning side! That winter she withdrew her backing from the ‘Blower’ Bentley endurance racing team, but retained the successful Single-Seater.

The BARC Whitsun Meeting in 1931 saw the great car’s return to Brooklands, but Birkin’s best efforts with it were overshadowed, lapping at a best of 128.69mph in the Gold Star Handicap, then 131.06 in the Somerset Senior Long before retiring.

1931 Belgian Grand Prix Spa. Birkin was 4th in his Alfa 8C2300 #16. #6 Divo/Bouriat Bugatti T51 DNF, #4 Grover-Williams Bug T51 1st, #2 Minoia Alfa 8C2300 3rd, #12 Varzi/Chiron Bug T51 DNF, #18 Wimille/Gaupillat Bug T51 7th #8 Stoffel/Ivanowski Mercedes SSK 5th (unattributed)

Birkin consulted George Eyston and at his suggestion fitted a PowerPlus vane-type supercharger in place of the Villiers’ Roots-Type. The Single-Seater returned to the historic track in August, but a gusty wind hampered attempts by Birkin and Gwenda Stewart in the 2-litre Derby Miller to attack the Kaye Don lap record. Birkin’s best attempt running alone as part of a special record attempt feature within that August meeting was clocked at 134.97mph, but later that afternoon in the London Lightning Long Handicap race he clocked an improved 136.45mph despite the wind

Tim’s great friend and fellow ‘Bentley Boy’ Dr J.D. Benjafield was entrusted with the Single-Seater for the 1931 BRDC 500-Miles, only for its engine to break. Birkin wrote: ‘The few days before this race were not without their thrills…when I was coming off the Byfleet Banking at about 130, the auxiliary petrol tank caught fire and flames began to lick the legs of my overalls….the cockpit certainly did become rather hot. So I switched off the engine and put on the brakes; but before the car stopped, I had to climb out of the seat and, perched on the back of the car, steer as best I could from a crouching position. I jumped off once it was safe and put out the fire. But the cockpit and my hands were both burnt…’. The original Villiers supercharger then replaced the PowerPlus.

At that year’s Autumn Meeting, in the Cumberland Senior Long Handicap Birkin finished third after starting from scratch, after which he continued for two extra laps to attack Don’s 137mph lap record, yet again falling just short at 136.82mph.

For 1932, the Single-Seater was repainted red and its engine bored to 100.5mm, a capacity of 4,442cc.

The season opened on Easter Monday, four days prior to the meeting Birkin attacked the Kay Don Outer Circuit lap record and broke it at last, at 137.96mph.

In the subsequent Easter meeting, John Cobb’s V12 Delage just edged out the now re-handicapped Lap Record-holding Single-Seater to win by 0.2 sec from Birkin, whose best lap was at 134.24mph compared to Cobb’s best of only 128.36.

In the Norfolk Lightning Long Handicap, Birkin nearly lost control on his second lap, skidding viciously under the gusty wind as it shot out from beneath the Members’ Bridge. Birkin and the Bentley then won for their third time at Brooklands, averaging 122.07mph and lapping at 134.26.

The BRDC later held a 100-mile Outer Circuit race. Birkin held the advantage in his heat until the Single-Seater’s right-front tyre stripped and he made a pit stop, finishing fourth. He led the Final at half-distance but only until ‘…the long red car came round misfiring and spluttering, took on water, boiled and retired a lap later with the cylinder block cracked’. Another retirement was then posted in the 1932 Whitsun Meeting,

At a special Brooklands day organised in aid of Guy’s Hospital, Birkin won the Gala Long Handicap and equaled his former lap record of 137.96mph. In the six-lap Duke of York’s race the Bentley threw the tread from its right-rear tyre which flailed high over the heads of spectators round the Members’ Banking!

(Bonhams)

The threat of rain at the August Meeting saw Birkin not run the Single-Seater in one race, but in the 3-lap invitation event for 100 Sovereigns, Birkin confronted John Cobb’s V12 Delage. The French car was the faster starter, leading by 3.8 seconds completing the opening lap. But on lap 2 Tim lapped at 135.70mph and was just 1.2 seconds off Cobb’s tail.

Bill Boddy: ‘The crowd was on its toes… And round they came, the Bentley gaining, yard by yard, on the Delage. As Birkin hurtled off the banking the ‘bump’ shot his car well clear of the Track and the padded rest on the fairing behind his head came adrift, to fly, a small dark object, high into the air. In a supreme effort, Birkin caught Cobb and drew ahead, winning one of Brooklands’ most intense races by a mere one-fifth of a second, or about 25 yards. He averaged 125.14mph and that glorious last lap was run at 137.58mph (0.28mph below the record).’ Out again in the Hereford Lightning Long Handicap, Birkin swept around at 136.45mph, being classified second at the finish.’

Brooklands , Birkin 16 April 1930 (Popperfoto)

Despite his Brooklands heroics, in 1932, Birkin wrote of the Motor Course: ‘I think that it is, without exception, the most out-of-date, inadequate and dangerous track in the world…Brooklands was built for speeds of no greater than 120mph, and for anyone to go over 130, without knowing the track better than his own self, is to court disaster… The surface is abominable. There are bumps which jolt the driver up and down in his seat and make the car leave the road and travel through the air’. He concluded this onslaught with the line ‘If I could find anything true to shed an attractive blur over all Brooklands’ diseases, I would make use of it at once; but there is nothing at all…’ He was a brave man, then, to unleash this ‘Blower’ Bentley Single-Seater there as fearlessly as he did.

In the sports-racing ‘Blower’ Bentleys, Sir Henry had already set a record-breaking pace at Le Mans in 1930, and that same year ran his ‘Blower’ in the French Grand Prix at Pau in southern France, describing it as akin to ‘a large Sealyham surrounded by greyhounds’, yet finishing an astonishing second overall.

But by 1931 Bentley Motors and the ‘Blower’ project were in collapse and Sir Henry was racing private Alfa Romeo 8C-2300s shared with Earl Howe, winning Le Mans for the Italian marque (below).

Tragically, early in 1933 ‘Tiger Tim’ burned his arm at Tripoli in Libya while running a Maserati 8C in the Lottery Grand Prix. Already ailing with recurrent malaria, first contracted during World War 1 , this British hero was quickly overwhelmed by septicaemia. Despite tremendous efforts to save him by his friend and loyal supporter Dr Benjafield Sir Henry died in a London hospital three weeks after the Libyan incident, on June 22, 1933, aged just 36.

Paget, retained the Single-Seater, unused until 1939. Bentley enthusiast Peter Robertson-Rodger blew-up the engine of his ex-Birkin French GP ‘Blower’ Bentley at Donington Park, and convinced Paget into selling him the track car, to use its engine. Then came World War 2, the number one ‘Blower’ engine was returned to the single-seater, which Robertson-Rodger converted into a two-seat roadster.

Bentley mechanic Bill Short did the conversion work during the war, the project finally completed in the late 1940s using a two-seat body designed by Robertson-Rodger built by Chalmers of Redhill. This new body retained the single-seater’s appearance in side profile, complete with pointed tail. Bentley specialist and VSCC luminary John Morley subsequently worked on the car, and when Robertson-Rodger died in 1958 he bequeathed the Single-Seater in his will to Morley.

Birkin at Brooklands, the caption says ‘taking part in the 500 Mile Race at Brooklands’ but it looks more like a test day, picture dated 1 January 1931 (Central Press)

Boyhood Birkin fan and Bentley enthusiast ‘Rusty’ Russ-Turner had been a long-term admirer of the car. He recalled: ‘I had never lost my fascination for that car and one day I was at the Bentley Drivers’ Club Hendon driving tests meeting when a fellow member mentioned rumours that the Birkin single-seater was going to be sold to America. I went to see John Morley who said that nobody in England seemed to want it. After long negotiations we came to an agreement in 1964. It had the 2-seat body but Morley also sold me the original track body. When I climbed behind the wheel it was the realization of a dream. I was wearing a white silk shirt and by the time I got home I was soaked in oil from head to foot!’

The car’s bearings were badly worn and its dry-sump system scavenge pump on the nose of the supercharger had been re-piped to feed an oil-cooler under such pressure that the excess oil squirted everywhere. He painstakingly rebuilt the car and ran it for several years with its Robertson-Rodger 2-seat body in place whilst the single-seater aluminium shell sat on the floor of his garage.

‘Its cockpit was just too tight for me…and one day I climbed into it, there on the floor, and couldn’t get out, I had to stand up, wearing the thing like a skirt. Eventually we found that by making a minor modification and cutting out just one spar behind the seat we could gain about four inches, and that was just enough for me to squeeze in’.

With this unobtrusively modified original body remounted on the famous old chassis, front wheel brakes replaced by Robertson-Rodger and some other minor concessions to road equipment, the Birkin single-seater emerged as ‘a long-legged vintage motor car of the most colossal distinction’.

‘Rusty’ Russ-Turner found the pedals demandingly confined with the centre throttle and right-side brake, while cockpit heat was always high as hot air wafted back from the engine compartment. The aluminium body paneling ‘…warms up nicely in sympathy with the massive exhaust and Brooklands silencer along the left-hand side. He found the brakes excellent although ‘…one does have to make arrangements when approaching a corner’. The car was absolutely at home at anything above 70mph at which it became ‘delightfully stable’.

The standard D-Type Bentley gearbox he rated as being ‘as good as any’ while he also owned the original track-racing gearbox which he found contained the ’rounded-off straight-cut gears preferred by Birkin…’. ‘Tiger Tim’ either could not or would not double de-clutch and he liked to snatch the gears straight through. ‘They called them Mangle Gears and this explains the fantastic background gear noise which was so characteristic of the car when it was being raced’, he explained.

Gearing was 36mph per 1,000rpm, the rev limit was set at 4,000rpm.. ‘…although it can get very expensive around there’, he warned.

‘Rusty’ Russ-Turner suffered a fatal heart attack at Silverstone while racing the car, it was acquired by George Daniels and then later sold again.

Bibliography…

Bonhams; sold the car several years ago, this article is a truncated and edited version of their documentation of the cars history.

Photo Credits…

Getty Images, Heritage Photos, Popperfoto, Fox Photos, Getty Images, Bonhams

Tailpiece: 16 April 1930…

Kurtis Kraft…

Posted: March 25, 2016 in Features, Icons & Iconoclasts
Tags: 1952 Indy 500, 1953 Indy 500, 1954 Indy 500, 1958 Indy 500, 1959 US Grand Prix, Bily Vukovich, Frank Kurtis, Johnny Thomson, Kurtis 500H Offy, Kurtis 500S, Kurtis Kraft, Kurtis Offy Midget, Offenhauser Engines, Rodger Ward

(The Enthusiast Network)

Frank Kurtis, Wally Parks and Ray Brock inspect the ‘D-A Lubricants’ Teams new Kurtis 500H Offy 255 to be driven by Johnny Thompson at Kurtis’ Glendale, California factory on March 24, 1958 …

(The Enthusiast Network)

Notable is the independent front suspension which Kurtis believed “although heavier than a tube axle, will provide better traction on the corners and give better control and less tyre wear”. In fact 500H chassis #715 was the only one of Kurtis’ Indycars fitted with Dubonnet trailing arm independent suspension.

This later model Kurtis Roadster also has a ‘full-laydown’ and ‘offset’ 255cid 360bhp Offy to lower the cars profile and put more weight to the inside of the car, trends Kurtis started in 1952. The 500H was radical for its day and was widely reported upon in various magazines as here in Motoring Life.

Frank initially laid down the Cummins diesel in 1952, tilting the Offys fitted to the other two roadsters that year by 36-degrees from being straight in the frames.

Although he wanted the Offy ‘flatter’, Meyer Drake didn’t make the internal changes to the engine to allow that logical change. This feat was achieved by George Salih, a former Meyer Drake employee who built and modified an engine with Meyer Drake’s assistance which was fitted to a Quinn Epperly built chassis to suit in 1957, setting a new trend.

The 1958 500 was won by Jimmy Bryan’s Salih Offy, Johnson’s Kurtis Offy (in color below) started from grid 21 completing only 52 laps.

Thomson, one of the best drivers of the era, was innocently involved in a massive 15-car lap one crash which killed Pat O’Connor. He continued with bent front suspension, but tyre wear and handling and steering problems forced his retirement in a tragic race.

Chassis #715 raced at Indy in 1959 driven by Duane Carter and in 1960 by Don Freeland for seventh place and a withdrawal respectively. Smokey Yunick bought and entered the car for Carter, converting it to a conventional beam front axle setup. ‘Twas a pity as the IFS was never really sorted, appropriate testing and development never really gave the car the chance it deserved in its original form. The car still exists, albeit in beam axle spec, it was restored in 2007.

(unattributed)

Thomson had a very successful 1958 season, he won four of the thirteen championship races at Springfield, DuQuoin, Syracuse and Sacramento, all were in the team’s Kuzma Offy on dirt. He was third in the USAC Championship behind Tony Bettenhausen and George Amick.

Johnny was killed in a sprintcar race at Allentown , Pennysylvania in September 1960, his car crashed and flipped into Allentown Fairgrounds infield.

Factory 1948 Kurtis 1000 chassis #316 Offy which was ninth in the 1948 Indy 500 driven by Tommy Hinnerschitz, the Eastern Sprintcar champion. Fantastic shot of the well back, aluminium crankcase, iron block, 500 pound Offy 270cid/325bhp @ 5500rpm engine, spaceframe chassis, its 1948 remember. Made of ‘4130’ chrome-moly steel tube, beam front axle not so pretty from a road-racing perspective, but these were dual purpose dirt and pavement cars, drum brakes and fuel all carried up the back. Quite a thing of beauty (Offenhauser)

Frank Kurtis is best remembered for his all-conquering midget and Indy racers, but he also built sprint cars, sportscars, quarter midgets and karts…

The United States boomed in the late 1940s after recovery from the Great Depression and World War II. The racing world reflected better economic times, in 1942 the Indy 500 was canceled after the government banned motor racing. Restored after lack of use, the first postwar Indy in 1946 was a box-office-smash. Many new and innovative cars took to the track, among them Kurtis racers, the first of which appeared in the mid 1930’s.

Undated shot of a staged Kurtis Midget production line, for a time he was building a car a day! Kurtis built more of the things than any other manufacturer (Frank Curtis Collection)

Huge field of Midgets on lap one of a race at Mineola Fairgrounds, Nassau County, New York on 23 August 1948. This venue used from 1925 to 1949 (Racing One)

Frank Kurtis, a native of Crested Butte, Colorado was born on January 25, 1908. He moved with his Croatian born family – his real name was Kuretich – he was one of eight children, to Los Angeles in 1922. He began building cars as a youngster at his father’s blacksmith shop in Pueblo, Colorado which repaired cars and horse-drawn buggies. It was Frank’s talented father who instilled precision craftsmanship into the youths psychy.

His first car was a T-Model Ford to which he added a special body. In the early 1920’s Kurtis began his car making apprenticeship with Don Lee Coach and Body Works, the local Cadillac dealer, broadcaster and racer nut who built custom cars for Hollywood stars. Father and son both worked at Lee’s, Frank improved his welding and metal shaping skills building some quite exotic car bodies.

The beautiful rail-frame midget on the right, known as the Jewel Box was built by Kurtis for Charlie Allen and driven, and later by owned, Roy Sherman. The guy between the two frame-rail midgets being built is Kurtis’ Ted Halibrand, later famous for his alloy wheels (unattributed)

Kurtis’ first work on a racing car seems to be the construction of a one-off radiator shell for a roadster run at Jeffries Ranch, a half-mile dirt track at Burbank, California. Work on the Atlas Chrome Special and Stagger Valve Fronty Ford followed.

Frank’s first complete Midget was built for Tommy Lee, Don’s son in 1936. A succession of cars followed including the Jewel Box Offy and other Midgets for Charley Allen, Lou Fageol, Rex Mays, Bob Swanson, Roy Sherman, Ted Halibrand and others.

Bill Schindler’s Mike Caruso owned Kurtis Black Deuce Offy won 53 races in 1947 and 1948, taking the American Drivers Club title in 1948. Kurtis set a styling trend which continued for decades if not today (Racing One)

Post war, by 1946, he was building an assembly line of Offy engined midgets. Watching pre-war midgets bucking and bouncing through the turns, he thought their centre of gravity was too high and suspensions too stiff, his racers points of difference addressed these ills.

Frank’s chassis were stiff spaceframes made of ‘4130’ chrome-moly tube rather than the sheet steel rail-frames of his earlier cars and those of most of the competition. The suspension used torsion bars which reduced unsprung weight and allowed better road holding. He used Dzus fasteners which allowed the body to be removed in minutes, which meant the Offy could be serviced more quickly between events. The cars were lower and more softly sprung which made his chassis easier to handle and gave superior traction so the powerful Offy’s could put all their horses to the dirt. He built hundreds of them.

The Midget craze was dying by 1948, race fans were losing interest in the smaller cars, being attracted by bigger Champ Cars and Kurtis was there to service that market…

Walt Faulkner in his JC Agajanian Grant Piston Rings 1948 Kurtis 2000 Offy 220 at the California State Fairgrounds on 15 October 1950. He is contesting an AAA Sprint/Champcar race, note the difference in size compared with the various Midget photos (Racing One)

Johnny Parson’s Kurtis Offy 270 1950 Indy winning chassis. The car had no type designation but was built in 1948/9 and called Kurtis Kraft Spl . Parsons was second the year before in the same car (unattributed)

In 1949 a Kurtis-Kraft dirt car won the AAA title, in 1950 the same chassis driven by Johnny Parsons – the Wynns Oil Spl – won the Indy 500.

In this period Frank built a one of a kind Buick and a production sportscar which was later to become the Muntz Road jet in 1950. More of the sportscars later in the article.

The 1951 Indy 500 was won by a stretched-midget built from Kurtis parts supplied to Meyer Drake, the Offy engine manufacturers.

It was allocated chassis # 327-49. Originally powered by an experimental centrifugal-supercharged Offy Midget engine with a capacity of 106.81cid, weighing 280 pounds. So fast was the car, that their customers complained about unfair competition, so Meyer Drake sold it to Murrell Belanger.

It won the 1951 500 in Lee Wallard’s hands with a slightly-undersized 241cid Offy. The engine was a combination 270 block and 220 crank which they managed to squeeze into the chassis designed for the much smaller 107cid blown Midget engine.

1951 Indy front row; Jack McGrath KK 3000 Offy, winner #99 Lee Wallard K Offy and#18 Duke Nalon Kurtis Novi V8 (unattributed)

Lee Wallard Kurtis Offy 241 1951 winner. Stretched-Midget built by Meyer Drake from Kurtis parts (unattributed)

Popular Mechanics May 1952 article about the upcoming Indy 500, pic shows the low build of the Kurtis 1952 roadsters

In 1952 Kurtis built three pioneering roadsters (500 Series) with elongated wheelbases and lowered bodywork and centre of gravity.

Popular Mechanics reported that the cars weighed 1500 pounds, the frames were of chrome moly elliptical section tube plus a nine inch deep aluminium sheet box that also served as part of the skin. To save weight, the cowl and firewall were designed as structural parts of the frame. The front suspension system comprised two torsion bars mounted in a crisscross fashion instead of parallel to the frame.

Joe Scalzo, “They showed up at the speedway looking like freaks among all the high bodied dirt track cars and antediluvian front-wheel drives.”

The cars fates varied. The Cummins Diesel was out early with a broken supercharger but its huge, tall 401cid straight-six, with the engine laid on its side, plonked it on pole despite weighing 2150 pounds dry. In so doing Frank Kurtis built the first laydown-chassis Indycar.

The Auto Shippers, an upright roadster (type 500A) didn’t start, but oilman Howard Brighton Keck’s Offy 270 powered Fuel Injection Spl’\ driven by national midget champion, Bill Vukovich, dominated the race before a steering pin failure resulted in a kiss of the wall with 20 miles to run.

Vukovich won in the Kurtis 500A ‘Fuel Injection Spl’ in 1953/4.

Vukovich, Jim Travers and Frank Coon after their 1953 500 win, Kurtis Kraft 500A Offy 270. The Offy 270 gave circa 345bhp @ 5500rpm in 1952 on methanol. Fuel rules at Indy were not strictly enforced then, a dose of ‘pop’ – nitro-methane – in qualifying for four or so laps was good for another 40bhp! (unattributed)

Scalzo related the changes needed to make the car competitive. “Arriving…late for its debut, it was immediately hailed a disaster by Howard Keck’s longtime mechanics Jim Travers and Frank Coon…the ‘Toonerville Trolley’ had torsion bars behind the rear axle and in front of the front axle and the anchor points were wrong. It had a vertical steering shaft holding the two steering arms together and its steering geometry was off…the track surface made the out of balance Fuel Inj Spl a flexing spastic. Travers and Coon rescued it with remedial repairs…Jim and Frank were rich in racing savvy and were veterans of weekly Midget brawls at Gilmore Stadium and Culver City Speedway, they were used to tricking out Keck’s stable of 110cid Offys.”

“To overcome the flaws of the Fuel Inj Spl they fell back on old speedway racing habits. Among other things they ‘jacked-weight’ across its rear end, and by deliberately misaligning its 270cid Meyer-Drake by one-bolt and 36-degrees to the bell-housing, wedged hundreds of static pounds to the FI Spl’s left…All this worked like a charm…Additionally, they and colleague Stu Hilborn had a reputation for…making Offy horsepower,” Scalzo said.

Vukovich sets off after a pitstop in his victorious Kurtis 500A Offy 1953 run. He won in 1954 but died in the ’55 500 in an accident not of his making (Racing One)

Kurtis cars won the 500 in 1953, 1954 and 1955. For the next eight seasons through to 1963, when Kurtis made his ‘model 500L for lemon-Scalzo’, (the bulbous American Rubber 73 missed the cut) upwards of 60 KK’s raced at Indianapolis. Production numbers of the cars appears as follows; 11 in ’53, 10 in ’54, 6 in ’55, 5 in ’56, 16 in ’57 and 7 between 1958 and 1962.

Scalzo, “The end of Frank Kurtis was sad. A disgruntled and embittered FK turned into an awful grouch pigeonholing Kuzma, Epperly, Lesovsky and especially AJ Watson as thieves who stole all his roadster ideas and became heroes at his expense.”

George Bignotti beside his 1960 Indy entry, the Kurtis Seal Fast Spl driven by AJ Foyt, DNF clutch. The ultimate expressions of the roadster trend started by Kurtis were full-lay-downs built by Salih, Epperly, Kurtis and others. Also Watson’s ‘offsets’ built with ‘short-tower’ lower block Offys than the 270’s taken back to 255cid used by others; the regs demanded a 4.2-litre unsupercharged limit from 1957. This car was built as a Kurtis, but for 1960 had an Epperly chassis, body and front end. Offy engine a 255 cid four cylinder, five bearing, monobloc, DOHC four valve, Hilborn injected unit giving circa 350/360bhp @ 6200rpm on methanol, weight 452lbs (The Enthusiast Network)

Frank Kurtis’ Indy track record is to be envied in the extreme. His Offy powered cars sat on the Indy pole eight times, he won five times; in 1950 (Parsons), 1951 (Wallard), 1953/4 (Vukovich,) and 1955 (Sweikert). His cars were also fourth in 1947, third in 1948 and second in 1949 and 1952. Fifteen of the top 20 cars at Indy in 1953 were Kurtis chassis!

The last Kurtis chassis victory in a National Championship event was Van Johnson’s victory at Langhorne on June 14, 1959 in Kurtis Kraft 4000 chassis #368-53.

Champion Ad promoting Bob Sweikert’s 1955 Kurtis 500D Offy Indy win

One of the most famous and bizarre Kurtis appearances was Rodger Ward’s entry of a Kurtis Offy Midget in the inaugural F1 US Grand Prix at Sebring in 1959…

Promoter Alec Ullman was chasing bums-on-seats, the entry of Ward, the 1959 Indy champ made commercial sense. Ward had had some road racing success, racing his Midget against sports cars, notably at a Lime Rock meeting during a Formula Libre race.

Rodger Ward’s Kurtis Offy Midget chasing, and soon passing George Constantine’s Aston Martin DBR2 at Lime Rock, a twisty ‘right hand’ road course on 25 July 1959. Ward beat some of the best sports racers in the country in this F Libre race (Offenhauser)

For the Grand Prix though, his two-speed gearbox, two-speed rear axle, hand braked, supercharged 1.7-litre Offy was at a severe disadvantage to the other front engined F1 cars, let alone the revolutionary Coopers. The Kurtis was chassis #O-10-46, yes folks it was built in 1946! The car raced on 12-inch wheels and Firestone slicks pre-dating their reappearance in F1 in 1971!

Ward qualified last and DNF with clutch failure after 20 laps in the race won by Bruce McLaren’s Cooper T51 Climax after Jack Brabham ran out of fuel on the last lap. His fourth place, pushing the Cooper over the line, gave him the title.

Rodger Ward contesting the 1959 USGP at Sebring in his supercharged Kurtis Offy Midget. He won the Indy 500 that year in a Watson Offy 255 Roadster (Louis Galanos)

While the focus of this article is the Indy cars, Kurtis also built some fantastic sports cars…

In 1949 he built the Kurtis Sports Car which featured on the cover of the very first Motor Trend magazine in October 1949. Kit prices started at $1495, inflation drove costs up so much that only 17 kits were sold, Kurtis sold the rights to Earl Muntz in the early 1950’s. Almost 400 of these steel bodied, Caddy/Lincoln engined Muntz Jet’s were built.

In 1953 Kurtis built the 500S, the chassis and suspension of which took its cues from the 500A Indy Roadster. The chassis was a ladder-frame, drilled for lightness, the solid front axle was tubular suspended by trailing arms and torsion bars. A live axle was also used at the rear, again suspended by torsion bars.

The 500S could be supplied as a kit or complete ex-factory, the body was aluminium, and with cycle-guards was aggressively handsome. The complete car sold for $4986 less engine and ‘box. It’s estimated that 30 500S cars/kits were sold from 1953-5.

Bill Stroppe’s short-wheelbase, 282cid ‘flathead’ Mercury V8 powered car was the most successful racer, achieving many wins in 1953/4.

Kurtis 500S, 1955 Sebring 12 Hour. The Jack Emsley/Jim Rathman car was out on lap three with Cadillac engine failure. The race was won by the Hawthorn/Phil Walters Jag D-Type (unattributed)

The 500X followed, it was an evolution of the earlier car but with a much nicer spacefame chassis. Although live-axle suspension remained, the rear axle incorporated a Halibrand quick-change unit. Between six and 12 were built (quite a range!) the cars were clothed in a very attractive aluminium body.

The 500M was designed for smaller engines, used a fibreglass body, and the Kurtis 500KK kit chassis pictured below, 18-20 cars were built.

In the early 1960’s Kurtis laid down three machines which were essentially widened Indy Roadster chassis. One of these, Jack Lufkin’s 1964 Bonneville Streamliner, was the fastest Kurtis ever, topping 245mph in 1968. Several other racers were built, including a ’62 Bonneville A-Model pickup, a pair of dragsters and a Saab powered H-Modifed car also in 1962.

Kurtis designed and built the start-carts for the Lockheed Corporations SR71 Blackbird, a project which continued into the 1980’s.

Frank Kurtis retired in 1968, but his son Arlen continued the business which diversified into high performance drag racing and water skiing. In more recent times he has built “limited productions of a few models of cars and parts his dad once built.”

Etcetera…

The factory Kurtis Kraft ‘1000’ Offy’, 1948 Series Champcar. Powered by ‘270’ Offy. Cutaway from a photo original (John Wickhart)

The 1951 Meyer Drake built stretched-midget built from Kurtis parts is sometimes allocated chassis # ‘327-49’ . Won ’51 Indy fitted with Offy ‘241’ cid engine (unattributed)

I love this shot as it gives great human-scale to these Midgets and 91 or 110cid Offys. The Kurtis was raced by Don Lowe at left, fettling the car with owner Miles Spickler on June 2, 1949. The upcoming meeting is at Lakeside Speedway, Denver. Offy Midget engines were 100/102 and 110cid in the 1960’s. Iron block, aluminium crankcase, three bearing monobloc – the block and head one unit – DOHC, two-valve, circa 237lbs in weight. Post-war they were fitted with two 1.5 inch Riley carbs and later, Hilborn continuous fuel injection. By 1947 the engine produced 120bhp @ 6000rpm on alcohol and in 1950 injected form 143bhp @ 8000rpm on alcohol (The Denver Post)

Kurtis Kraft Offy Speedcar, not sure of date or model. Hilborn injected 110cid engine (David Kimble)

Vukovich, Kurtis Kraft 500A Offy 270, 1954 Indy winner. Vukovich used the same chassis #353-52 in his 1952-54 races (unattributed)

Vukovich leads the 1953 Indy 500, Kurtis 500A Offy (Max Staub)

Leo Goossen’s factory drawing of the Offy 270 which was the supreme engine in championship racing from 1947-56. This is a later injected version. When the capacity limit was reduced to 4.2-litres the engine capacity was reduced from 274 to 255cid, Meyer Drake simply reduced the internal dimensions of the engine a smidge (Leo Goossens)

Bibliography…

Joe Scalzo ‘Indianapolis Roadsters 1952-64’, Popular Mechanics May 1952, Don Capps on The Nostalgia Forum, Gordon Eliot White ‘Offenhauser’

Photo Credits…

The Enthusiast Network, Racing One, David Kimble, John Wickhart, Frank Kurtis Collection, Louis Galanos, Max Staub

Tailpiece…

1947 JCC Jersey Road Race…

Posted: March 4, 2016 in F1, Features
Tags: 1947 JCC Jersey Road Race, Bert Hardy, ERA D Type, Louis Chiron, Maserati 4C, Maserati 4CL, Picture Post, Prince Bira, Raymond Mays, Raymond Sommer, Reg Parnell

Jersey Maserati line up of ; #1 Chiron 4CL, #2 Pagani 4C, #3 Sommer 4CL, #4 Bira 4C…

‘MotorSport’ announced the first British post-war international race at St Helier, Jersey on 8 May in its April 1947 issue…

‘The course embraces 1.5 miles of the St Helier promenade and measures 3.5 miles per lap, the race is a scratch contest over 160 miles, under Formula Rules ie; supercharged 1.5 litre and unsupercharged cars of 4.5 litres. There are no fuel restrictions and lady drivers are barred…Already everyone in the country seems to be booking accommodation…for the Jersey Road race will attract immense crowds of spectators’ MotorSport said.

Saint Helier is the capital of Jersey, the largest of the North Sea Channel Islands which had been liberated from the Germans less than two years before. The race was the first of five held on the island (1947-1950 and 1952), Brooklands having been bomb damaged during the war and there were problems with the authorities using a circuit on the mainland…

Raymond Mays supervising the preparation of his ERA D Type ‘R4D’ on 1 April 1947. The workshop shot is of interest as is the girder chassis of the car, 6 cylinder supercharged engine awaits installation on the bench (Getty)

Starved of racing opportunities the race was well supported by British entrants and was also the first meeting supported by drivers from the continent; Maserati 4CL’s were entered for Reg Parnell, Louis Chiron and Raymond Sommer, 4C’s for Bira, Ian Connell, Nello Pagani and Robert Ansell.

Louis Chiron surrounded by his team and well-wishers on race-day. Maser 4CL 2nd but probable winner of the race…(Bert Hardy)

A swag of ERA’s were entered; George Abecassis and Joe Ashmore in A Type’s, B Types for John Bolster, Bob Gerard, Peter Walker, Cuth Harrison and Billy Cotton/Wilkie Wilkinson, a D Type for Raymond Mays and E Type for Peter Whitehead.

Other notable entrants were Pierre Levegh’s Delage D6.70 these cars also entered for Henri Louveau and Jean Achard. Leslie Johnson was entered in a Talbot T150C.

Victor Reg Parnell’s Maserati 4CL (Bert Hardy)

Raymond Mays ready to practice his ERA at St Heliers on 4 June 1947 (Getty/Popperfoto)

Bira set the quickest time during practice on the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 2.6.6 but all three Scuderia Milano Maserati’s; Sommer, Chiron and Pagani were under 2.10.

Bira Maser mirror adjustment in the pits, fastest by some way in practice (Bert Hardy)

Melted pistons in several of the blown cars was a problem causing MotorSport to speculate about the impact of missing fuel company expert technicians. Whitehead ran well until a split fuel tank in the ERA E Type dumped its contents on the road, the tank was repaired for the race, not well as it turned out!

Maser mechanics fetting (Bert Hardy)

Johnson did a good time of 2.17 in the sports Talbot, the ‘Ecurie Delsac’ Delages of Louveau, Levegh and Achard slower.

The front row comprised Bira on pole from Pagani, Chiron and Sommer with Mays, Gerard and Ansell on row two and Whitehead, Parnell, Walker and Dixon on row three.

Parnells Maser being pushed onto the grid (Bert Hardy)

Chiron’s Maser 4CL being pushed onto the grid (Bert Hardy)

’47 Jersey Road race just prior to the start. The front row L>R Sommer, Chiron, Pagani with Bira on pole all in Maserati’s (Jersey Evening Post)

MotorSport reported ‘The start was quite colossal…the entire field hurtled off with a crash. Impressions were difficult to analyse during the first mad rush, with the howl of the engines rising to a scream and the confusion of the blurring colours. Pagani took a slight lead from teammates Chiron and Sommer while Whitehead’s ERA hung slightly on getaway so that the Talbot and two Delages of Johnson, Levegh and Achard closed up like a released rubber band’.

‘After about 90 seconds of silence the leaders dived out of the Bayview Hotel corner, brakes on and slowed for the pedestrian like hairpin, Sommer in the lead from Bira 2 seconds back then Pagani and Parnell. There was an appreciable gap…to Mays, Ansell and Whitehead’ the latter retired the ERA E Type with a recurrence of the split aluminium fuel tank.

Bira correcting a slide in his Maser 4CL on the harbour front road (Klemantaski)

Bira got in front of Sommer before lap 5 but the Frenchman got the lead back but couldn’t hold it, Bira pitted on lap 10 to change a wheel having boofed a kerb.

Bira Maser 4C from Sommer Maser 4CL early in the race at Bel Royal corner (Jersey Evening Post)

The Thai Prince lost only around 24 seconds but Derby’s Reg Parnell was in front by 45 seconds, a lead he never lost.

Sommer set a lap record of 2.6.2, 91.28mph on this road circuit before retiring with a ‘worn engine’.

Chiron’s Maserati 4CL Klemantaski)

There was considerable confusion about race positions the scoreboard and broadcast announcer at odds ‘It was not until 3 laps from the end that Parnell was shown as the leader with Chiron 2nd …Certainly (Parnell) was driving as if he thought he was 2nd, unlike Chiron who was driving as if he was sure he was 1st’.

Spectators as confused about race positions as the drivers and their crews? The scoreboard says its #7 Parnell from #4 Bira and #18 Gerard on Lap 15 (Bert Hardy)

Chiron pistop for fuel (Bert Hardy)

Further back ‘Mays drove as he has seldom before, climbing ruthlessly up the ruck to 3rd place once he got the car running on all six’.

Sam Gilby in his Maserati 6CM ‘Went well indeed but he should remember that in his first race, style, driving manners and a complete lack of baulking are are more important than dicing hard. Style and correctness are still the first things to learn’ MotorSport noted! (Klemantaski)

‘Johnson, playing a waiting game behind Louveau’s Delage…lost top gear, just when his pit signalled him to take Loueveau during the last third of the race’.

Parnell (Bert Hardy)

‘Final placings after all the protests and shouting had died down were’;

Parnell Maser 4CL from Louis Chiron Maser 4CL, Mays 3rd in ERA D Type then Ashmore’s ERA A Type, Henri Louveau Delage D6.70 and Leslie Johnson Talbot T150C.

Picture Post…

For the winner the spoils; Reg Parnell on the ‘Picture Post’ 24 May 1947 cover (Bert Hardy)

The inspiration for this article is the amazing work of Bert Hardy who was the principal photographer for the ‘Picture Post’, Britains most influential news-pictorial magazine, who took many of the shots used in this piece.

The magazine’s life spans around 30 years from 1938 to 1957, very quickly achieving sales of 1.7 million copies per month. What took my breath away is the sheer breadth of coverage of Hardy’s work, pretty much the progress, daily lives, sport, politics, contemporary culture and all of the conflicts in which the UK became enmeshed is shown in the archive. If you are a Brit take the time to have a look at the work. The disadvantage of the Getty Images (who now own the archive) format is that the low res scans don’t have the details of each shot unless you click on them and it ‘kicks you out’ after every 5 0r 6 clicks but its worth persevering.

Here is a link to the images;

http://www.gettyimages.com.au/photos/bert-hardy?sort=mostpopular&excludenudity=true&mediatype=photography&phrase=bert%20hardy

And here is a long but very interesting article about Bert Hardy, as an Aussie i have never heard of the man but he was truly an amazing photo-journalist;

http://www.photohistories.com/Photo-Histories/50/the-life-and-times-of-albert-hardy-1913-1995

Etcetera…

Bira preparing for the off , Maser 4C (Bert Hardy)

The top shot is Parnell’s Maserati 4CL being refuelled, the lower one Ray May’s, preoccupied but looking after the autograph needs of young fans (Bert Hardy)

Car #15 the Leslie Brooke ERA B Type passes the pits DNF engine failure (Bert Hardy)

Bibliography…

Motorsport April and June 1947

Photo Credits…

Bert Hardy, Louis Klemantaski, Jersey Evening Post, Getty Images

Tailpiece: Ray Mays ERA D Type independent front suspension detail…

22 April 1947

Finito…

Life Is All About Timing? Chris Amon and the Ferrari 312B…

Posted: February 26, 2016 in F1, Features
Tags: Chris Amon, Ensign N176 Ford, Ferrari 312, Ferrari 312B, Ferrari Dino 246T, Jacky Ickx, Matra MS120, Mauro Forghieri, Modena Circuit, Talon MR1 Chev, Wolf Dallara WD1 Chev

Chris Amon is not a driver one readily associates with the very successful 1970 Ferrari 312B and even then only in a ‘lost opportunity’ kind of way…

As he drove from his digs in Maranello the 20km to the Modena circuit Ferrari used for testing each time in mid 1969 he did so with an increasingly heavy heart.

Chris had motor racings dream job, Ferrari’s ‘number one’ driver and the considerable resources of the famed Scuderia at his disposal. He tested and raced F2 and Tasman Dino’s, Sports Prototypes, big Can-Am Group 7 cars and of course GP cars. The company car was not to be sneezed at. Ferrari’s drivers were only marginally less popular than the Pope, he loved living in Italy, enjoyed the food, people, the vibe in Maranello and testing the cars, Mauro Forghieri rated him one of the teams greatest test drivers and of course his racing of them.

But in his terms, as one of the five best drivers in the world at the time, he was not achieving the grand prix winning success he deserved, so many times he had led races in 1968 and early in 1969 only to have the car fail beneath him. And now, a car he thought looked fabulous and was testing well had an engine which consistently ‘grenaded’ behind him at Modena in the most spectacular fashion.

What should he do? Stay with Ferrari in the belief the engineering problem would be solved or move to another team with a Ford Cosworth powered car was the decision which tortured him…

Amon, Monaco 1967 in the awful race in which his teammate Lorenzo Bandini died the most gruesome, fiery death. Denny Hulme’s Brabham BT20 Repco won from Hill’s Lotus 33 BRM and Amon (unattributed)

The partnership between Amon and Mauro Forghieri was a fruitful one based on great mutual respect, which is not to say they always agreed! Here with 312 at Zandvoort in 1967. How young does he look?! Ferrari team-leader at 24 by the end of 1967 (unattributed)

He joined Ferrari in 1967 as one of four drivers- Lorenzo Bandini, Mike Parkes, Ludovico Scarfiotti and himself. The ‘pudgy’, heavy 312 of 1966 evolved into the 1967 car, quite the sexiest looking of any GP car. After the end of the sports car season it became a very fast one fitted with a lightweight block and F2 derived gearbox- and from Monza with four-valve heads the car flew. Amon believed the 390bhp claimed for it and described the (’67 and ’68) chassis as ‘an absolute dream to drive’. Chris should have won at Watkins Glen in front of the two Lotus 49s but the engine blew 12 laps from the end. In Mexico Chris qualified well in second but pitted for fuel.

A road accident early in the 1967 season put him out for a while, his speed had been demonstrated in all types of car, his place in the team was cemented despite an awful season for Ferrari- the tragic death of Bandini at Monaco and the effective end of Mike Parkes’ career in a huge, high speed Belgian GP, Spa shunt.

Amon with Ferrari 312 in the Monza pits, Italian GP 1967. Q4 and 7th in the race won by John Surtees Honda RA300 (Schlegelmilch)

For 1968 his teammate was Belgian ‘Wunderkind’ Jacky Ickx.

One of the ‘crosses Ferrari F1 drivers sometimes bore’ was Enzo Ferrari’s obsession with sports car racing, particularly Le Mans. Whilst the team had better resources than most, the impact of the sports car program on F1 was great or little depending upon the competitiveness of said GP cars at the time! In mid-season, the focus was on the Sports Cars, after that F1 was re-prioritised.

In 1968 Ferrari ‘spat the dummy’ at CSI rule changes (ending unlimited cars and changing to 5 litre Sports Cars and 3 litre Prototypes) not building a car for the season with a consequent focus on F1 and development of a car which could have won both ’68 world titles.

1968 Spanish Grand Prix. Ferrari 312/68 Q1 and led until fuel pump failure on lap 58. Hills Lotus 49 Ford won (unattributed)

The 48 valve V12 was developed to give circa 410bhp at a time the Ford Cosworth DFV gave much the same, albeit the Fazz lacked the mid-range punch of the DFV, Amon quipped that ‘there was nothing at home below 9800rpm’. The engine also had high water and oil temperatures with consequent power loss. The Ferraris went to the grid carrying 8-10 gallons more ‘juice’ than the Cosworth cars, a weight penalty of 55-70 pounds, despite all of that the 312/68 was a very competitive, if unreliable beast.

In amongst the damp North Sea dunes at Zandvoort in 1968. Dutch GP Q1 and 6th, the race won by Stewart’s Matra MS10 Ford (Schlegelmilch)

French GP, Rouen 1968. Q5 and 10th in the race won by teammate Ickx, the ‘rainmaster’ who started the damp race on full wets and drove away in the early laps when, again, a driver, Jo Schlesser, died in another fiery accident in the Honda RA302. These accidents accelerated changes to circuit and car safety, not that they were the last horrible fiery deaths in the period. Amazing Rainer Schlegelmilch shot of Rouen and the butt of Amons 312; look at the hay bales, tyre distortion and the presence of wings which grew thru ’68 (Schlegelmilch)

In 1968 the grid was ‘awash’ with Ford Cosworth DFV’s- Lotus, McLaren and Ken Tyrrell’s Matra’s were fitted with them. Colin Chapman waived his exclusivity agreement to the engines upon Ford’s Walter Hayes request that he do so ‘for the good of GP racing’ such was Hayes’ fear of Lotus dominance. Not that Ford’s position was diminished by more DFV powered cars on the grid than less!

Amon in the Oulton Park Gold Cup 17 August 1968. I had this shot on my bedroom wall for years as a scho0l kid! Wings are growing…Amon 2nd to Stewart’s Matra MS10 Ford (unattributed)

For Ferrari, BRM, Weslake and Honda the impact of the Ford engine was great. The DFV was built on modern, tape controlled equipment bought for the purpose which meant the quality of the product was consistent, parts made would fit all engines. Prior to that some GP engines were to an extent hand fettled and bits needed to be modified to fit each engine, which was effectively bespoke. Cosworth’s quality control and the pressure on them to rebuild the engines in a timely consistent way for all took a while to get sorted, but the writing was well and truly on the wall, the Ford engine a considerable F1 weapon of course right into the eighties and beyond in F3000 guise.

None of this was lost on Amon of course, the competitiveness of his compatriot Bruce McLaren’s cars in 1968 was something he observed and discussed with both Bruce and Denny Hulme.

Italian GP, Monza 9 August 1968. Giulio Borsari makes some adjustments to Ickx’ 312. Forghieri devised this ‘movable aerodynamic device’ operated by oil pressure. The wing went to hi-angle mode in 1/2/3rd gears but feathered for low drag with the throttle open in 4/5th gears. It returned to download position in those gears when the brakes were applied. An override switch was fitted which Chris liked and Ickx had removed (Klemantaski)

Amon putting the movable wing to good effect at Monza in 1968. Q3 and DNF after an accident, Hulme won in a McLaren M7A Ford (unattributed)

But Chris was ‘on fire’ in 1968. Ferrari were on the front row nine times, eight to Amon and took four poles, three to Amon, but unreliability robbed them, and Chris of three probable wins. Ickx took the only race win at Reims during the tragic French GP in which Jo Schlesser died in the Honda RA302.

At Monza Chris led until an oil leak onto a rear tyre caused an almighty accident which destroyed the car. He dominated in Canada despite clutchless gear changes from lap 12 but of course the gearbox broke under the strain, the clutch should not have failed.

Chris on the way to a 1969 Australian GP victory at Lakeside, Queensland on 2 February. He won the Tasman Series beating the Team Lotus Rindt/Hill duo and others. Left front of the Dino 246T off the deck thru the very fast kink opposite the pits (Rod MacKenzie)

1969 started well, Chris tested his 246 Dino Tasman cars thoroughly at Modena before shipping the cars home to New Zealand.

He convincingly won the Tasman Cup in 300bhp, 24 valve cars he helped develop and a team he put together. He collaborated with David McKay’s Sydney based Scuderia Veloce who provided on ground back-up for the mix of speed and reliability needed for this championship of intensity- eight races in eight weeks.

He beat the factory Lotus 49s of Hill and new-signing and probable ‘fastest guy on the planet’ Jochen Rindt taking four wins including the NZ GP at Pukekohe and AGP at Lakeside. The series of depth also included Derek Bell (in the other Dino), Frank Gardner (Mildren Alfa T33 V8) and Piers Courage (Brabham BT24 Ford DFW).

Back at Maranello the finishing touches were being made to the 312P, Ferrari were back in endurance racing that year, and the latest evolution of the 312 GP car.

Strategically the future for Ferrari was bright despite the financial difficulties the team were in early in the year.

Discussions underway with Fiat were consummated in June, Enzo Ferrari had effective control of the racing department for his lifetime whilst Fiat took over the development of the road cars, and a considerable amount of cash changed hands.

The injection of working capital allowed Ferrari to build the 25 512S Sports Cars required for homologation into Group 5 for 1970 and to develop Ferrari’s first ‘clean sheet’ 3 litre F1 car, the flat-12 312B.

Ferrari authorised Forghieri to start this program early in the year well before the Fiat deal was done, the Fiorano test facility, opened in 1972 is another example of the sort of investment which would not have been possible without Fiat’s investment.

Monaco 1969 Amon beside Jackie Stewart’s Matra MS80 Ford which won the title that year . Q2 anf a failed diff. Note the lack of wings, banned overnight by the CSI. Hill won in a Lotus 49 Ford (Yves Debraine)

From Amon’s perspective then, he was potentially in the right place.

He was esconced in one of the sports greatest teams, he had won the Tasman, Ferrari was in the process of doing a deal with a partner with deep pockets, a new car was underway for 1970 but 1969 could be a challenge with an evolution of the ’68 cars and more Cosworth powered cars on GP grids! It was critical to Chris the 312B tested well.

Whilst Mauro Forghieri worked on the design of the 312B Ing Stefano Jacoponi was responsible to do what he could with the obsolescent V12. The chassis was much the same although the cars appearance was different with a flatter nose and evolution of wings, partially at the whim of the (CSI) rulemakers who banned, rightly, high-wings during the Monaco GP weekend.

The V12 was changed with heads which reversed the porting, returning the exhausts to outside the Vee lowering the cars centre of gravity and reducing turbulence around the rear wing. Inlets were in the Vee, more radical cams were developed and disastrous efforts made to reduce frictional losses and release power by reducing main bearing area…

Amon, Q2 DNF engine, Spanish GP, Montjuic Park, Barcelona 1969. Stewart won in a Matra MS80 Ford. Look at that oil cooler trying to do just that (unattributed)

Forghieri with the 312/69 in the Silverstone, British GP paddock. V12 cooling issues clear by the ‘orrible oil cooler/duct incorporated into the rear wing. Amon Q5 and DNF lap 45 with gearbox failure. Stewart’s Matra won after a titanic battle with Rindt’s Lotus. 3 Ferrari’s were entered #32 the spare (unattributed)

Early in the season Ferrari entered only one car for Amon. He was second on the Spanish GP grid and inherited the lead after the two Lotus 49’s crashed with wing failure, with a lead of over 30 seconds the engine seized. At Monaco he was second when the diff failed and at Silverstone, joined by Pedro Rodriguez both retired with ‘box and engine failures.

To add to these frustrations and be in no doubt elite sport is as much mental as physical, his erstwhile teammate Ickx- Amon had been demonstrably the quicker of the two in 1968 was winning races in Brabham’s year old spaceframe chassis BT26. That car was now as consistently fast and reliable with a DFV in 1969 as it was consistently fast and unreliable with a Repco ‘RB860 Series’ V8 in 1968. Amon’s disappointment with his situation was immense, he was a race-winner in a reliable Ferrari or another car.

Such were their problems Ferrari withdrew from the German GP on 3 August, Ickx won there, to prepare the new 312B for Monza, it simply was not worth racing the fast but unreliable 312/69.

Amon had great hopes for Mauro Forghieri’s new for 1970 car, the ‘clean-sheet, Flat-12 engined 312B…

Amon readies himself for the off, Modena, exact date unknown (GP Library)

Mauro Forghieri’s Ferrari 312B was one of the most beautifully integrated Ferrari’s ever built, whilst much is made of the engine the success of the car was about far more. Doug Nye; ‘The 312B…was quite the best integrated 3 litre F1 package yet created. It would remain the best packaged of all Ferrari’s until the Postlethwaite 156 appeared in 1985’ he said writing in 1986. I always thought the 312T/T2 were pretty handy bits of integrated kit, but the point is, the car was a beautifully designed and executed car!

The talented Modenese born engineer saw at close hand as an at thecircuit race-engineer the success of the Lotus 49 and its imitators, the engine beautifully integrated with the chassis and the powerful, torquey, compact, relatively frugal and reliable nature of the Cosworth DFV itself. The engines basic dimensions and valve angles gave instruction to a whole generation of engine designers.

The suspension of the competition were all period conventional; wishbones/wishbones or rocker/wishbones at the front and single top-link, lower wishbones and radius rods for fore and aft location. The 312B followed that course.

Aerodynamics were still a black art but the CSI’s mandated lower wings meant airflow to the critical rear wing needed thought as the wing could no longer be mounted high in ‘clean air’. Remember, at the time traction was important, the cars had a wonderful surplus of power over grip.In the end that problem solved as much by tyre alchemy as wings let alone the 1969 4WD blind-alley of which Ferrari was not a part.

A 12 cylinder engine was a ‘Ferrari given’. Forghieri’s challenge was to unlock sufficient power to combat the DFV despite the inherent packaging issues of the longer engine and frictional losses and other bottom end shortcomings which were such problems in the existing V12.

Ferrari 312B 1970 showing the chassis structure and rear ‘boom or beam’ to which the engine attaches (Nye)

Forghieri’s chassis was another of Ferrari’s ‘aero constructions’. They were not monocoques in the British sense but rather a tubular internal frame stiffened by riveted on ‘ally panels. Not a problem, Ron Tauranac’s old-fashioned spaceframe BT26’s were race winning GP cars in 1969 until effectively outlawed by the ‘bag tank’ rules of 1970.

The clever bit, ‘praps learning from the DFV’s simple chassis mounts mandated by Lotus designer Colin Chapman to Cosworth’s Keith Duckworth was the use of a ‘beam’ aft of the usual drivers bulkhead to which the engine mounted. This provided a very stiff structure but also very good, better than all other cars in 1970, airflow to the rear wing. It promised more downforce and therefore grip for less angle, drag, than the other cars.

Note the rivets on the rear beam which is part of the cars chassis to which the engine attaches, it also biolts to the bulkhead behind the driver. Low nature of engine and good airflow onto the wing. Oil cooler ducts also in shot (GP Library)

Ferrari factory drawing of the Flat-12 312B engine showing its deep base chamber, roller bearing mains, narrow included valve angle, induction tracts above the heads, exhausts below and extensive cross-bolting of the split crankcase castings (Nye)

Engineers Forghieri, Rocchi and Bussi’s 3 litre Flat-12 engine was conceived in that horizontally opposed configuration to get the cars centre of gravity low and get the engine out of the airstream to the wing. The need for lower frictional losses was met by the use of just 4, the old V12 had 7, main bearings. The design used 2 plain bearings in its centre and ball bearing races at each end.

Bore and stroke were 78.5mm x 51.5mm, vastly oversquare, for a capacity of 2991cc. Four overhead camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder were used, the heads evolved from ’69 V12 practice. Lucas fuel injection was carried over onto the new engine. The cams were driven by gears from the crank’s nose.

Doug Nye; ‘The light alloy block was cast in 2 parts and united on a crankshaft centreline bolted flange…Light alloy cylinder liners were used, cooled by water circulation at their upper ends, by oil circulation down below. The crankshaft was machined from a steel forging, each of its six crankpins carrying two con-rods. The crankshaft nose gear drove alternator, ignition distributor and and fuel metering unit via gears and pinions. The crank tail drove the valvegear train. A tiny flywheel assembly incorporated a rubber vibration damper. Forged titanium con-rods were used…and Mahle forged aluminium pistons…a single oil pressure pump was driven off the rear of the RH cylinder timing gear fed the oil filter mounted behind the fuel metering unit.’

Side on flat-12 engine detail, DOHC, 4 valve, Lucas injected, single plug, how low do they take the CofG with this approach?! See rad header tank and extinguished bomb, the latter messy in terms of flow to the wing and exposed! Check out the very clever roll bar brace; it triangulates and stiffens the rear beam structure as well as providing a neat, faired mount for the wing itself (GP Library)

312B front end detail. Suspension top rocker actuating coil springs and Koni shocks and lower wide based wishbone. Note ally ducting behind rad to exhuast hot air via ducts in the fibre-glass nose (GP Library)

Butt shot of the 312B as it heads out onto Modena Autodrome with Amon saying a few silent ‘Hail Marys’ as to engine life no doubt! Ducting to oil coolers, rear mounted battery and outboard brake discs/suspension all clear (GP Library)

Amon watched the jewel of a car evolve at Maranello, it was with a great deal of optimism that he approached his early tests at Modena.

Right from the start he and Forghieri were happy with the chassis, the sort of balance they achieved with the earlier V12’s was still present. The car was lighter, was good under brakes had good traction and top speed for as long as the new, powerful engine lasted…

With Chris in the car the 312B had a series of monumental, catastrophic engine failures due to piston, crankshaft and lubrication problems. Amon; ‘I could feel that it was tremendously strong and powerful during those early tests, but it kept flying apart, i thought hell i can’t stand any more of this…’

After one of these sessions in August Chris said ‘enough’ and decided to leave the team.

Its ironic that Amon made the decision to leave due to the early failures of an engine which became a paragon of powerful reliability for a decade winning 3 drivers, 4 manufacturers and 1 sportscar championship for the Scuderia. Its performance was only compromised by its low/bulky architecture, a strength but an impediment in the ‘wing car ‘ era when the engine took space needed for ground-effect tunnels.

The engines bottom end failings were resolved by building a tilting dyno-bed at Maranello to reproduce oil surge in corners. The crank torsional issues were sorted by the addition of a Pirelli cushion coupling between the crank and flywheel. In this form the 1970 spec engine developed 460bhp from 11500-11700 rpm rising to 510bhp@12000 rpm in 1979/80.

But for Chris it was all too much, he could see another season of Ferrari DNF’s caused by the repeated engine failures which had cost him victory or good placings on so many occasions. He saw his immediate future best served by driving a Ford Cosworth DFV powered car, the dominant engine of the time, so off to the nascent March concern he went.

He hadn’t burned his Ferrari bridges though, he was invited to be a member of the teams 512S sportscar squad in 1970…but Enzo Ferrari did say to the Kiwi that he, Ferrari, would win a race before Chris did!

Ickx, having made a smart move to Brabham in 1969 came back to Maranello for 1970 as ‘numero uno’ and was unlucky in some ways, in a season of great cars, not to win the title in the 312B!

The 312B came on strong, all issues solved in the second half of the season, the car won in Austria, Mexico and Canada for Ickx and at Monza for Regazzoni. Had the car started the season as well as it finished, noting Rindt’s death at Monza took out the seasons fastest combination, Ickx would have won the title. Mind you, there are plenty of new cars down the years that if they had reliability from the start of the season would have taken the title.

This group of shots (the one above and those at Modena below, all are undated sadly) are included for the sake of completeness; they are all of the same session. They show the beauty of this incredibly good, important for Ferrari car.

The photos convey a certain sense of calm as well, despite the problems which were apparent with the engine from the start. Apart from Chris of course, i am sure he felt far from calm trying to best assess his short and longer term options!

Driving careers are fickle things; he felt he had to seize the moment having in his mind stayed at Ferrari a season too long. Hindsight is brilliant of course, in fact he stayed a season too little, his testing skills may well have meant the car started the season better prepared than it did. Ickx wasn’t a noted test driver and new-boys to F1 Regazzoni and Giunti weren’t in a position to make the contribution Chris could and had made since 1967…

Another view of the roll bar/wing mount covered earlier (GP Library)

Forghieri with the pad, sans rear wing in this shot (GP Library)

Who is the belle of the ball!? Lotus 72 was ‘the radical’ of 1970: side rads, rear weight distbn, torsion bar suspension but all the other race winners that year were ‘conventional’ front rad cars; 312B, BRM P153, Brabham BT33, March 701. Best aero direction not clear at this point in GP history nor would it be until the Lotus 78 started the ‘wing car’ trend (GP Library)

Chris Amon, Modena June/July 1969. He lost many races due to bad luck, the decision to leave Ferrari tho wasn’t so much bad luck as a judgement call which time proved was the wrong one. Wonderful hindsight i know (GP Library)

(GP Library)

Amon lost in his thoughts, Modena 1969 (GP Library)

Amon Post Ferrari…

This article is not about Amon’s career, rather Ferrari elements of it. What follows is not a full summary of the balance of his wonderful career.

For Chris 1970 was frustrating!

The March 701 was not the best car of the season but both he and Jackie Stewart in Ken Tyrrell’s car ‘made it sing’. Stewart took a Spanish GP win and Chris the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, an F1 win but not the GP win he sought.

He came close to that in a titanic battle with Pedro Rodriguez’ BRM P153 at Spa in a test of the brave, bold, skilful and precise, just coming second.

He proved as quick as anyone in 1970, again. His record head to head in the 10 Championship GP’s he and Stewart raced the 701, the Scot in a Dunlop rather than Firestone shod car was 8/2 in Stewart’s favour. In all but 2 occasions Chris was only 1 or 2 grid slots behind Stewart who was arguably the best driver in the world at the time if not its fastest. Until his death most would argue that was Jochen Rindt. There is little doubt the Tyrrell 701 was a better prepared car than Amon’s March works car. The point to take here is that Amon was ‘right thereabouts’ with the best driver in the world at the time.

Amons March 701 being tended by the cars designer Robin Herd at Monaco 1970, Q2, DNF suspension failure,Ronnie Peterson’s customer, Colin Crabbe owned yellow March 701 behind. Rindt won in a Lotus 49C Ford (unattributed)

If the departure from Ferrari was not strategically the right one for all the reasons outlined earlier in the article, the departure to the new March outfit was a ‘leap of faith’ largely i suspect in designer Robin Herd which provided a competitive Cosworth powered car if not the quickest one. Amon knew Herd from their March days, Robin designed the first McLaren F1 car, the M2B and the ’67 CanAm Championship winning M6A Chev.

March were a company whose very successful raison d’etre was the construction and sale of production racing cars, its works teams secondary considerations. Its not hard in that context to work out what Max Mosley and Robin Herd’s prime focus was in 1970; to win in FF, F3 and F2 to flog cars for the coming year. Chris signed relatively early for March, before he knew they were selling 701′ s to ‘every man and his dog’ including the 1969 world champion for 1970. In 1970 Amon, Siffert, Stewart, Servoz-Gavin, Cevert, Peterson, Andretti and others raced 701’s. Works drivers Amon and Siffert didn’t have the cars to themselves.

Brabham, McLaren and BRM would have been better places to be in 1970 than March. Not that BRM was an attractive option in 1969.

Chris joined Matra who made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, back to a V12 for 1971 and 1972, taking a Non-Championship GP win in Argentina in 1971 and again lead races more than once only to experience car failures or punctures.

1971 Argentinian GP placegetters; Henri Pescarolo March 701 Ford, Amon 1st where he belongs! Matra Ms120 and Carlos Reutemann McLaren M7C Ford Ford (GP Library)

During 1972 Matra were mainly a single-car entry for Amon its focus increasingly on Endurance Racing success.

German GP 1972. Amon Matra MS120D Q8/15. Ickx won in a Ferrari 312B2 (unattributed)

Tecno in 1973 was a disaster but Chris raced a third Tyrrell in Canada (Q11 2 slots behind Stewart in the unfamiliar car and 10th in the race) and the US (Q12 at the time the team withdrew from the race) for Tyrrell but not converting that into a 1974 drive after the death of Francois Cevert and retirement of Jackie Stewart at Watkins Glen.

His own Amon F1 car was also a disaster in 1974, a project commenced after a return to March in ’74 ‘evaporated’ over the Christmas New Year period seemingly after a failure in communication between Max Mosley and Chris. An engine development business with ex-BRM engineer Aubrey Woods also cost the Kiwi a lot of money. Looking at Chris’ career and some of the decisions suggests he needed a decent business manager, or a better one if he had one!

In Tyrrell 005 in the Kendall Centre, Watkins Glen. Note the inboard front brakes of Derek Gardner’s design. Tragic weekend with teammate Francois Cevert’s high speed, fatal practice crash in an 006 chassis. Both remaining cars withdrawn and Jackie Stewart didn’t get the chance to race in his last, planned GP (Mike Glynn)

Amon in Tyrrell 005 Ford, Watkins Glen, USGP practice, 6 October 1973 (unattributed)

In 1975 he raced the Talon MR1 Chev F5000 (nee McRae GM2) in the Tasman Series and in the US showing he had lost none of his skill despite a car not as good as the ubiquitous, highly developed Lola T332’s.

Amon enters the Sandown paddock, Saturday 22 February 1975. 5th in the race, Talon MR1 Chev, car behind is John McCormack’s 2nd placed Elfin MR6 Repco. John Goss won in a Matich A53 Repco (M Bisset)

The only time i saw Chris race was in the final round of the ’75 Tasman at Sandown in February, he did the full series in one of Jack McCormack’s Talons, not the ‘fastest tool in the shed’ but Chris made the car sizzle despite junk engines which failed 3 times. He took a win at Teretonga, the final Kiwi round and was quick everywhere whilst the car stayed together.

I was a starstruck teenager who didn’t stray too far from his pit the whole weekend. On circuit what was impressive was his speed which was deceptive. He drove the car in a very ‘neutral’ fashion through the slow/medium corners where so many others were ‘tail out’. Across the top of ‘Marlboro Country’ a fast entry quicker corner his carrying speed and control was a joy to watch as was his precision under brakes into ‘Dandy Road’. I still recall the toe/heel too; on the brakes late and a change down late as well, a short/few revs blip at the throttle, easy on the DG300 box. A pro.

‘Auto Actions’ Paul Harrington gets the gen from Amon, Sandown Tasman ’75 practice Saturday, looks like its tough going! McRae GM2/Talon MR1 clones lovely cars (M Bisset)

Late in 1975 he had some drives of Mo Nunn’s Ensign GP cars, he and Nunn developed these pretty, effective cars into machines which shaded many of the big budget teams in 1976.

He was 10th on the Spanish GP grid, finishing 5th, 8th on the Zolder grid but lost a wheel and flipped the car emerging unscathed in the race. At Monaco he was Q12 and 13th. At Anderstorp he was a terrific 3rd on the grid but crashed out of 4th on lap 39 when the cars suspension failed.

Swedish GP, Anderstorp 1976; Amon Ensign N176 Ford in between Patrick Depailler’s Tyrrell P34 Ford and Gunnar Nilsson’s Lotus 76 Ford. Scheckter won in the other P34, Amon an amazing Q3 and accident caused by suspension failure (unattributed)

Chris missed the French GP injured after Sweden, Patrick Neve qualified the car 26th, perhaps more indicative of the machines pace without an ‘ace’ at the wheel…

At Silverstone for the British GP, Chris qualified 6th, this time a water leak the cause of a DNF.

The problems of a low budget team in terms of design and preparation were clear, Chris decided he had ‘had enough’ of GP racing in this way and elected not to take the re-start of the German GP after Niki Lauda’s accident. The risk of something breaking on that circuit in that car was simply too great.

1976 showed he had lost none of his sublime, deceptively fast skill, speed and testing ability. He was still only 33 despite having his first Championship GP drive in 1963.

Amon’s last pro drive. Mont Tremblant CanAm 12 June 1977 in Walter Wolf’s Wolf Dallara WD1 Chev, grid 2 and DNF. Race won by Klauser’s Schkee Chev (Bob Harmeyer)

Amon’s last race was in Walter Wolf’s single-seat Can Am car in 1977 before saying ‘enough’, recommending Gilles Villeneuve for the ride before returning to his native New Zealand and farming at Bulls in the ‘Land of The Long White Clouds’ North Island. He sold the property some years ago but is not too far from the local racing scene and maintains a long-standing commercial relationship with Toyota.

Chris Amon had a career most of us can only dream about, life is all about the decisions we take, perhaps the decision to leave Ferrari in 1969 was the worst he ever made but in the same circumstances i suspect many of us would have made the same call.

To me though he should be remembered for what he achieved rather than what he didn’t: wins at Le Mans, Daytona 24 Hours, Monza 1000Km, a Tasman Championship, NZ (2) and Australian GP wins against some of the best drivers in the world, two non-championship F1 races and many individual race wins and the respect and fear of his peers. From 1967 to 1972 he was in the top 10 drivers in the world, for some of those years top 5.

Bot wow, Amon in a 312B in 1970, if only…

Etcetera…

Ferrari 312B cutaway (unattributed)

Bleeding the brakes with Dave Ramsay, F5000 Talon MR1A Chev during the Long Beach GP weekend in September 1975. Amon 4th, race won by Brian Redman’s Lola T332 Chev (D Ramsay)

Bibliography…

Automobile Year 16, 17 and 18, Doug Nye ‘History of The GP Car 1965-85’, GP Encyclopaedia, MotorSport March ’84 Amon article by Alan Henry

oldracingcars.com is one of my standard, always reference sources- checkout Allen Brown’s piece on the cars and each chassis built here; https://www.oldracingcars.com/ferrari/312b/

Photo Credits…

Getty Images, Rainer Schlegelmilch, Mike Glynn, Klemantaski Collection, GP Library, Rod MacKenzie, D Ramsay, Bob Harmeyer, Yves Debraine

Tailpiece: ‘This thing is a Jet if only they could keep it together for more than 10 laps?!’ …

Finito…

John Cannon’s Bonanza…

Posted: February 19, 2016 in Features, Obscurities, Sports Racers
Tags: 1965 USRRC Championships, 1966 USRRC Championships, 1971 Tasman Series, 1971 US Grand Prix, BRM P153, Dan Blocker, Eagle Mk5 Chev, Genie Mk10 Traco Olds, Hoss Cartwright, Joe Huffaker, John Cannon, March 73A/751 Chev, McLaren M20 Chev, Vinegaroon Genie

Hoss Cartwright checks out his new Can-Am Genie Mk10B Traco-Olds with driver John Cannon…

As a 1960s Aussie kid i grew up on a diet of fantastic American TV, our own tele/movie industry wasn’t what it is today. I have wonderful memories of ‘Flipper’, ‘Gilligans Island’, ‘The Jetsons’, Freddy Flintstone, ‘The Munsters’, ‘The Addams Family’, ‘McHales Navy’, ‘Batman’, ‘Hogans Heroes’, ‘Get Smart’ of course and ‘Bonanza’, all of which explains how i turned out i guess!

‘Bonanza’ was a Western the whole family sat down to watch. Dan Blocker, the Genie’s owner played Hoss Cartwright in the popular show which ran from 1959-73, shite thats a long time! This publicity shot was taken on 3 February 1966 on ‘The Western Street’ set, Paramount Studios, Los Angeles.

Genie Mk10B Traco Olds…

Blocker, a motor racing enthusiast acquired the car from Ray Huffaker its constructor. Nickey Chevrolet provided some sponsorship with British born Canadian ex-RAF pilot, John Cannon engaged as driver.

Cannon contested the 1965 and 1966 USRRC seasons, he finished second in the 1965 Nassau Tourist Trophy and won the USRRC race at Stardust Raceway, Las Vegas in April 1965.

In 1966 John won the first USRRC round at Stardust on 24 April and retired at Riverside, Laguna and Bridghampton in May. After another retirement due to an accident at Watkins Glen in June, Cannon left the team and bought a McLaren-Elva Mk2 finishing second at Kent on 31 July.

Times Grand Prix, Riverside 31 October 1965: John Cannon’s Genie Mk10B Olds eighth ahead of Chris Amon in the Ford GT40-X1 5th. Hap Sharp’s Chaparral 2A Chev won from Jim Clark’s Lotus 40 Ford and Bruce McLaren’s McLaren Elva Mk2 Olds. It was a great performance from Cannon in a car not as quick as many, the field also included McCluskey, Pabst, Follmer, Dick Thompson, Revson, Parsons, Titus, Hobbs, Bondurant, Ginther, Hill, Gurney, Grant and Hansgen! Quite a field (The Enthusiast Network)

The Genie at Bridghampton in 1966 (Frederic Strauss)

In the first, 1966, Can Am series, stunt driver Bob Harris took over the Genie, fifteenth at St Jovite and elevnth at Stardust his best results, the series was won by John Surtees works-Lola T70 Chev.

The Genie passed through various hands but is still extant and is run in historic racing by Tom Stephani, son of Jack Stephani who co-owned Nicky Chevrolet, the Genie’s sponsor when Cannon raced it.

Genie Mk10 as raced by Bob Harris in the ’66 CanAm (Larry Fulhorst)

Paul Stephani, Tom’s son picks up the story; ‘My grandfather owned Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago (with his brother Ed and sister Jean). Jack was a big racing enthusiast and used Nickey as an excuse to go racing’.

‘It doesn’t stop there as Michael Cannon (son of John cannon) married a close friend of our family and has driven the Vinegaroon to the car show from Road America to Elkhart Lake a few years back. Michael is the head engineer on Conor Daly’s IndyCar entry this year. Here’s how the Blocker/Nickey/Cannon combination went their separate ways after the ’66 CanAm round at Watkins Glen! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxClHhH4xto

Tom Stephani recalls how Dan Blocker and his father Jack Stephani came to create a race team together; ‘Basically, my Dad met Blocker at the West Coast races in the fall of 1965. Dad saw a natural connection between the two. Both loved racing, Nickey had a fairly substantial racing team and budget, and Blocker could provide a promotional opportunity for Nickey Chevrolet. ‘Bonanza’ was sponsored by Chevrolet so the tie-in really worked well. His personal appearance at the Nickey Dealership in February 1966 drew at least 5,000 people. Shut the whole place down for a couple of days!’

Joe Huffaker started building racing specials and Formula Junior’s. He switched to sportscars as the greater market opportunity became clear. The first Genie Mk4 was a ‘G Modified’ car powered by a BMC 1100cc engine.

Jack Stephani co-owner of Nickey Chevrolet in the glasses behind the toolbox, Dan Blocker and John Cannon at the USRRC Bridghampton round in May 1966 (The Enthusiast Network)

genie1 — The Genie M10B as it is today owned by Tom Stephani, the son of original Nickey Chev/Genie sponsor Jack Stephani (Paul Stephani)

Technical Specifications…

The Genie Mk10 was an improvement on or evolution of his Mk8, his first big-banger USRRC series car.

It comprised (see below) a multi-tubular spaceframe chassis which accommodated a range of American V8s and utilised the ‘usual’ 1960s suspension mix of wishbones and coil spring/dampers at the front and inverted wishbone, single top link, coil spring/dampers and radius rods at the rear. Brakes were Dunlop calipers with outboard discs all round, the whole lot clad in a curvy fibreglass body.

The Blocker Mk10B was powered by a Traco-Olds 300cid/5-litre engine fed by four 48IDA Weber carbs, the transaxle was a BMCD Huffaker unit.

The team’s Chief Mechanic was ex-F1 UDT/BRP guy John Harris who extensively modified the car during the winter of 1965/6, the car was christened the ‘Vinegaroon’ from then.

The Genie Mk10 retailed at around US$9500 winning a few races, but was soon left behind by Chaparral, McLaren-Elva and Lola.

John Cannon…

Of Canadian nationality, but born in London on 21 June 1933, John Cannon initially raced a $750 Morgan at St Eugene in 1959. A Canadian newspaper report dates his emigration to Canada from the UK as 1957 so i am not sure that some earlier races in the US attributed to him in some sources are correct.

In any event he progressed racing an Elva Courier in 1959, 1960 and into 1961. He also raced a Jag D Type and the Dailu Mk1, results in that car brought him to the attention of NART who teamed him with NASCAR star ‘Fireball Roberts’ in a Ferrari 250 GTO in the 1963 Daytona 3 Hour (fifteenth) and Jo Bonnier at the Sebring 12 Hour (thirteenth).

Jim Parkinson/Jack Flaherty MGB DNF follows the NART Ferrari GTO of Bonnier/Cannon 13th at Sebring in 1963 (Bill Stowe)

In later 1963/4 Cannon raced a great variety of cars, proving his versatility including the Dailu Mk2/3, Lola Mk1, Comstock EXP, Fiat Abarth, Chev Corvette and Elvas Mk 3/7- for John Mecom he raced the teams Lotus 19, Scarab Mk4/5 and Lola T70.

He progressed through to the Blocker drive and then became a McLaren Can-Am customer and ‘foot soldier’ as the McLaren website puts it! Mind you, whilst they claim him as ‘their own’ he raced many cars other than McLarens after 1965! Whilst never a member of the works team John’s achievements both as a privateer and driving for independent teams earned him a worthy place in McLaren’s Top 50 drivers ranking- listed as thirty-eighth.

He took a superbly opportunistic victory in the rain-soaked Laguna Seca Can-Am round in 1968 that pushed his career along. Driving an aged M1B Olds, Cannon kept his cool when others were slip-sliding in all directions and finished ahead of Denny Hulme’s works M8A at the chequered flag.

Press launch with John Cannon left beside Jack Saunders in the Mecom Lola T70 before Sebring in 1965. DNF (Lola Heritage)

Cannon aboard his F5000 Eagle Mk5 Chev in 1969, Michael Cannon quipped ‘this shot is early in the season as they added an extension to the roll-hoop before the first round at Riverside’. JC won the Riverside and Mosport rounds, finishing the series 5th, Tony Adamowicz won it in another Eagle (Racing One)

In 1969 and 1970 he moved into single seaters as well as Can-Am, he raced a Can-Am McLaren M6B in 1968 and Ford G7 in 1969, contesting the prestigious L&M Continental F5000 series, winning it in 1970 driving a McLaren M10B Chev for St Louis trucking magnate Carl Hogan’s ‘Hogan-Starr’ operation.

Cannon used this success as a springboard to establish his racing reputation in Europe, raising funds to lease a semi-works March 712M in the European F2 championship in which Ronnie Peterson, Carlos Reutemann and Francois Cevert were leading lights. In this company Cannon performed very respectably, well enough to be invited to drive as a member of the five-car BRM squad in the 1971 US GP at Watkins Glen- he finished fourteenth in a P153.

John Cannon in the first production McLaren M10B Chev ‘400-01’ the car in which he won the 1970 US Championship, when this shot was taken, and the 1971 Tasman Championship (oldracingcars.com)

An interesting insight into this part (1970-1) of John Cannon’s career was provided by his son John M Cannon on ‘The Nostalgia Forum’ in 2007, he wrote/posted;

‘After the 1970 F5000 season, my dad went down to do the Tasman Series. He already had an agreement with Carl Hogan to do the 1971 US series and wanted to stay sharp by racing the winter series. At Sandown, he crashed the McLaren M10B beyond repair and was offered Chris Amon’s Granatelli Lotus Cosworth F1 for the last round at Surfer’s. (in fact he raced a Granatelli F5000 Lotus 70 Ford at Surfers to seventh place but probably had a steer of an F1 March 701 raced mainly by Chris Amon during the series in practice somewhere, that car was powered by the ‘Tasman’ Ford Cosworth DFV variant, the 2.5 litre ‘DFW’ engine) Well this car was a total revelation for him – he loved the nimble handling of the F1 car and decided then and there that he would do everything possible to pursue a ride in F1.’

John Cannon’s March 701 DFV in the 1971 Questor GP, Ontario Motor Speedway 28 March 1971. This was a combined F5000/F1 race won by Mario Andretti’s Ferrari 312B, Cannon DNF on lap 29 (MotorSport)

‘He was able to run an STP backed March F1 car at the Questor GP and this only whetted his appetite further. He broke off his agreement with Hogan (who was one of the nicest and fairest people you’d ever have wanted to meet by all accounts), grabbed every dollar he had and headed off to Europe to do F2. At the age of 38, he was a rookie in what was probably the most fiercely competitive series in the world!

The early season stuff went fairly well as was able to buy what he called a ‘stonking great (Ford FVA F2) motor’ from Jackie Stewart. However, once that motor blew and money began to get tight, things got tougher. He effectively ran out of money late in the season and I don’t know that he even finished the series.’

John Cannon cruisin’ his year old BRM P153 thru the Watkins Glen paddock, US GP 3 October 1971, the race was won by Francois Cevert’s Tyrrell 002 Ford from Jo Sifferts BRM P160 and Ronnie Peterson’s March 711 Ford (Chris Kennedy)

‘That autumn, (1971) he did the USGP in the fifth BRM. It was a bit of an old nail and the ‘qualifying engine’ was 500 rpm down from his practice motor… Anyway, he did finish the race and the team kept in touch, offering him a ride for 1972. He wouldn’t get paid but he would get a share the prize money. Now my dad had been earning his living as a driver for many years and thought this to be a ridiculous offer-if he wasn’t paid, he wasn’t going to do it. That was the last time F1 came calling…’

Cannons P153 running very soft roll bars! ahead of Siffert’s second placed BRM P160 Watkins Glen 1971, BRM entered 5 cars. Cannon Q24, finished 14th. Amongst the other ‘guest/one off drivers’ Posey Surtees Q17 and Revson Tyrrell Q19 were quicker but so were their cars. Cannon was faster than regulars such as De Adamich. It would have been interesting to see how he would have fared with a regular BRM drive in 1972 but BRM was a ‘bear pit’ in the sense of running too many cars for too many drivers all fairly poorly! Beltoise’ P160 ’72 Monaco win duly noted. (Norm MacLeod)

In a varied and long career Cannon also contested 15 USAC events between 1968 and 1974, his best result a second at Mont Tremblant in 1968. He had two cracks at Indy in 1970/4, failing to make the cut on both occasions.

Riverside Can-Am 28 October 1973: Bob Nagel’s #17 Lola T260 Chev fourth with Cannon’s #96 McLaren M20 Chev Turbo DNF up his chuff and boxed in by #64 Bob Peckham’s McLaren M8C Chev sixth. #11 Steve Durst McLaren M8F Chev eighth, #34 Tom Dutton’s McLaren M8R Chev seventh. Race won by Mark Donohue’s Porsche 917/30 Turbo (Schlegelmilch)

Cannon in his McLaren M10B Chev during the Warwick Farm 100 14 Feb 1971 Tasman round. Cannon was seventh on this technically challenging circuit, where locals always have an advantage! Gardner won in his Lola T192 Chev (Lynton Hemer)

John Cannon was a popular, fast Tasman Cup competitor…

He contested the ’71 Tasman in NZ and Australia and the Rothmans F5000 International Series in Australia (The Kiwis went F Atlantic/Pacific from ’76) in 1976 and 1978. His 1978 Rothmans appearances were essentially his last races.

He raced his Hogan-Starr US Championship winning McLaren M10B Chev in 1970 his best results two fifths at Levin and the Pukekohe NZGP rounds. He retired at Wigram, Teretonga and didn’t start the Sandown round as noted above. At Warwick Farm he was seventh and in the Lotus 70 Ford, seventh again at Surfers Paradise.

Getting settled into Carl Hogan’s McLaren M10B before the off at Levin, NZ 1971. That oil cooler? duct would have cost a few RPM (Ian Peak Collection/The Roaring Season)

The Tasman was very strong in its early F5000 years, perhaps more so than the US Champion expected! In well developed McLaren M10B’s were Graham McRae, Frank Matich, Niel Allen and Teddy Pilette. Frank Gardner raced his works Lola T192, other top-drivers somewhat hamstrung by poor/under-powered equipment included Graeme Lawrence Ferrari Dino 246T, Kevin Bartlett Mildren Chev, Max Stewart Mildren Waggott. Chris Amon, at the peak of his career- the STP March 701 DFW and Lotus 70 Ford were inferior amongst such tough competition. Graham McRae won the first of his Tasman Cups in 1971.

John Cannon’s one-off March F2 722 based F5000, the March 725 Olds at Silverstone in 1972 (oldracingcars.com)

March were led into F5000 by John Cannon, notes Allen Brown on his definitive race history website oldracingcars.com.

‘Cannon won the 1970 F5000 US series before becoming a March customer in F2 in 1971. For 1972, Cannon ordered a new 722 F2 tub to be fitted with a Race Engine Services Oldsmobile V8 for F5000. The car was called the ‘725’.

Brown; ‘Cannon missed the first four rounds of the UK championship but then took a surprise pole in his debut at Nivelles, Belgium the fifth round, some 1.3s ahead of McRae’s Leda/McRae. He was pushed back to fifth on the grid at Silverstone but qualified second at Mondello Park in 30 April, where he finished fifth. He then took the car to North America for the lucrative L&M championship where he took pole position at Watkins Glen in June but was let down by reliability problems.

He returned to the UK in time for the race at Silverstone in early August where he finished second. He had time to rush back to the US for the Riverside race at the end of September before returning again to England for the last few races of the season’. The 725 never appears to have raced again but Cannons attraction to the marque was well established!

Cannon’s March 73A/751 Chev in the Sandown Park pitlane during Saturday practice, 1976. I watched the final laps of the race from the pit counter here, hoping with each lap that the ‘falling off’ airbox wouldn’t ruin a great run/dice and cause a black flag, fortunately it didn’t and John scored a very popular win! (Stupix)

Cannon returned to Australia in 1976 with the car he had been racing in the US which was a blend of March 73A F5000 and March 751 F1 components.

In the US the car’s best results were a fourth and eighth at Riverside in 1975 and 1976 respectively. It was a great looking car and fast amongst the highly developed local Lola T332/400’s, Elfin MR8′ s and Matich’s.

The series that year had depth, contestants included David Purley, Vern Schuppan, Kiwis Graeme Lawrence and Ken Smith and Australians John Goss, Kevin Bartlett, Bruce Allison, John Leffler, Max Stewart and John McCormack. Schuppan’s Theodore Racing Lola T332 won the series.

Cannon’s March sets off after David Purley’s Lola T330 Chev at Adelaide International in Feb 1976. Not a soul to be seen, Friday practice i suspect. Ken Smith’s Lola T330 won, Cannon 13th 16 laps down with dramas, Purley crashed on lap 28 (Kym)

can sandown start — Sandown Rothmans start 1976; L>R Bruce Allison’s black Lola T332 Chev, JC March, John Walker orange Lola T332 Repco and John Leffler white Lola T400 Chev on the inside fence (unattributed)

can book — ‘Great Australian Motor Racing Pictures’ with a Canadian on the cover, go figure! JC leading on the Rothmans ’76 first lap into Dandenong Rd corner. Following are Allison, Leffler, John Goss in the blue Matich A51/3 Repco and John Walker (Bryan Hanrahan)

He took a fantastic Sandown win by less than a half a second from Vern Schuppan’s Theodore Racing Lola T332 Chev, I can clearly remember the car’s airbox coming loose and hoping the ‘underdog’ wouldn’t be black-flagged in the last couple of exciting laps! In NSW he retired from the Oran Park round with electrical problems and was well back, thirteenth in Adelaide. At the end of the Rothmans he shipped the March to the UK and did several early rounds of the ’76 Shellsport F5000/F1/Libre Series without much success.

Cannon, Sandown, 1978, March 73A/751 Chev. An attractive car, relatively narrow track compared with the Lola’s, quick in a straight line. Pretty circuits ‘double life’ for horse racing clear in the background grass and fencing (Robert Davies)

In 1978 he returned to Australia with the same March to again contest the ‘Rothmans’, like so many of the F5000’s by that stage the March was getting a tad long in the tooth.

1978 contestants included Warwick Brown, Keith Holland, Derek Bell, Alfredo Costanzo, John Walker, Kevin Bartlett, Vern Schuppan, John Goss, Graham McRae and John McCormack. Brown took the series in his new VDS Racing Lola T333/332C.

Cannon had a good run at Sandown again, 3rd in the race won by Warwick Brown’s Lola T333/332C Chev but had mechanical dramas elsewhere. Driveshaft flange/circlip problems in Adelaide and Surfers respectively and falling oil pressure in his Chevy engine at the final Oran Park round.

can sandown paddock — JC cruises thru the Sandown paddock in 1978 (Chris Parker)

Sandown Rothmans 1978: Cannon’s March 73A/751 Chev 3rd turning into ‘Shell’ or turn 1, ahead of John Goss’ Matich A51 Repco sixth. Race won by Brown’s Lola T333/332C (Anthony Loxley Collection)

John Cannon, then 45 ended his racing career and focussed on his businesss life which included an LA Ferrari distributorship. His son Michael followed in his racing footsteps has been one of the most respected race engineers in Indycar racing for over fifteen years.

Ever the ‘thrillseeker’, John very sadly died as a result of injuries sustained when he crashed an ultralite ‘plane in New Mexico on 18 October 1999.

Etcetera…

(Sports Car Graphic June 1966 cover courtesy of Thomas Voehringer)

Cannon’s Eagle Mk5 Chev in 1969, note the lip addition to the roll bat compared to the earlier shot (Eric Haga via Michael Cannon)

Shit that thing is fast! John Cannon is thinkin’!? of Matich’s M10B Repco L>R Aussie driver Don O’Sullivan, Cannon and Frank Matich during the 1971 Tasman, not sure where. JC probably thought his car would be quicker than it was in the ’71 Tasman but McRae’s M10B developed in Europe and Matich’s Repco engined M10B/C were mighty quick conveyances not to mention the Frank Gardner, Niel Allen and Teddy Pilette driven bolides…

Cannon crashed his McLaren M10B at Sandown in the second last 1971 Tasman round. He did a deal to run the STP owned Lotus 70 Ford raced by David Oxton and Chris Amon throughout that series at Surfers Paradise, the final race, finishing a distant seventh in the unloved car (#70-02). Here he is getting the cockpit comfy during practice.

Photo Credits…

The Enthusiast Network, Rainer Schlegelmilch, Lynton Hemer, Robert Davies, Stupix, Kym, Ian Peak Collection/The Roaring Season, MotorSport, Bill Stowe, Norn MacLeod, Randy Wright, Anthony Loxley, Paul Stephani, Larry Fulhorst, Frederic Strauss, Racing One, Eric Haga, Chris Parker, Simon Stubbs

Bibliography…

‘Montreal Gazette’ 3/4/63, Daniel Vaughan, Don Capps, mclaren.com, Allen Brown and his oldracingcars.com, Sports Car Graphic cover courtesy Thomas Voehringer. Special thanks for Paul and Tom Stephani’s recollections and photos

Tailpiece…

C’mon John just let me do a lap of the set, the horses will be ok and we will be done before anybody gets wind of it?!…

Finito…

Jim Clark and Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 39…

Posted: February 12, 2016 in F1, Features
Tags: 1966 Tasman Series, 1969 JAF Japanese Grand Prix, 1970 Australian Gold Star Series, Birrana 274 Ford, Jim Clark, Leo Geoghegan, Lotus 39 Climax, Lotus 39 Repco, Lotus 59 Waggott

(Vintage Racecar)

Leo Geoghegan slices his venerable Lotus 39 Repco into the Warwick Farm Esses, Tasman Series, 15 February 1970…

Terrific shot, the focus is on the driver, the rest of the car blurred giving the impression of speed, something Geoghegan had in abundance.

Leo ‘made his name’ in this car, he was a front-runner from the time he bought it off Team Lotus at the end of the ’66 Tasman Series; Jim Clark was third in it, until the time it was put aside to make way for his Lotus 59 Waggott later in 1970.

Faster! Deep in thought on chassis changes with his very hot mechanic, AGP practice 10 February 1963. Lotus 20 FJ 1.5 Ford 9th just behind Frank Matich in the quickest of the 1.5’s. Winner Brabham in a BT4 Climax 2.7 (David Mist)

Geoghegan had a long background in Lotus single-seaters after he graduated from sedans and sportscars in the team his father, Tom founded. Starting with an 18FJ in 1961 he progressed through 20, 20B, 22, 27 and then a 32, which, when fitted with a 1.5 Ford Lotus Twin cam engine gave him two 2nd placings in 1965 Gold Star events. He stepped up to the ‘big time’ with the Tasman Lotus 39.

Leo G on his way to 8th in the little Lotus 32 Ford/Lotus 1.5, ‘Warwick Farm 100’ Tasman Series, 14 February 1965 (Bruce Wells/The Roaring Season)

The ‘old girl’ Lotus 39 was frustrating in many ways, its unreliability, like other Repco Tasman users, was notorious, but it gave him the critical 6 points at Symmons Plains in March 1970 before he switched to his new Lotus 59 Waggott. This won him the Gold Star he coveted and deserved…by 6 points from Max Stewart’s similarly powered Mildren. Max’s Gold Star turn would come for the first time in 1971.

Easter Bathurst Meeting, 15 March 1970, thru ‘The Dipper’. Lotus 39 Repco (Jeff Nield/autopics.com.au)

Lotus 39 ‘R12’….

The Lotus 25/33 series of cars are amongst motor racing’s most famous, the Lotus 25 the first ‘modern monocoque’, Jim Clark took the 1963 and 1965 World Championships’ in Loti’ 25 and 33 respectively.

The 39 is one of this series of cars and like Jack Brabham’s 1966 championship winning BT19 chassis was built for the stillborn Coventry Climax FWMW Flat-16 engine.

Coventry Climax FWMW 1.5 litre Flat-16 engine of 1964/5 (unattributed)

The story of this amazing engine is an article in itself; in a nutshell CC’s Wally Hassan and Peter Windsor-Smith were convinced the best route to more power was higher revs (than their FWMV V8) a ‘multi’ was chosen partially due to Harry Mundy’s exposure to the BRM Type 15 supercharged V16 in the dawn of the fifties. Design commenced in 1963, the prototype was on the test bench in 1964.

Torsional problems of the crank were major issues, the engine also failed to deliver more power than the 4 valve versions of the FWMV, which themselves took a bit of development to better the FWMV 2 valve outputs. Then the 1.5 litre GP formula ended and Jaguar took over Coventry Climax; that combination of factors ended CC’s pivotal role as a successful supplier of racing engines for better than a decade.

Graham Hill’s BRM P261 leads Clark’s Lotus 39 Climax and Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT19 Repco off Long Bridge, THAT post in front of GH’s LF wheel marks the apex…Wonderful Longford 1966 (autopics.com.au)

Colin Chapman needed a mount for Jim Clark to defend his Tasman title, he won it in 1965 with a Lotus 32B Climax, the unused 39 sitting in the corner of the Team Lotus workshop was ideal.

He tasked designer Maurice Phillippe to modify the engine bay of the car to accept a Coventry Climax 2.5 litre FPF engine. The 39 was different from its siblings in that the ‘D-shaped’ side pontoons of the chassis were ‘chopped off’ at the bulkhead aft of the drivers seat and a tubular steel subframe substituted to carry the CC Flat-16. Changes were made to the frame to accommodate the FPF.

Big thirsty Weber 58DCO carbs fed 2.5 Climax FPF. The frame to support the engine can be seen as can the rear of the Hewland transaxle (I MacNeill)

The 39 side pods also had a more pronounced belly than the 25/33 to ensure sufficient fuel could be carried, having lost capacity by hacking the ‘rear horns’ off the tub on each side. The suspension of ‘R12’ was pure Lotus 33 and was period typical; top rockers actuating inboard coil spring/damper units and lower wishbones and at the rear inverted lower wishbones, single top link and two radius rods for fore and aft location. Adjustable roll bars front and rear as well of course. Steering by rack and pinion and outboard disc brakes on all wheels.

Chapman bought two Climax engines from Bruce McLaren who didn’t contest the Tasman in ’66, he was too busy building cars for his F1 and CanAm programs having just left Coopers.

The 39 was soon on its way to the Antipodes for its race debut in the NZGP at Pukekohe on January 8 1966.

AGP, Lakeside 20 February 1966. Clark 3rd behind Hill’s BRM P261 and Frank Gardner’s Brabham BT11A Climax (autopics)

By 1966 the Tasman game had largely moved beyond the old FPF. Brabham debuted his Repco Brabham RB620 V8 engine and BRM modified its F1 P56/60 V8 engines to 1930cc, Jackie Stewart took the title in a P261 with 4 wins from Hill’s 2 with Clark and Attwood (BRM) 1 win apiece.

Clark had a tough start to his 1966 Tasman campaign partially because Colin Chapman switched his Lotus tyre contract from Dunlop to Firestone not long before the Tasman commenced. The tyres had been developed by Bruce McLaren, he had used them for over a year and they were competitive but the 39 had to be adapted to them.

In addition Clark had a run of misfortunes which also reduced testing time; an abortive race at Pukekohe (gearbox) no practice at either Wigram (oil leak and engine replacement/accident when Gardner’s Brabham brakes failed) or Levin (snapped radius rod in practice/2nd). At Teretonga the cars speed was shown with a heat win from Stewart. He was moving away from Jackie in the final only to go out with a spin on dropped oil on lap 3.

In Australia he took a win at Warwick Farm, always a happy hunting ground for Clark. Graham Hill won the AGP at Lakeside from Gardner and Clark. He was 2nd to Stewart’s speedy BRM at Sandown and was 7th at Longford, he had carburetion problems in practice and a plug lead came off in the race requiring a stop and dropping him to the back of the field. Stewart was again the victor, with Jim finishing third in the series behind the BRM duo.

Clark had an amazing 1965 season winning the Tasman Series, Indy 500 and the World Drivers Championship, his start to 1966 was not quite so good, a portent of a tougher year!

Superb Clark portrait by Lindsay Ross. Lotus 39 Climax, Longford 1966. He was 7th after a troubled run, Stewart’s BRM taking the win. Note the cars ‘aero screen’ and truncated monocoque which ends at the drivers bulkhead (oldracephotos)

Geoghegans’ were the Australian Lotus importer so a deal was done to buy the car…

John Sheppard is a legendary mechanic/engineer/car builder and team manager with some of Australia’s greatest cars in his CV; the Geoghegan’s cars, Bob Jane’s Repco Torana, Laurie O’Neills Pete Geoghegan driven Holden Monaro and the Holden Dealer Team amongst an extensive and ongoing career of car construction and team management. Early in his career he was appointed as chief mechanic to the Geoghegans. Tom took a liking to his work preparing the Youl brothers Cooper, the Tasmanian team were using the Geoghegan’s Sydney workshop at the time. John’s first event with the team was preparing Leo’s car for the Australian Formula Junior Championship at Warwick Farm in September 1963, which he won in his Lotus 22 Ford. He shares some of his recollections about his time with the Geoghegan’s throughout this article.

John Sheppard in the 39 Repco cockpit circa 1967, hat is the Mickey Mouse Club! (John Sheppard)

Equipe Geoghegan during the Gold Star meeting at Lakeside in July 1966. Total sponsorship, rare colour shot of this livery. Note the addition of lower side panels to the 39 by Sheppo. Leo also raced a Lotus 32 Ford 1.5 and no doubt took some flops off that machine which was fitted ex-works with such panels (P Cross)

Essentially 1966 was a learning year for Leo in the big cars in the domestic Gold Star Championship. His limited campaign excluded the Mallala and Sandown rounds, 2nd to Spencer Martins Brabham BT11A at Surfers Paradise his best result. A duff wheel bearing was the cause of a DNF at Lakeside, he didn’t start both the Symmons Plains and Warwick Farm rounds with Coventry Climax engine problems.

Sheppard recalls; ‘The Lotus 39 was a great car although the engine problems we had were a function of very tired engines, the blocks were cracked so it was a problem keeping them running in that first year. When we took over the car they had a strange set-up to deal with the vibrations of the big Climax-four, they put rubber o-rings between the cylinder head and inlet manifold letting them flop around, and i mean flop around so Jim had problems with throttle control. We easily fixed this with a more conventional set-up of putting the o-rings between the inlet manifold and carbs’.

‘We didn’t have problems with the Firestones but i recall Leo, having fiddled around with set-ups based on tyre temps and the like at an early tyre test embarrassing the Firestone guys a bit when his ‘seat of the pants’ set-up changes gave immediate results. Leo was quick in the car straight away, i asked Bob Jane to get his driver (Spencer Martin) to stop baulking mine at Warwick Farm and Bob of course telling me to piss-orf…’

Fifth in the Australian Grand Prix ’67 Tasman Round at Warwick Farm and 2nd the following weekend behind Clarks Lotus 33 Climax FWMV 2 litre V8 at Sandown was indicative of speed and better Coventry Climax reliability.

Geoghegan’s Lotus 39 sharing the AMR 1968 cover with Chris Amon’s Ferrari Dino 246T. 39 here with ‘740 Series’ Repco V8 and quite the prettiest thing with its carefully, thoughtfully aerodynamic rear bodywork developed for it by John Sheppard. Knock on wheels, Castrol color scheme just gorgeous with the speed if not always reliability to match

In 1967 Sheppard and his team did a beautiful job converting the car to a 2.5 litre Repco ‘640 Series’, ‘exhaust between the Vee’ spec engine in April. They created quite the most beautiful sixties single seater. OK, maybe Gurney’s Eagle T1G gives it a run for its money! The FPF developed around 235bhp, the ‘640’ 275bhp@8500rpm.

Sheppard; ‘It was an easy decision to go with the Repco, our Climaxes were old and tired and Repco were keen to do business with everyone. It wasn’t the biggest saga to adapt the Repco V8, we made new chassis tubes to accommodate the wider engine and used the original Hewland HD5 gearbox. The suspension geometry wasn’t touched, in fact it wasn’t the whole time i worked on the car (to the end of 1968) which shows the bloke who designed and built it knew what he was about. As tyres evolved we still got the results by simply getting the best from the tyres making set-up changes based around getting tyre temps even across the tread. Basic but important stuff.’

‘The chassis and bodywork, we made a nice rear cowling or engine cover, was done by Alan Standfield who worked out of his fathers ‘Supreme Mousetraps’ factory out near Mascot. (near Sydney Airport) It was all a bit bizarre but he did good work in grotty conditions with loads of noisy machines making springs and sawdust from the ‘trap bases all over the place!’

Leo took his first Gold Star round win at Sandown in September, Sheppo recalls; ‘Early in the Repco piece i said to Frank Hallam (GM Repco) ‘you should be nicer to us because we will win the first Gold Star race for you, he turned and walked away. I had great delight in walking up to him and telling him ‘I told you so’ when we took that Sandown win which was Repco’s first Gold Star win too’

The Climax FPF engined Brabham BT11A’s were superbly driven by Spencer Martin and Kevin Bartlett and just had the legs and reliability to pip the more powerful Repco engined cars of Greg Cusack, Geoghegan and John Harvey that year. Martin took the title.

On the end of a tow rope as was the case all too often. Here its a Coventry Climax engine failure; the FPF popped back into the car after early 1967 Repco frustrations for the final WF Gold Star round, DNF with overheating (Peter Windsor)

Leo was so miffed by the lack of reliability of the Repco that his team popped the Climax back into the car for the final Gold Star round, the Hordern Trophy’ at Warwick Farm, not finishing that race either, the Climax overheated.

Sheppard; ‘We didn’t have a good run with the Repco’s early in the piece. The 640 Series Repco, the Olds block engine chucked its oil out of the crankcase, the scavenging arrangements were poor, the stiffener plate was ‘out in the breeze’, oil sat on that and got thrown around. Leo said the engine was hard to drive as there was little power below 6500-7000rpm. The 700 Series blocks were better but in many ways by then the opposition had caught up with the Cosworth and Ferrari Dino engines competing in the Tasman. The engine was a clever design though, you could take the heads off without disturbing the timing chest and vice-versa, i give Repco ten out of ten for the way they went about things.’

For the 1968 Tasman Series all local Repco clients engines were updated to the latest specifications with 700 Series blocks.

Leo’s 39 chases Richard Attwood’s BRM P126 at Surfers Paradise 1968. Great butt shot of both cars and a contrast of the beautifully faired Lotus and messy, bulky BRM V12. Neat packaging of the 1967 World Championship winning ‘740 Series’ V8 clear (here in 2.5 not 3 litre form). ‘Between the Vee’ exhausts easy for the chassis designer, no complex plumbing issues of pipes and tubes or an ‘ally tub. Trumpets for Lucas fuel injection and Bosch distributor cap clear also between the Vee. Car uses the same Hewland HD5 gearbox as it did with the Cov Climax FPF engine. Diaphragm to which ‘everything’ attached also clear at the very back of the chassis. Suspension at rear period typical; single upper link, inverted lower wishbone, 2 radius rods forwards for location and coil spring/damper unit with an adjustable roll-bar (Brian McInerney)

Into 1968 the Tasman Series got even tougher as the International Teams brought 2.5 litre variants of their current GP machines; the Lotus 49 DFW and the BRM P126 V12. The Mildren Team acquired a one-off Brabham BT23D powered by a 2.5 litre version of Alfa Romeo’s Tipo 33 sports car engine and Ferrari brought 2 2.4 litre Dino V6’s, the 246T.

Geoghegan, as in the prior year did only the Australian rounds; his 4th at Surfers on the same lap as the new Lotus 49’s in his 3 year old car his best result.

Who is the Belle of the Ball? Geoghegan’s Lotus 39 Repco DNF beside Brabhams Brabham BT23E Repco 7th , Rodriguez BRM P126 6th in a P261 with Clarks Lotus 49 1st. Warwick Farm practice, Tasman 1968 (The Tasman Cup)

He lost an oil line at Warwick Farm, finished 7th at Sandown, both events won by Jim Clark’s dominant Lotus 49 and elected not to start the final, very wet Logford round given the lack of a suitable tyre for the treacherous circuit.

Hill, Gardner, Geoghegan and further back Kevin Bartlett squabble over 2nd place on lap 2 of the Surfers ’68 Tasman round, Clark is up the road. Lotus 49 DFW, Brabham BT23D Alfa, Lotus 39 Repco and Brabham BT11A Climax (Rod MacKenzie)

Kevin Bartlett was the class of the Gold Star fields in 1968 winning the title by 10 points in the Brabham Frank Gardner drove in the Tasman. Geoghegan’s old Lotus was still fast; he took pole at Sandown and Mallala and won the race but otherwise the car lacked the consistency and speed to win the title.

Geoghegan Catalina Park, Blue Mountains, NSW 1968 (Paul Hobson)

Chris Amon took the 1969 Tasman in his superbly driven and prepared Ferrari Dino 246T from Jochen Rindt, Lotus 49 DFW Piers Courage, Brabham BT24 DFW and Derek Bell’s Dino 246T.

Geoghegan, still driving the ‘old lady’ contested the full series; 5th at Pukekohe in the series opening NZGP behind the four drivers above, 4th at Levin, he missed the final NZ, Teretonga round.

Leo’s Lotus 39 Repco ‘730 Series’ NZGP paddock, Pukekohe 4 January 1969. 5th in the race won by Amon’s Ferrari Dino 246T (Habu/The Roaring Season)

Straight to Queensland he was a splendid 3rd in the AGP at Lakeside behind Amon and Bell. He was 5th in his home, Warwick Farm race and had fuel tank problems in the final Sandown round.

Lakeside in the AGP; 4/5 year old car 3rd at Lakeside behind the Ferrari 246T’s of Amon and Bell (Rod MacKenzie)

Seventh in the series, the highest placed local was a superb result for a small team running a 4 year old car against GP Teams running their latest car.

Leo running wings at the Warwick Farm Tasman round on 9 February 1969. Sydney the teams home base. With very low angle of attack mind you. He chose not to run them at the fast Tasman final round at Sandown the following week. He was 5th in the ‘pissin wet race won by Jochen Rindt’s Lotus 49B Ford DFW, therefore this dry day is practice (Dick Simpson)

Sandown Tasman practice, 15 February 1969. Running head of Alfie Costanzo’s McLaren M4A FVA. Leo DNS with a fuel tank leak, Alf DNF engine (Rod MacKenzie Collection)

For the 1969 Gold Star Series the 39 was more competitive than in ’68 being fitted with the latest Repco’730 Series’, crossflow head V8 used in the Tasman, this gave 290bhp@8600rpm. The car was now running wings and whilst less aesthetically pleasing than its earlier form was fast.

Symmons Plains Gold Star 3 March 1969. Leo was 2nd to Kevin Bartlett’s Mildren Alfa (right) (Ellis French)

Interesting shots at Symmons Plains, Tasmania 3 March 1969 above and below. Both the 39 and Kevin Bartlett’s Mildren Alfa ‘Yellow Submarine’ sporting the hi-wings de-rigeur for the previous 12 months and soon to be outlawed over the Monaco GP weekend a month or so hence. My two favourite ‘Australian’ open-wheelers of the 1960’s albeit not in their most aesthtically pleasing form. Bartlett won the round with Leo second.

Repco ‘730 Series’ Repco V8, notice the steel ‘A-Frame’ to brace the wing supports referred to in the text and wider rear wheels but same sized fronts compared with earlier shots. Tyre widths increased dramatically from cars build in 1965 to 1970.

Locating stays for the 39 rear wing beefier than most, the failure of these in a whole swag of cars, notably the two Lotus 49’s of Rindt and Hill during the 1969 at Montjuich Park, Spanish GP the catalyst for the CSI to mandate changes to wings.

Symmons Plains Gold Star 1969, Geoghegan’s Lotus 39 Repco, KB’s Mildren ‘Yellow Submarine’ Alfa behind (Ellis French)

Bathurst Gold Star round 7 April 1969; Max Stewart Mildren Waggott, Niel Allen McLaren M4A Ford FVA and Geoghegan’s Lotus 39 Repco on pole. Brabham won in his BT31 Repco from the back of the grid with the front row all DNF. An accident took out Stewart and Allen, Leo had a gearbox problem (Wayne McKay)

Kevin Bartlett took the Gold Star championship again using the Mildren ‘Yellow Submarine’, initially Alfa Romeo V8 engined and later in the year in Waggott TC4 valve form. This engine developed by Sydney engineer Merv Waggott is a story in itself, it won Gold Stars for Bartlett, Geoghegan and Stewart in 1969-71 beating 2.5’s and in 1971 F5000’s to the title.

Leo was 2nd with 20 points to Kevins 33 and had reliability but perhaps not the ultimate speed, seconds at Symmons Plains and Mallala Gold Star season highlights for the old beast.

The 39’s day finally arrived 4.5 years after it was built; Geoghegan won the 1969 JAF Japanese Grand Prix in the Lotus from Roly Levis Brabham BT23C FVA and Sohei Kato’s Mitsubishi Colt F2-C 1.6. I covered this great win in an article about Leo last year, click here for the link; https://primotipo.com/2015/03/02/leo-geoghegan-australian-driving-champion-rip/

By 1970 F5000 was adopted as the new Tasman Formula albeit 2.5 litre Tasman cars were also eligible, the smaller cars gave the big V8’s ‘plenty of curry’ in that first year with Graeme Lawrence winning in Chris Amon’s victorious 1969 Ferrari 246T ‘008’. Bartlett took the Warwick Farm round in the 2 litre Mildren ‘Yellow Sub’, another small-car win..

Tractable these Repco’s! Chugging thru the 1970 Sandown paddock. Nice shot showing the 33 style tub, fuel filler in front of dash bulkhead and late ’69-70 wing (Jeff Scriven Collection)

Same day as above with Leo in the red hat alongside his mount. Hard to see but front suspension is top rocker, lower wishbone and inboard spring/damper actuated by rocker (Jeff Scriven Collection)

Geoghegan raced the Australian rounds only for 7th at Surfers and Warwick Farm, he was DNF at the Sandown final round.

Into the domestic 1970 season Leo raced the car in the first Gold Star round at Symmons Plains, here below he shares the front row of the grid with John Harvey’s red Brabham BT23E Repco and Kevin Bartlett’s Mildren Waggott ‘Yellow Submarine’. KB’s absence racing in the US for much of the year took out a tough adversary in 1970.

Gold Star round 1 1970. Symmons Plains 2 March 1970. John Harvey won in his #2 Brabham BT23E Repco from Leo obscured this side and Bartlett’s #5 Mildren Waggott (autopics.com)

The last significant meeting in which the 39 raced was the March Easter Bathurst meeting in which Niel Allen’s McLaren M10B Chev F5000 car set a lap record which stood for decades. ‘Outright’ open-wheelers have not raced at Mount Panorama given the speeds of the cars and inherently dan gerous nature of the circuit as it was then. And still is, despite huge improvements in circuit safety.

Easter Bathurst 1970, contrast this shot with the hi-wings from the year before above. John Harvey’s #4 Bob Jane Brabham BT23E Repco ‘830 Series’ Repco V8, Leo’s 39 Repco ‘730 Series’ V8 and Niel Allen’s obscured McLaren M10 B Chev F5000 (Rod MacKenzie Collection)

Leo in the new Lotus 59 Waggott, Warwick Farm’s Pit Straight 1971 (oldracephotos/Schell)

Whilst the 1970 Tasman series was run to F5000 the Gold Star Series in an interesting piece of CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsport) decision making driven by politics was run to the 2.5 Tasman Formula.

From Leo’s perspective the path was clear; the circa 275bhp 2 litre Waggott engine was powerful, light, reliable and better still would bolt straight into the back of the Dave Baldwin designed F3/F2 Lotus 59. As the Lotus importer, the core of the Geoghegan’s business road cars of course, his preference was a Lotus which could win the title, his F5000 options were a domestic season away.

The Geoghegan’s cars; Leo’s and Pete’s Touring cars were always beautifully presented, giving the sponsors great exposure. Here the 59 Waggott, in Castrol colors. As beautifully integrated a package as the 39 Repco in its ‘740 Series’ Repco days. Oran Park Gold Star round, 27 June 1970 (Lynton Hemer)

The 59 already had a successful season of racing in Europe with Emerson Fittipaldi taking the 1969 British F3 title and Jochen Rindt and Graham Hill winners in European F2 events; 4 rounds for Jochen and 1 for Graham. In essence the engine and chassis were a proven package.

And so it proved to be; Leo took wins at Warwick Farm and Mallala and seconds at Oran Park and Symmons Plains when the ‘old lady’ 39 held together and scored 6 valuable points…

Leo G during tyhe driver parade before the 27 June Oran Park 1970 Gold Star round won by Max Stewart (Lynton Hemer)

Leo Geoghegan’s Later Open-Wheeler Career…

This article was to have been a ‘quickie’ around the few shots at the start but as usual i have ‘rabbited on’.

The article isn’t intended to be a Leo G whole of career one, the focus was the Lotus 39. Leo raced the Lotus 59 Waggott on into 1971, that chassis is still in Australia, i will write about it separately.

Geoghegan was a factory driver for Chrysler, as covered in the other article link provided earlier, he developed and raced Valiant Pacers and Chargers for the Tonsley Park, Adelaide based company in the incredibly popular Series Production (showroom stock essentially) races which proliferated, like a disease, in Australia in the late 1960’s, the growth of ‘Taxi Racing’ in Oz remains undiminished and omnipotent.

Leo at Oran Park, ‘works’ Grace Bros sponsored Birrana 274 Hart Ford 1974. Jewels of things, fast ones. Aluminium monocoque chassis, Hart Ford 416B injected, often ‘ally blocked, Twin-Cam circa 205bhp, Hewland FT200 5 speed ‘box (oldracephotos.com/Peter Schell)

But Leo was a ‘died in the wool open-wheeler man’ and accepted a works drive with Adelaide’s nascent Birrana Engineering; Malcolm Ramsay and engineer Tony Alcock built some fabulous cars in three short years which turned upside down the local single-seater market, the jewel like cars winning the Australian F2 Championship from 1973-1976.

Leo took two of the titles in 1973 and 1974, finally retiring from single-seaters at the end of 1974. He went out with a bang though. The 1974 AF2 Championship was one of the most closely contested and competitive openwheeler championships in Australia ever. ‘Van Heusen’ shirts tipped in good sponsorship and established F5000 aces and young thrusters made for some sensational racing. But wily Leo, at 38 still very fast took the title by 4 points from Aussie International Bob Muir in another Birrana.

Birrana Cars is a story for another time.

John Sheppard on Leo as a driver; ‘He was incredibly fast, as good as anyone he competed against capable of just not keeping up with but beating world champions. Leo in a way kept to himself, Pete was more ‘one of the boys’ so Leo and i didn’t discuss his career aspirations but he got a lot of satisfaction from racing with the drivers that he did; world class drivers. He was very precise, Pete would throw around what he was given, Leo used the same bit of road lap after lap, very consistent, precise and fast’.

R12 in Modern Times…

Leo focussed on the 59 but gave Formula Vee ace Bernie Haehnle a test of the 39 in the wet, at Amaroo Park in May 1970. With predictable results, poor Bernie took the left-rear corner off the car. The difference from a 40bhp Rennmax FV to 280bhp Tasman car in the wet would have been marked!

39 after Bernie Haehnle’s Amaroo Park 1970 shunt (D Simpson)

Leo G, 1970 Gold Star champion in his old car later in the year at Warwick Farm. 22 November. Lotus 39 Repco (Dick Simpson/oldracephotos.com)

The car was tidied up visually, Leo gave it a run at Warwick Farm late in the year in its original color scheme but still running a Repco engine, it was then offered for sale. The Repco engines on loan were returned to Melbourne and those owned by the Geoghegans sold. Australia’s sports-racing car fields were the beneficiaries of a surplus of ‘cheap’ 2.5 litre Repco V8’s; two Elfin 360’s and two Rennmax’s specifically.

Darryl Pearsall’s Lotus 39 Ford Twin-Cam ‘R12’ in the Winton, Victoria paddock in 1973/4 (oldracephotos.com)

The long racing life of R12 continued on for a year or so as an AF2 car, Darryl Pearsall the new owner. F2 then was a 1.6 litre, 2 valve class effectively mandating the Lotus/Ford Twin Cam. The car was fitted with a Twin-Cam and when sold was purchased by John Dawson-Damer for his superb collection of Lotus’s in 1976.

The car was restored to its original Coventry Climax FPF engined form and fortunately when sold after JDD’s death and realisation of some of his collection remained in Australia, fitting given the cars Australian history. It lives in Tasmania loved to bits by a lifelong Jim Clark fan, Chas Kelly.

Lotus 39 Climax ‘R12’ at the Longford Revival Meeting in April 2011. Restored but not over-restored, a balance we tend to get right in this country! (Ellis French)

Etcetera…

Clark Lotus 39.

Longford front row 1966. #1 Clark’s Lotus 39 Climax and the two BRM P261’s of Hill #2 and Stewart beside the fence (Ellis French)

Clark and mechanics looking typically relaxed during the Tasman. Here at Warwick Farm with R12. February 1966 (unattributed)

Click on this link for a lovely story related to the photo above about the ’66 Tasman.

https://open.abc.net.au/explore/45668

Geoghegan 39.

Leo G portrait circa 1963. Colors on helmet ‘Team Total’, the French oil company a strong supporter of motor racing in Australia at the time. Lotus 22 or 27 (Ray Berghouse)

Sandown Park paddock, Tasman ’67. Leo finished 2nd to Clark’s Lotus 33 Climax FWMV 2 litre V8 in ‘The Sandown Cup’. Nice shot shows the car in its Coventry Climax FPF engined/Castrol Racing colors. This is 26 February 1967, the Repco V8 was installed that April (Mike Feisst/The Roaring Season)

This is a nice shot of the 39 of the Repco 740 Series V8 installation, Surfers Tasman round in February 1968. Cooper S is that of top touring car driver John French (Rod MacKenzie)

These days the crowds are all over the ‘Taxis’, in the days of yore the focus was where it should be, on fast open-wheelers! Sandown paddock, am guessing Tasman Meeting 1969 (Jeff Morrall)

Leo’s Lotus dips under brakes for Creek Corner at the end of Hume Straight in 1970 (Lynton Hemer)

Lotus 39 business end in its Repco ‘740 Series’ 2.5 V8 days. 275bhp@8500rpm, the engine weighed 345lbs/157Kg. Gearbox Hewland HD5. Note Repco logo on LH cam cover, Smiths tacho drive on the RH cam cover. Lucas fuel injection, Bosch distributor between the Vee. 1967/8 (John Stanley)

Bibliography…

Thanks very much to John Sheppard for his time and recollections

Graham Howard and Ors ‘History of The Australian GP’, oldracingcars.com

Photo Credits…

Vintage Racecar, oldracephotos.com, Peter Schell, Dick Simpson, Bruce Wells, Habu, Mike Feisst/The Roaring Season, Lynton Hemer, Rod MacKenzie, Ellis French, John Stanley, Paul Hobson, Wayne McKay, Jeff Scriven Collection, Ray Berghouse, David Mist, John Sheppard, Brian McInerney, Jeff Nield/autopics.com.au, Tony Loxley ‘Tasman Cup’, Peter Windsor, Ian MacNeill, Paul Cross

Tailpiece: Leo takes Miss Queensland for a squirt around Lakeside in the family Lotus 23 Ford. Brother ‘Pete’ raced this car, not certain of the date, but 1965’ish…

Motori Porno : Stackpipe BRM V8…

Posted: February 5, 2016 in F1, Features
Tags: 1962 Dutch Grand Prix, 1962 F1 Season, 1966 Monaco Grand Prix, 1966 Tasman Series, BRM P261, BRM P56 V8, BRM P57, BRM P60 V8, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart

The ‘Stackpipe’ 1.5-litre P56 BRM V8 nestled in one of Graham Hill’s BRM P57/578 chassis’ during his and BRM’s victorious 1962 season…

This series of engines was immensely successful being competitive throughout the 1961-5 1.5-litre F1 and was a bit stiff not to have won the title on multiple occasions. Later in its life it became, in 1.9 and 2.1-litre capacities an effective Tasman Series weapon. It was victorious at 2.1 litres against new 3-litre F1 cars too, winning the 1966 Monaco GP Jackie for Stewart that May. Surely it’s one of GP racing’s great engines?

This is the first in an occasional series of articles focussing on engines, mind you, as usual it’s longer than intended. As is the case with most of my stuff the article is a function of a great photo (above) inspiring the piece rather than me thinking strategically about the relative merits of one engine to another in a particular era, and has grown a bit like Topsy over time!

Graham Hill’s P56 engined Stackpipe BRM P57/578 on its way to victory at Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1962, the engine’s first championship GP win (B Cahier)

Background…

BRM commenced the new 1.5-litre F1 in 1961 by using a Coventry Climax FPF Mark 2 engine, it’s ‘Project 56’ 1.5-litre V8 started late and was running behind schedule.

The teams long serving but ‘too dilettante’ technical director Peter Berthon was ‘shunted sideways’, seconded to work at the Harry Weslake Research consultancy in Rye, 280km away leaving Tony Rudd, his assistant, in charge.

By the time this 1960 Dutch GP change was effected, Berthon, with the assistance of consultant engineer Charles Amherst Villiers, an old school friend of BRM founder Raymond Mays and a long term associate of Berthon’s too, was already laying down the conceptual design and detailing of P56. The Shell oil companies research boffins also contributed their knowledge via a project they were completing at the time on ‘combustion in high speed transport engines’.

The great Tony Rudd in glasses overseeing Graham Hill’s P56 engined BRM P57 (DNF) with Cyril Atkins beside him. Dutch GP, Zandvoort 1963. It’s Jack Brabham in the helmet about to board his BT7 Climax DNF. I wonder if the chap closest to camera is Keith Duckworth? The back of that BRM is all-breathers, engine and gearbox isn’t it? Clark won the race in his Lotus 25 Climax (GP Library)

A core conceptual design foundation was efficiency at extremely high rpm by the standards of the time, and, for the first time BRM was to offer the engine for customer sale in addition to its works-role. There was money to be made, as Coventry Climax had proved in recent years by flogging engines to those with the readies. On Sir Alfred Owen’s insistence BRM were to contest that customer market.

In keeping with the BRM charter of using British suppliers if at all possible, Lucas’ new fuel injection system was chosen. Several design features of the old V16 were used including its timing gear, camshaft drives and similar con-rods, higher inertia loads of heavier pistons (than the V16) involved different big-end bolt arrangements though.

The engine was/is a 90 degree V8 with a bore and stroke of 68.1 x 50.88mm for a capacity of 1498cc, it’s heads and block cast in LM8 aluminium alloy. The sump was magnesium and the crank machined from nitrided EN40U alloy steel and ran in five Vandervell, 2.5 inch wide plain metal bearings. The cams, water pump and distributor for the transistorised ignition system were driven by gears off the crank’s nose.

P56 engine cross section showing gear train, ‘inverted cup tappets, which allowed cooling oil to reach valve springs. Exhaust valve guides in contact with water’. 90 degree V8, two valves per cylinder. First series cross-flow head engine shown (grandprixengines.co.uk)

Two ring die-cast pistons and forged con-rods were used initially but forged pistons with a different profile were experimented with later in the successful search for more power. Results justified Berthon’s original concept of minimising rotating and reciprocating mass with a very over-square bore/stroke ratio by the standards of the day to facilitate high rpm.

Up top the four cams ran in five roller bearings operating two inclined valves per cylinder via inverted tappets. Valve sizes were 1.5625 inch inlet, set at 45 degrees from the bore axis, and 1.20 inch exhaust, set at 30 degrees. Double valve springs were used and proved effective even at 11,000rpm, the valve-gear was designed for a maximum of 13,000rpm.

The new Lucas fuel injection system was of the port type, throttle slides were used after early butterfly throttles were tried and rejected. The compression ratio using mandated 100-octane fuel was 11.5:1. The fuel injected works engines claimed 10bhp more than the Weber carbed customer units in the first year. The metering unit was driven by a toothed rubber belt.

P56 V8 again 1962 first series cross-flow, two valve heads. two plane crank (grandprixengines.co.uk)

Lucas also provided the transistorised ignition system made necessary by 11,000 rpm. A conventional coil setup produced around 400 sparks per second, and a magneto 500 whereas the BRM needed 733 sparks per second at 11,000 rpm, a task the Lucas transistors achieved. Ignition timing was controlled by pole pieces mounted on the back of the flywheel in conjunction with a magnetic pick-up on the engine backplate. Current was provided by an alternator driven from the right-side inlet cam.

P56 in Trevor Taylor’s BRP Mk2 BRM, Belgian GP, Spa 1964. seventh in the race won by Clark’s Lotus 25 Climax (R Schlegelmilch)

The prototype P56 engine #5601 was assembled at Bourne in June 1961, without starter motor it weighed 251 pounds. On 12 July in the Folkingham Aerodrome test house it first burst into life.

A second engine was built and run at Monza, in practice only, in 1961. That engine, 5602, produced over 184bhp. During 1962 maximum power was 193bhp@10,250rpm, the engines dyno curves showed 110@6,000, 150@7,500, 173@9,000 and 190bhp@9,750rpm.

At Monza in 1962, Hills victorious P578’s P56 engine achieved 10.6 MPG. Graham Hill’s 1962 season is briefly covered in this article, click here for the link; https://primotipo.com/2014/10/12/graham-hill-brm-p57-german-gp-1962/

Initially the engines were fitted with separate individual megaphone exhausts raking back at near to vertical on each side but they fatigued during a race and progressively broke. A low level system made its debut at Spa in 1962 but by then the Stackpipe BRM label had stuck!

A cross-over exhaust and flat plane crankshaft liberated a bit more power as did new Shell low viscosity oils, by February 1963 the works engines gave 200bhp from 9,750-10,500rpm. Four valve heads were tried for 1964 but ‘flopped fearfully’. Reversed port two valve heads and between-the-Vee-exhausts at the Italian GP provided 208bhp @10,750rpm.

Eventually, by filling combustion chambers with weld and re-machining, trial and error stuff engine 5618 produced 220bhp@11,750rpm. This engine was used by Hill at the 1965 BRDC Trophy and became his regular engine thereafter, ‘maxxing’ at 222bhp.

For the sake of completeness the P56 engine family also includes the P60 used in various capacities for 2-litre sportscar, endurance, Tasman and hillclimbing competition as follows;
1965/6 1880cc, 1966 1916cc, 1966-7 1998cc and 1966-8 2070cc.

Jackie Stewart heads for the BRM P56 engine’s last championship GP win in his P261, 22 May 1966 in Monaco. He won from Lorenzo Bandini’s Ferrari Dino 246 and teammate Graham Hill’s P261. The BRM P261 was an exquisite, successful, long lived car. It was slippery and quick partially due to its power but also the small, beautifully packaged engine, its between-the-Vee-exhausts and compact ancillaries allowing the rear cowling which helped it slip thru the air (R Schlegelmilch)

Race Record…

The P56 and its big P60 brother was a remarkably long-lived engine at International level, let alone its national level wins.

The engines first International win was in the rear of Graham Hill’s BRM P57 in the 1962 Brussells GP on 1 April, its first Championship GP win the Dutch on 20 May 1962, its last Jackie Stewart’s 1966 Monaco GP victory in 1966 amongst the new 3-litre GP cars. Jackie Stewart also scored the engine’s last International win in taking the Australian GP at Warwick Farm on 19 February 1967 in his BRM P261.

This is the butt of Jackie Stewart’s BRM P261 #2614 pictured in the Warwick Farm paddock on 19 February 1967, the engine’s last International win. JYS won the AGP from Clark’s Lotus 33 Climax FWMV V8 and Frank Gardner’s Brabham BT16 Climax FPF. P60 engine now at 2070cc, the weak link of the car by then was the transmission which was struggling with power and torque for which it was not originally designed in 1.5 litre GP spec (M Feisst)

Pedro Rodriguez in the Longford pitlane in 1968, P261’s final race as a works entry (D Cooper)

The engine’s final entry as a works engine was in the back of Pedro Rodriguez’ P261 at the Longford Tasman round in March 1968, he was second to Piers Courage’ McLaren M4A Ford FVA.

During that period the engine won the 1962 Drivers and Constructors titles with Hill. Hill/BRM were second in both the drivers and constructors titles in ’63 to Clark/Lotus, in ’64 to Surtees/Ferrari and in ’65 again to Clark/Lotus. The BRM P261 won the 1966 Tasman Championship for Jackie Stewart in a dominant display, BRM won seven of the eight rounds.

For the sake of completeness the wins for the engine. Note that i have not included heat wins in Non-Championship events, only Finals are as below. What comes through strongly is just how much Hill.G’s career was intertwined with this engine and how smart it was to sell them to all-comers.

1962;

Championship; Dutch, German and Italian GPs, all Hill in BRM P57 chassis

Non-Championship; GP Brussells, Glover Trophy Goodwood, Intl Trophy Silverstone all Hill BRM P57, Crystal Palace Trophy Innes Ireland Lotus 24 BRM, Kanonloppet Karlskoga Masten Gregory Lotus 24 BRM

Piers Courage, BRM P261, Teretonga International, the most southerly race circuit in the world perhaps. NZ Tasman 28 January 1967. Piers DNF engine in the race won by Clark’s Lotus 33 Climax, teammate Richard Attwood was second in the other BRM (I Peak)

1963;

Championship; South African, Monaco and US GPs all Hill BRM P57

Non-Championship; Int Trophy and Aintree 200 both Hill BRM P57, Glover Trophy Ireland Lotus 24 BRM, GP Siracuse Siffert Lotus 24 BRM

1964;

Championship; Monaco and US GPs both Hill in BRM P261

Non-Championship; Daily Mirror Trophy Ireland BRP BRM, GP Mediterraneo Enna Siffert Brabham BT11 BRM, Rand GP Natal Hill Brabham BT11 BRM

1965;

Championship; Monaco and US GPs Hill, Italian GP Stewart all BRM P261

Non-Championship; Int Trophy Stewart BRM P261, GP Mediterraneo Siffert Brabham BT11 BRM

1966;

Championship; Monaco GP Stewart BRM P261

Tasman; Pukekohe NZGP and Lakeside AGP Hill and Wigram, Teretonga, Sandown and Longford rounds, Stewart all in BRM P261

1967;

Tasman: Pukekohe NZGP and Warwick Farm AGP both Stewart in BRM P261

Relaxed scene at Longford on the 5 March 1967 Tasman weekend. That’s JYS on the wheel of P261 2614, Clark’s Lotus 33 Climax is alongside. #9 is Spencer Martin’s Brabham BT11A Climax with his car owner Bob Jane the stocky little dude in the drivers suit beside Stewart. The nose of Chris Irwin’s P261 2616 is also clear. On raceday Jack Brabham’s BT23A Repco won the South Pacific Trophy from Clark and Irwin.

Etcetera…

BRM P60 power at the Lakeside, Australian Grand Prix Tasman round on 20 February 1966. JYS and Graham lead in BRM P261s, Clark in Lotus 39 Climax, Gardner’s yellow nosed Brabham BT11A Climax, Jim Palmer’s Lotus 32B Climax, Spencer Martin’s red Brabham BT11A, Leo Geoghegan’s white Lotus 32 Ford 1.5 and the rest. Hill won from Gardner and Clark

Graham Hill’s BRM P60 engined Lotus 33 at the 29 April 1967, BRDC Intl Trophy Silverstone. That’s Damon practicing in the cockpit! DNF but fastest lap, the race was won by Mike Parkes’ 3-litre Ferrari 312. Graham had just left BRM for Lotus for the ’67 season but not the P56/60 engine which gave him so much success! Lotus’ engine of choice for ’66 was the BRM H16 but Chapman used the V8s as a stopgap with the H16 running late. Chapman’s Lotus 33s comprised a 2-litre Climax engined chassis for Clark and 2070cc P60 BRM engined one for Graham

Bibliography…

The bibles on all things BRM are Doug Nye’s three books, hopefully Vol 4 is not too far away! This article is a précis of Nye’s article on the P56 engine in his seminal, sensational ‘History of the Grand Prix Car 1945-65’

Photo Credits…

Rainer Schlegelmilch, The GP Library, Cahier Archive, Ellis French, Mike Feisst Collection & Ian Peak Collection/The Roaring Season, G Howard and Ors ‘History of The Australian GP’, grandprixengines.co.uk, Dennis Cooper Collection, John Saltinstall Collection

Tailpiece: Top Fuel Dragster…

Trevor Taylor’s BRP Mk2 BRM and its P56 V8 at Spa in 1964. Taylor was seventh, the race was won by Clark’s Lotus 25 Climax. It’s interesting that the stackpipe exhausts were still being used by BRP this late when the low level exhausts were producing more power, budgets and all that no doubt…

Finito...

1956 Australian Tourist Trophy, Albert Park…

Posted: January 29, 2016 in Features, Sports Racers
Tags: 1956 Australian Grand Prix, 1956 Australian Tourist Trophy, Albert Park, Austin Healey 100S, Australian Motor Racing History, Bib Stillwell, Bill Pitt, Cooper T39 Climax, Jack Brabham, Jaguar 'D Type', Jean Behra, Maserati 300S, Stirling Moss

Stirling Moss cruises his works Maserati 300S chassis #3059 through the Albert Park paddock prior to winning the Australian Tourist Trophy on 25 November 1956, he repeated the dose in a 250F in the following weekends Australian Grand Prix…

One of the wonderful things about this internet thingy is the number of unseen photos of our sport which pop up from time to time giving people like me something to write about. And so it is that Sharaz Jek recently posted photos his father took as a paying-punter at the Australian Grand Prix carnival at Albert Park held during the Olympic Games.

It would have been more considerate had he posted them six months ago when i first wrote about the two Maser sportscars brought to Australia as part of a five car team by Officine Maserati!. But hey, it gives me a chance to write about the ATT specifically, click here to read the earlier article, i won’t repeat the background or destiny of the two 300S’ which stayed in Oz post event;

Bob Jane: Maserati 300S: Albert Park 1958…

Melbourne in 1956…

I wasn’t born in 1956 but its fair to say i was more than a twinkle in my parents eyes, so i didn’t attend the mid-fifties Albert Park meetings which older enthusiasts speak so fondly about. Running around the lake last weekend i reflected on how little Albert Park had changed but also how much Melbourne had, the skyline of the city a short 2 Km away.

In 1956 Melbourne’s population was circa 1.5 million people, now it’s 4.7 million, the war ended only a decade before and with it successive Australian Governments established an aggressive migration program which provided, and continues to provide us with the wonderful, peaceful mix of people and their cultures which makes this such a special country and city in which to live. Disgraceful offshore detention centres notwithstanding!

The ’56 Olympic Games, held from 22 November to 8 December was an important part of opening our society to other cultures and equally allowed us to showcase our country, city and capabilities to the world.

The same can be said about the 1956 Albert Park International race meetings and their impact on Australian motor-racing; Barry Green in his wonderful book ‘Albert Park: Glory Days’ said; ‘The weekend was the proverbial moment which changed the face of motor racing in this country. Here for the first time we had a current works sports car and F1 team and other leading international drivers in ex-factory cars; their presence prompting the best of the locals to upgrade their machinery, spend even more and charge harder. A world class field deserved a world class venue and world class crowd. And in the picturesque Albert Park and thousands of international visitors filling Melbourne to overflowing for the first Olympic Games to be held south of the equator, it had just that’.

So, to put you in the zone of the times before reading this piece I have added some photos of Melbourne in 1956 to give you the ‘feel of the joint’ and flavour of the times six decades ago, the racing stuff is after that if you wish to cut to the chase…

The ‘Eyetalians’ brought their weird steaming coffee making machines with ’em post-war, the local coffee obsession was underway, school below is Melbourne High in South Yarra

TV was introduced to Australia in the lead up to the games, here some locals are sussing the weird new contraption in the window of ‘Myers’ department store in Bourke Street

‘Sultry beauty Gunhild Larking, 20, Sweden’s entry for the high jump pensively awaiting her turn to compete’ is the caption. A post sporting career in modelling or TV awaits d’yer reckon!?

The first weekend of the two week AGP carnival comprised four events, the feature the Australian Tourist Trophy for Sports Cars was held on 25 November…

A convoy of Maserati mechanics drove the 250F and 300S, the 5km from Australian International and 250F driver Reg Hunt’s Elsternwick Holden Dealership, where the cars were maintained each day to Albert Park, on the Nepean Highway and St Kilda Road. Not too much of a problem then but guaranteed to boil a Maserati 300S sans radiator fan these days!

al behra — Behra and Moss @ Albert Park in 1956, the first and only time, sadly, Behra raced here but Moss was an annual, usually victorious visitor to Oz till the end of his career in the Masers, then Rob Walker entered Coopers and Loti (Graham Hoinville)

Most of the drivers stayed close by in the ‘Espy’, the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, it’s still there if you want a ‘bevvy’ during the AGP carnival and is well known to Australians as the home of the ‘RocKwiz’ music quiz show.

Fitzroy Street St Kilda felt exotic and buzzed with thousands of visitors from all over the world eager to explore the local delights of the bayside suburbs restaurants and bars. They were full of people including recent European migrants eager to get a touch of home for a few hours at least. The Espy and Tolarno’s were ‘chockers’ and no doubt the proprietors of the areas ‘red light’ precinct did good trade.

Guerino Bertocchi, Maserati chief mechanic and factory test driver and his helper start the 5 Km journey from Albert Park to Reg Hunt’s Elsternwick Holden dealership where the team were based (Arnold Terdich)

Maserati’s as far as the eye can see! Masers brought 5 cars to Oz, 3 250F’s (one unraced spare which at one stage looked as tho it may have been raced by Brabham but ’twas not to be) and 2 300S, Reg Hunt Motors, Nepean Highway, Elsternwick (Eileen Richards)

In ’57 the factory 300S’ were campaigned by Moss, Behra and Piero Taruffi taking wins at Silverstone, Nassau, the Nurburgring, Rouen and Buenos Aires; the works allocated # 3055 to Behra and # 3059, the ‘featured car’ here to Moss. Stirling was in sparkling form having won the Venezuelan Grand Prix in Caracas a fortnight before arriving in Melbourne, Behra also contested the race.

There was a strong entry for the ATT of around 36 cars; Peter Whitehead returned to Australia hoping to repeat the success of his 1938 tour which culminated in an ERA Bathurst Australian Grand Prix win for him.

His entry in the ATT was a Ferrari Monza, similar cars were entered by Brit Peter Wharton and local motor dealer Stan Coffey. The Whitehead and Wharton Ferrari’s were garaged at AP Hollins in Malvern where Lex Davison’s mechanic/engineer Alan Ashton, well familiar with 4 cylinder Ferrari’s (Davison raced the ex-Ascari Tipo 500/625) could keep a close eye on them.

Lex, already the winner of one of his four AGP’s in 1954, entered his HWM Jaguar, his Ferrari was raced in the AGP won by Moss’ 250F the following weekend.

al coffey — Stan Coffey’s Ferrari 750 Monza, of earlier vintage than those of Wharton and Whitehead but still quick if tricky to drive (John Blanden)

Jaguar D Types were entered for Kew motor dealer and later multiple Australian Gold Star champion Bib Stillwell and Queensland’s Bill Pitt driving the Mrs Anderson owned car.

Jack Brabham returned from Europe where he was establishing a strong reputation to drive a Cooper T39 ‘Bobtail’ Climax with future Gold Star Champion Bill Patterson, another Melbourne, Ringwood, Ford dealer in a similar car.

al brabham — Jack refuels the Cooper T39 in the Albert Park paddock. ‘COR’ is Commonwealth Oil Refineries soon to be BP (John Blanden)

Veteran Tom Sulman raced his ‘Kangaroo Stable’ Aston Martin DB3S, the quicker entries rounded out by Austin Healey 100S’ for multiple AGP winner Doug Whiteford and Ron Phillips.

Moss positions his Maser on the front row of the ATT grid, Behra started on pole. Such a sexy shape . Properties on Canterbury Road near the Mills Street corner in the distance (Sharaz Jek)

al start — Behra’s 300S gets the jump at the start, thats Whitehead’s Monza at left, Moss 300S slightly behind, the Jag is Stillwell’s D at left and the little car on the far right Brabham’s Cooper T39 (John Blanden)

A fantastic crowd of 150,000 people gathered to watch the days racing which was marred by the critical injury and subsequent death of Peter Catlin in the first race of the day after he lost control of his Bugatti at Melford corner.

This dominated the tabloids coverage of the race but ‘The Argus’ noted Moss’ lap record of 1:55.8 ‘set in a sportscar, the record previously held by a racing car’ and ‘one of the finest exhibitions of race driving seen in Melbourne’.

To the surprise of many Behra put his car on pole and lead from the start of the 100 mile race with Patterson flipping his Cooper at Melford Corner without too much damage to him or the car on the first lap.

Behra lead the other 35 competitors at the end of lap 1 from Moss, Stillwell’s D Type, the two Monza’s of Wharton and Whitehead, Brabham’s Cooper T39, Bill Pitt’s D type and Paul England’s beautifully designed Ausca. The car was built by England in his spare time at Repco, was powered by the first Holden/Repco Hi-Power cylinder head engine.

al pitt — Pitt’s Jag D chasing Jim Leech’s MM Holden Spl with the Ron Phillips Austin Healey 100S behind (unattributed)

On lap 2 Moss gave his French teammate a blast on his Masers ‘Fiamms’ at Jaguar Corner to let him through, and an even bigger one when he did so, team orders not new in motor racing! At the front Wharton and Brabham slipped past Stillwell with Bill Pitt getting progressively quicker in his XKD and closer to the shapely tail of Whitehead’s Monza.

al brab coop — Brabham wringing the little Cooper T39’s Climax engine hard! (John Blanden)

Moss had a lead of 20 seconds from Behra, Stillwell spun giving Pitt ‘a sniff’ at him as Moss set fastest lap on the 27th tour, passing lots of slower traffic in the process.

By the race’s end only Jean Behra was on the same lap as Moss, the Brit took the flag from Behra, Wharton, Pitt a great 4th and first local home, Stillwell, Whitehead, Lex Davison’s HWM Jaguar and Kiwi Ross Jenson in an Austin Healey 100S and the rest.

al moss color — Moss exits Jaguar corner in his 300S complete with accumulated hay from bales disturbed by other errant competitors during the race’ 100 miles, in the cars inlet (Graham Hoinville)

‘Motori Porno’ innit!? Plug change, 12 of them for Moss’ twin plug #3059. Twin distributors, big Weber 45DCO3 carbs of the 2992cc circa 280 bhp 6 cylinder, DOHC 2 valve engine all clear (Sharaz Jek)

Other ATT Meeting Photos…

al scene 1 — Albert Park vista #20 the Phillips Austin Healey 100S (unattributed)

al start 2 — Another start shot, row 3 this time with the 2 D Types of Stillwell and Bill Pitt (right) in shot, thats Sulman’s Aston DB3S on the far right (unattributed)

al phillips — Phillip’s 8th placed pretty Austin Healey 100S, great run for the Melburnian in a model very popular in Oz, sadly most have now left our shores (unattributed)

al monza — Stan Coffey’s Ferrari 750 Monza behind its Holden FE towcar (Sharaz Jek)

al moss passing — Moss passing and thanking with a wave MG T driver Newman for his track etiquette (Arnold Terdich)

al wharton — Ken Wharton’s races his Ferrari 750 Monza to 3rd place. Southern Command Army buildings in the background. He raced this car in NZ that summer and sadly died in it at Ardmore on 12 January 1957 (John Blanden)

al still — Bib Stillwell’s ‘XKD520’, the seventh D Type Jag built appropriately going thru Jag Corner. An important step in the later Australian Champs rise thru the ranks, he raced it in ’56 to early ’57 , then progressed to Hunt’s 250F (autopics.com)

al vista — Another paddock vista which again has ‘COR’ Commonwealth Oil Refineries in shot, clearly the firms PR function was working well! the Phillips Healey 100S and a Porsche Speedster in shot (unattributed)

Etcetera…

Fifties circuit conceptually similar to but not identical to the contemporary one, direction of racing opposite to the present (Barry Green)

Bibliography…

Barry Green ‘Albert Park: Glory Years’

Photo Credits…

Sharaz Jek especially for the shots which inspired the article, Getty Images for all of the Melbourne ‘atmo’ 1956 shots, Arnold Terdich, Eileen Richards, John Blanden, Philip Skelton, Graham Hoinville, autopics.com

Tailpiece: She is MY daughter Stirl don’t even think about it!…

Finito…

Shadow DN7 Matra…

Posted: January 15, 2016 in F1, Features, Obscurities
Tags: 1975 Austrian Grand Prix, 1975 Italian Grand Prix, 1975 US Grand Prix, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Ligier JS5 Matra, Shadow DN5 Ford, Shadow DN7 Matra, Tom Pryce, Tony Southgate

Jean Pierre Jarier nips a front brake during qualifying for the 1975 Italian Grand Prix, pushing his Shadow DN7 Matra ever so hard…

One of the revelations of the early 1975 GP season was the speed of the new Shadow DN5 Ford, an evolution of the 1973/4 DN1 and DN3 designs penned by Tony Southgate. Frenchie Jean Pierre Jarier rocked the socks off the established aces setting a time eight-tenths/second clear of the rest of the season opening Argentinian GP grid.

There were mutterings of Shadow getting development Cosworth engines but the truth was an aero tweak which is indicative of the importance of aerodynamics over the coming years.

Tony Southgate, ‘ I spent half my life doing aero at Imperial College and DN5 was the first to use the new rolling road wind tunnel, as far as i know, the first in the world. What we discovered was a massive split, front to back, in downforce. People always thought they had about 30-40% on the front. In fact it was no more than 20. And only we knew.’

Southgate moved the driver forward 2.5 inches within a longer wheelbase (with removable spacer between engine and gearbox), developed deeper nose fins and placed the front springs and dampers inboard.

‘The car was an aero jump. We matched downforce to its static weight distribution-about 35/65% front/rear – and the spacer allowed us to tune the chassis to different circuits; we would find 1.25 seconds at Silverstone just by removing it. Immediately it was clear that our car had more downforce than the others and was very well balanced. In its short chassis specification Jarier was taking the fast bend after the pits at Interlagos, Brazil without lifting…’

shadow paul ricard — Shadow hierachy at an early 1975 season Paul Ricard DN5 Ford test. L>R Chief Mechanic Phil Kerr, Tom Pryce, JP Jarier, Team Manager Alan Rees, Tony Southgate and El Capitano Don Nichols (unattributed)

pjpj argentina — JPJ Shadow DN5 Ford, Argentina 1975. Pole and DNS with CWP failure on the warm up lap (unattributed)

Despite being on pole in Argentina, raceday was a disaster with a crown wheel and pinion failing on the warm-up lap. ‘I had been pursuaded to use Hewland’s latest TL200 gearbox instead of the FGA400, I think we and Copersucar did so. It was meant to be more reliable, with helical gears 20% stronger and more bearings in the pinion shaft, improper heat treatment was blamed for the failure’.

In Brazil Jarier was running away with the race from pole when the metering arm of the Lucas injection unit seized. In fact JPJ’s season was a mix of spins and mechanical failures, teammate Tom Pryce getting the better results with a win in the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and third in the Austrian GP after qualifying on pole for the British GP before retiring from the lead.

Southgate; ‘Our budget was tight and there was little development left of the car. It wasn’t good on fast circuits where we had to unbolt downforce so we weren’t swamped on the straights. Plus better funded teams cottoned onto what we were doing and were ringing Imperial College to ask if they could use its wind tunnel.’

‘Shadow’s Grand Prix results for 1975 were very disappointing, especially in view of the competitiveness of the DN5. Our finishing record was simply poor. The cars either broke down or crashed. Jarier only finished two Grands Prix for the year. Pryce’s statistics were better, but he still only finished six GP’s…I often think that, if the DN5 had been prepared and raced by one of the top teams it would have won the Championship.’ said Southgate in his autobiography.

pryce brands — Tom Pryce on his way to winning the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch on 16 March 1975 from pole, the Welshman’s only F1 win sadly. He won from John Watson’s Surtees TS16 Ford and Ronnie Peterson’s Lotus 72E Ford. The field included Ickx, Scheckter, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mass, Donohue and others, it was a great win for both him and the DN5 in a classy field (Autosport)

The Ford Cosworth DFV and alternative engines…

The diligence of team owner, Don Nichols’ designer had given the team the ‘unfair advantage’ of which Mark Donohue spoke so eloquently, with a car whose origins dated back to Shadow’s first year in GP racing in 1973. Whilst Southgate pursued this aero approach Nichols eventually concluded discussions with Matra to use its glorious V12 in a modified DN5 chassis christened the DN7.

The Ford Cosworth DFV 3 litre V8 was the dominant engine of the 3-litre formula, by the end of 1974 it had taken drivers titles in 1968/9 and 1970-4 but Ferrari’s speed in 1974 gave pause for many team managers – Cosworth users – to find an alternative which allowed them to leap clear of the garagiste pack as Enzo Ferrari christened the British Cosworth/Hewland hordes! The DFV was a tough proposition to beat given its blend of power, packaging, weight, economy, reliability, price and Cosworth’s servicing backup.

Shadow DN7 Matra. Type 73 3-litre V12 – circa 500bhp – engine installation at Monza in September1975. Note single plugs and distributor driven off the rear of the inlet camshaft, also exhausts and neat brackets to which the top radius rod at the front and shock/spring mount attaches at the rear – the main bracket runs the length of the cylinder head. You can just see the roll bar behind the spring, radiator header tank also clear (MotorSport)

The obvious alternatives were the Matra V12 and Alfa Romeo Flat-12, both 3-litre endurance engines, and the venerable BRM V12. The latter was easily ruled out as being way past its prime, the BRM P207 was a sad joke in 1974/5 for all concerned. The Matra and Alfa were successful endurance engines. In the event BC Eccclestone, then Brabham’s owner, did a deal to use Alfa engines from 1976 whilst Nichols pursued the Matra option.

While the French V12 last appeared in GP racing in Matra MS120s driven by Chris Amon in 1972, the engine had been continually developed as an endurance unit. Given Matra’s Le Mans wins from 1972-74 and a whole swag of other endurance events; so it was not too difficult to adapt Matra’s learnings to a sprint-spec of the engine, from whence it originated in any event way back in 1968.

silverstone — Silverstone Shadow DN7 Matra first test, July 1975 (unattributed)

Evolving the DN5 Ford into the DN7 Matra…

Whilst commercial negotiations dragged on between Nichols and Matra, Southgate and his team focussed on keeping the DN5 competitive while concepting the DN7, which was essentially a DN5 adapted to fit the longer, heavier, thirstier but more powerful V12.

Major differences were increased fuel tankage and a longer wheelbase, otherwise the key elements of both cars – chassis, body, aero and inboard front suspension by rockers, conventional outboard rear suspension and Hewland TL200 gearbox were the same. This gearbox was developed by Hewland for endurance purposes and was used by Matra in their MS670 sports cars.

Three body-off shots in the Monza paddock 1975. Exquisite standard of fabrication clear (MotorSport)

Tony Southgate spoke of the challenges of adapting the Matra engine to the DN5 in his autobiography.

‘In view of my V12 experience with Eagle and BRM the powers that be most likely thought I was a bit of a V12 expert and that I might be able to resurrect the old Matra engine and get it to the front of the grid. Fitting the Matra engine was not that straightforward and of course the V12 engine required a lot more fuel cell capacity. The engine ran at 12000rpm, about 30% more than the DFV, so extra tanks were fitted into the sides of the car alongside the existing seat tank.’

‘Due to the extra engine RPM and horsepower the cooling system needed to be increased in size, so I fitted larger side pods and set the water radiators further forwards to maintain the weight distribution of the Cosworth engined DN5. The V12 was longer than the DFV, of course, so the wheelbase was increased a little’.

‘The end result was a longer, heavier but more powerful DN5 which we called the DN7. I thought that it would do about the same lap times as the DN5 and that proved to be the case’.

Matra MS73 V12 ultimately successful in Matra sports prototypes and Grands Prix winner in Ligier chassis. Famously aurally erotic, circa 500bhp @ 11600rpm when a good Cosworth DFV gave circa 470bhp. Note Lucas injection trumpets, inboard rear discs and duct, engine electronics behind radiator header tank (MotorSport)

When finally completed the car was tested by ‘Jumper’ at Silverstone in July and made its race debut in practice for the Austrian GP on 17 August.

Tom Pryce drove his usual Ford engined DN5 and offered a direct comparison, both drivers being more or less equivalently FAST. The car was heavier than the DN5, it wasn’t bespoke, but still provided the team and of course Matra a sense of competitiveness of the package.

The Austrian GP was a horrible weekend, Mark Donohue crashed his Penske March 751 in practice as a result of a Goodyear tyre failure, dying in a Graz hospital several days later of brain injuries sustained in the high speed crash. Half points were awarded to finishers of the rain shortened race won by Vittorio Brambilla’s works March 751 Ford, that teams first, long overdue win.

Denis Jenkinson in MotorSport had this to say about the re-appearance of Matra in GP racing; ‘Another welcome return was made by the Matra V12 engine, this time in the back of a UOP Shadow DN7, but somehow it seems to have lost that car-splitting scream that it used to have in the days of Beltoise and Pescarolo in the blue cars from Velizy. Perhaps the Ferrari and Cosworth engines have caught it up on the decibel scale, for they certainly have on bhp output. None-the-less it was nice to see and hear a Matra V12 in Grand Prix racing again’.

‘Particularly pleasing was to see the enthusiasm with which JPJ was tackling the job of driving the DN7. It was not a half-hearted attempt, with one eye cocked over the Cosworth powered DN5 standing in the paddock, or a dickering between the two cars. As far as Jarier was concerned there was only one car for him and that was the DN7. With that approach in the cockpit the Shadow Matra V12 project could get somewhere. It certainly started well by being ahead on the grid of Pryce in the Shadow Cosworth V8, even if it was only 0.2 sec ahead’

Jarier qualified the DN7 13th, one grid slot in front of Pryce, Tom had a great race finishing third while the Matras fuel injection system malfunctioned causing JP’s retirement on lap 10. It was an ok start for a car with limited testing, the Shadow boys prepared the same mix of cars for the Italian GP held on 7 September.

Jarier, DN7 Matra, Monza 1975. GP cars of the era don’t look better than this (LAT)

italian grand prix — 1975 Italian Grand Prix, just look at the variety of aero approaches in this shot let alone mechanical specification, Oh for the days before F1 was a ‘control formula’?! Regazzoni’s winning Ferrari 312T Flat-12 from Jarier’s Shadow DN7 Matra V12, Carlos Pace’s Brabham BT44B Ford V8 and Ronnie Peterson’s similarly powered Lotus 72E (unattributed)

In between the Osterreichring and Monza the non-championship Swiss Grand Prix was held at Dijon, France, there being no circuits in Switzerland, with Jarier putting his Shadow on pole. He led the first 23 laps until retirement with gearbox trouble; but he was back in his Ford engined DN5 while the DN7, the team only built one chassis – #DN7/1A – was readied for Monza. Clay Regazzoni won the event in his Ferrari 312T and then doubled up also driving to victory at Monza.

The Shadows qualified in Italy exactly as they had at the Osterreichring, the results similar as well; ‘Jumpers’ Matra failed, this time with fuel pump failure and Pryce was sixth after a good mid race battle with James Hunts Hesketh. Niki Lauda won his first drivers championship, his third place in his Ferrari 312T assuring him of the championship.

shadow us — Shadow DN5 Ford in the nuddy, Kendall Centre, Watkins Glen US GP 1975. Pryce DN5, 16th in the race, non-classified with Jarier’s similar car DNF. Car getting a fresh Ford DFV. Rear suspension/’box assy at the rear, with the Cossie about to be unbolted, aluminium monocoque and quality of build and finish clear. Note cast alloy instrument bulkhead (unattributed)

At the season ending Watkins Glen race both Shadows were very fast; Q4 for Jarier and Q7 for Pryce but both were in DN5s, the Matra experiment was, sadly for the sport, over.

‘Jean-Pierre Jarier was fighting hard with the Shadow V12 during the first session, a revised fuel system and some titanium exhausts from the sports car endowed it with appreciably improved performance at the top end of its rev band. Alas, Jarier’s enthusiasm would be channeled into the Cosworth powered DN5 after it was calculated that the engine would consume fuel at the rate of 4mpg under racing conditions, and the French engined car was sadly pushed away for the remainder of the weeekend’ (therefore the car would not hold sufficient fuel to complete the race without a stop) said Denis Jenkinson in his MotorSport race report.

It may be that that was the case, or simply that Don Nichols had learned that Matra engines would be used exclusively by the new Ligier team for 1976 and simply put the car to one side to focus on the quicker DN5 Cosworths.

Lauda won the race, both Shadows well down the field despite qualifying times which showed just how quick a package the car was on a circuit which was a great test of a car’s medium to high speed handling characteristics.

shadow watkins — JPJ in the DN7 during the first practice session at Watkins Glen, the last time #DN7/1A turned a wheel before its restoration by Grant Beath in recent times. Car was for 35 years part of Don Nichols collection fitted with a dummy, blown V12 (unattributed)

Both Nichols and Ligier wanted exclusivity in terms of engine supply, from a France Inc perspective the choice of the well connected former rugby international’s team made more sense than the American owned British based concern; French car, team and driver.

From Matra’s viewpoint it makes more sense to me, given the aerospace conglomerates immense resources, to supply two teams in 1976 especially given Shadow’s speed, if not reliability in 1975.

Ligier were an unknown 1976 quantity, Shadow were. Both Shadow drivers had shown prodigious speed in 1974-75, one was French and Southgate did a neat job integrating the Matra V12 into an existing chassis designed for a different engine. His bespoke 1976 Matra chassis would have been lighter overall and designed around the engine architecture rather than an adaptation of what he had based on the Ford Cosworth.

Ligier were to be a one car entry in 1976 so Matra very much had all their eggs in one basket. Ligier’s JS5 1976 car was a horrible looking, bulky thing, mind you it delivered the goods in a a way Shadow did not that year. Jacques Laffitte was eighth in the drivers championship, Pryce 12th and poor Jarier didn’t score a point in the lightly updated 1976 Shadow DN5Bs and new DN8. Matra finally achieved a GP win when Laffitte won the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix in his Ligier JS7, the whole paddock were delighted for him, Ligier and Matra.

Don Nichols retained ownership of Shadow, but his company, United Oil Products, was no longer the team’s major sponsor and the slippery slope of progressive loss in competitiveness began, whilst noting Alan Jones’ lucky 1977 DN8 Ford, Austrian GP win.

If only Nichols had jagged the Matra deal or the Velizy concern supplied both teams he may have stayed more involved and we would have had the chance of seeing Tony Southgate designed, bespoke, Matra engined cars driven by two of the fastest chargers around at the time. It’s an interesting ‘mighta been’ I reckon?!…

Shadow DN7 Matra Technical Specifications…

Chassis; aluminium monocoque using the Matra MS73 V12 as a fully stressed member. Front suspension by lower wishbone and top rocker actuating inboard mounted coil spring/damper units. Rear suspension twin parallel lower links, single top link, coil spring/damper units and twin radius rods. Adjustable roll bars front and rear. Wheelbase 2667mm, front and rear tracks 1473/1549mm. Weight 612Kg.

Front and rear disc brakes, inboard at the rear. Rack and pinion steering. Wheel sizes front/rear 9.2/20 13 inch in diameter, 16.2/26/13 inches.

Engine; Matra MS73 3-litre, DOHC, four valve, Lucas fuel injected, all aluminium 60 degree V12. 2993cc, bore/stroke 79.7/50mm, circa 500bhp @ 11600rpm. Gearbox; Hewland TL200 five speed transaxle

Etcetera…

More shots at Monza in 1975, probably too much of a good thing…

Tony Southgate on ‘Jumper’ Jarier in ‘MotorSport’…

‘He had such fantastic car control and speed but just didn’t have the commitment. I’m sure he could have been World Champion if only he could have been bothered. Jean-Pierre got bored very easily and in practice or testing he would adapt himself to the car and do the same times after you had made adjustments. He was a typical French driver in that he was more interested in going out of an evening, eating a good meal and chasing the ladies. It soon became clear that he wouldn’t go on to the next level’.

ligier on circuit — Jean-Pierre Beltoise testing the brand new Ligier JS5 Matra at Paul Ricard in December 1975 (unattributed)

1976 Ligier JS5 Matra…

The Ligier JS5 Matra was a sinfully ugly car, it had the looks only a mother could love but its ‘fugliness’ was only skin deep!

Gerard Ducarouge and his team had the aero spot on, the enormous airbox which led to the car’s nickname The Flying Teapot chanelled air beautifully over the car and smoothed it onto the rear wing. Eighth in the drivers title for Laffitte and sixth for Ligier in the constructors race in a one car team entry was an exceptional first year performance.

The pictures are of the JS5’s first test at Paul Ricard in December 1975 with Jean Pierre Beltoise up. JPB had been announced as the driver, perhaps via sponsor Gitanes, but Guy Ligier was not convinced and organised a driver test over two days. Jacques Lafitte the quicker of the two in a car which had been tweaked by JPB who tested on the first day.

There was disquiet in France in some quarters over the choice of Laffitte, JPB at the time was France’s only contemporary GP winner, but Ligier’s choice was sound. Jacques in Frank Williams’ Ford engined Williams FW04 and Martini Mk16 Euro F2 crown ahead of the March BMW hordes in 1975 made it fairly clear that he was the better choice. JPB, fine driver that he was, ‘ultimate speed’ had been shown over the years to be not in the Ace category whereas Jacques’ potential, relative novice that he was, was pretty clear. It was an astute choice if not an entirely popular one.

ligier pits — JPB smiles for the cameras and gets himself comfy in JS5, designer Ducarouge, what a talented chappy! looks at JPB’s feet. Paul Ricard December 1975 (unattributed)

Bibliography…

MotorSport January 2015, Denis Jenkinsons MotorSport Austrian and US GP reports 1975, GP Encyclopaedia, Tony Southgate ‘From Drawing Board to Chequered Flag’

Photo Credits…

MotorSport Images, LAT, Car Blueprints, Alejandro Saldutto

Tailpiece…

‘So waddya think of the engine Jean-Pierre? is perhaps the question Jacques Lafitte is asking JPJ on their way back to the Monza paddock’? He knew full well of course as an ex-Matra sportscar driver…

Finito…

1951 British Grand Prix: Froilan Gonzalez: Ferrari’s First GP Win…

Posted: December 18, 2015 in F1, Features
Tags: 1951 British Grand Prix, Alberto Ascari, Alfa Romeo Alfetta 159, BRM Type 15 V16, Ferrari 375, Froilan Gonzalez, Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio, Peter Walker, Reg Parnell

(Louis Klemantaski)

Froilan Gonzalez plays with the limits of adhesion of his victorious Ferrari 375 V12 at around 140mph. Copse Corner, Silverstone, 14 July 1951…

The dominant force in Grand Prix racing in the immediate post-war period was Alfa Romeo, the pre-war ‘Alfetta’ voiturettes progressively modified to remain winners; they had not been beaten since 1946.

Ferrari had achieved success at Le Mans, the Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio and now took an alternative Grand Prix design path to Alfa and BRM for the 1951 season in building cars powered by a normally aspirated 4.5 litre V12 rather than the supercharged straight 8/V16 route of his rivals. Instructive had been the reliability and speed of the Talbot-Lagos despite the cars relative lack of sophistication given the French machines road-car origins.

Gonzalez, Silverstone 1951, Ferrari 375, the burly Argentinian master of this car. Note exhaust system of the V12 and twin radius rods locating rear axles (unattributed)

Ferrari’s Type 375’s were first entered at the Pescara Grand Prix on 15 August 1950, but were not ready. The cars made their championship debut at Monza on 3 September 1950 with entries for Alberto Ascari and Dorino Serafini. Ascari qualified 2nd and was dicing with the lead group of Fangio and Farina both 158 mounted, before retiring on lap 21 with engine overheating.

Click here for an article on the Type 375 i wrote a while back;

VI Gran Premio del Valentino, April 1952: Ferrari 375…

In order to test the cars over a full GP distance,375’s for Ascari and Serafini were entered for the GP do Penya Rhin, at Pedralbes, Barcelona on 29 October. The cars finished 1/2, no Alfa’s were entered but the cars completed a GP distance without problems. With further development over the winter the 375’s were ready for 1951.

Alfa Romeo pit British GP, Silverstone 1951 (unattributed)

By 1951 the supercharged Alfa’s, designated ‘159’ developed around 410bhp from their supercharged 1.5-litre engines, while Ferrari had been working on a twin-plug version of the 4.5-litre V12. It wasn’t as powerful as the Alfa but it was more efficient, less fuel meant less pit stops.

Alfa ignored most of the early season non-championship races. In their absence Ferrari 375’s won at Siracuse and Pau on 11 and 26 March, Gigi Villoresi the winning driver on both occasions. Ascari won the San Remo GP on 22 April.

The Alfa’s finally appeared for the ‘BRDC International Trophy’ race at Silverstone on May 5, but the works Ferari 375’s did not. Fangio and Farina each won a heat for Alfa with the final held in torrential rain led by Reg Parnell’s Ferrari 125/375 when the race was ended after 16 minutes on lap 6.

Engine and brake detail of the Alfa Romeo 159, Silverstone 1951. 1.5 litre two-stage supercharged straight-8 (unattributed)

The first 1951 Championship GP was at Berne for the Swiss Grand Prix. Ascari was suffering from a burn to the arm received during a Formula 2 race at Genoa the weekend before and Villoresi slid off the road in wet conditions. Progress was indicative of Taruffi’s Ferrari second place splitting the Alfas of Fangio and Farina, first and third.

At Spa, a jammed wheel at a pit stop cost Fangio his second successive win, Farina took Belgian GP win for Alfa Romeo from Ascari and Villoresi in Ferrari 375’s.

The French Grand Prix was a furious battle between Ascari and Fangio, both of whom changed cars with Fangio taking the win for Alfa. Ascari’s 375 had gearbox failure and Froilan Gonzalez, who had led the race briefly and pitted to refuel, was asked to hand his car over. Fangio took over Luigi Fagioli’s Alfa, JM’s car failed on the first lap of the race. This was Gonzalez’ first race for Ferrari. Just before the French Grand Prix, Enzo Ferrari had approached him to replace the unwell Piero Taruffi. The Fagioli/Fangio car won the race from the 375 of Gonzalez/Ascari.

Gonzalez in his first Ferrari drive, he lead the French GP at Reims before offering his 375 to Alberto Ascari, the pair finished 2nd to the Fangio/Fagioli Alfa 159 (unattributed)

Froilan recalled the French GP in Gonzalez ‘The Pampas Bull’; ‘The dream was to be very brief. I was utterly determined to make my mark at Reims in the Grand Prix de France and after a tough battle I managed to lead the race. But when I stopped at the pits to refuel (Ferrari Team Manager) Ugolini told me to hand over my jewel to Alberto Ascari who had walked back to the Ferrari pits after his own car had broken down’.

‘Recalling it now I suppose it was understandable. Ascari was more experienced in the Grand Prix arena than I, and since he was now available, it was obviously more sensible to let him take over. But at the time I was mystified and wounded. I assumed I had in some way failed one of Ferrari’s mysterious tests. Yet nobody would tell me where I had failed’.

‘I was just as puzzled when Enzo Ferrari sent for me. Puzzled and timid, for Ferrari was a powerful experienced man of the world while I had only recently arrived in Europe I had no idea how to address the ‘sacred monster’ of the motoring world when I was led into his office. I managed to say ‘Good morning’ in Spanish and then stood there speechless, wondering why I was there and what to do next. Don Enzo, realizing my embarrassment, helped me out by smiling and shaking my hand. And to my utter amazement he – the greatest figure in world motor racing – actually congratulated me for what I had done at Reims. I was even more astounded when he suddenly asked me: ‘Would you like to sign a contract to drive for the Ferrari team?’ I can feel even now the almost painful thumping of my heart. This just isn’t true, I told myself.’

Ascari cruising the Silverstone pitlane, Ferrari 375 during practice DNF lap 56 with ‘box failure (Getty Images)

Alfa Romeo brought 159’s to Silverstone for Fangio, Farina, Consalvo Sanesi and Felice Bonetto. Ferrari brought three Type 375s for Ascari, Villoresi and Gonzalez with Peter Whitehead in Tony Vandervell’s ‘Thinwall Special’ Ferrari…

Talbot returned with three T26C 4.5-litre, straight-6 cylinder cars. Maserati relied on ageing 4CLTs for David Murray and John James, while Philip Fotheringham-Parker raced an older 4CL. ERA had Bob Gerard and Brian Shawe-Taylor and Joe Kelly was in his Alta.

Scuderia Ferrari drivers Silverstone 1951; Gigi Villoresi left, Alberto Ascari and Froilan Gonzalez, all remarkably ‘well-nourished’ by driver standards of today! And older of course (Getty Images)

BRM turned up on the morning of the race having missed practice. Reg Parnell and Peter Walker started from the rear of the grid as a consequence.

Peter Walker’s BRM Type 15, 7th being given a shove during practice (unattributed)

John Bolster of Autosport commented about Gonzalez’ speed and technique; ‘Thursday found me walking round the circuit, trying to work out how on earth these boys get round the corners the way they do. My stopwatch was busy in my hand, and I had a conversion table, so it was with immense excitement that I observed that Froilan Gonzalez had lapped at 99mph. His next tour looked even faster and, yes, the magic 100mph had been topped at last!’

‘The interesting thing is that he brakes later than anybody else, actually enters the corner faster, and gets through in an immensely long drift. He has none of the ease in the cockpit that Farina exhibits, and certainly does not follow the same path every time. Unlike all the other drivers, he changes down without gunning his motor, and yet there is no clash of gears and the box stands up to the treatment. John Wyer and I listened to this for lap after lap at Woodcote, and were fair amazed. A phenomenon, this Froilan!’ Bolster observed.

Froilan Gonzalez Ferrari 375, Silverstone 1951, lovely portrait of the Argentinian Champion (unattributed)

Gonzalez lapped Silverstone in 1 minute 43.4 seconds and was on pole, a second quicker than Fangio’s Alfa. On Friday the track was damp and those times prevailed. Froilan’s time was set without the latest the latest twin-plug V12 fitted to Ascari’s car.

Gonzalez; ‘Ferrari had the gift of instilling confidence in its drivers. Although I was still very inexperienced I arrived at Silverstone for the 1951 British Grand Prix feeling that I really belonged in the Scuderia Ferrari, feeling eager also to pit my car’s power against the almost unbeatable Alfa Romeos – and my own skill against the world’s greatest racing drivers. Silverstone was the meeting place for international statesmen, industrialists, and millionaires, all looking for excitement’.

Silverstone was the first time an Alfa Romeo had not been on pole position since the world championship began the year before…

Around 50,000 spectators arrived at the Northhamptonshire circuit on the Saturday, eager to see a great contest between Alfa, Ferrari and BRM.

Start of the GP with Gonzalez, left on pole Fangio and Ascari #11 on the outside. Ferrari 375, Alfa 159, Ferrari 375 (unattributed)

Felice Bonetto made the best start from seventh, the front row delayed with excessive wheelspin, and lead at the end of lap 1 but Gonzalez took over with Fangio chasing.

Gonzalez; ‘As we passed the pits for the first time I noticed that both the Alfa and Ferrari team managers were signaling the same instructions, which were in effect that we should drive our own race. The alarming start meant that team tactics must be abandoned. ‘Go for the lead’ came the urgent message and soon as I saw that I went flat-out. By the next lap I was leading’.

Felice Bonetto Alfa being chased by #12 Gonzalez Ferrari and #1 Farina Alfa 159 with #11 Ascari Ferrari just in shot (unattributed)

‘I could not hear them but I had the feeling that the British crowd had forgotten their usual restraint. They were jumping and waving and, it seemed to me, yelling like mad. ‘Pepito. You are ahead of the Field Marshals,’ I thought, and kept my foot hard down on the accelerator pedal. Then suddenly my rear-view mirror showed a red car, growing bigger and bigger. A signal from my pit as I shot past told me it was Fangio’s Alfa Romeo. ‘Pepito. Don’t do anything foolish. Don’t panic. Even Fangio will have to do a re-fuel.’

Within 15 laps, Fangio was five seconds ahead of Gonzalez. the duo were 44 seconds ahead of third-Farina who was scrapping with Ascari from Bonetto and Villoresi. It was Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari. The fuel stops would settle the issue.

Nice color panned shot of Gonzalez on the way to victory. Shows the big, butch lines of the Ferrari to good effect, the delicacy of touch required to drift the thing at 140mph readily apparent, and appreciated! (unattributed)

Gonzalez hit the straw-bales at Becketts but gradually closed on Fangio to retake the lead on lap 39. At the end of lap 48, Fangio pitted and Gonzalez came in 13 laps later. Ascari had retired with gearbox trouble and Gonzalez climbed from his car and offered it to his team-mate. Ascari refused and urged Gonzalez to continue. The stop took 23 seconds, Fangio’s 49 seconds, JM had his rear wheels changed and his fuel tank filled. The gap between the leaders was then 1 minute 19.2 seconds.

Pitsop for the thirsty Parnell BRM Type 15 ; passing is the Farina Alfa being closely watched by Alberto Ascari, astride the white line, retired from the race. The balding Raymond Mays looks away from the BRM , to Mays right beside ‘the copper’ is journalist and racer John Bolster (unattributed)

‘When Fangio caught me in the 10th lap I let him overtake, placing myself directly on his tail. We traveled in tandem, our two cars seeming to be roped together. Even when he increased speed we remained like this, driving like men pursued by the Devil himself. There was a moment of danger around the 25th lap when I took Becketts Corner too fast and hit the straw bales. But this made me keener than ever and I set off again after Fangio. I began to close on him, having been perhaps 5 or 6 seconds behind him with both of us averaging about 97 mph until, on the 39th lap, I eventually took him. Towards the end of the race I was more than a minute ahead of him’.

Gonzalez leads Fangio during their great Silverstone race (unattributed)

‘Motorsports’ August 1951 issue described the events as follows: ‘Try as Fangio could and did, it was over. Gonzalez came round, crash hat and visor in his left hand, waving them to the crowd.

‘Ferrari with the unblown 4.5-litre had at last broken the might of the two-stage supercharged 159 Alfa Romeo, as they have been threatening to do since Monza last year. Froilan Gonzalez had driven impeccably and is now in the front rank.

‘Fangio drove like the master he is, but couldn’t catch the Ferrari, nor could his longer pit-stop explain the 51 second gap and he was the meat in the Ferrari sandwich. And how these Argentinians drive!’

Froilan Gonzalez takes the Silverstone chequered flag to record an historic personal and team win, Ferrari 375 (unattributed)

Villoresi was third after Farina retired at Abbey Curve, with smoke billowing from the engine compartment but the failure reported as ‘clutch’. Bonetto was a further lap behind the Ferrari in fourth.

Farina’s Alfa 159 hors ‘d combat on lap 75 with a failed clutch (unattributed)

Reg Parnell was 5th in the BRM with Walker 7th. The BRM drivers completed the race burned by their exhausts and dazed by fuel vapours. In the hurry to complete the cars for the race, the exhausts hadn’t been properly insulated and the drivers were ‘cooked’.

The BRM Type 15′ s get away at the start; Walker left 7th and Reg Parnell #6 5th (unattributed)

‘It was very confusing’ said Gonzalez aftewards, ‘But very exciting. Everyone was shouting and talking; the mechanics saying over and over again that the Alfa Romeos had been beaten. Then I was taken to meet the Queen and given a laurel wreath. Of course, I understood little of what was said but it was a very nice feeling to have all those people congratulating me.

‘On the winners podium I was embraced warmly by Fangio. That meant a lot to me. Then they played the Argentine National Anthem. I had never experienced anything like this before. When I saw my country’s flag being hoisted, it was just too much for me and I cried. That moment will live with me for ever.’

Gonzalez being congratulated by his wife and crew after the historic win, the enormity of it all still to set in (unattributed)

Enzo Ferrari’s dogged determination to win Grands Prix with his own cars was achieved against Alfa Romeo, for whom for many years he lead their pre-War racing programs. It was the first time the Alfas had been beaten since the first post-war French Grand Prix in 1946.

At the end of the season, Alfa Romeo applied for a significant increase in their government grant, the company still within the control of the agency which took it over after its insolvency pre-war. It was refused and the team withdrew from Grand Prix racing, a return finally made with the provision of engines in 1970 and more wholistically as a team in 1979.

In his Richard Williams biography, Enzo Ferrari said of his first Ferrari GP victory: ‘I cried for joy. But my tears of enthusiasm were mixed with those of sorrow because I thought, today I have killed my mother’…

Etcetera…

Alfa’s in the Silverstone paddock; #3 Consalvo Sanesi 6th, #1 Farina DNF (unattributed)

Front row makes a poor start; #12 Gonzalez, Farina better away and Ascari #11 on the right with Fangio’s Alfa almost beside Ascari and Felice Bonetto, Alfa coming up quickly behind Fangio (unattributed)

Alberto Ascari from Giuseppe Farina Ferrari 375 and Alfa 159, Silverstone 1951, both DNF (unattributed)

Gonzalez supervises his Ferrai pitstop whilst Ascari, right, looks on having sportingly declined to take the car offered to him by Froilan allowing him to take the well deserved win (unattributed)

Bibliography…

f1fanatic.co.uk, grandprixhistory.org, Team Dan, silhouet.com, J Perez Loizeau and Ors ‘Jose Froilan Gonzalez:The Pampas Bull’

Photo Credits…

Louis Klementaski, Getty Images, Michael Turner art

Tailpiece…

Painting depicts Gonzalez’ pursuit of Fangio with a blue Talbot-Lago T26 ahead (Michael Turner)

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