1979 Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Group 5

Mr John of B & David Ferrer, 1979 Lancia Betat Grp V, Le Mans Classic 2016.

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For more picture of seventies Le Mans cars at the 2016 Classic, click on the link above.

Lancia, Turin, Italy.  Lancia Corse collaborated with Dallara on the Chassis, Pininfarina on the body and Abarth on the mechanicals to make this Group 5 silhouette car of the Lancia Beta Montecarlo.  The engine developed by Abarth was a 1,425cc turbo but it developed over 400bhp.  The car competed successfully in the 1979 and 1980 World Championship of Makes, winning the 2 litre class in both years. Overall race wins came at Brands Hatch, Mugello and Watkins Glen.  For 1981 it was given a bigger engine.  

1969 Aston Martin DBS V8 RHAM/1

Paul Chase-Gardener & David Allen, ex-Robin Hamilton Aston Martin V8, Le Mans Classic 2016.

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For more photos of Plateau 6 at the 2016 Le Mans Classic, click on the link above.

Aston Martin, Newport Pagnell, England.  Robin Hamilton, an Aston Martin dealer, was the privateer who took Aston Martin back to Le Mans in 1977 and a number of years thereafter.  In 1977 the car was a modified 1969 DBS 5.3L V8 with a turbocharger and aerodynamic mods.  Driven by Robin Hamilton, Dave Preece and Mike Salmon they finished 17th and third in the GTP class.  The car was nicknamed "the Muncher" as it ate brake pads due to its weight, or in France as "Le Petit Camion" because of its size. The car also raced at Silverstone that year in the 6 hours where it ran in the top ten.  The car produced 520bhp and achieved 188mph at Le Mans on the Mulsanne straight.

March 783/793 F3

Noel Delplanque, March 793, Charade, Historic Tour 2016, Classic F3 race.

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For more photos of the 2016 Historic Tour round at Charade, click on the link above.

March, Bicester, England.  Along with almost every other formula, March made F3 cars from 1969 to 1981.  The March 783 and 793 models spanned the years 1978 and 1979.   In 1978 Ralt produced the dominant car.  For 1979 Chico Sera won the Vandervell British F3 Championship in a March. The 793 differed from the 783 by having some additional ground effect skirts and updated sidepods. Many famous drivers drove these models including Nigel Mansell, Teo Fabi, Tiff Needell, Michele Alboreto, Thierry Boutsen, Andrea de Cesaris, Jean-Louis Schlesser, and Stefan Johansson.  The car pictured was driven by Bret Riley who scored a number of F3 wins.  These cars raced with a number of motors but Bret Riley and Nigel Mansell's used to be powered by a Triumph Dolomite Swindon engine.  Nice to see the car in authentic livery from the time.

Lola T620

Thomas Beaufils, Lola T620, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Benouville 2015

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For more photos of the 2015 Etretat Hillclimb, click on the link above.

Lola, Huntingdon, Engl;and. The T620 was a car produced in 1978 and 1979 to race in Formula Super Vee.  About 26 were originally constructed and had Volkswagen 4 cylinder 1,600cc engines. This one looks as though it has had some development over the years with its untypical side pods.  A few famous drivers cut their teeth in the Lola T620 including Arie Luyendijk. He won a number of European Championship Super Vee races in 1978 in a T620 before eventually moving on to Indy Car racing.  Thomas Beaufils runs this car in French Hillclimbs in the class D/E (2) which is for single seaters up to 1,600cc.  It would appear to now have a Skoda engine.

Lola, Huntingdon, Angleterre, La T620 était une voiture de course fabriquée en 1978 et 1979 pour Formule Super Vee.  Environ 26 était produit avec un moteur 4 cyl 1,600cc Volkswagen.  La voiture dans le photo a un moteurSkoda et quelques modifications.  Peut etre le plus connu pilot de la T620 était Arie Luyendijk qui gagnait deux courses de Super Vee en 1978.  Thomas Beaufils et le pilot actuel.

There is a nice video on You Tube of his ascent of the Etretat Hillclimb. Click below:

1979 BMW M1 Procar

1979 BMW M1 Procar, 2016 GP de l'Age d'Or, Dijon-Prenois. 

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For more photos of the 2016 Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or, follow the link above.

BMW, Munich, Germany.  The BMW M1 Procar Championship was an International one-make series that ran in 1979 and 1980 as a support series for F1 GP and other major events.  Drivers such as Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Hans-Joachim Stuck and others competed and won.  The cars were built to Group 4 specs.  They had a BMW straight 6 engine tuned to produce over 450bhp.  These M1 procars had a top speed of 190mph and a 0-60mph time of close to 4 seconds.  From 1981 some of these cars entered endurance events in their Grp 4 guise. in 1988 the M1 Procars again supported the German GP.  Bruno Giacomelli's best result in a Procar round was eighth.

Fiat X1/9

1979 Fiat X1/9 à Reims pour le départ de la Monte Carlo Rallye Historique 2015

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For more photos of the 2015 Monte Carlo Rallye Historique, follow the link above.

Don't forget it is the Monte Carlo Rallye Historique later this month.  For more details click here.

Fiat & Bertone, Lingotto & Turin, Italy.    Produced by FIAT from 1972 to 1982 and by Bertone who had always produced the monocoque body from 1982 to 1989.  It was a nice handling small mid-engined sports car with removable hardtop. It had a 1,290cc Fiat engine until 1979 when it was upgraded to a 1.5L Fiat engine.   An earlier 1,300cc car is shown below.

Here is a 1973 1300cc car from the same event.

1979 Shadow-Ford DN9 F1

1979 Shadow-Ford DN9 F1 á Magny Cours pour Classic Days 2014

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For more photos of the 2014 Classic Days at Magny Cours, follow the link above.

Shadow Racing Cars, Northampton, England.  In 1979 the cars were driven by Jan Lammers and Elio de Angelis without much success.

1979 Zastava 1100

1979 Zastava 1100 à Reims pour le depart du Monte Carlo Rallye Historique.

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Mon astuce pour faire des belles photos.
Arrivez tôt pour vous assurer d'une bonne position.

Top photo tip.
Get there early to make sure of a good position.