1969 Techno F3

1969 Techno F3, Emanuele Guglielminetti, Course de Cote du Mont Dore 2017.

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Techno, Bologna, Italy.  Techno was founded by the Pederzani brothers and progressed from being an engineering company to producing Karts which were very successful and won the World Karting Championship in the mid-sixties.  Their first racing car was a F4 and the first F3 car was produced in 1966. This was the era of the 1 litre screamer F3 cars.  By 1968 the Techno was the top F3 car and it continued this success in 1969 with a very similar design.  In 1969 Techno took thirty major F3 wins with half of these being won by Ronnie Peterson. Ronnie Peterson's successes included the prestigious Monaco F3 race.  Other famous drivers who drove the 1969 Techno F3 car included Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, Jurg Dubler, Freddy Link and Peter Gaydon.  The car was successful because of its aerodynamic efficiency and ultimate speed if driven well.  Techno went on to be successful in F2 with Clay Regazzoni winning the 1970 European Championship.   In 1972 and 1973 Techno tried its hand at F1 but a sixth place in the Belgian GP in the hands of Chris Amon proved its best result.  This lack of F1 success resulted in the end of Techno.

1999 Crosslé 9S-Ford "late run series"

David Strange, 1999 Crosslé 9S, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Benouville 2016.

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Crosslé, Hollywood, Northern Ireland.  Crosslé was founded in 1957 by John Crosslé and still operates from its original factory.  They claim to be the longest established specialist constructor of racing cars in the World. Many famous drivers competed in Crosslé cars including Nigel Mansell.  The original Crosslé 9S was conceived in 1965 to compete in 2 litre Group 6 sports car racing.   In 1966 drivers such as Peter Gethin and John Watson drove them, achieving some success at circuits such as Dunboyne in Northern Ireland and Crystal Palace.  The cars also raced in the USA.  Since the late nineties Crosslé have been producing late run series 9S cars from the original factory.  There has been an Irish Championship for them and since 2005 the HTP version can also be raced in Historic racing.  The cars have a tubular steel spaceframe and fibre glass body.  Various engine options are available including 2 litre BMW, Ford Twin Cam or Ford Zetec.  

1931 MG Midget Montlhéry C-Type

Chris Cadman, 1931 MG Montlhéry, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Bénouville VHC 2016.

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MG, Abingdon, England.  In February 1931 George Eyston achieved over 100mph at Montlhéry in a modified MG Midget.  This led to the revised 2 seater C type Midget being known as the "Montlhéry".   The car had a 750cc supercharged engine and even the road car could achieve 90mph. 0-60mph was in about 20 seconds which was good for the era in a car of this capacity.  In 1931 this car would cost you £575.  It was wonderful little sports car of the early thirties. They were entered in many races and won a number of them such as the 1931 RAC Tourist Trophy driven by Norman Black.  They were raced at Le Mans and Brooklands as well. Great to see one today.

1929 Morgan Super Aero

Sue Darbyshire, Morgan Super Aero, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Bénouville VHC 2016.

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Morgan, Malvern, England.  The Morgan Super Aero was a motor cycle engines three wheeler that was a cheap fast car in the twenties.  The exposed motor cycle engine was ahead of the of the front axle and powered the single rear wheel.   As well as good performance they benefitted from being taxed like a motor cycle.  They can be powered by various 2 cylinder engines including JAP, Blackburne, Anzani and Harley Davidson.   They had a two speed gearbox. The Super Aero had a tubular steel chassis and lowered streamlined bodywork.  In the twenties ad thirties they were regularly used in trials, hillclimbs and on racetracks such as Brooklands and Donington Park.  This tradition continues.  Sue Darbyshire has been competing successfully with this car for around 15 years which has a 1.2 litre engine.

Volkswagen Scirocco GTi Grp2 (1st Generation)

Viviane Bonnardel, VW Scirocco, Course de Cote du Mont Dore VHC 2016.

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Volkswagen, Osnabrück, Germany.  This is a first generation VW Scirocco that was produced from 1974 to 1981 with a body designed by the Italian, Giorgetto Giugiaro.  Over half a million were produced of this small sporty coupé. They had front engines and front wheel drive.  The cars had engine capacities between 1.1 litres and 1.7 litres.  All engine variants were 4 cylinders. In 1977 the Jaegermeister team competed in the European Touring Car Championship with a Group 2 version. The car above now runs in the French Mountain Hillclimb championship for historic competition cars and its driver won the championship in 2014 and 2015 in this VW Scirocco.

Simca 1100 Ti

Francois Durat, Simca 1100 Ti, Course de Cote du Mont Dore VHC 2016.

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Simca, Poissy, France. The 1100 was a small hatchback car built by Simca from 1967 to 1982.  It had a 4 cylinder Simca engine mounted at the front and powering the front wheels.   The Ti model was a sporty version with a larger 1,300cc engine.  This model was available from 1974 to about 1978. They were of course raced and rallied, particularly in France, and this one continues today to do hillclimbs.  Top speed was around 170kph and 0-60mph was around 12 seconds.

NSU 1200 TT

NSU 1200 TT, Course de Cote du Mont Dore VHC 2016, Jean-Pierre Hoffmann.

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NSU, Neckarsulm, Germany.   This NSU 1200 TT was a small 2 door touring car car of the late sixties and early seventies. It was part of the NSU Prinz range This was the time when NSU was acquired by the Volkswagen Group and merged with Audi. Eventually this led to the NSU range being discontinued.  The 1200 TT had the 1,200cc air cooled 4 cylinder OHC engine of the NSU 1200 but the smaller body of the NSU 1000.  Thus it had better performance.   The engine was rear mounted and powered the rear wheels.   This model had the horizontal black stripe in the chrome bar between the dual headlights.  A number were raced and rallied and there was a special competition model the TTS which had the front mounted oil cooler.

Opel Commodore GS/E

Daniel Louis, Opel Commodore GS/E, Course de Cote du Mont Dore VHC 2016.

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Opel, Rüsselsheim ,Germany.    The GS/E was a sporty 2 door coupé version of the Commodore with a more powerful version of the 2.8 litre 6 cylinder engine.  This is the "B" version of the Commodore that was produced from 1972 to 1977.  It was used in touring car racing in the seventies.   One finished third in the 1973 Spa 24 hours.