Exposition de Voitures Anciennes par l'Automobile Club de Montguyon

 

A lovely old Simca 8 in the place de la Mairie, Montguyon.

This is an example of a Classic Car post on my sister blog - Rouenleafx.   Click here to see more.

It is rather a long time since my last blog post due to the Covid pandemic that has stopped most events being held in the last eight months.   Thus, it was a great pleasure that a friend of ours told us of a local classic car event on Saturday morning 5th June.  It was held in the lovely Charente Maritime town of Montguyon, a short drive from where we now live in France.

Organised by the local car club - l'Automobile Club de Montguyon, they were able to put on a great little exhibition of cars In the town square, As you can see from the pictures below.

A lovely selection of Renaults, VWs and Simcas as we walked into the exhibition of cars in Montguyon.

The obligatory Citroën 2CV outside of the baker's shop.  Note the two wonderful old bakery delivery bicycles behind the car.

Perhaps, the star of the show was  this Rosalie, a well maintained 1934 Citroën 8CV.

Not all of the cars were French.  This is a Triumph Spitfire with a market stall in the background.

Renault 4CV in French Racing Blue colours and "go-faster stripes".

The distinctive line of a Simca Ami 6 from the swinging sixties.

A fifties Panhard Dyna.

Another British car - Morgan.

Simca 1000.

The bakers van - I assume this is an old Simca.

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

The more common Volkswagen Beetle.  In France it is called the Coccinelle or Cox for short.

Simca Aronde.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

Beautiful 1934 Citroën 8CV Rosalie hub cap.

Ruins of the old medieval Chateau Fort (castle) at Montguyon.

December Quiz answers

James Calado's Ferrari at Sebring in 2017.

These are the answers to the questions on our sister blog Rouenlesafx.blogspot.com.  If you didn't see the questions click here.

When scoring be generous - for instance score a point for Dijon even if you didn't write the full answer of Dijon-Prenois.

1.   French Grand Prix Circuits since 1950.

Reims-Gueux 1pt

Rouen-les-Essarts 1pt

Charade, Clermont Ferrand 1pt

Bugatti, Le Mans 1pt

Paul Ricard 1pt

Dijon-Prenois 1pt

Magny Cours 1pt

Alain Prost won at three of these circuits 3 points (the last three on this list).  1981 at Dijon, 1983 and other years at Paul Ricard, 1993 at Magny Cours.

2.  Name the car driven by 4 World Champions.

Lotus 56  5pts   It was of course initially a 1968 Indy Car and then in 1971 as the 56b entered F1.  Graham Hill's only race in it was the 1968 Indy 500.  Jim Clark was killed before the Indy 500 but tested at Indy earlier in the year.  Mario Andretti raced in the car at the final USAC round at Riverside in 1968.  He actually drove three different cars in this event but one was a 56.  Emerson Fittipaldi came 8th at Monza in the Lotus 56b in the1971 Italian GP.

The other drivers who raced a 56 or 56b were:

Joe Leonard 1pt (1968 Indy 500 and USAC races)

Art Pollard 1pt (1968 Indy 500 and USAC races)

Reine Wisell 1pt (1971 British GP and Oulton Park Spring Cup)

Dave Walker 1pt (1971 Dutch GP)

Mike Spence who was killed testing a Lotus 56 at Indy also drove the car but like a number of others (eg Greg Weld, Lee Roy Yarborough, Lloyd Ruby, John Miles) never raced it.

3. Who was second in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally and the 1956 Tour de France Automobile?

Stirling Moss   5pts.

Sunbeam   1pt (Monte Carlo Rally - Sunbeam Talbot 90)

Mercedes-Benz (Tour de France Automobile - Mercedes-Benz 300SL)

I don't know of any Rally that Moss won but feel free to correct me.

4.  Who has won the 12 Hours of Sebring and the F1 Championship in the same year?

Phil Hill 2pts  (he won both in 1961)

Juan-Manuel Fangio 2pts (he won both in 1956 and 1957)

Juan-Manuel Fangio 1pt (he was the driver to do this twice)

Ferrari 1pt (Phil Hill's car in the 1961 12  hours of Sebring)

Ferrari 1pt (Fangio's car in the 1956 12 hours)

Maserati 1pt (Fangio's car in the 1957 12 hours) 

John Surtees came third at Sebring in his Championship year (1964) having won at Sebring the previous year, so bad luck if you guessed Big John!

5.  Who has won a World Championship Grand Prix and the 24 hours of Daytona?

Fernando Alonso 1pt (Daytona in 2019)

Juan Pablo Montoya 1pt (Daytona in 2007, 2008 and 2013)

Thierry Boutsen 1pt  (Daytona in 1985)

Pedro Rodriguez 1pt  (Daytona in 1970 and 1971)

Jo Siffert 1pt  (Daytona in 1968)

Lorenzo Bandini 1pt  (Daytona in 1967)

Ickx, Andretti, Gurney and Phil Hill won at Daytona when it wasn't a 24 hour race so don't count - sorry!

6.  Name the car from its winning drivers.

Ford C100 5pts

DRM 1pt (Ludwig in 1982 at Hockenheim and Nurburgring))

Thundersports 1pt (Kennedy and Crawford together at Donington in 1983)

The Ford C100 wasn't the most successful of cars but Zakspeed developed it into the Zakspeed C1/8 and it won the 1984 Interserie Championship in the hands of Klaus Niedzwiedz, but by then it wasn't entered as a Ford C100 so no points for knowing that!

7.  Who has won a World F1 Championship, the 24 hours of Le Mans and a Coupe des Alpes?

Mike Hawthorn 5pts (1952 Coupe des Alpes - he finished 9th  but with no penalties)

Sunbeam Talbot 1pt (a Sunbeam Talbot 90)

Stirling Moss, Vic Elford, Lucien Bianchi and many others also won a Coupe des Alpes but didn't meet the other criteria.  I believe the 1952 Alpine was Hawthorn's only rally but feel free to correct me.

8.  Seven drivers to score points in a Cooper Maserati in 1966 or 1967.

Jochen Rindt 1pt (second in the 1966 Belgian GP)

Jacky Ickx

Richie Ginther 1pt (5th in the 1966 Belgian GP)

John Surtees 1pt  (winner of the 1966 Mexican GP)

Jo Siffert 1pt (4th in the 1966 US GP for Rob Walker)

Jo Bonnier 1pt (6th in the 1966 Mexican GP in his own car)

Pedro Rodriguez 1pt (winner of the 1967 South African GP)

Jacky Ickx 1pt   (sixth on his F1 debut at the 1967 Italian GP)

I have noted each driver's best position, not all their scores.

9. 1990 World Championship F1 Grand Winners.

Ayrton Senna 1pt (six wins and the Championship)

Alain Prost 1pt (five wins and second place in the championship)

Nelson Piquet 1pt (the final two GP of the year)

Nigel Mansell 1pt (the Portuguese GP)

Thierry Boutsen 1pt  (the Hungarian GP)

Riccardo Patrese 1pt (the San Marino GP)

McLaren-Honda 1pt (Senna)

Ferrari 1pt (Prost)

Benetton-Ford 1pt (Piquet)

Ferrari 1pt  (Mansell)

Williams-Renault 1pt  (Boutsen)

Williams-Renault 1pt  (Patrese)

10.  The last ten F1 GP winners for Ferrari.  (based on their last win)

Sebastien Vettel 1pt   (2019 Singapore GP)

Felipe Massa

Charles Leclerc 1pt   (2019 Italian GP)

Kimi Raikkonen 1pt  (2018 US GP)

Fernando Alonso 1pt  (2013 Chinese GP)

Felipe Massa 1pt  (2008 Brazilian GP)

Michael Schumacher 1pt  (2006 Chinese GP)

Rubens Barrichello 1pt  (2004 Chinese GP)

Eddie Irvine 1pt  (1999 Portuguese GP)

Jean Alesi 1pt  (1995 Canadian GP)

Gerhard Berger 1pt   (1994 German GP)   

If your list was the last ten drivers to join the list of Ferrari GP winners, delete Berger (1987 Japanese GP) and add Alain Prost  1 pt (1990 Spanish GP).   You can't have both Prost and Berger on your list.

11.   2010 World Championship F1 GP winners.

Sebastien Vettel 1pt   (5 GP wins and the World Championship)

Mark Webber

Mark Webber 1pt  (4 GP wins and third in the Championship)

Lewis Hamilton 1pt  (3 GP wins)

Jenson Button 1pt  (2 GP wins)

Fernando Alonso 1pt   (5 GP wins and runner-up in the Championship)

Red Bull-Renault 1pt (Vettel)

Red Bull-Renault 1pt (Webber)

McLaren-Mercedes 1pt (Hamilton)

McLaren-Mercedes 1pt (Button)

Ferrari 1pt (Alonso)

12.  Four British WEC Champions.

Allan McNish 1pt  (2013 World Endurance Drivers Champion)

Mike Conway

Anthony Davidson 1pt  (2014 World Endurance Drivers Champion)

Mike Conway 1pt (2019-2020 World Endurance Drivers Champion)

James Calado 1pt  (2017 World Endurance GT Drivers Champion)

Audi 1pt   (McNish)

Toyota 1pt  (Davidson)

Toyota 1pt  (Conway)

Ferrari 1pt  (Calado)

In terms of British manufacturers, only Aston Martin have won, doing so in 2019-20 in the GT category but no points for this as their winning drivers were Danish.

Maximum total possible score is 100.   If you scored 65 or over - very well done!   Hope you did at least reasonably well and scored over 50.  Let me know if you think I made any mistakes in the comments.

Wolf GB08

 

Wolf GB08 at the Course de Côte de Tonnerre 2020

See more photos from the 2020 Tonnerre Hillclimb via this link.

Wolf Racing Cars, Gardone Val Trompia, Brescia, Italy.  Wolf Racing Cars are an Italian racing car constructor who as Avelon Racing bought the rights to us the Walter Wolf name in 2009.  The original Walter Wolf Racing was a F1 constructor that famously won its first race when Jody Scheckter won the 1977 Argentine GP.  The F1 adventure ended in 1979 when Walter Wolf sold his team to Fittipaldi.  

The first car from the new Walter Wolf Racing was the GB08 a CN group prototype car.  The original GB08 had a Honda engine in common with many CN cars.  The cars are used in trackdays,  hillclimbs, prototype racing series and Endurance races all over the world.  The livery of many of the cars recall the F1 days.  

Volkswagen SP2

Volkswagen SP2 as seen in Paris.

Volkswagen do Brasil, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.  The SP2 was a sports car developed and produced locally by Volkswagen in Brazil between 1972 and 1976 for the local market as a replacement for the Karmann Ghia.   A rather attractive coupé it suffered from being underpowered for a sports car, although about 10,000 were sold.  It did however have a modern and attractive interior.  The car was built on a Volkswagen Variant Chassis but with an air-cooled flat 4 cylinder engine enlarged to 1.7 litres but still with only 75 hp.  Thus a top speed of 100mph and 0-60 time of around 16 seconds didn't really live up to its head turning looks.  Not many were exported and they are are now quite sought-after. The SP stood for São Paulo and there was SP1 that was even more underpowered!   It is said that the SP2 inspired the Porsche 924. 

1955 Pichon-Parat Dolomites

 

A 1955 Pichon Parat Dolomites on the 2020 Tour Auto.  

For more photos of the 2020 Tour Auto - click here.

Pichon et Parat Carrossier, Sens, L'Yonne, France.  Pichon-Parat were coachbuilders who started in 1952.  The company was named after the founders, Bernard Pichon and André Parat. The Dolomites was first presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1953.  It was built on the base of a Panhard Dyna X, a small capacity, lightweight, front engine, front wheel drive saloon car.  By adding a lightweight streamlined metal body Pichon-Parat turned it into a desirable sports car for rallying.  With a weight of about 500kg and a 750cc 2 cylinder motor it could reach about 150 kph.  Versions were also offered up to 850cc.

One of the first cars was bought by Laurent Sagnier who entered it into the 1954 Tour de France Automobile and hence its eligibility for the modern Tour Auto.  About three different styles of the Dolomites were built, all for competition.  Nowadays, these cars are rather rare as only about twenty or so were ever made.  Pichon-Parat also made cars based on the Renault 4CV, Citroens, Lancias, Talbots, BMW and even American chassis; all in relatively small volumes.  Pichon-Parat continued into the early seventies as a coachbuilder although André Parat died in the mid-Sixties.

1952 Cunningham C4R

A Cunningham C4R at the Le Mans Classic in 2018.

For more photos from the 2018 Le Mans Classic Plateau 2 - click here.

B.S.Cunningham Company, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.   Briggs Cunningham first entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans Race in 1950 and was determined to win it.   He never actually did but came relatively close on at least one occasion, especially with the C4R which was powered by a 5.4 litre (later 5.5 litre) Chrysler V8 engine.  The first Cunningham C4Rs were built in 1952 with George Briggs Weaver in charge of the body and chassis design.  The car was a typical front engined rear wheel drive roadster with a big engined American V8 under the bonnet.  The roadholding was reputed to be very good but brakes and steering were a weak pont compared to the Jaguars of the era.   Top speed was around 155mph.

In 1952 two of these cars came to Le Mans and came away with fourth place in the hands of Briggs Cunningham himself and Bill Spear.  Later in the year John Fitch took the car to its first win in a 200 mile race at Elkhart Lake,  1953 saw the first ever World Sportscar Championship and a Cunningham C4R won the first ever round of the Championship in March at the 12 Hours of Sebring with John Fitch and Phil Walters at the wheel.   However, at Le Mans the sole C4R could only finish seventh.  Some consolation was gained a few weeks later with a 3rd place in the Reims 12 Hours.  It also appeared in a support race at the British GP.  In 1954 two C4Rs appeared at Le Mans and one of them came third driven by Bill Spear and Sherwood Johnston.   It was a brave effort but it was becoming very difficult to take on Jaguar, Ferrari and Mercedes at Le Mans.  The car did take a few more small victories in US races.   Only two cars (plus a C4RK coupé) were built in period, but 4 authorised continuation cars were built in the 1990s and another replica was built on a C3 chassis.  

Borgward B1500 Truck

A fifties Borgward B1500 truck in Portugal

For more photos from recent classic vehicle events, click here.

Borgward, Sebaldsbrück, Bremen Germany.  Carl Borgward was involved in producing trucks from around 1924 starting with the Goliath and Hansa-Lloyd brands.   In 1952 he introduced the Borgward B1500 truck that was designed to compete with other 1.5 ton trucks and had a load capacity of 1,600kg.  There were two versions powered either by 1,758cc diesel or petrol engine.  Models prior to 1954 had the headlamps mounted on the wings and had a vertical radiator grill, but later ones like this one had them integrated each side of the radiator grill.  The later version was affectionally called "alligator nose".   The model was the most successful of Borgward trucks with over 30,000 produced.  Unfortunately Borgward went bankrupt in 1961.   As this truck was produced in large numbers you can still seem them around from time to time.  This one was seen in Favaios in Portugal in 2019.  Lovely looking fifties truck.

1910 Unic C1

Unic , Paris-Rambouillet 2018

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For more photos of the 2018 Paris-Rambouillet commemoration run, click here.

Unic, Puteaux, France.  Unic was an automobile manufacturer founded by Richard Brasier in 1905,  with funding from Baron Henri de Rothschild.  Originally the company made just light cars and taxis.  In the end taxis were perhaps what they became most famous for and they were commonplace in Paris, London and Monaco.  They then went on to make light vans and other utility vehicles and from 1922 trucks.  Cars were made until just before WWII.  In the nineteen fifties the truck business was integrated into Simca.

Early model numbers were a letter followed by a number.  The vehicle pictured above appears to be  a C1 four cylinder two seater from about 1910.

The name Unic comes from the French word "unique" and refers to the common interchangeable parts used in various models.   Unic cars were amongst the first sold on credit.

Porsche 959

Porsche 959 at Laguna Seca for the Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI.  The 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally car driven by René Metge.

Pour plus de photos de la Rennsport Reunion VI, suivez ce lien.

For more photos from the Rennsport Reunion VI, click here.

Porsche AG, Stuttgart, Germany.   The 959 is probably my favourite Porsche road car.  Nearly 300 were made to meet the requirements of Group B.  It was the first Porsche Supercar and took the 911 concept to another level.  It had a 450bhp 2,849cc twin turbocharged flat six engine that was derived from the Porsche Indy Car power plant,  It took the 959 to over 190mph in road trim and thus was the fastest road car at the time it was introduced in 1986.

The rear of the road going 959 defined its good looks.

It had success in motorsport.  In 1986 Porsche scored a 1-2 in the Paris-Dakar Rally with René Metge winning from Jacky Ickx.   In the same year the racing version of the 959, the 961 won its class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and came seventh overall driven by René Metge and Claude Ballot-Lena.

The Porsche 953 that was a modified 911 that included 959 components and took pat in the 1984-Paris-Daker.  Here it travels across a gravel trap at Laguna Seca!

1980 Tiga SC80

Tiga SC80 at the Saint Goueno Hill Climb in Brittany in 2017 driven by Fernand Santerelli.

Pour plus de photos de la Course de Cote de Saint Goueno, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the VHC cars at Saint Goueno, click on this link.

Tiga Race Cars, Reading, England.  Tiga was named after its founders, former Formula One drivers, Tim Schenken and Howden Ganley.  Tim Schenken was a very succcesful F3 driver but only got on a F1 podium once for Brabham.  Howden Ganley has success in F5000 before his F1 career that yielded two fourth places for BRM.    Apparently, the proper pronunciation is like the big cat - Tiger.  They formed the company in 1974/5 and started off making Formula Ford cars.  In 1977 they began making Sports 2000 cars and at this they were very successful.  Between 1979 and 1985 their Sports 2000 car won either the British or European championships.  The SC80 won the British Championship in the hands of Ian Taylor.   It had a simple monocoque chassis and tubular fame bolted on to a 2 litre Ford Cortina engine.   The body is glass fibre.  The engine was tuned to develop about 130bhp and this pushed the car along at up to 135mph.   Occasionally these cars ran in bigger races.  In 1980 Divina Galicia and Mark Thatcher finished eleventh in the Brands Hatch 6 Hours, an event that was part of the World Championship of Makes.

1929 Amilcar CGSS

1929 Amilcar CGSS at Retromobile 2018 in the Artcurial auction.

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For more photos of the classic road and racing cars at the 2018 Retromobile in Paris, click here.

Amilcar, Saint-Denis, France.  Amilcar started producing cyclecars (small, lightweight and inexpensive cars) in 1920 and made a name for itself in the twenties for its sporty vehicles.  The name car from its financiers Emil Akar and Joseph Lamy but the driving technical force behind the marque were two engineers Edmond Moyet and André Morel.  Unusually, for a cyclecar producer, they made there own engines.  The cars were often entered in motor sport events and Morel won the 1922 Bol d'Or, a 24 hour race with a single driver, in 1922.    In 1927 a 1.1 litre turbocharged Amilcar touring model G won the Monte Carlo Rally.  The CGSS model pictured here was produced from 1926 to 1929 and stood for Cyclecar Grand Sport Surbaissé.  It thus was a CGS with a lowered chassis.  It had a 4 cylinder  1.1 litre engine with 3 speed gearbox and the body was a two seater.  Just under 1,000 CGSS models were made and then in 1929 the great depression killed the marque.  Like other Amilcars the CGSS was raced including in major events such as the Mille Miglia.   It should also be mentioned that the famous American dancer, Isadora Duncan, was killed in 1927 as a passenger in  an Amilcar CGSS when her scarf caught in  the real wheels of the car in Nice.   This late model and original CGSS was sold for Euro 83,000 at the Artcurial Auction.

Jensen C-V8

A Jensen C-V8 climbing up to Montmartre during the 2018 Traversée de Paris.

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For more photos of the 2018 Traversée de Paris classic car event, click here.

Jensen Motors, West Bromwich, England.   Alan and Richard Jensen were the brothers who set up Jensen Motors that originally built vehicle bodies and then went on to build complete cars.  The Jensen C-V8 was the last Jensen with which the brothers were actively involved in the conception.  It was launched in 1962 and produced until 1966.  It was a two door, four seater, front engine, rear wheel drive, luxury fast sports car.  It had a steel chassis, glass fibre body and was powered by big American Chrysler six litre V8 engine.  Performance was exceptional for the time both in terms of straight line speed and handling..  The MkI had a top speed of 132mph and a 0-60 time of 8 seconds.  The MlIII had a top speed of 139mph and a 0-60 time of under 7 seconds.   With the big V8 the fuel consumption was quite high at around 13 to 14 mpg.  Depending on your point of view, the Jensen is either rather beautiful or an ugly duckling.  Personally, I think it is rather desirable.   Only 500 were built so quite rare but quite good value as a classic car.  Not often raced, it did win the 24 hour Commander's Cup at Snetterton in 1965 with a team that included Roy Salvadori.   It featured in the sixties TV series The Baron and later London Spy.  

1974 Gulf Mirage GR7-Ford Cosworth DFV

Stuart Hall, 1974 Gulf Mirage GR7, Dix Mille Tours, Paul Ricard 2017

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JW Automotive Engineering, Slough, England. Mirage was the name of the occasionally successful line of sports racing cars that JWAE produced from 1967 to 1982. The GR7 was an update of the M6 that had been quite successful during the 1973 season including a win the Spa 1000kms.   Four out of five M6s were rebuilt as the GR7 - the GR standing for Gulf Racing who provided the sponsorship.  The updates included reducing the weight by using titanium for some parts and improving the aerodynamics by moving the wing further back and lengthening the nose.  The chassis was a strengthened aluminium monocoque, the body was fibreglass reinforced polyester and the engine was a 3 litre V8 Cosworth Ford DFV.  First time out was at the 1974 Le Mans test where they proved slower than the main competition which was Matra-Simca and Alfa Romeo.   First race was the Monza 1000kms where Derek Bell and Mike Hailwood finished fourth.  They improved on this at the Spa 1000kms where they finished second with the same drivers. At Le Mans the car lasted the 24 hours and finished fourth with Bell and Hailwood again.  A series of other third and fourth places meant that Gulf Mirage finished second in the World Championship for Makes to Matra but berating Porsche and Alfa Romeo. In 1975 The GR7 was campaigned by the Gelo Racing Team of Georg Loos.  Best result was second in the Nurburgring 1000kms driven by Howden Ganley and Tim Schenken.

1931 Sentinel Steam Bus DG6P "Elizabeth"

Sentinel Steam Bus "Elizabeth" in service in Whitby in June 2010.

Sentinel Waggon Works, Shrewsbury, England.  Sentinel was a producer of steam vehicles from 1906 until the fifties.  Elizabeth was built in 1931 in the Shrewsbury factory of Sentinel as a Super-Sentinel flatbed lorry No.8590.  She is powered by a 2 cylinder double acting steam engine driving the rear wheels through a 2 speed gearbox and chain drive.   There is a coal powered vertical boiler in the cab.  It is rather exciting to see the flames rising in the cab as the bus goes along the road.  After nearly been scrapped in the sixties, she was converted into a steam bus and eventually authorised to carry fare paying passengers.  From 2006 to 2014 Elizabeth operated a steam service in Whitby, Yorkshire.   She has been moved to Weston-super-Mare in Southern England in 2015 where she has been rebuilt and refurbished.  She was recently introduced to the public again.  Long may she continue giving rides as the only steam powered bus in Europe to transport fare paying passengers.  She carries up to 30 passengers.  If you want a ride visit the web site of Crosville Motor Services the operator.

1970 Ferrari 512M

1970 Ferrari 512M, Dix Mille Tours du Castellet, Paul Ricard 1970.

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For more photos of this era of sports cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

Ferrari, Maranello, Italy.   With the initial 512S proving to have rather disappointing reliabilty and results against the Porsche 917, a modified version was produced in late 1970.  This was the Ferrari 512M, the M standing for Modificata.  The 512M featured a less rounded shape with improved aerodynamics and all had a closed coupé body style.  The 512Ms were converted from the 512Ss.  These modification first appeared at the 1970 Zeltweg 1000kms on a works car driven by Jacky Ickx and Ignazio Giunti, but it did not finish.  In the next race at Kyalami in the 9 hour race, the same car and drivers won but it was not part of the World Championship.  For 1971 the Ferrari works team concentrated on the 3 litre prototype 312PB and dd not enter the 512M except in an Interserie race at Imola that it won..  However, the privateers who owned many of the 512Ms continued the fight.  Importantly one of these privateers was none other than Roger Penske.   He rebuilt the car from bottom up and produced the best 512M that anyone had.  However, even that car did not prove a winner and it only achieved a third at Daytona and sixth place at Sebring.    The yellow car, pictured, is in the colours of Escuderia Montjuich.  That car's greatest achievement was coming an amazing second in the Tour de France.  Other privateers did achieve 3rd and 4th places at the Le Mans 24 hours and a few wins in minor non-championship races.  Thus, a lovely car but not a 917 beater.

For more about the Ferrari 512S, click here.

1970 Ferrari 512S

1970 Ferrari 512S, Dix Mille Tours, Paul Ricard 2017.

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For more picture of racing cars, click on this link.

Ferrari, Maranello, Italy.  Ferrari built twenty five 512S sports cars to compete with the Porsche 917 in the 5 litre Group 5 class of the 1970 World Championship of Makes.  Ferrari had had to wait for Fiat funds and was behind Porsche in development at the start of the 1970 season. The car was powered by a 5 litre Ferrari V12 engine but was heavier than Porsche's 917.  On its debut at the 1970 Daytona 24 hrs, the lead car driven by Andretti, Merzario and Ickx finished third.  Then at the next race at Sebring the car scored a famous win when Andretti took over the Giunti / Vaccarella car and beat the Steve McQueen Porsche 908.  Unfortunately that was as good as it got.  A second place at Monza and Spa and third places at Monza, Targa Florio, Nurburgring and Watkins Glen rounded the season off.  By the end of the season many had been converted to 512M spec but it wasn't much more successful.  In 1971 a NART 512S took runner-up spot in the Daytona 24 hours.   The Ferrari 512 will go down in history as the car that made the Porsche 917 look so great.   917 drivers such as Rodriguez, Oliver and Bell also drover the 512S on occasion.   John Surtees, making a return to Ferrari for the first time since 1966 also drove them with success and Amon who had left Ferrari for the March GP team also drove them.

For more about the Ferrari 512M, click here.

1974 Alfa Romeo 33 TT 12

Derek Bell, Alfa Romeo 33 TT12, Paul Ricard 2017, Dix Mille Tours.

Pour plus photos du Castellet, Dix Mile Tours 2017, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the classic endurance cars from this era, click on this link.

Alfa Romeo / Autodelta, Milan, Italy.  This car was the fifth evolution of the Alfa Romeo 33 that Autodelta produced for the the World Championship for Sports Cars.   It first appeared in 1973.  The TT stood for Telaio Tubolare or Tubular Chassis that was made of a lightweight alloy.  The 12 stood for the new 12 cylinder 3 litre flat 12 engine that produced 500bhp. The body was fibreglass.  In 1973 the car was unreliable and the best result was a second position for Rolf Stommelen in the 500km of Imola.  In 1974 the team took a 1-2 victory at the Monza 1000kms with Merzario and Andretti in the lead car and achieved second place in the championship.  In 1975 the car was dominant and Alfa Romeo won the World Championship for Makes with the Willy Kauhsen Racing Team.  The drivers that helped them win included Merzario, Laffite, Pescarolo, Bell, Mass, Vaccarella and Brambilla.  They did not take part in the  Le Mans 24 hours as it was not part of the championship as it had special fuel consumption rules.   However, its dominant seven consecutive endurance victories in 1975 makes it perhaps the most successful Alfa Romeo sports cars ever.  Victories for Derek Bell, seen above in the car, included the 1000kms of Spa, 1000kms of Zeltweg, Watkins Glen 6 hours and an interseries race at Kassel-Calden, all in 1975.

1975/6 Cheetah G601 - 2 litre sports car

Beat Eggimann racing a Cheetah G601 in the Dix Mille tours du Castellet 2017.  It came sixth.

Pour plus de photos des voitures du sport de cette époque, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of seventies endurance racers racing at Paul Ricard, click here.

Cheetah Automobiles, Lausanne, Switzerland.  Chuck Graemiger, a Swiss-American racing driver, founded Cheetah, an occasional manufacturer of sports racing cars from the early seventies to the early nineties. He also designed the cars.  The G601 followed on from the G501 and was a 2 litre sports car powered by Cosworth or BMW engines.  It raced in the Le Mans 24 hours from 1976 to 1979 but was never classified as a finisher.   The colours of the car pictured correspond to the Walter Wolf Racing car that entered but did not qualify at the 1980 Le mans.  They also competed in other sports car races but without great success.  Later the same company produced Group C cars, click here for details.

1968 Howmet TX

Xavier Micheron driving the Howmet TX at Paul Ricard in the Dix Mille Tours meeting 2017

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Howmet / McKee, USA.  The Howmet TX was the brainchild of racing driver Ray Heppenstall.  TX stood for Turbine Experimental as the car was powered by a helicopter's gas turbine jet engine. Heppenstall convinced Howmet Corporation, who produced aluminium parts for gas turbines, that the car  could be a winner and a good marketing tool. The chassis was made by McKee Engineering who previously had made some Can-Am cars.  Thus the car was in effect a McKee Mk9.   The original engine was a Continental TS525-1 gas turbine that had been designed for a helicopter program but never used.  The engines were leased from Continental Aviation and Engineering and returned after the racing program ended.  Thus restored Howmet TX tend to use Allison helicopter engines although one still has a Continental engine.  The original Continental engine were classified by the FIA as equivalent to just under 3 litres and thus the Howmet ran in the Group 6 under 3 litre prototype class. The car raced in the major World Championship endurance races of 1968 including the Daytona 24 hours, 12 hours of Sebring, BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, Watkins Glen 6 hours and finally the Le Mans 24 hours.   In many of these races it did not finish but it did finish third at Watkins Glen in the hands of Dick Thompson and Ray Heppenstall.  It also raced in shorter sprint races at Oulton Park and in the SCCA series in the USA.  In June 1968 Ray Heppenstall took the Howmet's first win at an SCCA race at Huntsville.  Thompson also took a SCCA win at Marlboro. The Howmet is the only Gas Turbine powered car to have won races.  Another driver in period was British airline pilot Hugh Dibley.   In 1970 the Howmet took a few FIA speed records and then the program ended. Two cars were built in period and a third car built in 2000 using a spare chassis.  In recent years the cars have appeared at the major Historic events in the US and Europe.

Leading a Chevron B16 at Paul Ricard.

The rear three-quarter view of the Howmet TX in the Paul Ricard paddock.

1954 Dick Jacobs MG YB Special Coupé

1954 Jacobs MG Special, Stuart Dean, Etretat Hill Climb 2017.

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For more photos of the post war historic cars at the Etretat Hillclimb in 2017, click here.

Dick Jacobs, South Woodford, Essex, England.  Dick Jacobs was a well known driver post-WW2 who drove for the works MG team and built a number of MG specials.  He took over the Mill Garage from his father in December 1945 and the next year it became an MG dealership. He then took up racing MGs with his first race being at Goodwood in 1948 in a supercharged MG TC where he finished fourth.  in 1949 he took his first win, had his first drive for the MG works team and built the fist of his MG specials on a TA chassis using a supercharged TC engine.  In the early fifties he raced an MG YB in production races with some success.  In 1954 he built two specials based on the MG YB, one of them being built on the last ever YB chassis 1551. The one built on chassis 1551 is the one owned by Stuart Dean and seen above at Etretat.   They had special glass fibre bodies built by RGS Automobile Components Ltd and 1.5 litre MG engines.  They were raced throughout 1954 but were however no match for the Lotus-MG of Colin Chapman.   Dick Jacobs drove a prototype MGA for the works team at the ill-fated 1955 Le Mans 24 hours but had a very bad crash that ended his racing career.  He did however recover to continue his MG business.  Stuart Dean regularly races and hill climbs this car including at the famous Goodwood Revival meeting.