Jensen C-V8

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

Pour plus de photos de la Traversée de Paris 2018, suivez ce lien.

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.  

1999 Crosslé 9S-Ford "late run series"

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

Pour plus de photos de la Course de Cote d'Etretat-Benouville, suivez ce lien.

For more pictures of the VHC hillclimb cars at Etretat, click on the link above.

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.  

1966 Alpine Renault A210

The Von Oppenheim and Middendorf Alpine Renault A210, Le Mans Classic 2016

Pour plus de photos du Mans Classic 2016, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of these late sixties endurance cars, click on the link above.

Alpine, Dieppe, France.   The A210, originally designated the M66, was designed for the Le Mans 24 hours of 1966.  Originally they had 1.3 litre Renault Gordini 4 cylinder engines.  Some of these were upgraded to 1.5 litre engines for the 1967 Le Mans.   They won their class in both years and continued to do so in 1968 and 1969.  Thus a successful car for the marque.  The car was designed for fast circuits and thus had a long tail which also acted as fins.  It was small and aerodynamic and had a maximum speed just over 160mph.

1966 Ford GT40

Richard Meins, Ford GT 40, Tour Auto 2015, Egleny Special Stage.

Pour plus de photos du Tour Auto 2015, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2015 Tour Auto, click on the link above.

Ford GT40, Slough, England.   The GT40 was an anglo-american cooperation to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans and other major endurance races.  It was called the GT40 because it was exactly 40 inches high. Designed in 1963 it was first raced in 1964 and had its first win in 1965.at Daytona.  It became more successful with the MkII which had the larger 7 litre engine.  In 1966 the Ford GT40 won the Le Mans 24 hours for the first time and also won the same year at Daytona and Sebring.  Ford won four consecutive victories at Le Mans.  The MkIV won in 1967 and then after change of regulations the MkI returned to win in 1968 and 1969.

Renault 8 Gordini 1300

Bernard Boilaive, Renault 8 Gordini, Course de Cote de Mont Dore, 2014

Pour plus de photos de la Course de Cotes de Mont Dore 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Mont Dore Hillclimb, follow the link above.



Renault, Flins, France.  The Renault R8 was a small rear engine rear wheel drive car produced in the sixties and early seventies.  The more powerful Gordini version was produced from 1964 and the Gordini 1300 from 1966.  It was much used as a rally car and scored a hat trick of wins in the Tour de Corse between 1964 and 1966.  in the late sixties there was a one make series of Renault 8 Gordini races in which drivers like Jean-Pierre Jarier competed.  It had a top speed of about 175kph and a 0-100kph time of 11.5 seconds.  A very popular classic car in France nowadays and deservedly so with its nationalistic blue and white stripe colour scheme and reputation as an affordable sporting saloon car.

1966 Porsche 906

Porsche 906, Porsche Rennsport Reunion V, laguna Seca 2015

Pour plus de photos de la Porsche Rennsport Reunion V à Laguna Seca 2015, suivez ce lien.

For more pictures of the Porsche Rennsport Reunion V at Laguna Seca in 2015, follow the link above.

Mon astuce pour faire des belles photos.
Recherchez des points de vue différents pour obtenir différents photos de tout le monde.

Top photo tip.
Look out for different vantage points to get different shots to everyone else.

Yellow 1966 Ford GT40

1966 Ford GT40 et 1974 Porsche 911 RSR à Dijon-Prenois 2015

Pour plus de photos du Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or 2015 , suivez ce lien.

Mon astuces pour faire des belles photos.
Un téléobjectif est essentielle pour de nombreuses photos de la course automobile, mais ne pas oublier que les appareils photo compacts ont de puissants téléobjectifs ainsi.

Top photo tip.
A telephoto lens is essential for many motor racing photos but don't forget that compact cameras have powerful telephoto lenses as well.