1970 Ferrari 512M

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

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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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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.

Citroën SM

Citroên SM, Traversée de Paris, Montmartre, 2016

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Citroën, Paris, France.  Produced from 1970 to 1975 this was Citroën's flagship car of the early seventies.  It was also a high performance four seater with a top speed of around 140 mph and a 0-60mph time of around 8.5 seconds.  Unusual for such a fast car, the SM was front wheel drive. As Citroën owned Maserati at the time, power was from a Maserati V6 of either 2.7 or 3.0 litres and giving 170bhp or 180bhp.  The gearbox was either 5 speed manual or 3 speed automatic.  It was a fast genuine Grand Tourer with a long range from its big tank and 19mpg and good ride from the Citroën self levelling suspension. The car was quite big for a coupé and had quirky looks and a cut-off Kamm tail.  Nevertheless a true classic.   Famous drivers included Mike Hailwood of bike and car racing fame and he used to drive to the European races in it.

1970 Porsche 914/6

Ranson Webster, 1970 Porsche 914/6, Porsche Rennsport Reunion V, Laguna Seca 2015.

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Porsche, Stuttgart, Germany.  The Porsche 914/6 was a 2 litre 6 cylinder version of the Porsche 914 and was produced from 1970 to 1972.  The 914 was a collaborative effort between Porsche and Volkswagen which in 4 cylinder form had a VW engine.  The 6 cylinder version featured a Porsche flat 6 engine and in road going form could top 120mph and do 0-60mph in just over 8 seconds.  It was mid-engined and rear wheel drive. A car that suffered from being tainted with the Volkswagen brand but perhaps becoming appreciated now.  In 1970 one finished sixth overall at Le Mans and won its class.  Peter Gregg, Elliott Forbes-Robinson and others won in them in US SCCA races.

1970 Plymouth Hemicuda

Christophe Schwartz, Plymouth Hemicuda, 2016 Tour Auto.

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Plymouth (part of Chrysler0, Michigan, USA.  The Plymouth Barracuda was produced from 1964 to 1974.  The car above is a third generation model.  The Hemis were the large engined 426ci versions with uprated suspension.  Chrysler France raced the Chrysler Hemi 'Cudas successfully during 1970 to 1973, winning a number of Group 1 championships and hillclimbs driven by Henri Chemin. They were also raced in the Trans-Am series, less successfully,  by Dan Gurney and Swede Savage.

Chevron B16

Felix Haas, Chevron B16, 2015 GP de l'Age d'Or, Dijon-Prenois.

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Chevron, Bolton, England.  Chevron was founded by Derek Bennet an enthusiastic clubman's racing driver and engineer.  His Chevron sports cars and single seaters soon became successful customer racing cars. The Chevron B19 was a 2 litre fully enclosed sports car built for the 1969 and 1970 seasons.  It raced with various powerplants such as the Cosworth FVA, FVC, BMW 4 cyl, and Mazda rotary engines.  It was a Group 5 car and around 25 were built in 69/70 and many more since.  Brian Redman won the Nurburgring 500kms on the car's debut but it quickly found its match in the Lola T210.  However, Redman won again in 1970 at Paul Ricard, John Burton won at Hameenlina and Vic Elford at the Nurburgring.  A later version of the B16 was a spyder and it won at Spa in the hands of Brian Redman.  This victory gave Chevron the manufacturers title in the European 2 litre Sports Car Championship, just beating Lola.

Porsche 908/3

Porsche 908/3, Dijon-Prenois, GP de l'Age d'Or, June 2015.

Porsche, Stuttgart, Germany.  The 908/3 was a development of the successful 908/2 of 1969 and the Porsche 909 bergspyder and ran in races in 1970 and 1971 on circuits which were less suitable for the ultra powerful 917.  It scored victories in the 1970 Targa Florio and the 1970 & 1971 Nurburgring 1000kms.   It had a 3 litre flat eight engine, very short wheelbase and was very light.  After 1971 the cars were sold to privateers such as Reinhold Joest and they continued to race successfully for many years. Top speed was over 170 mph.  Drivers during 1970 and 1971 included some of the sport's greats including Vic Elford, Jo Siffert, Brian Redman, Pedro Rodriguez, Leo Kinnunen, Gerard Larrousse, Richard Attwood, Bjorn Waldegaard, Hans Herrmann and Kurt Ahrens.

1970 Trabant P601

1970 Trabant, Monte Carlo Rallye Historique, Reims 2015

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Trabant produced by VEB Sacsenring Automobilwerke, Zwickau, East Germany.

Porsche 917K

K=Kurzheck ou Courte en français or short tail in English.

Chris Mac Allister dans une Porsche 917K au "Corkscrew", Laguna Seca 2015 pour Porsche Rennsport Reunion V.

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Porsche, Stuttgart, Germany.
Top Speed / Vitesse maximale - 362 kph (Le Mans).

Mon astuce pour faire des belles photos.
Parfois, les photos de format portrait de voitures peuvent être plus approprié ou puissant que le format paysage plus commun.

Top photo tip
Sometimes portrait format photos of cars can be more appropriate or powerful than the more common landscape format.