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.

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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 Chevron B8-BMW

1968 Chevron-BMW B8, Le Mans Classic 2016

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For more photos of the 2016 Le Mans Classic plateau 5, follow this link.

Chevron, Bolton, England. Chevron was the name given to the cars produced by Derek Bennett, an amateur racing driver.   The B8 followed on from the B6 and was a 2 litre Group 4 sports/GT car. Although 50 examples were required to homologate it into Group 4, there were probably only 44 built between 1968 and 1970. Since 2006 more have been produced by Chevron as New Factory Continuation Cars and are eligible for historic racing.  Most B8s had a mid-mounted 4 cylinder 2 litre 195 bhp BMW engine powering the rear wheels.  Some cars were powered by Ford Cosworth engines such as the FVA. One car was delivered  with a 2.7 litre Climax engine.  Chassis was an aluminium semi-monocoque steel space frame and the body was glass fibre.  John Bridges debuted the car at Cadwell Park in March 1968 and John Lepp scored the first win at Mallory park the same month.  Other drivers to win with the car included Chris Skeaping, Barrie Smith, John Blades, John Burton, Nigel Morrison and David Purley.  Best International result was a class win and sixth overall in the 1969 Daytona 24 hours.  The B8 also finished first in class and seventh overall in the 1969 BOAC 500.  They were good looking, fast and reliable cars and it is good to see them still compete in historic racing today.

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1973 March-BMW 732 Formula Two

March-BMW 732 racing at Dijon in Historic F2 in 2016 driven by Nick Osborn.

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For more photos of Formula Two cars at Dijon, click on the link above.

March Engineering, Bicester.  For the 1973 season, BMW gave March exclusive use of their new 2 litre Formula Two engine.  March produced a straightforward aluminium monocoque chassis.  Both Harvey Postelthwaite and Robin Herd were involved in the design and development of the car.    The works team had STP sponsorship and the driving talents of Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Hans-Joachim Stuck.  There were lots of private 732s as well as March had to buy a minimum of fifty entries from BMW and thus needed the sales.  At the first race of the season at Mallory Park, Beltoise took pole position but Jarier took the win.  Jarier went on to dominate the Championship with seven outright victories.   Privateers such as Vittorio Brambilla and Jacques Coulon also had success with the car and took a win each.  The car was very successful as it had good braking and good acceleration out of the corners due to the BMW engine.

1999 Crosslé 9S-Ford "late run series"

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

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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.  

Ligier JS49-Honda CN

Bruno Berton, Ligier JS49, Course de Cote de Sancerre 2016

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Fo more photos of the 2016 Sancerre speed hillclimb, click on the link above.

Automobiles Martini, Magny Cours, France.  In 2004 Guy Ligier acquired a majority shareholding in Martini and started building cars at their factory using his Ligier brand name.  One of the cars they produced since 2007 for amateur sports car racers is the Ligier JS49.  It is built to CN regulations and sold in Europe and USA.  It competes in hillclimbs, VdeV racing, Britsports and SCCA C sports.  It has an aluminium chassis, composite body, 6 speed sequential gearbox, and a 2 litre Honda V-tech engine producing 240bhp.  The car won the 2008 VdeV championship.

Siata 208S

Siata 208S, Tour Auto 2016

Siata, Turin, Italy.  Siata stood for Societa Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori.  Between 1952 and 1955 they produced over 30 of these 208S sports cars.  They were powered by a 2 litre 8V Fiat engine.  The car was available either as an open car or with a hardtop. The most famous owner was Steve McQueen who raced one at Palm Springs.

1971 Lola T212 FVC

Mauro Poponcini, Lola T212 FVC, Dijon-Prenois, 2015 GP de l'Age d'Or.

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For more photos of the 2015 GP de l'Age d'Or at Dijon-Prenois, click on the link above.

Lola, Huntingdon, England.  The Lola T212 was a popular 2 litre sports car driven by the likes of Guy Edwards, Jo Bonnier, Tony Birchenough and Vic Elford, It was a big rival to the Chevron B19 and Abarth-Osellas of the time.  Helmut Marko won the European Championship 2 litre drivers championship and Lola won the manufacturers championship in 1971 with the T212.  Vic Elford won at the Nurburgring and Jo Bonnier won at Jarame for Scuderia Filipinetti in cars similar to that pictured.

1961 Maserati T63 Birdcage

Maserati T63, GP de l'Age d'Or 2002, Autodrome Linas-Montlhéry.

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For more photos of the 2002 GP de l'Age d'Or at the Autodrome Linas-Montlhéry, follow the link above.

Maserati,  Bologna, Italy.  This T63 is a 2 litre mid-engined Maserati Bircage built in 1961.  They are sometimes nicknamed "Supercage" due to the increased amount of tubing compared to the original front engined Birdcagers.  At that time the Maserati concern was owned by the Orsi family and the mid-engined Bircages were the last in a long line of Maserati racing cars.  A V12 version of the T63 finished fourth at Le Mans in 1961 driven by Dick Thompson and Augst Pabst.  A T63 driven by Maurice Trintignant and Nino Vaccarella also came fourth in the 1961 Targa Florio.  Just seven T63s were built originally of which just one was a long wheelbase car. I believe this one was built up on a spare LWB chassis.