2016 BMW M4 DTM

Tom Blomqvist, BMW M4 DTM, Zandvoort 2016.

Pour plus de photos de Zandvoort, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the DTM race at Zandvoort in July 2016, click on the link above.

BMW, Munich, Germany.  The BMW M4 DTM first appeared in 2014.  The engine is a BMW P66 V8 that develops about 480bhp. Power goes through a six speed sequential box.  As with other DTM cars there is a Carbon Fibre monocoque and special aerodynamic body silhouetting parts of the road car.  The car won the constructers title in 2015 and 2015 and the drivers title in 2014 for Marcus Wittmann.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE

Nygaard, Sorensen & Thim's Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, Le Mans 24 hrs 2016.

Aston Martin, Banbury, England.   The road version of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is at the core of this GTE race car.  The aluminium chassis and core of the engine are the same.  However, the race car is lighter through the use of  carbon fibre body panels and because a lot of the interior is stripped out.  There is a big rear wing at the back and the 4.5 litre V8 engine is repositioned and tuned.  In 2014 The all Danish crew won the GTE Am class at Le Mans and finished an excellent 19th overall.  Aston Martin nearly repeated this in 2015 but crashed out in the last hour.

2014 Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche 918 Spyder, Porsche Rennsport Reunion, Laguna Seca 2015

Pour plus de photos de Laguna Seca 2015, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of Porsches at laguna Seca, click on the link above.

Porsche, Stuttgart, Germany.  The Porsche 918 is a hyper car of which just 918 examples will be built.   A mid-engined two seater with electrical hybrid technology linked to a 4.6 litre V8 engine, it has a top speed of over 200mph and a 0-60mph time of under 3 seconds plus handling to match. There is one electric motor on each axle as the 918 is 4 wheel drive.  It can lap the 14 mile old Nurburgring circuit in under 7 minutes.  The one above copies the 1970 psychedelic hippy livery of one the Martini 917s.

De Tomaso Pantera Grp IV Tipo 874A

Norbert and Claire Fradin, DeTomaso Pantera GrpIV, Tour Auto 2014, Chablis.

Pour plus de photos du Tour Auto 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Tour Auto, click on the link above.

De Tomaso, Modena, Italy.   The Pantera, which is Italian for Panther, was an Italian mid-engined sports car powered by an American Ford V8 engine and was produced between 1971 and 1992.  Over 7,000 were produced. In the early seventies fourteen lightweight cars with 5.8 litre engines were built to contest Group 4 races.  With the uprated 500bhp engines they were good for 180mph compared to 160 mph for the standard version.  They were drivers by drivers such as Clay Regazzoni, Mario Casoni, Herby Muller, Mike Parkes and Jean Vinatier in endurance and sprint races all over the World.  Muller, Parkes and Regazzoni all won European GT Championship rounds in them.  Vinatier came sixth in the Tour de France Automobile in 1973.

BMW 3.0 CSL

Jean-Claude Basso, BMW 3.0CSL, Tour Auto 2014

Pour plus de photos du Tour Auto 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Tour Auto, click on the link above.

BMW, Munich, Germany.  In 1972 BMW homologated the 3.0CSL for Group 2 racing.  In 1973 Toine Hezemans won the European Touring Car Championship in one and also took a class win in the Le Mans 24 hours co-driven with Dieter Quester.  Chris Amon, Jacky Ickx, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Niki Lauda, Brian Redman and Ronnie Petersen also drove them.  From 1975 to 1979 the BMW 3.0CSL repeated its European Touring Car Championship win.

1961 BMW 700S

1961 BMW 700S, Tour Auto 2014

Pour plus de photos du Tour Auto 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Tour Auto, click on the link above.

BMW, Munich, Germany.  The 700 was produced from 1959 to 1965 and had a rear engine of 700cc. Hans Stuck won the 1960 German Hillclimb Championship for Touring Cars  in a BMW 700.  Jacky Ickx also drove one after transferring from Motorcycles.  They competed in the Tour de France Automobile in 1961 and 1962.

1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing

1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, Tour Auto 2014

Pour plus de photos du Tour Auto 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Tour Auto, click on the link above.

Mercedes-Benz, Stuttgart, Germany.   The racing car (W194) was introduced in 1952 and the production version (W198) from 1954 to 1963.    It was famous for its gullwing doors that opened upwards and had a 3 litre straight six engine.  The W194 won the Le Mans 24 hours and the Carrera Panamericana in 1952, and came second in the Mille Miglia.  The W198 won the European Rally Championship in 1955.  Top speed of the road version was around 150mph depending on axle ratios.

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, Magny Couras Classic Days 2014

Pour plus de photos des Classic Days à Magny Cours 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Classic Days at Magny Cours in 2014, click on the link above.

Shelby American, Venice, California, USA.  The Daytona Coupe was built as a specific project based on the AC Cobra to defeat the Ferrari 250 GTO in GT racing.  Only six were built in period but were very successful winning their class in ten major races during 1964 and 1965 and becoming World Manufacturers Champions for GT cars in 1965. Famous drivers included Phil Hill, Chris Amon, Jo Schlesser, Innes Ireland, Jochen Neerpasch, Bob Bondurant, Maurice Trintignant, Jack Sears, Dick Thompson, John Whitmore and Peter Sutcliffe.  Since the sixties many replicas have been made.  The original cars were powered by big 4.7 litre and 7.0 litre Ford V8 engines.  It was named the Daytona as the 1964 2000km Endurance race at Daytona was its first event.

Marcadier Barzoi

Didier Thorin, Marcadier Barzoi, Course de Cotes de Sancerre 2014.

Pour plus de photos de la Course de Cote de Sancerre 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Hillclimb at Sancerre, click on the link above.

Marcadier, Lyon, France.  These cars built from 1967 to 1976 are very pretty little French sports cars.  They were made by André Marcedier who was inspired by Colin Chapman of Lotus fame.  He built a series of kit cars including this Barzoi coupé with gullwing doors.  I believe the original car had a 1,300cc Renault R8 engine but of course some have been re-engined over the years.  In 1968 one took a good eighth place in  the GP de Paris at Montlhery in a race won by Johnny-Servoz Gavin in a Matra.

Thomas Cheetah

Thmas Cheetah, Magny Cours Classic Days 2014

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For more photos from the 2014 Classic Days at Magny Cours, click on the link above.

Bill Thomas Race Cars, Anaheim, USA.  Bill Thomas developed the Cheetah with GM funding as a competitor to the Ford Shelby Cobras.  They had Thomas tuned Chevrolet 327 V8 engines that were very powerful.  It was a project that lasted from 1963 to 1966.  Around 10 to 20 were built originally in period but many replicas have been built since. The first cars were made with aluminium bodies but this was quickly replaced with fibre glass. The project ended after homologation rules were changed.  In any case the Cheetah had a few handling and overheating issues that effected its race performance.  Ralph Salyer won eleven minor events in the USA in a Cheetah but it never really became a Cobra beater.  Another was used in drag racing in the USA.

Healey Silverstone

Healey Silverstones at Chanteloup-les-Vignes in 2014

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Chanteloup-les-Vignes, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of a re-run on one of the World's most oldest hillclimb venues, click on the link above.

Donald Healey Motor Co, Warwick, England.  Over 100 of these two seater open sports cars were built in 1949 and 1950 for racing, road use or both.  It had a 2.5 litre 4 cyl Riley engine and a lightweight body.  Top speed was around 110mph and acceleration from 0-60mph at around 11 seconds.  It was successful in racing and rallies driven by Donald Healey and others. The Healey Silverstone won its class and came second overall first time out in the Alpine Rally in 1949 driven by Donald Healey and Ian Appleyard.  It also won its class on the Liege-Rome-Liege rally in 1951.

Marcos GT

Marcos GT, Boullay-Thierry 2014

Pour plus de photos du Club des Voitures Anciennes de Beauce à Boullay-Thiery, suivez ce lien.

For more pictures of a car club from Chartre's outing in 2014, click on the link above.

Marcos, Bradford upon Avon, England.  Jem Marsh and Frank Costin founded Marcos and they produced some beautiful GT cars like the one pictured with a variety of engines from Ford, Triumph and Volvo.  A peculiarity of the Marcos GT was its plywood chassis, although in later models it was changed to the more conventional steel. Another unusual feature was the movable padals that made it a good sports car for tall drivers. The body was fibre glass.  The GT started it life in 1963 and continued until the company went bust in 1971.  Marcos GTs were raced by many including Jem Marsh himself who even tried but failed to qualify one at Le Mans.

Ferrari 308 GTB Group 4

Olivier Panis, Ferrari 308GTB, 2014 Tour Auto

Pour plus de photos de la Tour Auto 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Tour Auto, follow the link above.

Ferrari, Maranello, Italy.  The 308 GTB was 3 litre V8 mid-engined 2 seater sports car produced by Ferrari from 1975 to 1985.  It replaced the Ferrari Dino 246GT.  Top speed was around 160mph and it had a 0-60mph time of under 6.5 seconds.  The GTB had a fixed hard top whilst the GTS had a removable hard top.  Although, not originally designed as a racing car, eventually, some Group 4 versions were built for racing and rallying by Michelotto.  Jean-Claude Andruet won the 1981 Targa Florio Rally in a Ferrari 308 GTB and then went on to win the Tour Auto the same year and the following year.

1974 Lancia Stratos HF Group 4

Erik Comas, 1974 Group 4 Lancia Stratos, Tour Auto 2014

Pour plus de photos de la Tour Auto 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Tour Auto, follow the link above.

Lancia, Turin, Italy.  Designed by Bertone, the Stratos had a Ferrari Dino V6 engine.  Over 400 were built to meet the Group 4 regulations.  The Stratos was an enormously successful rally car over a very long period during the seventies and eighties.  It won a hat trick of World Rally titles from 1974 to 1976 and took 17 WRC rally victories overall including the Tour de Corse in 1981.

1963 Ford Galaxie

1963 Ford Galaxie, Tour Auto 2014

Pour plus de photo du tour Auto 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Tour Auto, follow the link above.

Ford, Dearborn, USA.  A large 7 litre V8 American saloon car produced from 1959 to 1974.  It raced in NASCAR and Touring Car races during the sixties.  Henry Greder drove one in the 1963 Tour de France Auto and Sir Gawaine Baillie drove one in the 1964 edition.  Many famous GP drivers drove Galaxies including Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme, Dan Gurney, Frank Gardner and Paul Hawkins as well regular Touring Car drivers such as Jack Sears, Gawaine Baillie and Brian Muir and GT drivers such as Bob Olthoff.  Dan Gurney scored the first two of his many Riverside NASCAR victories at Riverside in a Ford Galaxy in 1963 and 1964.  Fred Lorenzen and Ned Jarrett were other drivers who scored NASCAR victories in the Galaxie.   Jack Sears won four British Saloon Car victories in the Ford Galaxie including the 1963 British GP support race.

1912 Barré B3

1912 Barré B3, Chanteloup-les-Vignes, 2014

Pour plus de photos du Chanteloup les Vignes 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Chanteloup les Vignes Hillclimb, follow the link above.

Automobiles Barré, Niort, France.  Barré was an early twentieth century French car manufacturer based in Niort that disappeared in  1930.  They competed in pre-first world war motor sport events winning their class in the Gaillon hillclimb near Rouen and finishing in the early Tour de France Automobiles from 1912 onwards. The car pictured was powered by a Ballot F4F engine.

Auto Union 1000 SP

Classic Days 2014 à Magny Cours, Auto Union 1000 SP.

Pour plus de photos des Classic Days 2014 à Magny Cours, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of Classic Days 2014 at Magny Cours, follow the link above.

Mon astuce pour faire des belles photos
Ce point de vue des trois quarts est la photo de voiture classique et très agréable.

Top photo tip
This three-quarters view is the classic stationary car shot and very effective and pleasing.

1979 Shadow-Ford DN9 F1

1979 Shadow-Ford DN9 F1 á Magny Cours pour Classic Days 2014

Pour plus de photos des Classic Days 2014 à Magny Cours, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Classic Days at Magny Cours, follow the link above.

Shadow Racing Cars, Northampton, England.  In 1979 the cars were driven by Jan Lammers and Elio de Angelis without much success.

1968 Matra MS10 V12 F1

Classic Days à Magny Cours 2014 - 1968 Matra MS10 V12 F1

Pour plus de photos des Classic Days á Magny Cours 2014, suivez ce lien

For more photos of the 2014 Classic Days at Magny Cours, follow the link above.

Matra, Romorantin-Lanthenay, France.  The MS10 was the first Matra powered F1 car.

Mon astuce pour faire des belles photos
Pour un débutant, il est plus facile de prendre des photos d'action sur la partie la plus lente du cours comme une chicane ou virage en épingle.

Top photo tip
For a beginner it is easiest to take action shots on the slowest part of the course such as a chicane or hairpin bend.

Venturi 400

Venturi 400 à Classic Days 2014, Magny Cours

Pour plus de photos des Classic Days 2014 à Magny Cours, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 Classic Days at Magny Cours, follow the link above.

Venturi Automobiles, Couëron, France.  Venturi 400 GT - Vitesse 290kph, 0-100kph 4.9 secs.