Wolf GB08

 

Wolf GB08 at the Course de Côte de Tonnerre 2020

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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.  

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.

1968 Alpine Renault A220

Besson & Dougnac, 1968 Alpine Renaault A220, Le Mans Classic 2016.

Alpine Renault, Dieppe, France.  The A220 was the biggest capacity car that Alpine had produced to date.  It was built for the new 3 litre prototype regulations that came into place in 1968.  Alpine got Gordini to join two of their 1.5 litre 4 cylinder engines together to produce a 3 litre V8.  However, it proved less powerful than the competition at only 310bhp.  The A220 chassis was a modified A210 chassis but it didn't handle as well with the bigger engine.  It was, however, reliable and it finished 8th at Le Mans in 1968.

1964 Zagato "Zimp" Prototype

Zagato "Zimp" Prototype - RetroMobile 2016.

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Zagato, Milan, Italy.  This Zagato Prototype is based on the Hillman Imp chassis.  It was produced for the 1964 London Motor Show.  Only 3 were built.   The bodywork was aluminium. It has a standard lightweight Hillman Imp 875cc motor which was developed from the Coventry Climax engine. It is known as the Zimp. Top speed was about 140kph/87mph.  Chrysler vetoed turning the prototype into reality as it would have been expensive compared to cars like the Mini Cooper or Sunbeam Stilletto.  Nevertheless, a great looking car.