Clan Crusader

Chris Littler, Clan Crusader, Saint Goueno Masters Hillclimb, 2017.

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Clan Motor Company, Washington, County Durham, England.  The Clan Motor Company was formed by some ex-Lotus employees, Paul Haussauer and John Luff, in the early seventies.  The aim was to produce a GRP monocoque sports car for the road using the Sunbeam/Hillman Imp engine, transmission and gearbox. The Imp engine was of course based on a Coventry Climax unit.  John Frayling came up with the design and the Clan Crusader was born.  It was made in the North East due to regional funding.  The car was produced from 1971 until 1973 before the company went bust. This was a shame as it was a nice lightweight sports car with a top speed of nearly 100mph and a 0-60mph time of under 13 seconds.  It was also economical and racing driver Gerry Marshall drove from Glasgow to London averaging 68mpg.   Over 300 Crusaders were sold including just under 20 competition versions.  The competition versions were successfully rallied including wins by Alan Conley on the 1972 Tour of Mull and 1973 Derwent Star Rally.  On the circuits they were also raced with success in GT and Modsports events by Johnny Blades, Kenny Allen and Terry Carthy.    In 1982 a new version of the clan was produced under different ownership in Northern Ireland but this project also went bust in 1987.

1952 Jaguar XK120 Roadster

1952 Jaguar XK120, Peter Terrell/Michael Holland, 2017 Tour Auto.

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Jaguar Cars, Coventry, England.   The XK120 was introduced in 1948 and produced until 1954.  It was the first car to be powered by the famous 3.4 litre XK straight six engine and was called the 120 because it was capable of over 120mph which made it the fasted production sports car at that time.  The 0-60mph time was around 10 seconds.  There were three versions including the open roadster seen here, a drop head convertible and a closed coupé version.  Early cars were aluminium bodied but later cars were steel.   The XK120 was extensively raced and rallied and achieved much success.  Victories included the 1950 Tourist trophy, the 1950 & 1951 Alpine rally, In the Tour de France Automobile one finished fifth in 1951.

1960 DB HBR5

1960 DB HBR5, Antoine Laureau and Antoine Moreau, 2017 Tour Auto Optic 2000

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DB, Champigny sur Marne, France.  Founded by Charles Deutsch and René Bonnet, this small French manufacturer produced small racing cars and sports cars from 1947 to 1961.  One of their most successful model in terms of sales was the HBR5 which was sold between 1955 and 1961. As with many of their cars it featured a two cylinder Panhard engine.  The one pictured above has a 851cc engine but others had 748cc engines or 954cc engines and some were supercharged.  It had a fibre glass coupé body, was front engined and front wheel drive.  They were entered in many long distance events such as Le Mans 24 hours and the Tour de France Automobile having sucess in the Index of Performance competition.  The car was sometimes called the DB Coach and smaller engined versions were designated HBR4.

1949 Hotchkiss 864 Artois S49

1949 Hotchkiss 864 Artois S49, Tour Auto 2017

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Hotchkiss et cie, Saint Denis, Paris, France.  Hotchkiss was  originally an arms and munitions manufacturer founded by an American ordnance engineer called Benjamin Hotchkiss. After he died, the company produced car parts, car engines and then eventually whole cars.  The 864 Artois was based on a pre-war model and was sold in the late forties and early fifties.  It was a 4 door sedan with  a 2.3 litres 4 cylinder front mounted engine and rear wheel drive.  Top speed was around 75 mph.  As a sporting marque Hotchkiss won the Monte Carlo Rally a number of times in the early thirties. They also raced at Brooklands and Montlhery.  After the war they again competed in the Monte Carlo (winning in 1949 and 1950) and the Tour de France Automobile.  Eventually the marque was swallowed up by Delahaye.   In 2017 Maxime Lepissier and Bruno de la Villesbrunne drove this car in the regularity section of the Tour Auto Optic 2000.

2017 Cadillac DPi-V.R.

The winning Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. at the Twelve Hours of Sebring 2017.

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Cadillac, USA.  This car marks Cadillac's return to endurance racing.  It is made to IMSA's Daytona Prototype international rules which are similar to LMP2 but more liberal in terms of the engine and body work.  The chassis is an LMP2 chassis by Dallara.  The body work is by Cadillac Design.  The engine is a 6.2 litre naturally aspirated Cadillac V8 engine producing 600hp. With Wayne Taylor Racing, the car has already won the 2017 Daytona 24 Hours and the Twelve Hours of Sebring.  Action Express have also entered two cars and achieved podium finishes.

Matra Murena

Eric Bailly, Matra Murena on the 2017 Rallye du Pays Avallonnais.

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Matra, Romorantin, France.  Sometimes called the Talbot-Matra Murena, this was an early eighties mid-engined sports car that was relatively unusual in that it had three seats next to each other with the middle one folding when not in use to become an arm rest.  It had a steel chassis and glass fibre coupé body.  Just under 11,000 were built between 1980 and 1983.  The car had good handling but the engines were not that impressive.  The basic model had a 1.6 litre Simca engine and the more powerful version a 2.2 litre Talbot engine.  The 1.6 litre had a top speed of around 113mph and a 0-60mph time of just over 11 seconds.  The 2.2 litre had a top speed of 122mph and a 0-60moh time of just under 9 seconds. They were rallied in 1981 and 1982 in major rallies such as the RAC and Monte Carlo but without great success.  Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Max Mamers drove 4WD versions of them them in the 1982 French rallycross championship, both achieving wins and Max taking the Championship. Jean-Pierre Jaussaud drove one in a European rallycross championship round the same year scoring a class win.  These cars continued their successful rallycross careers for some years.

Kirkham Cobra 427

Kirkham Cobra, Bué near Sancerre 2017.

Kirkham Motorsports, North Provo, Utah, USA.  With their beautiful aluminium bodies these Cobra replicas are amongst the most desirable in the World.  The aluminium bodies are actually made in Poland in an old MiG fighter jet factory whilst the rest of the car is built in Utah.  Founded by David Kirkham the company stared in 1994.  Since then they have built over 800 replica 427s and 289s. The most popular are the big block Shelby American Ford V8 powered cars which make a magnificent sound.  Very desirable replicas of the sixties Shelby Cobra. They supply the cars either with original or uprated suspension and brakes.  Saw this one in France and I think the owner said it had a 550hp engine but they go up to 650hp.