Le Mans
May 22nd, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
Bentley’s racing exploits in the late ’20s and early ’30s have become the stuff of legend: four Le Mans victories ¨in a row, and drivers who mostly seem to have come ¨from the social pages — Duff, Barnato, Moir, Kidston and Birkin among them. Plenty of money and a fair amount of womanising characterised many of them, accompanied by some amazing on-track antics.
This fascinating book starts with WO Bentley’s early days with aero engines, racing at Brooklands and at Le Mans. It also covers the famous Blue Train race, and corrects many of the inaccuracies that have become accepted wisdom. The eccentric Hon Dorothy Paget — who funded the building of the Blower Bentleys — is not forgotten, nor is the Hon Mrs Victor Bruce and her record-breaking exploits.
But the Le Mans events — and the parties — take up the bulk of the book, which also takes each of the key players through to the end of their lives: some of them died at an early age, though only one of them as a result of a Bentley racing crash — Clive Dunfee.
The design and layout of the book is a bit unusual and makes use of different type faces, but I think it works well. The photo selection is quite superb, and really lifts the book. Highly recommended, particularly at its very reasonable price.
The Bentley Era: The Fast and Furious Story of the Fabulous Bentley Boys by Nicholas Foulkes
Review books supplied by the publisher
Review by Mark Holman
May 21st, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
At this year’s Bradford Classic car show which takes place over the weekend of 18th and 19th July in Bradford, UK, there will be three famous Le Mans cars from Aston Martin Racing and Jaguar Heritage on display.
The cars include the LMP1 car that Aston Martin Racing are sending to this year’s Le Mans 24-hour race, their class winning DBR9 ‘009’ from last year, as well as the overall Le Mans winning Jaguar XJR-9LM from 1988.
Aston Martin Racing 2008 class winning driver, Darren Turner who will be fresh back from competing at this year’s gruelling 24-hour Le Mans race, 50 years after their famous DBR1 victory with Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, will be on hand to mingle and sign autographs for the crowds in Centenary Square. Accompanying Darren will be his LMP1 Le Mans Aston Martin Racing car, in ‘race-finish’ state.
Other attractions include the class winning Aston Martin Racing DBR9 ‘009’ Le Mans car from 2008,supplied by Gulf Managing Director Jonathan Turner. In 2008, Gulf celebrated the 40th anniversary of their first win at Le Mans, with a hard fought victory in GT1 going to the Gulf-sponsored Aston Martin Racing DBR9, driven by Darren Turner, David Brabham and Antonio Garcia. The Bradford Classic will also feature another historic car, the overall winning 1988 Le Mans Jaguar XJR-9LM, supplied by Jaguar Heritage.
Over 150 classic and performance cars will go on show to the general public in Centenary Square Bradford, including a Monica, a very rare supercar of the 1970s. Vintage busses will be running periodically throughout the day transporting people from the action in Centenary Square to the showroom and conference facilities at Speedmaster to view their stunning collection of high performance classic, race and collector cars.
Sunday 19th July will see a display of 60 performance and competition classic cars in Centenary Square and will also be “Jaguar day”. Visitors will also be able to inspect the very latest cars from Jaguar, kindly supplied by the Bradford Appleyard Jaguar dealership. The Bradford Classic invites entries of all Jaguars (in all conditions), for a special Jaguar Concours D’Elegance and parade.
If you’re over in northern England enjoying the brief summer be sure to get along to the Bradford Classic car show.
May 13th, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
The Shelby Daytona Coupe is regarded as one of the greatest cars in American motorsports history. With an aerodynamic body created by top designer Peter Brock it’s good for 196 mph, Shelby’s Ferrari-basher dominated the 1965 race season on its way to winning the FIA GT World Championship – and remains the only American car to achieve the feat. While getting your hands on one of the original six racecars will cost millions, there are some more affordable solutions.
Daytona replicas are nothing new but American-based Exotic Auto Restoration has come up with a unique interpretation of the famous Shelby named the Daytona Coupe Le Mans Edition. Based on the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe built by Superformance (click here for news item), the Le Mans Edition package gets extra goodies including fender flares, wider 18-inch wheels and tyres, heavy-duty suspension, billet aluminum hood intakes, Alcantara leather, brushed aluminum dash with aircraft-style toggle switches, bespoke gauges, and a suede Momo steering wheel. Powertrain options include any Ford V8 based on the Windsor 351 block, like the 530-horsepower Roush 402R packed into the pictured car.
If that still isn’t enough speed for you, Exotic Auto Restoration also offers a race-spec version that also gets a 6-point roll cage, weight reduction, quick-release steering wheel, upgraded brakes, carbon fibre front splitter and rear diffuser, Shelby aluminum block 427ci V8 with 560 horsepower, and more. Only six of these will be built, to commemorate the six original racecars.
April 1st, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
Time piece maker Tag Heuer has created a clever new promotional video using clips of Steve McQueen’s famous car movie, Le Mans. The premise is a duel between the racing driver/hard man McQueen in his Gulf-liveried Porsche 917 and current F1 golden-boy Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren Mercedes.
There’s some well-worked scenes with both drivers interacting as well as some cool racing action. The clip is worth a watch (pun intended) and if you’re willing to enter the competition to pick a “winner” you could win a number of prizes, including a shiny Tag Heuer time piece, one of Hamilton’s helmets or an F1 driving experience.
Check out the clip below or click here to go to the Tag Heuer website.
February 12th, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
Each June, Motor Racing Legends — organiser of the historic support race at the Le Mans 24 Hours — also runs a Le Mans tour for members of car clubs worldwide. Uniquely, the trip includes the rare privilege of driving on the full Le Mans circuit on the Saturday morning of the 24 Hours weekend, before the start of the world’s greatest endurance race.
In the past, the tour has been arranged for a specific marque — in 2008, for example, the UK’s Ferrari Owners’ Club was invited to put together a ‘grid’ of its members’ cars, and more than 60 Ferraris — from F40 to 355 Spider, F430 to Challenge Stradale, 328GTB to 550 Maranello — took part.
But 2009 will be different. This June, Motor Racing Legends will run a multi-marque Heritage Parade, accepting applications from classic and modern cars — marques with a traditional link to Le Mans, from Aston Martin and Ferrari, to Jaguar, Bentley, Austin-Healey and many more.
In addition to the parade laps, drivers can opt for a 4-night, 5-day fully inclusive package of travel and accommodation, or just a circuit and hospitality package. This covers entrance tickets to the Le Mans 24 Hours; reserved, covered grandstand seats; full circuit hospitality in a private facility shared with the Le Mans Legend historic race drivers and teams in the centre of Le Mans circuit, just a stone’s throw from the track¦ plus a post-parade champagne breakfast, Saturday evening buffet, Sunday barbecue lunch, along with secure and fully guarded circuit parking. Or you can choose just to do the circuit laps. Prices start from £775.
For more information on the Le Mans tour email lindsey@motorracinglegends.com.
July 31st, 2008 by NZ Classic Car
Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes was flung into the crowd after Mike Hawthorn had braked hard in his works D-type for a pit stop and Lance Macklin, swerving his Austin-Healey 100S to avoid Hawthorn, veered into Levegh’s path. Over 80 spectators were killed in a crash that put a serious question mark over the future of motor racing worldwide.
Several races were cancelled. Extraordinarily, Hilton discovers that Pierre Levegh’s body was the last to be identified in the morgue.
Hilton comes up with interesting sidelights, such as Jaguar tester and sometime racer, Norman Dewis, who had recorded 309kph (192mph) down the long Mulsanne Straight in his D-type.
Hawthorn’s best speed was 301kph (187mph). “The reason he was that bit slower was because he had three inches [76mm] cut off his windscreen. That made the difference. I think for every inch we cut off the screen, we lost one and a half, two miles an hour. It was purely down to aerodynamic shape. With the screen we’d got at the height we’d got it meant that the driver could sit down behind the screen, but Mike and Rolt and Hamilton said ‘No, we want to be able to see over the top.’ I asked why and they said, ‘Oh, if it rains’ — smearing the windscreen. I said ‘Well, I’ve done all the testing in the rain. There’s no need.’ They said ‘No, we like to see over the top,’ so they cut their screens. They lost it down Mulsanne, and I’d got it.’”
Hilton found Lance Macklin’s statement in the French sporting paper, L’Equipe: “Perhaps he (Hawthorn) badly misjudged the distance. He came across too brutally, and above all he braked with equal brutality. The brakes of the Jaguar are much more powerful than those of the Austin-Healey and I had, for my part, braked as if my life depended on it — my wheels locked — in order not to run into the rear of my fellow competitor’s car. This extremely powerful braking could have been the cause of the accident: what I didn’t want to do to Hawthorn, Levegh couldn’t avoid doing to me.”
Available online and from good bookstores.
Review by Eoin Young
October 18th, 2007 by NZ Classic Car
Penn checks out an exceptional, British-built Blower Bentley replica.
Words and Photos Penn McKay
As I write it’s 10 days since I revelled in a drive in this magnificent classic on a mellow February morning. This drive took us from Auckland to Wellsford in a manner very few makes of cars can emulate — simply because there are very few cars like this one. In fact, I can only remember one — George Unspellable’s magnificent 1924 Renault 45, itself a monster car to rival the big Bentleys.
It was the kind of drive that stays in your memory for the rest of your days; a huge powerful locomotive-like machine hammering along every passing lane as it made short work of rice rockets, buses and trucks alike. You look down on most cars with conscious superiority and across the short space to the truck drivers’ cabs — smirking as you attempt to look nonchalent!
It is designated as a 1933 4.5-litre Blower Bentley, with a Le Mans-type body
Those passing lanes kept my driver, Guy King, busy as hell. Between double de-clutching down, then up the cogs, switching the awkwardly placed electric overdrive control on and off, peering at the array of gauges, sawing away at the wheel and grinning like a maniacal Toad of Toad Hall in his helmet and goggles, he was having a ball. All of this whilst I watched out of the corner of my bulging eye the speedo needle wavering around some magical numbers. Couldn’t have been right though, surely old cars can’t do those numbers? This Blower Bentley Special belongs to John Blair but he, poor beggar, works continuously, thus enabling a helpful Guy King to exercise the car on his behalf — bit like popping next door to exercise your neighbour’s German Shepherd because you’re kind hearted rather than mad on Shepherds — yeah right! Read the rest of this entry »
October 17th, 2007 by NZ Classic Car
The Aston in beautiful Queenstown
The NZCC team takes a trip to Queenstown to check out a ’50s Aston Martin that has recently been returned to the road after an extensive 10-year restoration.
Words Tim Nevinson Photos Jared Clark
In 1952 any young nobleman, having celebrated his society wedding and sired a couple of offspring, would have found it impossible to reconcile his desire for high performance motoring in the utmost magnificence — irrespective of price — with the necessity of carrying his heirs at the same time. A gentleman would have to consider going ahead on his own in the Aston, leaving his wife to convey their young successors in the Rover. Or, God forbid, conduct the Rover himself. Dash it! Would he have to purchase a Bentley and consider getting used to a more sedate pace? Not quite what he had in mind when he had been racing about in fast cars courting young debs prior to settling down in the family mansion.
In production between May 1950 and April 1953, the Frank Feeley-designed DB2 coupe was built after three prototypes had raced at Le Mans
That very quandary may have faced the not yet noble, but rather nouveau riche, Mr David Brown after he’d used the vast resources of his David Brown Machinery Company to develop the very magnificent Aston Martin DB2. Read the rest of this entry »
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