AUTUMN 2019

THOROUGHBRED and CLASSIC CAR OWNERS CLUB and The Historic Racing Register RACE BRAKES O N ^ f PERF ROAD, RACE^ JJ RALLY, TARGA, ' DRAGS, DRIFTING

CERAMIC STREET/TRACKDAY HYBRID STREET & FULL RACE PAD

9 Akepiro Street, Mount Eden, Auckland Tel: (09) 623 1781 Fax: (09) 623 1782 Email: [email protected] www.ebcbrakes.co.nz

r ' /v it ** Incorporating Historic Racing News

TheXhoroughbred and Classic Car Owners Club

P.O. Box 35-249, Browns Bay, Auckland 0753 Website: http://www.taccoc.co.nz E-mail: [email protected]

------Contents------

EDITORIAL

VALE: PETER GIDDINGS

LOTUS ELITE

CAM CHATTER

COMING EVENTS

******************★*★★*★★*********★★**★*★****★★★★****★★★**★*★★★*★***★★★**★*★*★★**★★★★**★★★*★★★★**★★******** FRONT COVER: The very rare Triumph Dové, seen here at the Salty Dog restaurant, on the Breakfast Run before Christmas last year. LEFT: A fine example of a Bristol 410, parked in the Paddock at Teretonga in February. BACK COVER: ABOVE: The first car built by George Begg, the Begg 650. On display, along with countless other motoring treasures, in the E. Hayes Hammer Hardware shop in the main street of Invercargill. BELOW: This picture of Nigel Russell in his Stanguelini was taken at the Levels circuit in Timaru in February. The anonymous photographer who supplied the photo also supplied the caption: “Nigel stops to ask for directions...”

Disclaimer The opinions expressed in this picaresque * publication are largely those of the luiit or. who is know n to show bias. Only the facts have been changed to make it interesting.

•look it up, like I did...

1 Autumn 2019 Electric Cars - The future, or

We are constantly being pushed into joining the electric dream, getting rid of emissions by jumping on the electric cars bandwagon. We have touched on this in the past in these pages, devoting an Editorial in the Winter 2018 issue to detailing the massive pollution caused by creating electric car batteries in the first place, the seemingly rapid decay of the Nissan Leaf power units, the fact that Nissan itself doesn’t support the cars in this country and the failing battery packs are not replaceable in NZ. All that, plus the difficulties in disposing of the battery packs themselves when they do finally fail.

Other difficulties are looming. We hear stories about a looming world shortage of Lithium causing the price of batteries to soar and eventually run out. But is it true?

Some analysts are predicting that, by 2050, the demand for the metals essential for lithium-ion batteries may be in short supply. Competing for the materials are producers of batteries for smartphones, tablets, laptop computers, and an electric vehicle industry which has seen significant growth globally.

The shortage won't be due to a lack of raw material but rather a lack of mines available to meet demand. Lithium can be found across the globe in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, but nearly half of the global lithium supply comes from Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.

Unfortunately, a perfect storm of policies that make investment difficult, and regional unpredictability, have made it difficult to prepare for a ramp up to meet global demands for lithium. For example, in Chile the laws limit lithium production to under 80,000 metric tons, though there's been recent speculation over whether changing Chilean

Autumn 2019 2 politics could increase production soon. Over the next 10 years, an additional 800,000 metric tonnes will be required to meet projected demands.

In 2009, 26% of the world's lithium supply was used for batteries, and in 2015 that increased to 38%. Some twenty mining and production sites are currently planned or under construction globally, but the first of these will not begin production until 2019. Further, there is resistance in some of these areas on introducing more mining operations, due to the damage it causes to the environment.

However, a shortage of lithium may not have that great of an impact on actual costs of batteries - a 300% increase in lithium cost would only raise the price of batteries by 2%. What will be expected to impact battery prices, however, is the possibility of a shortage of cobalt, of which nearly 42% of global supplies are used for batteries.

Famous racing driver signs an autograph for a fan. Or perhaps the Editor adding his name to some posters for World Formula Junior patron Howden Ganley.

Once again, cobalt is primarily found in regions of instability. Two-thirds of the global cobalt supply is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where policies, corruption, and instability prevent the investment needed to keep up with world demand. The Congo has also imposed high taxes and royalties on mining operations, driving up prices. There are also issues in the region with the use of child labour.

If prices of cobalt rise 300%, the reflection in the cost of batteries would be around 13%, which would be felt a little more by consumers.

There is also increasing interest in new battery technologies, solid-state batteries in particular. SSBs promise to be more stable than lithium Ion (for example, they

3 Autumn 2019 probably won’t catch fire on impact), be more compact, have higher energy density, and fare better in more extreme temperature gradients. Many SSBs will also use more readily available, more economical, and more environmentally friendly metals such as sodium. A consortium of car companies which includes Toyota and Honda are even working together to try and create SSBs for EVs.

Another idea being talked about is a “digital quantum battery", a concept proposed by a physicist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which could provide a dramatic boost in energy storage capacity, if it meets its theoretical potential once built.

An amazingly clever piece of digital art - an exploding' Lamborghini AAiura.

This concept calls for billions of nanoscale capacitors and would rely on quantum effects - the weird phenomena that occur at atomic size scales - to boost energy storage. Conventional capacitors consist of one pair of macroscale conducting plates, or electrodes, separated by an insulating material. Applying a voltage creates an electric field in the insulating material, storing energy. But all such devices can only hold so much charge, beyond which arcing occurs between the electrodes, wasting the stored power.

If capacitors were instead built as nanoscale arrays, crucially, with electrodes spaced at about 10 nanometers (or 100 atoms) apart, quantum effects ought to suppress such arcing. For years researchers have recognized that nanoscale capacitors exhibit unusually large electric fields, suggesting that the tiny scale of the devices was responsible for preventing energy loss. But “people didn't realise that a large electric field means a large energy density, and could be used for energy storage that would far surpass anything we have today " says Alfred Hubler, the Illinois physicist and lead author of a paper outlining the concept, to be published in the journal 'Complexity

Hubler claims the resulting power density (the speed at which energy can be stored or

Autumn 2019 4 released) could be some orders of magnitude greater, and the energy density (the amount of energy that can be stored) two to ten times greater than possible with today’s best lithium-ion and other battery technologies.

What's more, digital quantum batteries could be fabricated using existing lithographic chip-manufacturing technologies using cheap, nontoxic materials, such as iron and tungsten, atop a silicon substrate, he says. The resulting devices would, in principle, waste little or no energy as they absorbed and released electrons. Hubler says it may be possible to build a benchtop prototype in one year.

One of the most influential physicists of the 20th century, the late Richard Feynman, was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in quantum mechanics, the basis of modern physics and of many technological advances that now feature in our everyday lives. Feynman received the Nobel Prize in 1965, and his work changed the way physicists think forever. He was a charismatic speaker, quite happy to tell his audience not to worry if they didn’t understand Quantum Physics: “Nobody does understand it, including me!"

Today, however, digital quantum batteries are merely a patent-pending research concept. Hubler has applied for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funding to develop a prototype, but the concept presents significant challenges. It’s not clear

%

Taken at the recent Phillip Island Classic meeting, the first time the first three JP5 BMW 635C5i built had raced together in thirty-eight years! From the left; Dean How and Number 1, Jim Richards and Number Two and Adrian Brady with Number Three. that the nanofabricated materials wouldn’t break down once loaded with energy, says Joel Schindall, a professor of electrical engineering at MIT.

But Schindall also says the concept has merit. "I'm cautiously intrigued, because he does have some legitimate arguments for the fact that at these quantum dimensions, the energy storage effect is at least predicted to go up considerably, ” Schindall says. “The first challenge is: are his assumptions correct, or are there some other phenomena that haven't been looked at that get in the way?"

In some ways, the concept represents a variation on existing micro- and nanoelectronic devices. “If you look at it from a digital electronics perspective, it's just

5 Autumn 20T9 a flash drive. " says Hubler. “If you look at it from an electrical engineering perspective, you would say these are miniaturized vacuum tubes like in plasma TVs. If you talk to a physicist. this is a network of capacitors.”

The digital part of the concept derives from the fact that each nanovacuum tube would be individually addressable. Because of this, the devices could perhaps be used to store data, too. Other methods exist for boosting the performance of capacitors. Advanced versions, called ultracapacitors, can store significant energy and operate more quickly by

They're still out there. The recent Amelia Island Concours presented this barn find Mercedes Benz 3005L Gull-wing. The car was shipped to Miami, Florida in 1954, and was on the road for just ten years. I t was being stripped of its original blue for a repaint, but it was then stored, unfinished. increasing the surface area of their electrodes and using an electrolyte. Schindall’s group has increased the charge and discharge rates and storage capacity of traditional ultracapacitors by using carbon nanotubes instead of activated carbon on the electrode's surface. In essence, this increases the surface area of the electrode.

The advantages to Schindall’s design; increased power output and energy density, could be crucial for applications like soaking up huge pulses of energy rapidly from a field of wind turbines or solar arrays, for example. Plus, his team has actually built a benchtop device. The downside is that the energy density of a given mass of material would still be somewhat lower than that of lithium-ion batteries.

While Hubler hasn’t yet built anything, he notes that, in 2005, a group of Korean researchers showed that nanoscale capacitors could be fabricated. Hubler's device

-- T -s. Autumn 2019 6 would still need billions or even trillions of such devices, however.

“I complete agree we desperately need new ways of storing electric energy, " says Schindall. “Though it may be in competition with what I'm doing. I wish him the greatest of success and hope it works. "

And what about Hydrogen? Elon Musk is against it. But Amazon is all for it. In fact, these tech titans are clashing right now over what technology will carry us out of the fossil fuel age.

For companies like Tesla, lithium-ion battery technology is the future. Their batteries have become an integral part of our daily lives, and everyone is desperately trying to build faster, cheaper, more efficient versions of them.

Yet, there's a little-known power source that's threatening to ruin it all for Musk.

Amazon is going all in on an up-and-coming alternative power: hydrogen fuel cells. And it’s sparked a war within the auto industry. Will tomorrow’s cars be fueled by lithium batteries or hydrogen fuel cells?

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy from a fuel into

Interior shots of the car. Should it be restored, or kept in as is? Tough call. electricity through an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen fuel with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Think of it as a battery source that automakers hope to use for powering tomorrow's vehicles.

The difference between a fuel cell and a battery is that fuel cells require a continuous source of fuel and oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction. Whereas, in a battery, the chemical energy comes from chemicals already present in the battery.

And hydrogen fuel cells use a much cleaner form of energy, even though they're slightly less efficient than lithium-ion batteries.

The Consumer News & Business Channel writes:

7 Autumn 2019 'The Honda Clarity fuel cell electric gets 366 miles on a single fill, according to Honda. Fuel cells may be especially useful in certain applications. Any vehicle on a tightly managed circuit, such as a delivery truck, city bus, or other similar vehicle, would work quite well with hydrogen. "Meanwhile, Tesla's new Model 3 comes with a full 300-mile charge that takes around 9.5 hours to charge. And consumers will always pick a car that can go 366 miles and refuel within minutes over one that takes much, MUCH longer to charge. And right now. virtually every major auto company has announced some bold plan to produce cleaner cars. And some of the biggest ones believe hydrogen could be the way to go.”

The Huffington Post writes: “Thirteen car and energy industry giants are teaming up to push hydrogen as the world's next major fuel source. Honda, Hyundai, Royal Dutch Shell, BMW Group and Toyota are among the companies that have formed the "Hydrogen Council. " Members of the council will make significant investments in hydrogen as an attempt to transition from fossil fuels to a cleaner form of energy, to Whatever the decision, it will be a big job, even just making it a the tune of a combined runner... €1.4 billion per year.

"In fact, General Motors and Honda are putting $85 million toward the production of hydrogen cells within their respective businesses. Amazon is even on board with the hydrogen trend after investing in a company that makes hydrogen batteries for fork lift s."

And it's not only the U.S. that’s interested in hydrogen power, either. CNBC writes: "Japan is investing $350 million in improving hydrogen refueling infrastructure. It is part of a larger plan to create a 'hydrogen society...'"

Hydrogen fuel cells might not get the media hype that lithium-ion batteries do right now, but it’s clear that a number of the major players are making huge strides in the technology.

So; Electric Cars - The Future? Or another blind alley on the road to a Hydrogen powered utopia?

Autumn 2019 8 It is a curious and sad coincidence that in the previous issue of Bespoke I published a lengthy piece on Lago-Talbots, much of which was based on an interview in "Veloce Today'' with one of the marque’s most famous and long-term racers, Peter Giddings. And then in early January, we learnt the sad news that Peter had passed away. Peter will be familiar to many from his trips here to race cars from his amazing collection.

Peter was born in Eastbourne in England in 1940, but had lived in California for many years. From his own website, we read: “Peter became interested in sports and competition cars in the late '50s. His first car was a 1932 BSA air cooled three wheeler which he managed to qualify as a "motor cycle combination”, as he was not yet old enough to have a drivers licence.

"Graduating from the BSA to a Brooklands Riley 9, Peter then owned a succession of chain-driven 1920s Frazer Nashes, one of which he restored in the living room of his home!

“Subsequently Peter has rebuilt/supervised the restoration of a number of historic landmark racing cars, including the 1924 Lyons GP Bugatti, the Frazer Nash Union Special, several Monza Alfas, two Talbot Lago GP cars, two dual supercharged 8 cylinder Alfa Romeo Tipo B "P3s”, two Tipo C 8C-35s, a Bugatti Type 59, a Maserati 8CM and Maserati 250F.

T' * 9 Autumn 2019 "Peter s first visit in 1958 to Goodwood. Sussex, England (his local racing circuit) was by bicycle, his only method of transportation at the time. There he fell in love with Maserati 8CM #3011 (ex-Whitney Straight / Prince Bira). Black and white photos of this car adorn his early scrap books. Little did he know that 40 years later he would be its proud conductor!

Peter pressing on in his Maserati 250F. Photo by Steve Oom at Phillip Island.

"In 1959 Peter began his racing adventures in a 1928 Frazer Nash. This car cost around U.S. $500. and gave a great account of itself at circuits and hillclimbs such as Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Goodwood. Crystal Palace. Oulton Park. Firle. Bodiam. and Wiscombe. The Frazer Nash developed 115 bhp, weighed 1100 pounds, had no differential, and provided neck snapping performance. It was driven to events in all kinds of weather as the Frazer Nash was his only form of transportation at that time. By 1961 Peter had qualified for a full FIA international licence.

"In Peter's second supercharged Bugatti Type 35C at the Kannonloppet in Karlskoga in Sweden, he beat most of the later and more powerful ERA and 250F Maserati racing cars, and in the late 1960s he campaigned a 196 SP Ferrari (rear engined, with the famous “twin nostril" nose, ex Rodriguez brothers).

“In his third Bugatti (the famous 1924 Lyons GP model) which he restored from a pile of bits found on a farm in Spain, Peter collected second fastest time of day at a Ferrari club event at the Bridgehampton track, Long Island, New York.

“In 1985 Peter drove his Alfa Romeo Monza (#2311218) and Tipo B “P3" (#50001) to such good effect at the Monterey Histories that he won the coveted “Phil Hill Trophy", which was presented to him personally by the great Juan Manuel Fangio. In addition, for winning more vintage/ historic events in his vintage

Autumn 2019 10 Alfa Romeos than anyone else in the world. Peter was awarded the Italian Scuderia del Portello Trophy

“In 1986 Peter was chosen to race the priceless 1937 Mercedes Benz W-125 during the marque 's "spotlight” at the Monterey Histories.

“Since then Peter has won many honours and awards, including the Sam Hanks Sportsmanship, together with the Christies. La Carrera Mexican road race. VARA champion. Tom Sulman, Rene Dreyfus. Monterey. Diehard. Asp re y, Girard- Perregaux. Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge, Pete Lovely. Chopard. Spirit of CSRG. Cavallino, 2 x Bugatti Grand Prix, Lake Forest Motors "Oscar", Ferrari Challenge Masters Award. 3 x Trofeo de Florida, Louis Vuiton, New York Governors Cup. Charley Gibson. Road & Track, and Rolex trophies, and has recently been inducted into the Road Racing Drivers Club and was honored as 2010 Motorsportsman of The Year by the Motorsports Press Association (MSPA)

Peter in his 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C Monza, competing at Sonoma Raceway in California.

“Recently Peter was campaigning Alfa Romeos and Maseratis in the Ferrari Historic Challenge Series, winning drum division in 1998, 1999, 2000. 2001. 2002. 2003, 2nd in 2004. 3rd in 2005, 2nd in 2006, 2nd in 2007, 3rd in 2008. and 1st in 2009.

“This series pits Peter in his early cars against competition Ferraris and Maseratis of more recent vintage such as TDF. 250 GT 410, 335. 250TR, 250MM. 500TRC, 625LM, 375MM. 250SI, A6GCS, 300S, and 450S. Peter often manages to finish ahead!

“Peter has now raced most of the “Titan'' 750kg Grand Prix cars, including the

11 Autumn 2019 Mercedes W-125; Alfa Romeo Monza, Tipo B and Tlpo C; Bugatti 51. 35B and 59; and Maserati 8CM. in the U.S.A. Europe, Mexico, Canada. Bahamas, Australia and New Zealand.

"As a several times champion of the North America Ferrari/Maserati Flistoric Challenge, he has now reached the pinnacle of official "Grand Master".

"Since the Australian Grand Prix recommenced first in Adelaide, and now in Melbourne. Peter has competed in the supporting events with one of his historic cars, including his 1956 AGP-winning 1953 250F Maserati (#2501/2523).

"Peter along with his supportive and enthusiastic wife, Judy (their honeymoon incorporated participation with their 1928 Alfa Romeo 1750 in an Italian race and rally) are looking forward to running their Flistoric GP and Sports Racing cars for many years to come. "

The following tribute was written by Gary Horstkorta on January 9, 2019, and posted in the Vintage Racecar magazine.

Peter Giddings: 1940-2019 “One of the most widely recognized vintage racers in the sport, Peter Giddings, passed away earlier this week at his home in Northern California, at the age of 79. In a vintage racing career that began over four decades ago, Peter owned and/or drove many of the greatest cars ever to turn a wheel on a track. While he owned and enjoyed a number of post-war racecars. his passion was the great pre-war racers. Bugatti, Alfa Romeo. Ferrari. Talbot-Lago. Delage and Maserati are some of the marques he has owned and raced. In addition, he had been invited to dnve a number of priceless racers including several of the legendary pre-war Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix cars. “Giddings traveled the world in his business career but also as a racer, competing at race tracks in England. Europe, Australia, New Zealand. Thailand. Canada. Bahamas. Mexico, South America and of course, all over the United States.

Autumn 2019 12 He was always willing to share his vast knowledge of his cars with anyone interested and his passion for racing was well known. Giddmgs was a true gentleman racer and a wonderful ambassador for vintage racing, promoting the sport wherever he competed. “Besides racing, Peter wrote many fine articles for magazines, showed his cars at charity events, was a sought after speaker and racecar historian. He won many awards during his career including the prestigious title of “Grand Master after winning the North American Ferrari/M a se rati Historic Challenge several times. “Giddings and his wonderful collection of racecars were icons of the sport and drew crowds of admirers wherever he raced around the world. He was the epitome of a vintage racer; racing hard but always fair in his collection of historic racecars. The last couple of years Peter raced two outstanding examples of historic Lancia racecars - a 1954 D24 spider and a 1956 D50 Grand Prix car. “Peter is survived by his loving wife Judy, his daughter Karen and his Great Dane. Lord Havelock a.k.a., Havoc. To truly appreciate all the elements of Giddings life in racing, visit his website www.petergiddingsracing.com. ''

A scene repeated countless times over the years - Peter in the car (the Delage) and Judy assisting - Sonoma Raceway 2014. Photo: Gary Horstkorta

13 Autumn 2019 / recently had a request from a friend in Christchurch, asking if I had any information about the Lotus Elite that ran at l.e Mans, and now lives in Auckland. It started a chain of research that led to the following piece:

The Lotus Elite is frequently cited as one of the most beautifully-shaped and perfectly proportioned cars of all time. Petite, and aesthetically, deliciously, balanced, it doesn't have a bad angle. It’s not widely recognised, but a kiwi was involved in developing that gorgeous shape from very early on. Designer Peter Kirwan-Taylor says: "Colin Chapman is one of those people who won't just let you wave your hands and do your designing with a model. You have to do it on the drawing hoard. / was working all day as an accountant, and then / would work from seven 'til midnight on fifth-scale drawings and models, and that's how the car started - by translating one-fifth drawings into one-fifth models, using heat-setting clay. When this project started to get under way, first a South African appeared, then a New Zealander. The South African was Ron Hickman, who became the man who solved most of the problems with using fibreglass; the New Zealander was John Frayling. who was then working for Ford as a modeller. "The car was to use the Climax engine, and the Mk /2 front suspension. He knew what sort of weight distribution, tyre size, bump rebound and overall size dimensions we could work with, so we drew them in. and added a human being. It took several months o f fiddling to get everything where it ought to be. We were determined to keep the frontal area to a minimum, so the Elite was designed to fit very tautly around the critical parts. The wheelbase changed several times for mechanical reasons. He were very keen on aerodynamics at that time, and we spent a lot of time with Frank ('ostin. who came in about 60 percent of the way- through the project. He aimed to have no unnecessary prot rube ranees, anil we tried to have all radii starting small and opening as they went back, li e ducted the radiator - lifted the design straight off one o f the racing Lotus'. " "li e were very lucky in getting John Frayling. He had worked for lo rd styling, but I don't consider him a stylist. He's a sculptor. Everything he did on the Elite was perfect. Another thing that made it very good was that / managed to buy a very good set o f French curves. In fact, we managed to get two sets of good curves, and that re fined the shape enormously. I remember that we liked the front of the mid-1950s Ferrari Super fast, as a concept. And that we badly wanted to be able to use curved side windows, which led to making them detachable because no-one else knew anything about curved windows that wound up and down. Ten years later, when we got to the Elan and wanted to have curved side windows again it needed a lot of original Lotus work because still no-one was doing it.”

The particular car we are interested in was entered at Le Mans 1959 by Border Reivers, chassis #1038, engine # 15/7550, race number 42. Driven by Jim Clark & John Whitmore. It finished the race in 10th place on distance, completing 2,150.62 miles in 24 hours, at an average speed of 89.61 mph. This was only good enough for 2nd place in their class, the class-winning car being another Lotus Elite driven by Peter Lumsden and Peter Riley, which came home 8th overall. Had the Clark/Whitmore car

Autumn 2019 14 not been delayed in the pits with starter *9*0 motor troubles, amounting to more than two hours of lost time, the result would have been different. Their car was timed at 142 mph down the Mulsanne Straight. The picture (right) shows car #42 in the pits at Le Mans, a m echanic wrestling with the starter motor.

This was Jim Clark's first of three attempts at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. In 1960, he finished 3rd overall, sharing an Aston Martin DBR1 with Roy Salvadori, gaining a podium at Le Mans for the first and only time. In 1961, sharing the same Aston Martin (chassis DBR1/3) with Ron Flockhart, their car was retired with clutch failure from 15th place in the 11th hour. All three of his Le Mans attempts were driving for the Border Reivers Scottish team.

Jim Clark actively campaigned the Le Mans Elite throughout 1959, taking it to eight fi r s t s , tw o seconds, one fourth, one fifth and two DNFs in fourteen starts. He w o n th e Autosport Production Sports Car Championship • ** «fc& aier and the Mallory Park Production Sports Car Championship as well. He also impressed Colin Chapman, and signed to drive the Lotus 18 Formula Junior the following year, which ultimately led to Lotus F1 and two World Championship titles. The picture above shows Clark driving #1038 at the Mallory Park 1 3:" September meeting, where he had race #17, and won. The additional fuel filler can be seen in the front guard.

15 Autumn 2019 The original plan for Le Mans had been to take Ian Scott-Watson’s own Lotus Elite, chassis #1010, but the works neglected to prepare the car. Instead, Chapman offered another Elite, chassis #1038, which he would set up especially for the race, with long- range tanks, alloy brakes, special lighting and the like. Scott-Watson was understandably annoyed, but reluctantly agreed and purchased the British Racing Green car for Clark. The picture below shows the team entry for the 1959 Le Mans, with Clark & Whitmore standing behind their #42 car.

In his book "Jim Clark Remembered\ Jim’s good friend Graham Gauid has this to say: % * : m ?re was a toucn oj•• * r re a:i t\amoKamo about the Le Mans entry. ■ hr entered his white car. hut Lotus / had time to pre e it so Reivers M' x’w the car. Then Chapman felt he woulc to eep the entry fered Reivers ?r car on condition that thev drive under , hut they refus íeventually ? ’ V were tent a works car and ran tt 1er / 1er Reivers ’ concession to

s was that, instead o f having young . } cotsr; :s co-driver. ( raced with a young English driver from the sauirearcnv cc Whitmore. John, later to become Sir . John, became a great friena oj i tarn, ana in mat same season :> harrowec Border Reivers Lister for a race at ('harterhall. That year Aston ’ sue a nrst c second at Le Mans, with Clark and Whitmore te run overc \e a

s in pit stops which cost them three places. "

Sir John Whitmore, in a piece published in MotorSport magazine in the January 1998 issue, said: :>s. Peter Lu ms den and Peter Riley were in Turns den s car."li e were one of two :>s. Peter Lu ms den and Peter Riley were in Turns den s car."li

and there was a lot of• excitement over the cars, as they V * tu >en seen muc >re. We were number 42. which is not considered a good number at Le Mans; a nvers were

> v to be given it. but it didn't bother me. O ur times were a good 15sec ter than the

er rai te; it was onlyS’ later that we % found had a lower axle, wntcn metant that on the ■’nt we were running continuously at lOOrpm over the maximum rev limit. But it t seem to "Our /:>/- on lap two \v a Jimmy s

Autumn 2019 16 the starter motor had stayed engaged. H e lost /3 minutes fixing that, and he restarted 52nd out of 53. By the end o f his stint uv were up to 38th. and / got it up to 26tli during my session. But the starter motor was broken, and u'

Jim Clark and John Whitmore stand on the pit counter, while mechanics work on the car.

Be fore long I caught the f.umsden Elite and u ran together for a while. Then we caught the winning Aston Martin, and ran with him too. li e crossed the line right behind him just after 4pm. which should have been the end, but because the race had started 20 seconds late we hadn't quite done 24 hours, and we all had to do another lap. But vv

17 Autumn 2019 w ithout our starter problem we would probably have won the class and very possibly the Index o f Efficiency. ”

don't know when or how the car arrived in New Zealand, but the original 1216cc engine had gone, and been replaced with a Lotus twin- cam. There was a persistent rumour that it might have been the Le Mans car, but there was no evidence to support it. The Elite in December 1982 in New Zealand, now with a Lotus twin-cam engine in place of the original Coventry Climax. A Philip Adamson photo. Years later the car was acquired by Peter Herbert here in Auckland, who began a total restoration. Peter runs a high-tech engineering company, doing specialist machining where a tolerance of one ten- thousandth of an inch is considered inaccurate. His detail work is meticulous. His restoration of the car took years, but he'd managed to acquire the correct type of Coventry-Climax engine and refitted it. I went to visit him and the car at his home once. The bodyshell was all complete and painted. He'd gone for the colours of the

Owner Gar y Brown reacquaints Sir John Whitmore with his old Le Mans car at Pukekohe

Autumn 2019 18 later works cars; white with a green stripe. During the restoration he'd discovered that the additional fuel tank in the front guard had been covered over but was still there, so he’d reinstated that, with the correct Monza fuel cap, including the locking tags for the Le Mans scrutineers.

But his greatest discovery was a chance finding in a book, “British Cars at Le Mans", by Dominique Pascal, which has photos of every British car that ever competed in the race. In the pages for 1959 there was a picture of the Jim Clark/John Whitmore car. The caption included the engine number and the chassis number #1038. He was able to dig out the ownership papers for the car in his garage - it was the same car.

When Peter's restoration was finally complete, other projects took over, and he sold the car to Gary Brown, so it remained here in Auckland. When Sir John Whitmore made one of his semi-regular visits to NZ, they were able to reunite him with his old car at Pukekohe and he did a few cautious laps on a damp track.

On another occasion, I got to drive this historic car at Pukekohe for a few laps. The aerodynamics are so good that, at full speed down the back straight there is no disturbance at all through the large hole in the Perspex driver's side window. The personalised plate the car wears today, ESH 700', is the same as its original English registration plate. It didn’t wear it at Le Mans, but it appears in many of the other photos of Clark racing the car in the UK in 1959, including the one on the first page of this document of Clark with race number 17. The rego can partially be seen on the nose. The colour photos of Sir John Whitmore and Gary Brown plus his Elite were taken at Pukekohe in August 2004.

John looks well pleased with his experience. You might also be able to see the little side wings on the AAonza filler cap for the Le Mans Scrutineer's tags.

19 Autumn 2019 The expanded results for Lotus Elite #1038 in 1959 are:

Date Event Driver(s) Result Race No. 21/6/59 Le Mans 24Hrs Jim Clark/John Whitmore10!r 42 5/7/59 World Cup Zandvoort (GT) Jim Clark DNF 2/8/59 NSCC Mallory Park Jim Clark 2nd 29/8/59 Brands Hatch (GT1.6) Race 1) Jim Clark 1St 49 2nd 29/8/59 Brands Hatch (GT 1.6) Race 2 Jim Clark 49 13/9/59 NSCC Mallory Park (GT1.6) Jim Clark 1St 17 26/9/59 Oulton Park Jim Clark 1St 27/9/59 Charterhall (GT) Jim Clark 1St 27/9/59 Charterhall (S1.5) Jim Clark 5th 4/10/59 Charterhall (S1.3) Jim Clark 4th 4/10/59 Charterhall (GT) Jim Clark 1st 10/10/59Three Hours Autosport Jim Clark 1st 26/12/59National Brands Hatch (Production)Jim Clark DNF 75

f f

Autumn 2019 20 ####################################

This article, written by Bob Golfen, was originally published on ClassicCars.com, an editorial partner of Motor Authority.

When storing a classic vehicle during the winter for three, four months or more, the question often arises: should I periodically start my car or just leave it be until spring finally comes around?

Like many maintenance issues in the car world, there are opposing schools of thought on this issue. So here is a primer on the pros and cons of whether to start or not to start:

Not to start The prevailing opinion among collector car experts and hobbyists is that if a vehicle is properly stowed at the beginning of the cold weather months (see the ClassicCars.com 10-step guide for winter storage), then there is no reason to start it up. Let it hibernate in peace. If you put in fresh oil, sealed off intake and exhaust openings, and ran gas with Sta-Bil or another fuel stabilizer through the engine and fuel system, the engine should be in the same shape you left it in come spring.

Matter of fact, periodically starting a vehicle could cause more harm than good. That’s a common error many owners make, oil and fuel expert Lake Speed Jr. of Driven Racing Oil recently told ClassicCars.com. The son of NASCAR racer Lake Speed Sr., he said that brief engine starting will introduce moisture and contaminates to the cold engine.

"There are a lot of people who have this idea that they’ll go out there and crank the car every couple of weeks, let it run for a couple of minutes and then turn it off. That’s the worst thing you can do,” Speed said. “The engine’s cold and you'll get fuel dilution, blow by and moisture in the crankcase, and if you only run it for a few minutes, that few minutes of run time isn’t long enough for the engine to get warm enough to evaporate all ofthat stuff out.”

V* 21 Autumn 2019 Moisture can result in rust, while carbon and other products of combustion can collect in the engine and exhaust system, possibly causing damage.

To start On the other hand, there are those in the collector car community who believe a vehicle should be started every so often during the winter, with one major caveat. The engine must be warmed up to operating temperature and, if at all possible, the vehicle should be taken out for at least a 20-minute drive. The idea is that the oil and other fluids will be allowed to circulate fully, and the engine will be able to evaporate fuel and burn off contaminants that collect when the engine and exhaust are cold.

The reason for starting, the adherents say, is to get the insides of the engine coated with oil to prevent corrosion and to ensure that such things as the oil and water pumps, charging system, etc. remain operational. Driving the vehicle keeps tires from flat- spotting, keeps brakes from rusting and recharges the battery, as well as keeping the transmission, power steering and other systems from going south during long-term storage.

Leaving your car unused for long periods risks moisture contamination. An extreme example is depicted here courtesy of the digital artistry of Richard Bartholomew.

But as Speed said, don't think you're doing your vehicle any favours by starting it up and letting it run for a few minutes. That will do more harm than good.

Autumn 2019 22 And you will need to decide for yourself which approach suits you best. But whichever you choose, stick with it and follow through with all the storage recommendations.

Another shot of this issue's cover car, Frank Cleary's Triumph TR4A Dove. Parked outside the "Salty Dog" on the Breakfast Run just before Christmas.

Dové GTR4 Perhaps the rarest production TR4 model is the Dové GTR4 (and GTR4A) - a TR4 rebuilt as a coupé by a specialist coachbuilder for the Dove dealership in Wimbledon, London; only forty-three were produced. They were originally conceived by L.F. Dove & Co. as their attempt to fill the GT category for Europe, hence the French nomenclature with an acute accent at the end of the word Dové. The cars were priced at £1250, almost as much as a Jaguar E-Type, and as such were uncompetitive price- wise. The conversions were by Harrington Motor Bodyworks, mostly known for construction of the Harrington Alpine, a similarly converted Sunbeam Alpine. Although most were based on the TR4 model, the sales brochure pictures a TR4A version of these cars. The engines came with such period extras as a heater in the water jackets to assist early morning starts. Some were fitted with fully balanced motors by Jack Brabham Motors or by Laystall Engineering in London, which was offered as an option in the sales catalogue. Two jump seats were placed behind the driver's seat using

~~ f — 23 Autumn 2019 identical materials to the originally equipped standard TR4. A wood-rimmed wheel with riveted perimeter was fitted to some models along with auxiliary lamps under the front bumper bars. A metallised identifying sticker with "Dové" on it was fitted to the glovebox lid. On the rear deck to the left below the lid, was another identifying badge with the Dové logo. The side window glasses were specially shaped with a flat top edge to fit the new roof line. Each Dové was an individual order and some variation occurred in each car. Tinted swing-down see-through acrylic sun visors were custom fitted. The aerodynamics of the Dové gave it good acceleration from 80 mph (130 km/h) to 100 mph (160 km/h) in comparison with the standard version of the car. One example was exported for sale through Australian Motor Industries in Melbourne, Australia. A road test of one of these cars was reported in Autocar magazine dated 7 June 1963. Up to a dozen of the cars are known to still exist.

One of TACCOC’s earliest members, Roger Whetton, was busy restoring his Daimler SP250 back in the 1970s, when he came across this very car and acquired it as his next project. His first thoughts were that the roof was somebody's weird idea for a homemade hardtop, and that he would restore it correctly as a two-seater open TR4A. The more research that he did eventually revealed the truth that it was a very rare beast indeed and should be properly restored in its original Dove form. The car vanished from our sight and Roger eventually sold it, still uncompleted.

The Remains of the Dové. As uplifted for restoration.

This car is a GTR4A, built in 1966 as a right hand drive model Triumph TR4A, converted to a Dove and exported to Canada by its New Zealand owner. It remained there for two years, travelling 20,000 miles in North America before it was brought to New Zealand. It remained in Auckland, passing through a succession of seven owners. By 1977, being a little worse for wear, it was stripped to components for restoration, but the project was shelved before progress was made. During 2009 the project was acquired by the current owner and the restoration started immediately followed by many dedicated hours by those involved including invaluable assistance from the UK. Fast forward to December 2011 the Dove entered the compliance process and emerged registered and roadworthy for the first time in thirty-four years. It retains its original engine and many of the options available when new including overdrive, original wood rim steering wheel and the Jack Brabham spec engine modifications.

V Autumn 2019 24 The next time I saw it was some years later, on display at the 2014 Ellerslie Concours d’Elegance, by which time it had been beautifully restored by its current owner, Frank Cleary. Looking at the before and after pictures, it's a credit to his faith and committment to the project.

Serious progress, with the chassis and running gear fully restored.

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If you’re even slightly up to date with ‘modern' motor racing, you may have heard the name of the young kiwi, Liam Lawson. This promising youngster was racing in the Australian Formula 4 series in 2017 and ‘18, dashing back and forth across the Tasman, between race events and High School. If you've studied pictures of his race car closely, you may have wondered about a familiar logo among the sponsorship decals decorating his car. Classic Formula Ford racer and part-time journalist Michael Clark was certainly curious, and at our Hampton Downs Classic Race meeting in December he tracked down the nearest mug (me) who might know something about it, to ask the question for a piece he was writing for NZ Classic Car magazine. And this is what he wrote:

“Liam Lawson and TACCOC "Liam Lawson has just turned 16, meaning that he now qualifies to compete in the wonderful Toyota Racing Series. He spent 2 0 1 ~ dovetailing schoolwork at Pukekohe High School around competing in the Australian Formula 4 championship, (where he was runner-up) while this year has seen him go more international" and again he was runner-up. this time in the German Formula 4 title race. Back in Sew Zealand he answered a call to get himself to Malaysia for a Formula 3 race and. despite never seeing the circuit before or ever sitting in an F3 car. he cleaned up - poles, race wins, and fastest laps in other words. the trifecta. "If you look carefully at the side of his race cars, you 'II notice a sponsor's roundel and closer inspection will reveal it to be the distinctive logo o f Auckland's Thoroughbred and Classic Car

25 Autumn 2019 Owner 's ( 'lub TACCOC . Is club stalwart John Holmes tells it "In 201 we heard that this promising kid was heading to Australia and was scratching around trying to find the money to get from meeting to meeting and so we. as a committee, decided we d help. " TACCOC has C fc' C. Cv f done well since it was founded in 1976, and the club was so pleased with his performance that they again helped support him to Germany in 20 IS and. according to John "... we fully intend to continue to help him this year as well hopefully in F3. " This is a unique situation where a club comprising members with cars o f yesterday, are helping to support the career of a young if river of tomorrow.

Liam Lawson as a participant in Formula 4 in Australia. The familiar TACCOC roundel on the side of his car under the Jayco logo.

Liam himself came as a spectator at that December meeting, and was introduced to the drivers and officials at the Driver's Briefing. He was gracious and polite, happy to talk to anyone who took the time. And in his first ever race in this year’s Toyota Racing Series, he took a storming victory, leading home fellow kiwi Marcus Armstrong. He went on to win the TRS series and has since been signed on to the Red Bull Junior Team to contest Formula European Masters (FEM) with Motopark from Germany. He will also drive for the Dutch team MP Motorsport in the brand new Formula 3 series.

Lawson has been named as the Red Bull driver in the MP squad alongside local Richard Verschoor and young Finnish driver Simo Laaksonen. Both of his teammates have previous GP3 experience, the car replaced this year by the new halo-fitted version, and now called FIA F3.

"It was a massive surprise to be told I was racing in FIA F3 as well as the Masters, so

Autumn 2019 26 going to be an intense and very busy season, " said Lawson.

Liam at the moment of winning the TR5 series. This year's car has a much bigger and more prominent T ACCOC logo, dead centre on the top of the nose-cone.

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From the NZ Listener’s “Quips & Quotes" column, this brave piece from David Hill:

“We reached a tricky road junction and I asked the passenger seat, Anything coming on the left?' She replied 'No', so I started forward. At which point she added But there is on my side. ’ Incident Two was when we drove across Auckland to visit friends - old friends; at any rate they were by the time we arrived. I'd given Beth the map. At the first major intersection, I inquired, ‘Left or right?’ Silence, while two cars waited behind us. I asked again, 'Left or right?' More silence. Four cars. Then Beth replied. 'Yes.' Six cars and one horn. I concede that at this point, my voice may have risen a decibel. 'Which one?' Seven cars, two horns, one flashing of headlights. The navigator spoke again. 'Right. ’ I wrenched the steering wheel clockwise and we lurched off. Five seconds down the street, Beth gazed at the scenery, gazed at the map, and went, ‘Why are you going this way?' Incident Three? That was when we drove from Auckland to Taranaki. I’m

27 Autumn 2019 pleased to report that she got us from Auckland to Taranaki perfectly... via Rotorua. It still perplexes me. In a shopping mall, she unerringly locates the most expensive boutiques. She can instantly find the weak links in my argument. Yet hand her a map, show her an inch and she can't comprehend it's a mile. Male friends with a death wish say it's a gender thing. ”

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Robert Hubbard, inventor of the HANS device, which has saved the lives of countless racing drivers, has died aged 75. He was a Professor of Materials, Science and Mechanics whose invention, the HANS device, has changed motor racing forever.

Professor Robert Hubbard, inventor of the HANS device.

Hubbard developed the Head And Neck Support device with his brother-in-law, the Sports Car Championship driver Jim Downing, after realising that many deaths in racing crashes were due to fractures at the base of the skull. The HANS consists of a brace that extends from the neck upwards and down over the chest, preventing potentially lethal sudden head movements.

The catalyst was the death in 1981 of Downing's friend, Patrick Jacquemart, in a crash during testing. Downing asked Hubbard: “What can we do to prevent this?”

Hubbard, who was a professor of materials science and mechanics at Michigan State University until his retirement in 2006, conceived the HANS device in collaboration

Autumn 2019 28 with his brother-in-law and IMSA SportsCar Championship racer Jim Downing.

Although it took some time for their pioneering work to be accepted in racing, the HANS subsequently became compulsory in many categories.

Hubbard was closely involved in road safety long before he developed the HANS. He completed a PhD on the mechanical properties of the skull bone while working at the University of Michigan Highway Safety Research Institute.

In the 1970s he worked for General Motors, researching injuries and developing crash test dummies.

The HANS device was born when Downing and Hubbard realised that drivers were being killed in racing accidents because their heads were not restrained, which led to basilar skull fractures.

The loss of Downing's friend Patrick Jacquemart, who crashed his Renault 5 Turbo in testing at Mid-Ohio in 1981, was the driving force behind their quest for a solution. Their research was conducted on limited funds, with just a small business grant from the state of Michigan.

After some early experiments Hubbard filed a patent in 1985. and then Downing raced with a prototype Model 1 HANS for the first time at the IMSA season finale at Daytona in November '86.

Hubbard and Downing faced resistance, but they persisted and gradually honed their invention into something more practical than the bulky original. Pioneering sled testing conducted with fellow academic engineers at Wayne State University in Detroit ^ T 29 Autumn 2019 helped Hubbard compile research papers that formally demonstrated the value of the HANS device.

The first production example was sold in 1991, and as word of its potential spread, General Motors and later Ford contributed to ongoing research.

The deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix led to a renewed focus on safety in F1, and interest in the HANS device from Professor Sid Watkins and the FIA. Gerhard Berger tested a version at Ferrari as early as 1995.

Our recent tour of the South Island competing in the Southern Festival of Speed brought us to Invercargill. Outside the mam gates of the magnificent Queen's Park there is this larger-than-life bronze of Burt Munro. Local sculptor Roddy McMillan took two years to create it. Burt's face is shown as distorted by the airstream - this was the moment that saved his life, when he lifte d his head above the cowling to correct a dangerous fish-tailing that happened at 320 km/h on one of the runs at Bonneville, it acted as an air brake.

Bolstered by extensive testing by Mercedes engineer Hubert Gramling, who abandoned airbag research that he’d been conducting in conjunction with the FIA, the HANS device was officially adopted in F1 in 2003.

The HANS device had already become compulsory in Indycar, although at the time there was still resistance in other forms of motorsport. The death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500 would change that. The device already had a presence in NASCAR following a spate of recent accidents (several drivers were already using one at Daytona) but the loss of the biggest star in the series proved decisive. Downing would later recall that HANS device sales went from 250 at its inception to 3,000 sold by the end of that year.

Autumn 2019 30 It is impossible to know how many drivers in categories around the world owe their lives to the work conducted by Hubbard. No doubt many more will do so in years to come, and their survival will be Hubbard's ongoing legacy.

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Colonel Drake is credited with drilling the first-ever oil well in Titusville, PA in 1859. But nothing could be further from the truth. This may come as a surprise, but cavemen were the first oilwildcatters. They extracted and used oil. Archaeologists have uncovered tools used by Neanderthals dating back some 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals used oil from naturally occurring oil seeps to adhere stones to sticks.

As human society developed, so did the use of oil and natural gas. Around 3000 BC, man was using oil for the construction of buildings and waterproofing canoes, baskets, baths, and drains. In ancient Mesopotamia, natural asphalt was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon.

Around 1272, Marco Polo, while traveling through the city of Baku (Azerbaijan), witnessed oil seeps being worked in hand- dug wells. Natural gas was being used too. Around 1000 BC, a goat herdsman in Greece came across what looked like a burning stream at the top of Mount Parnassus. It was a flame rising from a crack in the rock. Most likely, a lightning strike ignited the natural gas.

The ancient Greeks, believing the flame to be of divine origin, built a temple around it. This temple housed a priestess, known as the Oracle of Delphi, who gave out vents; a p.ece of artistic whimsy included by the Prophecies she claimed were inspired by artist. The mouse's face is also shown as the flickering flame, distorted by the wind. Cute. But it wasn't until around 500 BC that natural gas was actually used as a valuable commodity. The Chinese would search to find where natural gas was naturally seeping out of the surface and, once they found a good seep spot, they built the first-known gas pipelines out of bamboo shoots. These were used to transport the gas to a giant fire under massive pots where they would boil sea water, separating the salt and making it potable water for drinking.

Fast-forward 2.000 years to 1821, when the first natural gas well was drilled in the

31 Autumn 2019 United States. William Hart drilled a 27-foot well in Fredonia, New York. How did he know where to drill? He asked the Native Americans who worshipped the naturally occurring gas flowing out of "burning creek."

One of the competitors in this Southern Festival series was Ralph Smith, driving the very historic Lycoming Special

Hart s success lead to the first-ever utility company in America, called the Fredonia Gas Light Company. And ever since, oil and gas companies have used the observation of naturally occurring seeps to find massive oilfields.

That's because typically, where you see a seep, you find a highly-pressurized reservoir below. The high quality oil is literally being pushed out of the ground. How did Colonel Drake know where to drill in Titusville? Well it was actually quite easy for him. Since Drake didn't have the technological advantages of satellite images or 3D seismic studies, he took the easiest path for discovering oil: He looked down at the ground.

Titusville is a small town that sits near a creek. The name of the creek? Oil Creek. For centuries, the Seneca tribe used the oil that seeped into the creek for many things, including cures for sickness. For the next 40 years after Drake struck oil. Pennsylvania would supply the world one-third of its oil.

Then came Spindletop in 1901. For years before the legendary Spindletop field was drilled in 1901, Texas residents had witnessed thousands of "tar balls" and miles-long oil slicks right off shore in the Gulf of Mexico. Spindletop quickly became the largest oilfield in America... larger than all of the previous oil fields in the U.S. combined.

And it occurs all around the world. The second-largest oilfield in the world - Kuwait's Burgan - was discovered by British geologists who observed hundreds of oil seeps at

Autumn 2019 32 the surface in 1912. To this day, oil seeps are spewing crude in deserts, mountains, rivers, and oceans. In fact, it's estimated that at least 100,000 barrels of oil a year seep out of the ground, naturally.

■ft,

Formula Juniors came from far and wide to compete in the series. This is part of the twenty-five-car FJ field going through Turns 1 A 2 at the Levels, in Timaru. Leading this group is Justin Fleming (UK)/Lola Mk 2, with Kim Shearn (Australia)/Lotus 18 lifting a wheel on the inside. They are followed by Paul Halford (NZ)//\utosud, Robin Lackford (UK)/Elva, Nigel Russell (NZ)/5tanguelini, Paul Rogers (NZ)/Lotus 20, Gary Langsford (NZ)/Elva and Norman Falkiner (Aust)/Stanguelmi

Of course, 100,000 barrels is peanuts compared to what producers are actually pumping out of the ground every single day in the United States. More than 9.4 million barrels, every day!

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The Porsche 917 is one of the most insane automotive creations ever dreamt up by humanity, offering a performance level that remains as impressive today as it was during the 1970s, when it dominated events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Nürburgring 1000 km.

Some iterations were tuned to deliver well over 1,000 horsepower, enabling them to rocket to 60 mph in under 3.0 seconds and attain speeds of more than 240 mph. Remember, this was back in the 1970s.

33 Autumn 2019 It was at the 1969 Geneva International Motor Show that the iconic race car was revealed to the world, and now, 50 years on, Porsche is celebrating the anniversary by restoring the first 917 made, car number 001 featuring a 4.5-liter flat-12 engine, to its

original glory.

The first car, which was the example shown at the Geneva debut, was never raced, serving instead as a presentation vehicle and development testbed under the guidance of legendary Porsche engineer Hans Mezger. As such, its development evolved considerably over the years. For example, in 1970, the car was converted into a short-tail version. It was also repainted on several occasions, typically to match Le Mans-winning examples of the 917,

All the modifications made to the car proved to be an extra challenge for Porsche's classic car team during the restoration process, as the goal with any official Porsche restoration is to preserve as much of the original materials as possible. Where new parts were needed, for example the front and rear fascias as well as the rear section of the aluminum space frame, the team relied on material analysis along with historical design drawings and photographs for authenticity.

You'll have the chance to see the completed car in person. It will be the star at the “Colours of Speed - 50 Years of the 917" exhibition Porsche is hosting at its official museum in Stuttgart, Germany. The exhibition will run from May 14 to September 15 and will also feature a concept envisioning a modern 917.

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And finally: The Ruapuna track is 3.3kms long; flat, featureless and very twisty. Hard to read for a

i r- Autumn 2019 34 newcomer, like me. I'd done a few practice laps, trying to get a feel for the circuit, but I was gradually starting to lean on it a bit. I came up behind a slower car, got past him in the middle of a corner and put my foot hard down, heading off on the final straight before the last corner. Suddenly the track turned sharp right. It wasn’t the last straight at all. I'd misread where I was on the circuit, completely failed to slow enough for the corner and shot off straight ahead onto the grass in a great cloud of dust. I bumped and clattered my way across the wilderness before I made it safely back onto the circuit and carried on, hugely embarrassed.

There was worse to come. The 20-minute practice session came to an end, I waved acknowledgement of the chequered flag and trundled round on my slowing down lap. The next thing I noticed was that I was running down the pit straight again! Where the hell’s the pit ‘In' road9 l’m now doing another lap on my own, apart from all the mod- sports saloons surrounding me on their warm-up lap. Finally into the final turn, where I spotted the pit exit, clearly signposted with a big “PIT EXIT’’ board on each side of the entrance. OK, the road did go off at right Guide to Fuse Replacement angles to the track, and there was a sharp right-angle left 3 5 0 a m p 1SOO a m p ^000 amp 100 .imp ?ü0 am GOO a m i (Audiovisual (Slow Blow) (Slow-Blow) turn once you’d Auto Alert) driven through the gap in the barrier to bring you back parallel with the circuit, but even so... : •'»Ï I w a s slightly consoled by Walter Findlay saying he’d 16 amp done exactly the same thing on his first visit here last year...

35 Autumn 2019 APRIL S u n d a y 14th Hampton Downs. Note date change. Promoted by the Auckland Car Club, but including races for any Formula Juniors that survived the South Island series Contact Michael Sexton [email protected] for updates SEPTEMBER W e e k e n d 13/15 V8 Supercars, Pukekohe

W e e k e n d 28/29 HRC Icebreaker - Hampton Downs www.grandprix.org.nz Entries on www.motorsportentry.com OCTOBER S u n d a y 6th TACCOC Spring Classic PUKEKOHE Unconfirmed date as yet

W e e k e n d 10/13 Bathurst V8 Supercars. NOVEMBER Weekend 15/17 MG Classic Race Meeting Manfeild DECEMBER S u n d a y 8th Outsource IT Christmas at the Downs - Hampton Downs - TACCOC event for Saloons & GTs - more information TBA

S u n d a y 22nd The Annual Breakfast Run. Traditionally the last Sunday before Xmas. Leaving Barry's Point Rd Countdown car park at 7.30am, and passing through Albany at 8am. For the last couple of years the run has returned to the "Salty Dog" at Algies Bay. They coped well with the large numbers attending this increasingly popular event, and had a nice atmosphere.

JANUARY■ ■ ■ — ■ ■ — - ■ — ^ 2020 Weekend 18119 Historic GP Taupo. This is developing into an even bigger event next year, and, as well as the F5000s, they are hopeful of a good field of pre-78 cars from the UK and USA. Plus Formula Junior fields, Historic Sports-Racing cars, Historic Muscle & Saloon Cars, Historic Sports Sedans, and Group A.

FEBRUARY W e e k e n d 8/9 Leadfoot Festival, Hahei, Coromandel Peninsula. www.LeadfootFestival.com

9 Autumn 2019 36 Jim Barclay President and Historic Registrar 476 1112 Roger Herrick MNZ Representative 418 0182 Joanie Barclay Social Convener 476 1112 Grant Clegg Treasurer 021 840 981 Jo Clegg Janice Holmes Secretary 478 6420 John Holmes Editor (e-mail: jholmes r/ groundskv.co.nz) 478 6420 Nick Little 817 3329 John Ure Chief Scrutineer 09 420 8444

All correspondence to P O Box 35-249, Browns Bay, Auckland 0753 Web Site: www.taccoc.co.nz i. J <3 lummer üp{» ^OPr »»i s