Gateway Relay

Vol VI, No. 11 St Louis Sports Car Council September 2017

Council News & Notes Up & Coming 26 Aug 17 – JAGSL Do-Nuthing But Show-Up Picnic. At Pere Marquette State  Okay, okay, for the first time in Park, with drive before the picnic meeting at noon. Watch for final details in the three or so issues, we won’t open August Growl and monitor www.jagstl.com, or call Allan Ellis at (314)229-9610 for with commentary on the summer more information. weather (having said that, we’ll note that as this issue goes to 26 Aug 17—Gateway Cars & Coffee, at Gateway Classic Cars, 1237 Central Park press, Hurricane Harvey just went Dr, O’Fallon, IL, 9 AM-12 noon, pastries and coffee provided by Dunkin’ Donuts. ashore near Rockport, Texas). For information call (618)589-9952 or call up www.gatewayclassicars.com.  If the editorial staff was going to 27 Aug 17—SLTOA Aces & Eights Poker Run. Starts at the Chesterfield Mall mention the weather, the com- south parking lot opposite Sears, plan on a scenic, winding country drive with stops mentary might focus on the great to pick up your cards, $5 per entry. The drive ends with a picnic at Ferris Park in forecast for the weekend of 26-27 Ballwin, awards for best hand and worst hand plus a hard luck award. Open to all August. Go figure, once again clubs/cars; final details TBA, in the meantime please RSVP via there are plenty of activities for www.surveymonkey.com/r/7FDMR6D and monitor www.sltoa.org. the members of the seven affiliat- —St Louis Chapter BMWCCA . Meet at A&G ed StLSCC clubs (details at the 27 Aug 17 Summer Driving Tour right, as always) Auto Spa, 2352 Centerline Industrial Dr (north of Page Ave, west of Schuetz Rd), at 8:30 AM, cars will depart at 9:30.  Also, as you’ll see inside, a mix of 27 Aug 17— St Louis Region SCCA Autocross No. 6, Gateway Motorsports Park. more opportunities running into Info at www.stlsolo.org. October, including a rather unique one: The Fin Man has put togeth- 1 Sept 17—Memories Car Club Monthly Cruise – aka “The Zoo” – at Faith er another bus tour and it looks Church, 13001 Gravois Rd, Sunset Hills, 4-9:30 PM. Held the first Friday of each like a winner. Details including month through October for cars 1979 and older; door prizes, please bring a canned sign-up information is available good item for the church’s food pantry. on page 6. 1 Sept 17—Friday Nights at the Sonic, 1002 S Kirkwood (Kirkwood & Big Bend),  Finally, we note that one club in every Friday from 14 April through 29 September. Sponsored by The ‘Stang Gang, particular set its sights high (very 5-9 PM, manager’s choice award every show. All makes/years/models welcome! high) on the 21st. The photos are 2 Sept 17—Cars & Coffee-O’Fallon, SunRise UMC, 7116 Twin Chimneys Blvd, in the lower half of page 8. O’Fallon, MO, 8-10 AM.  Fall and winter are still a ways off 3 Sept 17—SLICK Car Show, hosted by the St Louis Independent Car Klub and the (spoiler alert: this year’s Farmer’s Harvester Lions Club, at 4835 Central School Rd, St Charles. Registration 8 AM- Almanac predicts a rough winter, noon, $20 per car, multiple classes, raffle, 50/50, music. All proceeds go to Back- particularly between January and stoppers, in support of police and firemen and their families. Awards at 3 PM, for March). Get those cars out and information call Rick (636)485-9113 (rain date 10 September). drive ‘em while you can.

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Note: Some club events restrict participation to club members only, primarily for national/chapter insurance reasons. If interested in joining in on a drive or other event, we recommend you contact the club’s event coordinator in advance for details.

In Print Plenty of BMW content in the July/August Vintage Motorsport and September Clas- sic Motorsports. VM offers a feature article on the “little engine that could,” the BMW Neue Klasse 1.5L four-cylinder which provided the basis for the M12 engine which powered Nelson Piquet’s Brabham BT-52/52B to the 1983 Formula 1 championship. Also, a short article on a particularly short lived sports car dealership in Dallas which sold Austin Healeys, Jaguars and MGs, among other vehicles. The owners? Car- roll Shelby and Dick Hall, brother of Chaparral’s Jim Hall.

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Up & Coming (Continued from page 1)

9 Sept 17—Gateway VCOA Annual Mid-State Meet Up, with the Heart of America (KC) Chapter; guided tour of the old Mis- souri State Penitentiary ($15 per person), Jefferson City, followed by lunch at Canterbury Hill Winery. More details to fol- low, monitor https://sites.google.com/site/gatewayvcoa/. 9 Sept 17—Cars & Coffee-Chesterfield, The Place, 600 Spirit Valley East Dr, 9 AM-Noon. 9 Sept 17—Troy Fire Department Car Show on the Lake, hosted by the Piston Pushers Car Club and sponsored by the Troy/Maryville/St Jacob/ Marine Chamber of Commerce. Runs 10 AM-3 PM, entry $10, awards at 2:30 PM, dash plaques, live music, food and drinks, benefits first responders. Event at Troy Township Park, 410 Wickliffe, info [email protected]. 10 Sept 17—BSCC Autocross No. 6. Family Arena, show around 9:30 AM, six runs for $35. Contact Racer Steve at [email protected] for info or to get on the emailing list. 10 Sept 17—Cars & Coffee-Gateway, Gateway Motorsports Park, 12-3 PM. 10 Sept 17—21st Annual Walter F. Phillips Memorial Old Cars Against Cancer Wheels in Motion Day, Westport Plaza, 9 AM-4 PM rain or shine, sponsored by First Capitol Classics. Registration $20, first 150 receive dash plaque, all proceeds go to the National Children’s Cancer Society. Food and live entertainment including Memories of Elvis. For info call Al Mercer (636)928-8672 or Elliott Cytron (314)878-0534. 16 Sept 17—Cars & Coffee-Westport, at Westport Plaza, 8-11 AM. Info at http://carsandcoffeestl.org. 16 Sept 17—Rods on the River, at the Polestar Marina, 6171 Hwy V, north St Charles County. Registration 8 AM-noon, $20 per car, awards at 3 PM. No classes, top 90 cars receive trophies, all cars get a dash plaque, proceeds benefit the Children’s Hospital of St Louis. 17 Sept 17—39th Annual Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri Swap Meet & Car Show, at Hollywood Casino, 777 Casino Drive, Maryland Heights. Call up the details and registration information online at www.hccmo.com. 17 Sept 17—Shriners Benefit Car Show, 9 AM-4 PM, Moolah Shrine Center, 12545 Fee Fee Rd, sponsored by the Gate- way Buick Club of America. $15 to show, $20 for judged vehicles, first 200 cars receive goodie bag. All makes and models welcome, event proceeds benefit the Shriners Hospital for Children. 22 Sept 17—All British Car & Cycle Show BBQ, sponsored by All British Car Repair, 5 PM until dark, Creve Coeur Lake Park at the show location. Grilled burgers, brats, hot dogs w/all the trimmings and soft drinks. Join us for an evening of food, fun, friends and cars; please bring sides/drinks and chairs. 23 Sept 17—36th Annual St Louis All British Car & Cycle Show, hosted by the MG Club of St Louis at Creve Coeur Lake Park, food concession by the St Louis Triumph Owners Association. This year’s featured vehicles are the Austin- Healey Sprite and MG Midget. Show field opens at 9 AM with registration through 12 noon, awards at 3 PM. More info and online registration available at https://allbritishcarshow.com, also check Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ StLouisAllBritishCarShow/. 23 Sept 17—Our Pet Project: Pet-Named Cars (Jaguars, Beetles, Vipers, Mustangs and More). Space limited $30 entry fee, Top Dog Awards given. At the Museum of Transportation, 2933 Barrett Station Rd, for application email [email protected]. 24 Sept 17— St Louis Region SCCA Autocross No. 7, Family Arena, St Charles. Info at www.stlsolo.org. 24 Sept 17—31st Annual Antique Car Show, hosted by First Capital Classics Auto Club in association with Oktoberfest, on Main Street in St Charles. For stock vehicles 25 years or older, 9 AM to 4:30 PM, rain or shine. $20 entry fee, cars in place by 12 noon, dash plaques for the first 150 cars, three trophies in each class plus Best of Show for pre-WWII and post-WWII. Classes include Foreign Car 1900-1992 and Foreign Sports Car 1900-1992. For info call Al Mercer (636)928-8672 or Elliott Cytron (314)878-0534. 30 Sept 17—Gateway Cars & Coffee, at Gateway Classic Cars, 1237 Central Park Dr, O’Fallon, IL, 9 AM-12 noon, pastries and coffee provided by Dunkin’ Donuts. For information call (618)589-9952 or call up www.gatewayclassicars.com. 1 Oct 17— St Louis Region SCCA Autocross No. 8, Family Arena, St Charles. Info at www.stlsolo.org. 6 Oct 17—Last Memories Car Club Monthly Cruise – aka “The Zoo” – of the season, at Faith Church, 13001 Gravois Rd, Sunset Hills, 4-9:30 PM. Held the first Friday of each month through October for cars 1979 and older; door prizes, please bring a canned good item for the church’s food pantry. 7 Oct 17—Annual Jaguar Association of Greater St Louis Concours d’Elegance, at Bishop’s Post, 16125 Chester- field Parkway West. Details TBA, monitor www.jagstl.com and the online Growl. 7 Oct 17—Cars & Coffee-O’Fallon, SunRise UMC, 7116 Twin Chimneys Blvd, O’Fallon, MO, 8-10 AM. 8 Oct 17—BSCC Autocross No. 7. Family Arena, show around 9:30 AM, six runs for $35. Contact Racer Steve at [email protected] for info or to get on the emailing list. 8 Oct 17—Misfit Car Show, Museum of Transportation, 2933 Barrett Station Rd, 11 AM-3:30 PM. Monitor http:// transportmuseumassociation.org/event/. 8 Oct 17—Cars & Coffee-Gateway, Gateway Motorsports Park, 12-3 PM.

St Louis Car Shows and Cruises: http://clubs.hemmings.com/lakerscarclub

Roadwork—Chop-Top Swede: the Volvo 262C

We gather today to sing praises of the mighty “Brick,” the rope, and Bertone expressed great interest in the pro- Volvo 140/240 series cars, which solidly moved the corpora- ject. tion into an era of modern styling (well, the cars were boxy compared to the previous PV655 and 122, hence the “brick” nickname) and an increased awareness of vehicle safety. The highly successful 140 model replaced the 122 “Amazon” in 1966 and was, in turn, replaced in 1974 by the 240-series, which incorporated the federally mandated 5 mph bumpers fore and aft, the new 2.1L SOHC B21 engine, Mac- Pherson struts up front and rack and pinion steering. The 240s proved particularly popular, with Volvo turning out 2,685,171 cars during the type’s production run, including the Personal luxury: the Lincoln Continental MkIV. Long hood, short rear 244 sedan and 245 wagon. deck, low top with vinyl and opera roof and 4000 lbs of road-hugging The company also of- weight. Source: Ford Motor Company fered a slightly upscale, more powerful variant: Bertone, founded in Turin, Italy, in 1912 by Giovanni Bertone, the V6-powered 264, held a lengthy portfolio including the Alfa Romeo BAT series, which replaced the 164 the 1954 Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint, 1965 Fiat 850 Spider, sedan. The car featured 1966 Lamborghini P400 Miura, 1967 Fiat Dino Coupe, 1970 a 2.7L Peugeot-Renault- Alfa Romeo Montreal, 1970 Lancia Stratos, 1972 Fiat X1/9 and Volvo engine built in 1972 Lamborghini Countach, plus a substantial number of Douvrin, France, desig- show cars such as the Alfa Romeo 33-based Carabo and the nated the B27E, which Lamborghini Marzal. Bertone looked at Willsgaard’s designs produced 127bhp, could and agreed to do the final assembly and production of the new get the car to 110 mph vehicle. and do 0-60 in 11.4 sec- onds (not that many peo- For the fabrication of the prototype for the new luxury coupe, ple bought Volvos for the company sent a 164 to Coggiola Carrozziere Srl in Turin, their 0-60 time). Trans- Italy. Founder/designer Sergio Coggiola, who had previously mission options included designed the Saab Sonett III and proposed Volvo P1800ESC a Borg Warner three- 2+2, took the four-door and turned it into a chop-top two-door. speed automatic with Volvo took Coggiola’s work, applied the styling and mechanical Volvo’s 1976 brochure featured the optional electronically- changes to the 262 sedan, and created the 262C. The compa- 264 and 265 on its cover. Source: activated overdrive. In- ny shipped the basic vehicle body parts and running gear to Volvo side the car, somewhat Turin and Bertone took it from there, adding the lower roof and upscale furnishings and rear body parts. trim, while a more formal grill – appropriate for a more power- The 262C debuted at the March 1977 ful, “luxury” Volvo – dominated the front end. In 1975, the Geneva Motor Show (more formally, company added the 265 model, its first six-cylinder wagon. Salon International de l’Aut0o, alongside The brand’s enthusiasts the new cars, which provided safety, the Porsche 928, Ferrari 308 GTB dependability and comfort at a slightly higher level of luxury. Millechiodi, Mercedes-Benz W123C and However, corporate leadership felt the 262/264/265 didn’t a number of other cars. Offered only in provide enough. Believing Volvo still needed a top-of-the-line silver metallic paint with a black vinyl standout vehicle – particularly following the 1973 demise of roof, the car caused a stir with that solid, the 1800ES, CEO Pehr G. Gyllenhammer direct his designers squarish Volvo body topped by a and engineers to come up with something unique, for the luxu- chopped, angular vinyl-clad (very 70s!) ry end of the market vice sportiness. Using a 262 as the basis roof 3 inches lower than standard. Be- for the new vehicle, chief designer Jan Willsgaard did up some cause of the lowered top, the windshield initial styling proposals, fairly straightforward but with one was raked at a steeper angle and the unique feature: a lowered roofline, inferring “upscale.” four seats were placed closer to the floor. The interior was described as “extravagant,” ie, leather According to Hemmings’ Mark McCourt, Willsgaard actually everywhere, got his inspiration from the Lincoln Continental Mk IV. including on McCourt related a story by former Volvo marketing communi- the door pan- cations director Bob Austin, who said the corporation’s tour of els. The a brand new plant – where assembly line workers put the cars prospective together in teams, vice the traditional assembly line with indi- owner could vidual stations for each component – resulted in the following: look forward ….in the mid-1970s, an American industrialist entou- to cruising in rage lead by Henry Ford II traveled to Sweden to in- full luxury, spect the factory…When they arrived, they brought with power over a number of cars to drive, all two-door Lincoln windows, Mark coupes with low roofs and wide C-pillars. Ameri- mirrors and can cars were rare in Sweden, and they caught the door locks, attention of people both inside and outside of Volvo. alloy wheels, We wanted to build a car like that, but we knew it would deep pile have to be done off-line and that the tooling costs carpeting, A person could get used to this kind of driving envi- ronment: the 262C interior. Source: Fastlane Mo- would be too much. Our people were talking to the cruise con- tors. people at Carrozzeria Bertone at an auto show in Eu- (Continued on page 4)

XJ13 (Continued from page 3) Sad to say, while Coggiola Carrozziere remains in business, the famed Bertone design house rang down the curtain and trol, air conditioning and heated front seats. The 262C even joined the choir invisible in March 2014. However, the family had a carpeted trunk. retained the rights to the Bertone name, which was licensed to a new Milanese company named – appropriately – Bertone The 262C went on sale in Design. Led by former Giugiaro Design general director Aldo the states for $14,700, Cingolani, Bertone Design is carrying on, offering design ser- about the same price for a vices for a wide range of products. BMW 5-series and, interest- ingly enough, more expen- As for 262Cs, nowadays they are fairly rare and therefore sive than a Cadillac Eldora- will stand out at Cars & Coffee or any gathering of Volvos. The do. The car did well – it well prototype is now in the Volvo collection in Gothenburg; other- exceeded sales projections wise, one has to monitor the collectible car pages for possible – with 6622 cars sold acquisitions. A recent recent search of Hemmings turned up through 1981. Of these, two for sale: one in Waalwijk, Netherlands (okay, so some trav- roughly half were sold in the US. After the first year Vol- vo offered additional covers and towards the end or production, the vinyl top disap- peared. Solaire produced a convertible version for Volvo Cars of North America, five examples only. CEO Pehr Gyllenhammar had a spe- Source: Volvo Cars North America cial model built, all in red including the interior, with the V6 replaced by the four-cylinder B21ET turbo engine. In 1981, its last year of production, the engine gained three horsepower through a displacement increase to 2.8L and a higher 8.8:1 compression ratio. As described by the Volvo The Columbia, SC, 262C. Photo via Hemmings. Club of America, when production ended, the cars were al- ready collectables. VCOA also noted that while the 262C’s el’s involved), 130,000 km, $26,200. The other was a tad clos- immediate predecessor, the 240, remained in production er, in Columbia, South Carolina. The car $12,000 obo, manual through 1993, the company didn’t turn out another luxury transmission, just under 85,000 miles. coupe until 1986’s 780…designed and built by Carrozzeria Bertone. Again, it’s unique and due to the low production figures and rather striking styling, it is considered a collectable. Honest Finally, as a side note, no evidence or documentation exists John Classics rated the car this way: “Volvo and Bertone was indicating someone/anyone ever modified and raced a 262C an unlikely double act – and their first offering clearly showed (hey, the Relay motorsports staff always look for a racing con- that this unnatural pairing was capable of producing some very nection for the cars in the monthly feature article). With the idiosyncratic products. But the 262C was a bold and interest- lower roof line, the car was arguably more aerodynamic than ing product that’s worthy of praise, even if it was rather a long the 240; then again, the word “aerodynamic” usually never way removed from attractive.” came into consideration when describing the classic Volvo “brick.” Jan Ellemann Jakobsen did race a standard-roof 262 in the 1986 and 1987 Grand Prix Danmark, placing 19th the Sources: Mark J McCourt, “40 Years of Volvo’s 240,” Hem- 1986 event. Han Christian Jurgensen took that race, held at mings, 25 August 2014; Eric Rood, “The Greatest 24 Hours of Jyllandsringen near Silkeborg, in a BMW M1. LeMons Cars of All Time,” Roadkill, 27 December 2015; Patrick But the chop-top? Naaah… George, “Famed Italian Design House Bertone Officially Bank- rupt,” Jalopnik, 7 October 2014; “Bertone History,” Unique Cars Actually, there was one exception. At the 2015 24 Hours of and Parts, n.d.; “Volvo 262C turns 40: 5 things you should LeMons season – where teams were limited to a $500 invest- know about this classic coupe,” Wheels24, 13 March 2017; ment in their cars and craziness reigned – Team Vermont Bert “Name That Shifter, No. 201: 1979 Volvo 262C, Car & Driver, One ran a suitably modified 262C. According to one report, 22 October 2014; Mark J. McCourt, “Volvo 262C Bertone the team replaced the V6 with a slant-four Volvo B21 engine Coupe,” Hemmings, January 2006; “Classic Car Reviews: Vol- (subsequently turbocharged) and managed to race all over the vo 262C (1978-1981), Honest John Classics, 22 January 2014; country, scoring a win in South Carolina. Frank Kosarek, “1981 Volvo 262 C Bertone Coupe (Rare Find),” The Fast Lane, 27 July 2014; Racing Sports Cars; “Volvo Cars Production Statistics,” The Volvo Owners’ Club, www.volvoclub.org.uk.

Side note: if you’re looking for some hilarity, call up the Road- kill article at http://www.roadkill.com/greatest-24-hours-lemons- cars-time/. Other makes (some actually recognizable) listed as “the best” included an Austin America; a somewhat modified BMW 635CSi (hint: it now looks like Richard Petty’s No. 43 Plymouth Superbird…sort of); BMW 5-series; a BMW E30/ Mazda Miata mashup; Humber Super Snipe; another kit-bash project, this time involving a Volvo 240 and ’57 Chevy, aka the “Chevolvo,” natch; a BMW refitted with a Chrysler slant-6; MGB; Hillman Imp; another BMW, this time consolidated with a

The Team Vermont Bert One racing 262C. Photo by Lurilee (Continued on page 5) Martin. 4

Featured Events Jaguar Association of Greater St Louis Birthday Party 16 July 2017

We only received a couple of photos from this event, but this one works just fine. JAGSL always excels at putting on classy events (Photo by John Testrake)

USO Benefit Show 28 Jul 2017

Side Note (Continued from page 4)

Ford Ranchero (seriously…); Rover SD1; a Geo Metro with BMW 6 fitted (somehow…); Austin Mini Moke; BMW 320i; a Volvo 740 modified to resemble, well, a birthday cake; Mercedes 170 w/MG 1.8L engine; a first generation Corvair with Jaguar XJ6 running gear; and, a racing variant of the legendary Family Truckster. 5

Featured Events—continued Cars & Coffee-Gateway Classic Cars 29 July 2017

Photos by Matthew Johnson

SLTOA Winery Drive 5 August 2017

Photos by Steve Moore

Join fellow car enthusiasts for a luxury coach tour of MotoeXotica, Precision Restorations, lunch at Miss Sheri’s Cafeteria and wine and spirits tasting at Randall’s. Pickup North: Park’n’ride lot at I-270 and Lilac Ave, board at 8 AM Pickup South: east commuter lot at I-270 and Gravois, board at 9 AM. Cost: $65 per person. Make your check out to The Fin Man and mail to The Fin Man, c/o StL Post-Dispatch, 900 N Tucker Blvd, St Lou- is, 63101. Or pay with credit card by calling (314)327-3467. Seating limited, get your order in NOW so you can join us!

Featured Events continued Cars & Coffee—Westport 19 August 2017

Photos by Andrew Ackerman

St Louis Metro Police Benefit Show The Muny, 19 August 2017

Photo by A. Ackerman

In Print (Continued from page 1)

Over at CM, an article covers small-bore sedan racing, with emphasis on the Under 2.5L Trans Am series and SCCA B Sedan racing, featuring – among others – BMW 2002s and the occasional Triumph and Volvo 122. Other articles compare the MG T- series cars (TC, TD and TF) and provide a buyer’s guide for the original Mini. In magazines from across the pond, an article on a surviving Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite appears in the August Octane. Classic & Sports Car, same month, has a cover article on the prototype aluminum-bodied, right-hand-drive 100, including a test drive (“It looks spot-on in Healey ice blue. It’s poised lines urging you to have a go”). Elsewhere, a buyers guide to the BMW E30 3-Series and an article on the restored Lumsden-Sargent low-drag E-Type, which managed 174 on the Mulsanne Straight during the 1964 Le Mans 24-Hour. Finally, September’s Car & Driver is the annual new car issue. Alphabetically, there is information on BMW’s offerings including the new M550i xDrive (twin-turbo 4.4L V8, 456hp); the X2; the upcoming third-gen X3 and new X7; and the new 8-series/M8. For Jaguar, there’s the upcoming E-Pace compact and planned all-electric I-Pace, due in late 2018. Also, Jaguar’s about to start importing XF Sportbrakes (ie, station wagons). Over at Volvo, the S90’s been stretched nearly five inches for 2018, plus there’s info on the new XC40 and XC60. The latter gets a one-page first drive article (“Designer-chic and luxurious, the XC60 distills the XC90’s winning formula into a mid-size package).

Featured Events—continued St Louis Autocross Association Events 3 & 4—20 August 2017

MG Club of St Louis Eclipse Party 21August 2017 Photos by Andrew Ackerman