www.motoringclassics.co.uk www.bmh-ltd.com SUMMER 2017 AINTREE ANNIVERSARYTHE STORY OF VANWALL AND ITS HISTORIC VICTORY OF 1957 BLACK CABS GO PERFECT PAIR FULL CIRCLE PERIOD CARAVANS FOR CLASSIC CARS FROM ELECTRIC TO DIESEL POWER AND BACK AGAIN Dealer Spotlight 3 Aintree Anniversary 4-7 Missing Moniker 8 Classic Character 9 Perfect Pair 10-13 Classic Motorsport 14-15 Above: we believe the caravan in this wonderful Australian photo is an early Black Cabs Go Full Circle Caravan Park model. However, the identity of the tow car has us beaten - can 16-18 any readers come to the rescue? New News From BMH 19 If today’s Grand Prix drivers believe their This edition’s Missing Moniker is the rare Motoring Classics reproduction job is tough, they should reflect on the Swallow Doretti – a fine British sports in whole or any part of any text, photograph or illustration without grimy faces peering from our front cover car that enjoyed a bright future until written permission of the publisher - those of Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks becoming the innocent victim of is strictly prohibited. The publish- after heroically battling their way to the industrial politics. Our Dealer Spotlight er makes every effort to ensure first ever World Championship victory column is this time devoted to the the magazine’s contents are correct by British drivers in a British car - the world’s largest supplier of replacement 2 but can accept no responsibility Vanwall. In this issue we pay homage to parts for many favourite British classics for any effects from errors the 60th anniversary of this milestone win – Moss Motors. Read how it supports or omissions. at Aintree in 1957, and the other major our pastime in many ways over and achievements surrounding the Vanwall above its 30,000-strong inventory of NB Motoring Classics is the printed marque. Of course, Sir Stirling Moss’s spares. Lastly, if you’re into historic and online publication of British Motor Heritage and its retail trading arm. story as arguably the best driver never racing make sure you read our piece to win the World Championship is well about the new Equipe Classic Racing 3 Publisher: known, but that of his sister Pat who, like Hour relay race, as we’ve a hunch it’s British Motor Heritage Limited, Stirling, was a skilled horse rider before going to be a very popular addition to Range Road, Cotswold Business becoming a champion driver, may well the competition calendar. Park, Witney OX29 OYB, UK surprise a few of our readers – see page 9. Tel: +44 (0)1993 707200 Enjoy! Email: [email protected] It seems the latest must-have accessory for some classic car owners is a Editorial: matching caravan, so we take a look at Gordon Bruce Associates this rapidly-expanding off-shoot of our Email: [email protected] Web: www.gordonbruce.com hobby, and see who else is investing in these old mobile homes. The (not always) Gordon Bruce Design and production: black cab is as iconic a sign of London Editor Flipside Group as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and www.flipsidegroup.com in this issue we trace its history and learn how it’s currently returning to its electrically-powered roots. Follow us on: The 6 tonne bronze elephant that featured on @MotoringClassic our previous front cover caused quite a stir. We’ve since learnt from its skilled creator, Mark Motoring Classics Coreth, that it was commissioned for the wife of Kerry Packer, the Australian media tycoon TONY BROOKS AND STIRLING MOSS LOOKING and founder of World Series Cricket - our photo shows the beast now enjoying life in the Antipodean sun. The original from which it was cast now resides in Mark’s undoubtedly cooler UK garden, where it apparently serves as a waypoint for passing aircraft. COVER PHOTO: AINTREE - AFTER THEIR HISTORIC 1957 WIN AT ECSTATIC SUITABLY 4-7 (IMAGE COURTESY OF PA) SEE PAGES www.motoringclassics.co.uk www.bmh-ltd.com MOSS MOTORS 3 Unless they reside on Mars, few views - they range from enchanting great British sports cars of the ‘60s, 3 enthusiasts of the most popular customer tales to comparing the and a number of Moss customers have classic British sports cars will merits of standard and modified them as bedfellows to an MGB, TR or be unaware of Moss Motors, by camshafts. It lobbies on behalf of the Healey. The company therefore holds far the world’s largest supplier fraternity and works hand-in-glove with spares for these alongside its inventory of spares for these increasingly complementary partners to maximise of replacement parts for MGs, Austin- sought-after vehicles – it stocks its offering to enthusiasts everywhere. Healeys, Triumphs, Jaguars and classic c.30,000 different components, It organises a regular gathering of Minis. Moss is perhaps unique among has outlets in the US, UK and classic British sports cars at its classic car suppliers in having been France, and employs 250 staff. 112,000 sq ft facility near Richmond, on an upswing since its foundation What many may not appreciate, Virginia – the Moss Motorfest - to which almost 70 years ago and, despite the however, is just how seriously the some 1,000 devotees are expected prediction of the doomsayers, believes company treats its position in the this June 2. This will also feature the the ageing ownership is being, and classic car scene, and how deep unveiling of the Moss-funded ‘British will continue to be, replaced by fresh its commitment is to preserving Sports Car Hall of Fame’, into which generations. The future certainly looks the vehicles and optimising no less than 23 automotive celebrities bright from Moss’s standpoint and the the enjoyment of their owners. will be inducted, from Donald Healey company is doing everything it can to CBE to Sir Stirling Moss OBE. ensure the same goes for its thousands When original parts supplies terminate, of classic British car customers Moss sources replacements from The Mazda MX5 is generally considered spread around the globe. More somewhere in the world – ‘Antarctica to be the spiritual successor to the detail at www.mossmotors.com. is about the only continent we don’t commission items from’! It is constantly developing uprated products to enhance the ownership proposition, eg: fuel system components to help overcome the ravages of ethanol (the US already has E15 to contend with); braking items that heighten safety; superior lighting for added visibility; better driveability courtesy of improved engine performance. Moss TV has an inventory of c.200 videos that have clocked up 9 million www.motoringclassics.co.uk www.bmh-ltd.com AINTREE ANNIVERSARY 60 years ago Moss & Brooks created history for Britain & Vanwall British Grand Prix drivers have scored many Formula One victories since the series’ inception in 1950, but that at Aintree on July 20, 1957 remains one of the most notable. It was when Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks became the first British drivers to win a World Championship event in a British-built car. They also became the last to share such a victory. We take a peek at the long-expired racing marque which made their achievements possible – Vanwall. 4 www.motoringclassics.co.uk www.bmh-ltd.com ANNIVERSARY For many years after WWII, the UK was experience an already proven car, and to engines on a common crank were 5 largely an irrelevance at the pinnacle that end purchased a V12 Ferrari. The the perfect basis of a racing four- of motorsport, where the best chance proviso was that it would run as the Thin cylinder unit. It fell to Norton’s Polish of victory was at the wheel of an Alfa Wall Special, thereby publicising the Thin engine guru Leo Kuzmicki to create Romeo, Maserati or Ferrari – the scene Wall engine bearings manufactured by such a masterpiece, complete with was a sea of red. Connaught appeared his company, Vandervell Products. This common water jacket, cylinder head over the horizon in 1952 and, though was the first of ultimately four Ferrari- and valve train, and quartet of AMAL they never won a championship race, based racers to bear the Thin Wall name, carburettors. The result was mounted did produce the Type B model that each benefiting from more in-house on an alloy replica of Rolls-Royce’s carried Tony Brooks to an historic win development than its predecessor. military grade B-40 crankcase. For the in the non-championship 1955 Syracuse However, along the way Vandervell chassis, Vandervell turned to the Cooper Grand Prix - the first by a British driver became more interested in creating his Car Company, whose designer Owen in a British car since Henry Seagrave’s own car to beat Ferrari than providing Maddock penned a conventional frame to success aboard a Sunbeam at the support for the ever-floundering BRM accept the new engine and Ferrari-style 1923 French Grand Prix. British Racing programme, and they parted company. suspension, steering and transmission, Motors (BRM) had taken to the track a Though the Thin Walls enjoyed success in plus Goodyear disc brakes. The cooling couple of years before Connaught, but home races, becoming a major thorn in system initially focused around a its complex, under-funded V16-powered the side of the V16 BRMs in the process, Clayton-Still wire-wound tube radiator, cars were unreliable and no match for it was international acclaim Vandervell that was mounted above the car’s nose their foreign opposition. craved, so decided to construct his own in order to channel heat away from the contender for the 2-litre unsupercharged carburettors; an unorthodox approach THE ERA OF THE THIN World Championship regulations that was short-lived.