Author: Harlo

Categories
Gear

Looking the Part: OMP’s New Vintage Line

It looks like there are more and more options for the vintage racer that doesn’t want to look like a NASCAR driver in the pits. OMP has renewed their vintage offerings with a line of excellent FIA compliant, fire-resistant garments worthy of your vintage racing car. They look absolutely brilliant and offer another good alternative to Dunlop Blues (always a good choice).

Their Vintage Superleggera one piece suit is three layers of, as the name suggests, very lightweight knitted material weighing only 280 grams per square meter. Race suits that look tasteful are always hard to find. And always expensive. I’m glad to see more companies entering the vintage market. It was only a few years ago that the only option for vintage-styled race suits were small boutique tailors that made suits of excellent quality, but at extremely high prices. While I’m a bit mixed on yielding the entire market to the mass producers of the world, I am glad to see some price competition from the likes of larger producers like OMP and Sparco.

The boots in the new line are, arguably, the real highlight of the group. Although we’ve looked at vintage-styled offerings from Puma in the past, and Piloti offers race boots that don’t interfere too much with a vintage aesthetic, these Carrera boots look almost as if Jim Clark just kicked them off.

I find it amazing (and disappointing) that ‘super obnoxious colors’ has become such a shorthand for “racing” that we have to commend racewear makers for their restraint in choosing the simple, streamlined, unadorned lines that have been the hallmark or motosport since its inception. That’s always been the point, strip away the unnecessary; yank off the bumpers, remove the chrome strips — this is the defining characteristic of racing aesthetic. The Carrera boots are an excellent example of extending this philosophy.

Categories
Classic Sportscar

Eric’s Brilliant Merlyn Formula Ford Restoration

Eric's Merlyn: Finished.

My dear friend Eric Dean spent his winter restoring his Merlyn Formula Ford and it looks absolutely marvelous. The car wasn’t in desperate need of the full restoration job either, and I swear I left it in as good a shape as I got it when he graciously let me squeeze behind the wheel for a few laps of Road America last fall. Compare the photo from my post on that weekend with the series of photos below. They tell the tale better than I ever could of the quality of his craftsmanship in a restoration project that saw every hole in the frame patched and ground down, powdercoated, supplied with new hardware from nose to tail, and meticulously prepared. I must admit I was nervous about his livery choice until I saw these photos of the tremendous quality of the paint, which looks much more like a perfectly preserved 30-year-old paint job than it does a new respray.

Enough of my rambling, I’ll let the photos tell the story. I think it’s absolutely perfect. Something tells me Eric won’t be so quick to hand over the wheel this year, nor should he. Congratulations, Eric, on a job very well done.

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Porsche Video

Porsche 917s on the Street

“Honey, will you run up to the gas station and pick me up some soda?“
“Sure thing, dear, let me just get my nomex on.“

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Video

Elkhart Lake 1957

Thankfully, more and more old home racing movies are being pushed onto YouTube. This time, it’s a double whammy of some early Road America laps and a hillclimb in Rockford, IL. We also get a little time under the hood with a favorite of mine, the Austin-Healey 100.

Categories
Racing Ephemera

Hackett’s Aston Martin Racing Line

If this jacket didn’t have the modern Aston-Martin logo on it, I’d already be wearing it. It’s dead solid perfect. Even more than Shell’s Magic of Motoring collection, this year’s clothing collection that classic British menswear label Hackett has created for Aston Martin’s LeMans effort embodies the kind of vintage-racing inspired clothing I’d like to see more of. The Aston Martin Racing Motoplan Jacket is available from Hackett’s online store for £300 alongside the rest of their Aston-Martin line.

The 59 on the chest, of course, commemorates Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvatori’s surprise victory for Aston-Martin in 1959 behind the wheel of a DBR1. This year, Aston is hoping to take outright victory again, and with Audi heavily scaling back it’s racing effort this year, it’ll be their best chance yet.

via

Categories
Classic Sportscar For Sale

Available in Germany: Graham Hill’s Lotus 11

Often when you say that a car is ex-racing driver it means that a driver of some note once piloted the machine. By that definition, this is certainly an Ex-Graham Hill. Very rarely however, can that same term be used to describe both the driver and the builder of a racing car. But that, amazingly, is the case with this very special Lotus 11. Graham Hill built this car with his own hands from a Colin Chapman supplied kit in April and May of 1956.

Hill was an employee of Chapman’s at the time, toiling by day at Lotus Engineering as a mechanic in order to stay close to the racing scene he loved so dearly. Hill had been racing for some time by ’56, but lacked the funds to keep a car together on his own. Taking a day job at Lotus was a great way to be in earshot of an opportunity at some seat time. And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Old Colin Chapman kept Hill on for the very same reason.

Hill campaigned this Lotus 11 in the Autosport Production series as a works car. Chapman provided the kit, but maintained sufficient ownership of the car for her to run as a works machine: making this a very busy 11 indeed. Hill put her on the podium 9 times in ’56, winning 4 races (Hill must’ve loved Brands Hatch, it was the location of all of his wins in this car that year). The car’s work, however, wasn’t done there. Chassis #208 was also the factory’s show car and press mule. And, it is speculated, served as Hill’s road car for the drives to and from the races.

Ian Walker purchased #208 in 1957 and competed with a swapped engine. Eventually the car fell out of competition. Now, however, the car is reunited with her original 1,172cc side-valve and is fresh off a masterful Mike Brotherwood restoration and fantastic, patinad coachwork and paint by Sovereign Coachworks. Together they’ve done a tremendous job of making a complete restoration look lived in and not over-restored. Jan Lühn now offers the car. An amazing vehicle with fantastic history that will surely give the buyer entry in to the races of his choice.

Further reading:

Jan Lühn has photos, with more information to come.
Sovereign Coachworks also features a gallery of the bodywork. Wonderful.

Categories
Racing Ephemera

Legends of Riverside Film Festival

Californians! Get up to Riverside this weekend (March 27-29) for the Legends of Riverside Film Festival. I’m quite envious and saddened that I won’t be able to attend what looks like a fantastic schedule of racing films; many of which I’ve never seen or even heard of.

It’s not all esoterics, of course, also on the schedule are the Canon of car nerd films, including LeMans, Winning, Death Race 2000, Thunder Road, and the Big Wheel. There will also be a special tribute to Paul Newman and his incredible history as a racer and actor.

Can-Am and F5000 cars will be featured on display and special guests include Pete Lyons, Bruce Kessler, and Dan Gurney. Holy smokes!

I may not be able to attend, but I’ll have to support by screening a few of my favorite flicks this weekend.

Categories
Gear

Video Tutorial: Safety Wire

As we start to reassemble Paul’s Vee (hopefully) in time for this year’s Spring Brake, I realized that I didn’t have a good technique for safety wiring.
Jimmy’s Garage to the rescue.

Amazon offers a starter kit , and also this monster SK Hand Tool version with a spring-powered return. Keep those twists tight, people!

Categories
Lost Track Video

Santa Barbara 1962

santabarbara-trackI’m really trying, but I can’t think of a good reason why there aren’t any airstrip races anymore. Think about it. They have fire departments on site, have long and flat paved surfaces designed for high speed, plenty of runoff room, have neighbors that are used to loud noise, and are insured up to their eyeballs. I know, I prefer a track with a bit of elevation changes myself, but beggars can’t be choosers.
The Santa Barbara airport hosted many sportscar races from 1953 to 1967. It’s proximity to Los Angeles meant that all of our favorite actor/racers drove there—many quite successfully. McQueen ran here, James Dean too..
Here’s some wonderful footage of the 1962 race. Check out Don Hulette’s Townsend Special Mk. II bearing race number 404.

Categories
Classic Sportscar For Sale

On Offer at Mecum: 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe

Daytona CoupeA 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe serial number CSX2601 finally gives Mecum Auctions a car worthy of the hilarious over-enthusiasm of their Ring Men. Seriously. Watch a single episode of Mecum Auto Auctions: Muscle and More. As far as I can tell, it’s a show about guys with over-gelled hair jumping up and down; with an occasional shot of a muscle car.
The car is a true treasure, especially for American enthusiasts. Bob Bondurant piloted CSX2601 to class victory at Rheims 12 Hours on July 4, 1965—fitting, eh? That class win clinched the Worlds Sportscar Championship for GT+2. The interwebs are all abuzz about the possibility that CSX2601 may bring in the highest ever price for a car at auction, with estimates in 8 figures. Of course, other web sources are speculating that Ferrari Testa Rossa chassis no. 0714TR, also being auctioned this May will be the top draw. I’ll leave that speculation to them.
The Shelby has the more important race history, clinching the World Sportscar title isn’t something to take lightly. The car was driven to 5 class wins and a 3rd overall finish at the 1965 Coppa Citta di Enna behind a pair of Ferrari 250 LMs. She was entered in 8 races, all of them World Championship events, finishing 6, taking class victory in 5. That’s a very good history in anyone’s book.
In contrast, the Ferrari was entered in 34 races, taking class victories in 4, with a highest result of 4th in her debut: the 1958 Argentina 1000km.
Only time will tell which of these remarkable cars will take the top money. I must admit that I have less interest than many online speculators on the actual dollar value these very different, but significant cars bring in.
Either way, I lose. I take consolation, however, that even without the 8 figure investment, I can still get my own. Sorta.
Update:
Rumor has it that CSX2601 failed to sell on Friday night, with bidding stalling out around $6.8Million; well below reserve. Mecum folks have said that they had several bidders with $10Million lines of credit that failed to bid at all. What kind of world do we live in when a handful of Ferraris can bring in much more money that this tremendous Daytona Coupe?