Out With The Old. In With The Old

Well 2009 is officially over and has been for several days. So here's to everyone having a successful 2010. Back in 2009-December 12th as I recall-I went to the Frazer Nash Party at Hereford's Green Dragon Hotel. I got the invite as a consequence of winning the Geoghegan Trophy at Cadwell Park back in June. What a bash the Chain Gang put on. Brilliant entertainment and I didn't get the whipping I thought I deserved, having won their trophy in a Riley!

Well the Christmas break was a long one . I managed to get a number of jobs done on the motors including changing the drop gears in the Cooper. Oh for a Hewland box! Both the Amilcar and the MG were prepared for the short blast to Stony Stratford on New Year's day. Vintage Stony was very well organised and pleasingly I was awarded an expensive bottle of champagne for bringing the most desirable car or something similar. So well done to the Amilcar which is often a 'show stopper'. On the return home I thundered past a few modern cars on the A5. Even though I was running on methanol I avoided any icing problems with the blower by blanking off the radiator.

Well I am not changing the AMG. I was tempted by a Porsche Cayman S which I road tested before Christmas. Fun car, especially with a seven speed box. However, too much dosh for my budget, especially when the depreciation is factored in. So it is a case of staying with the 'Old' in 2010. Here's to a Vintage Year.

Some images

I thought it would be a good thing to share some images of racing cars that I captured on my old camera a number of years ago. The first is of a BRM v16 captured at Silverstone. The 2nd is a delightful six cylinder Amilcar. Below these is an ERA-Delage, again at Silverstone. The Alfa was photographed at Oulton Park prior to the extensive modifications to the paddock. To finish off this gallery from yesteryear is an ERA at Silverstone and a Mercedes W154. I hope you enjoy these images of some fantastic racing cars. More to come in the future.

Everyday Wheels

I have been asked what my day-to-day car is. Well it's a 2002 SLK32 AMG which is a Merc with some oomph! The SLK32 AMG has 354 bhp courtesy of its supercharged 3.2 Litre V6 and is capable of 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds. All the engines were hand-built by AMG; each one by an individual engineer. The engine features an intercooled Lysholm-type "twin-screw" supercharger. Production ran between August 2000 and March 2004. Only 4,333 SLK32s were built in total, of which 979 were retained for Germany, 2,056 exported to the USA and 263 went to the UK. So she is relatively rare. I think she will be a future classic. With taut handling and a silky smooth engine that delivers oodles of power, the SLK32 offers supercar performance but without the tantrums associated with more exotic beasts. Top speed is restricted to 155 mph but an ECU switch takes it up to 174 mph with a few extra horses thrown in for good measure. I also understand that a tweak or two to the headers and a change of pulley drive pushes bhp up another 100 bhp to 450 which must be awesome in such a compact car. Well I'm hoping my AMG will become a classic and in the meantime I am just going to enjoy her for what she is...a true thoroughbred.

Old Flame

I wonder where my old flame is now? I often regret selling my Riley 12/4 Special because she simply was "Special". Built by Duncan Ricketts on a Kestrel chassis (22T), the lines of the car were superb from nose to tail. Underneath the bonnet was Riley's invincible 12/4 high cam engine which we breathed on with a higher compression set-up. Fantastic for the road and for the track, I even took BBJ to Le Mans on several occasions, and on a touring holiday with a former girlfriend. And no the car didn't destroy the relationship, although the petrol that leaked into her clothes bag soured the affair for a brief period.
With a pre-selector gearbox, my 12/4 was magic on the hills and the wings could be taken off very quickly so I could run her as a VSCC open wheeled racer. I only wished I had done more of the latter. She was very well balanced both on the circuit and on the road.

It's a French thing

Well the Riley Brooklands has gone away so I can focus on the Amilcar and the Cooper. The Amilcar is a gem. With its supercharged OHV Amilcar engine - no Riley 9 powerplant in this car - my monoplace CGSs is a fantastic hill climb car. Running on methanol at almost a couple of miles per gallon when used in anger, she is swift off the line and fast through the turns. The brakes work too!

Yes she sports the OHV conversion. We originally ran the standard side-valve Amilcar engine but managed to borrow an engine that had the period conversion. My late father used the loaned engine as a pattern. I believe it was from the 200 mile race car. Here is my father in the car at the VSCC Curborough Sprint meeting.

Brake-down

Well the Cooper has hardly turned a wheel this year. As mentioned Mallory was a disaster. Since then I have changed the brake fluid and in the workshop there is a firm pedal. I now need to check the travel out and ensure there is no brake fade. At Mallory going into the hairpin I had a pedal as long as furlong. Frightening!



I might have a bash at the Silverstone test on 20 November but will need to change to the silencer as it is a 105db limit. Unsilenced it is louder and I can't afford to upset the folk in Silverstone and Whittlebury villages.



Going back to the brakes I might try a higher DOT specification. I was running some funny silicon stuff. I also will change the drop gears. Unlike the Hewland boxes, my T56FJ has an ERSA box and to change the drop gears you need to remove the gearbox-the drop gears which effectively change the ratios-sit on the front of the box. No cassette type arrangement with the ERSA! Touch wood I have not had a major problem with the ERSA box. They have a reputation for being hard to live with but then I am used to the Amilcar. Must be a French thing.

Went the day well

Over the weekend I thought I would have a last run out in the Riley Brooklands before changing the engine over. What a fantastic car she is. Not many in the vintage era can better her 1089ccs for pace and she is peerless when it comes to handling. The only drawback is the cable- operated braking but I hope to improve this over the winter.

As an interesting back-to-back I then went out in our MG PB. With a blower she is lively too but not a patch on the Riley Brooklands for handling. The Riley beats the MG hands-down. And perhaps that's where the advantage lies. You literally can put your hand down when sat in the Riley. The Brooklands has a low centre of gravity. I doubt there are many lower cars from the 1920s. What a joy the Riley Brooklands must have been to the 1920s' sporting driver. From the factory he or she had a car that was a great sports car and with the wings off, a redoubtable racer. It is not surprising that a Riley Brooklands took the Index of Performance at Le Mans in 1934.