There were Maserati 250Fs everywhere!
My fascination with these 1964/65 Falcon Sprints really got going when I visited the Silverstone Classic. They were a popular choice in the hugely competitive pre-1966 historic touring car races against Lotus Cortinas, Alfas, BMWs etc. From memory one of the Falcons won in 1993, and in 1994 there were several new cars built.
The FIA made mandatory these solid steel wheels which weren't actually factory wheels, but rather modern manufactured items built specifically for historic racing. They didn't look as good as the Minilites and Torq Thrusts most these cars ran previously, and I heard a few years later some of these wheels broke, thus reversing the use of them.
The FIA homologation weight for these Falcons was only 960kg or thereabouts, and these things were fitted with all the fibreglass panels the rules allowed.
OK, Cobra anoraks will know more than me about the car pictured here. I believe this is the genuine COB 1, the 427 big block Cobra that was fitted with twin Garrett turbochargers.
And speaking of turbos, this is the earlier mentioned Team VDS McLaren M8F twin-turbo car with its bodywork removed.
[QUOTE=Steve Holmes;60420]My fascination with these 1964/65 Falcon Sprints really got going when I visited the Silverstone Classic. They were a popular choice in the hugely competitive pre-1966 historic touring car races against Lotus Cortinas, Alfas, BMWs etc. From memory one of the Falcons won in 1993, and in 1994 there were several new cars built.
The FIA made mandatory these solid steel wheels which weren't actually factory wheels, but rather modern manufactured items built specifically for historic racing. They didn't look as good as the Minilites and Torq Thrusts most these cars ran previously, and I heard a few years later some of these wheels broke, thus reversing the use of them.
The FIA homologation weight for these Falcons was only 960kg or thereabouts, and these things were fitted with all the fibreglass panels the rules allowed.
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Some of the older 50s & 60s steel rims had riveted centres and some failures also occurred under race conditions, sometime around mid 60s or so they started to move to welded rim centres and as far as I have heard this solved the problem.
[QUOTE=Paul B;60424]Yes you're right Paul. I think in the case of the Falcon Sprints, the FIA introduced these steel wheels to either slow them down or get them looking more correct. They were essentially a control wheel, the teams had to use that actual make.Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Another of the 250GTOs, this one being one of the earlier fastback models.
Martini Porsche 935 was display only.
At the time I was obsessed the the cottage industry company TVR, and their fascinating fibreglass bodied sports cars. There were a few racing at Silverstone, including this early 1959 Grantura.
Lister Costin Chevrolet. Its my understanding the Chevrolet engines began appearing in Lister sports cars after the Jaguars, as a way of keeping them competitive. But in historic racing the Jaguar powered versions usually seem to be faster. This was also the case at the Silverstone Classic two decades ago. This car wasn't as fast as the Jag powered example.
For interest does anyone know what the two cars on left of photo are? Second may be a BRM.
Love the Fosters signs when they were madly trying to "Fosterise" the world.
Great stuff Steve - but you knew I'd say that! I'm not sure about today, but I think paddock entry is possibly more important than the racing with these cars, especially at Silverstone, where paying spectator viewing (for photographers) isn't quite as good as at Goodwood.
Last edited by ERC; 07-28-2017 at 07:48 AM.
Sorry Terry I really wish I could remember.
Thanks Ray, I've never been to Goodwood for the racing, I've only visited the place when there was nothing happening there, but I am sure you are right, for photographing the on-track action, Goodwood would be far better than Silverstone. The first thing that struck me about Silverstone, was the distance between the grandstand and track. It felt like the track was a mile away.
Nice little Sunbeam Tiger that raced with the Pre-1966 GTs.
As mentioned earlier in this thread, I had a real fascination with TVR sports cars back then, and was stopped in my tracks when I saw this. This is a Trident Clipper.
Back in the mid-1960s TVR produced a striking looking Ford V8 powered GT called the Trident. It featured a Trevor Fiore designed wedge shaped body and pop-up headlights, among other things. Sadly, because the company was strggling financially, it couldn't actually put the car into production, and the rights for the Trident ended up with W.J Last who'd previously built Peel micro-cars, and a new company was established called Trident, specifically to build these new sports cars. Named the Trident Clipper, it differed slightly to the TVR version, most notably in that its headlights were integrated into the front bodywork, but mostly the two were very similar.
These are very rare cars, and this is the only one I've ever seen in the flesh.
Interesting Indy Car that was in one of the pit sheds but never actually ran.
Another one of the Falcon Sprints.
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