2019-06-01 Classic Cars

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Sixty-six genre-defining

of the 917/30s. But withoutthelargeroverhanging
spoiler, it suffered from alackof reardownforce.
‘After Elford’s season,whenit raninJägermeister
livery, it was driven by HerbertMüllerfor 1974
and 1975, initially in Martini,thentheVaillant
livery. We’ve chosen to restoreit inthese
colours because it representsMüller’svictoryat
Hockenheim in 1975 – theverylast wininperiod
for a 917. The Vaillant liveryis not asiconicasthe
others, but by all rights itshouldbe!’

BMW M1
Goodwood’s gathering oforiginalM1Procarswas
both this freshly restoredM1’s firsttimeintheUK,
and its historic-event debut.Procarwasa short-

livedFormulaOnesupport series featuringtheF1

st arsthemselvesinidenticalcars,andthiscartook

HansStuckto secondplace inthe 1979 Pro-Car

Championship.StuckdroveforthesmallATSteam

inFormulaOnethat year,andunreliabilityandan

uncompetitive chassissawhimstruggleto 19th

placescoringjust two points.

Howeverwhat happeneda fewyearslaterwas

evenmore extraordinary.As IanBeatty– manager

oftheMondelloPark-basedMartinBirrane

Collectionamassedby thelateIrishracingdriver

• explains,‘It hadbeencontestingtheGermanGT
  ChampionshipintheearlyEighties,anditsowner,
  HelmutGall,tookit to Le Mansto contestthe
  GroupB class in 198 5.
  ‘Martinwasat Le Manswitha GroupC team,
  buthisdrivefellthroughbeforetherace,’Beatty
  explained.‘He wentwalkingthroughthepaddock,
  dressedinhisracesuit,carryinghishelmet, looking
  fora drive,andfoundGall’s teamat thelast
  minute. TogetherwithEdgarDörenandJean-Paul
  Libert, hefinished15thandwontheclass!
  ‘Galltookthecarbackto Germany,butMartin
  wantedto buyit fora longtime, andit finallycame
  upforsalein1993.It’sbeeninthemuseumat
  Mondelloeversince,untouched,althoughwe had
  toupdateallthesafetyequipment last weeksoit
  cancompeteagain– whichit will.’

FordThunderbird

FordMustangspecialist BillShepherd broughtthis

extraordinaryracing 1956 FordThunderbirdout

oftheUS forthefirsttime, to contestthePeter

CollinsTrophyforFiftiessportscars.Knownas

the‘Battlebird’,it wasoneof two racingversions

builtbyPeterDePaoloEngineeringof LongBeach,

Californiainresponseto arch-rivalChevrolet’s

competitionsuccesswiththeCorvette,and

correspondinglossof marketshare.

Theracersfeaturedaluminiumbodywork,

strippedinteriors,andrevisedchassisshiftingthe

enginesbacktowardsthecentre.Thiscarsported

a 7. 0-litreLincoln 430 V8, whileitssistercar

featureda supercharged5.1-litreFord 312 V8.

Fordattemptedto capturespeedrecordsas

wellasraces,withthesuperchargedcarrunningto

20 4mphat DaytonaBeach,althoughthiscaronly

managed160.356despiteitslargerdisplacement.

FordpulledtheThunderbirdsoutof racing

afterjust oneyear,sellingthemto AndyHotton

ofDearbornSteelTubing,whoracedthemin

AmericanandCanadianclubevents,beforeselling

thiscarto anairlinepilot. He leasedit to Jack

CummingsProductions,whichwaspreparingto

filmVivaLasVegasat thetime– andintendedElvis

Pr esleyto drive thecar– butdaysbeforefilming

wasmeant to startoneof theproductioncrew’s

mechanicstookit outfora shakedowndrive and

crashedit. Theairlinepilot waspaidoff,andthecar

replacedinthefilmwithanElva MkIV.

ToyotaCorollaGT

Thisnewcomerto theGerryMarshallTrophyfield

wasanex-workscarwitha twist. ‘It’sa genuineex-

worksrallycar!’saidDavidGreenof Volorosso.‘It

wasbuiltforPerEklundin 1980 , andheusedit as

a reccecarinthe 1981 WorldRallyChampionship.’

Eklunddrovea Celicaincompetitionthat year,and

camesecondontheRallyCôted’Ivoire.

‘In 1994 – withToyota’sassistance– it was

convertedforproduction-classTouringCaruse,

whichis stillthespecificationit’s essentiallyin,

althoughwe’vecompletelyrestoredandrebuilt

thecarto resembleWinPercy’s 198 2-seasonBritish

SaloonCarChampionship-winner.Thisis thefirst

timeit’sracedinnearly25 years.’

Goodwood’s quintet

demonstrated the 917’s

evolution and livery pallette

Ford ‘Battlebird’ has weaved a

fascinating course through history

Ex-HansStuckM1Procarisontheroadto

racingagainafter26 yearsina museum

Ex-Rally Corolla