Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Firstly, news of a modestly-engined Fiat that's set to feature this year



LEGENDARY FIAT S76 TO RUN FOR FIRST TIME IN 100 YEARS AT GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

The Fiat S76, unofficially the fastest car in the world in 1911, will turn a wheel for the first time in over 100 years when it tackles the Goodwood Hillclimb at the Festival of Speed on June 26-29.

Just two S76s were produced by the Italian manufacturer, with the aim of snatching the records for the flying kilometre and flying mile from the ‘Blitzen’ Benzes. The S76 achieved the mile record with Pietro Bordino at the wheel at Saltburn Sands in 1911 and was officially recorded at over 135mph on a kilometre attempt at Ostenede in Belguim, only to be denied the record as it was unable to complete a return run within the specified one hour.

While one car was dismantled by Fiat after the First World War to prevent rival manufacturers obtaining their technical secrets, the other was purchased by Russian aristocrat Boris Soukhanov and eventually made its way to Australia after WW1, where it was modernised and campaigned it as a ‘Fiat Racing Special’.

Bristol-based enthusiast Duncan Pittaway, who will drive the S76 at Goodwood, brought the chassis back to the UK in 2003 and reunited it with the original 28.5-litre, four-cylinder engine from the dismantled car. The machine has spent the past 10 years being restored to original specification with Roach Manufacturing of Southampton helping with the bodywork.

Duncan Pittaway, owner/driver, said: “After restoring a Bugatti T35, I was looking for a new challenge and the S76, which is one of the more maligned cars of its generation, fitted the bill nicely. All of the original S76 components that have survived have been restored, from the chassis and engine down to the suspension, axles, pedals, steering box, etc, with the gearbox, radiator and bodywork being created using the original Fiat drawings. As the last and largest of the huge-engined Edwardian monsters, it should be sensational to see.”
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[peter scott]

I still have my copy of the Dumpy Book of Veterans that I bought as a boy. That photo appears on page 20 and always fascinated me. Interesting to know that the car still exists.

I hope they reproduce the dents in the repro bodywork.

Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Rick]

Mini news, for this year's FoS:

-----------

FINNISH LEGEND RAUNO AALTONEN TO DRIVE MINI IN ‘BIRTH OF STAGE RALLYING’ LINE-UP AT FESTIVAL OF SPEED.

Rally icons Rauno Aaltonen and the Mini Cooper S head a stellar line-up of cars on the Goodwood Festival of Speed’s Skoda Forest Rally Stage on June 26-29 as the early days of stage rallying are celebrated.

The flying Finn, who famously won the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally in a Mini, will get behind the wheel of the ex-works car, in which he finished seventh on the 1964 Monte, on each day.

Aaltonen won the European Rally Championship in 1965 to follow-up a pair of domestic titles, and further fed his addiction to winning in circuit racing, taking victory at the 1966 Bathurst 500 in another Mini. He remains the only Finn to have won the gruelling event, which is now runs to 1000km as the centrepiece of the Australian V8 Supercars season.

He will be backed-up on the gravel rally stage by another Cooper S, owned by celebrity chef James Martin and formerly campaigned by Paddy Hopkirk.

Joining the Minis in the ‘Birth of Stage Rallying’ celebration will be a selection of fast Fords with illustrious pasts. Not only will the very first Mk1 Escort RS1600 feature, but it will be joined by the car in which Roger Clark won the 1972 RAC Rally.

A pair of Mk2 RS1800s, campaigned by Ari Vatanen in period, will also join the fray. The car in which he captured the 1981 World Rally Championship will be joined by an earlier machine, taken to victory in the 1975 RAC Rally by Timo Makinen.

Fiat will be represented by examples of the two cars that achieved its 21 WRC wins, the 124 Abarth and 131 Abarth, while an ex-works Datsun 240Z and Opel Kadette GT/E will add more international variety to the entry list.

Cars campaigned by two British heroes of the era, Russell Brookes and Tony Pond, will also be present; a Sunbeam Lotus campaigned by two-time British Rally champion Brookes, and an ex-Pond Vauxhall Chevette completing the line-up.
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[peter scott]

More on the Fiat..

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=121365

Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[D4B]

It is of course possible to watch it all LIVE on the internet here:

http://grrc.goodwood.com/festival-of-speed/live-social-stream

but then you all knew that didn't you?

[D4B]

Never managed to see the Fiat S76 in action, anyone??

[kevin2306]

I watched most of the sky coverage but didnt see the Fiat, stunning car eh!

Kev

[D4B]

I was watching only on the internet, I think I may have caught a glimpse of it at the start line, but then all attention turned to Lewis Hamilton!

By the time the camera was back on the hillclimb there was no sight of it!! I would be very pleased to see any action shots of this if anyone has them?

[Rick]

TV alert:

-------------

ITV TO BROADCAST PAIR OF GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED SHOWS

The 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed will appear on television twice in July on ITV with a pair of programmes to mark this year’s biggest-ever event.

The shows, which have both been produced by Aurora Media, will bring the very best of the action from this year’s Festival of Speed to the small screen, as well as taking a close look at the new-car technology that has been showcased at Goodwood.

An all-new show, ‘Festival of Speed: Cars of the Future’, will be screened on Wednesday, 9 July at 20:00 on ITV4 HD and ITV4 and will be presented by Craig Doyle, Nicki Shields and Robert Llewellyn.

The programme will feature the very latest in new-car technology from the Festival of Speed and Moving Motor Show presented by The AA in association with The Telegraph and will include a test drive with the incredible new 1345bph Koenigsegg Agera One:1, which made its UK debut at Goodwood in the Michelin Supercar Paddock.

A highlights show of this year’s event, ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014’, will follow on Thursday, 10 July at 20:00 on ITV4 HD and ITV4 and will also be presented by Doyle and Shields.

Among the key moments of the 2014 Festival of Speed, which celebrated the theme: ‘Addicted to Winning’, were a spectacular central feature marking 120 years of motor sport success by Mercedes-Benz, John Surtees and Kimi Raikkonen parading their title-winning Ferrari Formula 1 machines in tandem up the Goodwood Hillclimb, and ‘The King’ of NASCAR, Richard Petty, in his 1967 Plymouth Belvedere racer.
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[D4B]

An all-new show, ‘Festival of Speed: Cars of the Future’, will be screened on Wednesday, 9 July at 20:00 on ITV4 HD and ITV4 and will be presented by Craig Doyle, Nicki Shields and Robert Llewellyn.

The programme will feature the very latest in new-car technology from the Festival of Speed and Moving Motor Show presented by The AA in association with The Telegraph and will include a test drive with the incredible new 1345bph Koenigsegg Agera One:1, which made its UK debut at Goodwood in the Michelin Supercar Paddock.

A highlights show of this year’s event, ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014’, will follow on Thursday, 10 July at 20:00 on ITV4 HD and ITV4 and will also be presented by Doyle and Shields.

Thanks for the heads up