14 replies to this topic

[petestenning]

I have on my logistics a lot of entries in various races of the Gloster Gambit ,Clubmans ?

Its seems to vary which race it takes part in , from Clubmans ,Sports Cars, and Libre

The driver is usually P.Watts , but he also acts as entrant to W.Hirst at a Mallory Libre race, as well as driving himself in the GT race on 25 th June 1967.

What is known of the car and drivers ?

Are there any pictures available a search of Google throws up nothing that i could find.?

[simonlewisbooks]

I have on my logistics a lot of entries in various races of the Gloster Gambit ,Clubmans ?

Its seems to vary which race it takes part in , from Clubmans ,Sports Cars, and Libre

The driver is usually P.Watts , but he also acts as entrant to W.Hirst at a Mallory Libre race, as well as driving himself in the GT race on 25 th June 1967.

What is known of the car and drivers ?

Are there any pictures available a search of Google throws up nothing that i could find.?

I havn't heard of the car but the Watts family were major players in the motor trade in Gloucestershire and surrounding counties with numerous major car dealerships, petrol stations, a bus company (Red & White) a tyre manufacturing factory and so forth.
I think the current MD of what's now a much depleted group, John Thurston, was a touring car driver in the 70s (Dolomite Sprint?).
They did once sponsor an F5000 car (a Dutch driver in 1969, I think) and ran a Truck Racing team for a few years in the 80s for which Tony Trimmer was said to have driven (I was never into truck racing). Their main garage/workshop complex in Lydney made way for a bloody Tesco supermarket some years ago....

Of course this may have no connection at all with P Watts or the Gloster Gambit....

Edited by simonlewisbooks, 15 October 2010 - 09:07.

[Geoff E]

Watts' Tyres http://www.thisisglo...il/article.html

It seems the name Gloster Gambit was first applied to a 1927 biplane. http://www.battleofb...0.net/0008.html

[Pete Stowe]

The Gloster Gambit was, I think, a Clubman's car designed by Hamish Graham-Munro, who was a structural engineer who worked for the Gloster Aircraft Company. I may have some further info on the Gambit if I can locate it, but Peter Watts is a mate of Ted Walker, so Ted may be able to give chapter and verse.

[Richard Young]

The Gloster Gambit was, I think, a Clubman's car designed by Hamish Graham-Munro, who was a structural engineer who worked for the Gloster Aircraft Company. I may have some further info on the Gambit if I can locate it, but Peter Watts is a mate of Ted Walker, so Ted may be able to give chapter and verse.

From fading memory the Gloster Gambit looked, at a glance. similar to the very first Chevron Clubmans car. Pretty and beautifully put together by Peter Watts and friends, it was driven by both Peter and Bill Hirst, who was by way of being a nuclear scientist/engineer working at Berkeley Power Station, close to where the Gambit was built.
Don't know what became of the car, and good to know that Peter is still about. Bill Hirst emigrated to Canada and, last I heard (a few years ago now), was racing a Lola Mk 1 in Canadian Historics.

[Vitesse2]

From fading memory the Gloster Gambit looked, at a glance. similar to the very first Chevron Clubmans car. Pretty and beautifully put together by Peter Watts and friends, it was driven by both Peter and Bill Hirst, who was by way of being a nuclear scientist/engineer working at Berkeley Power Station, close to where the Gambit was built.
Don't know what became of the car, and good to know that Peter is still about. Bill Hirst emigrated to Canada and, last I heard (a few years ago now), was racing a Lola Mk 1 in Canadian Historics.

Bill Hirst has passed on, I'm afraid, but his son Jon is a member of the Canadian Motor Sport History Group on Yahoo! Groups.

[Ray Bell]

Is it that the car or the driver (or both, of course...) ran in a GT race?

Unless there's something 'different' about the GT race involved, I don't really see a Clubmans car running in such an event.

[Ted Walker]

Peter Watts ,reminded me yesterday that he would like to track down the Gambit. Peter founded the racing car and aircraft restoration company Retro Track & Air here in Dursley.There was to be a sucessor to the Gambit called the Spitefull,that was to be a V8 Maserati powered S Racer similar to a McLaren M1,but it never got beyond the design stage. The Watts racing heritage is being carried on by both son and daughter Mathew and Rachel.

[petestenning]

I never even thought it would be the same family as Matthew Watts, he is a good driver and loved it when he used his Brabham BT29 ? in amongst the F5000'S at the Snetterton 3 hours a few years ago.

It does sound like it was a good engineering project in those day and the car if it survives must be a rarity with some history .

Thank you for the input .



Pete

[EDWARD FITZGERALD]

just been looking through a copy of AUTO NEWS November 10 1966 , there is a photo of Bill Hirst driving the GAMBIT ,  will try and scan  

[bill p]

Posted on behalf of EDWARD FITZGERALD (scanned from Auto News)

 

Edited by bill p, 29 October 2014 - 12:12.

[Charlieman]

Would that ZF gearbox be an expensive item at the time, even as salvage?

[bradbury west]

That depends on how badly the crashed Elite was from which they probably got the ZF box and diff with inboard rears, perhaps. Otherwise a normal Lotus diff, Elan etc was available. I have not checked the very specific 1965 period regs recently, when the new Clubmans formula came into play, - thank you Simon Taylor, whose efforts are usually forgotten or ignored- , but I always thought that the gearbox had to be from a production vehicle, originally from that from which the engine came, until it became clear that c.r BMC boxes were cheaper and lighter and more useable. The ZF would have been ineligible I suspect..

Waiting to be contradicted or corrected........

Roger Lund

 

It also looks remarkably similar to the mk 2 DRW

[EDWARD FITZGERALD]

just had an email from Richard Young  telling me he took the photo

[bradbury west]

By chance looking through old programmes I came across an entry for this car in a Libre race at Mallory in June 67,  as a second reserve, entered by a Mr Watts and driven by a Mr Hirst, the entry list sadly without further notations.

Roger Lund