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Vixen GT 1964 - info wanted


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#1 Pedro 917

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Posted 09 May 2011 - 16:46

I was contacted by someone who's restoring a 1964 Vixen GT here in Belgium.
Given info : The car has a spaceframe construction with a thin alu body and GT40 type doors. It's a mid-engine car and suspension is from a formula car.
The constructor should be Vixen Formule or Formula, who merely built single seater cars. According to a forum, construction started in 1962 by a certain Mr. Stoddart. The nose of the car is identical to a Cooper Jaguar.
The owner would love to find out more about the first 6 to 7 years of this car, hope someone can help.

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#2 Mistron

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Posted 09 May 2011 - 18:11

is it built by the Vixen Imp people? that would be later than '63-64 though, as it was an F4 car was it not?

Any idea what engine it had fitted?

#3 Derwent Motorsport

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Posted 09 May 2011 - 18:11

One would assume it would have an Imp engine?

#4 Red Socks

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Posted 09 May 2011 - 21:35

Windscreen looks like it has a BRSCC badge and a UK tax disc. Could be a good starting point.

#5 Peter Morley

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Posted 10 May 2011 - 11:17

I think the UK tax disc is a Zandvoort sticker...

Is this the car that Lionel Aglave had years ago, at which time it was living just over the French border?
Are there signs that it was actually used - e.g. was it ever finished?

#6 Pedro 917

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Posted 16 May 2011 - 10:27

Hi, the owner of the car has asked me to post a reply as he seems to have problems to register / login.

My Vixen GT was imported in France in 1980 september by Lionel Aglave. I have the customs documents with me.
It was imported as a car in parts without engine.

I have also the British registration Mark: ETF 670B
It was : non licensed, 2-axle-rigid body sports, red , petrol, chassis no V1X1 , 1600cc date 01.05.64 , number of former keepers : none since mar 78

According to the seller in France ( Voghes , Strasbourg ) it used to have a 1600 Lotus Kent with a Rootes Blower.
He also said that, at a later stage, a Rover V8 was fitted in it as well. That engine got lost too.
It has only one exhaust exit through the bodywork in the back now. Extra holes to pass pipes can also be seen in the engine bay ( exhaust ) . They are cut out with panel scisors .
So , done in a hurry.
The 2 gasoline tanks are mounted in the door sils and can contain each 20 litres only .

The car has Formula suspension.
I also found on an internet forum (www.autopuzzles.com) that a certain Mr Stoddart bought a spare front of a Cooper Jaguar in 1962 at Cooper Thames Ditton and started to build the car.
It was finished in 1964. The registration is also from 1964.

I also read that a certain Mr. Gilby ( codename forum) used to race it. There was a formula 1 racing team Gilby in the beginning of the sixties.
Keith Greene was their f1 driver retired from racing f1 in 1962. He continued in Gt racing....?

Could Stoddart have anything to do with Gilby?

Graham Capel, ( author of Lotus History ) used to own the car in the seventies as it is now. He sold it because he could not find British racing history. ( At that time there was no internet to do research and it took a lot more time to do so )
On the other hand it has a sticker of the old Zandvoort circuit. Zandvoort stated that they lost a lot of their archive due to water damage and could not find anything on that.
Graham wrote to me as well that it was build by the people who built the Vixen Formula Junior, Formula 3 and 4. ( formula suspension).

It had ( according to me ) a small accident on the left rear wing. It was repaired in a hurry. It is about 3 cm narrower than the right wing.
Furthermore there are small dents left and right. On the front, there are some shallow but wide dents. I assume from pushing the car backwards. Those dents have been repaired with a “pasta” and that zone was resprayed .

The rear lights, which came with the car , are from a Lotus Cortina. ( round devided in three equal parts )

All this information should make it clear that the car was completed and that it drove or raced.


What usefull information would you have for me to build my puzzle ,
Until now I found all this scattered infromation on the net, but I do not have solid confirmation on those data.
Only people who are experts on these matters and that can produce hard proof can find the missing elements.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

I will start to rebuild it after September this year and I will have it on the race track.

Kind regards,
Didier Van der Linden

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#7 Red Socks

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Posted 16 May 2011 - 11:21

Forgive me but this seems like one of those cars/projects which remains better as a dream than a reality.

#8 vixengt

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Posted 16 May 2011 - 19:06

I was contacted by someone who's restoring a 1964 Vixen GT here in Belgium.
Given info : The car has a spaceframe construction with a thin alu body and GT40 type doors. It's a mid-engine car and suspension is from a formula car.
The constructor should be Vixen Formule or Formula, who merely built single seater cars. According to a forum, construction started in 1962 by a certain Mr. Stoddart. The nose of the car is identical to a Cooper Jaguar.
The owner would love to find out more about the first 6 to 7 years of this car, hope someone can help.

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Dear Pedro,

thanks for the help on this forum. I can get logged in right now.
I hope some members can help me on this puzzle.
Kind regards and see you on 18.09.2011


#9 vixengt

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Posted 16 June 2011 - 18:58

Forgive me but this seems like one of those cars/projects which remains better as a dream than a reality.


hello mr Red Socks,

I have the history of my Vixen gt . It was built by Ian Stronach , ex formula libre and F5000 race driver, in 1962.
He wanted to have a race car on the road. And he thought that there were no low line racers with a coupé body.
Only in 1963 came the Lola and later the Ford GT 40.
He bought from John Cooper half of the body of the third Cooper Jaguar , which Cooper built. Two of these cars race in historycs today and the third was never completed.
That body became the start of my Vixen GT.
It had a Rootes 1600 fitted . bu
Later he sold it to a Mr. Baxters who most probably fitted the V8 Buick with Hewland gearbox.
Graham Capel ( Lotus history books ) bought it in the seventies and took the engine and gearbox for his Lotus racer.

He sold it to Lionel Aglave ( Gt racer in France , Gilby 1100 : ex Keith Greene and Peter Arundell, european champion )
Later it wandered arround and ended in the mountains neir Strassbourg , France where I bought it .

I am still looking for this Mr. Bob Baxters.

Kind regards

Vixengt


#10 vixengt

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Posted 16 June 2011 - 19:03

is it built by the Vixen Imp people? that would be later than '63-64 though, as it was an F4 car was it not?

Any idea what engine it had fitted?


Dear Mr Mistron,

I wrote member Red Sox my discoveries .
You can read all of it .
It did have a 1600 Rootes engine and was exceeding 120 mph easily.
built by Ian Stronach ( F5000 pilot)
Kind regards

vixengt

#11 racepuma52

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Posted 05 November 2011 - 13:45

Dear Mr Mistron,

I wrote member Red Sox my discoveries .
You can read all of it .
It did have a 1600 Rootes engine and was exceeding 120 mph easily.
built by Ian Stronach ( F5000 pilot)
Kind regards

vixengt

Vixent,

please either message me or e-mail me at steveataquaclenz.biz

and i will put you in contact with Ian Stronach

Regards

Steve

Edited by racepuma52, 05 November 2011 - 19:21.


#12 D-Type

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Posted 05 November 2011 - 17:55

Steve, to avoid being deluged with e-mails offering cut price Viagra, shares in Nigerian inheritances, dates with lovely ladies etc I suggest you edit your e-mail, eg change the @ to [@] or [at].

#13 racepuma52

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Posted 05 November 2011 - 19:21

Thanks , D Type

#14 vixengt

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 12:34

Hello Pedro 917!

 

It has been a long time that I have been writing about my project Vixen GT.

I prefer , for the time beeing, to spend my free time on the restoration of the car itself.

 

I am progressing quite nicely.  The body is ready apart from the front and the doors.

The front is a one piece Cooper Jaguar and is easy to fit.  I do have some adjustments and repairs to do on that, but I have seen the worst already.  In October it should go to the paint shop.  

 

If you would like to see the car , you know , we live only 7 km from each other.

 

Soon I will post pictures.  Kind regards, Vixen Gt Belgium



#15 Gregor Marshall

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Posted 13 September 2013 - 16:41

I have forwarded a link to Keith Greene - he might reply back via the forum or me, as it would be interesting to hear if Gilby Engineering had anything to do with this.



#16 vixengt

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Posted 19 September 2013 - 16:25

Dear Mr, Marchall,

 

It is realy nice of you to try to help in this project.

 

I can ashure you that Keith Grene or Lynn Terry had nothing to do in the Vixen GT.

It was Ian Stronach , UK formula pilot , and egineer who designed , built and drove the car.

 

He is helping me a lot on finding information to rebuild the car.  

 

The Gilby GT is still in France with Lionel Aglave, who used to own the Vixen Gt for some time as well as a wreck.

I mail and speak to him once in a while and he is following the project with enthousiasm as well.

 

I am still looking to find out who raced the car in Zandvoort and mabe somewhere else  in the 60ties. 

If you would have any idea who could help me with that, I would appreciate a lot.

 

I do not see how to add pictures on this forum.

 

 

Vixengt



#17 vixengt

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Posted 20 September 2013 - 20:20

 Can somebody tell me how to poste pictures or a word doc  on this forum?

 

Thanks 

 

Vixen gt 



#18 Bloggsworth

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Posted 20 September 2013 - 21:36

 Can somebody tell me how to poste pictures or a word doc  on this forum?

 

Thanks 

 

Vixen gt 

A Word document you'll have to highlight cut and paste.

 

To post a picture you can use http://postimage.org/ to upload your picture then highlight and copy from the slot labelled Direct Link. When you have done that click on the picture icon at the top of the box into which you are typing your post (It's the square with the little green picture in it), then paste the Direct Link URL into the slot where it says URL and bingo! you get a picture of a Trabant driving up North Finchley High Street...

 

 

Trabant_2.jpg

 

I forgot to say, there's a <3Mb limit for images


Edited by Bloggsworth, 22 September 2013 - 09:13.


#19 Gregor Marshall

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Posted 01 October 2013 - 13:50

Dear Mr, Marchall,

It is realy nice of you to try to help in this project.

I can ashure you that Keith Grene or Lynn Terry had nothing to do in the Vixen GT.
It was Ian Stronach , UK formula pilot , and egineer who designed , built and drove the car.

He is helping me a lot on finding information to rebuild the car.

The Gilby GT is still in France with Lionel Aglave, who used to own the Vixen Gt for some time as well as a wreck.
I mail and speak to him once in a while and he is following the project with enthousiasm as well.

I am still looking to find out who raced the car in Zandvoort and mabe somewhere else in the 60ties.
If you would have any idea who could help me with that, I would appreciate a lot.

I do not see how to add pictures on this forum.


Vixengt

Hi Vixen
I've now heard back from Keith and he has confirmed the car had nothing to do with him, his father or Gilby, so you are right - good to end that link now.
Have you got access to any old Autosport, Motoring News and Motor Sport magazines? These would all carry race reports in the 1960s and you should be able to find some detail.
Have you got any idea on any of the dates it raced?
Gregor

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#20 vixengt

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Posted 07 November 2013 - 19:47

Hello Gregor,

 

Thanks a lot for your advice.

I do have the cd with the magazines.  I bought them from the net.  It takes a lot of time to go through the articles, but as soon as the car is gone for the paintshop , I will dive into that.

It is sad to find out that most of the forums are quite old fashioned to use.  I would like to post some pictures how it looks now.  I can tell , it is a different world.  the body was verry battered all over and repaired not according original specs.  I got there now.  Next weekend I will fix the front again after days of welding and reshaping.  It looks awsome now.

I am preparing a website now, so I can easily post pictures of the progress .  

I wrote to Zandvoort again but the mail adress is out of use of the ex gt racer Hakersloot.

 

I think Bob Baxters raced it.  I have his phone nr, but , beleive it or not, I am travelling a lot and I use every spare hour to continue on the car.  Our plan is that Ian Stronach himself makes the first drive in the Vixen at Oulton Park, where he tested it 50 years ago.

I have Roger Cole, who bought it after it raced and I also need to get details from him.  H,e sent me pictures when the car was complete, with his friends in the back yard at a barn with open doors.

They had a panel at the back; on tow.

Graham Capel bought it as an empty wreck from CTG Racing , who was "rebuilding" it for Waine Philips USA.  Lional Aglave got it idem dito.

 

Kind regards,

 

Didier

vixengt Belgium

 

 

 

 

 

 



#21 vixengt

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Posted 22 November 2013 - 16:27

Dear Gregor,

 

I found some time to contact some forum friends and I got the name Roy Hill as the person who used to race the Vixen GT and batter it up at the same time.

In those days racecars had to be fast and cross the finish line.  Esthetics came second or even last.

 

I found a certain Rob Roy Hill on the net but this might be another person.

I beleive that the Vixen was used in Club races in the UK mostly and also it ran in Zandvoort. But without any archive there, it is impossible to find something that way.

 

So, if anybody heard of or knew or knows Roy Hill, please mail on didier.gt64@gmail.com. 

 

 

The front is fixed on the chassis again and all fits like a pair of stockings  :drunk:

This weekend  I will mount the head light boxes and I need to remake the front boot lid as well.  I cannot live with the gaps here and there.

Then adjusting the doors and painting :clap:

 

Kind regards,

 

Vixengt