29 replies to this topic

[Gary C]

.....................with more than a little help from RTH today, I purchased my first tin top racer Here she is................







Of course, now I've got one, I want to hear all your stories of racing them in the 60's.

[Tim Murray]

Winner, of course, of the 1960 British Saloon Car Championship in the hands of Doc Shepherd.

Kingsleyrob will be jealous ...

[Gary C]

LOL! We were surprised to learn that this car has had a famous (racing driver) owner in the recent past............can anyone guess who?

[GMACKIE]

There were a few raced here in Oz in the early '60s. I remember one the same colours as yours, raced by Warwick Johnson. Brian Foley's was black, I think.

[paulhooft]

Is this what we now call the famous British Racing Battle Grey?

.....................with more than a little help from RTH today, I purchased my first tin top racer Here she is................







Of course, now I've got one, I want to hear all your stories of racing them in the 60's.

[john winfield]

LOL! We were surprised to learn that this car has had a famous (racing driver) owner in the recent past............can anyone guess who?

Pat Moss?
Lovely car anyway - have fun!

[Gary C]

Wrong sex, I'm afraid, John! LOL. Thanks - i'm looking forward to having a bit of fun with her.

[bradbury west]

Winner, of course, of the 1960 British Saloon Car Championship in the hands of Doc Shepherd.

Kingsleyrob will be jealous ...

The legendary UCE13, with Don Moore 1 litre engine with BMC experimental crossflow head ISTR. If anyone has period copies of The Autocar, (yes the definite article in title is correct,) there was a test of it in 1961 IIRC, a copy of which I would dearrly welcome.........

And do not forget Harry Digby with the Lorraine Eng (Downton Ldn agent) prepared car ...HKX, and Rod Bloor had one too, after his A35, the A40 being one of the very few cars to worry my hero Harry Ratcliffe's Minor 1000, better shape through the air he reckoned. Then bigger engines were fitted, up to 1650 Ford, and Brian Cutting's Martin? V8 car. Halcyon days.
Plenty to go on, Gary
Roger Lund

BTW, I have a spare Metropolitan axle here in the shed, plus diffs etc.........

Edited by bradbury west, 15 February 2013 - 21:56.

[bradbury west]

LOL! We were surprised to learn that this car has had a famous (racing driver) owner in the recent past............can anyone guess who?

Whizzo car, Gary..

[Gary C]

Well done, Rog!

[Bloggsworth]

I recall two A40 racers prominent amongst the Jaguars, Williamson(?) & Shepherd, though neither had Minilite wheels as I recall! I was there the day Doc Shepherd won, oh frabjous day!

[ken devine]

When i saw the heading for this thread i got excited i thought you meant the real Austin A40's.

[raceannouncer2003]

LOL! We were surprised to learn that this car has had a famous (racing driver) owner in the recent past............can anyone guess who?

Mike Gardner?

Vince H.

[Gary C]

Roger got the correct answer, it's an ex-Whizzo Williams car. And yes, the deal was brokered by Mike Gardner.

[garyfrogeye]

I'm jealous, as I'd love an A40 countryman (a hot one) as a London run around. A good saloon alternative to my Frogeye.
Let us know when and where you are going to race it and we'll come an cheer you on.

Edited by garyfrogeye, 16 February 2013 - 08:11.

[sterling49]

Lovely car Gary, I'll come too if the travelling is not too bad

[Dipster]

I recall two A40 racers prominent amongst the Jaguars, Williamson(?) & Shepherd, though neither had Minilite wheels as I recall! I was there the day Doc Shepherd won, oh frabjous day!

I usd to love the understated look yet amazing performance of Mick Cave's A40.

[bradbury west]

.... and Rod Bloor had one too, after his A35, the A40 being one of the very few cars to worry my hero Harry Ratcliffe's Minor 1000, better shape through the air he reckoned.
Roger Lund

Autosport 6.4.62 pages 494 & 495 refer to Bloor article. It gives a pretty accurate period spec for authenticity, Gary.......
RL

[nicanary]

[quote name='bradbury west' date='Feb 16 2013, 12:51' post='6129759']
Autosport 6.4.62 pages 494 & 495 refer to Bloor article. It gives a pretty accurate period spec for authenticity, Gary.......
RL
[/q

Perhaps you could show it to the entrants for the St Marys Trophy. Oh, there I go again.....

[bradbury west]

The legendary UCE13, with Don Moore 1 litre engine with BMC experimental crossflow head ISTR. Roger Lund

In the spirit of maintaining TNF in its original role of a fact based repository of information about our sport, I am pleased to correct my statement about the cylinder head. It was not a crossflow, perhaps only Vic Derrington with his offerings for B series a little later in that period went on that route, but a bespoke design and special casting by Harry Weslake, which, whilst retaining the siamesed element, had special circular porting beyond the valves, aimed at linking the two ports to offer better filling. These fed via two 1.5" SUs into cylinders with 11.5 :1 compression. Peak power was rated at 84bhp at 7,500rpm, with upward changes made at around 7,800rpm.
Hope that helps to clarify things.
Perhaps Weslake had been working on the head design for some time

BTW Gary, apparently radical weight reduction on all appropriate items was seen as critical for the car's success......
Roger Lund

[GMACKIE]

Wrong sex, I'm afraid, John! LOL. Thanks - i'm looking forward to having a bit of fun with her.

[Grantree]

An example of the aforementioned head....

EDIT - Re-posted links

Edited by Grantree, 09 March 2013 - 10:54.

[fuzzi]

I heard on Thursday night that former Lotus driver John Miles has been testing the aerodynamics of his newly built Austin Seven Ulster replica. He phoned Rod Yates who built the body to order an undertray to improve airflow under the little beast.

As part of their chat he mentioned that he had been looking at the aerodynamics of a number of cars recently and the Farina A40 came out surprisingly well in spite of the bluff front end.

[Gary C]

Whoa! High praise indeed then!

[Gary C]

'BTW Gary, apparently radical weight reduction on all appropriate items was seen as critical for the car's success......
Roger Lund'
Roger, are you, at all, commenting on my waistline??? LOL!

[bradbury west]

Roger, are you, at all, commenting on my waistline??? LOL!

What an ungenerous suggestion........... for all I know you could be sylph-like these days with a racing snake physique like the rest of us.
Simply giving a bit more tech info about the spec and key ways in which Don Moore had sought to give the Doc a better power to weight ratio. BTW racing trim was reckoned at 12cwt ready to go.
RL

[bradbury west]

... has been testing the aerodynamics of his newly built Austin Seven Ulster replica.

as one does, of course
RL

... looking at the aerodynamics of a number of cars recently and the Farina A40 came out surprisingly well in spite of the bluff front end.

ISTR Rod Bloor or Harry Ratcliffe reckoned the slab sides and flat roof helped laminar airflow, whatever that might be.. and the bluff chuff end worked like Prof Kamm's theory thought it should, clearly upeprmost in designer Farina's mind.
It might also be something to do with the cx mattering as much as the cd, though I am not looking to start an argument

Roger Lund

[Gary C]

'for all I know you could be sylph-like these days with a racing snake physique like the rest of us.'
er............no. LOL.

[RTH]

In the spirit of maintaining TNF in its original role of a fact based repository of information about our sport, I am pleased to correct my statement about the cylinder head. It was not a crossflow, perhaps only Vic Derrington with his offerings for B series a little later in that period went on that route, but a bespoke design and special casting by Harry Weslake, which, whilst retaining the siamesed element, had special circular porting beyond the valves, aimed at linking the two ports to offer better filling. These fed via two 1.5" SUs into cylinders with 11.5 :1 compression. Peak power was rated at 84bhp at 7,500rpm, with upward changes made at around 7,800rpm.
Hope that helps to clarify things.
Perhaps Weslake had been working on the head design for some time

BTW Gary, apparently radical weight reduction on all appropriate items was seen as critical for the car's success......
Roger Lund

The aluminium Arden 8 port head with 4 Amals is still available new - at a price !

..........surely someone must have put that on an A40 in the mid 60s at one time .

[bradbury west]

The aluminium Arden 8 port head with 4 Amals is still available new - at a price !

..........surely someone must have put that on an A40 in the mid 60s at one time .

Not an Arden, Richard, but an Alexander head was used by Geoff Williamson in 1959; quod vide after googling for BMC A series crossflow heads, which brought up some interesting leads;


At the risk of going a little OT, Harry Ratcliffe tried such a head, when it eventually arrived, but preferred his own due to warping of the ali x flow head due to the very high cr used. He later reworked the crossflow. His own original modifed cyl head was originally set up on Amals but later changed to Webers, which gave better consumption but no other improvement; see Autosport 26.1.62 p138
Roger Lund

Edited by bradbury west, 09 March 2013 - 20:23.