7 replies to this topic

[mariner]

I have posted info. about the 750 Club speaker meetings here before but this one is a bit different. Next Wednesday November 19th Andy Storer is coming to talk to us  pub in Harpenden about 20 mlies north of London.

 

Andy is an Austin 7 expert and racer hence his 750MC visit. However he is also going to talk about his involvement in the recent restoration of the Rover BRM gas turbine Le Mans car.

 

http://www.classicca...er-brm-returns/

 

So this is a pretty unique opportunity to hear about a very special restoration and Andy's experience driving a gas turbine car  as well.

 

If you are intrested in coming it is free, we just ask you to purchase our raffle tickets. Please PM me here  to get the exact address , it starts at 8pm next Wednesday.

[275 GTB-4]

THAT would be an interesting talk (over a pint!)

[Tuboscocca]

I have posted info. about the 750 Club speaker meetings here before but this one is a bit different. Next Wednesday November 19th Andy Storer is coming to talk to us  pub in Harpenden about 20 mlies north of London.

 

Andy is an Austin 7 expert and racer hence his 750MC visit. However he is also going to talk about his involvement in the recent restoration of the Rover BRM gas turbine Le Mans car.

 

http://www.classicca...er-brm-returns/

 

So this is a pretty unique opportunity to hear about a very special restoration and Andy's experience driving a gas turbine car  as well.

 

If you are intrested in coming it is free, we just ask you to purchase our raffle tickets. Please PM me here  to get the exact address , it starts at 8pm next Wednesday.

Interesting, but TOO FAR away..

 

We were standing next to the Rover-BRM at LM Classic(2014), with all the starting problems (flat batteries).Finally it whistled to live, and was hurried to the parade just in time. We ran to the Dunlopbridge ,quite a distance from the old LM museum, to see the Rover on track, and just made it. Very interesting conversations, and (stupid me) I learned that from the first car only the front-bonnet is surviving, the 'rest' morphed into this very car...

 

Regards Michael

[garyfrogeye]

That's strange, I don't remember receiving an email about this one. I should be able to make it, though not necessarily in the Frogeye, even though I don't need any more Swarfega at the moment.

[John Saunders]

I  lived in Harpenden for 54 years.  When I was an apprentice mechanic at a local garage, one saturday morning a sports car pulled on to the forecourt, I recognized it as a Rover BRM Gas Turbine, (I read Autosport even back then).

The driver asked if we had a paraffin pump, we had but it was round the back of the showroom, we managed to get the car close enough for me to pump a lot (30 or 40 gallons I think, it was a long time ago)

of paraffin into it. The driver said he was on his way to a village show somewhere in Hertfordshire.

 

I now live in Norfolk, you know near Snetterton where it never rains, so will not be able to get to this meeting pity as I know ALL the pubs in Harpenden.

 

 

 

Edit.  As I passed Snetterton on the A11 yesterday, and it was raining, very unusual .

Edited by John Saunders, 17 November 2014 - 12:52.

[mariner]

I would like to  give a public thank you to Andy Storer for coming from Newark to Hertfordshire just to give an evening talk to the 750 Club last night.

 

Andy entertained us with his description of the Targa Florio Revival, cancelled at last minute,and then reinstated almost beyond the  last minute in a scenario that could only happen in Italy - especially as it all turned out fine.

 

On the Rover BRM Andy sees himself as privileged in two ways - to be given the restoration task which took him and his team four years; and to be only the fourth person to ever drive the car. The first three being Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and Ritchie Ginther.

 

With no drawings restoring the unique gas turbine engine was huge and technically challenging job involving seizures and engine fires on the way. Only four sets of the ceramic exchanger discs exist world wide -and the Smithsonian has one set. Help from keen turbine industry professionals helped get the car to run at Le Mans and Andy showed his in cockpit video of a car which will do 80 mph at idle (28,000 rpm).

 

To round off Andy showed us a professionally shot promo. film made by Rover at the time. The evocative colour shots of the 1965 Le Mans pits made it worthwhile let alone the technical content on building the engine. Speaking of pits one special detail revealed in the film is that the turbine engine ran with its shaft vertical at Solihull so the actual turbine assembly was down in pit in case of blade failure!

[Tim Murray]

On the Rover BRM Andy sees himself as privileged in two ways - to be given the restoration task which took him and his team four years; and to be only the fourth person to ever drive the car. The first three being Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and Ritchie Ginther.

 

This has to be incorrect. For a start, the car was lent for a week to Motor magazine who conducted a full road test on it, which appeared in the issue dated 25th September 1965. See also the post above from John Saunders. Incidentally, the road test featured a photo of the car being filled with paraffin at a filling station by a young lad in Esso-badged overalls - might this have been you, John?

Edited by Tim Murray, 20 November 2014 - 18:12.

[John Saunders]

Driver of the Rover BRM that Saturday back in 1965 was not American so that's Ritchie out of the picture. It was not Jackie or Graham (that would have been to much for 15 year old motor racing nut to hope for).

 

Tim,    It was an Esso garage, and we did wear blue overalls, but no Esso-badge just "South Harpenden Motors" badge on breast pocket. Don't remember any cameras about at the time, whish I'd had one myself now.

 

The old garage is long gone now, old folks home on the site. I offten think I may end up back there one day