13 replies to this topic

[Perruqueporte]

Having had a look online this morning to see which rabble will be in government here in the UK following yesterday's election, I have just looked at the BBC's F1 section to read Lewis Hamilton's account of going to Monza with Stirling Moss the other day, for both to be filmed with a pair of W196 grand prix cars.  He says:

 

"It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks, as you can see, but without doubt one of the coolest things I did was the event at Monza with Stirling Moss.

Mercedes took two versions of the 1955 F1 car, the W196, the open-wheeler and the 'streamliner', and Stirling and I drove them on the old Monza banking, which they used for grands prix until 1959.  I think that might be my favourite car of all time. I just love the sound of it, with its old V12 engine - I'd love to have a road car that sounded like that."

 

I shall now go and finish preparing our two 1950s Jaguars in advance of tomorrow's sprint meeting at Goodwood.  Can't wait to fire them up and hear the sound of those glorious V7 engines!   

 

Christopher W.

[bschenker]

Sorry, V12 engine?

 

Was this not longer back in time?

 

I remind it’s was 8 cylinder desmo in line?

 

.

[Ray Bell]

I'm sure, Beat, that Christopher knows it was a straight eight...

He's just posting this so we know Lewis Hamilton has either been misquoted or not known what the car had.

[bschenker]

All most he was able to drive!

 

[Ray Bell]

Yeah, these blokes get the best opportunities...

I have to satisfy myself that at least I saw Fangio drive one.

[bschenker]

I also at the Swiss GP in Bern.

 

And have him in 1968 as Taxidriver in the Temporada in a Torino.

 

..

Edited by bschenker, 08 May 2015 - 10:06.

[Doug Nye]

Regarding the noise level Lewis experienced in the W196 it probably sounded like twice as many cylinders as his regular F1 car. But really - what did one of my schoolmasters always say? Something like "Do pay attention boy!"

 

DCN

[Roger Clark]

There's a video of Lewis and Sir Stirling talking about it here.

 

http://www.dailymoti...m/video/x2pjfzj

 

I think you can detect kindred spirits.

[Ray Bell]

There's another one there where Lewis is with Sir Stirling at Silverstone...

In that one you plainly hear Lewis talk about the 'straight eight' engine in the W196.

[rasimmo]

Yeah, these blokes get the best opportunities...

I have to satisfy myself that at least I saw Fangio drive one.

Yes, but that was worth seeing and hearing, especially after JMF got out and the mechanic jumped in to return it to the pits and revved the freckle out of it.Straight 8, desmodromic valves.

Simmo

Edited by rasimmo, 09 May 2015 - 14:24.

[Ray Bell]

For me it was this:

Originally posted by myself
Having seen the great man at work, I am inclined to say he was truly a master, even at seventy-something years of age.

Coming up the back straight at Sandown on rock-hard tyres in the 3-litre W196, he was seemingly going over the top of the hill into the fast downhill esses with just a bit of a back-off. But as I got closer to this scene, I became aware that this was just not so. I started hearing things.

As he reached the back-off point, I heard the tyres just faintly chirping.... each lap the same, chirping away. The old man had those wheels on the point of locking up without going too far, and you just wouldn't have known.

No wonder Brabham exclaimed about him that day, "It gives you heart to see him driving that hard at that age..."

[Bloggsworth]

Sorry, V12 engine?

 

Was this not longer back in time?

 

I remind it’s was 8 cylinder desmo in line?

 

.

 

With a split crankshaft running on roller bearings. As I understand it, the two halves of the crank screwed together with male and female threads of different pitch, so that no separate locking mechanism was required.

[David Birchall]

I know I have told this story before but my one experience of seeing a W196 driven "properly" was at the Monterey Histyrics in the late seventies when Phil Hill was the driver. It was on the practise day before the weekend, very few of the general public in attendance. Phil fired up the thing in the pits "Did a doughnut" in the pit lane (before such things were apparently obligatory) and rocketed out on to the track and put on a terrific display of driving. Very memorable.

[Ray Bell]

Should be in the Phil Hill thread, David...

He had the pleasure of driving a lot of nice cars, particularly when he was writing for R&T.