70 replies to this topic

[Andrew Smith]

Does anyone know where the last of the Wolf grand Prix cars is on display?

[Twin Window]

As far as I'm aware, all three 1979 Wolf chassis were sold to Fittipaldi Automotive, who ran them as Fittipaldi F7s until their F8 came on stream mid-1980.

I therefore doubt any exist, unless someone managed to get one and revert it to Wolf WR7/8/9 spec.

[Andrew Smith]

Thanks for the reply. Two 1979 Wolf cars went to Fittipaldi and became F7 chassis a third F7 was all new in 1980 but the last 1979 Wolf car was retained by Walter Wolf himself. Wonder where it is now?
Cheers

[VWV]

I don't know where the car is now but here is a link to some detail photo's of the car
http://webhome.idire...sys/WolfWR1.htm

[David McKinney]

That's a much earlier model

[TEJ]

There is a Wolf F1 car on display at the Museum of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in Toronto. It is a WR1, I belive, the first model.

[David M. Kane]

Check out www.historicgrandprix.com

[Andrew Smith]

Well these cars seem to have disappeared. Does anyone know why they were so uncompetitive - they had all the right ingredients.

[Pils1989]

Is this Wolf, one of the latest ones?

Copyright unknown

It's Teddy Pilette at a Historic Race in early 90s, I think.

[VWV]

Antoine, That's a WR1 from 1977.

[Pils1989]

Yeap, correct, thanks!
http://www.historicg.....ce McCaig.htm

[Mallory Dan]

Originally posted by Andrew Smith
Well these cars seem to have disappeared. Does anyone know why they were so uncompetitive - they had all the right ingredients.

Good question Andrew, I've also wondered why the 3rd generation Wolves (WR7-9) were so poor. I realise that 'Jimmy' Hunt was well past it by then, but even so Harvey P was a good designer before and after those cars, so why did they bomb so badly? Even when Keke got in it after James, things didn't improve. Was Walter W so disillusioned by then that the whole team fell apart ?

[Allen Brown]

All three F7s were still in F7 spec last time I checked. The third Wolf, WR9, was said to have gone into Walter Wolf's collection but I have never heard anything about its whereabouts. It's one of very few 3-litre F1 cars to appear in my lists as "completely missing".

Allen

[GeorgeTheCar]

The Wolf in the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame and Museum came from Walter.

The next time that I am in I will check out the serial number

[Andrew Smith]

I see an immaculately restored Wolf WR8/9 ran at the TAG Heuer Grand Prix Grobming on 24.7.2005 driven by Philipp Peter owned by Rudolf Rami from Altenberg near Linz
Does any one know if this is the one retained by Walter Wolf (and was it WR8 or WR9 ) or is it a
re- engineered Fittipaldi F7?
There are some pictures on web pages eg car.automedia.cz

[Rainer Nyberg]

I cannot answer your question, but if it is one of the ex F7 Fittipaldis, it is maybe - due to Walter Wolf's roots - a better idea to run it as Wolf by this Austrian guy?

[NGSmith]

Mark Leonard in La Jolla CA has sold a couple over the past few years. See his web site under cars sold for the details.

http://www.grandprix...m/cars_sold.htm

Nick

[Andrew Smith]

Rainer
a good look at this photo reveals Wolf front suspension and not F7 so I think this is the missing Wolf car probably WR8. It has the rear wing for a centre fixing in place. Damaged WR9 probably became F7/1. Could do with a few more detail photos of the car.
cheers

[Roly]

Hi Rainer,

I would also love to see more pics of this car.
Have a model kit of the Wolf, but need more pics for detail.

Thanks

[Andrew Smith]

Roly
for photos try www.sutton-images.com they have many of the Wolf car.
If your kit is 1/43 scale Bruce Paterson makes decals of the car in original WR7 form www.pattosplace.com

Maybe the WR8 will be on display elsewhere
Andrew

[barrykm]

Originally posted by Pils1989
Is this Wolf, one of the latest ones?

Copyright unknown

It's Teddy Pilette at a Historic Race in early 90s, I think.

Still one of the neatest-looking F1 cars....

[gablet]

About WR1: anyone have pictures of fuel pumps zone (to the left of engine), maybe taken during a 1977/78 GP?
It seems very hard to find any useful reference in the internet about this car!
Thanks,
Gabriele

[George Cunningham]

Originally posted by TEJ
There is a Wolf F1 car on display at the Museum of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in Toronto. It is a WR1, I belive, the first model.

This is the one on display at the Hall of Fame. I took this picture of it in April 2006.

BTW the museum is now located at some restoration facility which is outside Toronto.

[Allen Brown]

I think that's the car that used to be in the Donington Museum.

Behind it is the Korst Kroll Can-Am Frissbee.

Allen

[Huw Jadvantich]

Slightly OT I'm sorry, but can someone post a picture of the Olympus Hesketh 308 (E?) that Davina Galica drove - from memory it looks very similar to the WR1 above. If this is true, was it purely the pedigree of the driver and a high pecking order Cosworth that made the difference between an out of the box competitive car and a complete also ran?

[Bjorn Kjer]

Sorry , but I MUST ask : Any transporter pictures ?

Kind regards

[Allen Brown]

Originally posted by Huw Jadvantich
Slightly OT I'm sorry, but can someone post a picture of the Olympus Hesketh 308 (E?) that Davina Galica drove - from memory it looks very similar to the WR1 above. If this is true, was it purely the pedigree of the driver and a high pecking order Cosworth that made the difference between an out of the box competitive car and a complete also ran?

I think it's your memory Huw. There was a huge difference between those two teams.

Allen

[zakeriath]

Looking through a few old Autosports and I noticed that they showed this nose at the SAGP in 77



Did they use it anywhere else?

[mfd]

Later versions of the Wolf WR7 WR8 WR9 are here
http://www.thiswayup...a/catalogue.htm
Gives you an insight anyway

[ReWind]

Originally posted by Huw Jadvantich
Slightly OT I'm sorry, but can someone post a picture of the Olympus Hesketh 308 (E?) that Davina Galica drove - from memory it looks very similar to the WR1 above.

I have two small pictures which are shown here considerably enlarged.

The first one from German magazine "sport auto" (pre-season presentation)

and the second one from German magazine "auto motor und sport" (presumably taken at Buenos Aires)

[Huw Jadvantich]

Thanks for that. Theirs a definate 'family resemblance' in the bodywork and layout, but the front suspension is entirely different. Did Postlethwaite do that Hesketh?

[Allen Brown]

No, it was Frank Dernie and Nigel Stroud.

Allen

[Huw Jadvantich]

thats the end of my postulation then!

[Pedro 917]

James Hunt, Belgian GP Zolder 1979 :


Copyright Herman De Boes

[Eshe]

Theodore Racing also ran a couple of Wolf F1 cars in 1979 for Geoff Lees and David Kennedy IIRC.

[byrkus]

Some pictures of 1978 Wolf WR2 (or WR3?) :



Taken by me in Maribor, Slovenia... In Citroën dealership, of all places!!!

[Allen Brown]

That's WR5 or WR6. When were those pictures taken?

Allen

[byrkus]

Half a year ago, mid june.

[wolfman]

wr5

[Allen Brown]

Why do you say that? Because WR6 is in the US?

[wolfman]

THE WR6 IS SINCE 2000 DRIVING IN HISTORIC RACE

[wolfman]

Originally posted by zakeriath
Looking through a few old Autosports and I noticed that they showed this nose at the SAGP in 77



Did they use it anywhere else?

This nose have i only seen at the presentation and testing (Paul Ricard) in 1976

[Andrew Smith]

Nice pictures of WR5. I would use some saddle soap on the steering wheel!
No chassis plate is visible. Did these cars have a chassis plate like a Lotus, McLaren or Surtees ?(please quote chassis number when ordering parts).
Hope we can have similar close ups of the WR8 car that has surfaced.

[Andrew Smith]

I came across some pictures of the 1979 Gunnar Nilsson F1 Challenge at Donnington in 1979 which includes several of the Wolf WR7 (racing mis-captioned) WR8 (on display) and WR6 (on display in Olympus colours). Probably the biggest collection available of this event. Also one of James driving in the BMW procar event - I wonder where he finished?

Search for "Old Skool F1" on say Google.

[simonlewisbooks]

Originally posted by Andrew Smith
. Also one of James driving in the BMW procar event - I wonder where he finished?

Search for "Old Skool F1" on say Google.

I think he retired and the press made a big thing of him getting some boos from a section of the crowd. "Fallen hero", that kind of nonsense. Quite an unfortunate situation as I believe this in fact turned out to be his last ever race?

[Andrew Smith]

Oh dear. Certainly a few years later he demonstrated a McLaren M23 and was booed when it conked out. Donnington was his last competiive event. He tested WR7 at Silverstone a few days later at pre GP practice and found it uncompetitive so annouced his retirement, although when Depallier had his hang gliding accident he was offered the Ligier drive but Walter Wolf wouldn't hear of it.

[Andrew Smith]

Here is some information from Motoring News June 7 1979

"The crowd favourite knows the circuit well from recent testing...... he had 61.8s, his best ever testing time in his regular Wolf WR7 to aim for, and was just a second off that pace in practice.
He really buckled down to the task on the slippery competition runs, too, recording a time over three tenths quicker than in practice, the only driver to improve. James used all the road in his spirited attempt, and wound up second overall to the delight of the crowd."

Hunt found the BMW Pro Car too cramped "these things are made for Italians " he quipped and was unclassified after two stops for tyres and a spin into the sand. Maybe he got booed walking back. The F1 runs came after the BMW race, and he must have wanted to finish the day on a better note.

[rhegra]

In this weeks edition of the german magazine Motorsport aktuell there is a report about the 1979 Wolf WR 8/9, restored by the Austrian Rudi Raml. His Wolf should be the last of three 1979, the others went to Fittipaldi, with the now F7 called yellow cars Fittipaldi and Rosberg took third places in Argentinia and Long Beach. Try to scan the report.

[Mohican]

Originally posted by zakeriath
Looking through a few old Autosports and I noticed that they showed this nose at the SAGP in 77



Did they use it anywhere else?

When the WR1 was first shown to the public in early '77, it had a wide nose - very similar to the 74-75 Hesketh (also designed by Postlethwaite, of course).

After testing they then went for the narrow nose, which was first seen when the car arrived in Argentina for the first race (which of course Jody won).

That was such a hasty conversion that it did not yet feature the rounded edges round the front oil radiator; those only came later. Maybe the real reason for change was a concern re cooling in South America ?

The wide nose was in fact never used in a race, if I remember correctly.

[km1164]

i think i have the mould for that nose
i have wr1 cockpit section mould as well
offers invited !!!