Donington Park: Grand Prix Collection

With all the business kicking off with the house, myself and a mate went to the Donington Park Grand Prix museum to have a bit of a break and check out some serious cars on show. Both of us have started to take a real interest in 1960s and 1970s Grand Prix racing so we thought a trip to the museum was in order.

When we got inside the museum the first collection was of some war time motorbikes.

The collection started with some German metal.

Going into the Grand Prix halls was quite spectacular the first time you entered the room.

This four wheel drive Lotus 63 was on display. I got some close up shots of the car as it was great to see how Grand Prix cars were developed back in the golden age.

My mate Rich demonstrates how tall the rear wing is on the Lotus Cosworth 49B.

Rich took a photo of me admiring the right hand bank of the V8 in the Mclaren.

Tribute to Roger Williamson. He grew up in Leicester which is around 12 miles from where I live. Roger is discussed in the BBC documentary I featured on here recently.

I was interested in how the rear wing design changed over the decades.

This Vauxhall Firenza was also in the museum. The car used to be raced by Gerry Marshall.

Dyno Run

S30 on Watanabes howling!

Gran Turismo 5 NES

Project Garage: It Begins

I've been quiet in recent months on the car front due to one major factor, I have just bought a house. The main attraction for me was the 21ft X 11ft garage. It is easily big enough for the Roadster, a couple of bikes, my car parts and a good work bench. I went down to the house today with a mate of mine and we made a start. It needs some cement, paint, wood stain, and other bits and pieces. Stay tuned for more progress. I thought it would be years until I had my own garage!

The back of the garage was covered in Ivy that was killing the bricks and mortar. We set too and removed it.

The roof and side of the garage was also covered in Ivy. A good three hours was spent removing it all and clearing down the side of the garage. The photos below show how the Ivy had spread into the garage. After a bit of patience it was coming off.

I'll be spending most of my spare time down there so the car front will be quiet for a while. Still, it's for a good cause.

Dauer 962: Group C Road Racer

The Dauer 962 Le Mans was created using the same chassis as the Porsche 962 and was stripped down for modification. Bodywork components were replaced with revised carbon fibre and kevlar panels as well as having a redesigned under tray for increased stability at high speeds. 

The interior saw the addition of a passenger seat as well as leather upholstery. As the group C car had a ground hugging ride height, hydraulic suspension was installed on the Dauer to meet German ride height requirements.

The 962 Le Mans featured a Porsche water-cooled Type-935 2994 cc Flat-6 with two turbochargers, virtually the same found in the group C Porsche.  The car had a power output of around 730bhp thanks to the air restrictor being removed as the car was not used for competition purposes.