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The Ariel Nomad – A 100% Road-Legal Off Road Racing Buggy

The Ariel Nomad is the slightly more muddy sibling of the Ariel Atom, the Atom being one of the most driver-focussed cars in the world and still one of the fastest accelerating.

Ariel developed the Nomad as a buggy-like vehicle that could be driven very quickly both on the road and off, with just a tire change and some suspension tweaking required.

The Ariel Atom

Although the Nomad shares an obvious genetic link with the Atom, the two cars don’t share the same chassis or suspension. The first prototype of the Nomad was essentially an Atom with jacked up suspension and some chunky tires, the team at Ariel liked it so much they designed an all-new car around the concept and released it in 2015.

The all new exoskeleton chassis was formed from bronze welded steel tube, however unlike the Atom the Nomad has a full roll cage over the passenger compartment. I am of course using the term “passenger compartment” lightly here as it’s essentially just a tubular steel chamber with seats and a windscreen – there’s no rain protection, doors, side or rear windows, and certainly no carpet.

Above Image: The Nomad can be raced on road or off with changes to the suspension settings and rubber.

Unlike the Ariel Atom with its Formula 1 derived pushrod suspension, the Nomad has more traditional double A-arms with adjustable shock absorbers front and back. This set up was chosen as it allows much more wheel articulation and helps the car soak up the bumps when off road.

The Nomad is powered by a reliable, all-aluminium 2.4 litre K24 Honda four-cylinder engine, with both naturally-aspirated and supercharged versions available producing 235 bhp with up to 290 bhp with forced induction.

The Ariel Motor Company has just 30 or so employees, they build up to 100 cars each year, and they’re based in Somerset in England. Britain has long been a place where smaller enterprises like Ariel can turn the sports car and racing worlds on their head, Enzo Ferrari used to derisively call them the “garagiste” – he never liked them as they had the somewhat irritating habit of beating his own cars on track.

Ariel and Caterham are, in some ways, modern iterations of companies like Cooper and Lotus. They build some of the lightest and best handling cars in the world, and they have no problem embarrassing supercars worth considerably more.

Above Image: There’s very little protection from the elements, however this gives the Nomad an incredibly visceral, raw feeling when you’re behind the wheel.

The 2017 Ariel Nomad Shown Here

The car you see here is a 2017 Ariel Nomad with 1,774 miles on the odometer and an impressive specifications list including uprated front and rear brakes, a hydraulic handbrake system, Fox multi-adjustable dampers and two-piece springs, a spare wheel carrier, and a front bumper with Warn winch.

Due to the exceedingly low production numbers, the high desirability, and the often very low mileage the depreciation on Nomads seems to be fairly close to zero.

With its excellent list of options and low miles we’re expecting this Nomad to fetch a respectable sum, it’s currently listed for sale with Collecting Cars with 4 days remaining to bid and the bidding is at £40,750 at the time of writing.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual buggy or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

The post The Ariel Nomad – A 100% Road-Legal Off Road Racing Buggy appeared first on Silodrome.

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1 Of 125 Made: The Intermeccanica Indra

This is an Intermeccanica Indra, it’s a rare Italian-built sports car from the early 1970s that makes use of an American drivetrain and many other components. Just 125 or so of these Italian/American cars were built between 1971 and 1975, today they’re becoming increasingly sought after as more people learn about them.

Intermeccanica is an unusual company, it’s one of very few boutique automakers that were founded in the 1950s that remain in business building cars to the modern day. The company was set up by Frank, a Hungarian-born Canadian, and Paula Reisner, a Czech-born Canadian after they moved to Italy in 1959.

When the young couple first arrived in Turin with dreams of starting their own car company they were so broke they camped in the foothills on the outskirts of town and lived out of their Fiat 500. They would call their company Intermeccanica, and they started out building simple tuning kits for European cars.

Before long Intermeccanica had a workshop and a small staff, they designed and built a Formula Junior car that was capable of over 140 mph around the Monza circuit. Later the company would build the modified InterMeccanica Puch, or IMP, which would take a class win around the Nürburgring ahead of the cars built by Abarth – much to the annoyance of Carlo Abarth.

By the early 1960s the time had come for Intermeccanica to build their first sporting GT car, something to compete with established marques like Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Maserati. This car would be the Intermeccanica Apollo – the first prototype was unveiled in 1962 and it immediately won “Best In Show” at the New York Auto show in the same year.

Above Image: The slightly sharper lines of the Indra have won it many fans over the years. Some have compared it to the C4 Corvette which didn’t appear until 1984, over 10 years later.

The next car would be the Intermeccanica Italia, it started out as the “Torino” however the Italia name would be seen as more fitting given the Italian origins of the chassis and body. The final car built by the company during this period was the one you see here, the Intermeccanica Indra.

Whereas the Apollo and the Italia both has the curves and elegance of a 1960s-era Italian GT the Indra had a more angular design language better suited to the brand new decade of the 1970s. Beautiful by any standard, the Indra was designed by Franco Scaglione and released at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1971.

The key to the success of the Indra was the deal organized by Erich Bitter between Intermeccanica and General Motors. This deal allowed Intermeccanica access to the V8 engine and other parts from the Opel Diplomat, it also meant that the Indra could be sold through Opel dealers, and taken to them for servicing and parts.

This deal would stay in place from 1971 until 1973 when GM withdrew from the agreement, Intermeccanica tried to keep the car in production using Ford parts but by 1975 it reached the end of the line and left production. In the end the company had produced 60 convertibles, 40 coupes, and 25 2+2s, with the possibility that up to 15 additional cars were shipped to the United States.

Above Image: The “Prancing Bull” logo can be seen in the center of the grille, nestled between tiny split bumpers.

The Indra was offered as a convertible, a coupe, and a hatchback with 2+2 seating. All were powered by V8 engines with early cars getting GM V8s from either the Diplomat or the Corvette, and later cars getting engines from Ford.

It’s not known exactly how many Indras have survived to the modern day, we typically only see one come up for sale every two or three years, with the earlier Italia being more common as over 400 were built.

The Indra you see here is a 1972 model fitted with a Chevrolet Corvette 327 cu. in. V8 engine mated to an automatic transmission. This is the coupe variant of the model, essentially just a steel roof welded onto the convertible’s steel body, though the resulting car is attractive and the driver has excellent visibility.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s. It’s currently listed with a price guide of €40,000 to €50,000 and it’s being offered without reserve.

The post 1 Of 125 Made: The Intermeccanica Indra appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/intermeccanica-indra-car/
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For Sale: An Original Parnelli VPJ-4 American Formula 1 Car Driven By Mario Andretti

This is one of just three American-built Formula 1 car developed by the Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing team in the mid-1970s and driven by Mario Andretti throughout the 1974, 1975, and 1976 seasons.

Considering the team’s newcomer status to F1, the world’s premier motor racing class, the Parnelli team did remarkably well – scoring 4th and 5th place finishes in 1975, taking a 3rd place finish at the International Trophy Race (non-points) race at Silverstone in England in 1975, and even leading the Spanish Grand Prix in 1975 after taking the lead from James Hunt after he crashed out.

The Parnelli VPJ-4 F1 Car

The Parnelli VPJ-4 was developed by former Lotus F1 designer Maurice Philippe, and the car is clearly influenced by Philippe’s Lotus 72 design – a car that would win the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship three times, the Drivers’ Championship two times, and take a total of 20 race wins with 39 podium places.

The team was built on a dream team combination – Maurice Philippe was a proven car designer and Mario Andretti was one of the most talented American racing drivers of his generation – having already won a Formula 1 race for Ferrari in 1971.

Much like the Lotus 72, the Parnelli VPJ-4 utilized a wedge shaped monocoque with a chisel nose, it also had its radiators at the back of the sidepods. The car was fitted with the 480 hp Cosworth DFV Formula 1 engine, now remembered as the single most successful F1 engine in history. The car also had torsion bar suspension, inboard brakes front and back, and a 5-speed Hewland gearbox.

Above Image: The cockpit of the car is equipped to keep racing, with a harness, right-side shifter and a prominent tachometer in the centre of the dash.

When originally developing the VPJ-4 F1 car the team planned to use Firestone tires, the American tire maker was also going to be their key sponsor. Shortly before they started racing in 1974 Firestone pulled the plug on the project, cutting off both a critical source of sponsorship funds and rubber.

The car was modified to use Goodyear tires and enough funding was secured to go racing in late 1974, Andretti started out with a promising 7th place finish from of a field of 30 cars. The biggest challenge faced by Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing was the lack of funds and the lack of development time, resulting in reliability issues that snatched away a number of high place finishes for the team.

Failures of parts like suspension and transmission components cost the team dearly needed points and with no new source of funding the decision was made to leave Formula 1 and focus on racing in the United States where the team already had a slew of successes.

After the team was shuttered Andretti joined the Lotus Formula One Team, he immediately started claiming race wins in 1977 and took the World Drivers’ Championship title in 1978. To date, Andretti remains the only driver in the world to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), the Daytona 500 (1967), and the Formula One World Championship (1978).

Car designer Maurice Philippe would go on to work for the Tyrrell team and team boss Parnelli Jones would go down in history as one of the greatest American drivers and team bosses in history.

Above Video: See some footage of Andretti in the Parnelli VPJ-4 at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

1974 Parnelli VPJ-4 Chassis 4/002 Shown Here

The car you see here is the second of the three that were built, it was personally driven by Mario Andretti and it’s likely the most historically significant of the three as it was in this car that Andretti led 10 laps at the Montjuic Park Circuit at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1975.

It was also in this car that he took that 3rd place at the International Trophy Race non-points race at Silverstone, as well as a 4th Place at the Anderstorp Scandanavia Raceway in the Swedish Grand Prix in 1975.

The car is now coming up for sale, it’s accompanied by spare VPJ-4 Formula 1 racing wheels, tires, and additional parts. Due to the popularity of the Cosworth DFV V8 engine and the Hewland gearbox sourcing parts shouldn’t prove difficult at all.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum. It’s due to cross the auction block in mid-May.

Images courtesy of Mecum

The post For Sale: An Original Parnelli VPJ-4 American Formula 1 Car Driven By Mario Andretti appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/parnelli-vpj-4-formula-1/
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Not Just A Number – A Documentary About The History Of The Lotus + Caterham 7

Not Just A Number is a documentary about one of the most enduring car designs in history, the Lotus 7, still in production now as the Caterham Seven.

It’s likely that the Seven is the most famous kit car in history, with the possible exception of the Meyers Manx beach buggy, though the Seven has certainly been in production the longest.

This film offers an important look into the history of the Seven, particularly into the change-over from Lotus production to Caterham production, mostly explained by Graham Nearn of Caterham who originally negotiated the deal with Colin Chapman of Lotus.

Despite the fact that the Lotus 7 was first released in 1957 it remains in production today, in modified form of course, over 64 years later. You can still order them in kit form and build them yourself in your shed or garage, alternatively you can order one pre-built and drive it from day one.

Above Image: A look inside the Lotus Seven.

The looks of the Seven are somewhat quirky but one drive is usually all it takes to convert someone into a lifelong fan of the Colin Chapman design. These cars are designed to be lightweight and fast, with very little consideration given to comfort or weather protection.

Typically a Lotus or Caterham 7 will weigh in around 500 kilograms or 1,102 lbs, by way of comparison a luxurious grand touring sports car like the Aston Martin V8 Vantage tips the scales at 1,630 kilograms or 3,594 lbs.

This low curb weight allows the Seven to be an exceptionally quick car in all forms on asphalt-based motorsport, from drag racing and hill climbs to autocross and endurance racing.

The little car is so quick in fact that it’s been banned from some forms of racing due to its propensity to totally dominate the field if allowed to compete.

If you’d like to visit Caterham and see their current crop of cars for sale you can click here to visit the website.

The post Not Just A Number – A Documentary About The History Of The Lotus + Caterham 7 appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/not-just-a-number-documentary-lotus-caterham-7/
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Parnelli Jones’ 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Is For Sale

This 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 was personally owned and driven by Parnelli Jones, an icon of American racing and the man who won the 1970 Trans-American Sedan Championship driving a car much like the one you see here – a Boss 302.

The Boss series of Mustangs were famously named almost by accident, the designer who was in charge of the Boss project was Larry Shinoda, and the project was being conducted in utmost secrecy so as not to give forewarning to the team behind the Camaro.

Whenever he would be asked by other Ford employees what he was working on, Shinoda would just say “the boss’s car” referring to company president Semon “Bunkie” Knudson who had approved the project, and leave it at that.

It became the default name for the car, and the company decided to use it on the production models – the Boss 302 was the car homologated for racing in the Trans Am series and the Boss 429 was the car homologated for NASCAR which had a higher maximum engine capacity.

Mustangs had been racing and winning almost since the model was first introduced and largely thanks to the work of Carroll Shelby and his team’s work on the Shelby GT350. The Boss 302 would be developed internally at Ford specifically to beat all the new pony cars that had been released in the 1960s after the Mustang to challenge the Ford’s lead in the sales figures.

Trans Am racing was hard fought, so it was clear the cars were going to need to be significantly modified to win. It was also clear that a road-legal version of the cars were going to need to be available to buy to the general public to meet homologation requirements.

Above Video: Footage from the 1970 Trans Am season, including Parnelli Jones in his Bud Moore Boss 302.

The Boss 302 was fitted with lowered competition suspension, a Hurst shifter, front disc brakes, thicker sway bars, reinforced shock towers, heavy duty spindles, and a 4-speed manual transmission.

The cars are instantly recognizable for their “hockey stick” decal that runs down both sides, and for the front spoiler and rear deck wing. In the engine bay you would find the specially prepared 302 cu. in. (5.0 litre) V8 with a thin-wall black casting that used four bolt mains, screw in freeze plugs, and unique heads with better flow characteristics and a canted valve design.

Engine power was rated at 290 hp, the standard Mustang 302 produced 220 hp up to 230 hp with the four-barrel carburetor. The 0 to 60 mph time was 6.9 seconds, good for the era, and the quarter mile time was 14.6 seconds.

After building the Boss 302 for the 1969 and 1970 model year Ford discontinued the model for 1971. The original survivors are now much sought after but there are a staggering number of “tribute” cars out there, so detailed inspections to ascertain authenticity are highly recommended.

Above Image: This interior shot of the Boss 302 shows the Hurst manual shifter, the purposeful-looking steering wheel, and the simple lap belts that were used at the time.

The Parnelli Jones Boss 302 Shown Here

The car you see here was formerly owned by Parnelli Jones, as mentioned further up he’s the man who drove one to victory in the Trans Am championship in 1970 for the Bud Moore team ahead of Team Penske’s Javelins.

It was restored by Mark Brown and GS Johnson of the Boss 302 Registry to Parnelli Jones’ personal specifications in 2006 and it remained in his possession until he sold it to Brown in 2019. Impressively the car has accumulated just 2,000 miles since the restoration, leaving it in almost-new condition throughout.

Another claim to fame was that this was the cover car of Mustang Monthly magazine in May 2007, and it was featured in Mustang Times magazine in May 2008.

The car now comes with a Parnelli Jones signed Ford plaque, a photograph of 2003 title assigned to Parnelli Jones, a Parnelli Jones signed declaration of ownership, and a PJ Boss California license plate.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum. It’s due to roll across the auction block in mid-May and at the time of writing there’s no price guide.

Images courtesy of Mecum

The post Parnelli Jones’ 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Is For Sale appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/parnelli-jones-1970-ford-mustang-boss-302/
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For Sale: An Alfa Romeo Tipo 105 Engine – 1.6 Litres + 180 BHP

This is an Alfa Romeo Tipo 105 engine, perhaps better known simply as an Alfa Romeo Twin Cam with the Italians calling it the “Bialbero” for “Twin Shaft”. Remarkably this advanced engine was designed in the early 1950s and its been mass production since 1954, it would be upgraded over time and remain in production until 1994 – a 40 year run.

The lead engineer behind the Alfa Twin Cam was Giuseppe Busso, he developed an engine that used previously known engineering advancements like double overhead cams, hemispherical combustion chambers, overhead spark plugs, and lightweight all-alloy construction to create a new inline-4 that was leagues ahead of anything being made by Alfa Romeo’s competition.

Over the course of its production run variations of this engine would be fitted to a wide array of cars and the engine itself would be built with swept capacities ranging from 896cc all the way up to 2,056cc.

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 105 engine you see here has been built specifically for racing to GTA 1600 specification by marque specialists Ital Auto in Germany. It is now producing approximately 180 bhp and it’s accompanied by a dynamometer printout that attests to this.

Above Image: A GTA Alfa, not dissimilar to the kind of car this engine is likely destined for.

GTA 1600 specification includes a reduced angle between the valves, from 90º to 80º, the valve sizes are substantially increased, a race cam is fitted along with twin Weber side draught carburetors, and due to the valve size increase the centrally located spark plugs are changed for a twin spark system.

Alfa Romeos of the 105 and 115 series have become increasingly popular in recent years, thanks in no small part to the work of companies like Alfaholics in Britain. Not that many years ago it was still possible to buy them somewhat cheaply, however that ship has now well and truly sailed.

If you’d like to read more about this engine or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Bonhams. It’s due to roll across the auction block in Monaco at the Monaco Sale ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ on the 25rd of April with a price guide of $21,000 to $33,000 USD.

Images courtesy of Bonhams

The post For Sale: An Alfa Romeo Tipo 105 Engine – 1.6 Litres + 180 BHP appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/alfa-romeo-tipo-105-engine/
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An Original Set Of Bugatti EB110 Wheels – $9,400 to $14,200 USD

This is an original set of Bugatti EB110 wheels, they’re coming up for sale with RM Sotheby’s and as you may imagine they cost more than many used cars, with the price guide ranging from $9,400 to $14,200 USD.

The Bugatti EB110 is perhaps one of the most unfairly under recognized supercars of its age, alongside contemporaries like the Cizeta V16T. The EB110 featured a carbon fibre chassis, all-wheel drive, state-of-the-art onboard systems, and a top speed of 221 mph (355 km/h) in Super Sport trim.

Bespoke wheels were developed for the car, as you would expect for any supercar at this level. They’re a simple spoked design that measure in at 18 inches in diameter with 245/40 R18 tires fitted up front and 325/30 R18 on the rear.

The final design used for the EB 110 was quite different to the final prototype that had been designed by Marcelo Gandini. As you may expect, Gandini’s design was more angular and aggressive, with pop-up headlights and vents in the hood to assist with cooling.

Above Image: The production EB 110 (centre) with various Gandini-designed prototypes on either side. Note the considerable styling differences.

The name EB 110 was given as an homage to the original company founder Ettore Bugatti and his 110 birthday, which was celebrated in 1991 – the year the car was released.

Just 139 examples of the EB 110 were made between 1991 and 1995 when he company fell into bankruptcy. Compared to the Bugatti Veyron with over 450 built the EB 110 remains a rare sight and ever popular with enthusiasts.

If you’d like to read see more or register to bid on these wheels you can click here to visit the listing. They’re due to cross the auction block later in April, the price guide is €8,000 to €12,000 and they’re currently located in Copenhagen, Denmark.