MY FEEDLY

Ex-Works ‘Group A’ Toyota Supra Raced By Barry Sheene

This is the ex-Toyota works ‘Group A’ Toyota Supra that was raced by Barry Sheene in the 1985 Trimoco RAC British Saloon Car Championship (now the BTCC).

Sheene competed in the car you see here for much of the 1985 season, impressively he managed a number of podium places and top six finishes in the aggressive and often dangerous world of British touring car racing.

The car is now for sale, it’s scheduled to roll across the auction block with Silverstone Auctions on the 31st of July with a guide price of £70,000 – £80,000, which works out to approximately $95,600 – $109,200 USD.

Fast Facts

✱ Barry Sheene was one of the most beloved Grand Prix motorcycle racers of his generation, he became a two-time World Champion and was just as famous for his hard partying lifestyle off the track as his racing exploits on it.

✱ Sheene retired from top flight motorcycle racing at the end of the 1984 season, he wasn’t ready to leave racing behind just yet, and so he decided to try his hand at touring car racing.

✱ He piloted the car you see here in the 1985 season after proving his pace in testing. Though he wouldn’t quite manage to get onto the top step of the podium he did achieve two podium places and a number of high placed finishes.

Barry Sheene’s Group A Toyota Supra

Sheene retired from the dangerous world of Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 1984, a crash in the 1982 season had very nearly claimed his legs and it had left him struggling to be competitive when he returned to the grid.

He decided to try his hand at competing on four wheels, perhaps due to the safety of having a full roll cage around him at all times when on track, and he had enjoyed his brief time behind the wheel of a Mazda RX-7 in 1981 racing at Mallory Park.

Above Image: The car presents today in the same livery from 1985, with Barry Sheene’s name still on the door.

In order to secure a place on the Toyota factory team Sheene initially drove a Toyota works team Corolla GT, this clearly showed his pace, and in testing he proved to be just 0.4 of a second slower than future 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Win Percy.

Sheene was officially signed to race for the Toyota factory team for the 1985 season. He would be racing the second generation of the Toyota Supra, known internally as the A60, which was sold between 1981 and 1985.

Group A Toyota Supra Specifications

As you would expect, the British touring car version of the Supra varied significantly from the standard road car.

It was fitted with a highly-tuned Group A version of the production engine, a double overhead cam inline-six modified to produce 225 bhp and 207 lb ft of torque at 6,500rpm thanks to upgraded cams, an 11.6:1 compression ratio, and a number of other internal modifications.

Power is sent to the rear wheels via a W50 gearbox with Quaife close-cut gears, the transmission in this car was recently rebuilt and is now ready for on track action.

The Toyota Supra A60, called the Celica Supra in some markets, rides on four wheel independent suspension that as developed by Lotus. It has MacPherson struts up front with semi-trailing arms, coil springs, and a stabilizer bar in the rear. Braking is by four wheel discs.

Above Image: The Supra engine has become famous for its tunability, in this specification the engine is turning out 225 bhp and 207 lb ft of torque.

Barry Sheene And The 1985 Season

Sheene’s time in this car during the 1985 season was characterized by both its highs and its lows, he impressed many with his competitive lap times against an experienced field and he claimed two podiums, but he was also involved in a first lap six-car crash that left the car badly damaged.

The Toyota team managed to reshell the car before the next race at Silverstone just two weeks later, and Sheene would compete in this reshelled car for the rest of the season.

This Supra was sold into private hands in 1987, it’s most recent resurfacing was its hugely popular appearance at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the car was invited to race up the hill in front of tens of thousands of spectators as part of that year’s Barry Sheene tribute.

The car is now presented in ready to race condition throughout and it would doubtless be a welcome addition to the grid of countless vintage racing events worldwide, and it’s likely to enjoy the ever increasing popularity we’re seeing surrounding sports cars from the 1980s and 1990s.

As mentioned above this Supra is now due to roll across the auction block in late July with a price estimate around the $100,000 USD mark. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Silverstone Auctions

The post Ex-Works ‘Group A’ Toyota Supra Raced By Barry Sheene appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/toyota-supra-barry-sheene/
via gqrds

For Sale: A 1:1 Scale Model Of The Ferrari 312T Formula 1 Car

This is a 1:1 sale model of the 1975 Ferrari 312T Formula 1 car driven by Niki Lauda, the attention to detail is remarkably good throughout, helped along by the fact that the car uses original 312T front and rear wings, and it has a detailed cockpit.

1:1 scale display cars have been used by F1 teams for decades, they provide a less expensive alternative to sending real cars to auto shows and events, and most people who see them have no idea that the car isn’t the real thing.

The Ferrari 312T

The Ferrari 312T is remembered today as the most successful Formula 1 car design in history, it won four F1 Constructors’ and three F1 Drivers’ Championships, with 27 race wins, 61 podium places, and 19 pole positions.

The car was developed by the great Mauro Forghieri for the 1975 season, the car has a tubular steel spaceframe with aluminium panels and it’s powered by the Ferrari 015 flat-12 engine with a swept capacity of 2,992cc (3.0 liters) and power output figures of 500 to 515+ hp.

Above Image: This 1:1 scale model looks remarkably similar to the real car, it even has a detailed cockpit and authentic front and rear wings.

The 312T was constantly developed over its 1975 to 1980 lifespan, from the original 312T to the 312T2 right the way through to the 312T5 of 1980. Interestingly Ferrari also made a version of the car with four front wheels like the Tyrell P34, however this was later reveled to be a mock up in order to keep public attention high.

The surviving examples of the 312T and its descendants are now worth a small fortune due to the on track successes enjoyed by the vehicle in the mid-to-late 1970s, and a small number of them still race in vintage motor sport events.

The 1:1 scale model of the original 1975 Ferrari 312T you see here is accompanied by a replica Niki Lauda helmet based on a Bell Star from 1975, the same helmet he wore during the season. This model is now for sale by Halmo, the price isn’t listed however they encourage enquiries.

Visit The Store

Images courtesy of Halmo

The post For Sale: A 1:1 Scale Model Of The Ferrari 312T Formula 1 Car appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/ferrari-312t-formula-1-car-model/
via gqrds

This Is The Rare BMW-Glas 3000 V8

This is one of just 389 examples of the BMW-Glas 3000 V8, they were only made in 1967 and 1968 before BMW discontinued the model, and today they’re among the rarest BMWs money can buy.

In the early 1960s Hans Glas GmbH, one of Germany’s smallest automakers, was in dire financial trouble. The company approached Italian design house Frua to design them a new GT car, a car that company executives hoped would turn their fortunes around.

Fast Facts – The BMW-Glas 3000 V8

✱ The BMW-Glas 3000 V8 was originally developed as the Glas 3000 V8, the name changed to include BMW after the Bavarian automaker acquired Hans Glas GmbH in late 1966.

✱ The V8 used in the car was essentially a new block with the upper part of the Glas four-cylinder engine fitted in a “V” configuration. This helped keep development costs down.

✱ By the standards of the mid-1960s the car was quite advanced, with belt-driven overhead cams, independent front and rear suspension, and front and rear disc brakes.

BMW-Glas 3000 V8

The BMW-Glas 3000 V8 is a car that very nearly didn’t go into production, in fact it likely would never have ever seen the light of day if not for the fact that BMW acquired Glas when the smaller company was already ramping up for production of the new car.

Above Image: The Glas V8 was created by taking the top end of the company’s four-cylinder engine and using it as the cylinder banks of the new V8 to help reduce development costs.

The design of the Glas 3000 V8 wasn’t quite aligned with the BMW design language of the time, in fact it was considered so similar to Pietro Frua’s other designs for Maserati that these cars were nicknamed “Glaseratis.”

Under their Italian-designed skin the Glas 3000 V8, and its earlier stablemate the 2600 V8, were relatively advanced cars for the period. They were fitted with independent front and rear suspension, with upper and lower A-arms and coil springs up front and a leaf-sprung independent De Dion rear axle in the rear.

The cars also had front and rear disc brakes, inboard discs were used in the rear, as well as a belt-driven overhead camshaft for each cylinder bank. By the standards of the mid-1960s these Glas coupes were impressive from and engineering standpoint, and it’s clear that Glas company executives were working hard to deliver the best cars possible in the hopes of saving the company.

The 3000 V8 has 160 hp at 5,100 rpm and 173 lb ft of torque at 3,400 rpm, and it sends its power back through a 4-speed manual transmission to the rubber-mounted differential. The model is said to be capable of 200 km/h (126 mph), making it an ideal candidate for journeys on the Autobahn.

When BMW acquired Hans Glas GmbH in late 1966 it wasn’t because they wanted access to the Glas catalogue of cars, it’s because they needed to expand and they wanted to use the Glas factories increase their own production.

There must have been no small amount of debate at BMW about what to do with the unusual Glas V8 coupes. It seems there was enough interest in keeping the model in production to hire Pietro Frua to design an all-new fastback body for the car specifically for BMW – the BMW-Glas 3000 V8 Fastback prototype of which only one was made.

Above Image: The Italian Frua styling of the car has won it both fans and detractors over the years.

In the end BMW kept the BMW-Glas V8 in production until only May 1968 when it ceased production. 277 examples of the 2600 V8 had been made followed by 389 examples of the 3000 V8, today the surviving examples are much sought after by enthusiasts who extoll the virtues of the cars to all who’ll listen.

The 1968 BMW-Glas 3000 V8 Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1968 BMW-Glas 3000 V8, the second and final calendar year of production for the model. Interestingly this car spent over 20 years on display at the Berlin Auto Museum where it was seen by countless visitors, many of whom had likely never seen one before.

This BMW-Glas benefits from a comprehensive museum-grade restoration to its original specifications, with red paint and a two-tone black vinyl with beige corduroy insert interior.

It has a Becker Grand Prix tri-band radio, a fender mounted Talbot mirror, silver 14 inch wheels with chrome hubcaps with 185 wide Michelin XVS tires, and a more modern aftermarket electronic ignition for enhanced reliability.

The car is due to cross the auction block with Mecum in mid-August, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.