The Peerless GT – An Unusual British Le Mans Racer

In 1958 before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an unusual new car took its position ready for the race, it was the only one of its kind in the field and it was the only car with four seats that would compete that year.

The car was a Peerless GT, of the 55 cars that started the race the Peerless would finish 4th in class and 16th overall after covering 240 laps – a remarkable success that brought the young company a wealth of free media attention and helped sell a significant number of cars.

Fast Facts – The Peerless GT

• The Peerless GT used advanced construction techniques by the standards of the late-1950s, with a tubular space frame chassis, de Dion rear suspension, independent front suspension, and a body made from a modern (at the time) lightweight composite material, better known as fiberglass.
• The handsome styling of the cars was likely influenced somewhat by the Aston Martin DB2/4, however the Peerless GT is 100% its own creation, and in recent years it’s proving to be an increasingly popular collector car.
• The mechanicals of the Peerless were supplied by the Triumph TR3 thanks to a close relationship enjoyed by Peerless with Triumph, this makes maintenance and spare parts acquisition relatively simple.

Building The Peerless GT

The Peerless GT was originally to be called the Warwick, the aluminum-bodied prototype carried this name however by the time production began in 1957 the name had been changed to the simpler “Peerless GT” and this is the name that would be used for the full production run of the original cars.

The elegant styling of the car has been winning it fans for generations, but due to the low production numbers we don’t often see them come up for sale.

The car was designed by Bernie Rodger with input from fellow company founders John Gordon and James Byrnes. Enzo Ferrari had a name for upstart British companies who appeared out of nowhere and starting building low volume cars, he called them “garagiste,” and Peerless was an excellent example of the phenomenon.

Rodger was a highly-regarded local engine builder and performance tuner who could squeeze every ounce of performance out of any engine you gave him. Byrnes was a club racer who had seen some on-track successes and wanted to try his hand at building his own car, and Gordon was brought onboard due to his experience in the world of automotive sales and for the fact that he was a keen club racer himself.

As it happened, James Byrnes was also a restauranteur. One of his restaurants was close to the Standard Triumph headquarters and as such it was a favorite with company executives. It was this familiarity that would see Byrnes secure access to Triumph engines and parts that the company would come to rely on for the rest of its existence.

Peerless GT Specifications

Though the Peerless GT is sometimes believed to be merely a rebodied Triumph TR3 nothing could be further from the truth. The car has its own motorsport derived tubular steel space frame chassis, and it measures in at six inches longer than the TR3 and five inches wider.

The GT is powered by the 100 hp, four-cylinder engine from the Triumph TR3, and it’s capable of 110+ mph.

These specifications coupled with the lightweight fiberglass body, the four-cylinder Triumph TR3 engine producing 100 hp and 117 lb ft of torque, and the four-speed gearbox with Laycock overdrive resulted in a car that could exceed 110 mph, a heady figure for the day, particularly for a four-seater.

The car was displayed at the 1957 Paris Motor Show where it received a positive reception and no small amount of curiosity about its fiberglass body, known to be the same material used by the Americans for their fancy Corvettes.

Later the same year a Peerless GT would be entered into the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans piloted by British drivers Peter Jopp and Percy Crabb. Remarkably the car finished well and shot the fledgling car maker into the headlines.

Despite the promise of the car and the company the production of the Peerless GT ceased in 1960, it was exceedingly tough for small automakers to remain competitive but Peerless did better than most – building 325 cars and making a good name for themselves.

The Return Of The Warwick

In the years that followed the GT was successfully relaunched using its original name, the Warwick, by company co-founder Bernie Rodger. Though largely similar the car incorporated some chassis and body changes, and an updated dashboard. He kept the car in production from 1960 until 1962, selling approximately 40 of them.

The interior of the car offers seating for four and an excellent driving experience thanks to the chassis and suspension which had been developed for competition.

Rodger had plans for a more powerful version of the car using the all-alloy Buick 215 cubic inch V8, two prototypes with this engine would be built and the name was planned to be either “3.5 Litre” or “GT350.” Interestingly the tooling for this engine would later be bought by Rover and it would become the legendary Rover V8.

This still wouldn’t be the end of the road for the Peerless GT, John Gordon and Jim Keeble used the original Peerless spaceframe design to build a new car initially called the Gordon GT and later named the Gordon-Keeble. This car was powered by a Chevrolet 327 V8 and it featured bodywork designed by Giugiaro and built by Bertone. Approximately 100 were built.

The Peerless GT Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1959 Peerless GT that was given a comprehensive body-off restoration by a Peerless Register member in 2014. The restoration of rare vehicles like this is often best undertaken by marque experts, as they tend to have a wealth of knowledge that assists them in doing things correctly.

The car is now being supplied with its original ‘buff’ logbook and owner’s manual, and it would likely be eligible for a number of vintage racing events like the Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic due to the fact that the model was raced in period.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on H and H Auctioneers. It’s due to roll across the auction block on the 8th of September and the price guide is £25,000 – £30,000.

Images courtesy of H and H Auctioneers

The post The Peerless GT – An Unusual British Le Mans Racer appeared first on Silodrome.

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The Fiat Panda 4×4 – Italy’s Toughest Little Four-Wheel Drive

The Fiat Panda 4×4 is what happens when the man who designed the DeLorean DMC-12 sets out to create a cheap car that can go almost anywhere, while still accommodating two 50 liter wine demijohns in the trunk.

The name of the Fiat Panda has long been the source of confusion, it wasn’t actually named after those black and white bears from southwest China – it was named for Empanda, the ancient Roman goddess of travelers.

Fast Facts – The Fiat Panda 4×4

• First released in 1983, the Fiat Panda 4×4 featured four-wheel drive running gear built by Steyr-Puch in Austria.
• As the name suggests, the vehicle is the 4×4 version of the regular Fiat Panda, a car that was designed to be tough, cheap to buy, and easy to fix.
• The first version of the Panda 4×4 was powered by a 965cc inline-four cylinder engine with 48 bhp and a 5-speed transmission.
• The 1st gear was very low to give a low range gear for off-road driving, the 5th gear had the same ratio as the 4th gear in a normal Panda.

Developing The Fiat Panda In 15 Days

The Fiat Panda was developed in just 15 days by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani in the late 1970s. Giugiaro designed the body and interior, with Mantovani developing the running gear and engineering.

The Panda 4×4 has slightly higher suspension than its two-wheel drive sibling.

Fiat CEO Carlo De Benedetti had laid out a simple design brief for them, the car had to be a “container” that cost no more than the Fiat 126, and it should have the same design philosophy as the Renault 4 and the Citroen 2CV.

When the two men had finished their design they quickly learned that Benedetti had left Fiat days earlier, leaving them with a completed design but no one to sell it to. Fortunately the Fiat board took the time to look over the design and quickly realized that Benedetti had been correct – this car was exactly what Fiat needed to launch themselves into the 1980s.

“The Panda is like a pair of jeans: a simple, practical article of clothing without pretense. I tried to give it the essential quality of a military design — in particular a helicopter: something light, rational, and optimized for a specific purpose.” — Giorgetto Giugiaro

The Fiat Panda entered production in 1980 and it quickly became one of the best selling vehicles in Italy, over the course of the first model’s 1980 to 2003 production run they would sell almost 4.5 million units in Italy, across Europe, and around the world.

Fiat is now on their third generation Panda and it remains a best seller, and any walk though the winding streets of an Italian town will result in countless first generation Fiat Panda sightings. A strong indication that the model has a lot of life left in it.

The Fiat Panda 4×4

The Fiat Panda 4×4 was perhaps the ultimate iteration of the original Panda, a car that had been designed to be tough, utilitarian, and highly capable but lacked the additional ground clearance and four-wheel drive running gear to make off-road use a viable option.

The spare tire is stored under the hood to maximize storage space within the car.

When it was originally conceived the Panda 4×4 wasn’t intended as a leisure vehicle for weekend warriors but for crop farmers, wine makers, dairy farmers, and others who needed a tough, cheap four-wheeler for use both off road and on.

The stamped steel unibody chassis of the original Panda was kept largely the same, however the running gear underneath was changed drastically. Experienced four-wheel drive engineers from Steyr-Puch in Austria worked with Fiat to develop the new drivetrain, which included a live axle rear end on leaf springs, independent front suspension, a transverse front mounted engine taken from the Fiat 100 series, and a 5-speed gearbox.

Rather than integrate a 2-speed transfer case to allow the Panda 4×4 to have high and low range gearing, it was decided to use a 5-speed gearbox with a very low first gear and a high 5th gear that was the same as the regular Panda’s 4th.

The drive could select to use either 2×4 or 4×4 model courtesy of a gear lever in the cabin, and both costs and complexity were kept as low as possible.

The spartan interior was designed to be inexpensive and easy to clean.

Today surviving Panda 4x4s are becoming highly collectible, many lived hard lives on farms and haven’t survived, and many more still succumbed to rust years ago. As a result, good rust free examples are seeing their values rise across the board.

The Fiat Panda 4×4 Shown Here

The Panda 4×4 you see here is a 1989 model that was originally delivered to its first owner in the United Kingdom finished in the red paint work you see it still wearing today.

The car is accompanied by a comprehensive, mostly main dealer service history. The car’s eye-catching red paint work is matched with a multi-coloured cloth interior that extends to the upper section of the door cards and dashboard.

The original steel wheels were recently repainted in cream and four new Pirelli Winter 160 tyres were added. It’s now showing just over 38,000 miles on the odometer, and it’s one of the tidiest looking Panda 4x4s we’ve seen in recent memory.

The car is now being offered for sale by Collecting Cars in England, bidding is live online at the time of writing and you can click here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

The post The Fiat Panda 4×4 – Italy’s Toughest Little Four-Wheel Drive appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/fiat-panda-4x4-car/
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The Austin Champ Was The Quirky British Answer To The American Jeep

The Austin Champ was created in the years after WWII as the British answer to the American Jeep. Development started in 1947 and resulted in a unique four-wheel drive with a Rolls-Royce engine, all-independent suspension, five forward and five reverse gears, and a built-in snorkel that allowed wading in water up to 6 feet deep.

What the team working on the Champ didn’t know what that over at Rover another four-wheel drive was being developed in the same year, and ultimately it would be this vehicle, the Land Rover, that would become the de facto choice for the British military.

Fast Facts – The Austin Champ

• Originally developed after WWII as a “British Jeep,” the Austin Champ was officially known as the “Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4×4, Cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1.”
• The first versions of the Champ were powered by the 80 hp Rolls-Royce-designed B40 4-cylinder engine with a capacity of 2,838cc (2.8 liters).
• All Champs featured unique-for-the-time fully independent suspension on all four wheels, with double wishbones, longitudinal torsion bars, double-acting telescopic hydraulic dampers, and a rubber cone and cup system.
• Austin Champs are relatively uncommon nowadays as they were in production only from 1951 until 1956, it was later replaced with the much more Land Rover-like Austin Gypsy in 1958.

The British Need For A Homegrown Jeep

The American Jeep proved itself an invaluable invention throughout WWII in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific theaters of war. The British bought vast numbers of them for their own use, but it was clear they needed to develop their own version using locally sourced materials and parts.

Much like the Jeep, the Champ has a stamped steel body on a steel chassis, and a fold down windscreen.

The development program began in 1947 and the Nuffield Organization built a series of three prototypes, these were then vastly improved upon by a team at the government Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE) led by Charles William “Rex” Sewell.

Interestingly, the suspension system was designed by Alec Issigonis, the man who would later become famous as the designer of the Mini.

It was clear that the British designers were trying to build a better Jeep, not just copy the Jeep outright. Although this led to some significant improvements, it also significant increased complexity and cost, which would ultimately be the down fall of the Austin Champ. Even the official name was complicated: Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4×4, Cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1.

Austin Champ – Specifications

The Champ was initially powered by a Rolls-Royce B40 4-cylinder engine with a swept capacity of 2.8 liters and an output of 80 hp. Power was sent back to a 5-speed all-synchromesh gearbox and from there to a rear-mounted transfer box and differential assembly which included a reverse gear.

One unusual benefit of this arrangement is that the Champ famously has five forward gears and five reverse. Power was sent to the front differential via a long shaft which also included a dog clutch to enable four-wheel drive when required.

The suspension consists of double wishbones at all four corners with longitudinal torsion bars, a rubber cone and cup system, and double-acting telescopic dampers. Brakes consist of hydraulically actuated drums front and back with no power assistance.

The first production Champs were powered by the 2.8 liter Rolls-Royce B40 4-cylinder engine producing 80 hp.

Austin took great pains to waterproof the engine, fuel system, and electrical systems, and a fold-up snorkel was fitted to the right side of the hood. This allowed even a standard Champ to wade through water up to six feet deep, though later Champs lacked this system as it was deemed not worth the extra cost.

Much like the Jeep, the Champ has a stamped steel body fitted to a steel chassis, the windscreen could be folded down, and a folding canvas roof could be fitted.

Both military and civilian versions of the vehicle were offered, however the military version was produced in vastly higher numbers. The Champ left production in 1956, in 1958 Austin introduced the far more Land Rover-like Austin Gypsy.

The Austin Champ Shown Here

The 1952 Champ you see here has been given a sympathetic restoration according to the listing, the patina has been left in place as you can tell, and the current owner has another Champ in his collection.

The original War office registration number for this Champ was 45 BE 78 and it’s had four owners since it was bought at a government surplus auction back in 1962.

It’s currently listed for sale on Car and Classic in the UK, bidding is live and at the time of writing it’s sitting at £9,100 which works out to approximately $12,400 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Car and Classic

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/austin-champ-british-jeep/
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For Sale: The New Legend x Iron & Resin Super Scout II

This is the New Legend x Iron & Resin Super Scout II (SSII), it started life as a standard 1976 International Scout II that was rescued by the team at New Legend – probably the best company in the world at finding, restoring, and modifying classic Scouts.

Unlike other Scout builds from New Legend, this vehicle was a collaborative effort with the folks over at Iron & Resin in California. The resulting four-wheeler is an entirely unique Scout built to be a one-off evocation of the rare Super Scout II.

Fast Facts – The Super Scout II

• The original Super Scout II (SSII) was released by International Harvester in 1977 as a stripped down, off-road racing focussed version of the Scout with fabric doors, a fabric roof, and a number of other features designed to keep it light and nimble.
• The first Scout was introduced in 1961 as a competitor for the Jeep CJ, it proved so popular that Ford soon launched their own Bronco model, and others followed soon after.
• Scouts use a simple body-on-frame design with a front-mounted engine, either a manual or automatic gearbox, and four-wheel drive via a central transfer case.
• The Scout has been out of production for over 40 years, however they remain as popular as ever, and pricing on them only seems to go up over time.

The International Harvester Scout II

The International Harvester Scout II was released in 1971 as the final major iteration of the Scout, after the original Scout 80 and the subsequent Scout 800. By the 1970s the sales competition for four-wheel drive leisure vehicles was white hot, a vastly different landscape to the early 1960s when there were far fewer models for sale.

This rebuilt Scout II was extensively in the Iron & Resin x New Legend 4×4 Spring ’21 catalogue, it’s now for sale for $35,000 USD.

The Scout II remained popular right through the 1970s, the model arguably peaked in the late 1970s when a Scout SSII took victory in the 1977 Baja 1000 for 4×4 production vehicles with Jerry Boone at the wheel – he finished almost two hours ahead of his nearest competitor.

Boone’s feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that he’d only had a month to prepare a stock Scout SSII for the event.

In 1978 Sherman Balch would take a class victory in the Baja 1000 and the Mint 400. Balch’s successes would continue well into the 1980s, he was still taking victories in the Baja 250, the Baja 500, the Baja 1000, the Mint 400, and the Parker 400 in 1982.

Over the course of its 1971 to 1980 production run, the Scout II was offered with a broad selection of engine and transmission options. Engine choices started with the 196 cubic inch International Harvester inline-four and went all the way up to the 345 cubic inch International Harvester V8.

Transmission options varied between either a 3 or 4-speed manual transmission from Borg Warner or a 3-speed Chrysler A727 automatic.

When the Scout II left production in 1980 the model went though a period of relative obscurity when they were only really popular with vintage off-road enthusiasts. In recent years this has all changed, the Scout 80, Scout 800, and Scout II have become some of the most desirable classic four-wheel drives money can buy.

The New Legend x Iron & Resin Super Scout II

The Scout II you see here now now benefits from a careful rebuilt at the hands of New Legend, a world-leading International Scout restoration company based in Iowa.

Unlike classic restorations which seek to return a vehicle to the gleaming condition it was in when it left the production line all those years ago, this vehicle has had rebuild that respects its original hard-earned patina.

The original patina of the vehicle has been kept in place during the rebuild, to ensure that the Scout’s character remains intact.

Once a suitable Scout II had been found it was given a rebuild and servicing by the experienced hands at New Legend. They fitted a freshly tuned 345 cubic inch V8 and mated it to a crisp, low-mileage T-19 4-speed manual transmission.A serviced Dana 20 transfer case was installed and fitted with new U-joints for years of trouble free operation.

The radiator was then rebuilt and given new hoses and a new fan clutch was bolted into place. New ball-joints and wheel bearings were fitted to the freshly serviced front axle, and the rear axles was rebuilt with a Detroit Trutrac limited slip differential and new brakes.

The steering box was then rebuilt with new heavy duty tie rods and drag links completing the steering system. A new 30 gallon fuel tank was bolted in with a new sender and filler neck to ensure the new owner will have plenty of gasoline onboard for weekends in the wilderness.

The final major change to the running gear was the installation of a premium Deaver suspension kit, notably improving the handling over the original suspension that was now well over 40 years old.

The exterior of the Scout now benefits from the addition of a custom hard top dome with waxed canvas removable soft sides and rear panels. A 5-point roll cage has been added for safety, and it works in conjunction with an FSR roof top tent, which can be included for an additional $2,500 USD.

OEM SSII door inserts and mirrors were sourced and installed and the vehicle is riding on original Scout 15″ white Rallye wheels with 33×10.5×15 BFG tires on all four corners.

Inside the Scout you’ll find a custom buffalo and waxed canvas interior co-desinged by New Legend and Iron & Resin. The front seats are original mid-back Scout II seats that have been reupholstered and the carpets have been removed to ensure that the interior is easy to clean.

The completed Scout was used extensively in the INR x New Legend 4×4 Spring ’21 catalogue and it’s now for sale for $35,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or enquire about buying it you can click here to visit the Iron & Resin contact page.

Images courtesy of Iron & Resin

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/new-legend-x-iron-resin-super-scout-ii/
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Free Guide: A 1970s-Era Motorcycle Safety Training Film

This is a 1970s-era motorcycle safety film that’s narrated in English but appears to have been filmed in Germany and Northern Italy. The primary rider throughout the film is on a BMW R90S and this model was released in 1976 so it’s clear that the film was either made in this year or one soon after.

Beside the fantastic-looking R90S the film includes a slew of cars in the background that many of us would swap a kidney for nowadays, there are a number of BMW 2002s, a Porsche 911, a Porsche 914, a number of Citroen 2CVs, Beetles, a Capri, and quite a few more classics from the era.

The film itself contains a broad range of excellent information on safe riding techniques for both city and country roads, as well as highways and mountain passes. Things that often aren’t covered when you first get your license, like where to position your bike in the lane when cornering, how to safely pass in traffic, and how to manage your throttle, brakes, and gears while cornering.

One of the tips in the film that you may want to avoid following is the advice to ride down the outside of the lane past cars when in stationary traffic. This is now generally illegal in many countries, though laws regarding lane splitting (that is, riding down the middle between two lanes of slow moving or stationary cars) is legal in many regions and some US states.

It’s best to check your local laws before trying it as it’s typically far cheaper than a ticket.

If you’re listening to the theme music playing in the background and wracking your brain to figure out where you know it from, it’s the theme from the hit 1970s TV series The Rockford Files starring James Garner.

As it happens we recently featured the Pontiac Firebird he drove for the final three seasons from 1978 until 1980, click here if you’d like to see it.

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/1970s-motorcycle-safety-training-film/
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