The big cat that doesn't want to die

About a year ago I came across the sad story of a Jaguar XK150 about to be used for a banger race (a demolition derby, for you guys on the other side of the pond). 

As legend goes some guys received a call to go pick up a old rover and they were pretty astonished to find out it wasn't a rover at all, but this very sad big cat, incomplete and neglected. Some say it was a resto project left there, some say it was left there to rot. The guys apparently tried and convince the lady that the car was obviously worth saving and they were ready to pay for it rather than demolish it. The lady didn't seem to care about having money for it, she wanted to see it scrapped and demanded the car to be cut in half on the spot, understanding the poor lads were't ready for such a vile gesture. They apparently managed to convince her that the gear they had on them wasn't big enough for the task and she had satisfaction in seeing the roof pillars chopped off. 

It would have been bad enough for the poor cat but sometimes fate is nothing but a downward spiral. The lads in fact were looking for cars to race in the banger championship.

Somehow they decided to race the poor Jag. They paint it, remove the sellable spares, weld the doors (according to some sources they were missing when they found it) and in three months they are ready to take it to the local track for the sad event.

There's a video of the race, do yourself a favour and skip to minute 1.40, the horrible music adds shame to the disgrace. 

The teenage driver apparently has been abused all over the internet and he made an effort in explaining the story before the race and afterwards in a number of forums. I kinda appreciate that but still it is a real shame and certainly a bad day for any classic cars enthusiast. 

This is what he had to say for himself: 

"Im not going to get into an argument over it, as people have tried to have an argument with me about what i did and it hasnt worked, but i will gladly answer any questions people may have. But to answer your post mate, alot of the cars i would like to own  (mk1/mk2 granadas, xj6's, p5's,p4's etc etc) are all cars i would also like to race, i see these cars raced week in week out, and have raced a few of them, the way i see it is these are cars that are not financially viable to put back on the road and instead of sending them to the scrap yard, let them go out in a blaze of glory, also, any bits that are taken off the car that arnt needed when racing it are sold to people who own road goings ones, thus, keeping there road viechles going.

To answer another question about what condition the car was in after the race, it faired pretty well , was quicker than most out there, the back got a fair bit of damage and kinked the passenger side front wing a small bit and that was it, sold the car after it was raced but dont no what happened to it as ive heard a few diffrent stories from diffrent people.

Cheers Laurence"

I was pretty sure that was the last we would have heard of that poor troubled cat, but to my amazement it appeared on ebay about a month ago! I wanted to write a post about it but personal life got on the way and I'm only resolving in writing now that the auction is long gone... without bids. 

It's moving how this troubled cat seems to resist living above any sort of abuse. Unfortunately the starting price at £4.500 was extremely optimistic, even with the internet star status that this car keeps on building up, on the other hand I wonder what would be a reasonable price to ask.

I sure hope some crazy collector will buy it one day. Not sure what I'd like him to do with it.

CCT on Malware Alarm

Google listed this website as potentially dangerous.
The issue was relative to some .jpg linked from a dodgy Russian website. The problem has been addressed and the images have been re-linked. It is perfectly safe now but unfortunately it will take weeks for Google to remove us from the alarm lists.

Thanks for your understanding.


Davide

Classic Cars Talks

CCT on Automobiliac.com

Automobiliac just published my post about the RM Auctions days in Battersea last month.
Click HERE to read all about it.

Rusting away

RM Auctions, London - the night before

Tonight on the way home I couldn't resist and had to go and take a look at the parking lot of the Enterprise in Battersea Park. Tomorrow RM will open the gates to this year's auction there and I will offer plenty of coverage for this blog. It was one of the most glorious parking lots I've ever seen. I've been waiting for the Ferrari Pinin Concept, the Alfa Romeo 33/TT/3, the Lamborghini Miura SV or the Alfa 1900c SS to show up but had to leave before they arrived. I still had my 45 minutes of silence and solitude with the Bizzarrini 5300 Gt Strada, the Ferrari 250GT LWB Berlinetta and the Lister "Knobbly". Can't wait for tomorrow and wednesday.

In the meantime just enjoy the pictures I quickly shot with my phone. 

Click HERE to access the full catalog of the auction.

Jensen Interceptor, Reborn and Future Regret

Looks like Browns Lane in Coventry is going to host again history of English motor culture or at least another attempt.

CPP, a British specialist automotive group, has been appointed by Jensen’s owners, Healey Sports Cars Switzerland Ltd, to engineer, develop and build the all new Interceptor. The car will apparently be a full aluminium body and will presented officially in late 2012. The first customers thou can't expect to park it in their driveway before 2014, any many things can change by then.

The first images are at least encouraging, the "forte" of the lines seems to be updated but preserved and seems to be more than the usual "lower the car and put 21" low profile rims on it", even if they actually put 21" rims on it. The legend of the Interceptor tell also stories of dreadful fuel consumption dictated by the scary 6.2 and 7.2 V8 and this is a detail that I see less and less appropriate in a world where hybrid racers are about to approach the 24h of Le Mans.

The intriguing aspect is that a brand new aluminium chassis is a perfect chance to solve the "barge like" handling of the original car, another legendary aspect of this British icon.

This isn't the first attempt to update the Jensen, the Interceptor R hit the market few years ago, but the asking price puts the car in a closed niche of enthusiasts with more money than sense, really. The old shell is completely stripped and rebuilt, engine, suspensions, brakes and transmission updated to what seems a corvette swap. The result is far from being a track day car or a performance GT and only love could make you ignore the much better cars available for a fraction of the price.

So while waiting for the end of 2012 to have a clearer idea of what will truly be on offer, the best way to go seems looking for a real deal and try to stay away from money pits projects.

A quick search brought me this example for sale in Cheshire. The sentence "body needs attention" sounds alarming but the price tag of "£4.000 or sensible offers" sounds reasonable enough to be worth a visit in person. It seems material for a Future Regret.

Sure is a far cry from the most desirable "FF" with its first time full 4WD ever seen on a production car, anti lock brakes and traction control. Only 320 of these were ever built and I haven't seen one of those for sale at reasonable price for years.

Michelotti Jaguar D-type

I was very nicely surprised to find a picture of Michelotti's D-type between D.C.'s pictures a couple of weeks ago (ref. to the older post HERE) because is one of the "unlucky" specials that never had the attention it deserved.

It all started with XKD 513, a Jaguar D-Type short nose sold to the French Equipe Los Amigos for the 1957 Le Mans. Painted in the patriotic French Blue Livery it was taken by the duo Lucas-Brousselet to third place overall, in a glorious year for Jaguar (scoring and unrepeated 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th). Recording the average of 110.17mph was enough to leave in the dust a fierce opposition of Maserati, Aston Martin and Ferrari.

The car was then equipped with a new 3litre engine to comply with 1958's regulation and registered its new entry for the French endurance with Jean-Marie Brousselet and Andre Guelfi. At 10PM, after many storms washed the track over and over, Brousselet lost control in the Dunlop bridge. The oncoming Bruce Kessler  on his NART Ferrari could not avoid the collision with the blue D-type already overturned.

Brousselet was dead.

The main section of the remaining car was put into storage until 1960, when Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti bought it and took it to Turin for a styling exercise. The new design sat on the undamaged original chassis and was completed in time for 1963 Geneva Motor Show where it won first place.

The car remained in Michelotti's hands until the end of the decade, when it was sold to Richard Carter and exported to the United States. Many sources state that the car was there used to raise money for an undisclosed Church, taken around on a trailer. In 1973 Andrew Gortway took this rare beauty out of that misery but didn't have good plans for it. He knew in fact what the original chassis was and asked Lynx Engineering to revert it to D-type specs. Thankfully the delicate Italian coachwork was not scrapped and it was equipped with the mechanics of a 4.2 E-Type (20 KOG).

It is not clear what happened to the car next, but it is likely to have remained in the U.K. with Bill Lake for another decade the least. This would be confirmed by D.C.'s picture, even if unfortunately he is not able to give any further detail about what he did on the car and when.

Michelotti's D-Type reappeared in France, where Roland Urban, the new owner, apparently managed to rejoin the car with some parts originally given to the Lynx replica. In 1999 the car was sold to Spain and it's not clear when it appeared for sale (and sold) on www.wspr-racing.com.
Some sources report the car being now in Switzerland but what is confirmed is that Williams-Welding in Oxford reverted it to the original light metallic blue of when it was first exhibited at the Geneva car show back in 1963.

It is a very delicate dress for the D-Type chassis, gracefully balanced towards the rear axle in favour of  a long and clean bonnet. The dashboard is frankly not up to the standard but the tail is a very happy interpretation of the Grand Tourer of the early sixties. It's easy to spot in the rear arches hints for the future Triumph Fury and the consequent Spitfire, whether the front will be a starting point for the OSI 1200 S Sport. In the following image Giovanni Michelotti is holding a preliminary model for this very car, and the similarity is quite obvious.