A return to Silverstone this weekend for a rejuvenated and very well run Silverstone Classic...It seems a long time ago that we used to attend the old Coys Historic meeting which this is based on. The event has run in various guises since but has struggled to regain its position in the calendar after a disastrous meeting at Rockingham many years ago.
The new Silverstone Classic has the potential to be really great weekend. It's a race meeting that is hoping to conjure up a special club racing atmosphere. The closest thing I think at the moment is the Le Mans Classic; it's a real enthusiasts event with loads of club cars and club stands, a decent autojumble, fun-fair and some really good racing. Reasonable ticket prices and no restricted access to the paddock and grandstands.
Silverstone is a big and slightly impersonal track but I think this event has managed to create the right balance with clubs and jumble stands on the in field and the 'Scarf and Goggles' bar.
On the Saturday evening there was a balloon launch with around 15 hot air balloons launched over the circuit, I remember all sorts of shaped balloons that used to fly on a Saturday evening at the Coys meeting, which is a glorious way to end the day on a balmy summer evening.
It was the TR Register International meeting this weekend. There's not much to report on the car front. All the usual suspects were there with all the usual concourse shenanigans.
On the product front there was someone selling power steering for TR6s so now you can have servo brakes, an all hydraulic clutch and power steering. Why not just buy a MX5 instead?
A couple of cars caught my eye;
A TR5 dragster - that has got to be a one-off!
and a very neatly finished TR4 sprint car in white and black, very well put together.
There did seem to be a greater emphasis on competition cars which was encouraging and there seems to be a move to change next years venue for this event, I think that would be a good idea as it all is getting a bit samey...
We've been on our first trip down to the Le Mans Classic this week and left quite satisfied . The mixture of great racing, a huge number of car clubs, the unique atmosphere of 24 hour running, and the French twist proved a winning combination.
We drove the coupe down just outside Le Mans, which is easily done in an afternoon from Boulogne. The drive was made more interesting by spotting fellow Le Mans visitors and their cars, a sorts of old cars were out in force. The first night was spent just outside Sees - north of Le Mans. As we drove into the hotel car park we were greeted by a bunch of Daimler club cars from the UK, and owners were very friendly! It seemed like Normandy was being invaded by Brits.
In general the organisation of the event was good, with none of the traffic problems we had heard about. But we did find when we arrived on the Saturday that our allocated club car car parking - that we paid for - was full! We were directed to another area, not far away, which was OK and in easy walking distance of the grandstands and paddocks.
The event is centered around 18 one hour races. Racing is split into six 'Plateau' which are age related the earliest cars being from 1923 and the most recent from 1979. Each Plateau race lasts one hour and these races are run one after another from 16:00 on the Saturday until 16:00 on the Sunday (so you get racing all the though the night). Each Plateau has three races.
The cars may not be as ultra exotic and rarified as entered into The Goodwood Festival of Speed but all the essential cars were there. From Talbot, Bentley, Bugatti ans Invicta in Plateau 1 (1923 – 1939) through to Lola, Chevron, Porsche and Ferrari in Plateau 6 (1972 - 1979). With around 60 cars per race this creates a great atmosphere, and they all do the traditional Le Mans start...
Cars with competition history like the Lancia Aurelia B20s are much more popular here than in the UK with four or five on the grid. There were some interesting and different traders which you don't get to see in the UK (I'll put up some links later). The atmosphere is really made by all the enthusiasts attending as we experienced on the Saturday evening in the streets of Arnage which were packed with old cars and all the nearby restaurants overflowing with Le Mans visitors
The comparison to The Goodwood Festival of Speed is interesting. This is far more of an enthusiasts event with real racing and an extremely active club participation. 6000 club cars booked in this year. In contrast Goodwood has almost completely got rid of any car club involvement and auto jumble. It has gone more and more down the corporate hospitality route which may bring in the money but is very tedious for anyone that actually pays to get in.
We are now wandering around Normandy having a relaxing few days in the country in glorious weather and are bumping into all sorts of old cars mainly from the UK doing the same thing. The photos show an Aston Martin DB4 GT with it's bonnet up; parked beside us after dumping it's oil on the floor. I told him he should look at getting something more reliable...
The informal concours event run by Octane Magazine happened again this year. This is a small get-together in the grounds of Blenheim palace which has accompanied the Coys auction, held on the same day, for the last few years. There is usually a wide range of cars, from the run of the mill classics, right the way up to the most exotic historic specials. This year there were a couple that caught my eye; a freshly restored 1950 Ferrari 166 Inter-Touring Berlinetta (1 of 8 built) in dark blue that had some beautiful detailing, and what looked to me like a Hispano-Suiza special running a V8 (aero?) engine and straight through exhausts, it was exquisite (but I stand to be corrected on what it was!).
Also of interest was a very special hot rodded XK120 coupe, and, the eventual winner of the Octane prize for car of the event, a very shiny 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 that is currently for sale at Cars International.
It's worth turning up in an old car as all entrants to the concours get free entry to the auction and a reduced rate on the catalogue (£15 rather than £25). The number of cars was down this year, I think people must have been put off by the bad weather forecast, but overall a highly recommended way of seeing some very exotic machinery.
Quite interesting pictures here of the original USA price list and options available in 1971. One list for factory pick-up in Germany and one for delivery to the west or east coast.
Very small price difference between the 3.5 coupe and cabriolet but the 600's are in a different league. SL's are almost half the delivered price of the coupe!
A bar chart here of the west coast prices for comparison.
Fitting the radio aerial this week reminded me of a couple of things that tripped me up when I was fitting a Becker Europa to the 3.5 coupe.
The first thing is that the hole in the dash is not the standard size. It will only take a radio with a slim-fit fascia (the Europa TR fits nicely). I originally ordered a normal size Europa radio from Konigs Klassik Radios which did not fit. So I had to send it back a get a replacement TR model which is an additional 100 euros.
This fits very nicely. If you want to go for a standard size radio you can always butcher the dashboard, but I didn't want to go that far.
Konigs also offer an ipod adapter that plugs into the DIN socket on the rear of the radio and provides a socket to take a standard jack plug. It is simple, cheap and very effective.
I found that my car had never had a radio fitted correctly. Mercedes kindly provide the correct wires in the standard loom to fit a radio. There is a radio power wire (this provides power when the ignition is in position 1 and 2) and an automatic ariel power wire. If your radio doesn't work when the key is in position 1 then it needs to be wired in correctly. There are two wires in the loom just above the brake servo (RHD car) as seen in the picture below. These will wrapped to the loom with tape, just unwrap them and then use them as the power leads. I installed a new fuse box to take these to be on the safe side.
I've attached a few diagrams and documents here that I found useful. I think anyone trying to fit a Becker radio to a W111 coupe would benefit from these...There are a couple of diagrams from Becker plus a guide for fitting the Europa to a 280SE coupe or cabriolet. Full size diagram are here.
Arno Michael Haslinger: Heuer Chronographen Great book from Germany documenting all Heuer watches from the 60's and 70's with loads of great period pictures. Text in German and English.
Richard Meaden: Classic Motorsport Routes Great introduction to a whole load of historic motorsport routes (all on public roads) that you can drive today. Start planning...
