WSM - NEWS ARCHIVE 06

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Le Jog . .

Confirmation that WSM 210 and owner Clive Cocks completed the five day, 2400 mile Lands End to John O'Groats trek, and achieved 2nd in class - more details later.

Historian Guy Loveridge found an interesting paragraph from volume II of Richard Page's "A Record of Motor Racing at Crystal Palace" - just out at £200 per 2 volume slip cased set -

'6th August 1966 - National Meeting - Crystal Palace. Event 2 "Marque Sports Cars Race" - 10 laps. Up to 1150cc Class. Number 137 - Mike Lewis. WSM Sprite (DWS 97) 1139cc 8th on grid, being 2nd in class. Retired after 1 lap. There was a serious crash, Jim Warnell in a Spitfire being hospitalised. '
Great to know that whatever age you get to, toys are still important. Tom Wheatcroft has perhaps the greatest toy box in the world by dint of the fabulous Donington Grand Prix collection with accompanying Grand Prix circuit, and my well thumbed edition of 'Thunder In The Park' chronicles his life-long ambitions and achievements. It was a genuine treat to meet and talk with the man himself as he wandered through the museum, pictured courtesy of fellow visitor Simon Jones and his 'phone camera.

'In the mid sixties I kept spotting a strange little red GT car around the Oxfordshire / Buckinghamshire lanes near home. Eventually I found it parked outside the cottage where it lived. It was a one-off WSM coupe based on an MG1100, owned by Mike Lewis, who I believe was Doug Wilson-Spratt’s son in law. He raced a pale blue WSM Sprite, with a red stripe and rather unusual American aluminium (or mag?) alloy wheels. It was towed to meetings behind the WSM 1100, a couple of which I attended with him as a sort of goffer. I lost touch but later followed his progress in the WSM MGB. The latter was at the Goodwood Revival a couple of years ago, its white paintwork having changed to red somewhere over the years.
Mike Lewis traded in sportscars. I later almost bought a Frogeye from him, in exchange for my hotted up Mini. Later I bought a Mk2 Sprite instead, for some reason, which I modified quite a bit but eventually became terminally distracted by the young lady in this photo' (which may have to be removed . . )

courtesy of David Beard / Atlas F1 Bulletin Board

Stirling Moss, John Sprinzel & PMO 200 at the Revival . .

Click on a two-page report and pictures by kind permission of Revcounter magazine . .
Solicitor Paul Freeman, MGB racer with Equipe GTS grids, has found a very early Austin Healey Sprite from 1958 that was bodied and raced in period by Alexander Engineering. Restoration of the car, which is known to have competed at Montlhery and won its class in the Coupe de Salon in 1959, is being carried out by Healey specialists Paul Woolmer and Paul Webb at Colmworth Classic Cars in readiness for the 2007 season.

Message received today from California -

I recently purchased a Lenham GT Coupe and information is not easy to find. Could you go to my website , which is www.geocities.com/garyamck and have a look at the photos. Please help with any information you have. Also there was a WSM GT race car, driven by Dave Chichester in the Sports Car Club of America, San Francisco region in Class E - production during the mid 1960s. I remember being much impressed with it. If you know Mr Chichester, please tell him his race fans still remember him. Thanks. Gary McKillips

Top Hat Raceday - Mallory 8th October

With WSM's hibernating for winter, Guy Loveridge's invite to share a Sunbeam Rapier at what has become for many a traditional 'season ender' was a bonus. To then get two races on the day was an unexpected plus, although series organiser Julias Thurgood delivered a stern warning to all regarding driving standards after a morning of practice marred by incident, minor and major ( Mark Lister, AH Sprite pilot pictured, was on the receiving end of one over excited ace). The big stick yielded results, and the afternoon then produced some of the most exciting racing of the season with no apparent differences of opinion. Despite being in the slowest class available, petrol heads will appreciate that tail -end Charlies can incorporate a huge amount of fun with a bit of effort, and Richard Cross in the Riley 1.5 was the main protagonist in the Oldies But Goldies race. As a comparison, 58s laps in a WSM Sprite last season had less drama than 1m 07s laps in a plucky, but porky and cumbersome Sunbeam Rapier which is usually driven home. In the Top Hat Historic Touring Cars however, she did exceed limited expectations to win a minor class award of Dunlop tyres and trophy for a post-anorexic owner, and beat the Utting/Gill Rapier to boot, but the indiscretion after 11 laps in the Oldies But Goldies was caused by a sheared throttle linkage. A good view of the action at Shaws for the rest of the race was no consolation, but after watching photographer Ian Wilson at work following his return from holiday, I guarantee he will not approve of my camera skills . . ( picture of the Rapier on the pit straight was created by turning the camera lens quickly from right to left for an illusion of speed ) . .

Quote of The Day - 9.00am on Sunday morning, and the curvy Jenny Baker-Carr on receiving the Rapiers drivers details in front of a queue at race administration - . . "Did'nt recognise you with your clothes on . ." , which may or may not have been a reference to the Startline Studs calendar of 2006, and the skills required to make a lot from very little with help from calendar photographer Ian Wilson . . .

Tip Of The Day - getting fingers entangled in the steering wheel chrome horn ring while negotiating Shaws hairpin and inadvertantly beeping the crowd attracts hoots of derision . . .

Pass Of The Day - Roger Bowman or Richard Butterfield, whichever Mk1 Jaguar pilot that somehow avoided collecting the slowing Rapier as we came to an ignominous halt out of Shaws on lap 11 in OBG . . .

Tourist Invasion - Rae Davis celebrates a race win at Mallory in the A35 with a holiday to the Isle of Man this week. Every cloud has a silver lining though, and wife Avril is coming too . .

Click on for results

Click on to watch the late Ray Hannah administer a number one to Alain de Cadanet . .
Limited offer - The Healey Book by Bill Emerson in 2002 - new and direct from Coterie Press, ONE slip-case copy only available at £50 including p+p, and one standard book without case at £40. Contact us.

Sir John Whitmore, Tony Dron and Mark Hales report from a drivers eye view at the 9th Goodwood Revival

courtesy of the Daily Telegraph

Maserati 250F . .

Perhaps the most iconic monicker in motorsport, and one which makes joints weaken at the mention of. If a colleague gets to pilot one, then maybe I should prefer not to know and my jealous streak can remain hidden. Pictured is Guy Loveridge on Lord March's drive at the Festival of Speed in June.

Jaguar XK150S . .

News from Eugen Schmid in Switzerland that the car is earning its keep, and with tow equipment re-attached. Pictured at the Patek Philippe Rally in Neuchatel and at the BCCM in St Moritz -
16-06-2006 Letter re-printed with kind permission of Barry Pinkerton in California -  'Glad that all things Wuzzum seem to be going well.  I read with interest the recent article in C & SC on the WSM 3000.  I don't remember ever seeing it in the metal, but it certainly looks to be a very attractive car.  I've been looking through some old photos again and came across one of a 1962 Riley 1.5 which I purchased from Delta Garage in the late 60's.  This was taken in Spain in 1969 following a very pleasant high speed run from the UK.  What an under-rated car.  The only trouble I recall was with the gear lever - it came off in my hand, guv, honest.  I  sold the Riley back to Delta but don't recall what I replaced it with.
Perhaps Douglas will find this picture amusing on his 85th Birthday !  A Sporting Owner Drivers Club awards affair sometime in the early to mid 1960's.  The Ayers brothers, Ken and Derek, are acting as bookends to Patricia Walton, Douglas, Malcolm New and me.  Reckon I got a really small award that year, as I seem to be trying to hide it up the sleeve of my obviously rented tuxedo.
I thought you might enjoy the third attachment, being a colour photo from the sepia era !  My Dad took it, probably in 1955/6. It is the 1910 10-litre Fiat he owned for years and which was a well-known Brooklands car previously run by John Cobb and Anthony Heal and before that was rumoured to have won the French GP one year. 
As you can probably tell from the photo, it was a rough and ready old thing that had always been ridden hard and put away wet - probably why I loved it so much !  It was raced most of its life and had many a dice with Sam Clutton's gorgeous Itala when my Dad had it.  We took it on invitation to the Brooklands 50th Anniversary, I recall.  Maybe someone in the WSM community knows what happened to the big Fiat.  I haven't seen or heard of it being used in competition in the UK for more than 40 years,  but then I haven't lived there for 30 years !  The 100th Anniversary must be due soon, so I wonder whether it will re-appear there.
We lived in the background house in Dunstable at the time but, progress being a wonderful thing it was knocked down in 1957 to make way for a Tesco.  I often wonder what happened to the Fiat, which as a teenager I often used to "drive" on the end of a tow rope to and from meetings.  I might run this by C& SC to see if anyone in the wider world knows where it is (Italy, I suspect - probably horribly over-restored and worth an absolute fortune.)   How I came to find that my Dad had sold it, in 1962, is one of those amazing coincidences in life !  A friend and I had decided to take my little Fiat 500 Abarth on a summer holiday quest to reach the Arctic Circle (in Finland, which we did) and were overnighting in a remote mountaintop hotel in the Bygdyn area of Norway.  We overheard native English being spoken at breakfast and, being in a foreign country, did the usual Stanley/Livingstone greeting only to find that the gentleman (whose name I don't recall) came from Tring.  He knew my name because he had bought the Fiat from my Dad just the previous week.  He even produced several photographs of it at the breakfast table, to my absolute astonishment.  I never saw the big Fiat again.' 

click on for amazing in-car laps with the Dutch Supercar Challenge

'Big Healeys In Competition' - John Baggott

Available now - a definitive history of the 'big Healey' in action by the author who completed a similar task in excellent style with Spridgets and MGB's . The WSM 3000 features with Malcolm Bridgeland and 'Pete The Healey' contributing. Ring John on 01892 862656 or fax 01892 862253 for a signed copy.

Goodwood Revival 2006 . .

Invitations for WSM's have arrived for the September classic's Fordwater Trophy race. See Race News for more details

Michael Ware, contributor to Classic & Sportscar, penned a brief article on the WSM 3000 in the June 2006 edition.
WSM's at Manx Classic Return - See Race News
Good to see ex-WSM MGB owner Tony Bianci winning a 50's Sportscar race at Silverstone in his Allard Farrellac

WSM 210 . .

All hands to the pumps as WSM 210 broke a piston ring at Snetterton on Sunday during the Equipe GTS race. As the gearbox also proved troublesome, both units need attention before Clive can catch the boat to the Isle of Man from Liverpool on Thursday morning for the Manx Classic . .

Recent finds, courtesy of Paul Woolmer - an evocative pic from Ted Walker at Ferret Fotographics of DW-S at work in the 1963 Monte Carlo, and an interesting advert in the February 1973 edition of Auto Enthusiasts Magazine.
Photographs of the Enzo Ferrari that crashed at 160 mph in Malibu a week ago on the Pacific Coast Highway.  The occupants were lucky to walk away after impact with a power pole -

Jaguar XK150S . .

Email received from Eugen W Schmid, owner of the WSM conversion since 2005. Based near Zurich, the car is in regular use and appearances are planned for the Philip Patek Rally at Lake Geneva, the British Classic meet at St Moritz and the 30th Anniversary Jaguars Drivers Club event. Since February 2006, the car sports a bracket once again, as befits the legendary 'Tow Car'.
Thank you to our Scots and Gallic pals for their touching concern regarding England rugby's health after the match at Stade Francais on Sunday. We watched Les Miserables on Saturday at the Queens Theatre in London, where there was passion, commitment and flair, no-one forgot their lines and no substitutes were needed. Then we went to Paris . .
WSM Sprite 1/42nd models available, WSM 201 (blue), 202 & 210 (red), 206 green, 207 (white, blue stripes) etc. A production run may help reduce costs and lead to further models (WSM 3000, WSM MGB) being built. Email wsmcars.com for further details.

 

28-01-06 Barley Mow . . Equipe GTS drivers toasted a worthy season with dinner at the famous West Horsley pub. A photoshoot for the calendar took place shortly after -

2006 Equipe GTS calendar

 

Left to right - Doug Smith (MG Motorsport). 'Spadge' Hopkins & Zandvoort trophy. John Pearson & Novice of Year Trophy. Hosts Christophe Willmart & Jim Lowry. Golden Oldie Shield & Brian Lambert . Barry Sidery-Smith presents Tom Smith with GTS series winner trophy. BS-S 70th birthday cake. Top GTS dogs James Cottingham, Tom Smith and Malcolm Johnson. Brian Lambert dreams of twice a year. Simon Gurney receives 'Spirit of the Series' from last years winner Rod Longton. And finally, Mr Pastry on the prowl . .

Ed - The Big Brother producers know where to come for their next candidates . .

13/1 Rae & Display . .

WSM 207 features on Julius Thurgood's Top Hat racing series stand at the Autosport Show at Birmingham's NEC 12th-14th January. The car has been on display at the Middlesex branch of Moss (Europe) Ltd in London, and owner Rae Davis hopes for more race opportunities in 2006.

pictures courtesy of Mick Fuller & Guy Loveridge

wsm 207

09/01 Breaking Cover . . WSM 208 -

06/01/06 Bon Chance . .

Happy New Year from Eric Grundey, the MG specialist on the Isle of Man who moved to France with wife Linda in 2005. Life is good in Levignac de Guyenne, but the Octagon business went with him and his expertise is missed here. Merde.