Bell's Banter 2022

[grantp]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

In the late seventies I used to accompany a friend who was competing in the European F Ford Championship. One of the other racers, an American, had an ex BRS Austin walk-thru type van. On one occasion it staged one of its frequent breakdowns at Hockenheim, so one of the other lads volunteered to tow him back to England with his V6 Transit. En route, they both got done for speeding!

I can imagine that.

The one I drove was good for about 85 iirc. 2.5ltr V6 with lower compression than the car version of the engine.

The thing was that the trailers we had were both quite heavy and the long ramps were vertical when raised, acting line 2 giant airbrakes. Not quite as bad with a car on board but certainly not aerodynamic.

It could keep up 70 on the flat but show it a hill and one was dropping back through the gears (using the overdrive) quite quickly.

I doubt the trip back from Spain, mentioned above, was anything less than torture for the engine. Especially with dodgy fuel.

[Peter Mallett]

OK enjoy dinner. Got rain here too and a dog to walk.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by grantp

I've never driven a Sprinter but back then they did have reputation for ridiculous speed and when cruising at sensible speeds on motorways, as I did commuting back in the late 90s and early 00s, it was usually wise to get out of the way of Sprinters.



Never buy a used one was a message of the times as I recall.

Mine is more of an ambler than a Sprinter, but I very much enjoy driving it. Sunday night coming back from Sittingbourne kart track, set the cruise to 65 when I join the M20 and I don't touch a pedal until I come off the A303 at Andover. Podcast or GP re-run on the radio and I actually get home less tired than I started! 28mpg is definitely a bonus these days.

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk

[Lancsbreaker]

My race partner's first motorhome/race car tow-barge was a LWB Sprinter with the 5-pot turbodiesel lump, and I can vouch for the fact that it was quick! You barely noticed when the loaded trailer was attached And it was a lot more fuel efficient than my old V6 Transit

[gary396]

MSV expands:

https://news.msv.com/msv-wins-tender...-in-spain.aspx

[Peter Mallett]

Not familiar with that circuit.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Not familiar with that circuit.

Ooop North (Spain) ..... Not too far from the French border about 60 klms inland South / South East from Bilbao .

A bit of info https://youtu.be/Tr8-1Er2CH0


https://www.circuitodenavarra.com/

[andy97]

Originally Posted by gary396

MSV expands:

https://news.msv.com/msv-wins-tender...-in-spain.aspx

Didn’t they buy an ex French Air Force base a few years ago in N France, with the intention of turning it in to a “French Bedford”? Not sure what happened to that plan?

[andy97]

Originally Posted by grantp

Had a 2.5 LWB V6 from Ford at Tyrrell. Fitted with overdrive and a sort of mechanical anti-lock system for the rear brakes. Plus the diesel front.

Somewhere around the 15k miles mark one of the senior team guys drove it back from the Spanish GP, towing and well loaded, over night in order to get a full extra prep day before the next race and the DFVs back to Cosworth for their refresh.

Unfortunately to do that had had filled up the tank and some jerry cans with regular, not great quality at the time, petrol in Spain. Then driven it flat out for about 1200 miles. I seem to recall that the things was absolutely covered in a fine red sand as well and the air filter looked dreadful when someone finally got around to looking at it.

It sounded a bit rough for the rest of its life, though as far as I can remember there was never any serious rebuild for the engine. It never seemed quite a peppy after that trip.

Did you work at Tyrrell, Grant?

[GORDON STREETER]

My tow vehicle in the late 60s early 70s was a Ford Anglia Van with a 1650cc engine/heavy rear springs and big bump stops, we used to go all over the UK and continent towing a two wheeled trailer and spares/fuel/ camping gear etc. This was before any train weight towing regs were implemented. Never had any trouble getting in a "tank slapper" as with all the gear we took with us probably weighed more than the trailer and car. I was often on a driving ban for speeding back then and my mate used to drive me to the meetings with his girlfriend sitting on my lap as there wasn't any room in the back.
Anyway, with this gorgeous long blonde haired "bird" sitting on my lap for miles we got to know each other "rather well" and we have been together ever since
This is us now 50 plus years later

[Gerard C]

I see a Morgan SLR competing at Estoril, not a surprise, but the tema's names are different. Has the Emberson's car been sold?

[Willmaz223]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

I see a Morgan SLR competing at Estoril, not a surprise, but the tema's names are different. Has the Emberson's car been sold?

The red one is competing as its on a livestreamed onboard here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mU9CBElFgU&t=1070s

[356sc]

Originally Posted by Willmaz223

The red one is competing as its on a livestreamed onboard here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mU9CBElFgU&t=1070s

It is the orebi gann slr red one albeit being driven by Billy Bellinger, the emberson silver one is not here this weekend

[Gerard C]

Thanks for info.

Seems not everything's going well in Portugal, right? Engine or gearbox? A mate "just" lost the damper pulley of his D Type. Not the kind of part you can find easily…But yhey can make it with a Giulia in spite of an oil leak coming from the gearbox mainshaft. Not the easiest to reach… You know those days!

[356sc]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Thanks for info.

Seems not everything's going well in Portugal, right? Engine or gearbox? A mate "just" lost the damper pulley of his D Type. Not the kind of part you can find easily…But yhey can make it with a Giulia in spite of an oil leak coming from the gearbox mainshaft. Not the easiest to reach… You know those days!

Yes issue with noisy transmission for us in free practice, so swapped it out for the spare for quali. Car went well in quali though, so the hard work was worth it!

First time we have been to Estoril….we are massively out gunned…..we just cannot compete with the power of the cobra’s and e types in this series anymore, and there are now far fewer smaller capacity cars entering that we can race against. Great shame!