More weekend pictures: Detail shots 2

This BMW was among the Bristol cars; a 502 coupé (I think).

It may seem like an odd interloper but the chassis was related to the one used by Bristol and the earlier, six-cylinder version used the six-cylinder engine from which Bristol’s ‘six’ was developed.

I’m not sure it is pretty but it has presence and the V8 badge on the boot is rather stylish.

Coincidental News

Sometimes two news stories come my way on successive days which are not intentionally linked but which do share a connection. On Thursday I was writing about twenty years of the McLaren F1 and then, on Friday, the Hulme CanAm supercar. For those who don’t see the association; Denny Hulme was a racing driver who drove McLaren’s striking, orange Can Am cars and won the series championship twice (in 1968 and 1970) as well as being New Zealand's only Formula 1 world champion.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

Collection of McLaren F1s

One interesting aspect of McLaren’s announcement was that there was no mention of Gordon Murray. Given that I’d always thought of the F1 as Murray’s brainchild it seemed like an odd omission; even allowing for the fact that he left McLaren to work on other projects.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

Hulme CanAm

The Hulme was new to me, even though it has been around for a few years as a prototype. Like its namesake it comes from New Zealand and it makes a nod to the Can Am heritage with a 427 cubic inch Chevrolet V8. My biggest criticism is the styling, which adopts the current vogue for the open-wheel look. Somehow this seems wrong; a car that carried the Can Am name and heritage should look like a road going version of those classic racing cars.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

Imagine if the Hulme looked more like this!

Blast from the Past 2 – Tatra

Not to be confused with the Indian company in the news as a potential new owner for Jaguar, Tatra is a Czech manufacturer of lorries and cars (although I thought it had gone out of business). Certain features have become synonymous with the Tatra name - particularly air-cooled engines (as far as I know Tatra make the only air-cooled V8 in the world); chassis based round a central tubular “spine”; and independent suspension by swinging half axles. Surely there was no way that such quirks could survive in our conformist world.



Apparently they can; Tatra are supplying the British firm, Bowler with a prototype T5 class transporter for the famous Paris-Dakar rally-raid. The transporter will act as a support vehicle for the Bowler team and will enable Tatra to investigate the market for factory-built international rally-raid and rally assistance FIA category T4 and T5 vehicles. The press release makes a point of mentioning the truck’s fully independent swing-axle suspension (surely the only vehicle on sale anywhere with swing axles), rigid central tube frame and air-cooled 442bhp V8 diesel.