mk1-forum.net

Brynmor wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2024 8:01 pm This is an interesting video from the Duke, wonder who or what prompted such a public talk ?
https://youtu.be/xOhZXh_kK-c?si=eDh9WXVSqmnp_j8X

Its one thing lifting the heads on Fords V8 at 20 or 30k an engine (£50 a head gasket if there is one) with a bit of plastic round it, its another lifting the head on a 120k Aston race engine surrounded by wafer thin alloy & a car worth 10m upwards with an ultra expensive head gssket if there is one.
Jake Hill commented that the engine in the HWM that he drove to a win in the last race of the day was an E type engine, hey E types were 3.8ltr which at that capacity didn't come out until 1957, the race was for 1952 to 1955 cars
Fix Or Repair Daily Galaxies won the BTCC in 1963 with Jack Sears, by 1964 they were obsolete as the Lotus Cortina's were faster, Holman & Moody started fitting GT40 brakes to them but in period I'll bet the Cortina's were still faster, the engines have probably never stopped being developed as have most racing engines.
Someone commented tears ago that DB2s could do a standing start lap quicker than Stirling could do a flying lap in a 3S 'back in the day', we have developed them much further now without any capacity increase other than the fitting of a 2.9ltr engine which was done in road cars in period, Jags are far worse.

Goodwood has always been lax in checking eligibility so its up to the competitors to keep it legal as the Duke said but everyone wants to win, its human nature, technology plays a big part in this and you can't stop progress.

on the opposite token its hard to get cars down their original weight with all of the much needed safety gear, especially where no cage was fitted, ie Works DB2 Lightweight was 17 or 18 cwt, you have a real task to get one down much below 21cwt now with a full cage

I got to catch up with a few people, see some amazing cars racing, not get stuck in any carparks, and see Minty in pride of place, I'm putting the weekend down as a win

It’s just a shame the best drivers and cars in historics aren’t allowed to compete against each other due to the old boys network and special handshakes in operation. Fully respect what Nick Swift’s achieved, who doesn’t but there wasn’t one NON Swiftune Mini in that St Mary’s Trophy. Back in the 60s it was Downton vs Alexander vs Cooper vs Broadspeed etc etc. Now it’s who do you know and how much money have you got.

Pete wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2024 3:54 pm It’s just a shame the best drivers and cars in historics aren’t allowed to compete against each other due to the old boys network and special handshakes in operation. Fully respect what Nick Swift’s achieved, who doesn’t but there wasn’t one NON Swiftune Mini in that St Mary’s Trophy. Back in the 60s it was Downton vs Alexander vs Cooper vs Broadspeed etc etc. Now it’s who do you know and how much money have you got.

Yes, there was much more experimentation and innovation from genuinely talented small engineers who employed different methods of extracting extra power from their cars. Of course, some received much more commercial sponsorship than others which was a great help.