188mph on the Ml

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188mph on the Ml
Beauty contest
SMART thinking
YOUR STORY about the ex-Stirling
Moss Racing Team Porsche 904 in
issue 89 carried the quote 'All 904
. history regarding Moss' cars will
need to be rewritten'.
But one important fact is not
mentioned: after 904 025 was
crashed and returned to the
factory, all mechanical components
were removed and installed in
another 904 that was still under
construction. This carwas chassis
number - or, more precisely,
production number - 088. The
stamped steel chassis number
plate and the manufacturer 10 plate
were removed from 025 and
reinstalled onto production number
088. Production number 088 thus
became 904025 and 'lived happily
ever after', SO to speak.
So what is the status today of the
crashed 025 ? Well, it is a factorybuilt 904, no question, but in my
opinion it lost its legitimate status
as 025 when the factory removed
the welded-in chassis plate and the
riveted-on 10 tag. The car became
a nameless orphan.
38
WHEN ISSUE 89 dropped onto my
doormat, I couldn't wait to read
about the Project Astons.
For me as a young boy in the
1950s, the Aston Martin OB4 was
something from the future and
I wanted one so much. In 1959 the
OB4GT came along as a response
to Ferrari's 250SWB and I could not
decide between them. They tussled
on track and I loved them both - but
then came the OB4GT Zagato.
This defined for me everything
that a GT car should be... until the
next year, when along came the
E-type. I drew it on nearly every
page of my school books, much to
the displeasure of my teachers.
The following year, Ferrari
produced the 250GTO. Oh my God,
what a revelation. This was the
ultimate car of all time, surely. But
no - Graham Hill appeared at Le
Mans in Project 212. The following
year, we had two Project 214s and
Project 215. Could it get any better?
No. Thatwas it.
What happened after that?
Ferrari produced the 1964 250GTO
but that was nowhere near as
beautiful and, after that, with the
exception of Peter Lindner's Low
Drag E-type, what did we have? US
muscle and mid-engined sports
cars, which changed the shape of
everything to come thereafter.
If only Aston Martin had put the
Project shape into production
instead of the OB5. If only ...
MARCO MARINELLO
JONATHAN
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
CAMBRIDGE
OCTANE
JANUARY
2011
McKEGGIE
ROBERT COUCHER wrote about
the Ferrari 512BB in issue 90
that 'Ferrari made the mistake
of wild performance claims ...
and, when the BB failed to match
these figures, it was panned by
the press:
Although it is absolutely true
that the BB press car failed to
achieve the quoted maximum
speed at the time, there is an
interesting story behind it.
Chris Meek, former racing
driver, resident of Leeds and
owner of Mallory Park, relates
that when John Miles roadtested the Maranello
Concessionaires 512BB in the
"7os he was unable to get much
beyond 16omph, well short of
the quoted top speed. Hence,
Ferrari was accused of making
wild performance claims, and
a lawyer in London allegedly
cancelled his order and
threatened to sue Ferrari.
In fact, it turned out that water
had contaminated the fuel in the
press car, and that was the
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reason it didn't perform as well
as expected.
Chris owned a 512BB at the
time and set out to prove the
journalists wrong. In June 1978,
he drove in his yellow Boxer onto
the M1 at 05.00 one clear
morning. He travelled south
from Leeds towards Sheffield
and accelerated up to 190mph,
only to back off slightly to get to
the magical 188mph. Leeds
photographer Mike Hargreaves
was in the passenger seat and
recorded the car showing
188mph at 7400rpm in fifth gear.
That must have been some ride'
A poster of the photograph
was produced [shown above]
and it became very popular.
Chris was amazed to see one
hanging on the wall when he
later visited Enzo Ferrari in his
office at Maranello.
The poster is still available
from Mike Hargreaves by
emailing [email protected].
CHRIS WOODHEAD
LEEDS