BMCT 2012 NEWSLETTER - SAVE THE TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE EXTRACT

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Save the Triumph Bonneville! – The inside story of the Meriden Workers’ Co-op

By John Rosamond

Written by the ex-Chairman of the workers’ board of directors of the famous Meriden co-op, this is the real story of the last bastion of British motorcycle production following the collapse of the industry. It’s also the story of a workforce’s refusal to let the Triumph Bonneville die ...

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LORD MARCH ANNOUNCES HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE 2012 GOODWOOD MOTOR SPORT SEASON

Late last week the Earl of March – founder of the annual Festival of Speed (28 June – 1 July) and Goodwood Revival (14 – 16 September) – announced some of the news highlights for this season’s Goodwood events. These include:

2012 Festival of Speed Highlights:

At least seven current Formula One teams attending and in action, including the very first Goodwood appearance for double F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel, along with the Red Bull Racing team and his team mate Mark Webber. Expect to see other top teams and drivers at the Festival too, with more names due to be confirmed shortly. Sebastian Vettel’s Goodwood attendance links in perfectly with the 2012 Festival of Speed theme - ‘Young Guns – Born to Win’.

The Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ is one of the World’s finest automotive concours d’elegance car design competitions, and for 2012, a unique gathering of vehicles will be brought together to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. All vehicles will have a direct connection with Her Majesty, with most never or rarely seen in public before. These will range from formal State limousines, through to personal cars, an aircraft and even a Royal train carriage.

The 2012 Festival of Speed will honour one of Britain’s most iconic and innovative sports car brands – Lotus. The Company’s past, present and future will be celebrated with the main Central Feature ‘installation’ outside Goodwood House, plus at least 50 significant Lotus race and road cars in action and on display during the Festival weekend.

The 2012 Festival will see expansions and enhancements to the GAS (Goodwood Action Sports) arena, the relocation of the Goodwood Aviation Exhibition within the Festival Parkland, near the Moving Motor Show, plus the largest collection of two-stroke competition motorcycles ever assembled at the event.

2012 Goodwood Revival Highlights:

An at-speed demonstration of the breath-taking Silver Arrows Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union competition cars 75 years after their memorable race in the UK at Donington.

Fiftieth anniversary celebrations for the Ferrari 250 GTO, with plans for a daily parade of at least half the total GTO production, plus an all-AC Cobra race to mark the first half-century of the iconic Anglo-American sports car.

A daily tribute to American racer Dan Gurney, 50 years after taking his first Grand Prix victory.

Two very special races, with the Nine Hours night race, 60 years after this first Goodwood race into the dark, plus a new Goodwood competition, the Settrington Cup, being held for young drivers in Austin J40 pedal cars!

A five minute video with highlights of these announcements, plus more, can now be viewed and downloaded for your own use at http://www.goodwood.co.uk/motorsport/photos-and-videos/videos/press-day-2012.aspx

There will be many other features and attractions to this year’s Goodwood motor sport event, with more details to follow over the coming weeks and months.

Source: Goodwood

TOP TEN SALES FOR FEBRUARY 2012

1: Caring for your car (RAC) (Fry)
2: HT Build Weber & Dellorto (SpeedPro) (Hammill)
3: Ford Cleveland 335-Series V8 (SpeedPro) (Hammill)
4: Which Oil? (Michell)
5: Save the Triumph Bonneville! (Rosamond)
6: Land Rover Series I-III (RAC) (Thurman)
7: SU Carburettor Manual (SpeedPro) (Hammill)
8: Tales from the Toolbox (Oliver)
9: Jaguar XK8 & XKR EBG (Thorley)
10: HT Restore VW Bus Bay Window (Paxton)

110TH ANNIVERSARY BONNEVILLE T100

To commemorate the 110th anniversary, a new special edition Bonneville T100 is being launched. The new model will feature a unique anniversary crest and come in a nostalgic Brookland green/aluminium silver colour scheme. Other features include chromed grab rail, chain guard and cam cover and black mudguards.

Only 1000 of this model are being built globally with just 75 earmarked for the UK. Each one comes with a numbered plaque on the dog-bone style handlebar clamp and each one comes with a numbered certificate.

This model will be in UK dealers from April.

A MINIATURE FUNCTIONING REPLICA 1932 DUESENBERG BY LOUIS CHENOT

This is remarkable!

No, it's not a real full-size Duesenberg, but rather a beautifully constructed 35" long working model made in 1/6 scale.
Louis Chenot has spent the past ten years building this incredibly detailed 1932 SJ Duesenberg LaGrande dual-cowl phaeton. Not only does it look good, but the engine runs, the lights work, the top mechanism functions and the transmission and driveline are complete. Lou started his research on this project over fifty years ago with the purchase of a book and through the following years collected many drawings and studied a number of Duesenbergs while they were being restored, taking photos and recording dimensions.

Lou's 40 year career was spent as a mechanical engineer. In the 1960's he spent 7 years restoring a vintage 1930 Cadillac convertible that was on the show circuit for years, but now he prefers to work on smaller projects in the comfort of his home shop.
The bodywork is all metal, not fibreglass. Here is the car in Lou's shop before the brass coachwork was primed or painted. Lou is not adverse to remaking a part that doesn't meet his standards. He started over on the especially difficult brass radiator shell nine times.

Here is the engine removed from the model and sitting on its test stand. The transmission is in the foreground.

Most running models are built at larger scales like 1/3 or 1/4. Working in the smaller 1/6 scale magnifies the problems caused by miniaturizing certain parts. Remember that these scale parts are 1/6 as long, 1/6 as high and 1/6 as deep as real parts, making them 1/6 x 1/6 x 1/6 or 1/216th the volume of the original part. By comparison, a 1/3 scale model is 1/27th the volume and a 1/4 scale model is 1/64th the volume. Further complicating the prospect of building a running engine at that size is the fact that fuel molecules and electricity don't scale. It is very difficult to get tiny carburetors and little spark plugs to work like the big ones. A video of Lou starting and running the engine for the first time can be seen below.



More can be seen on this car and some of Lou's other projects here!

Source: Modelling News & Views

JAGUAR HERITAGE RACING IS GO!

Today marks the launch of Jaguar Heritage Racing, a programme which will see Jaguar return to the competitive arena through the vibrant world of historic motorsport. For the first time since 1956, works-supported C- and D-types will race again at venues including Goodwood and the Nürburgring, while the season-long programme will also see Jaguar Heritage Racing support numerous additional events on the historic motoring calendar. These include the Mille Miglia, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and each round of the E-type challenge in the UK – a series which in 2011 demonstrated the depth of global interest in historic motorsport, and in Jaguar's participation specifically.

As Jaguar embarks on the most extensive new product development cycle in its history, it is the perfect time to invest in and celebrate its heritage. Says Jaguar Global Brand Director, Adrian Hallmark: "Jaguar is proud of its heritage, and it is a heritage that is both alive and ever evolving.

"Advanced engineering is part of our heritage – 2012 sees the 60th anniversary of Jaguar's development of the disc brake for automotive use, and ten years since the marque introduced aerospace-inspired aluminium monocoque technology to its modern range, technology today used on both the XJ and XK. Forward looking design is part of our heritage – the poised intent of the C-X16 concept pushes the boundaries today just as much as the SS Jaguar 100 did in 1935. And racing is very much part of our heritage also – which is why we have launched the Jaguar Heritage Racing programme that this year will see Jaguar C- and D-types in competitive action."

The first event at which Jaguar Heritage Racing will be present is the 2012 Mille Miglia retrospective in May. This year's running of the Mille Miglia has particular significance for Jaguar as it marks 60 years since Sir Stirling Moss and Norman Dewis (then Jaguar's chief development driver) took the start in the first disc-brake equipped C-type. Later that same year Sir Stirling Moss recorded the first win for a disc-braked car when he drove another C-type to victory at Reims, paving the way for the wide-scale use of the technology that we all take for granted today.

In August, the Jaguar Heritage Racing team will then be in competitive action at the AVD Nürburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix. Often referred to as the 'green hell', the Nürburgring Nordschleife is regarded as one of the toughest tracks in the world, which is why Jaguar has a dedicated test facility located there running a rigorous durability and performance programme for its modern range.

Says Jaguar Land Rover Global Head of Communications, Frank Klaas: "The Nürburgring Nordschleife presents a unique automotive challenge that Jaguar's development team continually subject our current and future models to in order to perfect their attributes of quality, durability and dynamic precision. To also see historic works Jaguars in competitive action at the Nürburgring this year will be fascinating."

From Germany, the team will then head back to British shores for the Goodwood Revival in September. The undisputed jewel in the crown of the historic motor racing calendar, the Revival provides a dazzling backdrop of nostalgia for an equally dazzling array of competitive action in which the Jaguar Heritage Racing C- and D-type will play their part.

The Jaguar Heritage Racing programme is operated and managed by JD Classics, based in Maldon, Essex. An established player in the historic motorsport world, JD Classics will prepare both the C- and D-type Jaguars which will take to the track, and have responsibility for all race-day activities. Derek Hood, managing director, JD Classics, said: "Jaguars have been at the heart of our business for many years, and the opportunity to work with Jaguar Heritage Racing and ensure that the company is as well represented in historic motorsport today as it was when those same models competed in period is one we were only too happy to accept."

The Jaguar Heritage Racing programme will supplement the activities of Jaguar Heritage – a charitable trust and custodians of an extensive collection of priceless models from Jaguar's past, including the unique XJ13 prototype. Its cars are not campaigned competitively on-track, but will continue to be exhibited – and demonstrated – at a huge number of events during 2012.

Jaguar Trivia AVAILABLE NOW for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store.

DUCATI TO OFFER RARE GP10 AND GP11 MACHINES AT RM AUCTIONS’ MONACO SALE

Ducati Desmosedici GP11 VR2

Ducati Desmosedici GP10 CS1
Ducati announces the exclusive offering of two Ducati Desmosedici GP machines at RM Auctions' highly anticipated 2012 Monaco sale at the Grimaldi Forum, 11-12 May, including a GP10 raced by Casey Stoner and GP11 raced by Valentino Rossi. Presented directly from the Ducati Corse racing department within the Ducati factory in Bologna, Italy and offered under reserve, both machines represent “motorcycle exotica” at its most desirable and a genuine chance-of-a-lifetime purchase for international collectors.

Peter Wallman, specialist at RM Auctions – Europe comments, “Ducati represents the pinnacle of two-wheeled desirability with a reputation for world-beating performance and unmistakable design. We are very excited to be working with yet another leading manufacturer and to have this exclusive opportunity to offer items that are not normally available to the public. The sale offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire very unique pieces of Ducati history, not to be missed.”

Built in the Ducati factory in Borgo Panigale, Bologna 7-11 December 2009, Casey Stoner’s Ducati Desmosedici GP10 “CS1” was first started for bench testing on 14 December 2009 before being track tested by the Australian rider in Sepang, Malaysia in February 2010. Stoner first competed with CS1 in Qatar in April 2010 and raced it to victory in the Australian GP at Phillip Island in October 2010. The machine took pole positions in Qatar, Phillip Island and Valencia and powered the Australian to podium positions in Valencia, Assen and Catalunya. Its final Grand Prix was in Valencia, November 2010 having logged a total of 4,232km.

Valentino Rossi’s Ducati Desmosedici GP11 “VR2” was built at the Ducati factory 6-10 December 2010 and was first started for bench testing two days later. VR2’s first track test for Rossi was carried out in the February 2011 Sepang tests and first competed in the Qatar Grand Prix the following month. It recorded a podium position at Le Mans, France in May 2011 and competed in its last race at the Dutch TT in Assen, having logged a total of 2,342km.

“The release of two very special machines like these is an extremely rare occasion for us, so the lucky buyer must not only enter into a confidentiality agreement, but also become a close member of the ‘Ducati family’!” said Ducati Corse General and Technical Director, Filippo Preziosi. “The Desmosedici GP10 and GP11 were two very interesting bikes in our GP project history and therefore will represent exciting opportunities for serious collectors.”

RM’s highly-anticipated Monaco auction will also offer the private Saltarelli Collection of historic Ducati motorcycles at the same event, providing a wonderful celebration of Ducatis history. In addition to the motorcycles, the two-day sale will also feature a magnificent roster of blue-chip automobiles.

For further information on RM’s upcoming Monaco sale, including a frequently updated list of auction offerings, visit rmauctions.com.

Source: Ducati