Weird, or unusual racing cars

[EB]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Good question! I usually pronounce it the Italian way, Mar-kay-ze, but I don't kow how the Americans do it

I have seen a few Milwaukee Mile champcar race highlight films from the 1950s, and the voiceover guy pronounced it as Mar-cheesy.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

The Maserati Biturbo touring car of the late 1980s.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Brabham BT45.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Also the original Brabham BT48.

[Michael Ferner]

"Mid-70s Brabham F1 concept"? It was called the BT45, and raced all through 1976, 1977 and into 1978.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

"Mid-70s Brabham F1 concept"? It was called the BT45, and raced all through 1976, 1977 and into 1978.

How often with two air intakes?

[Michael Ferner]

Well, if you have two banks of cylinders that wide apart, what are you going to do? Of course, the car had two intakes all the time. The form of those, they experimented a lot with, at least during 1976 - I don't think that version raced more than two or three times (and by then it was red, of course, so more a case for the unusual liveries thread ).

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Well, if you have two banks of cylinders that wide apart, what are you going to do? Of course, the car had two intakes all the time. The form of those, they experimented a lot with, at least during 1976 - I don't think that version raced more than two or three times (and by then it was red, of course, so more a case for the unusual liveries thread ).

Still looks weird to me.

[DaleJuniorFan]

A pair of Citroen ID19's competed in a NASCAR race at Riverside in 1958:




At the same race was a german Goliath 1100 seen below:


https://www.racing-reference.info/race- ... ica_500/W/

[Everso Biggyballies]

@ DaleJuniorFan Brilliant find! I have a thing about Citroens.... my Dad used to own an ID 19 and also later a DS21. (The ID he bought in (French) West Africa when we lived there.

I was looking for further info and saw another NASCAR oddity.... didnt do as well as the Citroens mind you....

The Tucker 48 – also known as the Tucker Torpedo – was built by Preston Tucker at the end of the ’40s in a bid to demonstrate cutting-edge safety features, drivetrain design, and styling outside of the Detroit mainstream. Only 51 of these rear-engine marvels would ever be built, and they are rarer than hen’s teeth today, but a man named Joe Merola entered a Torpedo in the Poor Man’s 500 in Ohio in 1950. Sadly, the Tucker broke an axle during the pace lap and never officially started, but if you’re looking for one-off oddities, it doesn’t get much stranger than this.

SO NASCAR beat Indycar to cars running rear engines!


It made the list of the 5 strangest cars to take part in NASCAR (The Citroen was #1)
The strangest 5 NASCAR entries. Most of them look quite normal to me!
https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/201 ... -time.html

[Everso Biggyballies]

A pair of Citroen ID19's competed in a NASCAR race at Riverside in 1958:



.

Actually to be fair the Citroen ID and DS (same body, different spec) had quite a colourful competition history on and off road.



The Buckle/Foley ID19 sweeps through the daunting McPhillamy Park corner atop Mount Panorama during the 1964 Armstrong 500. Note how skinny the Michelin X radials were and how flat and composed the Citroen is sitting through this high-speed turn. The big white steering wheel was a noticeable feature on these cars.

They were well known at Bathurst (and the then 500mile predeccesor The Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island.


Rear view of the 1962 Armstrong 500 start shows the four cylinder Citroens eating the dust of their more powerful V8 and six cylinder competitors in Class A. The Wilson/Ide ID19 (9A) leads the Beechey/Cusack (7A) and Buckle/Foley (8A) entries. All three of the French cars impressed by finishing the gruelling event in good shape

Here is a bit about them there and why they were good.

“It was terrific to drive because we could run it flat-out all day, as fast as it would go,” said racing great Brian Foley when quizzed about the Citroen ID19 he shared with Bill Buckle in the 1964 Armstrong 500 at Bathurst.

“It could out-brake everything around it with those big inboard front discs and when you put your foot on the brake at the end of Conrod, the first thing that would happen (with its self-levelling suspension) was all the pressure went out of the back of the car and it dropped right down.

“So where most cars would be standing right up on their noses with their back ends dancing around, this thing would just sit down nice and level, which made the braking even better because it was so stable and predictable.

“Most other cars would start braking at about the 300-metre mark, but you’d just go sailing straight past them with your foot flat on the accelerator until you reached the flag marshall’s post. When you saw the whites of their eyes, you knew it was time to brake!”

The annual 500-mile (800 km) race for stock standard production cars, which started at Victoria’s Phillip Island circuit in 1960 before moving to its permanent home at Mount Panorama in 1963, hosted a staggering variety of makes and models in those early years.

And it would be hard to think of a vehicle more unusual or intriguing than Citroen’s DS19. It stunned the motoring world when launched in 1955 with its futuristic aerodynamic styling, innovative hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension, inboard front disc brakes and other cutting-edge technologies that set new benchmarks in automotive design, ride quality, handling and braking.

Such extravagance didn’t come cheap, though, which prompted Citroen to produce a more affordable lower-spec variant called the ID19. This formed the basis of a unique Australian ID19 which commenced local assembly in 1961.

This was a crucial development for teams wanting to enter the Citroen in The Great Race, as the rules for the 1962 Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island limited entries only to cars manufactured or assembled in Australia.

They were also a pretty handy rally car and should have won the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon

They proved to be formidable rally cars on a global scale.

And it seemed the rougher the terrain, the better they performed, often beating faster and more powerful opponents due to their superiority in covering vast distances at sustained high speeds with minimal effort and maximum driver comfort.

Preferences differed amongst Citroen rally drivers about the hydraulic (DS) and manual (ID) transmissions. Some preferred the simplicity of the ID’s conventional clutch pedal and gearshift arrangement, while others were dedicated to the DS’s more complex hydraulically controlled pre-selector shift, claiming it was faster and less tiring.

The Citroen DS was an instant class winner when it made its rallying debut in the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally. In 1959 it won the Monte Carlo outright and the European Rally Championship. More Monte Carlo crowns and national rally championships saw the Citroen DS dominant in European rallying by the mid-1960s.



It was then Citroen started to venture outside Europe, competing with distinction in gruelling events like the East African Safari as it proudly put the car on a global stage to take on the world’s best.


The Bianchi/Ogier (familiar names!) works-prepared Citroen DS 21 at full speed through Australia’s rugged Alpine region on its way to what should have been a brilliant victory in the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. Note the cut-away rear wheel arches on the works cars to make changing wheels easier.

This was never better demonstrated than in the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon, when works drivers Lucien Bianchi and Jean Claude Ogier in their Citroen DS21 (with larger 2.1 litre engine) were headed for what looked like certain victory after a brilliantly judged drive.


Bianchi and Ogier maintained a relentless pace in the Marathon and really piled on the pressure in the final leg from Perth to Sydney. Their DS21 could sustain remarkable speeds of 160-180 km/h on some of the outback's endless straight sections. It was ideally suited to Australia's rugged conditions and would have been a most deserving winner.

However, they were to meet some tragic misfortune on a transport stage not far from the finish line in Sydney. With Ogier at the wheel and Bianchi snoozing in the passenger seat, the leading Citroen collided heavily with a spectator’s car coming the other way.



Bianchi was badly injured and the leading Citroen was wrecked. As a result, Andrew Cowan/Colin Malkin/Brian Coyle became the surprise winners in their UK-prepared Hillman Hunter.

Three Citroen DS21s were entered for the Marathon. Two were factory entries for two-man crews including Ogier/Bianchi and Neyret/Terramorsi, with a third car sponsored by the Automobile Club de France shared by Vanson/Turcat/Lemeries.

Although factory-prepared, the Marathon Citroens were remarkably close to standard road car specifications.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Bianchi was badly injured and the leading Citroen was wrecked. As a result, Andrew Cowan/Colin Malkin/Brian Coyle became the surprise winners in their UK-prepared Hillman Hunter.

Three Citroen DS21s were entered for the Marathon. Two were factory entries for two-man crews including Ogier/Bianchi and Neyret/Terramorsi, with a third car sponsored by the Automobile Club de France shared by Vanson/Turcat/Lemeries.

Although factory-prepared, the Marathon Citroens were remarkably close to standard road car specifications.

What a nasty crash that was.

[acerogers58]

A rather interesting car has shown up to ARCA testing at Daytona this year. Landon Huffman is driving a Ford Mustang Mach-E, which is an all electric SUV. The hood also implies that the car is a "frankenstein" with a Ford body and Chevrolet engine.

The first day of testing almost ended in disaster, with Huffman saying he blew a right rear tire going into turn 1 on his very first full speed lap but was able to save the car from hitting the wall.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

https://www.autosport.com/national/news ... 9/5114729/ - The old Thundersaloons series sounds like it had plenty of candidates for this category.

[kubakozal]

Ford Falcon competeing in pre-WRC rallies - the legend says, that organizers of the Monte-Carlo rally hat to alter the route, because Falcons wouldn't fit in one of alpine bridges....


While Lancia Stratos was dominant, because it was a purpose built rally car with Ferrari engine, the 308 GTB was a supercar hastly adapted to rallying. It was too heavy, too much underpowered and too big to gain succes. On tarmac it would deliver sometimes, but on gravel it was a dog...
(PS: Ferrari GTO was neither closely related to 308 GTB nor was designed for rallying in group B - its main purpose was racing on track....)


Porsche may have been successful in rallying, but Dakar seemed to be one step to far. But it wasn't - Porsche has won Dakar twice....


Not much to say about Suzuki Baleno KitCar - it's just another Japanese oddity....

[Nononsensecapeesh]

The Ferrari-Jaguar 166S hybrid entered by Italian Clemente Biondetti in the 1950 Italian GP. Qualified 25th out of 27 starters and lasted 17 Laps before the engine blew.