|
|
Post by ovaltrack on Jan 28, 2010 19:21:34 GMT 1
Just picked up this picture - looks like a demo in the mid 70s - certainly Wimbledon with Ted Weaver waving the chequer - anyone tell me what / who it is? I haven't a clue! Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by ezwalk43 on Jan 28, 2010 23:24:36 GMT 1
Believe it is the Solar V8-60 that ran with the VSCC in the late 80's - went through auction and exported to Holland from memory.
|
|
|
|
Post by haflinger121 on Jan 28, 2010 23:34:09 GMT 1
Smart work there Ez, I wouldn't have had a clue what that was and don't remember the demo - must have been a night when I wasn't there. Now, can anybody tell me a darn thing about that Comanche....?
|
|
|
|
Post by rodpashley on Feb 4, 2010 23:50:22 GMT 1
Just to show there are more here than we think... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by thirdturn on Feb 5, 2010 9:54:21 GMT 1
These Solar midgets look good. More about when they raced and who drove them. How many were built - and by whom?
|
|
|
|
Post by administrator on Feb 5, 2010 10:05:48 GMT 1
Are these the midgets that were tested at Coventry in the mid-1980s. I think they were built by a Swede, and were for a group with a title something like Anglo American Midget Racing. Sorry this all a bit hazy - the group was always hard to contact - I only spoke once to its organiser Chris Tate (from SW5 in London).
I do that at least one midget was tested at Coventry and that then promoter Charles Ochiltree was quite keen on them. Trouble was I believe the Anglo American Midget groups cars had a price around £20,000 each. Guess that's why its stay was so brief. But I am not in anyway certain the Solar midgets are their cars.
|
|
|
|
Post by haflinger121 on Feb 5, 2010 10:57:27 GMT 1
'Fraid not John. I don't know much about Solar midgets either, but just one look tells you that they're old and American. And I'm almost certain that this red one is seen on Southampton Docks - I recognise the surroundings from a car I imported years ago. There is also another lot of Americana parked in the background, so I'd guess the Solar has just come off the boat.
That Anglo American thing was much more modern looking, V8 powered I'm fairly certain. The Swedish builder's name was Arne something or other. Rude of me not to remember really, as I actually spoke to him during a demo event at Coventry. As you rightly say, the cost was outrageous. It probably would be today, even with inflation taken into account, and I can remember everybody laughing about the price tag at the time. It was clearly never going anywhere.
|
|
|
|
Post by haflinger121 on Feb 5, 2010 10:58:24 GMT 1
It just flitted through my mind that Arne's surname might have been Jonsson, or something like that.
|
|
|
|
Post by ovaltrack on Feb 5, 2010 11:03:53 GMT 1
The prototype Jonsson car was on eBay recently I think.
|
|
|
|
Post by administrator on Feb 5, 2010 11:27:42 GMT 1
It just flitted through my mind that Arne's surname might have been Jonsson, or something like that. Arne Jonsson it was. He had an address at that time at Unit 2, Wharf Works, Long Buckby Wharf, Long Buckby, Northants. Your clue led me to drag out an ancient address book. If the Solar is not his car - and obviously it's not - any photos of what he built? |
|
|
|
Post by administrator on Feb 5, 2010 11:29:10 GMT 1
The prototype Jonsson car was on eBay recently I think. I wonder where Arne Jonsson's midget is now? |
|
|
|
Post by rodpashley on Feb 5, 2010 13:04:55 GMT 1
Arne's "midget" was more of a sprint car than a midget, running a V8 motor, and appeared to be somewhat larger than Midgets. When I can find them, I will post a photo or two of it. It was filmed for Top Gear, with Tiff Needell driving it, at Coventry
|
|
|
|
Post by administrator on Feb 5, 2010 13:18:56 GMT 1
Arne's "midget" was more of a sprint car than a midget, running a V8 motor, and appeared to be somewhat larger than Midgets. When I can find them, I will post a photo or two of it. It was filmed for Top Gear, with Tiff Needell driving it, at Coventry I would love to see a photo. Can just remember a VERY SMALL one appearing in 'Short Circuit' at the time. Trust Tiff Needell to get in on the act.  |
|
|
|
Post by ovaltrack on Feb 5, 2010 13:25:03 GMT 1
We offered Tiff a drive in a GP Midget when the cars were at the Autosport Show Arena in 93 (ish). He declined for some reason.
|
|
|
|
Post by haflinger121 on Feb 6, 2010 15:58:45 GMT 1
A couple of things have occurred to me. Rod, you are quite right when you say that car was not intended to be any sort of midget really, as the project was known as the Eurosprinter, so you can see where Arne was coming from. And John, I've just noticed something which I think is too much of a coincidence to BE a coincidence, if you see what I mean. You mentioned that "I only spoke once to its organiser Chris Tate (from SW5 in London)." This surely must be the same Chris Tate that was so involved in the building and launch of Rockingham Motor Speedway! Check out this link to an interview I did almost exactly eleven years ago, and scroll to the bottom to see what Tate had to say. www.shortcircuitmag.info/sc_feat_rockingham.htm (edit of 13/6/2014 - sorry, that link no longer works as the SC website has been closed down) I thought at the time that he knew rather more about short oval racing than I was expecting. Pity I didn't know about his involvement with Eurosprinter, I could have asked him about it. After he and Peter Davies left (were ousted?) from Rockingham, Tate worked for Lola as Marketing Director and more recently, has been involved in the Masters Series across Europe. Unfortunately, Rockingham's "rocky" financial situation at the time meant that Tate and The Rock parted company before the proposed short oval could ever be built. |
|
