Discussion
As some might recall from a previous thread, I am the latest in a long line of owners of the ZA that was originally prepared for racing in the mid-'70's by Roger Andreason. Roger built four racing Magnettes, my car 532 BPH, was the first one.
This weekend I will have the car at Goodwood in the Sopwith race. It is a pre-56 grid for 50's saloons, there is a great mix of entrants and in my mind no obvious run-away winner, I expect most of the field will be in the 1.42 - 1.47 range and it has all the makings for an excellent race.
If you are at Goodwood this weekend feel free to come and say hello.
This weekend I will have the car at Goodwood in the Sopwith race. It is a pre-56 grid for 50's saloons, there is a great mix of entrants and in my mind no obvious run-away winner, I expect most of the field will be in the 1.42 - 1.47 range and it has all the makings for an excellent race.
If you are at Goodwood this weekend feel free to come and say hello.
Edited by Keep it stiff on Tuesday 5th April 10:02
Awesome, best of luck for this weekend 
I have an A35 I hope to race in the St Mary's Trophy once completed, so hopefully see you on track one day!
I remember my father mentioning racing against Magnettes Bumble/"Sambo" during the mid-80s, awesome that your car has been competing for so long and still going strong.
I have an A35 I hope to race in the St Mary's Trophy once completed, so hopefully see you on track one day!I remember my father mentioning racing against Magnettes Bumble/"Sambo" during the mid-80s, awesome that your car has been competing for so long and still going strong.
Live stream here so hopefully we'll all be able to enjoy Bumble racing:
https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-coverage/member...
https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-coverage/member...
s m said:
Did you ever weigh your car?
How far off were the Autocar and Motor road test figures?
Yes I did, it came in at 1,080 including 10 litres of fuel. Regs require me to be within 95% of manufacturer's weight and whilst there is ambiguity as to what that official weight is whichever way I look at it I'm not under weight.How far off were the Autocar and Motor road test figures?
I have just returned from Goodwood and what a fantastic event is was, cold but dry and some great grids and static displays. The one low point was the accident in the FN race towards the end of the day.
In practice I posted a high 1.47 which put me 9th on the grid, I was a bit disappointed with this as I have done a 1.46 previously and if I really hooked it up I'm sure I could better that. I was the 2nd fastest car through the Sector One speed trap at 105 mph. Five minutes before the end of practice the engine died on me and I coasted to the infield, fortunately my worst fears were not realised, when I got back to the paddock I found that the linkage had detached from the carb.
The linkage had come off the weber leaving the thread on the spindle pretty chewed, nothing in my bits & bobs box would fit, another driver helped me out with a weber nut and despite trying to file he thread back to shape it also failed to bite. My Plan B was to drill a hole through the shaft, pack washers either side of the mounting piece and secure it with a split-pin and some copper-slip. I wasn't entirely confident.
On the grid I was a few rows back on the inside, I tend to make a mental plan of my route in the event of the car in front not getting away. I had A35's behind me who I knew would be quicker than me off the line but I was hoping that the bigger cars that were behind me would stay that way. What I did not plan for was the pole driver not getting away, when the flag fell it was all pretty crazy as cars cut around the stricken car, I got through a gap that was no wider than my car, heck it was tight, somehow everyone got away with it.
As expected I had been jumped by the A35s and in the mayhem start others had got through too. I picked a few off over the 1st couple of laps and settled down into a battle with a MK V11, an MG YB, a Beetle and a Lancia. The Jag later spun, I got the better of the Lancia the Beetle got away and I finished a second or so behind the YB.
I was happy with my 9th, I shaved half a second off my practice lap and I was still second fastest through the first speed trap at 108. I was really pleased with my race, there were some good tight scraps, no damage and the throttle linkage hung on. I will post a few pictures once I get them and also a link to my Go-Pro.
Full result details are here:
https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=GOODWOOD/2022/2...
In practice I posted a high 1.47 which put me 9th on the grid, I was a bit disappointed with this as I have done a 1.46 previously and if I really hooked it up I'm sure I could better that. I was the 2nd fastest car through the Sector One speed trap at 105 mph. Five minutes before the end of practice the engine died on me and I coasted to the infield, fortunately my worst fears were not realised, when I got back to the paddock I found that the linkage had detached from the carb.
The linkage had come off the weber leaving the thread on the spindle pretty chewed, nothing in my bits & bobs box would fit, another driver helped me out with a weber nut and despite trying to file he thread back to shape it also failed to bite. My Plan B was to drill a hole through the shaft, pack washers either side of the mounting piece and secure it with a split-pin and some copper-slip. I wasn't entirely confident.
On the grid I was a few rows back on the inside, I tend to make a mental plan of my route in the event of the car in front not getting away. I had A35's behind me who I knew would be quicker than me off the line but I was hoping that the bigger cars that were behind me would stay that way. What I did not plan for was the pole driver not getting away, when the flag fell it was all pretty crazy as cars cut around the stricken car, I got through a gap that was no wider than my car, heck it was tight, somehow everyone got away with it.
As expected I had been jumped by the A35s and in the mayhem start others had got through too. I picked a few off over the 1st couple of laps and settled down into a battle with a MK V11, an MG YB, a Beetle and a Lancia. The Jag later spun, I got the better of the Lancia the Beetle got away and I finished a second or so behind the YB.
I was happy with my 9th, I shaved half a second off my practice lap and I was still second fastest through the first speed trap at 108. I was really pleased with my race, there were some good tight scraps, no damage and the throttle linkage hung on. I will post a few pictures once I get them and also a link to my Go-Pro.
Full result details are here:
https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=GOODWOOD/2022/2...
Edited by Keep it stiff on Monday 11th April 15:18
We were glued to the live stream on Saturday (lots of name checks for Bumble!) though couldn't watch it on Sunday so had to be content with ITV coverage which didn't show the Sopwith Cup, neither have I found any on-line footage yet so look forward to seeing your in-car.
Glad you were happy with the weekend Mike; where and when are you out during the summer? It would be good to see you and say hello.
The FN accident did put a bit of a downer on the event so I hope the driver fully recovers. We'll be at Cadwell on Saturday for the VSCC meeting when I think they'll be out again.
Glad you were happy with the weekend Mike; where and when are you out during the summer? It would be good to see you and say hello.
The FN accident did put a bit of a downer on the event so I hope the driver fully recovers. We'll be at Cadwell on Saturday for the VSCC meeting when I think they'll be out again.
It was an enjoyable race to watch with the improbable first and second placed cars obviously benefiting from a different level of 'development'!
Bumble looked good and competitive and you seemed to be having an enjoyable race with the cars around you - whole race looked great fun!
News on the FN driver seems more positive that perhaps most had feared.
Bumble looked good and competitive and you seemed to be having an enjoyable race with the cars around you - whole race looked great fun!
News on the FN driver seems more positive that perhaps most had feared.
ettore said:
It was an enjoyable race to watch with the improbable first and second placed cars obviously benefiting from a different level of 'development'!
Bumble looked good and competitive and you seemed to be having an enjoyable race with the cars around you - whole race looked great fun!
News on the FN driver seems more positive that perhaps most had feared.
Broken sternum and ribs; could have been so much worse so good news indeed.Bumble looked good and competitive and you seemed to be having an enjoyable race with the cars around you - whole race looked great fun!
News on the FN driver seems more positive that perhaps most had feared.
Asked this in the thread for the Members Meeting, however it's all speculation over a Frazer Nash accident, and a bunch of whoopie cushions arguing about which Historic Motorsport event is best... Here's hoping I might actually get some insight here:
"Just wondering, is there a reason the coverage from the Sopwith Cup race on Sunday isn't visible anywhere?
"
"Just wondering, is there a reason the coverage from the Sopwith Cup race on Sunday isn't visible anywhere?
"Keep it stiff said:
Looks great fun!That Beetle seemed to have an unusual amount of urge down Lavant!
ettore said:
<clip> It was an enjoyable race to watch with the improbable first and second placed cars obviously benefiting from a different level of 'development'...
Indeed, does anyone know what had been done to that Nash Metropolitan to make it shift the way it did?!? They had a BMC B-Series engine (presumably that one had a 1500) so basically like a Riley One-Point-Five and of course, the MG ZA/ZB. Perhaps 'Keep it Stiff' knows a little about the car? 
I have only ever seen that Nash at Goodwood, it has been at the Revival many times and is always a front running car. It is said to be producing 170+ from its 1,860 B engine, that is about 50 more than me. I have no idea of what the weight is but expect it is somewhat lower than my 1,100. Also, it has the support of a professional historic racing team and a top quality driver, attributes that don't apply to me! It's quirkiness combined with performance makes for a great historic race car.
On a wider note, it is a shame that there are not more '50's racing tin tops about. Over four years I have run my Magnette in about 20 races and this is the first one that had an all '50's grid, to make numbers stack HRDC combine 50's with pre-'65 which makes a typical lap differential of 10+ seconds. We need more people to rekindle interest/widen the appeal of racing '50's saloons and hence build bigger grids, Goodwood last ran the Sopwith in 2015, hopefully we won't have to wait so long for the next one.
On a wider note, it is a shame that there are not more '50's racing tin tops about. Over four years I have run my Magnette in about 20 races and this is the first one that had an all '50's grid, to make numbers stack HRDC combine 50's with pre-'65 which makes a typical lap differential of 10+ seconds. We need more people to rekindle interest/widen the appeal of racing '50's saloons and hence build bigger grids, Goodwood last ran the Sopwith in 2015, hopefully we won't have to wait so long for the next one.
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff