DonW

I'd love to have seen the reaction of the Hooper staff to the sight of a Hudson gracing the front of their premises!

Yes, I'll never forget the sight of her in that Ford Transit yelling at all sorts of exotic cars and superbikes to get out of her way!

From the official F1 website: Sabine Schmitz, the pioneering female racer and only woman to have won the Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race, has passed away at the age of 51. The German racer, affectionately nicknamed by many as the ‘Queen of the Nurburgring’, revealed last year that she was diagnosed with cancer in 2017. She twice won the 24-hour race at the fabled Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit in a BMW M3, and raced a Porsche in the same event in 2008 to finish third. Schmitz was also known for her appearances on British motoring show Top Gear, in which she famously attempted to lap a Ford Transit van around the 15-mile circuit under 10 minutes. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.pioneering-female-racer-sabine-schmitz-passes-away-aged-51.2WM2UgjARsftGvk92lApCe.html Far far too young.

I started out thinking Mercedes 60hp, then Michaels clue led me to Mercedes-Simplex - but both those are chain driven although otherwise the roadster versions are almost identical to the Pings-Finch. I suspect a connection. Then more vaguely random searching for American roadsters built in the same year as the Mercedes Simplex gave me the answer. Btw, it's a Pings-Fitch not a Pungs-Fitch!? Here's the Mercedes-Simplex - note the rear wings which cover the drive sprockets as well as the wheels:

The world of car design can get pretty incestuous sometimes!

Although it is sacrilege to take the roof off a GTO, you did a fine job and it is perfectly in the spirit of the NART convertibles. And I love yellow Ferraris!

Well done Ken, you got there in the end! Cheers and thanks for the challenge Michael and Richard, -Don.

Epic! The front end is very well resolved and I can't fault your choice of engine!

That's lovely, well done!

Lovely green, it matches the lower half of the walls of my study! Do you plan to build the Peace Arch? It would be 2.68 feet high by my reckoning.... Cheers, -Don.

No mystery - the Aurora kit was released in 1965, two years after the 1:1 ceased production, as young Snake points out.?

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There are so many different manufacturers of them, I was very surprised to find that as I was searching. One of the most challenging quizzes for me! I like this particular one a lot.

Well I thought this would be easy, but not so. An inspired choice, Michael!

Oddly this quaint piece reminds me of advice given in a pre-WW1 motorists manual - 'To ascertain which cylinder is missing, place a hand on the exhaust pipe next to each cylinder in turn. You will receive a bad burn from all except the one which is misfiring.'

Thanks for this Steve. So the CHP couldn't catch me! ? Not that they are likely to come to Wales...

Mine does 0-60 in 6.4 seconds (if I have traction!) and is limited to 155 at the top end. What can yours do? I'm interested to know.

Not seen much on this topic for a while, maybe 'cos there isn't much opportunity to drive for a lot of people these days! I recently retired my old (1995) BMW 530i touring - one of the few with manual gearbox - and did a deal where my old racing friend will give it a good overhaul and his sons have bought a manual 330i for me in exchange for the old 2002 turbo I used to race but which has been languishing in his yard for years due to lack of funds. So now I drive this when I can. 3 litres, 230 bhp, six speed 'box. Black leather interior. Pictures taken on a cold day in the Brecon Beacons near my home. We have some great driving roads, no cameras, no safety barriers, just watch out for the sheep and the occasional horse. The wheels and tyres could be wider, as on my old 328i, but the current set up gives more responsive handling if not quite so much grip.

Hmmm. They were doing this sort of thing in the sixties and it didn't work then either!

The GT70 rally car had a very different shaped bodyshell from the Ghia version of which only one was built. None of the GT70s ever rallied in anger because the handling was rubbish. Coincidentally the Ghia version appears in an article on prototype Fords in the latest Classic and Sportscar magazine along with a brief summary of the GT70.

So glad there is no chocolate Alain Prost to go with it! The real live one is sickly enough!

Thanks Shay, I hadn't spotted the different wheelnut placings on other cars that use these wheels. Interesting. Cheers, -Don.

Don't bank on it - these wheels were used by lots of manufactures and stylists of all sizes from garden shed to multi nationals. And Michael gives the clues, not us mere mortals... ☺️

Amazing! It beats a chocolate teapot!

Oh yes it is certainly real. ?