Titan Mark 6 Formula Ford

Titan Mk6 Formula Ford
Driver and team owner Charles Lucas founded the Titan car company in 1965. In 1971 Charles sold the company to R.J. “Roy” Thomas The company was originally going to be called Griffin but just before the first car was produced they found out that the name already being used. The U.S. Titan rocket was in the news at that time and they couldn’t think of anything better.

Approximately 240 Mk6’s were made between the A, B, and C derivatives.

There were three Titan Formula Fords at “The Thriller at Miller, I am right now showing photos of two. Number 86 is a 1971 Mk 6 driven by Tom Kreger, number 77 is driven by Andy Antipas and is a 1972 version.

Crossle Fornula Ford

Crossle Formula Ford:

I have come across several Crossle Formula Fords at Miller, so I guess it is time to make a special post on them.

John Crossle was born in Scotland and raised in Ireland. He graduated from college with a degree in agriculture. He became a successful motorcycle racer and his first racecar was a home built 1172cc Ford powered special. His first move from two to four wheels in his home built racer was a positive and so he decided in 1959 to build another car. That followed with two replicas, which became the first production Crossles.

His first cars were made in a laundry room of a house in a village outside of Belfast. Soon the laundry room became a successful and fairly expansive racecar factory.

Crossle’s cars have seldom been revolutionary but they are safe, sturdy and easy to work on. Skip Barber acquired the U.S. importation right in 1975 with the Crossle 30F. This also gave Crossle a parts availability second only to Carl Haas and Lola.

John Crossle and his wife Rosemary are still in business and today has a booming business in spares, as his 30 series of cars are increasingly popular in various vintage and Club Ford series.

Check out their web site: http://www.crossle.co.uk/

Vintage Racing Corvettes

It seems that I have not posted very many photos of Corvettes and Camaro's. Today I am posting a few photos of some vintage racing Corvettes.

McRae GM-1 Formula 5000, part II

I thought that today I would place a few (alright 5 more photos, because that is all that Google allows me to post at one time) of the McRae Formula 5000. Let me tell you, there is nothing quite like good 'ol 'American V8 horsepower in a light weight single seat race car. That is a racecar. Minimum aero aids, just lots of horses in a neat small package.

McRae GM-1 Formula 5000

McRae GM-1, Formula 5000
The most visible car at the “Thriller at Miller” had to be without question the 1973 McRae GM-1 driven by Ken Petrie. It is loud, fast and just about glows with its day glow orange paint. While not a pretty car it is very brutal in its appearance. In racing performance is more important than the beauty of its body. In this case a car that wins races is very beautiful to its owner and driver. The car was very well driven and was always in the lead by a long way.If this car comes to a track near you stop and take a good long look and find a corner as close to the track as you can and just enjoy the sight, sound and sensations as this cars blasts past.

Lola T 640 Formula Ford

This car is a Lola T 640 Formula Ford. Due to its age it usually competes in Club Ford or Vintage races.

I did it.

Well I finally did it. I made enough money during the Sundance Film Festival on my extra day over and above my usual working schedule to buy my new telephoto lens.

Yesterday Carl and I went out and visited a shop that he recomended as having a good selection of tripods. I had at that time pretty much decided upon a used Tamron 200/500 mm telephoto zoom lens. While looking around the store I noticed that they had in stock the Tamron lens, so I tried it out on my Cano Rebel XTi, that I just happened to have with me. They also had a Sigma 170/ 500 lens that fit my Canon and both Carl and the sales person thought that the Sigma had better glass than the Tamron. I tried out the Sigma on my camera and I couldn't tell the difference between the two. Thew clincher was that the Sigma cost less than the Tamron by nearly $100.00.

I also picked out a filter for the lens and a new flash. I had them hold the items till today as I needed just a couple more $'s to get everything. Terri and I went their this afternoon and I got the lens and stuff.

I also picked up a 2 gig memory card for the camera. The only thing(s) that I now want/need is still a tripod and a hard carrying case to protect the camera and the lenses when traveling.

I haven't had much time to test out the new stuff but from what I have seen sofar I think the lens and the flash will work just fine.

My Kind of Racer:

My kind of racer.

I don’t have a lot of information on this driver/owner. His last name is Rosenwinge.

His car is an Ensign Formula B. Car #57, Blue in color. At this vintage sports car race their were rigs and race cars worth more money than I care to even dream about. Mr. Rosenwinge has a car that may be worth $40,000.00 and his motorhome and trailer may have a current value of $10,000.00. What I like about him is that his car costs more than his tow rig and trailer. He knows where to put his money. In Saturdays race he lead the race for a while and eventually finished second. I estimate that his car is worth in the area of $40,000.00.
His car was turned out in first class condition and obviously very fast and he drove very well.

Duntov Lightweight Corvette

Duntov Lightweight:

Some of what I am writing about is direct quotes from the booklet that was given to me by Sonny Adams at the races. The photos of the car are all mine and remain my property.

While at the Miller Motorsports Race track for the Hero’s of Speed vintage car races I came across what I thought at first was a Corvette Grand Sport. Only five Grand Sports were built before GM cancelled the project. GM ordered that the cars be destroyed and put aside two of the Grand Sports and then he sent cars 003, 004 and 005 to John Mecom in Texas. Those cars were sold to various racers.

Grand Sport chassis #003 recently changed hands for more than $6 million. The Duntov Motor Company was formed for the 40th anniversary of Sebring 1965. The Duntov Motor Company was organized to produce an exact replica of this famous car.

The Duntov Lightweight automobile is not a kit car. Every part is hand made to replicate the corresponding part in the original #003 car as it was presented at Sebring in 1965.

Duntov Motor Company was authorized to use the Duntov name by Elfi Duntov, in part to recreate the spirit of the original car, and to demonstrate that spirit to a new generation.

Specifications and performance:

Like the original Grand Sports that were built as racecars and is not intended to be driven on the street the Duntov Lightweights as also race cars and not intended to be driven on the street.

The cars come with three engine options starting with a Chevrolet ZZ383 small block that makes 425 HP at 5400 RPM on 93 octane gas, resulting in a weight to power ratio of 5.3 lbs. per horsepower.

The Duntov racing small block produces 675 HP at 7700 RPM on race gas. Weight to power ratio for this combination is 3.33 lbs. per HP.

As a point of reference, a new Corvette Z06 is 6.2 lbs. per H; a new Ford GT is 6.8.

Prices for production Duntov Lightweights start at less than half of a Ford GT, and less than 2 % of the market value of an original Grand Sport.

I want to thank Sonny Adams who took the time to talk to me and give me a copy of the brochure for this car. Oh and Sonny I love the bib overall’s.

The web site for this company is http://www.duntovmotors.com/ and their telephone number is 888-581-3838

This car took first place in its races at Miller Motor sports track and was first overall at Road America in July. The driver is Alan Sevadjian.
If you are looking for a fast and great looking racecar and like Corvettes this may be just the car for you.