Chevron B48

[Chris Townsend]

Dan

The O'Leary car can't be the Robinson car unless it has the capacity to be in two places at once.
My first thought about Phoenix Park was, why take out a Hart 420R to put a BDA in just for one race, and then put the 420R back in? [which is what Robinson would have had to have done]
BUT: O'Leary is using this car all the way through the 1980 Irish season.
Are he and Robinson shuttling it back and forth across the Irish Sea, flipping the engine as they do so?
[And whilst I've never changed one, I believe that putting a BDA into a Hart 420 installation or vice versa would not be the work of a moment. It's a lot easier to put on a few stickers for sponsorship]

Has to be 9 or 10, with William Hill getting a large chunk on it being the latter. I suspect that the O'Leary car comes back to Scotland for Galbraith and that Fildes's B49 in 1981 is the ex Jeffrey/Lawson B49-01

Chris

[driftwood]

Chris yr right why change motors willy nilly unless yr bored have no friends or beer in the fridge
I wonder if O Leary bought the car from Grange performance cars although he was a road sports car dealer he may have had the car in part ex deal or knew of the car who else had b48 cars in club racing in his county back then?

[Dan Rear]

Does anyone know whether Tom O'L had any obvious Chevron connections back then, either with Bolton or Robin Smith (or indeed RAM)? If so, he might have bought the little used -10, as Chris suspects, then sold it back to Scotland for Norrie G for 1981.

This still doesn't explain though why he'd paint it like a replica of the Brian R Grange car...Can anyone post any pics of this car, ie the O'Leary one from 1980??

[Chris Townsend]

I agree with Dan about the O'Leary paint job, but we know that 08 was run in the UK with a Hart in 1980 and that Robinson kept it for sometime after that.

Another possibility is that Robinson bought one of the other spare B48s, painted it up, and then sold it. Or might it be Jeffrey's B49-01, if Lawson didn't have it after all?

Chevron connections? Most of the Atlantic racers in Ireland had run Chevrons at some time or another.

Chris

[driftwood]

I have asked Stuart Lawson he said he never had or drove B48 or 49 had a run in a B25
also gave this info for someone to suck on
5th April 1980 meeting at Ingliston
A Martin Dunn was entered with a Chevron B40 Hart 420 I have to say I can't remember the guy, programme says he came from Evanton, which is north of Inverness.

[Dan Rear]

Evanton, is that not Jimmy Jack country? I presume the car was the Iain McLaren then Bob leckie car, borrowed for the occasion.

[Chris Townsend]

Dan
Agree probably B40-14 ex KWS car that McLaren owned, but not so sure about the borrowed as Dunn appears with it later in season at Ingliston, in the libre race that accompanied the Atlantic round

Guess that Lawson's B25 is probably the ex Campbell Graham/Ian Jeffrey/McLaren/Dzierzek car

Chris

[driftwood]

well stuart and ted dzierek are chums having shared the 772 car in 81 Libre events and many cars didnt travel far between owners back in those days

so having ruled out stuart in the b48 we now need to shift the B40 info across to the correct thread
i know we give info create a list here is anyone ( allen? Chris?) making a more accurate database xl spread sheet for each car with the info?

If so is it complete enough yet to add to the b40 b42 b48 threads?

[Dan Rear]

Over on the 'other place' Alan Cox has a nice pic of some recent Gold Cup F2 cars. One of these is Keith Norris in a Chevron 'B49'. Anyone know anything of this car??

[driftwood]

FA car from usa will get more info later in the week allegedly he and chum bought 2 cars

[Dan Rear]

Is this the Monte Tolama/Opert B49 I wonder ??

[Chris Townsend]

Dan,

Contrary to reports, including mine, Tolama never raced a B49 and Opert never had one. He split from Chevron after 1978. Opert's cars in 1979 were a March 79B, a Chevron B45 and a Chevron B39.
I guess that these are the cars sold to Pierre Phillips and used by his son in SCCA NW divn. Neither car is shown in the build record as going to Phillips, but Chevron were in such a state after Bennett's death, both financially and emotionally, I'd guess, that gaps are not altogether surprising.

49-79-01 new to Andy Jeffrey, chassis number given by MN at round 1 Hitachi series. Badly stuffed mid season, briefly replaced by chassis 2 and then given a new tub. MN 24.1.80 p. 18 says sold to Stu Lawson but see above, Lawson says never had it. Could well be the Ken Fildes car in 1980 therefore. With Peter Oxley in 1985 according to Chevron records

49-79-02 Not on build sheet but probably works test car. Loaned to Jeffrey mid 79 then returned when 01 rebuilt. Retained at Chevron when the company was sold, used by Masanori Sekiva in UK series in 1982 until his new car was ready. Chassis no noted on Richard Brown's car by Adam Ferrington 1983, then on Chris Knapman's 1984 and Dave Whitehead 1987. These hillclimb cars might be 47-79-02 replated.

49-79-03 on build sheet but no name

49-79-04 new to Graeme Lawrence [chassis no noted by David McKinney] then 1981 Peter Haskett for Charlie Thomasen in NZ [chassis no noted]

49-79-05 on build sheet but no name

Tommy Phillips appears with a B49 in FA class of SCCA NW in 1979. It's his first season out of FF and it wasn't the greatest car in the world so it was something of a learning season. (Certainly didn't show the promise he would later realise with a Ralt) Terry Gemmill of Seattle has a B49 in 1980 which he gets to the SCCA national finals - quite an achievement in a B49. This is, I guess, one of the Phillips cars.

Chris

[driftwood]

49-79-02 Not on build sheet but probably works test car. Loaned to Jeffrey mid 79 then returned when 01 rebuilt. Retained at Chevron when the company was sold, used by Masanori Sekiva in UK series in 1982 until his new car was ready. Chassis no noted on Richard Brown's car by Adam Ferrington 1983, then on Chris Knapman's 1984 and Dave Whitehead 1987. These hillclimb cars might be 47-79-02 replated. along time ago i did advise on a thread ( cant recall the thread) that Knapman did in fact have F3 B47 with bda fitted and remodelled on the entry form as a B49

[simon langman]

do the 42 and 48 share same tub/uprights..........any helpful replys please.

[Chris Townsend]

48 and 42 would have a different tub [though quite similar as the prototype B48 was based on a B42], 48 tub would be same as 47 and 49.
Drifty would know for sure about the suspension

Chris

[Dan Rear]

Chris, you mentioned Sekiya used the spare B49 in 82 initially, later moving to the 'B56' I believe. Where did this go after, or did he take it home for Far East F Pacific perhaps??

[Chris Townsend]

B49-79-02

If, as Drifty suggests, this plate ended up on a rebuilt B47 for Knapman, I wonder if the car wasn't broken up for spares or effectively incorporated into that car. It wasn't like anyone would have really wanted a B49 in the mid 80s. It certainly couldn't compete with RT4s and British Atlantic was dead.

Chris

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

B49-79-02

If, as Drifty suggests, this plate ended up on a rebuilt B47 for Knapman, I wonder if the car wasn't broken up for spares or effectively incorporated into that car. It wasn't like anyone would have really wanted a B49 in the mid 80s. It certainly couldn't compete with RT4s and British Atlantic was dead.

Chris

You would be surprised at what was competitive on the hills back then!

[simon langman]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

48 and 42 would have a different tub [though quite similar as the prototype B48 was based on a B42], 48 tub would be same as 47 and 49.
Drifty would know for sure about the suspension

Chris

Thanks chris for that.

[driftwood]

I must stand and face the music
i wa sin Chris k book shop today spending more money on book sthe her in doors will allow me top
I aske dchrsi re the B47/49 car and he confirmed
car is B49 he cant recall chassi# but he bought t form Richard Brown
car allegedly ex B Devaney car
Mr Brown fitte dthe BDA
Chrsi cant recall who he sold it to but he may have papers in a file
so If u have more questions than answers fire away

[Chris Townsend]

The ex Devaney bit would suggest it was a B47 as I don't think Bernard ever got his hands on a B49. Maybe the BDA and box out of 49-02, plus the plate and the suspension grafted on to a fresher tub F3 tub.

Sorry Steve, I was thinking of roundy-roundy stuff in terms of competitiveness. I recognise that hills and sprints make different demands of cars, so that well-engineered, otherwise obsolete cars may remain front runners long after their prime on the circuits. In the case of the B49 I'd suggest that its prime was about 50 laps of a wet Mallory Park in March 1979 and it was all downhill from there.

Chris

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

In the case of the B49 I'd suggest that its prime was about 50 laps of a wet Mallory Park in March 1979 and it was all downhill from there. Chris

Or Uphill?

[driftwood]

Chris i cant see a man with brain cells taking b49 eng gbox etc to fit to B47 car
its like taking a 2 litre OHC from mk3 cortina and fitting it to an earlier chassi that was a 1600 OHV car

Im sure Knapman told me long time ago it was a B47 f3 car with bda fitted a b49 with bda fitted is standard FA car!
i will press him further once i have save d up enough££$$ to get more books!!

[Chris Townsend]

Originally Posted by driftwood

i will press him further once i have save d up enough££$$ to get more books!!

Drifty, stop spending it all on race cars!

More seriously, I'd agree with you except that the only way to make the Devaney bit tally is if they put the two together; secondly B47 has same tub as B49 only different fuel cell in it - which isn't going to matter if you're going climbing. It's not a step backwards, it's simply a rebuild around a new tub.
Bahner (and a couple of other people) did the same thing with RT3s into RT4s

Chris

[driftwood]

I have made a concerted effort to stop buying race cars but all the time i have and and pockets its hard i know therapy could help!

yes i can see the b47 48 tub thing being same as rt3/4 on fuel cell length etc and the hillclimb lot are an odd bunch in fiddling with the cars to make them do strange things on farm roads and make them SWB narrow track big wings odd size wheels fitted etc ( i can hear Mr Wilkinson building up a good head of steam now!! ) but why woul dyou fiddle wround with tub on the same concept car unless it came into hillcliming as a shunted circuit car at low ££ and the 1st tub u can get is from a different "model" car