So on a mild but overcast morning, with the Green Machine washed and polished (for a change), with the brakes freshly bled (more news on that front soon), and with a new ignition map designed to make engine starting easier, I arrived at Brooklands just after 9 am. I made my way to the paddock area but had to wait while a Lamborghini Huracan endurance racer was unloaded from its transporter. Having sorted the throttle issue that troubled me at Southern Alfa Day, I was a bit surprised to hear my engine revs rising, until I remembered that I had first tried unsuccessfully to bleed the system, only to discover that it did not need bleeding at all – it was actually the running clearance on the pedal pivot bolt that needed attention. Having not found the expected air lock in the hydraulic lines, I had inadvertently overfilled with ATF and with the engine at working temperature, thermal expansion was pushing the throttles open! Fortunately, opening the bleed valve with the engine hot was all that was required to fix the problem. Phew!
So, parked to one side of the display area for a change, it was time to survey my surroundings…
Intense sunshine always seems to wash out colour and detail, so I much prefer this overcast weather for taking photographs (it’s because I don’t know what I am doing!).
My next door neighbour had a fabulous example of this quirky Alfa… Gordon Murray has just commissioned a specially modified Zagato with dropped floorpans so he can fit inside comfortably. And he’s had it painted bright green…
My other neighbour brought this – a Lotus 6. Apparently this very car was the first example to win a race. I just couldn’t take my eyes off the mirror polished aluminium bodywork. I bet it didn’t look like that in period!
Apart from an early 70’s GTS, this would be my favourite Pantera – the GT5S. Blended arches, instead of the tacked on ones for GT5, and the same rear wing as the Countach LP400S. A bit of nostalgia for me, one of my first copies of Car magazine, from 1986 I think, had an article on the then brand-new GT5S by legendary scribe Brian Laban. It started as follows:
Wednesday, 3pm. I am waiting for a passerby to ask me if I am sitting in a kit car with a Volkswagen engine. When they do I am going to start the engine, and if the deafening roar from the 5.7 litre Cleveland V8 doesn’t answer their question, I am going to do something that even a 1600 Beetle cannot do – dump the clutch and leave two black lines 50 yards long, then burble back and say “no, it’s a De Tomaso Pantera. Good isn’t it?”
I loved that article. However, the young lad in the passenger seat of this one clearly had eyes for the Green Machine, and made a beeline for it as soon as Dad had parked up. Always nice to inspire a new generation of enthusiasts!
As usual, the Green Machine attracted quite a lot of attention, almost all positive, although one guy was clearly annoyed that someone knew more about cars than he did, and asked me if I had “ever considered getting out more often?”
Then I heard about the Alfa T33 Stradale replica…
And here it is. An almost 100% accurate reproduction of the “production” T33 Stradale from 1967. The company behind this recreation are called Pristine Panel Works (PPW), and have done a better job than Alfa Romeo themselves, who couldn’t help fiddling with the styling of their retromod supercar, released last year, with its deeper nose section, tacky carbon GFX add-ons, even a full-electric version (which none of the 33 customers ordered). By contrast, this was a 100% accurate reproduction of the bodywork, in aluminium, and mechanically was as close to the orignal as it was possible to get using modern hardware – V8 engine (a 4.7 litre Maserati, instead of the crackling 2-litre Alfa V8), 6-speed manual transaxle out of a Ferrari (instead of the original Colotti 6-speed), PPW even reproduced the flawed magnesium alloy H-frame chassis and cast magnesium front bulkhead and engine bearers, but this time in steel for strength and safety. Even the suspension is faithful to the original…
The only concessions to modern motoring have been the move to outboard disc brakes at the rear, with larger vented rotors behind replica 15” Campagnolo wheels instead of the original 13” rims. It took a real effort to tear myself away from this car, but like the original, ownership is simply not an option – PPW are planning to make just 33 examples, and each one will cost around £600k. Time to move on…
Just as fabulous, but no more affordable I suspect, was this IKON 917K replica. Unlike the Fiberfab products of yesteryear, this is also really accurate, but as you can see, is road registered! This example was powered by a Porsche flat-6, mid-mounted and presumably with a G50 transaxle behind it. It sounded really authentic out on the test track. I understand that the company behind it are working on a replica flat-12 engine, most likely built from 2 flat-6 units coupled together, which is exactly what Porsche did:
1. Take a 356 quad-cam and add 2 extra cylinders to make a flat-6;
2. Put two 4-cylinder engines together to make a flat-8;
3. Put two 6-cylinder engines together to make a flat-12;
4. Put two 8-cylinder engines together to make a flat-16
Porsche did make the latter but found that the pumping losses were so high that the flat-16 only put out the same power as the flat-12. OK, moving on…
A brace of Lancia Rally 037s. The last time I photographed the Martini liveried car, I may have talked excitedly about it being the “original Walter Rohrl WRC winner”. It is in fact a very accurate replica made by Mick Colville, who I used to meet regularly at these events. The blue and yellow car is an original 037. I found 3 easy ways to spot the difference:
1. The replicas typically use the Audi/VAG competition transaxle instead of the ZF
2. The original Speedline wheels have little radial vanes around the rim, which are absent from the replica wheels. And lastly;
3. The replica bodywork, unlike the original, is totally devoid of ripples in the fibreglass, which is probably the biggest giveaway of all!
After some more gratuitous Pantera pictures, and another of the IKON 917 (I just love the BOAC 1000 speedbird livery, I guess from Pedro Rodriguez’ insane drive in the wet in 1970?) it was time for the track action next door at Mercedes-Benz World. This uses the old Brooklands runway to make a long back straight with some wiggly bits coming back down and a skid pan in front of the main building. Unfortunately, spectators have to stand so far back from the action that there is no point trying to take pictures, at least not without a long lens, and more talent, neither of which I posess!
However, I can report that the T33 Stradale sounded every (cubic) inch of it’s 400 bhp Maser V8, the IKON sounded very impressive and unlike last year, or the year before for that matter, nobody managed to lose it on the wiggly bits and stuff their car into the barriers
While we were trackside, the sun finally made an appearance, which was nice, and with the Stradale now back in the Nuvolari paddock it was time to grab some sneaky pictures with the Green Machine in the background…
It really is a beautiful thing – Franco Scaglioni at his best. Of course as we all know, half of the 17 Stradale chassis ended up under some of the greatest concept cars of all time – Alfa Carabo, Pininfarina Roadster, P33 Sport Speciale, Iguana, as well as the not-so-nice Cuneo and Navajo. I would have the Carabo over the Stradale any day of the week, but that is just me
See what I mean about bright sunlight???
Anyway, that was almost it, apart from the test hill. And what should be parked up behind us, as we watched the assorted Fezzas, Fiat 500s and other assorted machinery throw themselves at the broken concrete?
Ah yes, mon favourite GT Francaise, l’Alpine A310, avec motore PRV et roulment Renault 5 GT Turbo… At this point my Franglaise ran out. One lady owner from new. If I’m honest, I prefer the earlier 4-cylinder cars, mainly because they have a completely glazed nose with 6 headlamps, plus I think they look more futuristic in silver. But it was still a nice example of this increasingly rare alternative to the Porsche 911.
So that was it – Autumn Motorsport day 2025. After saying my goodbyes to the lovely people at Auto Italia I fired up the engine (faciliatated by that new ignition map), and headed back home, with the only issue being the low sun shining directly in my face!
My vital statistics were as follows: roundtrip distance = 69.6 miles, average fuel consumption = 32.3 mpg, average speed = 39.4 mph, total driving time = 1 hour 45 minutes.
Lauren