It was Ford Motor Company's Walter Hayes that had the inspiration to set up "Ford Advanced Vehicle Operations" in the early 1960s and the first official project of "FAVO" was the development with Lotus Cars of their popular Ford Cortina in to the now infamous Lotus Cortina that was subsequently driven by all the great drivers of the day, including Formula 1 stars Graham Hill and Jim Clark. "FAVO" went on to produce such icons as the Ford GT 40 and Escort "RS" derivatives.
This is an original and unmolested road car from the last year of production of the Mk 1 in 1966. Registered "ENB 288D" it has now covered just 40,000 miles and benefits from a top to bottom restoration in 2003, including a full engine re-build by renowned Lotus engine specialist Ken Snailham and his company QED (Quorn Engine Developments). The car comes with a significant history file detailing the comprehensive restoration in full with photographs.
A great road car to enjoy today whilst remaining a valuable asset that is sure to grow........
215 XUL (chassis no BN1L-150288) is finished in the classic colour scheme of Old English White with red leather upholstery. Originaly supplied new to California, this matching numbers car was returned to the UK in order to have a chassis up nut and bolt restoration by renowned specialists J.M.E Healeys of Leamington Spa. This process was carried out over a number of years and included new alloy outer panels, electrical equipment, drive train, paint and leather work etc. This work cost in total in excess of £50,000 and since then "215 XUL" has covered less than 200 miles. This concours car thus offers a unique opportunity to own a fast appreciating classic.
Jaguar saved the best till last when they bought out the SE spec XK150 in 1960 with just 656 right hand drive cars produced all featuring; "B" type cylinder head, wire wheels, front fog lights and a twin exhaust.
This car - "8300 WJ"- was registered 26-1-60 and has had just 3 considerate owners from new and has been the subject of a 2,600 hour restoration to concours condition. Finished in Old English White with burgundy leather upholstery this matching numbers original right hand drive car is totally exceptional throughout. With an MOT till June 2010, she is ready to be enjoyed on the open road where surely a trip to Classic Le Mans beckons in 2010!
As good as I have seen...............
This is an original right-hand drive matching numbers 356 B Cabriolet finished in white with black leather in excellent condition throughout. Fully wax oiled and benefitting from new brakes and a recent engine rebuild. A very pretty 5 owner car from new which has just had a complete re-spray by us to an extremely high standard and also has the benefit of new carpets to match the immaculate standard of the exterior. It is still very competitively priced today when compared to any other. Drives superbly.....
This 1958 model year car was first delivered on 13/01/1958 as a Carrera 1500cc GS finished in Silver with an 80 litre fuel tank (with a central bonnet re-filler), leatherette 'Speedster' seat, lightweight 'Plexiglass' rear screen and a 'Spyder' rear view mirror. The lucky customer, an enthusiastic racing driver and professional jockey, was Mr Hans Harzheim of Koln, Germany, who raced the car successfully in his home country and is still alive today. He achieved notable results including the AvD Rheinland Pfalz Preis on 03/08/1958, a 5th place at the famous Nurburgring Nordschliefe in the GT 1600cc Class and a win on 05/10/1958 in the Eifelrennen Nurburgring, again in the GT 1600cc Class. In addition he also claimed some notable results in rallying with a win in the Avus Rallye, Berlin in 1958 and 1959 and a third place in the Rallye Lyon-Charbonniere finishing in 3rd place. During 1959 he also came 2nd in the Wolsfelder Hillclimb Rennen (German Hillclimb Championship)
The car and driver were also invited to compete in the Nurburgring ADAC 1000Kms Rennen (1 of 6 World Championship races) albeit by this time the car was back at Porsche receiving it's up-date. Furthermore, Hans Harzheim raced on 13/07/1960 in the Rheinland Pfalz Preis Nurburgring GT Class (finishing in 8th place) and at Trier on 19/09/1962 competing in the Porsche Carrera Formula Junior race (finishing in 4th place).
During this period of intense racing activity results were further improved by the car returning to the Porsche factory in 1958 to receive an upgrade of a 1600cc GT engine (115ps), lightweight alloy bonnet, alloy boot lid and alloy doors plus a change of colour to Red.
Following its successful period of racing in Germany the car was sold and exported to the USA, eventually returning to Europe in 1980 when it was discovered by the famous German industrialist, Hans Dieter Blatzheim.
In 1984, it had a complete restoration in Switzerland at a cost of over 74,000 Swiss Francs carried out by distinguished Porsche restorer, Armin Baumann, in preparation for its place in the famous Blatzheim collection in Bonn.
Hans Dieter Blatzheim was an enthusiastic and accomplished racing driver who had one of the largest and most significant collection of Porsche racing cars in the world. Tragically, he died at the age of 47 on 14/08/1985 in a Porsche 917 while testing for the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. This Porsche 356, along with the rest of his collection, was left to his two young sons on the condition that the cars could not be sold until both sons reached the age of 25 - hence the recent release of this car onto the market.
Therefore, this car has predominantly remained a static display in a private collection, covering no more than 1,500 kms during the last 25 years.
It has recently been sympathetically re-commissioned and is now undergoing work to attain full FIA papers and Technical Passport at which point it will be completely eligible and welcome at all the world's most prestigious historic motorsport events, including Goodwood Revival, Tour Auto, Historic Le Mans and Mille Miglia, etc.
This concours condition car represents a unique and exciting opportunity into historic motorsport worldwide with an outstanding pedigree and provenance.
(With thanks to Martina Engels for her help with this research.)
Following the outstanding success of the 1973 Carrera RS 2.7, Porsche needed to improve their performance in sports car racing, particularly at Le Mans. Their now infamous 911 3.0 "RSR" was both the solution and the pinnacle of development of the car, complete with more power, bigger wheels and tyres, wider wheel arches, a wider front air dam and air intake and an enormous rear wing. Just under 100 of these were made with over 30 as RSR race cars, 59 left hand drive road cars and just 6 right hand drive road cars, one going straight to Australia and remaining there and the other 5 finding well known British owners, non more well known than Lord Alexander Hesketh.
Supplied new on the 18th June 1974 to Lord Hesketh, the owner of Hesketh Grand-Prix at Easton-Neston in Northamptonshire, this famous yellow car was used by the team owner on a regular basis and also driven regularly by ex-world-champion the late James Hunt.
Chassis number 99 remains in remarkable condition to this very day retaining it's original engine and gearbox and carrying the patina of a 35 year old car that has always been looked after and cared for throughout it's life, covering a modest 30,000 miles from new.
It is a privilege for me to own such an outstanding and rare car with such an exciting and exceptional background. It was certainly seen in all the European Formula 1 paddocks around Europe with the Hesketh Grand-Prix team enjoying the rarity and excitement of such an amazing road car. It is now at Autofarm, in Oxfordshire, where Josh Sadler is carrying out a detailed strip down and re-paint to restore the original glory of a bright yellow RS, whilst preserving the car's total originality and will be ready by early Feb, 2010. I spoke personally to Lord Hesketh on the 21-1-2010 and he confirmed his passion for this car and re-called some amusing stories of the car in the context of this fantastic era of Hesketh Racing in the mid 1970's. I have also spoken to the ex Sales Director of the supplying dealer who confirmed that Hunt was also a regular user of the car in London. A rare find and a unique oppurtunity;