Magnum F3 cars

[ghinzani]

Originally Posted by Matt Speakman

An Anson SA4B in white with sponsorship from Shape Machines. The combination of driver (Coombs) & engineer (Lovelock) found good potential in that Anson

Hampshire Automobile Racing Team werent they?

[Matt Speakman]

Originally Posted by ghinzani

Hampshire Automobile Racing Team werent they?

That is correct

[morninggents]

I believe the family who ran Magnum shared the same name as the builders of competition spaceframe Minis at the time, Robinson (?) - not sure if it was all related though? I recall one year one of the big time Jordan F3 mechanics going there, dont thingbthey really had the driver/budget to make use of his talents though.[/quote]

I'm pretty sure the John Robinson of Magnum fame is the same John Robinson of spaceframe Mini and Imp fame. Came from Northampton area, not far from the Mallocks, if I remember correctly.

[David Tuck]

Unfortunately Magnum 843 chassis 1 is now no more. Testing at Oulton Park on 8/08/08 in preparation for the monoposto race on the Saturday I suffered a breakage of one of the front lower wishbones. The car snapped to the right and hit the armco at the top of Deers leep, flat in third at the time the impact with the barier must have been in the region of 90mph. The tub and three corners have been destroyed. I may be able to salvage the engine and gearbox but this car is not going to race again.

[ashley.hillier]

Just picked up on the thread. I own the 873 sprinted by Damon Milnes in the early 90's. I bought it from Damon in '95 and have owned it ever since, using it for hillclimbs and sprints.

As an earlier poster mentions, it was never raced. I think it may have done pre-season tests before the start of the '87 F3 season but no driver / budget mean't no racing. It was converted by Ian Robinson for sprinting on behalf of Damon and competed very successfully in the CCC/BARC Speed Championship. It sits in my garage at the moment having not been used since 1999. It still has the original VW engine. I keep promising to rebuild it and start competing again, but time..... It is a beautiful work of art with F1 type craftsmanship. Anybody seeing the attention to detail in the aluminium honeycomb monocoque is always impressed. It's certainly far more beautifully built than other F3 cars of the era. I guess it isn't surprising as the factories main income came from sub fabrication for other teams (several in F1).

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson

This is Paul Sims in the Magnum that the Sims family ran for a few seasons. It was converted to take a Honda bike engine & was quiet successful in the South West.

It is chassis 843-03 not sure where it is now as I am certain the Sims family sold it on as they now run a Ralt & a Tatuus.

Still being used in Hillclimbs/sprints by Kerry Waine.

[ghinzani]

Ive got a feeling that the prototype 813 which was based on the stillborn Theodore F1 monocoque was written off in testing by that Irish fella who was sponsored by SDC builder, something Walsh I think. Dan will know!

[driftwood]

Jim walsh?

[ghinzani]

Dats de fella!

[Dan Rear]

I was on the A14 to Camb. last week, and funnily enough just before my turn, was a big building with SDC on the side. Good to know they're still around. I wondered about going in and asking them if they knew about the Lola T770... Doesn't/didn't David Wheeler work there?

[driftwood]

I recall SDC sponsoring the FFord in the early 80`s

is the 770 lola the FA car? if so thats been hacked around sold off in pieces

[Dan Rear]

SDC backed a number of Silverstone based FF drivers in then 70s, eg Van Rooyen, Wheeler. Also Mike Blanchet in the F3 Lola T770 and then T672 in 1979-80. T760 was the one-off FAt version of the 770, and just as bad...

[FullTilt]

Hi Tim 27 long time no see. I was in that Formula 3 Magnum at Snetterton back in 1986... I had my bell rung hard by that tire barrier.. I still remember the whole thing like it was yesterday..you were standing on the grass embankment watching intently as I plowed into it. Going back to the day before I had bumped the Russell chicane a few times..(as did everyone) lightly not even a wheel in the air..and the rear master cylinder (they were both rigidly mounted to the front aluminium sandwich bulkhead at that time.. this mount was changed due to my offs..) housing cracked leaking fluid and releasing the hydraulic pressure and when I went into Riches I had no rear brakes but got the car under control and returned to the pits for repairs. I was told it was master cylinder problem and we replaced the rear master cylinder. A number of teams had spotters at Russell and the other American.. Dave Simpson .. son of Bill Simpson of Simpson Motorsport.. whom I had raced with in the USA in the North American Pro Ford series the year before was catching air going 4 wheels over the chicane while looking for more speed with less down force in the new Reynard without a problem. In qualifying the next morning I came through there and again tapped the curbing ... and this time the front brake master cylinder housing failed and I went into Riches with a full head of steam and there was next to nothing slowing me down.. ( The spotters reported to Robinson that i had barely brushed the chicane.. .. when I hit the brakes at about 130 mph I figure I hit the embankment at over 100mph ... the rear of car pivoted up off the ground and stood upright on its nose with my head pushed into the stack of tires that acted as a cushion in front of the embankment. I had forgotten about biting my tongue.. At the impact I still had my hands on the "Personal" titanium steering wheel with which I absorbed a portion of the impact .. I still have the steering wheel which at the points where my hands made contact I pushed the outer ring of the steering wheel back about an inch on each side. The tub was shortened but my feet were fine but it was written off and a new one tub prepared for the next event. I got out of the car a little unsteady and was taken to the track medical facility and observed for a couple of hours and released with a minor concussion... but not allowed to race the rest of the weekend.



Dan Rear was right about me being portly.. Especially for an F3 driver. I was 6’ 1 and 225 lbs… about 17 stone.. When I raced in the aforementioned FF 1600 series… Swift Cars had to make a special one with the shoulder width 1.5” wider than normal to fit the my shoulders. In spite of being the only person to race the new 863 and only having a single test day for the entire season due to budget constraints I finished 10th in heavy rain and fog at Thruxton in my first race ever in the Magnum. David Leslie and Cor Euser used a very special .. but apparently legal Speiss motor for their exploits. I did not bring enough sponsorship to cover that. The 863 Magnum had an all new flat bottom and rear tunnels to create down force, which looked really neat but created disproportionate drag at higher speeds. The tunnel exit for the air was 3-4 times larger than the Ralts and Reynards. If you drafted me during qualifying you could pickup 2-300 rpm down the straights drafting behind me according to .. I think it was Johnny Herbert.but could have been Andy Wallace ...He said when he came up behind me he could feel his car accelerate through my wake .



At Zolder, in Belgium, there is a 3rd gear chicane located behind the garages that the teams would watch during practice and qualifying and they would take section times of all the cars to see how their drivers were doing.. Very surprisingly I was the fastest through the chicane. I recall John Robinson, Magnum’s owner.. was quite proud his car worked so well through there and wondered why my lap times were not faster... While I take full credit for my extra couple of stones and the half second or more it delayed me.. to John everything seemed so black and white..

[ghinzani]

Welcome Fulton, always a fan of you and rooting for more success in 86. Do you still race stateside?

[FullTilt]

Hi Ghinzani,

Thanks.. I am still involved in racing running in the NASA Time Trials series and also instruct with the organization. We can be found at
nasaproracing.com and nasa-tt.com. How are you involved in racing?

[ashley.hillier]

Hi Fulton,
As mentioned earlier in the thread, I own one of the 873's that were built. I remember talking to Ian Robinson around the time I was sprinting / hillclimbing it and we were talking about the size of the tub. It was designed with F3000 in mind however the sides had been sculpted out to accept a 'larger' ahem!! driver. Would this have been for yourself?

Ashley

[FullTilt]

Hi Ashley,

PROBABLY.. I did not know they modified later models to accomodate full size people.. very considerate.

[driftwood]

They where probably looking ahead to the days when the car becomes historic and the older larger gentleman that participate can drive the cars
I wish other car makers had been a bit more considerate!

[Dan Rear]

Great to hear from you Fulton! Any more stories from that year, 86? My little 'bro' spannered for Pegasus that year, running Van Kouwen, whose engine was a litle dodgy IIRC...

[driftwood]

i have van kouwen race car body part i think from FFord roll hoop that his name went onto
maybe i should put it into the memorabilia auction

[BCPKeane]

As A new visitor to ten tenths I have come across the Magnum thread.
I am the owner of the last 873 made. it was built in 1991 at the factory using the spare unused tub and hillclimbed in UK with a 1600cc. VW engine untill the arrival of the motorcycle cars at which point it became uncompetitive in the 1600 class.I have driven it in the up to 1600cc single cam class in the Irish hillclimb championship for the past 3 years with considable success even managing an FTD last year in damp conditions,.It is a beautyfully built car and very pretty, I have intentions of selling and moving up a class but I am reluctant to part with such a nice car !

[driftwood]

why not fit 2 litre240 bhp XE motor go do 2 litre class or libre at mondello

[BCPKeane]

Have you got one ,and adaptor for Staffs box .

[Graham Brunton]

I have recently purchased Magnum 843/1. The car was previously raced in monoposto with Vauxhall motor but unfortunately suffered an accident at oulton in 08.The car seems to be mostly original and i am now embarking on a tub up rebuild to put it back to period.I believe this to be the Cor Euser car.I would appreciate any help in finding anyone with any info on these cars,especially pictures and parts.
Graham

[Damon Milnes]

Originally Posted by BCPKeane

As A new visitor to ten tenths I have come across the Magnum thread.
I am the owner of the last 873 made. it was built in 1991 at the factory using the spare unused tub and hillclimbed in UK with a 1600cc. VW engine untill the arrival of the motorcycle cars at which point it became uncompetitive in the 1600 class.I have driven it in the up to 1600cc single cam class in the Irish hillclimb championship for the past 3 years with considable success even managing an FTD last year in damp conditions,.It is a beautyfully built car and very pretty, I have intentions of selling and moving up a class but I am reluctant to part with such a nice car !

I now co-own Brendan's car (chassis number 2), and have it up for sale. This means I have owned the entire production run of 873s. Surely some kind of record!