Historic Winton fires up

As we reported earlier this year, the 35th annual Historic Winton is ready to roll, kicking off next week-end at the north-east Victoria race track with clouds of burning Avgas and smoking cross-ply rubber. 

This year's running of one of Australia's biggest historic race meetings should be a feast for the automotive senses, with a number of significant automotive anniversaries celebrated on track.

Among the list are centennial celebrations for Chevrolet and Stutz, 90 years of French marques Amilcar and Salmson, 75 years of the Fiat 500, 60 years of Triumph Mayflower and Triumph Renown, and 50 years of the Jaguar E-Type, many of which will be showcased and raced at this year's event.

And while some of the names listed above may have stood the test of time, the Carsales Network team in conjunction with Historic Winton have compiled a few highlights of those brands that have since slipped into the shadows.

In its fairly brief 34 year existence, Salmson developed some memorable and distinctive sports cars, the first of which was a lightweight four-cylinder cyclecar with wire wheels and rather flimsy bodywork.

After fitting a twin overhead cam engine to the cyclecar, quite an advancement in the day, Salmson quickly earned a winning reputation in all manner of motorsport events, taking first place at the 1921 Grand Prix des Cyclecars at Le Mans with an average speed of 88km/h.

Development soon began on the Salmson Grand Sport (GS), which was manufactured from 1924 until 1930. The cigar-shaped body and peppy engine saw the Salmson GS win events all over Europe (550 victories in total) and setting 10 world records between 1921 and 1928.

Salmson's racing department was closed forever in 1929, and the company closed its doors a year later.

Amilcar enjoyed some success early on in its motorsport career, winning the world's first 24-hour race only a year after production commenced. From here, the French manufacturer went on to be a regular competitor in the hotly-contested 1100cc class at Targa Flora and the legendary Mille Miglia races, and by 1924 had notched up a total 102 wins, including first in class at that year's Targa Florio.

Around the same time, Amilcar introduced the CGS model, which would later be dubbed the 'poor man's Bugatti' in its native France. Despite this criticism, the CGS was immensely popular – and successful – in its day with more than 4700 examples produced.

The CGS was another distinctively-styled vehicle, with its pointed tail and bold racing radiator. It was also exceedingly quick for its class, with workd-tuned models often exceeding 137km/h.

By 1926 the CGS had been further adapted for sporting use. Known as the CGS Surbaisse (think of it as the 'GTI' variant of its day), this sporting version featured a lowered chassis, shorter wheelbase, larger brakes, quicker steering rack, four-speed gearbox and revised camshaft profiling – it even had a body kit.

Through World War II Amilcar merged with Hotchkiss and continued to develop many technologies we today take for granted including independent rear suspension, supercharging, the monocoque body, and front-wheel drive.

Sadly, the impact of the war on France saw the company fold in 1940 when its last model, the B38 'Compound' rolled off the production line for the last time.

Debuting in 1924, the car was an overnight sensation with its attractive aluminium body and quick-change, chain drive transmission, both of which provided the Fraser Nash with a distinct weight advantage over its immediate competition.  The unique chain drive system was used until 1939 and was the common feature of every Fraser Nash during this period.

Despite their popularity, Fraser Nash vehicles were prohibitively expensive, and by 1927 the company was in financial difficulty, and soon entered receivership.

Remerging soon after as AFN,  the firm continued building chain drive models, and was perhaps best known for its TT Replica, which featured a fully louvered bonnet and a characteristic 'bath tub' rear body shape.  The model had considerable success in the 1932-1934 Alpine Trials.

During World War II the company was involved in armaments production but would continue to build cars until the late 1950s, its models based heavily on the BMW 328 and given sporting names to bolster their appeal (e.g. Le Mans Replica, Le Mans Coupe, Mille Miglia, Sebring and Targa Florio).

From 1948 to 1957 the company produced a mere 85 units and, despite the on-track success and prized collectability, AFN disappeared altogether in 1965 after being consumed by Porsche Cars Great Britain.

At the time the British press said the Mayflower was one of the ugliest vehicles ever built, its styling similar to the larger Triumph Renown, itself looking like a scaled-down Rolls Royce. 

Despite its looks, the Mayflower featured a lot of kit for its price, including independent front wheel suspension, four point jacks, steering column gear change and a top speed of 105km/h. 

In its five year production run Triumph produced an impressive 35,000 examples of the Mayflower, falling short of company targets. The car was replaced by the Standard 8 and eventually the Triumph Herald.

Raceway entry fees are $20 on the Saturday and $30 on the Sunday with entry to the Competition Paddock only $5. Children under 14 years are free.

For more information, visit www.historicwinton.org

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