Vincent Enthusiast Pls Help

Thanks Naqerj the scans were just what I needed.
Cheers

 

Thus spake The Older Gentleman () unto the assembled multitudes:

I'd say the Bugatti Veyron that Clarkson was creaming his jeans over the
week before last on Top Gear. Double V8 8000cc, 1000bhp, 250mph (with
limiter), 0-60 in 2.5 sec, 100ltr fuel tank which would be emptied in
12mins if run flat out, etc. etc. Claimed also that from standing start
against the McLaren F1, you could let the F1 go first and reach 120mph
before letting the Veyron go, and the Veyron would beat it to 200mph.

 

I thought about the Veyron, but I don't think it displays anything
really *new*; just a lot more of the same, whereas the Maclaren
definitely displayed innovative thinking.

And the Maclaren is tiny for a supercar, let alone one that seats three.

 

Thus spake The Older Gentleman () unto the assembled multitudes:

I take your point, but for sheer all-out ****-off in-yer-face sod
everything raw power, the Veyron gets my vote. What engine config is the
F1? I hadn't heard about the Veyron's 'W-16' setup before. And the price
tag was certainly something new - as was the cost/selling price ratio to
VW...

 

"...whilst still retaining its great looks."

Harrumph. Whatever happened to form following function?

There was a couple on a Vincent twin trundling around town this afternoon,
as it happens.

 

Depends on the criteria. If you say fast, expensive, well-made and
finished, capable of making all-day, rapid progress, reliable, unique,
innovative...

....GL1800? In black, obviously.

 

There's an intersting similarity though - They set out to build the Maclaren
aas an exercise to builf the best driver's car they could at the time,
regardless of cost. The Veyron was going to be a 1000 hp/400Kph car,
regardless of cost.

The other thing that's intersting about it is to compare it with the 1000 hp
Sunbeam record car, from about 1927. That was built with 2 aero engines,
one at each end, and achieved it's stated purpose of beating the 200 mph
record, although the car was actually capable of about 230 I think.

But at that time, they could only get tyres that were likely to last 5
minutes (literally) at full speed, the brakes proved ineffective as some
parts melted, and the car only actually had to do about half-a dozen runs,
and in theory only 2 of them flat-out.. The Veyron is supposed to last 20
years - which caused the people at Hewland designing the gearbox some
headaches, apparently.

 

You can get a lesser version of the W engine in the big Audi/volks saloons,
I believe.

take 2 narrow-angle VR-6 style engine blocks and attcah 'em to a single
crank case. A bit like making a V-twin from 2 singles, which is uncommonly
like the vincent approach.

 

I've owned bikes like that.......

 

The really clever thing about the Veyron is that even with all that
performance it still doesn't bite. Put Clarkson in an F1 Maclaren in
competition tune ( still rather slower than the Veyron, I would imagine) and
he would probably succeed in killing himself in pretty short order. The
fact that the Veyron neglected to perform this service is something that
probably should not concern us in this season of good will to all...

Ron Robinson

 

You may find a few Egli's here http://www.thevincent.co.uk/

cheers

 

I have got a reprinted 1949 road test of the earliest Shadow. They
ran out of room when they tried to measure top speed. However it would
do 110mph in third, minimum non-snatch speed in top was 21mph. Fuel
consumption at 60mph was 70mpg and it had a 3.5 gallon tank. Somewhat
more practical I think.

The road test is interesting, it makes the point that the rear
springing never bounced the rider of the dual-seat. Reading between
the lines the major criticism was of the high bottom gear and a clutch
that tended to snatch. The other criticism was of the brakes, it seems
that it was possible to lock the front wheel with heavy pressure and
the rear brakes were heavy. There is a specific comment on how good
the steering was at high speed.

According to other sources the standard Shadow was rated at 55HP, the
Rapide had 45. The Black Lightning produced 70 plus depending on state
of tune. The only other 1,000 cc bike on the market the Arial Square 4
produced 40HP in the Mk II model, which was considerably more than
earlier models of the bike.

Ken Young

 

jpg?

 

well, as it happens, we now have a working scanner... so I may be able to
scan a B&W picture(s) from the book.

I believe the vehicle is in one of the motor museums, but I don't know
which.

They took it to America for the record attempt, used Daytona beach - they
couldn't find anywhere long and flat enough to do it in this country. While
they were out there, they heard that Parry-Thomas had been killed while
attempting the 200mph record at Pendine.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twittering
from the strawbuilt shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing
horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed."
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

 

http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/Cars/Sunbeam2.ht
m

--
Krusty.

http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds

'02 MV Senna '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250

 

coo, well found. There may be more pictures in the book, I'll have a
look...

OK...

apparently, the car was geared for 212 mph in top gear at maximum revs -
They did a preliminary run at about 3/4 speed before the record attempt, to
see what it would be like to drive the car at high speed - this should have
resulted in a reading of about 180 mph; at the same time the people
responsible for the timing were checking their system and reported 166 mph -
this was later found to have been a false reading caused by people walking
on the timing strips which determined the speed of the car - they got
readings of between 166 and 280 mph, and to be on the safe side, quoted the
lowest. As a result they lowered the gearing on the car, resulting in the
loss of about 15 mph from the top speed; H.O.D. is on record that had they
not done so, he's convinced that they would have recorded more than 207 mph
in the actual record attempt.

Another problem they found was that the air entering through the front
radiator and past the front engine blew into the cockpit with sufficient
force as almost to blow him out of the car, so they postponed the attempt
while they sealed off the cockpit...

pictures, scanned from a 1932 book, so probably out of copyright now anyway,
but it's published by Hutchinson & Co. are here:

http://www.roman-road.co.uk/austin/1000hp/1000hp_1.jpg
http://www.roman-road.co.uk/austin/1000hp/1000hp_2.jpg
http://www.roman-road.co.uk/austin/1000hp/1000hp_3.jpg

Notwithstanding the black and white photos, I've seen the car in a snippet
of film about something else, and it's bright red.

aha: found out where it is: national motor museum, beaulieu

http://www.sunbeam.org.au/gallery/cutaway.gif is interesting too

The book, if anyone wants to try and hunt it, is called "The Lure of Speed",
by H. O. D. Segrave / Sir Henry Segrave.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Chuck didn't reply, so George swung round in his saddle. He could just
see Chuck's face, a white oval turned toward the sky.
'Look,' whispered Chuck, and George lifted his eyes to heaven.
(There is always a last time for everything.)
Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out"
Arthur C. Clarke, "The 9 billion names of God"