No doubt about it the 2-liters are the most exciting new breed of racing two-seaters. They won't match the pure speed of Ford's "J" - car or the 330/P3, but they overmatch them in performance per cubic inch and in sheer car-to-car competition. What's more, the 2-liters are cars we can think of as practical road machines, perhaps even the next generation of street sports cars. (One of the reasons the FIA came up with the l.5-liter GP Formula was its close relationship to the engine sizes actually used in European road cars.
Many factors have combined to make the 2-liter class the hottest slot in sports car racing for 1966. During the last several years the British specialists have turned out new small machines, using bits and pieces from Formula 2 and Formula 3 machinery, that have been just right for 2-liter power. The Lotus 23 seems to go fast with almost anything tucked in its tail. The 2-liter FPF Climax engine took on new life when it was planted in the back of the Brabham BT8. And a new combination was born in the Elva-BMW when the German four-banger responded to the tuning touch of England's Nerus Engineering.
Two-liter two-seaters received a simultaneous spur in the States from SCCA's U.S. Road Racing Championship, first laid on for sports/racers in 1963, with the class breaking point at two liters. The under twos achieved their finest hour in 1965, when a Porsche-powered Lotus 23 carried George Follmer to the top of the USRRC driver's championship. This was an interesting hybrid and others have cropped up lately. There are many Elvas, both with BMW and Porsche power-the latter installed by special arrangement with Zuffenhausen especially for the American market, where Porsche-powered Porsches lack the lightness to compete against other sprint-type machinery.
Another formative factor in the development of the 120-cube class has been the European Hill Climb Championship, which - has been fought in 2-liter cars in recent years. It has inspired the construction of lightweight specialized machinery best suited to the hillclimb's battle with gravity. In 1964 this championship was the province of Porsche and the late Edgar Barth, who used both a special 2-liter eight-cylinder Porsche and an Elva-Porsche eight to dominate sundry Abarth 20008, Lotus-BMWs and Porsche 904 coupes. The Porsche eight, expanded from the air-cooled GP engine and called Type 771, develops a useful 240 hp at 8700 rpm.
Porsche continued its hillclimb dominance in 1965, using similar machinery, but in mid-season Ferrari came into the picture with the Dino 206 roadster and raced hard from behind to win the championship. Borrowing heavily from Lotus practice, Porsche came up with a space-framed flat-eight special for Gerhard Mitter to drive in the last two events, but it couldn't match the Ferrari. As we'll see, the spaceframed special still had a contribution to make.
Several other stimulating 2-liter sports/racers have been developed on the continent. Alessandro de Tomaso has built at least one of everything, it seems, and that includes a one-off flat-eight sports car with a huge single-tube central backbone frame. Its racing appearances, - if any are nowhere documented, and neither are those of an intriguing, \ abbreviated and lightened ATS V-8 coupe reworked in Florence by Giancarlo Scotti. An output of 195 hp at 7500 rpm was claimed for the destroked ATS engine, which should have proved useful. One Italian minor effort that has made its mark is the De Sanctis Sport 2000, built low and light around a four-cylinder OSCA engine and a Colotti Type 37 gearbox. It's been a consistent winner with 180 reliable horsepower to draw upon.
Over the years Carlo Abarth has gradually expanded the size of the sting in the tails of his sporting scorpions, finally reaching two liters in the four-cylinder Abarth-Simca 2000. The engine is pure Abarth, light-alloy weighing. 265 pounds, measuring 88 x 80mm. At 7300 rpm it is rated at 192 hp (DIN); the U.S. importer currently claims 234 hp (probably SAE) for the engine, which carries a $4250 price tag. Behind the rear axle of Abarth coupes and roadsters, this engine has been a competitor and winner in many European events.
The newest. star in the firmament of one-off or small-production 2 liters is the BRM V-8 engine - a most welcome leftover from the 1.5 liter GP Formula. Just as Porsche and de Tomaso did with their flat-eights from F-l, so BRM has been doing a land -office business taking their eights out from 1.5 to 2 liters.
It was a racing driver (Roy Salvadori) who suggested in 1957 that the FPF Climax should be expanded, and it was Richie Ginther who performed the same function for the Type 56 BRM V -8 back in 1963. At Richie's urging a prototype unit was built toward the end of the year. Both bore and stroke were enlarged but these early engines, with l880 cc, did not go quite all the way to the class limit. Nevertheless, they produced 241 bhp at 9750 rpm, which was a new high for unblown 2-liters of any description. One of these engines was tried in the experimental BRM Type 67, the four-wheel-drive car using the Ferguson system, and another was made for Peter Westbury to use in a sports car with which he planned to attack the Hill Climb Championship.
In 1965, after considerable development on the 1-liter F-2 engine, which was essentially half the V-8, BRM came up with a fairly standard expansion, procedure to make a 1920 cc Type 60 V -8 out of any and all of its existing 1498cc V -8s. If you happen to have one, BRM will convert it for about $2750. If you would like a new 2-liter, they will make one for you for some $13,500 not much more than the $12,750 cost of their 1.5-liter V-8. You get quite an engine for your money. It is capable of reaching a peak output of 260 hp at a point in excess of 10,000 rpm, which is permitted in short races and sprint events. The stress limit is set by the connecting rod bolts, as the valve gear will follow the cam lobes to more than 13,000 rpm. For long distance races, BRM recommends a limit of 9000 rpm, at which 240 hp is still available. Vivid demonstration of the performance of this engine (with the works down-draft inlet heads ) was provided in the Tasman series of races in New Zealand and Australia, dominated by . Jackie Stewart in a 2-liter BRM single-seater.
The most exotic sports car application of the BRM was the first one: Peter Westbury's Felday 4, originally intended for hillclimb use but finally developed as a circuit car. It has a very professional and strong spot-welded steel/aluminum monocoque frame, carrying the same general Ferguson four-wheel-drive system that the experimental Type 67 BRM used. Taking the drive through all four wheels distributes the power application in such a way that the Felday 4 can use 13-inch wheels all around with 8-inch rims carrying tires of 6-inch section overall an impressively small wheel/tire combination. This allowed the Felday 4 to be built with a very low profile and with a fender line that's straight through from front to back, giving minimum frontal area and form drag.
Further vitalization for the 2 liter class in 1966 is expected from a new V-8 engine that was displayed early in the year and will probably have run competitively by the time you read this. It's a new design from Carlo Abarth the Type 239 that takes his efforts into an entirely different category. The heritage of the new Abarth V -8 leapfrogs back to a design that the firm prepared for Formula Two (then two liters) back in the early Fifties, but was never constructed. Features in common include a light alloy cylinder block with inserted wet liners, a deep-sided, finned crankcase with a very shallow dry sump, circular-section water galleries cast along the water jacket sides, and cam covers cut on a common plane for each cylinder head.
Progress over the last 15 years has brought many differences, of course. One feature not shared with any other Abarth design is a very deep head casting that extends down past the combustion chamber surface and the top of the cylinder liner, serving to minimize the dimensions and weight of the block. The new engine is much more oversquare than the early design, and as a result, requires a smaller angle between the valves to get heads of adequate size: 62 degrees included angle instead of 80 degrees. At this early stage of development, the Abarth bent-eight is fitted with four twin-throat 46 mm Weher downdraft carburetors, and its compression ratio is listed as 10.5 to one. The engine was first shown in February; in March it was said to be developing 220 hp. The objective is 240 hp at 10,000 rpm, which as the BRM 2-liter has shown, should be a realistic target. Carlo's merry men are making a tubeframed roadster to take this engine, for attacking the classic European hillclimbs, and we're told we shouldn't be surprised to find it hung out behind the rear axle, where he's been putting his two-liters lately.
Porsche has owned the 2-liter class for homologated sports cars for so long that it's' hard to think that anyone might dare to challenge them. This dominance was first achieved with a neat car called the Carrera, and was maintajned in 1964-65 with an even neater car called the 904 GTS but both the performance and the personality of the 904 is on record on this site. The car that would top it in competition would have to develop more than 180 (DIN) horsepower (198 SAE) at 7200 rpm, and/or weigh less than 1540 pounds at the curb. It would have to be able to attain 160 mph and reach 100 mph from rest in less than 12.2 seconds. These were the established standards of the 2liter GT class in 1965; these were the figures the challengers of 1966 would have to match and exceed.
Nobody was more aware of this than Porsche, which knew it could expect a concerted attack from Ferrari, whose V -6 Dino had proved so strong in the 1965 Hill Climb Championship. The new 1966 GT regulations included Group 4, which called for 50 cars per year, rather than 100. This meant that something more complex than the 904 could be considered.
Several different information inputs went into the design of the new Porsche. The new flat-six engine for the 911 production car had been done with the idea that it would also be used in a competition porsche in the future. It made its first racing appearance at the 1000 Kilometers of Paris in OCtober, 1964, mounted in a 904 coupe. It was fitted with six Solex 44mm carburetors, in place of the standard 40 mm units, and was said to be giving 190 horsepower.
During 1965, development of the six continued, with excellent results. The definitive version of the Carrera 6 has two three-throat Webers of 46mm size. New pistons and valve timing were adopted, with a compression ratio of 10.3 to one. A first, we believe, for a production engine is the use of titanium connecting rods. Output of the 80 x 66mm, 1991cc engine is 210 DIN hp at 8000 rpm-exceeding the 904 target figure by 30 hp.
Inspiration for the chassis and suspension of type Carrera 6 came from the space-framed car that Porsche built toward the end of 1965 for the Hill Climb Championship. In general it is orthodox 1966 coil-and-independent style with more than a few Zuffenhausen tricks for stability and durability, in wishbone angles and pivot mountings.
Starting with the new chassis and the FIA Group 4 regulations, the Porsche designers worked out toward the body surface, which at the same time was being pushed in by the need to reduce frontal area to a minimum. The result has been a bizarre-looking coupe of amazing lowness-only 38.5 inches tall. In pictures the Carrera 6 comes off as abrupt and knobby, but in reality, viewed from normal eye level, it is the kind of car that has only a top view, an expanse of plexiglazing, vents, doors, and a drapery of fiberglass bodywork.
Considerable lightness was given to the Carrera 6, which weighs in at 1265 pounds-some 200 pounds under the equivalent 904 weight, with the added power contributing to a 26 % reduction in the weight to power ratio, as compared to its predecessor. Small wonder that the Carrera 6 has dominated the finishing lists in its class in every event at the time of writing, including the Targa and a fourth overall at Le Mans.
Porsche showed some of its ideas for the future and for the prototype category at the Le Mans trials in April. They included a more pointed nose shape, with smaller inlet air openings for the brakes and the oil cooler, and a tail extension of 15 inches that also more deeply shrouded the tear wheels. Also tried was the Stuttgart version of a Moon wheel disc, as the Formula One Porsches once used- at Monza. Trim tabs have sprouted below the headlights, as an aid to stability, on most of the Carrera 6s. One of the factory cars at the Targa Florio used the Type 771 flat-eight engine, further expanded (probably by stroking) to 2.2 liters.
Why all this activity to improve a car that has yet to lose in its class? Close behind the Carrera 6 races a tight little red car bearing the name of the dead son of a famous racing car builder and carrying with it many of the hopes Enzo Ferrar) once held for that son. The Dino Ferrari is physical evidence of the powerful and growing relationship between Ferrari and Fiat, an alliance related to the 206/S Dino sports car, to a l.6-liter engine for the 1967 Formula Two, and to a future Dino-engined Fiat production sports car to replace the current OSCA engined sports Fiat. With the attack by Ford on his big sports cars and his new Formula One developments, not to mention the continuing strikes by his skilled metalworkers, Ferrari has not been able to concentrate on the Dino project. When he does, later in 1966; the Carrera/Dino struggle will become mortal.
Revival of the Dino V -6 (which appeared first in 1956) occurred in early 1965, as stage one in Ferrari's plan to develop an engine that could be redesigned for quantity production by Fiat, so Ferrari could turn around and use it in an F-2 car in '67. Its dimensions had jelled, after considerable developments, to 77 x 57 mm, for 1592cc, providing 180 hp at 9000 rpm to power the bubble topped 166/P coupe (whose shape was obviously not overlooked by the designers of the Carrera 6). The 166/P raced at Monza, Vallelunga, Le Mans and the 'Ring.
After these events, the coupe was fitted with a 2-liter version of the V - 6 for entry in the Hill Climb Championship, becoming the 206 SP. The bore alone was increased, giving dimensions of 86 x 57 mm substantially more oversquare than the Carrera 6. Output, on a 12.5 to one compression ratio was given as 218 hp at 9000.
As mentioned earlier the 206 SP Ferrari came on like gangbusters, winning the Hill Climb Championship for Scarfiotti. During the subsequent winter, construction and development work went ahead on the Fiat version of the Dino V-6. It is fair to say that this engine retains only the basic internal dimensions and broad design features of the original 65° V-6 Dino: deep aluminum block with wet liners, with twin overhead camshafts for each cylinder bank, driven by chains. In production form for the front-engined Fiat-Dino it will probably (though not necessarily) displace 1.6 liters, and if is easily enlarged to 2 liters for use in the 206/S. Externally the Dino 206/S as developed for production for Group 4 doesn't look much different from the 1965 roadster version. The main changes are at the front, where more headlight space is provided, and in the canopy, which is more rounded and enclosed, with a very deep glass windshield. The F-l-derived suspension remains mainly unchanged as does the tubular space frame. A much smoother profile than the Carrera 6's is obtained by the use of 13-inch wheels, which are attached by knock-off hubs. The weight of the "production" Dino is very close to that of the Carrera 6-if anything slightly heavier, to balance the Ferrari's small output margin., The Maranello-tuned version of the Turin engine retains the 1965 output of 218 hp at 9000.
Even in Group 6 in international competition, Ferrari can expect strong opposition from an unlikely interloper, an angular coupe carrying the blue of France, built by a firm unknown to the motoring world just two years ago: Hastily finished and easily overlooked in its coat of flat primer paint, the Matra-BRM first called attention to itself with some blistering laps by Joe Schlesser at the Le Mans practice day, far faster than any other 2-liter car. It was reaching over 150 mph on the Mulsanne Straight, even though the BRM V -8 engine was 1000 rpm down on its geared straIght awaypeak of 8500 rpm.
Societe des Engins Matra did not happen into the automobile business by chance. Their main line of work is rocketry/electronics, including the production of an air-to-air missile and the structure and wiring of Frances first earth-orbiting satelite. Among the divisions of Matra is an industrial plastics branch, Generale Application Plastique. Just as the plastics division of Bristol Aircraft set up to make fiberglass bodies for the Lotus Elite, so Matra set up a line at Romorantin to make shells for the Renault-powered D-jet sportscars of Rene Bonnet. Bonnet's finances foundered, and in September, 1964, Matra found itself a manufacturer of automobiles.
Matra management plunged into its new field with enthusiasm and enough money to buy whatever was needed. During 1965 an impressive Formula Three car was built and raced, and the firm is in both F-2 and F-3 in 1966. Thanks to a chance offer by BRM of several of its Type 60 2-liter V-8s, the Matra 630 coupe has been created to do battle with Ferrari and Porsche.
Like the Dino, the Matra 630 has 13-inch wheels; unlike it, its disc brakes are outboard at the rear. At first glance the Matra body shape looks like that of the turbine-powered Rover-BRM, which would have had a superficial logic, but a second glance shows it is more angular, less pretty than the Rover. Wind tunnel testing at Matra's own facilities has apparently given the coupe both stability and modest drag.
A coat of blue paint enhanced the looks of the Matra 630 for its second public appearance, at Monza for the 1000 Kilometers, but did little for its performance. Its lap times in practice were poorer than those set by both the Porsches and Ferraris; granted the Matra drivers were not of the caliber of Schlesser. Since Monza, a team of three Matra-BRMs has run at Le Mans. We know they have the speed to win; now they need reliability.
In much the same category-not in Group 4 now, but a likely candidate is a remarkable rear-engined 2-liter coupe from the Orient. In 1965 Prince Motors of Tokyo built a prototype for testing and a try at record-breaking, and in 1966 they have readied an improved version for serious racing. Visually the aluminum body of the Prince R380 recalls a GT 40/904 mixture at the front, followed by an early 250/LM tail section. Under the skin the derivation of the tubular frame is Brabham BT8; the wheels are British and the gearbox is a Hewland five-speed.
All these design ideas, which merge rather well together, form a 1370-pound test bed for a racing version of the Prince Gloria Super Six engine. This is an in-line wetliner six, with four main bearings in standard trim. Its stock dimensions are square, at 75 x 75mm, for 1988cc and an output of 105 hp at 5200 rpm. The racing model, code-named the GR8-pOHC, does just twice as well; 210 hp at an unspecified speed. It does it with a special twin-overhead cam cylinder head providing four valves per cylinder and breathing through three Weber side-draft carburetors. The displacement of the GR8-DOHC is fractionally enlarged to 1996cc.
At a Japanese circuit that's not yet certified by the FIA, the Prince R380 last year ran for over one hour at speeds (145+ mph) in excess of the international records for its class. This spring it won the GP of Japan for prototype sports cars in May. Prince Motors is making an effort to export its production cars to Europe, and will gain a strong ally in its recent merger with Nissan Motors, makers of the Datsun. Either way, we hope Prince will be motivated to bring a developed version of the R380 to the western world to match weapons with the French, Germans and Italians.
There's yet another unknown factor in this tale of two liters. The paparazzi of the Italian motoring press have come up with grainy photographs of a rear-engined, right-hand-drive roadster circulating at the Balocco test track of Alfa Romeo. Naturally, the car is purported to be Alfa's answer to the Ferrari-Fiat alliance, and whether or not this is true the 2-liter class is certain to see both technical advancement and a proliferation of new cars during the next two seasons. The old Formula has passed and in its wake a new breed of thoroughbred competition cars is coming.
Author: ArchitectPage
