PC-23 Restoration Part 1.

We are very pleased to announce that David Wilfords No Going Back Productions will be filming the restoration of Penske PC-23 chassis 008. The Penske arrived very recently and preliminary work has already started.

The Penske Arrives at Sywell

“Filming a restoration is not something we have attempted before so it’s likely to be a good challenge” said Patrick Morgan. “Davids intention is to break it down into a multi part project released progressively over the coming months. The job No Going Back did with the Leyton House feature was excellent so we are all very excited about this project.”

Filming commences in the workshop

Filming of the first installment has been compleated and is currently in post production. Part 2 is underway and will document the strip of the car including the removal of the fuel cell, a job rarely seen. 

Removal of the underwing

After a two year restoration between 2009 and 2010 the Mercedes-Benz DTM finally made its track debut on Saturday (25th). Driven by owner Howard Katz the car completed a full shakedown and systems check completing 50 problem free miles at Palm Beach in Florida. 

Thought to be the only running car of its type the 1994 DTM bristles with active systems previously banned in Formula 1 in the early 1990’s. During the days running many of these systems were turned on to ensure they worked as expected. 

Happily the weather at Palm Beach was kinder than that at Daytona where at the time of writing the 500 mile race has been postponed.

Now in its third year, Motorsport Magazine’s annual Hall of Fame was held last night (Feb 17th) at the Round House in Camden.

Over the course of the evening, Jake Humphrey announced this year’s inductees starting with the late Colin McRae. Set to the backdrop of a stirring film extolling Colin’s phenomenal car control, the award was accepted by his father Jimmy. Next up were motorcycle legends John Surtees and Giacomo Agostini.

Last in line was designer Adrian Newey, whose induction gave us the perfect opportunity to get the Leyton House out of hibernation. Motorsport editor Damien Smith had been very keen on having the car at the event. However, we were all aware that as soon as its appearance became public knowledge, the identity of the final inductee would be revealed. Luckily we managed to keep it quiet up to the end. Even the running order referred to it as simply “another car”.

Also present was a Red Bull Infiniti, providing the other book end to Adrian’s Formula 1 career. The Leyton House certainly seemed to be a hit and received several mentions in the speeches throughout the evening. 

Our thanks go to all at Motorsport for a fantastic evening. For more on the Hall of Fame see www.motorsportmagazine.com.

The Dawn Treader team has been called upon once again to provide a car for the annual Hall of Fame event organised by Motorsport Magazine. At the inaugural event in 2010 the Lotus 98T represented the induction of Ayrton Senna, last year Sir Frank Williams was honoured and represented by Jacques Villeneuve’s race winning FW18. 

We can’t tell you which car we will be taking this year, that would spoil the surprise. We are however looking forward to what has in the past been a great evening.

For more information on the Motorsport Hall of Fame click HERE.

The best of ‘94. 1994 was an incredible year for the CART championship. The traditional US racing dynasties, the Unsers and Andrettis were joined by F1 champions Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi. Jacques Villeneuve made his mark as did the new Reynard chassis winning on its debut. 

The combination to have in ‘94 quickly became clear - Penske PC-23 fitted with either the Ilmor 265D engine or at Indy with the Mercedes-Benz 500I engine. In the run up to the holidays we thought we’d leave you with some of the best racing, most beautiful looking cars and two of the best oval tracks in history.

What does it take to start a Formula 1 car?. No Going Back Productions followed us through the start up procedure for the Leyton House CG901B to find out…

We are very pleased to announce the addition of a PC-23 to the Dawn Treader Collection. The PC-23 is probably regarded as the ultimate Penske having swept all before it during the 1994 Indycar season. The chassis type finished 1-2-3 on five separate occasions in the hands of Al Unser Jr, Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy.

Emerson Fittipaldi by Mark Windecker

An evolution of the radical PC-22 the PC-23 proved to be a formidable short oval and road course car. The new Ilmor 265D engine was a versatile, drivable package, its only weakness being marginally behind on the top end power of the Ford XB engine developed by Steve Miller and his team at Cosworth. Any advantage Ford thought they may have going into the month of May was to be overshadowed by the introduction of the “Atom bomb of motor racing” in the shape of the Mercedes-Benz 500I pushrod engine. 

PC-23 Cutaway by Tony Matthews

1994 was a transition year for Ilmor. With General Motors withdrawing the famous Chevrolet name at the end of 1993 and Mercedes-Benz yet to formally commit, the 4 cam V8’s raced under the Ilmor banner for the first time. Although not radically different to the Chevrolet 265C of 1993 the D engine featured a slightly wider Vee angle at 82 degrees compared to the 80 degrees of the pervious year. Bore and stroke were also altered but the traditional features of the Ilmor Indy engines, the rear mounted gear train and mass damper gears were retained. The most striking visual change was the plenum chamber, having been substantially increased in volume.

For the Indy 500 however everything was to change. Under a cloak of absolute secrecy the 265E pushrod engine was designed and developed by Ilmor. Paul Morgan and Mario Illien had between them spotted the potential for exploiting a loophole in the USAC regulation that allowed a pushrod operated 2 valve per cylinder engine to run with more capacity (3,429cc) and at higher boost (55”Hg) than a standard 4 cam engine for the Indy 500. 

Extreme precautions were taken to preserve the secret. The larger inlet valves for example were ordered as “Pontiac NASCAR” items to disguise their true nature. Over in Reading Pennsylvania a secret workshop known as the Taj Mahal was built to house both the engine build and testbed chassis. 

Testing started in early March with Paul Tracy and Al Unser Jr. sharing much of the work. At Nazareth the track had to be literally cut out of the snow and running was limited to short stints due to the frigid temperatures. By this stage development was at fever pitch. Engines were stripped down at the track following a failure, new parts designed and flown over to the USA by Concord to be built in the to next engine.

Back at Penske Cars in Poole, Dorset, a similar program was being conducted in order to make the gearbox survive the increased torque of the engine.

Anyone involved with the pushrod project rates it as the project by which all others are measured. One of the most startling and oft overlooked aspects of the 1994 season is that as soon as Indy was finished Team Penske changed back to the 265D engine and headed to Milwaukee for the Miller Genuine Draft 200. Al Unser Jr. won continuing what was an astonishing season for the team.

The chassis we have acquired is chassis 008, and ex-Fittipaldi car. It was also the primary test chassis for 1994. We are looking forward to its arrival in the new year.  

David Wilford’s No Going Back Productions is to produce a short feature documentary on the complex task of starting an F1 car. We decided to use the Leyton House as a good example of a car that needs pre-heating and a little electronic help. 

The feature takes us through each stage of starting the car from pre-heating to “bumping the engine” and will explain the reasons behind the process. It goes on to explain why Formula 1 engines are often warmed up in a way that doesn’t always look good for them. 

Filming took place on Thursday (1st December), the audio and voice over having been pre-recorded. Post production is expected to be complete by Christmas so watch this space!

After a lengthy strip and repaint by Carbody (who as ever have done a stunning job) the Porsche chassis is now back in the workshop. In the time it has been away progress has been made on the chassis components, many of which can now be installed. It is always a good feeling to start bolting freshly restored parts back onto a car. 

The Chassis in fresh paint

The first component to be fitted will be the fuel cell. This gets folded, covered in talcum powder and squeezed through a small hatch in the passenger compartment before being folded out and filled with foam. 

The fuel cell hatch

Although it wears a factory chassis plate (and is the only non-factory 956 to do so), 106B differs from the standard 956 in that is has a honeycomb monocoque. This necessitates a slightly different fuel cell which ATL have produced for us. 

106B’s new fuel cell

More to follow as progress is made.