Graham's LMK917 @ Autosport

Paul Thompson 'Hooligan' · 01-10-04, 06:52 PM

Blimey! - am I the only person who posts in here?

Anyway - Went to Autosport yesterday and herewith a few images of the event - starting with Graham's super LMK917.

Paul Thompson 'Hooligan' · 01-10-04, 07:00 PM

and again.(2/4)

Fran Hall RCR · 01-10-04, 07:01 PM

Congratulations Graham, for getting it there and looking so bloody good .....well done....

Paul Thompson 'Hooligan' · 01-10-04, 07:02 PM

3/4

Paul Thompson 'Hooligan' · 01-10-04, 07:05 PM

Very Nice!

Lee · 01-11-04, 03:08 PM

This was one of the only items on my list of things to see. I went today, with 3 year old son attached, so I couldn't run round, but never spotted it. Where was it hiding. Also toured the GB Autojumble, so a long day for the little 'un. He sat in a kart on one of the stands as we made our way round, but won't be able to reach the pedals for a couple of years yet!

Graham. Looks great from the photos. Best of luck.

snakeeyes · 01-12-04, 11:43 AM

What a stunner. What is the powerplant?

Malcolm · 01-13-04, 05:12 AM

Because turbo's are not allowed in the race series Graham competes in, I think he is planning to put in a normally aspirated but heavily tuned flat 6. It should have plenty of GO!

Graham has done a great job from looking at these pictures. It will be the best looking car on the grid by far.

Malcolm

91740Gt · 01-13-04, 09:21 AM

Thankyou one and all for your kind words.
Malcolm is one of the few people who know the real history (and heartache) behind this project and so i shall attempt to give you all a overview without getting too involved.
Firstly, my involvement and love of these cars goes way back to the sixties with the 908s,910s GT40s, etc, etc and my first visit to Le Mans in 1969.Then in 1970 i saw the Salzburg 917 K win ( i,ve got the film i took at these events still)and the rest is history.
Fast forward to 2000....
I restart circuit racing and gain Gulf backing and decide that i want the 40 to be given a stable mate and decide to build my own 917 from scratch. I already had much original technical matter and genuine archive information to make a start but i had also made contact with an Australian chap who assured me he had already been doing one and that he could supply me with a complete one.
Fast forward one and a half years and a very poor,(in fact diabolical) bodied chassis arrives at Heathrow and nothing else and the muck starts.I,ve been caught well and truly and to this day have never received all i payed for!(legal action still pending).
So in order to get going i have ended up manufacturing a majority of new and more accurate parts and with a great pile of thanks to David Piper for access to his great store of parts and first hand knowledge and my own skills i have completed this car just in time for the Autosport Show at great cost both financially and to my health. It had not started being sprayed on December 15th and was totally in pieces on Christmas Eve. I have worked on it literally day and night and finally fitted the last piece on Tuesday night before transporting it to the NEC Wednesday morning. So please forgive my haggard looks at the show !!
It has been built as a no compromise racer and will compete both here and in Europe in the SR @ GT Series and other invitation meetings we receive.I went for the orange"moustache" look to match the 40 and have spare sets of sills, bonnets, Etc sprayed ready for the inevitable battle damage. Because we are not allowed to run turbos in our "historic" type racing the engine is a 3.8 flat 6 with 400bhp at the wheels mated to a 4 speed gearbox and at 800kg should behave adequately !!!!
That,s enough to say at present other than basically you have got to be a short arsed kamikaze pilot to drive one in anger and if you want one on the road drastic modifications will have to be made, thus losing its character. At 14'6" long and 7' wide you need a LARGE transporter and a big garage.
Goodbye for now, i need to recover.
Graham @ GTA Racing

Chuck · 01-13-04, 11:03 AM

Graham,

Looks great and from what I've seen and heard, you must have worked many many late nights to complete in time. Congratulations on such an outstanding vehicle. Once you're rested perhaps you'll start a cottage industry and make a couple more?

Best in 2004,

Chuck

91740Gt · 01-13-04, 11:43 AM

Chuck,
Thankyou for your kind words. I have already started on t
he 2nd one so please keep in contact !!!!!
Regards,
Graham @ GTA Racing.

jonathansk1nner · 01-14-04, 02:40 PM

I saw the car at the show and thought it was an original! Fantastic job.

ch003 · 01-14-04, 04:21 PM

In response to the brief history of the above 917.
I would like to clarify that a certain chap in Australia who makes the 917 replica was contacted by a chap from Suffolk. Who specifically ordered an unpainted partially
assembled roller with the body bonded to the frame, from Australia. The order was filled asap with minor parts to follow. But the chap from Suffolk was not satisfied with the vehicle & a barrage of hate mail & phone calls to the maker ensued. The Suffolk chap got exactly as requested. But it appears in his mind he had been stiffed.
To help the situation the Aussie manufacturer offered a full refund or a replacement vehicle. Both offers were vigorously rejected. (strange fellow)

Due to parts delays (which is perfectly normal in this business) shipping of outstanding parts took longer to arrange but were delivered mid to late 2003 in time to make the vehicle ready for display for the recent auto show.
The Aussie who already has an excellent customer track record with very satisfied US clients is quite puzzled by all this.
To this day everything has been delivered, (granted with a few hiccups along the way) as requested, yet all this was not appreciated.

From a satisfied customer.

91740Gt · 01-14-04, 07:12 PM

Right then ch003,
This sight is not the place to air your totally biased and very misinformed information.That certain chap was me and being as you do not know what went on when many others do, including our solicitors, i suggest that you shut up. At no time have i dammed anybody the way i am being dammed now and i suggest that you have the balls to contact me directly and you can see for yourself what has REALLY gone on. Then you can wash your mouth out in front of my solicitors and write a written apology on this site.

I would like to request that the moderator of this site please put an end to this appauling mis-informed attack on me, especially as i have a pending legal case, and stop anymore 917 mails. It is a GT40 site after all.

Graham Turner.

40 Bud · 01-14-04, 07:22 PM

Lighten up guys. There are lots of places to fight if you are so inclined - The forum isn,t one of them.

ch003 · 01-14-04, 07:40 PM

Oh? so this must be the site for you to air YOUR totally biased and misleading information.

I know what has gone on for I have been privileged to see both sides of the story in email form, and as such can see no point in contacting you directly.

Nobody attacked you directly , please re-read my post for clarification.

I agree with you on one point - it is a GT40 site after all, I think the moderator should remove ALL non-GT40 related threads, including this one.

40bud - I agree with you totally.

Fran Hall RCR · 01-14-04, 08:15 PM

Can we at least keep the pictures if this thread gets dissolved.....true eye candy..........!!
I would love to see under the rear deck and inside the too.....please......Graham [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Ron Earp · 01-14-04, 09:53 PM

Actually, this thread is a perfect example of what this forum is for and one of its' primary purposes.

If GTA feels he's been slighted he can write about is experiences here so that maybe someone else will not proceed down the same path. If Kraftwerks feels that they've been misrepresented they can present their side of the story as well. It is a two-way street and unless there appears to be mis-information or slander then I see no reason to close a thread.

But, I don't moderate this section of the forum, Malcolm does, and he can do with it as he sees fit. CH003, you come in at a rather odd time - your first two posts ever on this forum are on this thread in defense of Craftwerks. While not completely out of the ordinary it is typically viewed with suspicion as to the motives of brand new members when their first posts spark debate or appear to be directed at a very specific topic with which they are associated.

Mark Worthington · 01-14-04, 10:45 PM

I think I see what's going on here. In this corner we have a small-scale manufacturer of a unique but not really unusual kit car, with the typical pratfalls that sort oif business entails. And in this corner, we have a builder and racer of kit cars who, as demonstrated by the above photos, is obsessed with quality and will do whatever it takes to complete his car to the highest possible standard.

It's not hard to imagine how expectations of each party could be so divergent even if they thought they were speaking the same language. A shame to see solicitors involved, though. I hope it can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

Oh, and ch003, it's bad form to hide behind an anonymous user name with no location, no email addy, no nothing and take pot shots at an established and respected forum member. Even worse than spamming the boards IMO.