Original MkII ex-Alan Mann

[Russ Noble]

I read that Paul Hawkins fitted the Hewland and that was one of the reasons for his success with the car, being able to easily and quickly change all ratios to best suit individual circuits.

[Straight 8 Racing]

Russ & Troy,

Thanks for the info, how do you find all this stuff ? How do you find the time to find all this stuff?

Russ, How is your build going ? I havent seen any posts recently

Iain

[Troy]

Hi All,

Just found the reference to the car that was for sale, and I must correct myself.

The car for sale in New York (with Motor Classic and Competition) was actually the Alan Mann lightweight XGT-3. This is the 7ltr Mark II variation, and had an asking price in the vicinity of US$3m.

This was the spare chassis at LeMans in 1966 for the team, but was never raced.

A side note: As I understand it, AMGT2 (Hewland transmission) suffered gearbox failures in it's last two races of the 1970 sportscar championship season. Now the details on those problems would make for interesting reading. I'll try an find out what happened!

[Driven]

Hi guys:
Although I seldom post, I do keep an eye on this website: I'm still around, and so is AM2 which has been with me for over 20 years now.
I don't recall ever hearing or reading that Paul ever fitted a Hewland. It has, and so far as I know, has always had a standard ZF.

Jack

[chuck smith]

any pictures?

[Troy]

Hi Jack,

Many thanks for the reply. It must have been the ZF that caused some issues in Buenos Aires in 1970.

I'll let my friend know where the car is now, he has some excellent period pictures of himself in the car at full flight during the 1969 Sportscar Championship. We have spoken at length about the car, but we didn't know where it ended up.

[Eric Johnson]

Pictures would be great!

[Russ Noble]

Originally Posted by Driven

Hi guys:
Although I seldom post, I do keep an eye on this website: I'm still around, and so is AM2 which has been with me for over 20 years now.
I don't recall ever hearing or reading that Paul ever fitted a Hewland. It has, and so far as I know, has always had a standard ZF.

Jack

That's interesting Jack.

I'm sure I've read in several different books/articles that AMGT-2 was fitted with an LG and also had some suspension mods done. Unfortunately I don't remember where I read that but it was before I read "Hawkeye: The rapid and outrageous life of the Australian racing driver Paul Hawkins" Author Ivan McLeod. When I read Hawkeye I was looking for details of the suspension mods but didn't pay much attention to the trans issue. Although I think if any photos or text had shown or mentioned a ZF I would have noticed. There may have been no photos under the rear of course. I got the book from the library, they no longer have it, neither do I! Have you read that one Jack? Great read!

Of course it could be an urban myth that keeps being regurgitated. It would be nice to have this one laid to rest one way or the other. Are there any photos under the rear of AMGT-2 during the Paul Hawkins era? It should be pretty easy to see.

[Russ Noble]

Ah, found it.

I copied the actual page at the time from "Ford GT40 Superprofile"
John Allen. Part of the narration that goes with photo 23 on p38 states:-

"It was easily the most successful private entry GT40, helped by its Hewland gearbox which allowed quick changes of ratios ensuring that the car was correctly geared for each circuit visited"

I was sure I had a good authority for that. I would imagine John Allen would be right, but who's to say....

[Driven]

I have most, if not all, GT40 books, but I don't have them here in the office. I must have missed the reference in John Allen's book (If I have it). I don't have any un-published photos of the tranny during Paul's era, but I'll take a look at some of the other books I have to see if somehow I misssed it all these years.
I'm not the most computer literate guy around, but I'll see if I can post some photos.

Jack

[Driven]

AM2 was in the Midlands Motor Museum, and was sold to George Stauffer. George painted it blue and did some vintage racing with it. When I bought it form George, he agreed to have a partial restoration done in his shop. At the time (1985), history wasn't such a big issue, and I elected to stay with the Guardsman blue color.

[Driven]

A one-of-a-kind rear end. Paul kept stretching the rear to accomodate the ever wider tires of the late 60's

[Russ Noble]

It looks good in the blue Jack.

AM2 is my favourite car because of the Hewland, the snorkels, the wide rims and the fact that it ran the 351 when ever regs allowed it. All that combined with the exposed fuel tanks makes for a real, lean, mean, racing machine! And it's got the nicer lines of the Mk1 albeit slightly altered.

Any idea what the actual weight of the car is?

[Russ Noble]

You posted the last photo while I was typing slowly!
When did the snorkels disappear?
What size rims did Paul finish up with?

[Driven]

Built with a 289, also ran a 302, and even a 351 at some point. Currently has a 302...

[Driven]

Originally Posted by Russ Noble

You posted the last photo while I was typing slowly!
When did the snorkels disappear?
What size rims did Paul finish up with?

When the car ran at Sebring in '66 (Driven by Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill), the car had all aluminum body panels and ran in the Prototype class. It went to LeMans and ran the test days in this configuration, but was withdrawn at the last minute in favor of the Mk II. When Paul bought it, he wanted to run in the GT class , and had to replace all the alloy panels with "standard" fiberglass ones. This is when the snorkels and a few other distinctive features disappeared.
I replaced the wheels in '85 with BRM's. I have Pauls' wheels in storage. The fronts were BRM, and the rears (I have been told) are narrowed Lolas. I don't recall for sure, but I think the fronts were 10 and the rears were 14's.
I have no idea of the weight, but bear in mind, the car doesn't have the alloy body it was built with.
As you mentioned, the tanks (actually the sills) were uncovered. The top is actually tapered inward to meet the sills flush.

[Driven]

Originally Posted by 550spydr

Pictures would be great!

Hi Eric:
Wow--Millbrook, NY.
I bought a 427 S/C Cobra from Carter Gette of Gette Ford in Millbrook in 1974. I traded it toward AM2 in '85!

Jack

[Driven]

Originally Posted by superflyte

Hi Jack,

Many thanks for the reply. It must have been the ZF that caused some issues in Buenos Aires in 1970.

I'll let my friend know where the car is now, he has some excellent period pictures of himself in the car at full flight during the 1969 Sportscar Championship. We have spoken at length about the car, but we didn't know where it ended up.

Hi Troy:
I'd love to have copies of any old photos of the car.

Best,
Jack

[Troy]

Hi Jack,

No problems, I'll see if I can get some copies for you. I can't promise anything soon though, but I will let you know when I have them.

Troy