Dead Metal

[Renegadenemo]

I'll ring the curator bloke later - he'll know. I have an original copy of the book issued by Parsons Marine Turbine Co. Limited somewhere too. Will go and look for it. It's been a while since I refreshed my Turbinia knowledge.

[Pullman99]

Given that there are several Jaguar references in this thread, and that it's the 50th anmniversary of the Coventry firm's most famous product - the E Type - I know that there will be quite a few BBP supporters who will be interested in the attached story from the ARonline site. ARonline is edited by Keith Adams who is on the staff at Octane magazine and is a fund of automotive news and opinion, not all of it Longbridge related.

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/tag/lindner-nocker-jaguar-e-type/

This is the fantastic restoration of the Lindner / Nocker "low-drag" coupe that had a brief career in the forefront of endurance racing. Sadly, Peter Lindner was killed in this car at the banked Motlhery circuit in Paris in 1964 after which the wreck was locked away, first by the French authorities, and later having been acquired by a private owner. For many years, this car has not only been the stuff of legend but - due to its significance as one of the most famous and importtant of all Jaguars - its story has been of great fascination to almost everyone who has studied the history of the products of the Browns Lane firm. Over the years, some reproductions of this car have been produced including at least one that claimed to have already been rebuilt from the crashed car. Hopefully, the myths will now be replaced by fact.

The similarities and connections between the story and rebuild of this E Type and that of Bluebird K7 are striking although the funding and facilities for the Jaguar's rebuild has clearly been more straightforward. Well done to the team at Bridgnorth for what is obviously a superb job and excellent craftsmanship but I do wonder if they will now receive the kind of negative comments that were prevalent in the earliest days of The Bluebird Project.

[rob565uk]

Ian

Great story and what a fabulous rebuild! - the final result is breathtaking. I am a keen Jaguar fan -still run one now (at great expense) but missed this story completely until now. Thanks for sharing.

I always fancied an E Type and this has stirred the desire again....

[Pullman99]

Me too, and I've been lucky enough to have drives in quite a few down the years from (pre-Jaguar) SS1 onwards including several E Types and a Lynx D Type which is a personal favourite.

As with K7's rebuild, the controversy has not been long in arriving.

[Renegadenemo]

The similarities and connections between the story and rebuild of this E Type and that of Bluebird K7 are striking

Now I was told - and I have no idea whether it's true or not - that the K7 rebuild was the inspiration for this endeavour and another, yet to be unveiled, project with similar aims.
If it's true then I'm immensely proud and if it's not then I'm equally pleased that someone else has seen the light and we're not the only team saying, 'It'll Fix' and 'No Such Word as Can't'.
Either way, it's a cracking job and one less dead machine in the world.

Museologists, wake up and smell the coffee...

[Pullman99]

Now I was told - and I have no idea whether it's true or not - that the K7 rebuild was the inspiration for this endeavour and another, yet to be unveiled, project with similar aims.

There is considerable discussion going on at the moment as well as reference to the related topic of rebuilding vehicles that have been responsible for driver deaths. In this case, another driver and three marshals were killed at Montlhery and the wreck remained in the basement of a private museum - the now disbanded Rosso Bianco Collection - in Germany until fairly recently. That Collection had commissioned, and exhibited, a reproduction, albeit not a totally accurate one, from Lynx Engineering at Shoreham. The subject is aired quite frequently with many differing and opposing views expressed by the contributors. Bluebird K7 has often been highlighted in this context.

Not far from me, and having had some restoration work carried out for its Italian owner, is Lotus 72 R2 which is the car in which Jochen Rindt had his fatal accident on the 5th September 1970. Whether or not that rebuild will ever be completed (it has been the subject of huge controversy ever since the Monza accident) is unknown but the whole issue makes many people in the world of historic motorsport very uncomfortable.

The circumstances of K7's rebuild, and the enormous dedication of everyone involved, is truly inspirational and your achievement in reaching the stage you have is a huge credit to you Bill and for all your team. I would say that the awareness that many others - in many different fields - now have of K7's rebuild may be more far reaching than some realise and undoubtedly has the ability to continue not only to inspire others in their endeavours but to influence how other projects may be perceived by a wider audience including the acceptability of restoring such vehicles as the Lindner Nocker E Type.

[mtskull]

If there really is some unwritten code which decrees that any vehicle in which its driver has been killed should be hidden away for ever, then it is a very recent phenomenon.
Motor sport history is filled with examples of vehicles which have been involved in fatal accidents subsequently being repaired and put back into use, either in period or later.
"Babs" springs immediately to mind, but also consider Bentley "Old Number One", Harry Schell's BRP Cooper etc. More recently, the BRM P25 in which Spencer Flack was tragically killed during a historic race has been rebuilt and is racing again.

A tricky and emotive subject I know, but let us bear in mind that the only precedent set by the restoration of the Lindner/Nocker
E-type is in the ability to restore such a badly damaged monocoque whilst retaining substantial originality.

[Mike Bull]

Another example- the Rolls Royce operated Spitfire which crashed in 1992 and killed pilot David Moore is well on it's way to flying again.

[Renegadenemo]

Not far from me, and having had some restoration work carried out for its Italian owner, is Lotus 72 R2 which is the car in which Jochen Rindt had his fatal accident on the 5th September 1970.

That's the other one I was reliably informed was being tackled because of the K7 build but again I don't know whether that's actually correct.

[thunderer]

Another example- the Rolls Royce operated Spitfire which crashed in 1992 and killed pilot David Moore is well on it's way to flying again.

Do you have any further info on that mike ? (web link for example?)