Lancia Motor Club

I was sure I had an old 2nd series instruction manual for the Aprilia from my YRV 700 days,and so went looking in dusty cardboard boxes that have been following me around for years. Fortunately I found a very serviceable original handbook along with a tatty first series handbook and an original English translation ! - I knew I was a hoarder

All of the above are well known and available, so not that interesting. However, I also found some fascinating correspondence written by Aprilia Guru, Norman Wilson to Louis Lorenzini, a professional racing driver based near Manchester. We bought YRV 700, a second series Aprilia, from Louis in about 1975 or '76. The letters date from 1972-4 and concern various racing mods to Aprilias.

They include high lift cams, big-end mods, converting 5 hole BRM wheels and a 4 into 1 "bunch of bananas" exhaust manifold.

It may be interesting to some people to read these letters but I am not sure about copyright or other such issues ! Also Norman was quite forthright about some members of the club who felt that Lancias should not be used in competition.Indeed saying in one letter, that he would leave them to their "sandwiches were produced by Pat and the beer was frothy" - kind of motoring

I would like to post excerpts from some of these letters, if anyone is interested and I am not infringing any copyright/sensitivity issues

Simon,

I am sure you are not infringing anything of any consequence. I would very much like to see whatever you have got and would encourage you to post some scans here.

I remember Norman Wilson and his Sherringham based Aprilia exploits and I agree with his views about the attitudes of some members!

Colin

I also would be most interested to see what Norman was thinking and doing back then.
I was at a bike race meeting with some friends at Snetterton some years ago and drove over to Sherringham on the off-chance of meeting him. Unfortunately he was out but it was obvious I was at the right house as the garden was full of Aprilias. There were also several Citroen GS saloons which he had graduated to by that time.
His "bunch of bananas" exhaust was described by him in an article in the Aprilia edition of the club journal about 40+ years ago.

I think there were earlier posts on this forum about Norman Wilson and his Aprilia exploits, and his links with Raymond Mayes and BRM. Here is a photo that I think I have posted before – it’s Norman at Shelsley Walsh in his Aprilia with BRM rear wheels.

Wouldn’t it be great to wind the clock back a few decades and live it all again?

Colin 

I am trying to scan the letters so that the files are small enough to post on the forum and still be legible ! Please bear with me ....

Haven't tried it myself yet but this may help.
http://free.mailbigfile.com/

Brian
8227 8)

Simon, if you can't get them small enough then you can always send them to myself or Chris Hopkins (librarian) and they can into the library where they can be downloaded by members.
Steve

This is in an odd format - perhaps it was an OCR from the journal or something.  Spring 1973.

I also found some notes from Richard Rose reporting how he could cruise at an easy 80mph, for all the saga of his engine rebuild was anything but.

David

David/All

Was really interested to read (well scan read as will digest later) that Norman Wilson's Aprilia revs to 6300 in second some 2000 rpm above the manual maximums.

I fitted a small 0-8000 rpm meter to OVS to prevent over revving and to "calibrate" the speedometer.

OVS revs very freely and I was wondering about raising the red line of 4250 (79mph in 4th)???

Tim

David

I think you must have taken copies of the letters when you bought the Aurelia ! Unfortunately trying to open the document crashed my computer so I can't be sure (they must be in an odd format because it takes a lot to crash a mac) !

I will still try and scan the letters here or as suggested earlier, send them to Steve or Chris to make them available to all, because I think they are quite interesting.

Simon

David,

Thanks for posting up the Norman Wilson article. Yes, it’s from the LMC Journal of Spring 1973 and is an OCR scan, which I think I sent you in February 2008. I think the idea was to inspire you to get on with the rebuild of your Aprilia engine for your Augusta special project!

Colin

Simon,

Can I encourage you to scan whatever you can and post them up here as well as send copies to Chris and Steve? I know that some people still find access to the LMC library online a bit tricky and it would be good to know what you are adding to it.

Carry on enjoying R4s too!

Colin

I hope this works !

For me, the most interesting section of this letter starts from the final paragraph on the first page and discusses the mods that Norman used including a different carb, 4 branch exhaust and his ideas about changing the size of the rear wheels in order to change the gearing.

As for an Aprilia engine revving to 6,300 rpm without protesting !

Having never driven up Prescott in anger I do not know if 69 secs is quick for a 1300 Aprilia and his comments about Aprilias being sought after in the future is becoming true ......

Later letters discuss Mille Miglia camshafts and balancing the crankshaft amongst other things.

Simon,

Thanks for posting Norman Wilson’s letter – fantastic stuff and so evocative of the time and the man. I have huge admiration for Norman and what he did with Aprilias, but I want to comment on some of the things in the letter:

Norman refers to having only a standard camshaft to work with. At about the same time, early 1970s Roger Perry bought a Nardi camshaft from Harry Manning and I remember Roger saying that Harry had several on the shelf that he had owned for years, but nobody seemed to ask him for them!

I am sure Norman did well with his engine, but getting more than 6000 rpm from an Aprilia engine takes some believing!

To do Prescott in 69 seconds in a four-door saloon is impressive. Looking at recent VSCC times up the hill I find examples in the lower 60s with sports-cars such as Singer Le Mans, MG C Type, Bentley 3 litre and A7 Ulster TT. I think his times were good.

I was sorry to see his references to “those who hold the reins” at the LMC Journal. I can peer though the paper stickers and can read the names he mentions, one of whom is still with us although not a contributor to this forum and the other is John Maltby. I knew both of them well and cannot believe what Norman says of their sneering and “non-U” view of him for using an Aprilia in competition. I think Norman must have had an uncharacteristic run-in with these guys because at the same time as he is writing both Dave Scheldt and Bob Gale (how non-U can you get?) were using Aprilias in circuit racing – all of which was encouraged and helped by John Maltby.

The “sandwiches and beer” comment is also unworthy if it was intended as it seems to apply to these names. I could imagine that John Maltby might have made such a remark, but it would have been in the context of having just returned from a 2000 mile round trip in a Lambda with a cylinder head gasket change in a lay-by, or some heroic winter trip to Carlisle to tow a broken B20 back to London using his Aprilia on a very short tow rope. The dismissive comment could have been applied to many, but not these two!

Hey ho for the heroes of yesteryear,

Colin     

 I was always led to believe that you couldn't over rev an Aprilia in top gear. John Maltby's "GT" Aprilia, NGP 50, subsequently owned by Roger Perry, had at one stage an ordinary 1st. series engine (and gearbox) from the dreaded "EGF", a 1937 car with doors which often opened of their own accord, but which had a particularly free-running motor. The GT would easily do an indicated 100 mph, but I forget what the revs were at that speed. A standard Aprilia was always a bit slower, presumably due to its shape.
 When I worked for John, it was well before the 70 mph limit was introduced and when the M6 near Preston was opened, we went up there just to see how fast an Aprilia would go. We drove up and down the few miles of motorway a couple of times and we each had a go. Maltby wasn't one to hog the driving and would always encourage the driver to press on, to put it mildly. At the time, that was probably the fastest I had ever been in a car, as I had only recently passed my driving test.

Can you tell us any more about this "GT" car John? Any pictures?

With standard gearing 80mph corresponds to approx 4300rpm so 100mph comes up at 5375rpm. (CF valve bounce at 5200 so maybe speedo a bit optimistic?)

Norman, in the wide open spaces of East Anglia, downhill with a following wind etc, would have been doing 112mph at 6000rpm!!!  Now I know what to say when the kids ask  "What will she do Mister?"  The following wind is very important however.
And it would be fascinating to know what pistons he used and what compression ratio. And where do you get valve springs made for £3 per set! And he almost certainly had standard alloy rods. Nerves of steel 'tho.

Good morning

This letter covers mock crankshafts , BRM wheels and the camshaft that was mentioned previously along with some other subjects.

No need for blanking strips on this one - sorry about the visibilty of names, I couldn't see them on my screen. Thicker paper next time !

I am sure I remember Harry showing me the camshafts on one of his shelves at Heath End, but to be honest it was a bit like being a 6yr old at Hamley's ! I never saw a 4 branch exhaust though and still haven't !

The "GT" Aprilia that John refers to was NGP 50 - see photo below taken by John Maltby. The other photo is a race-prepared Aprilia, probably that of Bob Gale in late 60s/ early 70s. Both of these photos are in the LMC Library collection and should be viewable online.

Colin

Anyone who knows East Anglia knows there aren't any long hills to speak of - at least I don't know of any, but there are some nice long straight roads esp in the Fens, speed guns permitting....

OVS regularly wound its speedo round to nought but it was horribly optimistic. Calibrated by following car (merc) and GPS it was 25mph over at 70mph. Looked impressive but was useless to drive to  >:(. I have now calibrated by moving the needle back 25mph while holding the shaft at 70mph. It reads quite well from about 50mph but is useless below 25mph  ;D.

OVS has Fulvia pistons but I don't know the compression except I need to run 97 octane and use octane enhancer to avoid pinking (yes timing is spot on). I don't know if the engine has been balanced but according to notes on file the flywheel has been lightened (by how much  ???).

I have attached a spread sheet showing predicted mph/1000/gear. This is for a Michelin 165 400 tyre. I would welcome comments. Obviously Norman's lower radius wheels would allow the car to over rev for the same speed.

Tim

Re NPG 50, I went in this one xmas when Maltby lent it to my dad, i can still remember the engine note, also where I am sitting writing this, the same picture is on the wall next to me. ::)

NGP 50 was a great car. It's the only car I have ever driven with a steering column gear - change and a crash gearbox, but it worked very well. I helped Bob West replace all of the brass bushes in the complicated linkage, removing the slop - and it was a delight to use after that. The knob on the end of the gear lever was a sort of yellow plastic and was either hexagonal or octagonal (I forget which). You could change gear with one finger sometimes. The steering wheel was nearly vertical and the steering very light and positive. The one thing I didn't like, was the hand brake. It was a lever under the dash which had little effect.
 The Norman Wilson letters are very interesting. His quoted time of 77 seconds at Prescott doesn't sound very fast, even though it was on the longer track. These days, Lambdas can get up the hill in under a minute and I wouldn't think it takes 17 seconds to take in the extra loop. Next time I'm at the VSCC library, I'll look up Norman's time at a VSCC event. I remember there was a bit of friction between John Maltby and Norman, but I don't know why.

Having grown up in the Fens I can say that while the hills might not be significant the tail winds certainly are.  "Some say" there's not a single hill to stop an east wind between Ely and the Kremelin.

As for the straights I could imagine Aprilia suspension being a great benefit as with subsidance it gets pretty hairy bouncing along the crown of the road.  You only drift towards the edge when something else is coming the other way and then only at the last possible moment.

In Norfolk, such as through the Thetford Forest, there are some brilliant long smooth straights.  Likewise between Cambridge and Newmarket.  

Am struggling to think of good long hills up that way...

David

Prescot times - see column 4 of the Pre War Austin 7 Club "Bert Hadley" championship results for some times including the loop:

http://www.pwa7c.co.uk/hadleylastyear.htm

My instinct is ten to a dozen seconds slower than VSCC times.  The challange now is to find one of those cars that was also at VSCC Prescot.

David

does the gt still exist??

I believe its gone back to Italy, but where or who I don't know

Or maybe this one should be under Aprilia technical - converting to thin-wall bearings

I am sure this will have been seen before in one format or another, but I remember doing the conversion on YRV 700 (and I think PGY has been done as well - must remember to ask Paul !)
As I recall,  when we did the mod we filed small grooves in the back of the shells so they didn't foul the bolts

Only a couple more letters after this !

Is it possible to get a better scan? The last one is almost impossible to read, as it's so lacking in contrast. I'm sure it will be very interesting, so I'd quite like to read it.
Regards, John

Re-scanned - can't make any clearer due to file size

It was legible on my screen, but I have scanned it again as a JPG and beefed up the contrast a bit - see attached.

I find all of this fascinating - keep it up!

Colin

Thanks Colin. Slightly better, but still a struggle to read it. (I got the gist of it.) Very interesting!
 Regards, John
 

An interesting letter which talks about a workshop incident which Norman didn't want widely publicised - I thnk it should be alright now, nearly 40 yrs later !

I suspect some of you knew about it anyway.....

This is the final letter in this series and as suggested by Colin Marr, I have ironed it flat using my wife's hair-straighteners (well, she never uses them !) ,so hope it is still clear because the original is faint.  I think Norman's typewriter ribbon was wearing out after all his letters and journal articles !

As I said elsewhere, I do not know if Louis ever got a 4 branch manifold, I never saw one and we bought his car only a couple of years after this last letter.

Am I missing the point? The picture of Norman in the Aprilia is at Shelsley Walsh, not Prescott.

The first time I did Prescott in my Lambda I seem to remember my first practice run was 59.9