Unipower GT owner Tim Carpenter drops me a line occasionally, which is always a pleasure. This time he spent a good Easter Sunday with a few friends and cars. This is what he wrote:
"Hi Jeroen, How are things going for you? How’s the Marcos coming on? I’ve been messing about a bit with my car. I retired the 50+ year old magnesium Minilites and replaced them with aluminium repro ones. I feel a lot safer now. I was worried about what was going on under the paint. I did not want one of them to let go underneath me. It was cheaper to buy new than to strip, crack test, chromate and repaint the magnesium ones so it was a bit of a no-brainer really. I’ve also fitted the Yokohama 145/80R10 69S tyre which was recently added to their range. They balance a lot better than the Aquajets and feel a lot more taut too. I’ve not yet had the chance to test them out properly. Hopefully the sun will shine and I can get the car out on track again."
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"Meanwhile, I was invited to spend Easter morning in glorious weather in the garden of a petrol head friend. He has quite a big garden with a number of garages in it. We gathered around the barbecue for hot dogs and a cup of tea in a socially distant sort of way. There were a couple of MGs, an XK120 an an Alfa. Plus me in the Unipower GT - and a GT40! Well, I could not resist the temptation to park alongside to compare and contrast with the Unipower GT’s ‘Big Brother’ being as how they were drawn be the same person. This is a picture of me comparing the total height of the two cars – 40½” both of them. The GT40 really is a lovely but fearsome thing. It’s hard to imagine how variants of both cars would ever have been able to be on track at the same time. Crazy days."
"I’m lining up a few events already for this year, mostly hill climbs rather than static displays. I hope they go ahead. I’ll keep you posted. Cheers, Tim"
Tim with Unipower GT and Ford GT40 - more in common than just their heights!
Picture Mark Faulkner