{"id":17358,"date":"2024-08-29T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/?page_id=17358"},"modified":"2024-08-28T09:42:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T12:42:12","slug":"chevron-b36-31-spark","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/chevron-b36-31-spark\/","title":{"rendered":"Chevron B36 #31 – Spark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"B36<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
1978 Chevron B36 #31<\/strong>
Pilots: M. Pignard, L. Roussiaud, L. Ferrier
Team: ROC La Pierre du Nord<\/em>
Race: 11th overall (1st in S 2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1978<\/strong>
Spark - S9412 (resin)<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Published 08\/29\/24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Derek Bennett, born in 1933 in Manchester, UK, was a mostly self-taught engineer and a talented amateur racing pilot. He began his motorsports career quite early, as a mechanic and amateur pilot in stock racing. Though he continued racing, he soon graduated to building his own cars, for club level events. By 1965 he had such a solid reputation that he decided to start his own company, Chevron Cars<\/strong>. Initially, Chevron produced small-capacity sports cars and also F2, F3 and F5000 single-seaters. Later they offered the B3, a BMW or Ford-powered GT able to compete internationally in the 2-liter sports car class. The B3 was heavy, so Bennett replaced it with the B16, a spyder in the lines of the Porsche 908. He also produced a coupe version<\/a> of the B16. Always using a 2-liter engine, Bennett evolved the B16 piecemeal, into the B19, B21, B23, B26 and B31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"B36
Contrary to most of the British manufactures, who were based close to Brooklands and Silverston, Chevron was in Lancashire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
By 1973, Bennett arrived at the B26<\/strong>, sporting a simple wedge-shaped body and an integrated rear wing. What differentiated it from its predecessors was its aluminum monocoque, which granted rigidity and light weight. It also had a separate front subframe, facilitating maintenance or replacement in case of accident damage. However, it lacked rear-end downforce and stability compared to the competition. In 1975 Chevron released the B31<\/strong><\/a>, which had a slightly different bodywork, to address aerodynamic issues of the B26. By then, Chevron was an established race car manufacturer, selling cars to privateers all over the world. However, due to the international oil crisis, they only sold six B31. As a comparison, Chevron sold 26 B23 in 1973. Nonetheless, the B31 scored several victories in the Sportscar World Championship in 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"B36
As a racing team, ROC was active from 1974 to 2002.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In 1976, Bennett debuted the B36<\/strong>. The final evolution of his monocoque sportscar, it sported a much longer bodywork compared to the B31. The B36\u2019s sole purpose was sales to privateers, so it was easy to maintain and accepted different engines. All the first chassis produced used a Chrysler-Simca inline-4, displacing 1994 cm\u00b3. However, subsequently Chevron supplied the car with 2-liter engines from Talbot, Cosworth, BMW, Ford and even Mazda. From 1976 to 1978, Chevron produced a total of 21 B36. All were open-body spyders, with the exception of only one with a closed-body<\/a>. The B36\u2019s race debut was the 1976 4 Hours of Monza, part of the World Sportscar Championship that year. Two months later, Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Racing Organisation Course<\/em> (ROC) fielded two cars at La Sarthe, yet both DNF. The first success at Le Mans was in 1977, when ROC\u2019s B36 #26<\/a> came in first in the S2.0 class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"B36
In my eyes, a wedge-shaped spyder screams 1970s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
ROC returned to Le Mans in 1977, though their sole car DNF. Not deterred, in 1978 they came back, this time with three cars. B36 #29 crashed out on lap 142, and B36 #30 blew a piston on the 195th<\/sup> and DNF. Nonetheless, B36 #31 finished first<\/a> in the S 2.0 class. Though not exactly a stunning<\/em> car (it looks 1970s-generic \ud83e\udd14?), the B36 is a winner. It won the S 2.0 class four times<\/em> at Le Mans. Yep, after the B36 #31 winning in 1978, a B36 won in 1979 and 1980. Therefore, a true winner. With that, when Spark announced the B36 #31 in 2023, I was fast to pre-order one. Spark is the only brand that offers the car in 1:43, and once again they delivered a stunning model. With terrific attention to detail and a great paint job, I have nothing to complain about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1978 Chevron B36 #31Pilots: M. Pignard, L. Roussiaud, L. FerrierTeam: ROC La Pierre du NordRace: 11th overall (1st in S 2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1978Spark – S9412 (resin) Published 08\/29\/24 Derek Bennett, born in 1933 in Manchester, UK, was a mostly self-taught engineer and a talented amateur racing pilot. He began his motorsports … Continue reading “Chevron B36 #31 – Spark”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17358","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17358"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17465,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17358\/revisions\/17465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}