Solved NIC#120 - Girastro of Jas Gibbon at Rest-and-be-Thankful hillclimb

[nicanary]

For one point, tell me the name of the car and its builder, and the place where it is pictured.

[nicanary]

Experts?

[AlexFrance]

Is it a FIAT chassis?

[D-type]

The Hammond-Gordon Special competing at Rest and be Thankful

[nicanary]

Is it a FIAT chassis?

I must be honest - I don't know.

[nicanary]

The Hammond-Gordon Special competing at Rest and be Thankful

You have identified the location, but that isn't what I believe the car is called. I have only limited information about the puzzle car - if you can provide evidence to support your post, I'm willing to accept it. I know the builder and what he called the car, and it isn't that.

[AlexFrance]

It's the Girastro racing car driven by owner Jas Gibbon approaching the top hairpin on the Rest and Be Thankful road in Scotland.

To be honest I think you should give the point to D-type! Without the name of that road, that I had never heard before, I never would have found the answer...

[nicanary]

It's the Girastro racing car driven by owner Jas Gibbon approaching the top hairpin on the Rest and Be Thankful road in Scotland.

To be honest I think you should give the point to D-type! Without the name of that road, that I had never heard before, I never would have found the answer...

Well, it's very decent of you Alex, but i hadn't locked the puzzle because there was still so much more to answer. The point is yours - well found! Sorry D-Type, I hope you understand my decision.

I admit, I know nothing more about the car. I found the puzzle image on a Scottish Tourist Board information site, and I had to accept what it said on the caption - if anyone on AP thinks it's incorrect please tell me.

(Alex - it used to be a well-known hillclimb that was a round of the British Championship for many years. It was fairly dangerous with no Armco like you'd have today. The road fell into a bad state, but has recently been tidied-up and the local clubs have held Retro events there.)

[AlexFrance]

Thank you for the added information on that hillclimb race!

I could not find more information on that car either. The only bit of info is that the picture is apparently owned by the Scottish Motor Museum Trust...

[D-type]

No mention of the Girastro in Graham Gauld's Scottish Motor Racing and Drivers where I found the reference to the Hammond-Gordon.  Presumably because James Gibbon wasn't Scottish.

[Paul Jaray]

"Gibbon's original special was based on a Rover 10 chassis, with a stark body for trials and a more civilised one for speed events. This multi-purpose machine was christened the Girastro. Gibbon himself, Jimmy Ramsay and Kenny Starling from his Rover agency's service department, each contributed the first two letters of his surname, while Rover provided the final syllable."

and here: http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=18445.msg183285#msg183285
is

"Their later Rover Special was built up from a P3 chassis, given striking aerodynamic bodywork and a 2.6-litre engine eventually enlarged to a full three litres, years before the Rover factory followed suit. This was one of the first privately-built competition cars equipped with disc brakes. "

[nicanary]

Very interesting information. Thanks PJ.