Solved NIC#738 - 1965 Hirzel P17-M at St Ursanne-Les Rangiers

[nicanary]

is the driver Christian Grosjean father of F1 driver Roman Grosjean

No.

[shamrock]

A GERCA

[nicanary]

A GERCA

Not that I'm afraid.

[nicanary]

Off to the Black Hole soon.

PS This image was available on the internet for many months, but now appears to have been deleted.

[sixtee5cuda]

Is the engine 3000cc or less?

[nicanary]

Is the engine 3000cc or less?

Yes, it is a Simca unit.

[sixtee5cuda]

Image from 1967?

[nicanary]

Image from 1967?

From 1965.

[nicanary]

Black Hole.

[pnegyesi]

Hopefully it is not considered cheating but I kindly asked The Revs Institute the scan the program of the event for me. Therefore I can tell you that the car in the picture is the Hirzel P-17 M entered by René Hirzel from Mutschellen in the Racing cars up to 1100 cc category.

[nicanary]

Hopefully it is not considered cheating but I kindly asked The Revs Institute the scan the program of the event for me. Therefore I can tell you that the car in the picture is the Hirzel P-17 M entered by René Hilzer from Mutschellen in the Racing cars up to 1100 cc category.

We all have our own views on what is considered fair play when solving puzzles. Personally I believe that any detective work using personal contacts or knowledge of what information is available on the internet, is perfectly acceptable. I know that other members may not agree with this. I have on occasion e-mailed the secretaries of various car clubs to obtain information on a puzzle subject - in my mind that is intelligent use of available sources.

IMHO you've done nothing wrong. Yes, that's the car and driver. I don't know any more about it, except it was powered by a Simca 1000cc engine. Two BH points to you.

[pnegyesi]

Thanks for the points and the comments.

Apparently there is a very nice article online about this car in German.

Google Translate offers this: "The engine came from a Simca 1000, the gearbox from the Porsche 356 Carrera. The vehicle had a double triangle wishbone front axle. The brake system and the wheel stars came from a Renault R8. The rims were made of aluminum. The race car weighed only 350 kilograms and always started in the 1000cc class"

Hirzel retired in 1968 "but in the same year the P17 appeared again in Hockenheim, but with Heinrich Baumgartner behind the wheel. At the Bergslalom Reitnau from 1969, the vehicle started with 1000 cc in the class "formula-free", driven by the new owner Max Rüetschi. The last entry in a ranking was at the slalom on the N1 of 1970, organized by ACS Aargau. The ACS organized again and again short term slalom on the pre-opening highway sections.

Now the P17 is being restored by racing driver and coachbuilder Ruedi Rohr from Hunzenschwil"

And here it is, the restored car at the 2012 Oldtimer GP in Mutschelle

[nicanary]

Thanks Pal. That's great. Nice to know the car still exists and is being used.