I could use some help for a friend

[MichaelsVintageRacing]

Hey folks! One of my good friends and a fellow shop owned is named Tivvy Shenton, and he is a bona fide racing legend. Some of you may know him. He apprenticed at Rolls Royce, worked for Alan Mann Racing and Broadspeed, and formed his own race team before leaving the U.K. and coming to the U.S. in '78. He's been involved in a huge number of historic projects, but I digress. I'll start with some photos:









He's recently finished a thorough, 100% period-correct restoration of a 1969 Alan Mann Racing Mk1 Escort. The amazing thing about this car (beside the fact that it's a genuine example of one of Britain's most iconic race cars) is he helped build it when it was new. He's one of 3 people in the world who knows all the details that went into building the car at Alan Mann and is just about the only one who could reproduce all the bespoke parts featured on the car. This car is right up there as far as English Fords go.

Background aside, he's much better at working on cars than marketing them, and the car is for sale. He's been a great friend and influence for me as I've grown up and I'd love to be able to help him market and sell the car. If anyone has ideas for places to feature the car, I'd love to hear about them. I'm going to look into Bring a Trailer and a few other racing websites I'm familiar with, but that's about all I know of off the top of my head.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate it.

-Mike

[Brett Wilkie]

I like the Escort, I came close to buying a proper track prepared twin cam back in the mid 70s. What are the specs on this particular car and of coarse the asking price? A car like this should be almost able to sell itself if it is reasonably priced.

[NYCAccountant]

Looks incredible - there's an obscure Cars for sale group on Facebook that has like 25,000 people in it.

I might have a friend at RM Soethby's - I sent something to them a few days ago and should hear back next week. I can give them your shops number if they're interested?

[MichaelsVintageRacing]

I like the Escort, I came close to buying a proper track prepared twin cam back in the mid 70s. What are the specs on this particular car and of coarse the asking price? A car like this should be almost able to sell itself if it is reasonably priced.

It's AMR #8, built in 1969 and shipped to the U.S. for participation in Trans Am. It was outlawed due to its dry sump oil system and suspension modifications (all results of another Alan Mann car, which won the BTCC the previous season). The car was then run in SCCA and won B Sedan. It was shipped to the Caribbean and raced until the early 1990s when it was bought by a vintage racer. This racer seriously crashed his Aston Martin, and Tivvy acquired the car (in heavily modified and worn-out condition since its Alan Mann days) as partial payment for the Aston Martin repairs. Tivvy has owned the car ever since. He has literally hundreds of hours in restoring the car, including things like recreating the unique front subframe with a steering rack installed inside it, the unique rear torsion bar suspension used to allow the installation of huge wheels and tires, and the handmade gas, oil, and catch tanks in the trunk. If there are other details I can share, let me know.

The engine bay shot isn't on my phone! I took a picture of a shot from the sales brochure he had made up though. It's a Lotus Twin Cam similar to the Cortina's; 1558cc, 185bhp@6,800rpm, redline above 7,500rpm, 0 hours.

The asking price is $420,000.

Looks incredible - there's an obscure Cars for sale group on Facebook that has like 25,000 people in it.

I might have a friend at RM Sotheby's - I sent something to them a few days ago and should hear back next week. I can give them your shops number if they're interested?

I'm not directly involved with the car or its sale in any way, but I could message you Tivvy's shop number to get in touch! I'm just trying to help spread the word as his main form of advertisement at the moment is word of mouth.

[NYCAccountant]

I like the Escort, I came close to buying a proper track prepared twin cam back in the mid 70s. What are the specs on this particular car and of coarse the asking price? A car like this should be almost able to sell itself if it is reasonably priced.

It's AMR #8, built in 1969 and shipped to the U.S. for participation in Trans Am. It was outlawed due to its dry sump oil system and suspension modifications (all results of another Alan Mann car, which won the BTCC the previous season). The car was then run in SCCA and won B Sedan. It was shipped to the Caribbean and raced until the early 1990s when it was bought by a vintage racer. This racer seriously crashed his Aston Martin, and Tivvy acquired the car (in heavily modified and worn-out condition since its Alan Mann days) as partial payment for the Aston Martin repairs. Tivvy has owned the car ever since. He has literally hundreds of hours in restoring the car, including things like recreating the unique front subframe with a steering rack installed inside it, the unique rear torsion bar suspension used to allow the installation of huge wheels and tires, and the handmade gas, oil, and catch tanks in the trunk. If there are other details I can share, let me know.

The engine bay shot isn't on my phone! I took a picture of a shot from the sales brochure he had made up though. It's a Lotus Twin Cam similar to the Cortina's; 1558cc, 185bhp@6,800rpm, redline above 7,500rpm, 0 hours.

The asking price is $420,000.

Looks incredible - there's an obscure Cars for sale group on Facebook that has like 25,000 people in it.

I might have a friend at RM Sotheby's - I sent something to them a few days ago and should hear back next week. I can give them your shops number if they're interested?

I'm not directly involved with the car or its sale in any way, but I could message you Tivvy's shop number to get in touch! I'm just trying to help spread the word as his main form of advertisement at the moment is word of mouth.

If you can message me the full story in an add format with the Sellers contact info, I can copy and paste it to the right people.

[105epaul]

That Escort brings back memories of watching them race back in 1968/9 at Brands Hatch and Crystal Palace here in England. Frank Gardner won the 1968 British Saloon Car Championship with an Alan Mann Mk2 Cortina Lotus and then the Escort. Both were powered by 1600cc Cosworth FVA Formula Two engines which were banned for 1969 so they reverted to the Lotus Twin Cam. Very quick cars and capable of humbling much bigger machines. Now if only I had that kind of cash to spare!

[Brett Wilkie]

Thanks for the additional info, it does sound like quite the car. That is a lot of money to put into a vehicle but if you got it you might as well have fun with it.

[zephyrgary]

Had a poster of XOO 349F on my wall back in the day as a kid. Still got one up on my garage wall today! Where's my lottery ticket?
Gary

PS. I also sent a link over to the Lotus Cortina boys.

[MichaelsVintageRacing]

If you can message me the full story in an add format with the Sellers contact info, I can copy and paste it to the right people.

Will do, thanks!

That Escort brings back memories of watching them race back in 1968/9 at Brands Hatch and Crystal Palace here in England. Frank Gardner won the 1968 British Saloon Car Championship with an Alan Mann Mk2 Cortina Lotus and then the Escort. Both were powered by 1600cc Cosworth FVA Formula Two engines which were banned for 1969 so they reverted to the Lotus Twin Cam. Very quick cars and capable of humbling much bigger machines. Now if only I had that kind of cash to spare!

Exactly! This car benefits from the development programme that car went through. Having only an emotional/intellectual connection to it, it's a very impressive car.

Thanks for the additional info, it does sound like quite the car. That is a lot of money to put into a vehicle but if you got it you might as well have fun with it.

It's definitely not cheap, but this car is literally unique at this point in time; 12 Mk1 Escorts were produced by Alan Mann, 3 genuine cars survive, and this is the only one to be in complete, original, fresh condition, rebuilt by the same man who built it in 1969. Objectively speaking, that's pretty unbelievable.

Had a poster of XOO 349F on my wall back in the day as a kid. Still got one up on my garage wall today! Where's my lottery ticket?
Gary

PS. I also sent a link over to the Lotus Cortina boys.

Atta boy! The cars have a great look, especially with the meaty fenders and big tires.

Thanks for spreading the word a bit, as well!

[Langlia]

Thanks for the additional info, it does sound like quite the car. That is a lot of money to put into a vehicle but if you got it you might as well have fun with it.

Wont even buy a house around here

[Brett Wilkie]

Thanks for the additional info, it does sound like quite the car. That is a lot of money to put into a vehicle but if you got it you might as well have fun with it.

Wont even buy a house around here

That is so true, there is some real estate and there are some cars that have quickly become very expensive in a short period of time. It would be nice to capitalize on that?

[Langlia]

Thanks for the additional info, it does sound like quite the car. That is a lot of money to put into a vehicle but if you got it you might as well have fun with it.

Wont even buy a house around here

That is so true, there is some real estate and there are some cars that have quickly become very expensive in a short period of time. It would be nice to capitalize on that?

I was watching... Jay Leno's Garage.

Fun show. Long story short, it seems all the super cars that were bought 5-10 years ago, for $150-200K All went up in price.. Hmm.

Buy a super car > Own it > Profit..

More rare cars though, even though they might sell high there still needs to be a market for them. Always worth what someone will pay... Car market is funny

[angliagt]

I agree with the BringaTrailer idea.
List it with a reserve - if nothing else,you'll
find out where the market is here for these.
This would probably sell for more in
England/Europe,as people are more aware
of the history of these over there.

[MichaelsVintageRacing]

Tivvy made a brochure for the car with a lot of info, pictures, and some really interesting documents. I've scanned it and I'll post the pages here. Enjoy!

[105epaul]

You're correct Michael, it is about the memories and emotions as I recall the Alan Mann cars. Frank Gardner had won the 1967 BSCC in the Alan Mann 1964 Falcon Sprint, narrowly beating the 1966 BSCC champion John Fitzpatrick in the Broadspeed Anglia. But of course the 1967 win wasn't of much publicity value to Ford as it was won by a three year old American car. That said I'd love to own that Falcon now! And the Broadspeed Anglia bearing in mind that I'm a 105E guy. I think that the Mk2 Cortina may also survive but am not sure. I did see Yvette Fontaine racing her Escort in Belgium, I think she came second or third in the race. Frans Lubin I think bought the Cortina from AMR and I remember seeing him race it at Brands Hatch in October 1968.

The article by Tivvy is fascinating, I could chat about this sort of stuff for hours, lol. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my lottery tickets tonight!