Tuesday 17 November 2015

More Unipower GT updates

Unipower news keeps on coming in here after last week's Japanese wide bodied GT. It supposedly is not an ex-works car but one that was modified by the Lenham Motor company in the late 1990s. What's more: it is currently for sale with a company named Scuderia Old Timer in Utsonomija, Japan, see the ad here. Thanks for all the hints and tips.

Meanwhile, regular Peter Camping managed to find a good picture of another Unipower GT in racing guise: the car driven by Tom Zettinger of Luxembourg. It, too, uses wide arches and a broad racing stripe: blue on white. From 1968 to 1970 Zettinger entered the car in a number of events: mostly local hill climbs, slaloms and sprints in Luxenbourg. So far, I'd only seen a sketchy photograph of it, taken by Paul Kooyman at the International AvD-Rundstreckenrennen at Zolder in october '69. The one that Peter found is a lot better and was taken at Lorentzweiler that same year. Naturally, I wonder what happened to the car.

This list of events in which Zettinger drove the Unipower comes from this website about motor sports in Luxembourg:

1968 Course de côte de Marche
1968 Course de côte Bourscheid
1968 Slalom de Belvaux
1969 Slalom 3 Frontieres Rodange
1969 Course de côte Kautenbach
1969 Course de côte Lorentzweiler
1969 Course de côte Holtz
1969 Slalom Thionville
1970 Course de Côte Kautenbach
1970 Slalom Rodange
1970 Course de côte Goesdorf

UPDATE 5 January 2016: The car was originally owned by a Count Volpi, and was restored in 1988 and offered for sale for 3,200 GBP. See here.


The only known picture (by me) of Zettinger's Unipower G, taken at Zolder in 1969
Picture courtesy Paul Kooyman

This one is new to me and it gives a better view of the car. There have to be more pictures?
Picture via Peter Camping


2 comments:

  1. Nice Jeroen, keep them coming ...

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  2. The front arches look slightly different but otherwise the body extensions, fuel filler position and even the wheels are the same on this racer as on the Janspeed race car, aswell as the John Miles/Piers Forrester racer and the Peter Harrison / Bob Barell car that raced at Watkins Glen. The last two could actually be the same car and I suspect is also the similar car still in existence in the U.S.. That makes two or three near identical racers but who originally modified and prepared them, Janspeed? Still looking into this. The first two of these racers were '66 built cars and I suspect this one is also an early one. The later racers do not use the same rear body extensions, though did use the same front arches. Nice to see the race history, anyone with any more Unipower GT competition details please let me know at flan1275@aol.com . ta. Pete

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