Beach racing cars

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First Formula Vee race on the Nürburgring on August 1, 1965

Beach racing cars is the later name of a US company in which the engineer Gene (Eugene H.) Beach (born November 17, 1919 in Battle Creek, Michigan ; † March 14, 2006) built sports and racing cars since 1959. Beach became known in Europe through Formula Vee, after Porsche bought five of these small VW Beetle-based racing cars from him and five more from Formcar as kits, assembled them and initially presented them in demonstration races in Germany.

Beginnings with sports cars

Beach built mid-engined vehicles from the start. The first car in 1959 was the "Begra", a small, flat Spider, the basis of which were essentially components of the Fiat 600. The name was formed from Beach and Grady. Henry Grady improved the engines, while Gene Beach was responsible for the chassis and body. This "Begra" Mk 1 was probably a one-off, followed by three other versions, from Mk 3 with fiberglass - instead of an aluminum body. Engines came from Saab , Abarth and Ford.

Beach and Grady parted ways at the end of 1961, so that the wagons were named Beach from 1963 and from Mk 4 onwards. The chassis of the Mk 4 came from the Austin Healey Sprite , the almost 70 hp engine from the BMW 700 . In the course of the following years the car was improved, including with chassis parts from the Mini Cooper . As the last sports car, Beach brought out a GT Coupé, which was prepared for long-distance races, but failed at the 12 Hours of Sebring with a damage to the suspension.

Formula V

Beach began building Formula Vee cars in August 1963. Compared to the competition, his vehicles were characterized by a slimmer body over a relatively simple and inexpensive frame made of square steel tubes. In addition, they differed from the competition by a significantly less negative rear wheel camber. The Beachcars were successful from the start, including in 1963 with Bruce McLaren , who won the Formula Vee race at the Speedweek in Nassau in the Bahamas .

Production became professional when Porsche ordered kits for Formula Vee cars in 1964 and further racing successes ensued. Two works cars with Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren took first and second place at the Bahamas Speedweek in 1965 and Bob Bondurant came fifth in a field of 33 cars. Dan Fowler also won the Formula Vee championship in the USA on Beach. Almost 200 Mk 5 vehicles were produced in various stages of development by 1968.

The engines of the first Formula Vee cars with an output of around 45 hp, as well as the gearbox, the front crank arm axle and the 15-inch wheels were original parts of the VW Beetle. The top speed was 165 km / h.

In 1969, Beach built a prototype for Formula Super Vau under the name Mk 16, which he presented in early 1970. However, this car was not further developed. In the following years, Beach manufactured vehicles for Formula Ford and for the American Formula B.

Succession

Beach racing cars in Seattle , established shortly after Beach's death, keeps the memory of the racing car manufacturer alive and restores its now historic sports and racing cars.

swell

  • Thomas Keßler: Formula Vau manufacturers under the microscope: Beach racing cars . In: Curbs , Issue 2, August 2014, View GmbH, Bonn, pp. 106-109.
  • 45 years of Formula Vee . Reprint from powerslide , Petropics, Bonn, October 2011.

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