Chevron B24
The
1972 B24 was Chevron's first venture into F5000 and, like most of their
first ventures, it won on its debut. The following year, the works B24,
driven by Peter Gethin, became the first F5000 car to beat the F1 cars in
a straight fight. The Chevrons weren't quite a match for Lola's T330 that
season but finished with 32 Top 3 results from 35 races, bettered only by
Lola's 39 but ahead of Trojan's 14, McRae's 9, Elfin's 4, Matich's 3 and
Surtees' 2.
According to Chevron's chassis register, eight B24s were built. However, the register excludes the car built by the works for Gethin to drive in the latter part of 1973 and also excludes the 'new car' built for Dunkel in 1974. At least one of the B24s was rebuilt to B28 specification and one of those cars appears to have got muddled up with the two genuine ex-VDS B28s.
Of the cars that can be traced today, nearly all seem to have reached the US. However, several are still missing and numerous gaps remain in the histories that have been constructed.
All and any help would be gratefully received. Please e-mail Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com if you can add anything.
This research was triggered by an attempt to figure out the history of the two Chevron B24s then owned by Chuck Haines in the US. Chuck contacted nearly all the past owners of his two cars and passed on a wealth of information. My thanks also to Wolfgang Klopfer, Jack Boxstrom, Marcus Pye, Ted Walker, Cliff Owen, Chris Townsend, Brian Taylor, Mike Engstrand, Simon Lewis, Stan Beck, Ash Lowe and Alex Seiler for their help with these histories.
| Chassis | History | Current owner |
|---|---|---|
| Chevron B24 B24-72-01 |
 Built
for 1972 season. Works for Brian Redman: raced in UK 1972 (debut at
Oulton Park 29 May 1972 - 5 races 3 wins) and US 1972 (Redman 4 races
1 win, Gethin 1 race) - Keith Holland for John Player Challenge Trophy
at Brands Hatch 22 Oct - Alan Brodie for Steve Thompson: raced in Tasman
1973 and UK 1973. Crashed and written off testing May 1973. |
Written off |
| Chevron B24 B24-73-01 |
 Built
for 1973 season. Tony Dean: raced in UK
1973, US 1973, UK 1974 (crashed at R1 - Dean then buys B24-73-08),
also used to settle a bet at the BARC Harewood hill climb 4 Aug 1974;
UK 1975 (driven by Dean 3 races
, Alain Peltier 1 DNS, Roelof Wunderink 1 DNS). Presumably the car raced by Dean at the
Easter Rufforth meeting, winning the libre event. Raced by Dean at Aintree
19 Apr 1975, setting a new circuit record as he won the libre race by over a lap. Crashed and written
off by Wunderink Zandvoort (practice) 17 May 1975.
Wreckage
scrapped. |
Written off |
| Chevron
B24 B24-73-02 |
 Built
for 1973 season. Doug Shierson for Peter Gethin: raced in UK 1973 (won
Race of Champions) and US 1973 - Roger Bighouse: raced in US 1974, US
1975 (4 races + 1 DNS) - Pat McGonegle: raced in US 1976 (1 race) and
Can-Am 1977 (4 races + 1 DNS); probably the car entered by McGonegle
as 'Mannix MX-2' in Can-Am 1978; advertised April 1979 -  Danny Johnson
1979: raced in Can-Am 1979 (1 race), Can-Am 1981 (5 races), Can-Am 1982
(6 races) - Brian R Taylor (now Clive, Iowa) for Mike Engstrand: raced
in Can-Am 1985 (3 races) - Chuck Haines - Anthony Taylor (Blackburn,
UK) 2001: due to be rebuilt and raced in FORCE Historic F5000 series
(UK) 2001. |
Anthony Taylor (US) 2001 |
| Chevron B24 B24-73-03 |
 Built
for 1973 season. Bobby Brown: raced in UK 1973 (borrowed by Gethin at
Oulton 13 May) and US 1973. Brown's season was curtailed
by illness and a family bereavement (the B24 was advertised in Autoweek
from 25 Aug 1973 to 16 November 1974) - Bob DeNuzio (Long Island, NY,
US) 1974:
raced in SCCA FA races in 1976 - Phil Halbert 1976: raced in SCCA events;
crashed at Willow Springs 1978 - Todd Gerstenberger (Manhattan Beach,
CA) 1987: rebuilt and restored 1987-1991; used extensively in historic
racing since 1992. Retained 2002. Note that Gerstenberger calls this
car "24-72-04". |
Todd Gerstenberger (US) 2002 |
| Chevron B24 B24-73-04 |
 
Built for 1973 season. VDS for Teddy Pilette: raced in UK 1973 and Tasman
1974 - Roelof Wunderink: raced in UK 1974.
Advertised in Autosport Sep 1974
(with a spare monocoque). Subsequent history unknown but see the mysteries cars below.
There is strong circumstantial evidence that B24-73-04 ended up in private hands in
the UK West Country (possibly via Tony Dean) and is now with Stan Beck in the US. |
Unknown |
| Chevron B24 B24-73-05 |
Built for 1973 season. Via Geoff Freeman to James Dunkel: intended for US 1973 - debut Road Atlanta 19 Aug - crashed in practice and destroyed. This car seems to have been rebuilt and sold to Mike Koslowski (see 'B24-73-05A' below) but a replacement car was also bought from Chevron (see 'B24-73-05B' below). | Split - see below |
| Chevron
B24 B24-73-05A |
All new except the nose - diassembled suggesting the tub had been rebuilt. Bought other necessary parts from Chevron. Mike Koslowski 1974: raced Skeeter McKitterick: raced in US 1974 (1 race - Riverside) and US 1975 (as "B24/28" - 3 races) ... Memphis or Texas owner ... Dan Johnson (first seen June Sprints 1977): raced in SCCA FA 1977, SCCA FA 1978; wrecked at Road Atlanta 1978 and replaced by ex-Gethin/Bighouse/McGonegle B24-73-02 (see above). Remains passed Johnson - Taylor - Haines - Anthony Taylor: retained 2001. | Anthony Taylor (UK) 2001 |
| Chevron B24 B24-73-05B |
 Built
for 1974 season. James Dunkel: raced in US 1974, US 1975 (1 race +
1
DNS) - Ed Kaprowicz August 1976: raced in US 1976 (1 race), SCCA FA
1977, SCCA FA 1978 - Steve Bollinger January 1982 - Randy Reso April
1982 - Rupert Bragg-Smith December 1982: raced in Can-Am 1983 (2 races),
Can-Am 1984 (2 races), Can-Am 1985 (1 race) - Jack Boxstrom  December
1987 - Dick Leppla December 1992: raced at HSR Mid-Ohio
July 1994 - Jack Boxstrom (again) of RM Auctions,
Inc. (Canada) February 1997: retained 2001. |
Jack Boxstrom (Can) 2001 |
| Chevron B24 B24-73-06 |
 Built
for 1973 season. Alan Brodie for Steve Thompson: raced in UK 1973,
UK
1974 - Dennis Leech (Exeter, UK): raced in UK 1975
(heavily crashed in practice at R15 Mallory Park 12 Oct 1975 and not
seen again). Subsequent history unknown but presumably wrecked. |
Wrecked? |
| Chevron B24 B24-73-07 |
 Built
for 1973 season. VDS: for Chris Craft
UK 1973; for Peter Gethin Tasman 1974; Adlards for Craft UK 1974
(including one race for Vern Schuppan); converted during VDS ownership
to B24/B28 specification - Tony Dean UK 1975 (up to R6 Zandvoort 19
May 1975). Typically described as "B28" by Dean (e.g.
advert in Autosport 24 Apr 1975
p58). On 19 May, Dean raced the car at Zandvoort, a couple of days after
Wunderink wrecked his older B24. Five days later, on Saturday 24 May,
Dean won a libre at Rufforth
in a "B24", followed home in second by Richard Simms also
in a B24. Two days after that, Dean had his "B28"
at Thruxton, finishing fifth. Then to USA for US series (3 races: debut
R2 Mosport 15 Jun). Confiscated by
UK Customs & Excise on return from US when Dean was accused of misunderstanding
the rules covering cigar imports. Bought by Don
Gray (Sittingbourne, Kent) at auction: raced in UK 1977 (3 races: debut
R4 Brands Hatch 11 Apr 1977; later fifth in second race at R7 Brands
Hatch 26 Jun 1977) and in libre (2nd behind Keth Holland at
Brands Hatch 19 Jun 1977) - Keith Holland: Australian Internationals
1978 - Barry Singleton 1978: raced in Australia 1978
- Jim Lowe: won Queensland Racing Car Championship in 1980, beating
Ivan Tighe; Australian Gold Star 1980; crashed at Surfers Paradise in
early 1981 and heavily damaged. Wreck sold to Russel Gomersall
then to Peter Phillips, who is believed to have got it back to running
condition, and then Laurie O'Neill (Sydney). Unknown thereafter until
owned by George Parlby in 1999. Restored for Parlby by Ralt Australia and said
to be for sale in the US in 2005. To Aaron Lewis late 2005 and retained 2006. |
Aaron Lewis (Aus) 2006 |
| Chevron B24 'B24-73-08' |
 Built
for 1973 season and used chassis number
'B25 007'. Works for Peter Gethin: raced in UK 1973 (six races: debut
R11 Mondello Park 22 Jul, won R14 Oulton Park Gold Cup; crashed at
R18
Brands Hatch 21 Oct) - Tony Dean: raced in UK 1974 (four races only,
also raced by Arie Luyendijk at Zandvoort 3 Jun as rental)
- AW Brown August 1974 for Damien Magee: raced in UK 1974 (2 races
+ 1 DNS: best result 2nd at R14 Brands Hatch 26 Aug); modified to
B28
specification during Brown's ownership - John McDonald September 1974
for Alan Jones: raced in UK 1974 (1 race only: R18 Brands Hatch 20
Oct);
as RAM Racing UK 1975: raced by Andy Sutcliffe (2 DNS at R4 Silverstone on 12 Apr and R7 Thruxton on 26 May) and Damien Magee (1 race only: Zandvoort 19 May). Advertised as "B24/28"
by McDonald
Oct 1975. Subsequent history unknown but may have been mistaken later for a Chevron B28. |
Unknown |
The Dean cars
Tony Dean's first B24, B24-73-01, at Brands Hatch on 19 October for the final race of the 1974 season. Copyright Graham Etheridge 2007. Used with permission.
Tony Dean's two Chevron B24s at Mallory Park in July 1974: the blue car is his original B24-73-01 and the red car is the ex-Gethin 'B24-73-08'. Copyright Simon Lewis 2004. Used with permission.
The biggest problem disentangling the Chevron B24 histories is trying to make sense of all the "ex-Dean" cars to appear between 1975 and 1977. There seem to have been three: the car Richard Simms and then John Lambert used between 1975 and 1977; the car bought at auction by Don Gray; and the B28 that appears to have passed via Bobby Howlings to Victor Cartmill.
The quantity of B24s here is a puzzle. Dean owned two B24s in 1975, his original B24-73-01 and the ex-VDS "B24/B28" B24-73-07 (pictured above). One of these, B24-73-01, was wrecked at Zandvoort in May 1975 so he should only have one left. But, on Saturday 24 May 1975, just six days after the Zandvoort race, Dean ran a F5000 Chevron in a libre at a BRSCC Rufforth meeting, winning comfortably. In second place was another B24, that of Richard Simms. The Simms car was later said to be ex-Dean but can't have been the ex-works/Dean/Magee/RAM 'B24-73-08' as RAM were still running it in May 1975, can't be the wrecked B24-73-01 and can't be the ex-VDS "B24/B28" B24-73-07 as Dean was racing it. Maybe Dean had picked up the B28 from RAM and Simms had his older car but the timing seems too tight for that.
Either way, there is an extra car here - either built up from spares or Dean had bought an extra car. The choices for this latter option are the ex-works/Dean/Magee/RAM B24-73-08 or the ex-Wunderink B24-73-04. Cliff Owen, who worked for Dean at the end of 1974 and again in 1975, remembers Simms buying a B24 from Dean in 1974. As B24-73-08 was still being raced by RAM Racing in 1975, this suggests the ex-Wunderink B24-73-04. If so, it would still need to be late in 1974 as the Wunderink car was advertised up to the end of November.
Three ex-Dean Chevrons appeared over the 1977 Easter weekend: the 6-litre Lambert B24 ('the Simms car' below) appeared at Harewood on the Sunday, the Victor Cartmill B28 (driven by David Flanagan) at Woodvale the same day and the Gray B24/B28 debuting on Easter Monday at Brands Hatch. The Simms car is thus a real puzzle.
The mystery cars
The following B24s cannot yet be fitted into the puzzle.
| Car | History | Current owner |
|---|---|---|
| Chevron B24 'the Gue car' (mid-1975) |
An "ex-Gethin" B24 fitted with a 5.7-litre Alan Smith Chev (!?) advertised by Mike Gue (London) in July and August 1975. John McDonald still had B24-73-08 at this point so this car is a puzzle. The other ex-Gethin cars are 72-01, long since wrecked; 73-02 and 73-03, both in the US; and 73-07 which was either with Dean or HM Customs at this time. However, it is possible that the other ex-VDS car, 73-04, had been raced by Gethin at some point or had been mistakenly identified as ex-Gethin. This car is missing in 1975, having been raced by Wunderink in 1974. | Unknown |
| Chevron B24 'the Simms car' (1975-1979) |
  "Ex-Dean". Richard Simms
1975-1976: On Saturday 24 May, Richard Simms finishes second to Tony Dean
in a libre at Rufforth
in a "Chevron B24". Simms is next seen
at a Croft libre in mid-August 1975, almost three months later. Described
as a B24 on race
sheets at Oulton Park on 1 May but later described as a "B24/28"
at another Croft libre in June 1976. The only B28-modified B24s were B24-73-04,
B24-73-07 and B24-73-08, of which only B24-73-07 was ex-Dean. The Peter McFadyen pictures shown here appear to show a bracket on the roll hoop intended for forward facing braces, suggesting this is one of the later cars or one modified to B28 specification. Described
as a B24 at Aintree libre July 1976
and again at an Aintree club meeting in August
1976. To
John Lambert (York, UK) 1977: used in hill climbs with self-prepared
6-litre Chevy; fifth at R2 of 1977 Guyson/BARC hill climb championship.
Up to a 6.1-litre engine in 1978: Lambert was out at Harewood RAC hill climb
in May 1978 but didn't make the Top 10 after a spin.
Used by Lambert in sprints and hill climbs up to July 1978.
Advertised by Lambert as a B24
with recently rebuilt 5.7-litre engine
Aug 1979. Subsequent history unknown.
|
Unknown |
| Chevron B24/28 'the Messier car' (1976-1980) |
Bought as a B24 with B28 modifications from Fred Opert by race car instructor Richard Messier (Manchester, NH) and said to be a Gethin backup car. It was dark blue when it was bought. First tested at Bryar Park May 1976 and entered for the June 1976 Mosport Park round of the US series but the engine failed in qualifying. Appeared again at Watkins Glen (entered as a "B24/28") but again failed to start. Advertised as "B24-28" in Autoweek 3 Sep 1977 and sold to Bill Tempero for Can-Am 1978. First raced Road Atlanta 14 May 1978. To Duane Eitel for 1979. Last race Brainerd 10 Aug 1980 (DNS). Possibly the ex-RAM 'B24-73-08'. | Unknown |
| Chevron B24 (1979) | Ian Webb advertises a "well known libre/sprint/hillclimb" Chevron B24 in Autosport (25 Oct 1979 p58). The description suggests it is the Simms car which was last advertised by Lambert two months earlier. Webb may have wanted the car for its 5.7-litre engine, ideal for one of his Can-Am cars. | Unknown |
| Chevron B24 'the Seldon car' (1980) |
B24-73-08? A B24 advertised by Alex Seldon in Autosport ("ex-Gethin" in 15 May 1980 p69 but also advertised 24 Jan 1980 p65 and 7 Feb 1980 p56). If it is ex-Gethin, that points to it being B23-73-08. However, it could also be B24-73-04. Subsequent history unknown. | Unknown |
| Chevron B24 (1982) |
B24-73-04? "F5000 Chevron B24 fitted 327 Chevy DG300 gearbox ... used sprints and hill climbs £3950" Crantock, Cornwall (Autosport 11 Feb 1982 p55). See 'the Piper car' below. Crantock is a village just west of Newquay, so not far west of the North Devon area (see below). | Unknown |
| Chevron B24 (1983) |
B24-73-04? "Fully sorted for hills, sprints, complete less engine and box ... £800 ono" advertised from North Devon (0271 number) Autosport 20 Jan 1983 p61. See 'the Piper car' below. | Unknown |
| Chevron B24 'the Piper car' (1983-1985) |
 B24-73-04?
Richard Piper. First mentioned as a possible contender in Keith Norris's
F5000 revival in
May 1983. First raced by Piper in BRSCC libre
at Brands Hatch 14 Aug 1983 (led, Fast Lap, but retired). "Bought
from a West Country sprinter with a road-going Chevrolet in the back,
it took the best part of a year to put together for its Brands Hatch
debut in the August of 1983" (Autosport 15 Nov 1984 p33). Featured
in a track test in that edition (pp33-34) and an advert "Ex Team
VDS. Completely rebuilt and restored last year by Plygrange Racing ...
one of only two in the country" Richard Piper (p71). If it is ex-VDS,
it could be the long-lost B24-73-04. Raced in 1984 McLaren Open Championship
(BRSCC libre) and with the 1984 HSCC Pre-70 series
at Donington in July 1984. Jointly owned by Piper and Islington antique clock dealer
Patric Capon. Later "Chevron B24 F5000 completely restored"
Richard Piper (Autosport 10 Oct 1985 p87).
Sold to Dennis Humphries (Canterbury, Kent) and taken to West Malling
airfield for a test run. Although not wearing seatbelts or a helmet,
Humphries lost control of the car and dropped it into a ditch.
Subsequent history unknown but Ted Walker
recalls this being repaired and later sold to John Harper (late 1980s/early
1990s) who in turn sold it via Tony Ingram to the US. Ted thinks this
may be the car that ended up with Casey Annis. |
Destroyed? |
| Chevron "B24-28" 'the Raecker car' (1984) |
John Raecker (Littleton, CO) finished 14th in the Can-Am race at Green Valley (28 Oct 1984). Raecker qualified his "B24-28" for the 1984 Run-Offs. | Unknown |
| Chevron B24 'the Gunther car' (1998-2006) |
 B24-73-04?
Claimed to be ex-VDS "B24-73-07" but evidence points to it
being the other ex-VDS B24. From Fred Gunther (US) via Vintage Racing Services (Stratford, CT) to Alex Seiler (NY, NY) c1998. Previously owned by "Lee Chapman who brought the car to the
states from the UK" (dates unknown). Raced in VARA events at Willow Springs and Phoenix and driven on occasion by Casey Annis, publisher of Vintage racecar Magazine. To Stan Beck (Seattle, WA) 2000. During a rebuild, Stan found that the base paint was red and
the number #33 was painted directly onto the tub. This suggests it is
indeed B24-73-04 and strengthens the suggestion that it is the Richard
Piper car. It is quite plausible that B24-73-04 went to Dean then Simms,
Lambert, Webb, Seldon, the unknown Devon/Cornwall owner, Piper, Humphries,
Harper, Chapman, Seiler and then Beck. Retained
2006. |
Stan Beck (US) 2006 |
In July 1974, Autosport reported that Ian McLaren had won a libre at Ingliston in a Chevron B24 "borrowed from Campbell Graham". We can be fairly confident that this was Graham's usual libre Chevron B25, a Formula Atlantic car fitted with a 1.8-litre FVC.
Jim Evans is reported to have raced a F5000 Chevron B24 at Oulton Park in Oct 1976, possibly the car of Richard Simms.
A Chevron B24 was advertised by "Scuderia Prancing Teddy" Mar 1990. This may have been one of Jack Boxstrom's operations - see B24-73-05B.
These histories last updated on 1 April, 2007 .
A note on chassis number identification
The chassis numbers above are taken from the original Chevron 'chassis register' as supplied by Roger Andreason, present owner of Chevron Cars, in March 2001. They do not agree completely with numbers used in Paul Sheldon's Formula 1 Register Fact Book: Formula 5000 1972-1981. For comparison, the numbers are shown below:
First owner 1972 works Dean Shierson Dean/Brown VDS Freeman Thompson VDS 1973 works
Sources for the above include Autosport's 1973 F5000 Review, from their 24 Jan 1974 edition.