1970 Chevron B17 Formula B

History

What is known thus far regarding the history of this Chevron is as follows from the current owner.

More than a decade ago, the damaged Chevron frame was hanging on Greg Lapinksi’s wall in Portland, Oregon. Giles Greenfield discovered the hanging frame and bought it from Lapinski with the intent to restore the car to Formula B spec.

The project stalled with Greenfield until his friend and current owner purchased the frame from him. The frame did have a chassis number stamped into the frame at that time. It was B17/18/70. 

Lapinski had told Greenfield that at one point the Chevron had a sports car nose on it. This was evidenced by additional brackets that were welded onto the frame to support the larger sports car nose. 

They then boxed up the frame and sent it to ex-Chevron employee, Brian Strickland, in England to restore the frame. According to a June 8, 2006 Autosport article by Marcus Pye, Strickland already had experience restoring at least one other B17 chassis. He had previously purchased and restored another damaged B17 Formula B car that he had found in the U.S. Apparently that car turned out to be the ex-Peter Hanson B17 Formula 3 car.

The frame for the B17 offered here came back from Strickland to the current owner in the U.S. The original bulkhead with its stamped number B17/18/70 had been integrated into the rebuilt frame which was nickel bronze welded.  

While Strickland was working on the frame, Greenfield and the current owner set about gathering the necessary other bits to complete the car. Those included among other things, a Hewland FT200 gearbox, bodywork, suspension, dash and gauges, radiator, etc. The new owner already had a Lotus twin cam so they were already set in the engine department.

When the frame returned from England, everything was handed over to Horizon Racing in Washington state to complete the restoration of the car. The restoration was finished a couple of years ago. The Chevron has not been raced since. 

What is unknown at this point, is why the chassis stamping number is B17/18/70, and the chassis tag reads F3-70-18. Both of these numbers seem to be out of sequence with the other Chevron B17 and Chevron B17B cars that were built. More research needs to be done in this area. If you have any information, or thoughts, as to why this car has those numbers, please contact us. 

Since the restoration was completed, the Chevron has been on display only and has not been raced. As such it will need the usual going through, and safety systems updated, to be genuinely race ready. The quality of the restoration, however, can be seen in the photos below.

Description

Frame rebuilt by Chevron employee Brian Strickland. Finish assembly by Horizon Racing. Zero time on the entire car since restoration.

Engine: Lotus twin cam built by Bob Yarwood. 45mm Weber carburetors. Engine freshened by Loyning Engines. Zero time since freshening.

Zero hours on a rebuilt Hewland FT 200 gearbox.

The brakes are fully rebuilt AR Calipers.

New Fuel Cell

Spares include:

Complete set of wishbones and radius rods

1970 Chevron Front & Rear Wings and mounting hardware

Two rear magnesium wheels

Ft 200 gear sets

Various other parts

This is a great time to pick up a Formula B and race it in the U.S. Continental Grand Prix Reunion Series at venues such as Indy, Road America, COTA, and more.

The Chevron can also be raced across the U.S. with various other groups including SOVREN, CSRG, VARA, CVAR, SVRA, and others. The Chevron could additionally be raced as a Formula B in the HSCC Jim Clark Trophy Series throughout Europe. You could also install a Cosworth FVA engine and race it in Historic Formula 2, or install a 1 liter “screamer” engine in it and run it in the HSCC’s History F3 Championship

So you have multiple options for this gorgeous Chevron B17, and all of them are good ones.

All vehicle descriptions are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Corrections, and supplemental information, are always welcome. Buyers are responsible for confirming vehicle histories, condition, and authenticity to their own satisfaction prior to purchase. Motorsports Market is not the owner of the vehicle and assumes no liability for errors and omissions.

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Photos

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