Petrolicious article on David Piper...

[StephenAcworth]

Well worth the read (917 and Siffert), and then you have some gorgeous images...

https://petrolicious.com/articles/mo...th-david-piper

early.jpg

[Chuck Miller]

GREAT article Stephen... thanks !!!!


Mr. Piper is one of the most bass ass racers still with us....

I posted these before but here's a couple I took:

- After winning the vintage Ferrari race in his 250 LM just before the start of the Le Mans 24 in '2000...

- And 7 years later with his wife fill'n up his 917 at Rennsport III .....


Cheers to the original 'Pirate'... well deserved

[Jon B]

I met David briefly in the 1980s, when he flew over to inspect a 917 engine & transmission that we had for sale. I was not involved financially :-(
He was very pleasant and polite. He really didn't do much inspecting, I think he just came over to make sure it was all legit, and that he wasn't being scammed.
The engine was previously owned by Bruce Crower, who had ideas about installing it in an Eagle Indycar, but never did. David bought the package, in partial exchange for a Cosworth engine.

Deal done, off to be crated. A red 356 sits just behind the engine...
DSCN1283.jpg

Jon B.
Vista, CA

[LongRanger]

. . . .

'. . . David Piper allowed Mark Hales, an experienced racing driver and freelance writer, to take his treasured Porsche 917 for a spin on a test track for a magazine article.
But disaster struck when the engine on the green-and-white vintage motor - valued at £1.25m - failed catastrophically as Mr Hales drove it around the course.
Mr Piper claims the damage was caused by Mr Hales failing to engage the right gear and "over-revving" the engine and wants him to pay for the repairs the car needed.
He told London's High Court: "If you bend it, you mend it."

The 82-year-old, of London Road, Windlesham, Surrey, is seeking around £50,000 for the cost of fixing the engine, which had to be shipped to Germany for specialist repair and the "loss of use" he endured while the car was out of action.

Mr Hales, 62, of Fen Lane, Conisholme, Lincolnshire, denies any liability to pay and contends that a "mechanical failure" caused the car to slip out of gear.
The court heard Mr Hales drove the Porsche around a track at Cadwell Park, near Louth, Linconshire, in April 2009 so he could write an article for Auto Italia magazine comparing the car with another classic motor from the same era - a Ferrari 512S.

Mr Hales has an extensive track record of racing cars and has won around 150 races during his 30 years' experience of driving as both an amateur and professional.
He paid Mr Piper a "bail fee" of £2,000 to use the 917 and took it around the course several times without incident.

But, as he completed a lap of the track, the engine blew up - causing devastating damage which cost nearly £40,000 to repair.
The iconic car, which was sold by Mr Piper in July last year, was repaired by a Porsche specialist and continues to be driven in classic races.
Mr Piper's lawyers told Judge Simon Brown QC it was agreed that the damage was caused by the over-revving of the engine to 8,200rpm, and that Mr Hales was 'expressly warned' to ensure the revs did not exceed 7,000rpm.

His barrister, Alexander Wright, said: "The central factual dispute is not over the mechanical cause of the damage, but as to why the engine over revved as it did.
"There are two competing theories - the claimant's case is that the defendant, despite the very clear instructions given, failed to engage gear. He missed gear going into third causing the engine to over-rev and leading to damage.

"The defendants say there was an inherent and pre-existing mechanical fault in the gear box so that the gears didn't properly lock and engage and slipped out of gear."
When quizzed by Mr Hales' lawyers about the possibility of a fault with the car's gearbox, Mr Piper denied there was any problem.
He said: "If there was any question of a gearbox problem, I would have asked him to stop and not drive any more."
During his 15 years of motor racing, from 1955 to 1970, Mr Piper's successes included seven wins out of nine in the Nine Hour Endurance Race at Kyalami, South Africa, and he took part in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix.

He also drove cars for the Ferrari, Ford and Porsche factories and owns another Porsche 917 which he has had since 1969.

The 917 was created in response to a rule change in endurance racing and gave the German car firm its first overall wins in the legendary 24-hour Le Mans race in the early 1970s.

Known for its high speeds and enormous power outputs, a 917 was featured in the 1971 Steve McQueen film, Le Mans - during the filming of which Mr Piper suffered an accident that cut short his professional racing career . . .'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...-explodes.html . . .

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[LongRanger]

'. . . David Piper has bankrupted Mark Hales

Remember the Mark Hales case? If not read about it here. Mark has just sent an email out to his supporters, one of whom has sent us a copy. It's enough to make anyone, journalist or otherwise, think first before driving anyone else's car without a contract.

Mark has our 100% support. David Piper is unlikely to be welcome in car aficionado circles ever again . . .


'. . . To everybody who has been kind enough to donate...

Apologies again for this round robin email, and also to those kind people I may have missed last time.

Thank you all so much for your generosity and support in this unpleasant matter. Your contributions allowed me to keep the fight going for a bit longer, and to survive while it was all going on. It’s amazing how these things completely take over your life and working productively is one of the first things that suffers.

I use the past tense in the context of the fight, because on June 11th Piper purchased the last piece of his retribution and succeeded in making me bankrupt.

Piper has now spent nearly £80,000 in his efforts to bankrupt me and has refused all offers to settle. A group headed by the CEO of Nick Mason’s businesses had organised some serious fund raising activities and Nick and others had kindly underwritten a minimum of £50,000. This was on the table, plus whatever surplus came from the fundraising, plus anything remaining in your fund. Piper refused the offer saying he would continue with the bankruptcy proceedings.

I have the interview with the Official Receiver on Tuesday.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again

Mark . . .'


- See more at: http://www.speedmonkey.co.uk/2013/06....fWW0IRFq.dpuf

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[StephenAcworth]

Here is the official court ruling in full: it is an interesting read:

http://www.wilmotslitigation.co.uk/s...-hales_001.pdf

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[Chuck Miller]

Thank you Stephen...

Finally in black and white... at lest what the court found...fascinating read

[moito]

interesting read---now i touch the original david piper 906 jack i have in my shop with even more devotion