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The Chevron B8 was the car that really set Chevron on the map as far as breaking into International racing went.
Derek Bennett was the proprietor of Chevron Cars, located in Bolton, Lancashire and he created many truly wonderful racing cars, specializing in the 2-liter size of classification.
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Bennett’s first breakthrough came with the B8 racing coupe, although this was a development of his B6 that in turn had been a development of the B4 and B5, which Brian Redman had used to win the Group 6 class at Brands Hatch.
Using a tube frame chassis (“spaceframe” as it was known in Europe), the B8 featured the BMW 2-liter engine and a Hewland gearbox. This was all clothed in shapely, light fiberglass. By FIA rules, fifty cars had to be built to qualify the car for Group 4 competition, but Derek Bennett showed the FIA inspectors enough parts to build fifty cars and the B8 was accepted into the class! For American racers, the B8 sprang to attention when it won its class at the Daytona 24 Hours in 1969.
The history of the car we feature today (DBE-29) is as follows:
Raced in Europe (mainly Germany) for many years, sold to England in the nineties, restored. The car raced at Brands Hatch 30/31 May 2010; it was the quickest of all the B8s setting fastest lap in its class. The car did not finish due to gearbox issues. This was the only component not to have been completely rebuilt. It had only been stripped and inspected. It was sent to Hewland agent PDS Racing and was totally rebuilt with largely new internals and a new main case, re-stamped with the original number FT200-413 at a cost of over £8,500.00.
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Site Contents © John Starkey 2011
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