THE ICONIC SALE AT RACE RETRO 22nd February 2025

+ buyer’s premium of 12.5% plus VAT (15% incl VAT) 35 This particular car, chassis #DBE-54, was delivered new to British club racer, Peter Crossley, in March 1968 and uniquely for a B8, was fitted with a four-cylinder 2-litre Coventry-Climax, the same type of engine that was used in Formula 2 in the early 1960s. The car first raced at Rufforth on March 13th with Peter finishing second in the Yorkshire Evening Post Trophy race. Two days later, he won a Formula Libre race at Croft and the following month at Oulton Park finished second in the Total GT race. After placing second at Oulton Park in June, Peter then raced the B8 in Europe for the rest of the season, taking in events at Vila Real, Hockenheim, Wunstorf, d’Urcy and at Jyllandsringen for the Danish GP where he finished fourth overall, in what would turn out to be the highlight of his European summer adventure. This was the start of an extensive and successful racing career for DBE-54 which has a well documented, continuous ownership history – this continuity and subsequent originality is almost unheard of for a 1960s Chevron, making DBE-54 one of only a remaining few examples with such provenance. The following 1969 season, Peter Crossley purchased a Brabham BT8, into which he fitted the Chevron’s Coventry-Climax engine, so consequently the engineless B8 sat unused the following year, except for one outing to Magny-Cours at the end of the season with a BMW 2-litre engine. Peter then put the B8 up for sale and it was bought by Theo Kinsbergen of Stichting Racing of Holland. Sponsored and entered by Team Radio Veronica, Theo took a string of podium finishes as well as winning twice at Zandvoort during the season. Borrowed for one race after crashing his own B16, Rein Zwolsman used DBE-54 to good effect to win the airfield race at Welschap. For the last two events of the season at Zandvoort, the car was rented to Henk Bosman who won both races then agreed to buy the car which he raced the following year, winning four races and finishing second in four others. The B8 was then sold to Frans van Dijk. In early 1981, DBE-54 returned to the UK and was initially purchased by well known historic racer, Steven Langton, who sold the car the following year to Richard Parsons before it subsequently became the property of John Upton. In 1984, John commissioned well known restorer, Simon Hadfield, to restore the B8 and then race it afterwards in three historic events at Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Silverstone. In what were his first ever drives in a Chevron, Simon won all three races. DBE-54 was then sold to Tim Greenhill in 1985 who hired rapid former saloon car pedaller, Tim Goss, to drive the car in the HSCC Historic series. Tim demonstrated his versatility with five class wins and won the class championship. Since then, DBE-54 has been sold on several times but has remained active in historic racing in the hands of Richard Parsons, Michael Kuhn, Stephan Schrauwen, Guy Peeters and then with our vendor since 2017, who has also had class wins racing in Masters across Europe and also raced with Peter Auto in 2018 and 2019. Reassuringly, DBE-54 remains in excellent condition throughout and is sold in race-ready condition although it will be necessary for interested parties to establish the currency and suitability of any safety-related equipment (seats, belts, tank, extinguisher etc.) as it was last run just prior to COVID. The 2-litre BMW engine was rebuilt by specialist Lester Owen in 2020 and is ‘box fresh’ with zero hours running time since, plus its suspension and brakes were rebuilt. It comes with a good spares package (multiple wheels sets, spare bodywork, etc. – the latter will be by collection post-sale) and benefits from valid 2017-issued FIA/HTP papers. Also included are extensive racing history files including historic HTPs and period photographs. Interestingly, DBE-54 comes with Belgian road registration documents which is helpful for European events and also make it a great entry for historic road events and rallies around the world. This pedigree Chevron B8 is truly one of the best original examples and is eligible for many historic race events including the Le Mans Classic (where DBE- 54 competed in 2006), Masters WSM, CER, etc. where it will continue to be competitive and a welcome entry. Very rarely does historic racing machinery come with this level of provenance, giving a new owner a real sense of custodianship and a tangible link to decades of successful, safe and enjoyable racing. DBE-54 is a special car and is ready to make more history. This very special Chevron B8 (#DBE-54) possesses an irrefutably correct/original identity supported by continuous ownership and race history, Le Mans Classic provenance, a fresh Lester Owen engine and would be very welcome at any prestigious motorsport event. Registration: N/A Chassis No.: DBE-54 Estimate: £140,000 - £160,000 Specialist: Joseph Watts Telephone No: 07779 082707 Lot 517 1968 Chevron B8 #DBE-54 More Details Lot 517 Bid On Lot 517