Vintage racing brakes

Hi, BGDevelopments in the UK build the original design Girling 18/4 and 16/4 calipers as originally fit in the race Panteras.

Good luck.

thank you,
I recently got the same information ...

regards
Philippe

They, Simon, just quoted me for the calipers. 550 English pounds, or about $852 each at todays exchange rate. OUCH!

Is this the sort of set up you're looking for?

another

another. I got the other side too. They came from a Maserati Quattroport. Pretty hefty.

The rear calipers are similar, but without the spacer in the caliper so they'll fit the .810" rotors. Same funky little scissor e-brake thingie as I've seen in pictures of the P-car versions.

Next winter I'm going to see how they fit on my car.

I know where there's more.

Are these iron or aluminum? Are they Girling?

What is the bolt mounting spacing to the spindle?

Tell us more about these Maserati calipers please.

Yes I would say that the aluminum spacer is the unique part for the Group 4, 18/4, 16/4 brake calipers.

Problem is Girling went out of business a while ago and someone purchased rights to the parts. These are all million dollar race cars and "continuation" cars that they are being built for now.

The Girling 18/4, and 16/4 aren't exactly earth shattering technology. They were used on the Ford GT40's. the Lola T70 and other GT race cars.

Frankly if I didn't know what they were used on I'd think that the pistons were a little small for the fronts just looking at them, but hey, who am I to argue with success?

There are definitely better calipers made now but the 18/4 & 16/4 are ORIGINAL VINTAGE yestertech for the European GT race car set of the era.

You may also find them fitted to some of the Group 3 Panteras too. The problem with the Gp3's is that Detomaso didn't document them well and they are subject to individual customer preferences.

They're definitely iron. The spacer section is iron too. The assembly shown weighs 68 lbs.

Add a wheel and tire and you're at a 100+ lbs. Yipes. Folks think the stock four piston Girlings are heavy?

No visible manufacturers mark on them. The caliper mounting bolts are 3.5" apart.

The spindles are 8.625" tall out to out.

Thanks for the pictures
I'm waiting for BGDevelopments ...

Those ball joints, spindle and steering arm sure do look very, very familiar.

That's what I thought.

Brand new from BG Developments

Nice. Got more pictures?

Yes, just this one

Amazing the caliper is so big but the pads and pistons are so small. How much does the caliper weigh?

I asked also...very, very pricey for being period correct?

I don't know the weight, nor have I even seen them. The garage that is building the car is about 300Km from here and haven't had the time to check it on site. But I'm pretty sure the calipers are light. The surface of the pads is limited by the FIA file of "back then" and in historic racing, you have to stick to those things. If you put in modern calipers, it's like putting in electronic fuel injection, works better but shouldn't be on that car.

In fact the calipers are virtually the same size as the Porsche 930 or the 917 for that matter.

They seem to be on virually every Euro GT of the era. There has to be a reason.

I hadn't heard of the 917 on the list?

They are on the Gulf version of the GT40s too. The earlier versions used the Cobra race calipers.

The only caliper still a mystery to me is the one on the Mark II GT40, i.e., the 427 cars. They used a different (according to the press) one I haven't seen. Still haven't seen a picture of one either.

Apparently the Gp3 Panteras were using an iron version of these?

Thanks for posting.

Hi,
I got my racing calipers last day,
enjoy the pictures, the project "Pantera gr4", goes a little bit further...
Philippe




Philippe