Barry Nelson with Allan Moffat aboard his Brabham BT16 Lotus-Ford Formula B on the Road America dummy grid on June 17, 1967.
In a very limited campaign, he finished seventh in the Central Division of the SCCA-sanctioned championship.
(BryarRacingMagazine-MBisset-Wordpress)
Moffat’s primary program was running Ford’s Lotus Cortina program. The shot above shows him winning the Bryar Motor Sport Park 250 Trans Am round outright in London-Laconia, New Hampshire, in July 1966.
I’ve already written an epic about Moff’s single-seater racing, but my discovery of AI-enhanced photographs lured me back in this direction, as it meant I could do something with Barry Nelson’s old colour shots which were potentially very good. See here:https://primotipo.com/2020/04/14/allan-moffat-single-seater-racer/
Moffat two-wheeling his Lotus-Cortina at Sandown during the November 1964 6 Hour, he and Jon Leighton were fourth (unattributed)AM racing a works-Bud Moore Mercury Cougar, circuit unknown, 1967 (unattributed)(BNelson-MBisset-Wordpress)
AM ready to rock and roll in the most salubrious of surroundings! In the lane behind Bob Jane Racing, itself behind Jane’s Chrysler/Valiant dealership at 740 Sydney Road, Brunswick, Melbourne, with the ex-Jack Brabham 1968 Tasman Cup Brabham BT23E Repco-Brabham 740 2.5 V8.
Moff was entered in round three of the Australian Drivers Championship, the Gold Star, at Sandown on September 15, 1968, but things quickly turned to custard in practice when the just rebuilt car – from John Harvey’s Easter Bathurst accident caused by component failure – lost a wheel and did enough damage to end the weekend.
(B Nelson)(BNelson-MBisset-CoPilot)
Same time, same place, same car, but this time with John Sawyer, Jane’s team manager and chief mechanic. And a VE Valiant. In both enhanced shots, the car comes up well, but the facial features are much harder for the tool when the original is lacking…
(BNelson-MBisset-Wordpress)
Jack Brabham, below, earlier in 1968 racing the same chassis, BT23E, but fitted with the first 830 Repco-Brabham V8 during the February 25 Australian Grand Prix. DNF engine after 21 of the 55 laps; Jim Clark won the race – his last GP win – in a works Lotus 49 Ford Cosworth DFW.
(RBartholamaeusColl-MBisset-Wordpress)
Moffat exits Honda, maybe, in Bob Jane’s Elfin 400 Repco-Brabham 720 4.4 V8 at Phillip Island in November 1968. It’s a little-known event, and was probably a case of Bob throwing Moffat a bone.
He’d helped Sawyer and Jane buy the Shelby Mustang, and the deal supposedly was that AM would drive the old Mustang and Bob the newie. But Bob had racing drivers up to his armpits by that stage: there was Bob himself, Harvey recovering from his huge Bathurst prang, Ian Cook racing the Brabham and Elfin, and Bevan Gibson – arguably the most promising of the lot – sniffing around too.
(Rob Bartholomaeus Coll)
‘Take the Elfin down to the Island for a race or two and have a good time at the Isle of Wight.’ Before too long, Jane and Moffat had a parting of the ways, then Moffat pulled off the KarKraft Trans Am Mustang deal, and the rest is history…
How’d he go in the Elfin at the Island, folks? Rob Bartholomaeus sent me this magazine shot a decade ago. It’s a shit shot out of the December 1968 PIARC Notes magazine, but it’s amazing how well it came up with a tickle on WordPress. I even colourised it, something I’ve said to all and sundry I’d never do, but being the President of the Australian Society of Hypocrites, I just had to have a go. A brilliant job, too. And yes, the number could be 7. Apart from anything else, I’m intrigued to see how long it takes the colour shot to ‘do the social media rounds.’
(RBartholomaeusColl-MBisset-WordPress)Engine and cockpit of the Jane 400 – ratio change in progress – probably taken during the January 26, 1969 Phillip Island meeting when the car was driven by Bevan Gibson (N Chambers)(AutoAction-MBisset-WordPress)
Moffat hadn’t finished with single-seaters just yet.
Elfin ran a Calder test day for mainly BP-contracted drivers to have a lash in the brand new Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden F5000 car at Calder on Monday, September 13, 1971.
John McCormack finished second in the Sandown Gold Star round the day before in #5711, Kevin Bartlett won it in his McLaren M10B Chev. The steerers that day included Moffat, Henk Woelders, Garry Rush, John Harvey and David McKay, wearing his journo hat.
Moff did an undisclosed number of laps, and with too tall Sandown gearing, worn tyres and fullish tanks, did a best of 44 seconds neat.
There were rumours once or twice about a Tasman F5000 drive, but, sadly, that never happened.
(AutoAction-MBisset-WordPress)
Credits…
Barry Nelson, Rob Bartholomaeus, Neville Chambers, Auto Action
Tailpiece…
Things Go Better With…
Moffat with the Sandown hardware after winning the 1970 Sandown Three Hour aboard a works Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 2. Who is the bloke in the background?
I found this intriguing photograph taken by Martin Pfundner during the Budapest Nagy Dij Formula Junior event at Ferihegy Airport in Budapest, Hungary, on May 6, 1962.
Curt Lincoln won the event, which comprised two heats and a 22-lap final on the 3.3km track, a total of 74 km, driving a Cooper BMC. Kurt Ahrens was second in a Lotus 22 Ford, and Jacques Cales third in a Stanguellini Fiat.
#7 is a Fiat-based Formula Junior; John Fox wrote is ‘almost certainly Bertalan Mezei’s special or eigenbau (self-made). #7 is a Wartburg-engined sports racer. Car #5 is a Melkus-Wartburg FJ driven by its constructor, Heinz Melkus, an East German. Melkus was fifth.
As always with these things, there is usually a surprise or two for me at least; it turns out that Heinz Melkus had a rich history of building sports cars and single-seaters behind the Iron Curtain until he died in 2005. https://www.melkus-motorsport.de/melkus-motorsport-start.html
Anjakub wrote in The Nostalgia Form in September 2005 that ‘Heinz Melkus (20 April 20, 1928-September 5, 2005) born in Dresden) designed and produced a range of single-seat racing cars and road-going sports cars between 1959 and 1986. The cars were produced in Dresden in East Germany. The cars particularly used Wartburg engines.’
‘Melkus racing cars competed in Formula Junior, Formula 3, Formula Easter and sports car races. In 1968, Heinz developed the famous RS 1000 road-going sports car featuring a mid-mounted tuned version of the Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Most cars used the 992cc version of this engine, but a few of the later cars were built using a special 1200cc version.’
‘Son Ulrich Melkus was the most successful GDR driver, but he had a deadly accident in 1990 after tyre damage on a public road. His younger son, Peter, also participated in auto races. Ulrich’s sons Ronny and Sepp still drive in races today. Heinz Melkus and his family now run a BMW dealership in Dresden called Autohaus Melkus.’
David McKinney, ‘It could be added that in the bad old days when East European drivers had to do all their racing on their side of the Iron Curtain, Melkus was consistently the most successful East German driver, winning many 1960s races not only on his home ground, but in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Latvia and Russia as well. On more than one occasion he was the most successful driver in the inter-nation Friendship of Socialist Countries Cup.’
‘His FJ and later F3 Melkus-Wartburg cars, of which scores must surely have been built, were equally successful in the hands of many other drivers from the other side of the Iron Curtain throughout this period and beyond.’
Credits…
Martin Pfundner, F2 Register, Anjakub, David McKinney
‘A new £12,000 British sports racing car, planned for international events, is due to make its debut at Goodwood on Monday, after weeks of secret tests,’ proclaimed Tim Parnell’s press release about his new Parnell BRM sports racer in April 1966.
Bob King thinks the track may be Donington, whereas David Fox, considers the Darley Moor race track in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, likely. It opened in 1965 for motor cycles, on a former RAF base. ‘It was just down the road from Parnell’s s Derby base. Basic, but an ideal place for “secret testing” unlike Silverstone, Brands, etc.’ David adds, ‘Tim’s wearing a Kangol crash helmet; I used to have one of the hideous things for my ‘bike before you could buy Bell helmets in the UK.’
‘Designers of the aluminium prototype are Mr Tim Parnell, son of racing driver the late Reg Parnell, and Mr Les Redmond.’
‘Mr Parnell (34), a Derbyshire farmer, said: ‘The car is the first British sports car racer to be designed for several years and up to now all tests have been successful. It could have tremendous potential if it performs well in its early races. There are a large number of enthusiasts who would be interested in this type of car.’
Silicanza wrote on The Nostalgia Forum in August 2009 that, ‘After Reg Parnell’s death and the subsequent mothballing of the almost completed Les Redmond-designed and built Climax-engined Parnell RP64 F1 car, Reg’s son, Tim, instead acquired three Lotus 25s for 1964.
‘Redmond, designer and builder of Moorland cars, Gemini FJ and various other designs, was then commissioned to design and build the aluminium-bodied sports racing car, the Parnell BRM. Redmond had worked with Reg at Aston Martin in the competition department when Parnell was the Race Manager.’
‘The Parnell BRM with a rear-mounted 2-litre normally aspirated BRM enjoyed success in 1966, in the hands of Mike Spence. Spence drove it to victory at Goodwood in the (April 11) Lavant Cup. Then, Spence won the Anerley Trophy at Crystal Palace and finished second at Silverstone in July. Tony Maggs also drove the car at some point.’
(Unattributed) Tim and Reg Parnell with Tim’s F2 Cooper T45 Climax in the family workshop on August 21, 1958The Parnell BRM at Tim’s Findern, Darby workshop, Les Redmond wields the pipe! At lefts is one of Tim’s Lotus 25s, note the P-B rear body leaning against the wall (T Wilson)
Tony Wilson picks up the story. ‘Back to the Parnell-BRM sports car, I worked on this car for a few months in 1966 as a 23-year-old junior mechanic to engineer Roy Christmas.’
‘We took the car from a rolling chassis to a racer in time for the Goodwood 1966 Easter Monday meeting, where Mike Spence won in its first outing. Not an easy victory; Mike was in a battle with Mike Beckwith (Willment-BRM), Tony Dean (Willment Brabham BT8-Climax) and Mac Daghorn (Felday-BRM), and was off the circuit once! I am reading from the results sheet, which includes race positions every lap. The Parnell ran under race number 143.’
David Fox adds, ‘In the race for Sports up to 2-litre (no big bangers any more for Goodwood), Spence stalled at the start, but hurtled through to be the last winner of a major international race at Goodwood before it closed.’
Wilson, ‘A win at Crystal Palace (pit shot below), then a second and a fuel-pressure retirement at Silverstone, before the project was shelved and I was out on my ear! I have photos of the car in the early stages of the build.’
(Unattributed)
Mike Spence at Crystal Palace during the Anerley Trophy meeting on May 30, 1966. The car/driver combination won the 20-lap race from Peter Gethin’s Crossle BMW and Tommy Weber, Lotus BRM.
(Derby Evening Standard)
Tony Wilson, engineer, Roy Christmas and Tim Parnell admire their just-completed Parnell BRM. It is a very handsome car!
Last word to David Fox, ‘Further trivia? Tim Parnell was a staunch supporter of the Derby County football team, usually in the English Second Division. Wherever Tim and his team were in the world, he always wanted to know the Saturday football results!’
Credits…
Silicanza and Tony Wilson on The Nostalgia Forum, Derby Evening Standard, David Fox
Leo Geoghegan lookin’ not all that joyful in his ex-Clark Lotus 39 Climax on the Symmons Plains Gold Star grid, 13 November 1966. That’s Kevin Bartlett’s Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT11A Climax alongside…
Geoghegan is swearing, in his mind at least, about the shitful Coventry Climax 2.5 FPF motor he bought from Team Lotus when he acquired Jim Clark’s 1966 Tasman Series weapon of war at the end of that summer. There was nuffin’ wrong with the chassis, but the tired ‘ole engine gave Australia’s Lotus concessionaire all manner of problems.
So he may well be dreaming of a Repco-Brabham V8, not that said acquisition proved drama free either into 1967 and beyond!
Look at the crowd, all well rugged up despite it being mid-November; all eyes are on the Cusack Lotus (perhaps it is he off to the left). I wonder what they’re doing to that car to arouse so much interest. Maybe it’s just a pretty lady standing beside the car; a few things fixate a group of males of all ages as much as a fine specimen of that particular species…
Leo’s Lotus is in Total colours: red and blue stripes on white, sensational too! The Total name could not appear on the car, of course, but I imagine the colour cues to the punters were pretty strong in the day.
That year of Australian elite-level single-seater racing is an interesting one as it represented a changing of the guard, which in the main shaped the grids to come for the next half decade or so.
Bib Stillwell, who raced for a looong time from just after the war, and peaked late in his career, retired at the end of 1965, having won four Gold Stars on the trot and proved on his day, with all of the planets aligned, that he was as good as all but the absolute cream of the international crop.
Spencer Martin won the Gold Star in 1966 with three wins in six rounds- he brought to the table twelve months and a bit of racing the challenging 2.5’s, having jumped aboard David McKay’s Brabham BT11A after Graham Hill vacated it when he returned to Europe at the end of the 1965 Tasman, having won the NZ GP at Pukekohe in the same chassis. Click here: https://primotipo.com/2015/04/30/spencer-martin-australian-gold-star-champion-19667
Spencer Martin, in the ex-SV, then Bob Jane Racing-owned Brabham BT11A Climax, on the Symmons pole. Car still owned by the Jane Family- or, more specifically, his Deceased Estate (R Dalwood)Bob Jane, Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford 1.5 t/c (R Dalwood)
Bob Jane bought the car in 1966 when McKay and Martin had a meltdown in their relationship. They patched up later in their lives, but things were a bit frosty at the time. Jane and McKay were both sponsored by Shell, so it was all kept in the family, but I suspect Jano paid full-tote-odds for the BT11A rather than nick-it the way he preferred to buy stuff…
Kevin Bartlett had done his time, having come into racing circa 1958 and been in Alec Mildren’s care for a year or so. He had been getting some big car experience in Alec’s Mildren Maserati 2.9 sports-racer and showed great speed in his Brabham BT2 Ford t/c 1.5 in the 1966 Australian Tasman rounds, including fifth in the AGP at fast Lakeside.
That KB chucked the BT11A about with the gay abandon he demonstrated in smaller cars surprised no one. The pointy end of the grid was usually these two similarly mounted Sydneysiders- that is, Bartlett and Martin, who were and still are good mates. Click here for Martin and Bartlett and BT11A speed: https://primotipo.com/2018/04/27/kbs-first-bathurst-100mph-lap/
Greg Cusack raced under the Scuderia Veloce umbrella with his Elfins and Brabham 1.5 but struck out on his own in 1966 with Clark’s 1965 Tasman car- a Lotus 32B Climax which had been acquired by Kiwi Jim Palmer after the Tasman and raced by him in New Zealand in 1965, and sold to Cusack after the 1966 Tasman in which Palmer showed plenty of speed.
Greg wasn’t entirely happy with the car, converting the front suspension from inboard rocker to conventional outboard wishbones and picked up the win at Symmons when poleman Martin retired with clutch problems, Bartlett’s Hewland played up, and Leo’s FPF issues did not even allow him to take the grid, hence the shitty look in photo #1!
Greg Cusack in the ex-Clark/Jim Palmer Lotus 32B Climax, Symmons 1966 (R Dalwood)Scratchy but still good in colour- from this side, Greg Cusack, Lotus 32B Climax and the two BT11A ‘twins’ Bartlett in Mildren Yellow and Martin in Bob Jane Racing Red on pole (E French)Ditto above- the nose is John Harvey’s RRC Phillips owned Brabham BT14 Ford t/c(oldracephotos.com/DKeep)
John Harvey was a speedway star before deciding longevity was a bit more likely if he switched to the circuits. After showing speed in Ron Phillip’s Cooper S, he graduated to the ex-Stillwell Brabham BT14 Ford t/c ANF1.5- he made his debut in the car at the Hordern Trophy Gold Star round at Warwick Farm in December 1965 and showed lots of speed and consistency in it during 1966, fettled as it was by Peter Molloy, who very sadly left us several weeks back.
John raced this car with a twin-cam which progressively grew in size until Molloy squeezed an RBE640 2.5 V8 into its spaceframe chassis in time for the opening Gold Star meeting at Lakeside in June 1967- and then became very much an outright contender. By the time they had the package sorted, winning a feature at Oran Park, Bob Jane popped Harves into the Brabham BT11A seat vacated by Spencer Martin at the end of the 1967 Gold Star- he retired prematurely in the minds of many, but in one piece, at his peak.
Jane was in a very good place to observe the talent sharing the grids as he was and being passed every now and again by the 2.5’s in his ANF1.5 Elfin Mono Mk1…
Let’s not forget John McCormack either.
He raced the ex-Jack Brabham BT4 Climax to third place this weekend, albeit three laps adrift of the leading pair of Cusack and Harvey. This car was raced by thrice World Champ Brabham in the 1962 Caversham AGP and our Internationals that summer. It would be a year or three before Mac chased his dream nationally, moved to Adelaide and acquired an Elfin 600C, initially fitted with the FPF out of the Brabham, with his intent really shown when he and the Elfin boys fitted an RBE740 2.5 into that car in the dying days of ANF2.5 in 1970. Success in F5000 followed, of course.
Garrie Cooper didn’t travel across Bass Strait, but he contested four of the Gold Star rounds in his ‘works’ Elfin Mono- he too was stepping up a gear with the luxury of his own car in addition to looking after the needs of his customers.
Let’s not lose my original premise, though- 1966 and the ’emergence at elite level’ of Geoghegan, Martin, Bartlett, Cusack and Harvey shaped our Gold Star races for the next few years to come, with only KB and McCormack racing single-seaters a decade hence.
(R Dalwood)(R Dalwood)
The two photos above are just before the off and a few seconds after the drop of the flag.
In the lower of the two, Cusack on the left has gotten the jump on Martin on the right. Bartlett hasn’t left the line; look carefully, and you can see him mid-grid, arm in the air, praying nobody gives him a hit up the arse, so to speak. KB has Lynn Archer, Elfin Catalina Ford, at left and Stan Keen (I think), Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford, at right. The two cars in between are Harvey’s BT14 on the left and McCormack’s BT4 on the right.
Cusack won from Harvey, McCormack, McEwin’s Elfin Mono Mk1 Ford t/c, Glynn Scott’s Lotus 27 Ford t/c and Archer’s Elfin Ford 1.5 pushrod.
Etcetera…
(R Dalwood)
Symmons 1966 raceday scene.
The track is still in use, having opened on 13 March 1960 using a leased paddock on the Youl family’s Symmons Plains grazing property. The track is 2.41km long and located 30km south of Launceston, the ‘capital’ of Northern Tasmania.
I’m buggered if I know who this is, but I’ve arrived at Mike Champion’s ex-Dave Walker/Frank Gardner/Kevin Bartlett (how’s that for a pedigree?) Brabham BT2 Ford by a process of elimination.
Using good old racingcars.com as my reference source, it ISN’T Bob Jane, Mel McEwin or Stan Keen’s Elfin Monos; Glynn Scott or Les Howard’s Lotus 27s; or Lynn Archer’s Elfin Catalina Ford. Therefore, it is Mike Champion. Is it, though?
There’s More…
Shortly after I uploaded this article, Ray Bell, author/historian and race reporter in the day for Racing Car News and other publications, sent me this email, many thanks, Ray.
Hi Mark,
Your 'Times They Are A-Changin' was indeed how it felt at the time. All of a sudden the relatively new Spencer was up against Leo, Greg and KB. Spencer had been in the 2.5s since 1964, however, having had the joy of driving the BT4 for one season. Another young newcomer in a 2.5 was John McDonald.
Leo's problems are hard to quantify. I tried to talk to Sheppo about some of this, one meeting at the Farm a head stud broke, which he explained was because he'd had them plated. Hydrogen embrittlement was the cause of it breaking, he said that if he'd known he could have avoided it by putting them in the oven. So were the problems partially lack of experience with that engine? Shouldn't have been, but maybe Sheppo applying his perfection to things hit in other ways too.
The conversion of the 32B to Brabham suspension was done in pursuit of the ideal that Greg was used to the chuckability of the little Brabham. Both front and rear suspensions got the changes. See the pic (below). If you go through the RCN reports that year you'll see that Bruce Burr's contribution was pure amateur hour stuff. He told me at Longford that he'd been watching the cars coming down the straight to Mountford and saw that the Lotuses were doing the best job of holding a straight line and so he used Greg's money to buy the Palmer car - yet three months later (or less?) he was pitching the original suspension out.
For KB it was a slow start to the year. The car failed in practice at Bathurst and then didn't appear at the May Warwick Farm, so his first race was Lakeside. Then at Surfers he was showing JB and Jackie Stewart the way around. McDonald, meanwhile, was floundering. But a late start to Leo's and Greg's season wasn't helpful for the competition either.
The other thing about Symmons was that there was heavy rain for the last nine laps of the race, Harvey made good progress in those conditions but Greg still won. And it was Champion, who had a pit stop with engine trouble a few laps before pitting again for good. Funny thing, I don't remember him ever having those stripes around the front, the most memorable thing about that car being a very high exhaust pipe.
Ray
Bruce Burr aboard the ex-Clark/Palmer Greg Cusack Lotus 32B Climax, now with outboard front suspension rather than the factory-delivered rocker set-up used so effectively by others…(R Bell)
Credits…
oldracingcars.com, Reg Dalwood Collection, oldracephotos.com/DKeep, Ray Bell
Jack Brabham, Brabham BT17 Repco, leads John Coundley’s McLaren-Elva Mk 1 Olds and winner Denny Hulme’s Lola T70 Mk2 Chev during the 1966 Tourist Trophy weekend at Oulton Park on April 29, 1966.
It was the race debut of the big-banger 4.3-litre Repco-Brabham 620 V8-powered BT17, a car that only did two races in period before a later lash as a hillclimber: the TT and the Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch on August 29. At Oulton it retired with oil leaks after only two laps, and at Brands engine problems prevented it from starting the race. There is a little more about BT17 in here:https://primotipo.com/2019/02/22/rbe-by-the-numbers/
Given its sedentary life of two meetings, in only one of which it started, and then in the corner of MRD, finding photographs for an upcoming Brabham book is problematic. I was having a whinge to ‘me mate, fellow enthusiast/historian Stephen Dalton, who mentioned the image on eBay below.
Even after a tickle with WordPress, it won’t make the cut, but his idea got me looking at the eBay archive/website; problem solved! The one above will do nicely.
Then yer go looking of course, this article is the first in what will become a regular series. Some of the images are good to go, others need sharpening to use. The captions make clear when I’ve given them a tickle. Sadly, more often than not, the vendors selling the shots don’t disclose the photographer. I’ve disclosed them when I can; otherwise, I’ve listed eBay as the source.
(eBay-MBisset-WordPress)
(eBay)
(Miroir Sprint)
Hmm, WTF I thought? Clearly a 1971 spec 917K, close look, Derek Bell behind the wheel, not the usual Gulf signage package. Miroir Sprint image, so quite possibly a shot in France.
And so it turns out. Derek drove the #18 Gulf 917K #016 at the Le Mans Test Day on April 18, 1971, together with teammates Jo Siffert and Jackie Oliver. David Fox believes it’s the Ford Chicane.
I love Jean-Pierre Froidevaux’ shot of the 2-litre Honda V6 nestled in the back of one of the two works Honda RH6/81s that contested the Hockenheim European F2 Championship round on April 5, 1981.
Mike Thackwell was third, and Geoff Lees fifth in the Deutschland Trophy, a race won by Stefan Johannsson’s Lola T850 Hart 420R. Lees won the championship. More about the Ralt RH6 Hondas here:https://primotipo.com/2023/12/09/ralt-rh6-81-honda-v6/
(eBay-MBisset-WordPress)
Somehow, this poor-quality image of Jim Clark blasting through the Hockenheimer Hardt forest at Hockenheim on that day in 1968 is all the more poignant for it. Works Lotus 48 Ford FVA during the Deutschland Trophy, Euro F2 round on April 7.
Most Australians of a certain age think of the 1978 Sandown Fangio Meeting when you mention Jack Brabham and the Mercedes-Benz W196 in the same breath. Our Jack ‘diced’ in BT19 Repco with JMF in a W196S 3-litre-engined W196R on a day those who were there will never forget. More about that meeting here:https://primotipo.com/2018/08/21/juan-manuel-fangios-sandown-park/
So, what’s the story here? Does anyone know where and when this drive/demo took place? Perhaps the Mercedes test track at Unterkheim, David Fox suggests.
(C Williams)
Graeme Lawrence’s Ferrari Dino 246T leads the mob into Shell Corner – the first corner on the first lap – of the February 22, 1970 Sandown Park Cup, the deciding final round of the seven that comprised the 1970 Tasman Cup.
It was a season of change; F5000 was the future, but the traditional 2.5-litre cars were eligible, and indeed, Graeme won the series with a summer of consistent, reliable pace in the same chassis #246T/69-0008 that carried Chris Amon to victory a year before. The McLaren M10s of Graham McRae, Frank Matich and Niel Allen were faster but were brittle, so Lawrence’s single win triumphed over the GM and FM’s two, and Niel Allen’s one.
The order is Lawrence, I think the front row, poleman Matich and Allen M10A and M10B Chev, respectively, have gone; #3 is John Harvey, Brabham BT23E Repco 830 2.5, #5 is Kevin Bartlett’s Mildren Yellow Sub Waggott TC-4V 2-litre. Tucked up GL’s clacker is Mike Goth’s Surtees TS5 Chev and behind him is his countryman, Ron Grable, in the stars n’ stripes rear-winged M10A Chev.
Niel Allen won a 100-mile race of attrition – six of the eight F5000s that started retired – from Lawrence with third-place man, party-boy, Ulf Norinder, Lola T190 Chev, third but two laps adrift of the front pair. Lawrence won the Tasman in his 2.4; FM was second in his F5000 with the 2-litre Mildren twins – Bartlett and Max Stewart equal third, not a bad distribution of the spoils in a Tasman where the F1 drivers were sorely missed…
Oscar ‘Cacho’ Fangio aboard his Brabham BT15 Ford during the June 26, 1966, Monza Lottery F3 meeting.
Fangio raced his Chas Lucas BT15 Ford to 13th, one place behind Frank Williams’ BT18 Ford. Up front, soon-to-be Ferrari driver Jonathan Williams won in a De Sanctis Ford. See more about Cacho and Tonino Ascari here:https://primotipo.com/2019/08/27/tonino-ascari/
Another French mystery shot…If I knew that Simca had built a 2-litre F2 engine, I’d certainly forgotten! The vendor dated the fantastic shot to 1975, and I can see the Chevron insignia on the steering wheel, so that was enough hints to start with.
Quick search of Allen Brown’s oldracingcars.com race results suggests a Chevron B29, as to which chassis and race meeting, your guess is as good as mine…The shot of Xavier Lapeyre’s Chevron B29 #29-75-10 Chrysler-Simca-ROC at Hockenheim on the June 8 weekend (DNQ) below is there only to show you a B29 Simca; I’m not suggesting the engine shot is this chassis.
The 270-290bhp, DOHC, four-valve, Kugelfischer fuel-injected 1993c (92x75mm bore/stroke) engine was developed by Racing Organisation Course (ROC) from the production Simca-Chrysler 2-litre cast iron block used in the Chrysler/Simca range.
(LAT)
In 1975, the dominant BMWs: M12/6 and Schnitzer 20-4 were good for a reliable 290-300bhp. I’m not sure what a good BDA or BDG gave then, but they were towards the front with good steerers. Lapeyre’s eighth at Mugello and 11th at Hockenheim were the best results for the engine in 1975; Jean-Pierre Beltoise qualified his B29 ROC in the Top 10 thrice, but one of those was a non-championship round.
Note that the Chrysler-Simcas were effective in endurance racing, for example, winning the 2-litre class at Le Mans in the back of Chevron B36s in 1977, 1978 and 1980, a story for another time.
‘Racing Organization of Races – ROC’ is the way the French Government describes (annuaire-enterprises.data.gouv.fr) the ‘public limited company (SA) with a board of directors.’ That entity, founded on January 1, 1973, appears inactive from 1999.
Fred Stalder’s (not Stadler, according to Official 24 Hours Le Mans Archives and other sources) business was founded on January 1, 1973 and was based at ZI Les Buchillions 74100Annemasse (Haute Savoie). Doubtless, he used other entities for his subsequent varied career as a builder/preparer/entrant of touring and endurance cars; Google away yourselves, my French, other than when inebriated, isn’t too flash.
(DPPI)
Well rugged up John Cooper watches as Roy Salvadori settles himself into the cockpit of Derrick White’s new Cooper T81 Maserati V12 for its first, or thereabouts, test at Silverstone in March 1966. Date folks?
He’d driven a Cooper T51 Maserati or two, but this beast – Cooper’s first for the new 3-litre Formula – was an entirely different beast. The wily, quick, entrepreneurial Salvadori’s role in the Maserati-Cooper deal is well-told by Allen Brown here:https://www.oldracingcars.com/cooper/t81/
The business end of John Surtees’ Cooper T81 Maserati during the July 16, 1966 British Grand Prix weekend. Q6 and DNF: rear axle failure; Brabham won in BT19 Repco 620.
Tipo 9 Maserati 60-degree, DOHC, two-valve V12. 2989cc – 70.4/64mm bore/stroke – two 10mm plugs per cylinder, Lucas port fuel injection, Lucas transistor ignition, c-360bhp @ 9500rpm. ZF five-speed transaxle.
(G Molter)
You can get the build-season sense of urgency in this Motor Racing Developments shot taken by Gunther Molter in 1964, 1965 or 1966. The question, for you Brabham historians, is whether the Cosworth SCA-powered 1-litre F2 cars in build are 1964 BT10s, 1965 BT16s…or 1966 BT18s.
The answer is important as I’d rather like to use the image in our upcoming Brabham book, and it would be nice to put it in the correct chapter!
(eBay)
Chris Amon contests the LA Times GP Can-Am round at Riverside on October 30, 1966, DNF dead battery from grid seven after 50 of the 62 laps, winner, John Surtees, Lola T70 Mk2 Chev; and subsequent Can-Am Cup victor.
Amon’s bests were third at St Jovite, second at Bridghampton. The other three DNFs were from the front couple of rows…the youngster was pretty handy in these big cars!
Francois and Jack were tenth in the race won by JW Engineering Porsche 917K driven by Pedro Rodriguez/Leo Kinnunen/Brian Redman. The best-placed 3-litre machine was the ex-works NART Ferrari 312P raced by Sam Posey/Mike Parkes, fourth. More here:https://primotipo.com/2024/07/31/jo-siffert-daytona-24-hours-1970/
(eBay)
Gordon Cooper and Jim Rathman with their Gerhardt 66 Ford during the Indy Month of May in 1967. Watch this space over the next couple of days…
(eBay-MBisset-WordPress)
1978 World Rally Champion, Bjorn Waldegard, was one of the most successful and revered Safari Rally competitors, having won the event five times: 1977 Ford Escort RS1800, 1984 Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo on both occasions navigated by Hans Thorszelius, and in 1986, Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo and in 1990 aboard a Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165, on the latter two occasions, navigated by Fred Gallagher. In the modern era, he won the East African Safari Rally Classis aboard a Porsche 911 together with his son Mathias in 2011.
However…in 1980 he was tenth in the Mercedes 450SLC above. Shekhar Mehta won in a Datsun 160J, Rauno Aaltonen was second in another 160J, and Vid Preston was third in the first home 450 SLC.
(eBay)
Sticking with the Formula 2 thread we seem to have going with this article, shown are shots of the victorious 1-litre Brabham BT18 Honda, which was as dominant in the ‘1966 European F2 Championship’ – there wasn’t one – as the Brabham BT19 Repco was lucky in the 1966 World F1 Championships. I have Ferrari and John Surtees shooting themselves in the feet in mind in saying that.
I love this Pau F3 GP shot taken during the April 17, 1966 weekend. Roby Weber’s Alpine A270 Renault is en route to third place in the 30-lap, 83km race won by Piers Courage, Lotus 41 Ford-Cosworth, from the similarly powered Brabham BT18 raced by Chris Williams.
Weber was second in both the French F3 Championship and the Challenger Craven A-France; Johnny Servoz-Gavin, Matra MS5 Ford-Cosworth, won the former and Courage the latter. There’s more about Alpine here:https://primotipo.com/2022/12/18/jean-pierre-jabouille/
Credits…
eBay, Miroir Sprint, Gunther Molter, Jean Pierre Froidevaux, F Prysen, Publifoto, Allen Brown and oldracingcars.com, David Fox
Garrie Cooper aboard Australian Racing Royalty, the ultimate Elfin 600, the car he built for himself to contest the 1970 Australian Gold Star Championship, Elfin 600D chassis #7012 powered by a 295bhp 2.5-litre Repco 830 SOHC, two valve V8
He’s in the shadows of the Wanneroo Park control tower during the May 3, 1970 Lex Davison Memorial meeting, the feature race of which was the 35-lap West Australian Road Racing Championship.
(SLWA-MBisset-WordPress)
The two raiding invaders were Elfin 600 mounted South Australians, the boss himself, Garrie Cooper, and long-time Elfin customer, the fast-rising John Walker in #6907, the first of his two 600Bs, #7018 being the other. Walker was the reigning WA Champion but had little chance of defending his title against the far quicker 2.5-litre car.
Racing Car News’ Mike Cuss wrote, ‘Both cars were magnificently prepared, and if evaluated point by point would leave many European cars we see here a long way back in second place. Detail design and standard of finish of the Elfin 600 series must be the best bar none.’
(CMunday-MBisset-WordPress)
The flag drops with Cooper on pole, Walker and Craig McAllister in the yellow Macon Ford on this side on the front row, then George Cole, Befa-Ford and Bob Ilich’s on row two
(C Munday)
Team Ilich with their heads chopped off, unfortunately; Brabham BT21B Cosworth SCB, chassis #16. Bob Ilich was a Brabham Racing Organisation mechanic during the 1964-67 glory years and returned to WA with this car, which he raced very successfully for many years. The west had a very strong local 1.5-1.6-litre scene; for most of the 1960s and 1970s, they didn’t have Gold Star rounds due to the tyranny of distance from the east coast. More about Bob here:https://primotipo.com/2026/03/28/australian-racing-random-24/
Ilich fettling his Cosworth SCB 1498cc SOHC, two-valve, twin Weber 40 DCM2 downdraught-fed engine, the 1.5-litre variant of Cosworth’s successful 1-litre F2 engine. Ford 116E block, Heron or bowl-in-crown combustion chamber, Laystall steel crank etc. The literature sez 175bhp, but that sounds like a hand-on-willy number to me? (C Munday)(SLWA)
Cooper led the race comfortably from Walker (above), the pair lapping comfortably in the 61-second bracket, about 3 seconds quicker than the locals. Cooper, Walker, McAllister and Ilich were out front, way ahead of George Cole, Befa-Ford and Bernie Zampatti’s, Zalfa, an Alfa Romeo-powered spaceframe chassis machine.
GC copped a bit of excitement on lap 2 when the right-rear of Ken Gardiner’s GR3 zipped across the ‘main-straightaway’ in front of him, ‘Shades of Barnes Wallis and his dam-busting bouncing bombs!’ as Mike Cuss wrote.
By lap 11 of 35, Cooper was lapping the tail-enders for the second time, ‘leaving a string of slower cars between him and second-placed man John Walker, who was easing the Elfin along with overheating problems.’ McAllister spun and let Ilich through into third place and that’s the way they finished: Cooper, Walker 34 laps, Ilich 33, McAllister 31 and Colin Ekert, Elfin, 29 laps.
Bernie Zampatti’s Elfin Mono-esque in appearance Zalfa, an Alfa Romeo-powered single-seater (C Munday)(C Munday-MBisset-WordPress)Gilbert Motor Bodies was the Walker family’s Adelaide auto body business. Rear wing was mounted unfashionably forward (CMunday-MBisset-WordPress)
John Walker, note the period-correct Marlboro in his gob, did well in his 600Bs, winning the Victorian Joseph Lucas/Stillwell-Davison Trophy in #6907, and finishing second behind Max Stewart’s Mildren Waggott in the one-race, 40-lap, 67-mile 1970 Australian F2 Championship at Lakeside in September aboard his new #7018.
He raced that car on into 1971, finishing fourth in the 1971 F2 championship won by Larry Perkins’ Gary Campbell-owned Elfin 600B/E, then refocused on the Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden F5000 car from late 1971. #5714 was delivered in February 1972. JW had been racing twin-cam Elfins – Mono Mk2 and two 600Bs from late 1966 – so the step up was timely and just the ticket for the new class.
(SLWA-MBisset-WordPress)Garrie Cooper gets the goodies, Bob Ilich behind (SLWA-MBisset-SLWA)
Noting that I am a hopelessly biased Elfin fan, I think the gist of the following piece I wrote a while back about the 1970 Australian Gold Star Championship was, in part, that Cooper’s – designed and built by him and his team – 600D Repco 830 V8 was the COTY (car of the year), albeit one that was under-developed and a tad unreliable, see here: https://primotipo.com/2019/07/05/oran-park-diamond-trophy-gold-star-1970/
Elfin 600 front uprights, please discuss! Alford & Alder (Triumph Herald etc) forgings on the 600, 600B and 600 Formula Ford, cast magnesium on the 600E and fabricated steel on 600C and 600D, as above…
The 600D has always been on my list of favourite Australian Racing Cars along with a Matich A53 Repco-Holden, Bowin P8 Hart-Ford 416B, Elfin 360 Repco 830 2.5, Birrana 374 Ford and the Mawer 004 Formula Ford. Hmm, if I can only have one, it’s the 600D, lucky Frank Arronis, the car’s current custodian.
Etcetera…
(SLWA-MBisset-WordPress)
Walker and Cooper on the Wanneroo dummy grid, I’ve never been to the place, it’s time to go.
(SLWA-MBisset-WordPress)
Howie Sangster took a couple of wins in his Pinocchio (Nightclub) Racing Team Lola T70 Mk2 Chev. #SL71/38 the ex-Jack Epstein machine raced by Paul Hawkins, was gussied up with some McLaren components by this stage and was dubbed the McLaren LT70 or McLola, depending upon your religion.
Howie was a busy boy that weekend, also taking victory in a scratch race for Minis in Jim Mullins’ Cooper S; who are driving the first two cars in the panorama below, folks?
(SLWA-MBisset-WordPress)Bob Ilich (SLWA)Team Ilich and Brabham BT21B Cosworth SCB. I’ll get in touch with Bob, third from the right, to put names to the faces (SLWA-MBisset-WordPress)
Cosworth SCA/SCB/SCC…
The following are the specifications of a Weber-fed 1964 Cosworth SCA F2 engine.
The SC series is a significant engine in Cosworth’s back catalogue and no doubt occupied a bullet point or three in Colin Chapman’s PowerPoint presentation to Ford’s Walter Hayes when our-Col pitched Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin’s outfit as the preferred designer/constructors of his planned 3-litre V8 Grand Prix engine in 1965-66…the Ford Cosworth DFV V8 was the result of the alliance.
Four cylinder engine, capacity 997cc bore/stroke of 81mm/48.36 mm, compression ratio of 12.5:1 giving 115 bhp minimum @ 8700 rpm and torque of 76 lb ft @ 6800 rpm.
Cylinder Head. Cast aluminium alloy; cylinders, cast iron – bored in block. Bore dia. 3.1890/3.1895
Crankcase. Cast iron (Ford 116E) – monobloc type, crankshaft forged-nitrided steel (Laystall), end play .002 – 011″, thrust taken by two half washers. Main journal dia. 2.1255/2.1360″ Conrod journal dia. 1.9370/1.9375″ Stroke 1.903/1.906″ Main bearings shells – ‘Vandervell’ lead-indium, steel backed. Cosworth Part No. F0012 Main bearing caps are special steel, housing bored .015″ o/s
Camshaft. Monikrom, run in five bearings. Driven by a train of seven gears from the crankshaft. Bearings – white metal shell type ‘Vandervell’
Valve Mechanism: Inverted piston-type tappets, running directly on the camshaft. Chill-cast iron. Valve Timing F1 – 102 deg Cosworth camshaft 1O 58 deg BTDC IC 82 deg ATDC EO 82 deg BTDC EC 58 deg ATDC Valve lift .400″ Ramp .010″
Valves. Inlet material: austenitic steel. Head dia. 1.45 “; seat angle 45 deg; stem dia 9/32”. Exhaust. Material: austenitic steel. Head dia. 1.25 “; seat angle 45 deg; stem dia 9/32″. Valve Springs. Double springs, outer variable-pitch wound. Rate 260 Ib/in. Free length 1.65”. Fitted length 1.29″ (both measured on outer). Close coils to be fitted at head end.
Connecting rods material EN.24 Length centre to centre 5.434″ End Play .002 / .006″ Bearings Trimetal (steel backed)
Pistons. Special Cosworth/Hepolite, forged in RR59, one compression, one oil control ring. Gudgeon pins: hollow taper bored. Ground o/d 13/16″ dia nominal Clearance .0002 – 0005″ Retained by flat circlips Compression Ring Material Cast iron. Plain, high radial pressure. Ring gap .019″. Oil control ring Two separate scrapers in single groove
Water Pump, Cosworth, driven from front of jackshaft
Lubrication: dry sump full-pressure system. Main bearings – pressure fed. Connecting rods – pressure fed. Gudeon pins – splash. Cylinder wall, camshaft bearings – pressure fed. Tappets – splash. Timing gears – jet and splash. Oil Pump ‘Hobourn-Eaton’ type, Cosworth designed, mounted on side of cylinder block. Oil Filter. Not supplied with engine; should be full flow with special felt cartridge, and by-pass valve blanked off.
Distributor Lucas 40731 10 deg – 1000 rpm. Rotation anti-clockwise, Firing order 1 3 4 2. Contact breaker arm spring tension 32 oz. Centrifugal advance 20 deg on crank. Contact breaker gap .010 / 012″
Carburation: Two 40 DCM2 Weber. Choke size 32mm Jetted to suit the engine whilst being tested on a dynamometer. Inlet Manifolds: Cast Aluminium alloy, machined to house ‘O’ rings for flexible mounting.
Credits…
Chris Munday, State Library of Western Australia, Racing Car News July 1970, Autocar April 16, 1965, John Marsden, John Scott-Davies
Jack Brabham, with jaw firmly set, looks for his braking and turn-in points for Shell Corner at Sandown during the February 16, 1969 Sandown Park Cup in the one-off Brabham BT31-1 Repco 830 2.5 V8.
He was third in his only Tasman Cup appearance that summer, up front was Tasman winner, Chris Amon in a works Ferrari 246T with Jochen Rindt second in a works Lotus 49B Ford DFW.
(MildrenFilms-MBisset-Wordpress)
David McKay keeps an eye on Derek Bell’s works Ferrari 246T with Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT31 Repco as the field is assembled prior to the start of the Sandown race; the horsey nature of the place is readily apparent. The angle of incidence on Jack’s wing is on the shallow side; still, it’s a fast track.
(A Ould Collection)
BRM mechanic Allan Ould, Jack Brabham and a Goodyear rep looking pretty happy with BT31-1 in the Sandown paddock.
Post Brabham, Ould built several Aztec racing cars and then had a very successful career in the retail motor trade. Can anybody put me in touch with him? I want to invite him to a catch-up of the Repco Brabham Engines crew in November.
(JBrookfield-MBisset-WordPress)
A couple of days before, having finally got their hands on the car which had been stuck on the Port Melbourne docks as a consequence of a wharfies strike, BT31-1 is being race-prepared in RBE’s Mitchell Street, Maidstone factory. That’s John Brookfield at left, Jack alongside, then RBE’s GM Frank Hallam and Michael Gasking on the right.
(R Wolfe)
Shortly thereafter, on Friday the car was taken to Calder Raceway for systems checks. Jack is focused on the job at hand, while watched by John Brookfield leaning on the back of the car, Michael Gasking in grey and John Mepstead on the right.
And below off on another lap. The session was famously brought to an end when a farmer adjoining the Keilor property cracked-the-shits with the Repco boys who were running the car after a curfew which limited the hours during which race engines could do their thing. Gotta look after the sheep, after all…
(RWolfe-MBisset-Wordpress)Brabham on the way to BT31-1 victory in the Bathurst Gold Star round over the 1969 Easter weekend (oldracephotos.com/DSimpson)
BT31-1 is the lowest-mileage works Brabham of all. It contested the Sandown Tasman event and the Bathurst Australian Driver’s Championship Gold Star round over Easter in 1969, and was won by Jack in what was his final in-period RBE-powered win in a long relationship that commenced with Repco-prepared Coventry Climax FPFs at the dawn of the 1960s.
(unatt-MBisset-Wordpress)
Bathurst Gold Star grid on April 7, 1969. Leo Geoghegan in the white Lotus 39 Repco 730 on pole, with Niel Allen’s McLaren M4A Ford FVA and Max Stewart, Mildren Waggott TC-4V 1.6 comprising the front row.
Brabham is off grid seven; his task of winning the race was made easier when Stewart and Allen had an argument about the same bit of real estate in the Dipper that took both out on the spot on the first lap. Brabham won from John Harvey, Brabham BT23E Repco 830 and Henk Woelders, Elfin 600B Lotus-Ford.
Jack focused at the start (BFrankel-MBisset-Wordpress)(Unatt-MBisset-Wordpress)
I’m not sure that Jack practised without wings, but he certainly tested bi-winged and the set-up above, which is how he raced.
Down through the Dipper above and at rest below. The Brabham-Repco relationship concluded during 1969 with meetings at Sandown Park and Bathurst in Australia and stateside at Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Racing Park.
In the latter, Peter Revson brought the business relationship to an end in the best possible way by winning the IRP 200 from strong opposition, his Brabham BT25 powered by the 4.2-litre RBE760, the four-cammer redeeming itself with a splendid win against strong opposition…
(RWolfe-MBisset-Wordpress)(Repco)
RBE engineer, Brian Heard commented on this photograph, ‘This pic is of a 830 2.5L RB engine. Constructed specifically for the Aussie Tasman series. Great little engine, using the 800 block (cast in magnesium) which was essentially the same dimensionally as the 700 series block, but had a deck height 1.190″ shorter that the 700, making it very compact.’
‘The 30 series heads were earlier than the 40 series, but were very similar except for the exhaust ports, which exited outside the V. This engine had a 55mm stroke and weighed just 250lbs, meaning that it gave a little over 1hp/lb. It begs the question: why was it not used to make a 3L F1 830? Hmmm, can’t answer that; maybe others can?’
RBE 830 Tasman 2.5-litre V8. SOHC, two-valve, Lucas fuel injection, circa 295bhp @ 9000rpm.
Credits…
Ampol, Allan Ould Collection, oldracephotos.com/Dick Simpson, Brian Heard, Bob Frankel, Mildren Films
Ken McLachlan and Dr Geoff M Faithfull, Vauxhall 30/98 #OE53, discuss track conditions of the ‘one mile, grass circular track’ laid out on Faithfull’s Inveralochy Station (farm), 20km south of Goulburn circa 1925.
Faithfull, bought OE53 new from noted Sydney Vauxhall competitor/dealer, Boyd Edkins in 1923, coming out of an E-Type Vauxhall.
Geoff, patron of the Goulburn Motor Club, offered the use of his property for motorsport – motorcycle racing primarily but with cars as well – in December 1924, the first meeting being held on January 18, 1925. The grass track was about one mile long, the same length as Calder in its original form.
The September 1926 meeting to contest the Inveralochy Cup, a straight half mile, included events for cars amongst them, K McDonald’s Buick, the R Bryce Dodge with P O’Keefe’s ‘Ford Racer’ the winner at 57 1/2 mph.
The Argus reported that visitors arrived at Inveralochy at short notice in September 1924 when the field of the RACA six-day reliability trial contested a flying half-mile contest there when the chosen roads between Goulburn and Queanbeyan were deemed unsuitable due to deep gutters.
Hope Bartlett’s Vauxhall 30/98 was quickest at 68 mph, with only 14 of the 25 cars doing better than 50 mph. ‘The grass surface would not allow the highly geared British cars to develop their greatest speed in such a short distance. AV Turner was second on an Itala and SC Ottoway third, Vauxhall. Another notable was Mrs JAS Jones, Chandler.
Into 1937 and March 1938 the venue was still in use, a large crowd watched M Johnstone exceed 100mph and win the flying quarter mile award with a two run average of 92 1/2 mph, no mention of his mount, sadly.
Faithfull died suddenly in Sydney, aged 49 on Monday July 1, 1940. His obituary in the Goulburn Evening Post noted that, ‘He was interested in motor racing, at one time and for several years, was the Goulburn Motor Club’s patron.’
The Faithfull family took up ‘Springfield’ a Crown Grant in 1827
A cursory Google search shows the property sold earlier this year for $M18, doubtless the selling agent recounted the amazing firefight between a group of four Faithfull youths and ‘notorious bushrangers, Ben Hall, Gilbert and Dunn in 1865…they provided quality resistance, over 20 rifle and revolver rounds were fired by the goodies, and ‘between thirty and forty shots by the bushrangers’.
As a result of the clash with Ben Hall and John Gilbert, the four brothers were each awarded a gold medal by the government. A sign on the property reads, ‘This post marks the place where the Faithfull Brothers encountered the bushrangers on February 6, 1865, the bushrangers firing 94 shots at them.’
The perils of an inquisitive mind and too much time on one’s hands are apparent in this piece. Trove is such a wonderfully distracting resource…
Ben Hall (ABC)
Road Racing and Ratepayers…
As John Medley explained in his piece on the growth of motor cycles and road racing, and car racing, the subject was a touchy one for ratepayers wanting to go about earning their daily bread, but Geoff Faithfull, member of the local squattocracy, stepped up to the plate on the side of the racers.
To the Editor. Goulburn Evening Penny Post, February 13, 1923
Dear Sir,
Your paper, this morning reports this morning that the Shira Council still disapproves of the Goulburn Motor Cycle Club holding their Easter carnival on the open road. As the points against road racing have been fully enumerated. perhaps one or two in favour of it will assist those who are neutral, or at any rate not openly antagonistic to it, to see the other wide.
During the war motor cyclists played a very big part indeed as dispatch riders, and machine gunners. These men had to be taught to ride a bike, and, furtber, to handle it at speed. Many men can ride a motor cycle at ordinary touring pace, but it takes no mean ability, not to mention pluck to handle a machine at high speeds on the road. On the continent and in England, this is realised and road races over closed circuits are frequently held both for cars and motor cycles. On the outbreak of war those, who had previously taken part in these tests, saw their opportunity, and in the early days we read of well known riders and drivers being with the French staff. They not only knew the roads, but they knew how to take their machines at speed, which was then necessary, along them.
If the members of a motor cycle club wish to race on the road, I feel that they should be given every encouragement. During the process, which in an expensive one for them, they are furthering experience, which may be of infinite in value, for a man who can keep a cycle in tune, and race it, is a specialist. Speeding in the presence of traffic in rightly discouraged, but here is an opportunity to warn traffic, for a short period over a given circuit, and develop the skill of the riders. It is frequently said that road racing ruins the roads. This cannot be admitted in the case of motor cycles, but were it so, then the roads must be at fault. We need roads that will stand speeds. When the country can afford them we will have them. In the meantime the same process that selected the most suitable machine will select the type of road, and the man to convey the machine along it.
There are two sides to every question, but controlled road racing is far from being an unmitigated evil.
Yours, etc.
G. M. FAITHFULL. Inveralochy.
Credits…
Goulburn Evening Penny Post,The Argus, various newspapers via Trove, The Albury Banner and Wodonga Express September 23, 1910, Lithgow Mercury October 10, 1950, State Library of New South Wales, Australian Broadcasting Commission
Finito…
(unattributed)
Vauxhall 30-98 OE53 lives on in the hands of Richard Walton, who has owned it since 1996. ‘One of the few Thirsty’s with a full continuous history,’ I am told.
Frank Matich blasts his way around the Wigram RNZAF airbase during the January 16,1971 Lady Wigram Trophy won by his arch rival, Graham McRae, McLaren M10B Chev.
(B Colechin Coll)
I love paddock shots where something is going on. I guess the Wigram paddock was in the hangars?
Derek Kneller attends to the wheel alignment rig while Team Manager Howard Marsden replicates FM’s weight in the car. I’d forgotten his short stint with Matich; two Roosters in The Henhouse was probably sub-optimal?
What interests me is the somewhat complex, big fabricated aluminium oil tank and oil pump driven off the rear of the DG300 transaxle. It’s the early days of the 5-litre Repco-Holden F5000 V8s development, by the time the Matich A50 appeared in November that year the set up had changed; one for the Repco-Holden enthusiasts/engineers Brian Heard, Derek Kneller.
How much grunt the Repco-Holdens had then is an interseting question; but more than enough power and torque to beat most of the American Chevs and Fords at Riverside and Laguna Seca in April-May 1971!
(B Colechin Coll)
The other side of the crowded rear end; the trend was to put more weight on the rear of the car at the time, but the packaging challenge is apparent all the same. Note the small oil cooler, gearbox? Varley battery is nice and low. ‘Wonky trumpets’ means butterfly or slide injection? Who are the dudes?
Skinny bugger isn’t he, Marsden. Off to FoMoCo Lot 6 when exactly in 1971?
(B Colechin Coll)
Not slicks just yet, but the breakthrough came in F1 that season, having started, from memory, in drag racing. Don O’Sullivan, alongside, raced the ex-FM M10A Repco-Holden but binned it badly, bending the tub at Teretonga and didn’t finish the tour.
Jack Brabham, Cooper T53 Climax on pole of the Longford Trophy grid, March 5, 1961
He is surrounded by Cooper T51s: Bill Patterson‘s white one, that’s Patto walking away from the grid, Stan Jones blue machine, the nose of Roy Salvadori’s car is #12. Car #4 on row three is Lex Davison’s front engined interloper, Aston Martin DBR4/250 3-litre.
Salvadori won the Longford Trophy race aboard an Ecurie Vitesse – Jack Brabham Motor Racing – Cooper T51 Climax from Patterson, John Youl, and Austin Miller, all Cooper T51 mounted, then Davo’s Aston Martin. Brabham had a driveshaft break after completing 14 of the race’s 24 laps.
We’ve done this before of course, but a whole swag of Maurice Monk photographs justifies another crack I think, see here for the previous effort:https://primotipo.com/2018/02/22/roy-salvadori/
(J Richardson)(A Lamont Collection)(M Monk)
Brabham chewing the fat with Longford Motor Racing Club Supremo, Ron MacKinnon. Given Salvadori’s presence we can probably call that years Longford meeting the first international one, for cars at least
The other Australian Internationals that summer were the Warwick Farm 100 won by Stirling Moss in Rob Walker’s Lotus 18 Climax, and the Victoria Trophy held at Ballarat Airfield won by Dan Gurney’s BRM P48. I guess the Longford Motor Racing Association didn’t have the readies to pay the start money to Walker or BRM.
Roy had better luck in Australia than he did in New Zealand where he raced a Yeoman Credit Lotus 18 Climax at Ardmore, Levin, Wigram and Teretonga, his best a second place at Teretonga. He had gearbox problems twice and a leaking radiator in the other events.
(B Wright)
‘Salvo’ crossed the Tasman Sea to Australia and raced the Cooper used by Ron Flockhart that Australasian season, in Tasmania and two International races a day apart at the new Hume Weir circuit outside Albury on the New South Wales/Victoria border. He was fourth in one, DNF the other, both races were won by Brabham’s Cooper T53 ‘Lowline’ photographed in this piece.
In this pre-Tasman period the Longford Trophy was an Australian Drivers Championship – Gold Star – event. It was one of the five rounds in 1961 albeit the very full calendar had 15 Formula Libre events.
Bill Patterson took the title with victories at Bathurst, Lowood and Caversham. Lex Davison nicked the AGP at Mallala from David McKay after a very ropey jumped-start call, and Salvadori won in Tasmania.
Stan Jones, Cooper T51 FPF, Bib Stillwell, Aston Martin DBR4 3-litre before one of the Saturday preliminaries(A Lamont Collection)(M Monk)
Grid of a mixed touring car and GT race.
Leo Geoghegan, Lotus Elite from David Lewis’ Holden Grey, Gavin Youl, Porsche 356, David McKay, Ferrari 250 Pininfarina, #39 Ron Marshall, AC Bristol, #30 Alan Ling, Holden, #121 Davison, #26 Doherty, #34 Maguire, #66 Gorringe, #130 H Cape, #40 Beechey and the rest! And below, McKay, Geoghegan and Youl charge across Long Bridge.
(B Wright)(M Monk)
Grid of ‘The Examiner’ sports car handicap on the Monday morning. Murray Carter’s Carter Corvette V8 on pole from John Ampt in the ex-Whitehead/Jones/Phillips Cooper T38 Jaguar, Bob Jane’s Maserati 300S, Alan Jack, Cooper Climax, #13 Geoff Smedley, Le Mans Jaguar Spl, Gavin Youl’s Porsche 356B, #20 JW Barrie, Zephyr Spl and the #16 MGA of RS Ward towards the rear.
Maurie Monk, Austin 7 Spl, Aust Motor Sports Club speed trials, Geelong Road, September 1947
Etcetera…
Maurice Monk, who took many of these marvellous photographs, was co-founder of the Confederation of Australian Motorsport, CAMS, along with Donald Thomson.
‘Maurie’ was awarded the CAMS Award of Merit for his contribution to motorsport as a competitor, organiser and administrator. He was CAMS first President in 1953 and served again in that role in 1956.
He constructed a line of some 17 competition cars for motorsport events ranging from mud-trials to sprints and hillelimbs. These were successful in his and other family member’s hands.
(A Wylie)
Maurie Monk and Harry Firth with their HL Firth entered Standard Vanguard before the start of the 1957 Mobilgas Round Australia Trial. Car damaged at Mt Isa-Gloncurry as below.
(A Wylie)(M Monk)(M Monk)
Stan, Anita and Michael Monk in the Longford paddock in 1961. Gotta be a Ronson Stan, surely?
(M Monk)
Longford was born to host the February 27-28, 1953 Australian Motorcycle Tourist Trophy.
The key men to get the event out of the water were local identity, Martin Coombe, and Longford councillor, Ray Chortle. Then local landowner Ron MacKinnon added his weight and muscle…and agreement to use his land.
Maurie Quincey won the Unlimited TT on his Norton Manx. The 12-lapper was reduced to four laps as the program was running late, so the race was shortened to ensure the Launceston-Hobart evening train crossed the track unimpeded!
The 1955 meeting included Geoff Duke on the final leg of his Australian Tour, so I guess his works-Gilera participation constitutes the first International Longford.
Geoff Duke’s Gilera 500-4 at Longford during the 1955 meeting (B Young Collection)
Jim Scaysbrook wrote that ‘Duke was timed at 144mph on his works-four cylinder Gilera on The Flying Mile, and despite severe misgivings about certain aspects of the track, he won both his races.’
‘Duke noted that the planks used to surface the bridges ran in the direction of travel, and had sizable gaps between them! In the first start, magneto trouble knocked 1600rpm off the Gilera’s maximum of 10,600 set in on lap 6 of the eight-lap race, allowing local star Max Stevens on the ex-Quincey Norton to close within nine seconds when the chequered flag came out. A replacement magneto was flown across from Melbourne, and after a quick trip to Launceston to fit it, he returned to win again and raised the lap record to a 92mph average.’
Maurie Monk and Arthur Wylie via the Anita Monk Collection, John Richardson, Andrew ‘Slim’ Lamont, Bob Wright via Kay Wright, Ron Lambert, oldracingcars.com, ‘Longrod. Fast, furious, friendly.’ by Jim Scaysbrook, Old Bike Australia, February 2019, Bob Young Collection, Ellis French for car identification, George Thomas via Tony Johns Archive
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