Archive for October, 2020

BRM P15 V16 3…

Posted: October 30, 2020 in F1, Fotos
Tags: , , ,
1

(R Herrick)

Ken Wharton’s BRM P15 is pushed onto the Ardmore grid during the January 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix weekend.

He had the race in the bag until a silly problem caused by a bit of road grit ruined his race, see this article for a feature story on this machines trip south to the Ardmore and Wigram meetings that summer; https://primotipo.com/2019/11/18/ken-wharton-and-brms-grand-turismo-south-in-1954/

(R Herrick)

It was this rare photograph of the unclothed rear of P15 chassis ‘2’ which caught my eye. Note the chassis, beefy de Dion tube, big Exide battery mounted nice and low, no lightweight aircraft Varley batteries in those days. The Dunlop brake calipers- one of the edgy aspects of the design can be seen and the oil tank at the extreme rear, the big fuel tank is behind the driver but within the machines wheelbase.

I know the car was bonkers, was it Doug Nye who described its design and construction as being akin to a group of Victorians attempting a moon landing?  In any event, the thing is endlessly fascinating in terms of the projects politics, personalities, extraordinary engineering and innumerable ‘what if’s’.

(M Millar)

Credits…

Roger Herrick, Max Millar

(R Herrick)

Ardmore paddock, interest in the rear of the car indicates that things up-front ok, even if for a brief period of time! Love the Lucas mans service vehicle, probably the busiest service man in New Zealand…

Finito…

Trafic, Merde!…

Posted: October 27, 2020 in F1, Fotos
Tags: , , , , , , ,
2

(B Henderson)

Cripes! Move. My clutch! My water temperature!

Look a bit closer, the Formula 3 car caught in the 1969 Monaco GP traffic is being towed by the Simca in front. I love the creativity of Bryan Henderson’s shot, a Scot who emigrated to Sydney, Peter Houston tells me he was a Formula Vee racer in the mid seventies, he plies his trade as Scanpix.

Bryan recalls, ‘The 1969 Monaco GP was my first F1 race, i had just arrived to pursue a career as a freelance photographer and jumped on a train down to the south of France to catch the race. I remember taking the photo of the car in the traffic, I was waiting to cross the road and there was the open-wheeler in my way! I was able to get the shot as it drove away.’

So, who is it?

F2 Index to the rescue. My guess as to the number is 50, 52, 58 or 59! #50 was Bernard Plaisance who raced an Ecurie Tecno France, Tecno 69 Ford, DNQ. Car 52 did not arrive, so let’s cross him off. #58 was Peter Hanson’s Chevron B15 Ford DNQ and #59 was Roger Keele, EMC F3 Ford, he was eighth in the race won by Ronnie Peterson’s Tecno 69 Ford. I’m going for Bernard, he’s French, the other two blokes are British so would probably have a Pommie registered tow car…

I’ve chosen a few other Henderson shots which are a bit different from the average, the first is Vic Elford heading up the hill from Ste Devote in his Cooper T86B Maserati.

(B Henderson)

 

(B Henderson)

The next one is Jackie and Helen Stewart walking down the hill towards Ste Devote, JYS even has a bag-man, who is the guy, he looks familiar?

How great would it have been to have attended the race then, plenty of challenges too that weekend, high wings were banned after the Thursday session by the CSI so the shot of Jo Siffert’s Rob Walker Lotus 49B Ford sans wings is probably on the Friday, by Saturday front wings were back.

(B Henderson)

Credits…

Bryan Henderson at Scanpix.com.au

(B Henderson)

Denny Hulme’s McLaren M7 Ford on Pit Straight, perhaps a Matra ahead, classic Monaco shot with that home made fence in the foreground!

Finito…

Brabhams and Adelaide…

Posted: October 24, 2020 in F1, Obscurities, Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , , ,
5

DB, Brabham BT59 Judd EV V8, AGP 1990 (BA)

It was great to see David Brabham race a Brabham in Adelaide during the 1990 Australian Grand Prix, whilst the BT59 Judd looked the goods it was not a great car, and Brabham was hardly the marque it was during the Brabham/Tauranac and Ecclestone eras.

David qualified 25th and failed to finished after spinning off on lap 19, we saw him again in 1994, when he raced a Simtec S941 Ford HB V8 but that simple car, still fitted with a semi-manual gearbox, remember them, was well and truly under-cooked in amongst the Top-Guns.

And that, sadly, turned out to be the end of David Brabham’s time in Formula 1, mind you, he had a great professional race career inclusive of a 2009 Le Mans win aboard a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP in amongst heaps of sportscar and other victories.

In more recent times, after a legal battle of about a decade, he has gained control of the Brabham name and intellectual property and built the awesome Anglo-Australian Brabham BT62 Ford Hypercar, the first of what will hopefully be a long line of racing and road cars. If ever there was a time for ‘Team Australia’ to climb aboard it is now?

DB, BT62 during the Adelaide Motorsport Festival 2019 (InSydeMedia)

Here is the car during the 2019 Adelaide Motorsport Festival, love the circa 1990 Brabham era livery!

When I think of David Brabham in Adelaide it is the 1987 F1 carnival weekend which sticks in my mind. DB won the 15 lap, ANF2 (1.6 litre, SOHC, two-valve, carbs) one-race Gold Star  Championship event from the back of the grid, finishing ahead of a classy 28 car field including most of the top ten placegetters of the six round Formula 2 Championship which concluded a couple of months before.

In more recent times David has made public his motivation for that great drive. In one of those ‘shit happens’ moments of youth, he had ‘potted’ his girlfriend, and as an expectant father, Jack had given DB the ‘that’s the end of your F1 aspirations’ brush off. #3 son’s drive in Adelaide was an ‘I’ll faaarkin show you mate moment’, and man it was really impressive to watch!

I was rooting for Mark McLaughlin’s Elfin 852 VW as an enthusiast of the marque, and watched with amazement from the East Terrace section of the track as he caught and passed the competition hand over fist. It wasn’t his first race on one of the more technical road courses, Brabham was second in the Formula Ford Championship race the year before, and his Ralt RT30 VW was the right bit of kit, but it was an impressive drive all the same. A portent of what was to come.

DB, Ralt RT30 VW, Adelaide 1987 (driving.co.uk)

 

DB Adelaide 1987 (BA)

 

BT62 launch at the Australian High Commision, London (BA)

Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac would chuckle with delight at the pragmatism of the BT62.  The car bristles with the latest in technology in some ways but beneath the sinfully edgy and sexy aerodynamically efficient carbon fibre and kevlar body delivering 1,600 kg of downforce, lurks a good old fashioned multi-tubular spaceframe chassis and a wonderful 5.4 litre modular Ford V8 modified to Brabham Automotive specifications.

Brabham and Tauranac won a couple of world titles in 1966-1967 with engines of relatively modest technical specifications and were still winning Grands Prix with spaceframes in 1969 when a change to regulations requiring ‘bag’ fuel tanks effectively mandated monocoques in F1.

The poverty pack BT62 is priced at US $975K plus taxes, whereas the ducks guts BT62 ‘Ultimate Track Car’ hits the road at a giddy US $1.3M, only proprietors of Chinese Wet Markets should apply. Seventy cars only will be built at Brabham’s new 15,000 square metre facility, at Edinburgh Parks, within parent company Fusion Capital’s complex.

(BA)

 

(BA)

The Ford ‘Voodoo’ based, Brabham DOHC, four-valve, fuel injected, flat-plane crank 5.4 litre V8 has a bore/stroke of 94 x 97 mm for a capacity of 5,387 cc giving 700 bhp @ 7,400 rpm and 492 lb/ft of torque. This lot hits the road via a six-speed sequential Holinger transaxle. Suspension front and rear is by way of push-rod actuated upper and lower wishbones and coil spring/dampers with adjustable roll bars at both ends. Brakes are carbon/carbon and carbon/ceramic for race/road.

BT62 has enormous, menacing presence, it is 4,460 mm long, 1,950 mm wide, 1,200 mm high and weighs 972 kg with a weight distribution of 41/59% front/rear.

Brabham delivered its first competition BT62 to Horsepower Racing in the UK in May 2019 to contest the Britcar Endurance Championship, in a wonderful start for the machine it won its first race from pole driven by David Brabham and Will Powell at Brands Hatch last November 9. Great stuff!

(BA)

 

(BA)

There is something wonderful about Brabhams being built in Adelaide’s Edinburgh Parks, only a kilometre or so from Holden’s closed Elizabeth factory. The city has a long history of automotive engineering and manufacturing excellence with such famous/prominent companies as Elfin Sports Cars, Clisby Engineering, Birrana Cars, Globe Products, ASP and many others building racing cars and components since the earliest days of motoring in Australia.

Without drawing too long a bow in making an historic connection between Brabham and Adelaide, Clisby Engineering in Prospect manufactured the 1967-1970 30, 40, 50, and 60 series cylinder heads for the range of Repco-Brabham Engines Pty. Ltd. racing V8s, including those used on the ‘740’ engines which won the 1967 world F1 championships.

Ooops, forgot! Jack’s first national championship speedway win was at Kilburn Speedway on 25 February 1949, 9 km from Adelaide’s GPO, so lets take the Adelaide/Brabham connection as a given.

Fusion Capital, the Brabham Automotive parent company, is based in Waymouth Street, Adelaide, they position themselves as ‘a partner of investors and small business’ and operate in three business sectors; advanced manufacturing and renewables, property and private equity.

Brabham Automotive’s brothers in the advanced manufacturing and renewables division are Precision Buses, Precision Components, a manufacturer of pressed metal and fabricated components, and Heliostat, a business which makes heliostats, mirrors which turn to reflect light in solar energy applications.

(BA)

 

(BA)

Hopefully Fusion Capital has a balance sheet of sufficient strength to allow Brabham to complete the construction of the seventy BT62s in their business plan as the first step of a process which will establish the company as a manufacturer of road and racing cars with a return to F1 at some point.

It is amusing to hear of ScoMo’s mob’s recent interest in the manufacturing sector given the final act of automotive sodomy which destroyed the motor industry was performed by Tony Abbott, a knuckle-dragging, towering monument to intellectual and leadership bankruptcy. In truth the seeds of the industries ultimate failure were established at birth, that is, a total lack of Australian ownership and therefore control. Generational management failure, union and head office greed, governments of both stripes applying economic rationalism since 1972 (and I’ll fess up to supporting such policies) without any ‘societal good’ over-ride and our high dollar did the rest.

The ongoing success of Bolwell in Mordialloc, who have navigated the travails of manufacturing in Australia with nimble skill since the sixties, 35 year old (yes!) Borland Racing Developments closeby, Geelong’s ‘Carbon Revolution’ wheel maker, and now Adelaide’s Brabham Automotive give great cause for optimism in the weird world in which we live, long may these enterprises prosper.

(BA)

Etcetera…

(BA)

 

(BA)

 

(BA)

 

(BA)

Credits…

Fairfax, Adelaide GP FB page, driving.co.uk, InSydeMedia, Getty Images, BA-Brabham Automotive, Fusion Capital

Tailpiece…

(BA)

Match race between David Brabham’s BT62 and Matt Hall in a Zivco Edge 540 V3 aircraft, during the Adelaide Motorsports Festival in 2019.

Finito…

Jet Black, Racing Driver…

Posted: October 19, 2020 in Fotos, Obscurities, Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , ,
4
Terence James Trowell was an incredibly talented writer and graphic designer/illustrator.
‘Jet Black, Racing Driver’ was one of his many accomplishments, its excellence made easy for him as a lifetime car nut and race fan.
Google is such a tricky little minx, sometimes you can give her a tickle and get the result anticipated, on other occasions you nibble her ears much the same way you did a couple of days before and she surprises you with her secrets, this is one of those happy occasions.
I’d never heard of Terry Trowell until Tuesday night. His was a shortish but full, fascinating life. Many thanks to Kevin Patrick, this article is the GTAm ‘allegerita-modificato’ version of his Trowell profile in Comics Down Under of March 12, 2010.
Born in Katanning, in Western Australia’s south-west on September 4 1918, Trowell’s formative childhood years were in Malaya where his father was a mining engineer in Ipoh, Perak. He returned to Australia in 1926, boarding at Perth’s Guildford Grammar. At 20, after studying journalism at the UWA he returned to Malaya as a journalist on The Straits Times.

Having returned home in 1940, Trowell enlisted in the Australian Army in July 1942, where his unique skills as an artist with personal experience and knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region, earmarked him for military service with such specialised branches as Operational Intelligence, the Allied Intelligence Bureau and Z-Force, a special operations commando unit which undertook dangerous missions behind Japanese lines. Trowell’s duties included topography, map-making and interrogating prisoners of war in Malaya at the end of hostilities.

Discharged with the rank of corporal in July 1946, Terry travelled to England where he studied art before going to France where he worked as a freelance artist. He returned to Perth in 1948, via the United States. Back home he created a series of murals for several hospitals, hotels and commercial buildings and was then commissioned to illustrate a series of social studies books documenting Western Australian history, the first volume, Early Days of W.A. Towns, was published in 1949.

The following year, he moved to Melbourne with his wife, Patricia Powell, a school teacher studying music and training to be a concert pianist. This was the beginning of his involvement in Australia’s then-booming comic book industry. During 1950/1951 he was a freelance writer and illustrator for Atlas Publications, a Melbourne company which scored early commercial success with the superhero comic Captain Atom.

Trowell’s first series for them was The Grey Domino, a masked vigilante described as “the hooded nemesis of crime”, which debuted in 1951. His storylines were set in exotic locales and featured glamourous women and implacable rogues and were illustrated with great skill – a creative combination for success.

For his next series, Terry inherited a cowboy comic titled The Ghost Rider, a wandering cowboy who
dons a black mask to become ‘The Ghost Rider’, whenever trouble looms. Trowell’s work on The Ghost Rider marked a significant advance in his ability as a comic book storyteller.

In 1952 Terry returned to Perth where he established an art studio, but he continued to work as a freelancer for Atlas Publications on The Grey Domino, The Ghost Rider and Rhino Beresford, released by Atlas in 1957. Accompanied by his loyal aide and ‘gun-boy’, M’Bolo, (in most politically incorrect fashion for this day and age), the phlegmatic British hunter, Major Beresford, is known and respected throughout French Equatorial Africa as ‘Bwana Kifaru’ (‘Master Rhino’), able to best any man or beast in the jungle.

Trowell was appointed Art Director of Modern Motor in 1956, published by Modern Magazines Pty. Ltd., a company which also produced Modern Boating and Australian Cricket. Capitalising on his new employers size, he re-entered the comic book market, creating Jet Black – Racing Driver (11 issues), which took its bow in 1958.

Jet Black was a former World War II fighter pilot, who is now the number one driver for the Cougar Racing Team, managed by his wartime colleague, George Faversham. Accompanied by Jet’s girlfriend, Rusty Redd, the trio became entangled in foreign intrigue wherever they went on the racing circuit.

Terry seems to have taken his inspiration from the real ‘JB’ who had not long before joined Cooper Racing, although Cougar Racing was in decline, which Cooper most certainly was not at that stage anyway!

‘Drama is maintained and racing interrupted with a steady stream of villains and beautiful female Interpol agents while a good pair of fists is as useful as a four-wheel drift’ observed ‘Repco 22’ on The Nostalgia Forum.

Modern Magazines was keen to align Jet Black with its racing publication. Trowell’s richly painted covers were adorned with the blurb, ‘Modern Motor presents Jet Black’, while the comic featured text stories and photos taken from Modern Motor, profiling contemporary racing drivers and their cars.

‘The inside back covers offered photos and news of current happenings in the real racing world and there were board games featuring famous circuits on the back page’ Repco 22 adds. It was ‘Altogether a delightful package. A pity it only ran to thirteen issues but American comics were being dumped cheaply on the Australian market and our (comics) industry drew to a sudden halt.’

In 1956/7, despite being in Sydney, Terry and his brother John were on the Western Australian Sporting Car Club organising committee of the 1957 AGP held at Caversham that March. His skill as a graphic designer is shown in the suite of material he created for the race which extended to signage, tickets, the program and promotional material.

Trowell also designed a series of full-colour ‘Famous Racers’ posters and ‘Race Games’, depicting well-known circuits which were printed on the comic’s back covers. Each issue of Jet Black was endorsed by the publisher as “an original story, based on authentically drawn scenes and cars, which is both entertaining and educational for readers of all ages.”

At this stage Terry also produced three issues of the True Western comic book series for Modern Magazines. These comics, titled Truth about Jesse James, Truth about Custer’s Last Stand and Killer Marshal – Truth about Wyatt Earp, were factual accounts of famous figures from America’s ‘Wild West’ era.
‘Trowell’s other major comic for Modern Magazines was the offbeat, one-shot title, Purple People Eater. Taking its name from the popular song recorded by Sheb Wooley in 1958, Purple People Eater was a freewheeling romp of a comic, full of space aliens, a hip-swivelling Elvis look-alike, beatniks and a spear-wielding witchdoctor that not only defied description, but mirrored some of the best satirical comic strips then appearing in America’s famous Mad Magazine.’

Lindsay Ross ‘Kerry Cox lights up the retreads on the Paramount Ford out of Newry Corner, Longford 1965 (oldracephotos.com)

Aha! A sidebar. So the nickname of the ‘Krazy Kerry’ Cox famous Paramount Jaguar Spl aka ‘Purple Petrol Eater’, was nicked from either the pop song or Terry’s comic!
Cox was an immensely popular driver amongst his peers and spectators alike, his sportscar was one of Tasmania’s most iconic sixties racing cars.
In 1960 Terry returned to Western Australia, to establish ‘Trowell Purdon Advertising’. He entered the television industry in 1960, working for the Australian Broadcasting Commission for whom he appeared in a children’s television program to use puppets for on-air drawing lessons. He joined J. Gibney & Sons Art Studio as chief illustrator and designer in 1962.
Sadly, his life was cut short on 23 October 1964, when he died from a war-related medical condition. ‘While the history of Australian comics is all the poorer for his untimely death, Terry Trowell nonetheless left behind a significant body of work which entertained countless readers and enriched the comic book medium.’
Etcetera…

Paramount Ford Petrol Eater on the Longford grid during March 1965 (Cox Family)

Kerry Cox raced two beasts, first, the Paramount Ford aka Purple Petrol Eater and later the Le Mans Jaguar, built by Geoff Smedley, which he renamed Paramount Jaguar and repainted Cadbury Purple.

(Cox Family)

Cox built the Paramount Ford together with Norm Nott. The machines’ chassis was based on the tubular chassis of a Paramount Ford, a British low volume car of the early to mid-1950s.
Rather than the puny Ford Consul 1508cc four, power was provided by a Ford Customline V8 with ‘mechanical bits donated from more than a dozen makes,’ wrote Ellis French. The body, constructed mainly of fibreglass was laid out and formed over chicken wire, as shown in the photograph above. The little dude to the left is Tasmanian entrepreneur/enthusiast/historian Rob Knott.

(Reg Dalwood via HRCCT)

Great shot of Cox blasting the Paramount Ford away from Longford village, he is about to jump the railway line and then charge along Tannery Straight. The shot below is more like Kerry, a very fast driver of great exuberance and skill at Symmons Plains circa 1965. Perhaps John Pooley’s VW based Pooley Special on the inside?

(HRCCT)

Ellis French tells us that once Kerry moved on to the Le Mans Jaguar, the Petrol Eater was sold to Ralph Terry before ultimately ending up on the northwest coast of Tassie, perhaps East Devonport, with a replica appearing at Symmons Plains circa 2010.
Credits…
Kevin Patrick in ‘Comics Down Under’, Sally-Anne Trowell, Mark Trowell, Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania, Reg Dalwood, Lindsay Ross and oldracephotos.com, Ellis French and Jagmaniac on Tentenths.com
Tailpiece…
Finito…

Practice Makes Perfect…

Posted: October 17, 2020 in F1, Fotos
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
4

(CAN)

Chris Amon carefully pushes his Maserati 250F ‘2506’ (or ‘2504’ or ‘2509’) out of the ‘escape driveway’ during the February 3 1962 Dunedin Road Race…

Its practice and wet, the Kiwi great overshot the corner at the junction of King Edward Street, Wilkie Road and Bridgeman Street. The angle suggests the photo was taken from the building opposite, the dark industrial buildings contrasted by the colourful advertising hoardings, red Maserati and dead, gold grass all create a very atmospheric panorama.

Chris retired his car after a collision with Bill Thomasen, Cooper T51 Climax. It was a sad event, champion racer John Mansel died in his Cooper T51 Maserati, the race was won by Pat Hoare’s Ferrari 256 V12 from Jim Palmer, Lotus 20B Ford and Barry Cottle’s Lola Mk1 Climax.

(E Sarginson)

Allan Dick, a ‘famous photograph above of the first lap at Dunedin in 1962. Against all expectations it was Chris Amon who led the first lap, not Pat Hoare who eventually had an easy win’. Chris retired after the collision with Thomasen, see photos below.

Hoare’s Ferrari 256 was a 246 Dino to fit a Testa Rossa 3 litre V12 at the factory. Click here for an article about that awesome car here; https://primotipo.com/2015/11/09/pat-hoares-ferrari-256-v12-at-the-dunedin-road-race-1961/

(CAN)

 

(B Wilson)

 

(B Wilson)

Allan Dick picks up the story, ‘Chris is almost out of the car as his 250F hits the power-pole dead centre. Amon led the first lap but reality struck and the faster, better, newer  cars passed him one by one. He was in fourth place when Bill Thomasen (Cooper T51 Climax) tried to take him on the outside of the left-hander out of Andersons Bay Road into Princes Street South, the two cars tangled and ran off the road.’

Chris’ Maser was repaired by Bruce Wilson in Huntsville (I must buy his book ‘The Master Mechanic) returning with a longer nose.

John Mansel, Cooper T51 Maserati rounds the Glen Hairpin on what was to be his last lap (CAN)

Unfortunately John Mansel also fell foul of one of the lamp-posts. The champion driver started the race after many laps, he had completed about 10 when he lost control of his ex-Centro Sud Cooper T51 ‘F2-13-59’ Maserati 2.9 and slid into the immovable object side on. He was thrown from the car and died of head injuries sustained a week or so after the accident, a very sad day in Kiwi motor sport indeed.

He was eighth at Wigram and Teretonga in the fortnight prior to Dunedin and had been very successful in the ex-Moss 250F, Stirling won the 1956 NZ GP in chassis ‘2508’ and sold the car at the end of his trip, for some years.

John Mansel at Teretonga the week before, here ahead of Ross Greenville, Lotus 18 Ford and John Histed, Lola FJ Ford (CAN)

 

(E Sarginson)

The couple of photographs are of Pat Hoare on his way to victory in the Ferrari.

In the monochrome shot he is traversing ‘Cemetery Corner’, the lower photograph shows just how wet the track was and therefore how treacherous given the normal road hazards, which were, in the traditions of the day, ‘modestly protected’ if things went wrong at higher speeds. A statement of the obvious. The bruised nose of the sleek Italian V12 racer is a consequence of kissing the back of Brian Blackburn’s Maserati 250F whilst lapping him.

(CAN)

They are crackers of shots aren’t they, the docks area of the city was used for this event and then the Oval Circuit from 1962. Click here for an article in part about the development of the Dunedin and other circuits post-war; https://primotipo.com/2019/09/05/the-gp-aston-martin-dp155/

Credits…

Allan Dick- ‘Classic Auto News’, Bruce Wilson, Euan Sarginson, Derek Woods

Etcetera…

(D Woods)

 

(CAN)

This is Chris in practice, clearly it was a very soggy weekend throughout, Amon wore goggles in practice and went with a visor in the race.

Pat Hoare’s Ferrari 256 lines up on the grid, the black car is the Bob Eade ex-Moss/Jensen/Mansel Maserati 250F with Bill Thomasen’s Cooper T51 Climax alongside. There is another red car almost obscured as well beside the M Garr Ltd garage- I wonder if the premises are still there?

(B Woodford)

Beautiful crisp colour shot of Jim Palmer’s Lotus 20 Ford 1.5, he is in his fourth season of motor racing and still a teenager’ noted Allan Dick.

Went all the way to the top of racing too, winning the NZ Gold Star drivers championship on four occasions in the sixties, click here for a brief article on Jim; https://primotipo.com/2018/01/02/renwick-50-and-jim-palmer-new-zealand-1965/

(B Wilson)

Who are they, Chris and his Leica excepted and where was the photograph taken? Ardmore perhaps?

Credits…

Allan Dick- ‘Classic Auto News’, Bruce Wilson, Euan Sarginson, Bob Woodford

Tailpiece: Pukekohe 1963…

(B Wilson)

Derek Woods was there that weekend and recalls, ‘Chris sits on the pit counter in blue T-shirt, goggles and racing boots whilst the Cooper T53 Climax is warmed up after qualifying sixth. He stormed through to third on the opening lap but fell back and pitted with ignition problems when running in fourth or fifth. He then made a late charge to finish seventh. Had things gone to plan he would have finished in the top three, possibly second. Typical Amon luck right from those early days.’

By the end of that summer Chris was off to Europe with Tim Parnell, and the rest, as they say, is history. Thats David McKay, the car owner at far right chopped in half by the crop- a key person in Chris’ rise and in his later 1968/69 Dino 246T Tasman campaigns.

Finito…

MacHealey…

Posted: October 13, 2020 in Obscurities, Who,What,Where & When...?
Tags: , ,
7

(Jones Family)

Greg McEwin’s Mac Healey towards the top of Collingrove Hillclimb, Barossa Valley, South Australia in 1958…

I first became aware of historic racing in the mid-seventies attending of the Sandown 400 touring car endurance race, the support program at that stage included some events for ‘Historics’, this was before the defining first all historic meeting at Amaroo Park in 1976.

Various cars are etched into my brain from those times including Bob Jane’s Jaguar D Type and Maserati 300S raced by Jim Shepherd and Harry Firth, the Leech brothers Maserati 300S and Cisitalia. At many of the historic meetings which followed Roger Wells’ Mac Healey was very much front of house for what seemed like decades. I’ve not seen it for a while, the late Alex Reid was the last owner I recall.

(Jones Family)

The car started its life in South Australia, ignoring its country of birth. It was one of a batch of 1954 Healeys bound for Adelaide from Melbourne but caught fire enroute. Peter De Mac bought the remains with the intention of creating a Jaguar powered special, but his friend, Greg McEwin, swapped the Healey 100 he was racing for the bundle of bits.

He decided to create a single-seater removing the front and rear bulkheads and outriggers leaving the central box-section of the chassis plus the front suspension components and the rear spring brackets. He and De Mac created a body from aluminium and fibreglass. Initially the mechanicals were left in standard specification but the engine and gearbox were moved back eleven inches.

The car made its competition  debut at Collingrove in 1955 painted a nice hue of mid-blue, progressively the machine was modified to enhance its competitiveness. The engine’s capacity was increased to just under 3 litres, the cylinder head was modified, larger 2 inch SU carbs and extractors were part of the package, as was a more suitable gearbox. After trying an Austin Gypsy four wheel drive unit and a Morris LD5, a four speed Austin A90 box was adopted for a while before being replaced by a Austin Champ 4WD transmission.

McEwin’s Mac Healey alongside Austin Miller’s Cooper Climax at Port Wakefield, circa 1958 (K Drage)

 

Front suspension detail at Collingrove (Jones Family)

McEwin eventually sold it, the car ended up in Sydney where it ran as a ‘Division’ car modified further by fitment of a Holden Grey motor, front discs and a four-speed MG gearbox.

Sydney Healey enthusiast Roger Wells acquired it in 1971, he popped it into storage before running it once or twice around 1974 and then started the process of restoring it to original specifications as the historic scene gained momentum. He competed regularly until 1988 when he sold it, Melbourne Healey man, Alex Reid was the purchaser  via another owner who didn’t use it.

Once Reid had a good look he realised Mac Healey needed another rebuild around replacement chassis rails. All of the existing hardware was removed, refurbished and refitted to the new chassis inclusive of incorporating a central front crossmember as originally fitted. The body was retained and tidied up, an Healey100S type box was used with the machine making its debut in 1998 driven by Graeme Marks, i’ve lost touch of the current owner?

Collingrove 1958 (Jones Family)

 

Roger Wells at Winton in 1982.

Credits…

Robert Jones via Steve Jones ‘Jones Family Archive’, Kevin Drage, ‘Historic Racing Cars in Australia’ John Blanden

Finito…

Squalo Squadron…

Posted: October 10, 2020 in F1
Tags: , , , , ,
6

Reg Parnell and Peter Whitehead in line astern- Ferrari 555 Super Squalo 3.5’s during the Southland Road Race, Ryal Bush, New Zealand 16 February 1957…

The two Brits had a very successful New Zealand summer taking this race in a one-two in Whitehead’s favour with Horace Gould’s Maserati 250F third.

The Kiwi international season opened at Ardmore with the New Zealand Grand Prix, it was a Parnell-Whitehead one-two there, in fact it was the last major victory of Parnell’s very long career. There was little joy in the win though, fellow Brit Ken Wharton died after a tragic ‘racing incident’ accident aboard his Ferrari Monza in the sportscar preliminary immediately prior to the feature race.

At Wigram it was Whitehead from Jack Brabham’s Cooper T41 Climax 1.5, in Dunedin, Parnell from Brabham with Whitehead third, then Ryal Bush before the circus proceeded on to Mairehau although by that stage the two Brits had returned to Europe.

Parnell on the Dunedin Wharf road circuit, 2 February 1957- he won from Brabham’s Cooper T41 Climax and Whitehead’s Ferrari  (G Paape)

 

Peter Whitehead with his crew during the 1958 Le Mans 24 Hours. First Englishman since Dick Seaman to win a major European GP in taking the 1949 Czechoslovakian GP aboard a supercharged Ferrari- the first also to coax such a car from Enzo- the man really did have impeccable Ferrari connections (Motorsport)

Whilst these cars were never the weapons in Grand Prix racing the predecessor 2 litre Ferrari 500 was, they were pretty handy Formula Libre cars when fitted with 3431cc Tipo 860 Monza four cylinder motors rather than the 2.5 litre fours which sat below their bonnets in F1 events.

By January 1957 Ferrari’s frontline weapon was the Lancia-Ferrari D50 V8, variants of which they ran in F1 from the 11 September 1955 Italian GP, indeed the lack of pace of the 555 (and 625) was one of the reasons for the deal brokered gifting the cars to Ferrari when Lancia went bust. I really must get to the D50 at some stage, it’s one of my favourite Grand Prix cars.

The Parnell #2 and Whitehead in the Albert Park AGP practice in December 1956- the tail of car #9 is Lex Davison’s ex-Ascari/Gaze Ferrari 500/625 3 litre (J Lineham)

While the drivers returned to England after Ryal Bush the two Ferraris stayed in the Antipodes. Whitehead’s ‘555-1’ aka ‘FL/9001’ was bought by (later Sir) Tom Clark of Crown Lynn Potteries fame, later still becoming the famous ‘Morrari’ before its resurrection.

Parnell’s ‘555-2’ aka ‘FL/9002′ passed through the hands of McMillan/Glass and others including the Gilltrap Collection on the Gold Coast and eventually into Bernie Ecclestone’s hands. Click here for an article about this chassis’ ‘Australian phase’; https://primotipo.com/2015/08/25/arnold-glass-ferrari-555-super-squalo-bathurst-1958/

Reg Parnell in the Goodwood paddock in April 1954. Happy chappy that weekend- he won the Lavant Cup in this Ferrari 625 from Roy Salvadori’s Maserati 250F- a very good win

Both machines were works entries in 1955 but were surplus to requirements once the D50’s were unloaded at Maranello before being eagerly snapped up by existing customers Whitehead and Parnell after fitment of Tipo 860 Monza engines. The chassis’ were lengthened to allow them to fit, new chassis plates were affixed to the frames during this process.

Some older enthusiasts remember these cars in Australia as both contested races during the two weekend 1956 ‘Olympic’ Australian Tourist Trophy/Grand Prix carnival at Albert Park in late November/early December. The ‘Scuderia Ambrosiana’ duo were third and sixth, Peter was behind the ‘Officine Alfieri Maserati’ 250F’s of Stirling Moss and Jean Behra.

It was then off to Port Melbourne and across the Tasman Sea then, the NZ GP was on 13 January.

The #4 Parnell Ferrari 555 and Whitehead’s behind at Wigram in 1957, note the aircraft hangars in the background. Car #46 and driver folks? (Library NZ)

 

(CAN)

Lady Wigram Trophy start 1957.

Ron Roycroft, Ferrari 375, Parnell and Whitehead Ferrari 555’s and Brabham’s tiny Cooper T43 Climax at far left on row one. Gibbons, Jensen and Gould on row two and Shuter, Jensen, Clark and Freeman on row three. Whitehead won from Brabham and Roycroft- the shot below shows the Whitehead crew in the Wigram pitlane, make that runway!

(J Manhire)

 

Tom Clark at Levin circa 1957, he first raced the car- having graduated through a pre-war Maserati 8CM and the ex-Macklin/Gaze supercharged HWM Alta, in February 1957.

He contested six meetings in it from then until February 1959, his best result was a victory in the South Island Championship Road Race at Mairehau in 1957.

(CAN)

Stunning Hillclimb vista in New Zealand with Tom Clark right on the apex- whereizzit I wonder Kiwis?

(M Clayton)

Ferrari 555 Super Squalo cutaway drawing, perhaps by Giuseppe Cavara, technical specifications as per text.

Etcetera…

The front view of Paul Frere’s Ferrari 555 ‘555/1’ during the 1955 Belgian GP meeting at Spa- the local boy did well in what would become Whitehead’s car.

He was fourth behind Farina’s third placed 555 but the first and second placed Mercedes Benz W196’s of Fangio and Moss were nearly a couple of minutes up the road. Castellotti was on pole that day in a Lancia D50- a single car final entry for the team, with Farina’s third slot the best of the four Ferrari 555’s which practiced.

And the rear view of Eugenio Castellotti’s ‘555/2’ at Zandvoort in 1955- Mike Hawthorn raced ‘555/1′ at this meeting for seventh place. Castellotti (in Reg’s car) was fifth with the ole’ Mercedes W196 one-two delivered by Fangio from Moss.

The Ferrari’s weren’t quick though, Maurice Trintignant’s was the best of the Ferrari qualifiers with eighth slot in his 555.

Its interesting to see how the bodywork of the cars evolved from F1 to Formula Libre specifications.

Lady Wigram Trophy 1957 start. #4 Parnell, Ferrari 555, #19 Ron Roycroft, Ferrari 375, #2 Horace Gould, Maserati 250F, #5 Whitehead, Ferrari 555, #3 Brabham, Cooper T41 Climax (S Dalton)

Credits…

John Manhire Collection, Godfrey Paape, James Lineham, Getty Images, Ellis French, Stephen Dalton Collection

Tailpiece…

(E French)

Arnold Glass in the #2 ex-Parnell ‘555-2’ alongside Doug Whiteford’s Maserati 300S at Longford in March 1958 before the Gold Star race won by Ted Gray in Tornado 2 Chev. The bit of blue is the tail of the Bruce Walton driven, Norman Hamilton owned Porsche 550 Spyder.

Finito…

Fremantle to Sydney Record 1923…

Posted: October 5, 2020 in Fotos, Obscurities, Who,What,Where & When...?
Tags: , , , , ,
0

(ANU)

Jack Burton aboard his Vauxhall 30-98 in the Gambier Ranges during his 2,889 mile drive across Australia, from Fremantle to Sydney between December 8-14 1923…

He and Bill Bradley were hoping to do the transcontinental journey in five days but a crash in a deep hole in Meningie necessitated repairs which cost the pair twelve hours of valuable time. They still bagged a new record of six days, 15 hours and 57 minutes, 39 hours less than the previous record and in so doing they also set new marks for Fremantle to Adelaide and Fremantle to Melbourne.

The reputation of these mighty Vauxhalls as robust, beautifully built machines was polished yet again, this car had already done over 40,000 miles in previous attempts.

‘Daily Telegraph’ 15 December 1923

Burton was the husband of famous Australian equestrian, Emma Roach, whilst based in Sydney they travelled the continent to agricultural shows where Roach plied her trade whilst Burton worked in car sales and as a motoring writer. Along the way he was involved in a number of record breaking drives in the pioneering days of motoring in this earliest branch of motorsport in Oz. See here for a feature on this important aspect of Australian motoring history; https://primotipo.com/2018/12/21/city-to-city-record-breaking-and-car-trials/

 

Hi-ho Silver, giddy-up (ANU)

Credits…

Sydney Daily Telegraph 15 December 1923, The Mercury, Hobart 15 December 1923, Dunlop, Australian National University

Tailpiece…

(ANU)

Finito…

As You Do…

Posted: October 3, 2020 in Obscurities, Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

(P Vestey)

A cold, snowy and wet Ferrari 250LM sits out front of the Hotel des Alpes, Aosta, between Courmayeur and the Mont Blanc Tunnel in 1968, this establishment is now closed.

Paul Vestey’s car is on its way back to the United Kingdon, or perhaps heading direct to Le Mans from Piero Drogo’s Carozzeria Sports Cars in Modena, via Emilia Ovest  524, near the old Autodromo. The tow vehicle is a Mercedes 250SE, either belonging to Paul Vestey or his friend and motor trader Don Parker.

These shots popped up whilst doing a ‘Getty Images Le Mans 1968’ search. I’m certainly not the first to post them, the story goes something like this, with thanks to DC Nye, whilst noting that some of the conclusions drawn are mine and therefore, so too are any errors.

Paul Vestey acquired 250LM ‘6167’ from Maranello Concessionaires in September 1967, after a successful life in the hands of Richard Attwood and Mike Parkes earlier in the year, to run throughout the 1968 endurance season.

In the early laps of the Targa Florio, his co-driver, David Piper, lost the car, probably after a steering arm parted company with the balance of the front suspension assembly, whereupon said vehicle tripped over a stone roadside marker and ended up, tit over arse, in a field about 50 feet below. Nye’s MotorSport article relates an amusing tale of Piper being fed some wonderful tucker by the owners whose real estate he smote, whilst the balance of the race was completed!

Targa 1968, ‘6167’ before the off in Cerda (unattributed)

 

Cripes, what a mess, or words to that general effect. David Piper surveys his ‘walk on the wild side’ into a Sicilian field, the morning after the day before. Paul Vestey took the shot from the point at which Piper left the road (P Vestey/GP Library)

 

It doesn’t look any better up close (P Vestey/GP Library)

 

Franco Zucchi, British racer F3 ace and occasional F1 driver Tony Lanfranchi and Piper ponder pre-Le Mans repairs (P Vestey/GP Library)

The wreck was dragged up to road level by the teams transporter with a bit of additional assistance from British racer Tony Lanfranchi, who co-drove Mark Konig’s Nomad Mk1 Ford in the race, and looked quite a sad and sorry sight.

Shortly thereafter Vestey acquired George Drummond’s sister 250LM rolling chassis ‘6053’ into which ‘6167’s engine and gearbox were fitted at Piero Drogo’s workshop in time for him to co-drive with Roy Pike at Le Mans, where, Nye notes, the salvaged transaxle broke.

This is the repaired car ‘6053’ heading back in the direction of the UK in the care of Paul Vestey, who took the photographs, and Don Parker.

(P Vestey/GP Library)

Oh yes, what became of ‘6167’ you ask? The ‘Barchetta’ website records that the original chassis remains, left at Carozzeria Cars were sold to Stefano Sebastiani, a Roman in April 1969 with a new chassis and body built by Franco Ferrari in 1992.

Final exchange on price, extra unanticipated additional work and all that kind of stuff between Paul Vestey and Piero Drogo above before the off and lunch in The Alps- Modena to Courmayeur is 400 km, a four to five hour tow i guess.

This set of panels are fibreglass unlike the hand formed aluminium originals.

 

Tony Lanfranchi, BRM P261, Oulton Park Gold Cup, August 1968. He was fifth in the 2 litre V8 engined car behind four 3 litre machines, Jackie Stewart won in a Matra MS10 Ford

Etcetera: Tony Lanfranchi…

Gee, i really did a flashback when i saw the photograph of Tony Lanfranchi, the very first motor racing book i ever had was an X-Mas stocking filler from Santa, bless the old fella, circa 1967.

The wonderful book has a shot of Tony, his psychedelic helmet caught my eye and mind, so much so that my first Bell Star was subjected to the same treatment a decade later, so i always followed his career and must get a copy of his book.

Tony Lanfranchi, Mike Spence and Jack Brabham in the 1968 publication ‘Car Sports Book’,

 

Lanfranchi lifts the singer ‘Lulu’ into a Lotus 51 Formula Ford at Brands Hatch in February 1967, she had just failed her road licence test, no doubt Tony knocked her into shape

Of Swiss extraction but Yorkshire born, Lanfranchi was a ‘doyen’ of British national racing, all the way up to non-championship F1 mind you, he was no slouch behind the wheel at all, of anything; single-seaters, sports cars and taxis.

He died of cancer in 2004, i like this tribute from MotorSport ‘He was the archetypal racing driver of yesteryear- booze, birds and cars, though in which order of priority was always up for debate.’

Tony aboard a Lola T140 Chev at Brands Hatch early in 1969, must be a Libre race, it does not appear to be a Guards F5000 round (unattributed)

Credits…

Paul Vestey, GP Library, Alamy, ‘VIP Hospitality at the Targa Florio’ Doug Nye in MotorSport June 2009, Marcel Massini, Miki Paki, barchetta.cc, ‘Car Sports Book’ Young World Productions 1968, Getty Images

Tailpiece…

What a lovely bit of kit the Nomad Mk1 Lotus-Ford is. Here at Targa in 1968 at the start.

The car was designed by ex-Lotus man Bob Curl, it has a spaceframe chassis and a body built in aluminium by Williams and Pritchard, it was very quick in endurance events in the UK and Europe in 1969 and still exists.

Finito…