Tony Gaze in a reflective moment celebrating what was perhaps his final motor racing career victory, at Albert Park on March 11, 1956.
He had just won the 48 lap, 150 mile Moomba Tourist Trophy in his HWM Jaguar from Bib Stillwell’s Jag D-Type and Ron Phillips’ Austin Healey 100S in a huge 37 car field. Over the following days he sold both this car ‘VPA9’ and the ex-Alberto Ascari Ferrari 500/625 #005 he had been racing in single seater events around the world for two years or so.
I came upon this photograph while looking for something else, the usual thing, then I Google away and within 15 minutes or so you have a few interesting – hopefully – shots. I’ve had a couple of cracks at Tony, here on single-seaters; https://primotipo.com/2019/12/13/tony-gaze-hwm-alta-new-zealand-1954/ and here, mainly sportscars; https://primotipo.com/2020/03/28/gaze-hwm-jaguar-vpa9-ryal-bush-new-zealand/ but there is always room for more.
Tony Gaze’s HWM Alta in the Silverstone pits during the 1952 British Grand Prix weekend, he retired with head gasket problems after completing 19 laps (Q26 of 32). The race was won by Alberto Ascari in Ferrari 500 #005, the car referred to in the previous paragraph, from Piero Taruffi’s similar machine, and Mike Hawthorn’s Cooper T20 Bristol in third.
Light Car Club of Australia former-members will pick that bonnet-badge, same badge as on the obscured gent’s blazer in the opening shot. The tyres are Dunlops…
Gaze aboard Graham Whitehead’s Aston Martin DB3 (DB3/10) during the Tourist Trophy, World Sportscar Championship round at Dundrod on September 5, 1953. They were an excellent fourth and first of the privateers while up front were two new Aston DB3S’ crewed by Peter Collins/Pat Griffith and Reg Parnell/Eric Thompson, then the works-Jaguar C-Type of Stirling Moss/Peter Walker in third.
Tony Gaze own DB3, chassis DB3/9 was only two races old when the car lost its life, and Tony nearly his too. He was forced to swerve around Pietro Palmieri’s Ferrari 250MM in the Portuguese Grand Prix at Boavista on June 21, 1953. The Aston hit a tree, broke in half and burst into flames with Gaze semi-conscious in the middle of the road ten metres from the remains of his car. Wow, she really is daffy-ducked!
With his insurance monies in hand, after a second-hand DB3 could not be sourced, Gaze was unable to buy an Aston Martin DB3S, or a Jag D-Type on acceptable terms, so he acquired HWM Jaguar VPA9 instead.
Gaze, Ferrari 500/625 on the way to victory in the 1820 Settlers Trophy, a handicap race held at Queenshaven, South Africa on March 26, 1955. Held on a 3.8-mile track laid out on the disused Palmietfontein aerodrome south of Johannesburg, a crowd of about 60,000 people watched the action.
Peter Whitehead and Gaze were the star international attractions in a two race tour in the same pair of identical Ferraris that excited New Zealanders at Ardmore during the NZ GP on January 8 where the Whitehead/Gaze train were second and third behind the victorious Prince Bira’s Maserati 250F.
Their first event in South Africa was the 7th Van Riebeeck Trophy, a handicap held on the new 1.75-mile Eerste River airfield circuit in the Western Cape, on March 12. Whitehead was 11th and Gaze 13th so the handicapper must have belted them hard! Chris Andrews won the race in a Studebaker Special.
The Dickie Stoop/Tony Gaze Frazer Nash Sebring Bristol 2-litre at Le Mans in 1956, DNF accident after completing 100 laps at about 10am on Sunday morning. The pair weren’t as successful as other Nash’s in recent years, in that context the ad below makes interesting reading.
Off to New Zealand now for the last bunch of shots. Above is the grid for the Lady Wigram Trophy at the RNZAF base of the same name on 1956
Almost obscured on the far left is Reg Parnell in Aston Martin’s forgotten GP car, DP155, Gaze #3 and Whitehead #2 aboard their Ferrari 500/625s with the all enveloping bodied #4 Connaught B-Type Jaguar of later famous artist, Leslie Marr. On row two is Ron Frost’s Cooper Mk9 Norton alongside Ron Roycroft’s Bugatti Jaguar, row three comprises Pat Hoare’s Maserati 4CLT, David McKay’s Aston Martin DB3S and the R Archibald Jaguar XK120. Whitehead won the 71 lap, 150-mile race from Gaze, Marr and Parnell.
A favourite shot this one, Gaze in his HWM Jag on the Ryal Bush road circuit during the 1956 NZ Internationals. Tony placed second to Peter Whitehead in the Southland Road Race Formula Libre feature that February 11 weekend in their Ferrari 500/625s.
The sportscar event was a handicap, David McKinney wrote that “the three 1.5-litre Singers outfoxed the handicapper and filled all the first (three) places at the end of the 43 miles.” CR Bath won from Kelvin Kerr and Dave Edmiston. “Although unplaced on handicap, Whitehead (Cooper T38 Jaguar) made fastest time on scratch from Gaze, the HWM slowed by rear-axle trouble, and Tom Sulman (Aston Martin DB3S) who had been off into the scrub and damaged his exhaust…”
Etcetera…
There is a Tony Gaze connection here, it’s HWM Alta 2-litre s/c #GP107, his mount on his 1954 Kiwi tour. It’s shown after a fresh coat of red paint in Auckland in late 1957. By this stage the machine was probably owned by Tom Clark in a long period of continuous NZ owners/ownership which is related in the first of the articles linked above.
Credits…
Sydney Morning Herald, MotorSport Images, Graham Woods Collection, Duarte Coelho, Kelvin Brown Collection, B Sternberg Archive, Stewart Quertier, David McKinney race report via Roger Clark
Finito…
primotipo... 