When Stan Jones took the chequered flag at Ardmore to win the New Zealand Grand Prix seventy years ago today – on January 9, 1954 – he became the first Australian car racer to win an international Grand Prix. His weapon of war was the Charlie Dean built, then Dean/Repco Research developed and maintained Maybach 1.
That’s Ken Wharton in the BRM P15 V16 behind, he pitted with mechanical problems and finished second with Tony Gaze’ HWM Alta s/c third.
I’ve done Stan and this topic to death over the years, see the links at the bottom of this article. So much so, I’ve no photos on this race I haven’t already posted so let’s recognise the occasion and scale of the achievement and then jump to the very end of the Maybach program, in terms of the three cars being Maybach six-cylinder powered at least.
With Repco’s stash of blocks in short supply, Maybach 3 – first raced at Templestowe Hillclimb on April 11 1955 - was powered by a 260bhp @ 5000rpm, 3.8-litre variant of the German SOHC, two-valve engine, albeit the motor was now fuel injected, such work done by Phil Irving and Charlie Dean.
With Big Red Cars growing locally in number – Davison Ferrari 500/625, Hunt Maserati A6GCM and 250F – the big silver beast was hard pushed despite Stan’s undeniable skills at twiddling its steering wheel.
1956 opened with the international meeting at Gnoo Blas on January 30. Reg Hunt’s new Maserati 250F set the pace and won the South Pacific Championship easily against skinny opposition compared with previous years. Squeezing all that Maybach had to offer, on lap 23, with Stan 38 seconds adrift of the 250F, the engine let go in a major way.
Jones then got with the strength and bought a 250F. #2520 was demonstrated by Stan at the Geelong Sprints on May 27, first racing at Port Wakefield the following weekend.
While Stan got to grips with his new Italian Stallion, his mate, the brilliant engineer/racer Ern Seeliger set to work turning Maybach 3 into Maybach 4 inclusive of modified Chev 283cid V8, de Dion rear suspension and other mods.
Stan had an occasional steer of Maybach 4 Chev, winning a Gold Star round in it at Port Wakefield in 1959, but in essence, the Maybach Program of 1946-56 was at an end…oh-so-critical bits of Repco and Oz racing histories.
Credits…
Auckland Star, Libraries NZ, Bob Donaldson, State Library of New South Wales, Naomi Tait, E Gobell, Tony Johns Collection, Cummins Archive
Tailpiece…
Look out ladies!…
Stan was a good-lookin’ Rooster at 32, that portrait is the best! He’s at the wheel of Maybach 3 during the ’56 SouPac, Gnoo Blas meeting. With hair Brylcreemed back, Raybans and terry-towelling T-shirt sourced from Buckley & Nunn, Stanley really looks-the-goods. Jones had a life of great achievement, he was not a bloke who died guessing, bless him.
Tyre is a Dunlop R1.
Finito…
Mark,
Have you seen or used this image before?
Cheers,
Graham
Sent from Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef
Thanks Graham,
The link doesn’t work tho, maybe try email, mark@bisset.com.au
M
Where can I find a summary of all the development stages of the Maybach ’46 to ’56?
Should be one click and I’m “confirmed”. Too complicated, moved on.
P.S. I still love to get your frequent postings and look forward to them. I’ve been enjoying them for years. Can’t figure why I need to “confirm” my subscription. Too complicated, couldn’t get to the end. Gave in and moved on.
John Ballantyne
John,
No idea of the ‘subscription stuff’, I don’t see that aspect of things, no idea how it works.
Give me a week and I’ll upload the Maybach 1-4 details from an AMS Annual. It’s a good idea to put period-information in the public domain to assist in alleviating the confusion about the three cars that pops up on social media all the time.
m
If enough detail can be dug up about the original I would love to do a cutaway on it. (retired engineer and illustrator). Keep digging.
John,
You’ll have plenty of words but there are very few body-off shots to assist…be great if you could do it mind you!
m
[…] Charlie Dean beaming with pride aboard his latest creation, or rather the Repco Research team’s latest. Maybach 3 with its fuel injection system dominant atop the heavy, cast iron Maybach SOHC, two-valve 3.8-litre straight six. Greg Smith advises that the fuel injection clearly shows the fuel rail and injectors. The carburettor bodies are single-choke 36DO2 units which were later (after the engine blew at Gnoo Blas in early 1956) used on the Norman Wilson built Laydown Holden Special. See here: https://primotipo.com/2024/01/08/stan-jones-won-the-1954-nz-gp-70-years-ago-today/ […]