Archive for January, 2026

Australian Racing Random 23…

Posted: January 17, 2026 in Features
Tags: , , , , ,
5
(J Lloyd)

Surely the most exotic rally machine to ever come to Australia was Ric ‘Skid’ Marks’ Lancia Stratos which contested the 1976 Castrol International and other local events before seemingly disappearing…

I really know SFA about this car, but shall make good in the next few weeks and assemble some details. In the meantime, the photos will have to suffice. Not still here, I guess?

(J Lloyd)
(J Lloyd)

David McKay’s Aston Martin DB3S with trick Rice trailer behind, Fisherman’s Bend 1958.

This was as good a racer and rig as it got in Australia at the time. The machine is the second of these cars the Sydney racer/writer/entrepreneur owned, click here for a a piece on the cars; https://primotipo.com/2017/09/28/david-mckays-aston-martin-db3ss/

(Leon Sims Collection)

Jack Godbehear, Ringwood orchardist, racer and great engine builder in his JGS-JAP 298cc (Jack Godbehear Spl) at Rob Roy on November 3, 1959.

Jack came up most recently in conversation with Alan Hamilton (gee, I drafted this a while back!). Jack rebuilt the engine of Norman Hamilton’s Porsche 550 Spyder after Harry Firth got into a bit of strife! Jack’s motorcycle experience with bevel-gears meant he was familiar with the complexities of the German engine.

I know of Jack as a Formula Ford and Lotus-Ford twin-cam engine builder. Someone who taught Larry Perkins plenty of engine tricks. If anybody has a document about Jack, or can spend a few minutes on the phone and give me the gen, I’d love to hear from you. He was behind many a race win, not least his son-in-law, Tony Stewart’s.

(D Friedman)

Jack Brabham, Peter Revson and Ron Tauranac at Indianapolis in 1969.

Revvie finished fifth in a good run in the Brabham BT25 760 Repco 4.2 V8 whilst Jack retired.

A couple of months later, Peter won the Indianapolis Racing Park 200, an event comprsing two 100 mile heats on a road course. He won one heat and was second in the other taking a great win for the much-maligned four-valve Repco motor.

To be clear, these results and Matich’s win aboard the 4.8-litre V8 760-powered Matich SR4 in the 1969 Australian Sportscar Championship proved there was nothing wrong with the design, development could not have fixed.

Racer Reg in the Elsternwick, Melbourne, back streets.

Not going for a suburban blast but Reg Hunt posing for a ‘paper shoot in his just arrived 2.5-litre, Maserati 250F engined Maserati A6GCM, what a car! Click here for a feature on it:https://primotipo.com/2017/12/12/hunts-gp-maser-a6gcm-2038/

And below, with Bira before the start of the 1956 AGP at Albert Park. Graham Hunt outta focus at the right rear, I suspect.

(NatLib)
(oldracingcars.com)

Garrie Cooper, Elfin MR9 Chev from Bob Minogue in the ex-Brown/Costanzo Lola T430 Chev at Calder on February 28, 1982, in the dying ‘Arco Graphite Days’ days of F5000, and not too long before Garrie’s sad, untimely passing. A bit about the Elfin MR9 here:https://primotipo.com/2016/06/10/elfin-light-aircraft/

John Wright won the 25-lap race in his Lola T400 from Bruce Allison in Reg Orr’s Elfin MR8B-C and Cooper, all cars Chev-engined. Minogue was fifth.

(D Foster)

Arnold Glass in the cookie-cutter or bacon-slicer braked ex-works BRM P48 at Lakeside in 1961 or 1962.

The car was still at this stage powered by the original 2.5-litre BRM four-cylinder GP engine rather than the aluminium Traco-Buick V8 which followed. See here for the gen; ‘Bourne to Ballarat’- BRM P48 Part 2… | primotipo…

(S5000)

I was very much looking forward to S5000 making a splash this year and regaining the Gold Star awards credibility, hopefully they will be on circuit soon!

I must have drafted that line during Covid. It’s one of Garry Rogers Ligier JSF3-S5000 Fords, I don’t recall the locale.

Chris Lambden is a close mate, I must invite him to do an article on how the CAMS/Supercar Junta and related Vested Interests fucked S5000 to a standstill and destroyed what could and should have been easily Australia’s most spectacular racing category. Watch this space.

(An1images.com)

Bob Morris was a goer wasn’t he!

Here he is doing the Light Car Club of Australia a favour by cutting the grass on the inside of Dandy Road. He is running, or trying to, up the inside of the A9X Torana driven by Pete Geoghegan, Geoghegan won his last ATCC race that April 1978 day. Pete won from Morris and Allan Grice, also Torana A9X mounted.

I loved the way the Ron Hodgson boys stuck it up the ‘factory team’ for so long.

(W Reid)

Budgie Smugglers, Stirl? Close, but not quite.

Stirling Moss catches up with Roger Bailey during preparation of the Ferrari Dino 246T, which Chris Amon drove to within a bees-dick of beating Jim Clark’s Lotus 49 Ford in the following day’s 1968 Australian GP at Sandown Park. See here for more Dino: Amon’s Tasman Dino… | primotipo…

Ah…the old Sandown paddock was as tight as, but a wonderful place for spectators at least! F Vees in close attendance to Chris (W Reid)
(unattributed)

Marvin the Marvel’s Mustang leads the field at the start of the 1968 Sebring 12 Hour. Not quite. Jo Siffert’s Porsche 907 is to the left and off-screen, the winning car Jo shared with the very recently departed Hans Hermann.

Allan Moffat is aboard a Shelby Ford Mustang he shared with fellow ‘Australian’ Horst Kwech, click here for a lengthy epic on Moffat’s American career; Moffat’s Lotus Cortina, Shelby, K-K and Trans-Am phases… | primotipo…

#50 is the Ludovico Scarfiotti Porsche 907, #29 Paul Hawkins, Ford GT40 – note his JW Automotive teammate #28 Jacky Ickx is still belting-up and has not yet dropped the clutch – #9 is Scooter Patrick’s Lola T70 Mk3 GT Chev, with Jo Bonnier’s yellow similar car standing out further back. #42 is the Lucien Bianchi blue with taped up lights Alpine A211 Renault , the white #56 Porsche 910 was started by Foitec. A Chev Corvette is well forward but I’m not sure which one, so too is one of Roger Penske’s Chev Camaros, probably the car started by Mark Donohue. And the rest…

(unattributed)

Lorraine Hill’s Swallow Doretti at Warwick Farm in the early 1960s, a mighty fine racer at a time women behind the wheel were a rare thing. Later married to racer Brique Reed, of course, a speedy couple indeed. Who are the MGA racers folks?

Reigning J.A.F. Japanese Grand Prix winner Leo Geoghegan during practice of the May 1970 event at uber-fast, daunting Fuji International Speedway.

Leo is chasing more straight-line speed in his Lotus 59B Waggott 2-litre by running wingless. Jackie Stewart won the race in a Brabham BT30 Ford FVC, from his namesake, Max Stewart’s Mildren Waggott, with Leo sixth. See here for Leo’s ’69 victory; Leo Geoghegan: Australian Driving Champion RIP… | primotipo…

(Cummins Archive)

Lex Davison’s high born Alfa Romeo Tipo B being chased through Forrest’s Elbow by Doug Whiteford’s more utilitarian but very fast Ford V8 Spl ‘Black Bess’ at Mount Panorama during the Over 1500cc Handicap race, October 1950.

This dice up front lasted for most of the race until Lex locked a brake with two laps to go; Whiteford won on scratch, but ’51 AGP winner, Warwick Pratley took the handicap win, the money and cup with Dicer Doug behind him. See here for more on Bess; Doug Whiteford: ‘Black Bess’: Woodside, South Australia 1949… | primotipo…

Mark Webber cruising the streets of London in his Porsche 919 Hybrid in 2016, the PR perks of the job! See here; Le Mans Arty Farty… | primotipo…

(K Devine)

From the state of the sportscar art in 2016 to the equivalent in the late 1950s, the Lotus 15 Climax raced by owner Derek Jolly and John Roxburgh to victory in the Caversham 6 Hour in 1962 from the Dave Sullivan and George Wakelin Holdens.

See here for a piece about Derek and his two Lotus 15s; Derek’s Deccas and Lotus 15’s… | primotipo…

(K Devine)
(unattributed)

One of my favourite categories in one of my favourite years. 

Leo Geoghegan’s works-Birrana 273 Lotus-Hart-Ford 416-B leads the field in the September 1973 Symmons Plains, Tasmania, round of the Australian F2 Championship, which he won.

In line astern is the similarly powered Bob Skelton’s Bowin P6, Enno Buesselmann’s Birrana 273, Chris Farrell’s Dolphin 732 and Bruce Allison’s Bowin P6. See here for more ’73 ANF2; Testing Times… | primotipo…

Don O’Sullivan in his Matich SR3 Repco 4.4 V8 at Surfers Paradise in May 1969.

This is one of the two SR3s FM raced in the 1967 Can-Am Cup, and then ‘belted’ Chris Amon’s Ferrari Can-Am 350 with in the 1968 Tasman Cup support races, here in hi-winged form.

This epic about the SR4 also has a bit about the SR3: Matich SR4 Repco…by Nigel Tait and Mark Bisset | primotipo…

(I Smith)

What a superb looking racing car the Lola T400 Chev is, especially this one.

John Leffler braking hard into Shell Corner at Sandown, possibly during the February 1976 Rothmans round, he crashed out after five laps.

I’ve never done a piece on Leffo, time I did, he was our Gold Star champion in this car, T400-HU15, after all. A bit here:https://primotipo.com/2025/11/17/1975-australian-grand-prix-surfers-paradise/

And below blasting down the Surfers Paradise main straight, what meeting given his regular use of #7, who knows, but 1976-77.

(T Garbett)
(G Jamieson)

George Jamieson, Lotus 11 Climax FWA, chassis 358 on the grid above (and with fag below) during the 1960 Lowood, Australian Grand Prix weekend. See here for Mildren and the 1960 AGP:https://primotipo.com/2018/06/08/mildrens-unfair-advantage/

Car #135, an AC Ace, is not listed in the race program. I’m intrigued to know who it is. Jamieson DNF the race won by Alec Mildren’s Cooper T51 Maserati.

(G Jamieson)
(Via Doug Grant)

Racetracks in Australia ‘under snow’ is rather a rare event, ‘Skyline’ at Mount Panorama on August 22, 2020. Tangentially, see here:https://primotipo.com/2018/11/26/bathurst-lap-record/

(unattributed)

Dave Walker, Lotus 72D Ford during the 1972 Austrian Grand Prix weekend at the Osterreichring. DNF after engine failure in the race won by his teammate Emerson Fittipaldi. See more on Dave here:https://primotipo.com/2024/06/01/dave-walker-obituary/

(B Anstee)

Multiple Australian Hillclimb Champion Bruce Walton gives the Norman Hamilton crew a lift through the Fisherman’s Bend paddock in 1958, Porsche 550 Spyder. See here for a feature on this car; Hamilton’s Porsche 550 Spyder… | primotipo…

Credits…

John Lloyd, Leon Sims Collection, David Friedman, David Zeunert Collection, oldracingcars.com, Trevor Garbett, Darren Foster, S5000, An1images.com, Warren Reid, Cummins Archive, Ken Devine Collection, Graham Ruckert, Ian Smith, George Jamieson via Janice Jamieson, Barry Anstee

Tailpiece…

oldracingcars.com

Battle of the Queenslander Lotus 23 racers at Longford in 1968. Glyn Scott’s Lotus 23B Ford from Lionel Ayers MRC Lotus 23B Ford diving into The Viaduct. See here for Glyn; Glyn Scott… | primotipo… and here for Lionel; Sportscar Stalwarts… | primotipo…

Moffat, Macau, Mystery…

Posted: January 13, 2026 in Touring Cars
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0
(gthoregister.com.au)

One for FoMoCo Oz race fans.

Allan Moffat’s works GTHO being unloaded off a ship onto the Macau docks in advance of the 1971 Macau GP carnival held on the weekend of November 20.

‘Be careful, blokes, if we drop it, they’ll shove us on the other side of the border! I couldn’t give a toss about Mao or his Little Red Book’. There is something rather surreal about the whole scene.

Ford entered this car, while the Holden Dealer Team – the works team – took an LC Torana GTR XU-1 up for Peter Brock. Both were Group E Series Production machines, whereas that Guia 200/ACP Cup was a Group 2 event, run to more liberal modification rules.

Brock’s LC XU-1, local signage probably the car’s entrant, Far East Motors. Wheels Globe Rallymasters or Sprintmasters (unattributed)
Glemser and RS2600 are on the way to a record breaking pole of 2 min 56 sec (unattributed)

The star car/driver combo was recently minted European Touring Car Champion, Dieter Glemser aboard a 2.9-litre Ford Cologne entered ETCC Ford Capri RS2600 V6; 265-286bhp/ZF 5-speed/940kg/disc-disc/10×13 and 11.5×13 wheels. A weapon.

Brock’s XU-1 was ‘lightly modified’ from Series Production specifications, the only obvious external mod being fitment of a set of Globe Rallymaster aluminium wheels.

Moffat’s HO, upon closer inspection than most shots of this race in circulation allow – generally screen grabs of a video – is the more interesting as the machine is an XW HO gussied up to look a bit like an XY with its bonnet and shaker-air scoop. Is that attached to a 351 Windsor or Clevo?

Given the proximity of the late-season Australian enduros: Sandown, Bathurst, Surfers and Phillip Island, Howard Marsden shipped up an XW XY-HO Development Mule rather than the Real McCoy, it seems. Moffat won the last Manchamp round at Surfers on November 7. His and John French’s XY HOs finished in one piece, but maybe there wasn’t the time to prep and ship one of these cars to Macau. More likely, it just didn’t matter. Did FoMoCo Oz export any Falcons?

What are the VINs/names of the HO and XU-1 folks??

Moffat’s XW-XY HO Bitza. Team Harper, aka Wallace Harper & Co, the Hong Kong Ford distributors
Brock and Moffat on the first lap with Moffat about to exit stage right into the run-off area having messed up his Lisboa corner braking point in the bulky HO . Poon’s Alfa behind Brock with a BMW 2002 Tii looming as well (P Bennett)

The touring car events that weekend comprised two heats and a final. Brock qualified third in his Far East Motors-entered car behind Glemser and Albert Poon, who raced an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm lookalike; Autodelta engine and ‘Poon suspension. Neither Moffat nor Jim Smith – he of Cooper S and Camel Rover Repco-Holden fame – who raced a Teddy Yip-owned BMW 2002, cop a qualifying mention in my reference material, but the video indicates a row three start or thereabouts for Moff.

Poon ? Glemser and Brock before the off (P Bennett)
Stature and stance of Glemser’s Group 2 Capris contrasts with Brock’s Series Torana (P Bennett)

The final comprised two events run concurrently: the Guia 200 was 20 laps of the demanding, unforgiving 6.115-mile track, and the ACP Cup 15 laps.

The perils of Macau were demonstrated all too sadly during practice when David Ma lost control of his Lotus 47 Ford FVA under braking for Statue Corner, while trying in the final session to qualify for the Grand Prix, and crashed fatally into a lamp post .

Glemser was an easy winner of the Guia from Poon and Brock, who diced throughout. Note that some references – all of the Australian ones – have Brock in second place having finished ahead of Poon who ran low on fuel in his last lap. Moffat went up the escape road on the first lap in the Big Henry and recovered to finish fifth.

The ACP Cup was taken by Ted Morrat’s BMW 2002 Tii from P Ramirez Toyota Corolla and Xie Dewen’s Cooper S. I don’t have a full list of competitors, but the videos show far more starters than my list of finishers, meaning my finishers list is incomplete.

See Paul Bennett’s video of the meeting here:https://youtu.be/ZsCohn9sCdk?si=AJx5RnG_3IRdOs55

Ted Morrat, BMW 2002 Tii, 1971 ACP Cup winner (J Santos)
Moffat enroute to winning the Guia in 1973 aboard a works- Team Harper Ford Capri RS2600 (Getty)

Etcetera…

Allan Moffat was very impressed by Dieter Glemser and his Capri. Allan shared his Falcon XB GT Hardtop with the German in Moff’s unsuccessful 1974 Bathurst 1000 challenge.

Moffat returned to Macau. In 1973, he won the Guia in a 3-litre Ford RS2600. He was impressed enough to get FoMoCo Oz to buy him one of the Ducks Guts ultimate spec Capri’s in late 1974. Moff’s ex-works 3.4-litre Ford Cosworth GAA-powered RS3100 first raced in Australia in the Sandown Tasman meeting in February 1975, and at Macau that November, DNF.

Moffat’s FoMoCo Oz Capril RS3100 at Macau in 1975 (unattributed)

In the 1981 Guia, he was 11th in an RX-7. His final visit – his final ever race – was in 1989, when he finished third in the ‘Teddy Yip Mazda (MX5) Race of Champions’ on November 26 (below).

(Official Allan Moffat)

Harry Firth felt that Brock’s performance that ’71 Macau weekend, when he was very quick, changed him. Frankly, other than Glemser, who would hardly have extended his car more than he needed, it was not a field of great depth.

‘Peter came back from that a totally different person. He realised what international racing was all about. Totally different world. And he realised he was as good as any of them.’ Less than twelve months later, he bagged his first Bathurst crown.

Credits…

touringcarracing.net, Harry Firth quote from V8Sleuth, Getty Images, Official Allan Moffat FB page, Jose Santos, Paul Bennett Video

Finito…

Australian Tourist Trophy, Bathurst 1958…

Posted: January 10, 2026 in Features, Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , , , ,
3

Bill Pitt, Jaguar D-Type, leads Doug Whiteford, Maserati 300S and race winner David McKay heading up Mountain Straight during the early stages of the 31-lap, 100-mile Australian Tourist Trophy at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, on October 6, 1958.

That weekend was an incredible double-header combining the Australian Grand Prix won by Lex Davison’s Ferrari 500/625, and the Australian Tourist Trophy.

It was the second running of an event first won by Stirling Moss in a Maserati 300S during the 1956 AGP carnival at Albert Park.

McKay, Whiteford, Phillips and Kiwi, Frank Cantwell’s Tojeiro Jaguar (unattributed)

By then, we had a good grid of outright current sports cars, including: Aston Martin DB3S – ex-works car for David McKay, and Warren Blomfeld’s Tom Sulman-owned customer machine, Maserati 300S – Doug Whiteford’s ex-works car, Derek Jolly’s ex-works Lotus 15 Climax FPF 1.5, Ron Phillips’ ex-Peter Whitehead Cooper T38 Jaguar, customer Jaguar D-Types for Bill Pitt and Jack Murray, plus a C-Type for young thruster Frank Matich. The quickest of the local cars was Gavan Sandford Morgan in Derek Jolly’s Decca Mk 2 Climax FWA.

Pitt and McKay head up Mountain Straight, while Whiteford, Phillips and Jolly negotiate Hell Corner (P Longley)

McKay won with Jolly’s 1.5-litre Lotus second – first in class – then Ron Phillips’ Cooper T38, Frank Matich in the Leaton Motors C-Type, Gavan Sandford Morgan, Decca MK2 Climax then Warren Blomfield’s Aston Martin DB3S in sixth.

(Edgerton Family Arc)

Etcetera…

(R Reid)

Early laps I suspect with Bill Pitt in the Geordie Anderson D-Type from the obscured Jolly Lotus 15 and distinctive blue flash of Ron Phillip’s Cooper Jag.

As many of you may recall, Ron Phillips won the 1959 Australian Tourist Trophy in the Cooper held at Lowood in June from Pitt’s Jag and Bob Jane’s Maserati 300S. See MotorSport feature about the Cooper-Jag here:https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-2022/137/home-away-a-cooper-jaguars-racing-adventures/

(K Devine Arc)
Cooper T38 Jag, Bathurst paddock (P Kelly)

Not to forget Derek Jolly of course. He took ATT honours in the second of his Lotus 15s at Longford in March 1960, on that occasion Doug Whiteford’s Maserati 300S was second and Frank Matich third in a D-Type.

McKay in DB3S/9 and Warren Blomfeld in DB3S/103 below.

The Leaton C-Type was Frank Matich’s first Big Car and he handled it rather well in a career that stretched all the way to the end of the 1974 Tasman Cup.

He won the Australian Tourist Trophy four times: 1964, Lotus 19B Climax, 1966, Elfin 400 Oldsmobile, and 1967-68 in his Matich SR3 Repco-Brabham 4.4. Not to forget the Australian Sports Car Championship aboard the 4.8-litre Matich SR4 Repco in 1969.

(K Devine Arc)

Educated guess territory…Jim Wright’s Buchanan TR2 from Harry Capes’ Jaguar XK120. 14th and 19th respectively. And below, Phillip’s Cooper Jag again, in front of I’m not sure who.

(K Devine Arc)

Credits…

Des Lawrence, Peter Longley, Edgerton Family Archive, Bob Ross Collection, Ron Reid, David Medley, Paul Kelly Collection, Ken Devine Archive

Finito…

Targa Florio 1958…

Posted: January 6, 2026 in Fotos, Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , , , ,
1
moss targa
(M Wright)

Stirling Moss, Aston Martin DBR/1, May 11, 1958, Targa Florio…

Luigi Musso was the class of the field that day and led from the first lap in a works-Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 3-litre V12 co-driven by Olivier Gendebien. Moss went off the road and damaged a wheel early on, then redeemed himself with a lap record more than a minute quicker than Musso, but the solitary Aston’s gearbox cried enough under the strain during its fifth lap.

‘Yep, I’ll supersize that with fries.’ Musso in command of the leading 250 Testa Rossa, not in need of assistance from the Ferrari pit, way out west (unattributed)
Porsche did well with results as per the postcard

Musso’s car lost its brake fluid, but such was the car’s lead that he pitted, the Scuderia mechanics fixed the problem and Gendebien brought the car home first in the 10 lap race on 10hr 37.58 from Jean Behra/Giorgio Scarlatti Porshe 718RSK 10:43.38 with Wolfgang von Trips/Mike Hawthorn third in another works Ferrari 250TR on 10:44.29.

38 cars started the race, 15 finished, the last pair home was Sig Ada Pace and Carlo Peroglio’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV, below, time undisclosed. More about Ada here:https://www.adrenaline24h.com/2020/04/pit-stop-ada-pace-pioniera-del-motorsport-al-femminile/

(targapedia.com)
(targapedia.com)

Luigi Musso and Olivier Gendebien before the off, while below, Jean Behra gets ready to start in the RSK he shared with Giorgio Scarlatti, and below that, the same car at rest.

Porsche 718 RSK Spyder 1498cc flat-four (T Walker)

Classic Targa family shot, the cautious family man on the inside of the corner watch the Ferraro brothers – Pietro and Paolo – Ferrari 250 GT LWB (DNF) while macho-man puts himself and the babe at risk on the outside.

(unattributed)

Luigi Musso jumps out of the winning car in the shot above, the more you look the more you see! Mechanics in natty brown overalls, lots of ’em, quick-lift jack to the right, the Shell man to the left and overall vibe grab mine.

While Peter Collins does his thing in the Testa Rossa he shared with Phil Hill to fourth place, 2.5 minutes or so behind the race winners, below.

(Getty-Klemantaski)
(J Alexander)

This pairing reminds me that Phil Hill made his Grand Prix debut with Scuderia Ferrari on the Nurburgring, during the 1958 German Grand Prix on August 3, the day Peter Collins died at the wheel of a Ferrari Dino 246, Phil was in a 156, the F2 variant, shot above.

Luigi Musso died chasing Mike Hawthorn during the French Grand Prix at Reims a month before on July 6, both on 246 Dinos.

Alfonso de Portago died at Cavriana during the May 12, 1957 Mille Miglia aboard a Ferrari 335S, while Eugenio Castellotti was killed at the wheel of Ferrari 801 testing at Modena that March 14.

Mike Hawthorn’s death at the wheel of his Jaguar Mk1 on the Guildford Bypass – as the reigning but retired Ferrari World Champion – bookended a horrific two years for Ferrari. Driver error in all cases folks, mistakes could be awfully expensive in them-thar days…

Etcetera…

Jean Behra blows off a bus during practice…while Peter Collins shows off the voluptuous lines of the Testa Rossa below.

(Wikipedia)

The FIA reacted to the 1955 Le Mans and 1957 Mille Miglia tragedies by limiting outright cars contesting the 1958 World Sportscar Championship to a capacity of no more than 3-litres.

Ferrari picked up where they left off with the 4-litre 335S, the 3-litre, circa 300bhp 250 Testa Rossa won four of the six championship rounds: Buenos Aires, Sebring, Targa and Le Mans and the championship from Porsche, the other pair of outright wins on the Nurburgring and at Goodwood went to the Aston Martin DBR1/300 who were third in the title chase.

Collins, maaagic shot! (Y Debraine)
(T Matthews)

Technical Specifications in brief…

Tipo 128LM 60° SOHC two-valve Colombo V12, alloy block and head. Bore/stroke 73.0/58.8 – 2953cc, Compression ratio 9.8:1, six Weber 36DCN carbs, two distributors, circa-300 bhp @ 7200rpm.

Four speed all synchro gearbox, diff ratios:3.55, 3.77, 4.00, 4.25, 4.59, 4.86:1

Tipo 526 welded steel ladder frame chassis, 2350mm wheelbase, 1308 front track, 1300 rear track.

Independent front suspension by upper and lower wishbones, coil springs and Houdaille shocks. Rigid rear axle on customer cars, De Dion on factory cars, coil springs, Houdaille shocks

Drum brakes, Borrani wire wheels with 5.50 x 16 inch front tyres and 6.00 x 16 rears. Body by Scaglietti. Weight circa-900kg

Moss chases Collins

Credits…

Michael Wright, targapedia.com, Ted Walker, Getty Images-Bernard Cahier-Louis Klemantaski, Yves Debraine, Tony Matthews, Jesse Alexander, barchetta.cc

Finito…

Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Spyder…

Posted: January 6, 2026 in Uncategorized
4
(MotorSport)

The victorious Olivier Gendebien/Phil Hill 4-litre Ferrari 330 TRI/LM V12 chassis # 0808 blasts through The Esses on the way to victory at Le Mans over the June 23-24, 1962 weekend.

Ferrari finished 1-2-3 in a dominant display, the one-off car of the Belgian/American duo completed 331 laps with Pierre Noblet’s Ferrari 250GTO five laps in arrears, the driving duties shared with Jean Guichet. In third was the Leon Dernier/Jean Blaton Equipe National Belge entered 250 GTO on 314 laps.

In fourth and fifth place – best of the rest – were two of the new Jaguar E-Type Lightweights, Briggs Cunningham and Roy Salvadori in an open drophead, and Peter Lumsden and Peter Sargent aboard the latter’s coupe.

Superb weather to start the race. Paddy Hopkirk in the Sunbeam Alpine he shared with Peter Jopp (DNF) with Leon Dernier in the third placed Ferrari 250 GTO alongside (MotorSport)
(MotorSport)

When the CSI/ACO created a new outright ‘experimental’ class for cars of no more than 4-litres (GT cars had the same capacity limit) Ferrari built one final variant of the long running and so successful Testa Ross sportscars and ‘threw its keys’ to their most experienced endurance pairing, the Gendebien/Hill duo having won at La Sarthe in 1958 Ferrari TR/58, and 1961 Ferrari 250 TRI/61. Gendebien also won in 1960, sharing his Ferrari 250 TR59/60.

Olivier Gendebien practising the mid-engined Ferrari 268 SP during the Targa weekend in May 1962. The car didn’t start after Phil Hill ran off the road (MotorSport)

The Maranello mob had been focusing their energies on new fangled mid-engined Dino V6 and V8 sportscars (above), but rightly figured they may be able to squeeze one more win out of old hardware. In so doing Ferrari 330 TRI/LM 0808 became the last front-engined car to win the 24 hour classic outright.

(MotorSport)

The 1962 Le Mans winner started life as 250 TRI/60 chassis, #0780TR, a Fantuzzi Spyder that was badly damaged by Cliff Allison at the Targa Florio in March 1960. He had a front tyre blowout in practice. Back at Maranello it was rebuilt from bits donated by the wrecked 250 TR59/60 #0772TR then raced at Le Mans. Willy Mairesse and Richie Ginther drove the car but retired with a broken driveshaft on the Sunday morning.

#0780 was then returned to the factory and fitted with a TRI61-style high rear body incorporating a Kamm tail, the front was unchanged. In this form it was used as an aerodynamic test-bed by Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarini to develop the ’61 TRI body.

The Mairesse/Parkes Ferrari 250 TRI/61 chassis #0780 on the way to second place at Le Mans in 1961. This swoopy, sensational car was torn down and donated much of its parts except engine, chassis, body, etc to create 330 TRI/LM #0808 (MotorSport)

The car was raced extensively in 1961, placing second at Sebring (Giancarlo Baghetti, Ginther, Taffy von Trips) and at Targa where it was crashed. This time the car was fitted with a new TRI/61 nose before finishing second at the Nurburgring 1000Km driven by the Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro. A late pitstop to replace a broken front wheel lost the chance for the NART entered car to win. Mairesse and Mike Parkes raced it at Le Mans, finishing second behind the winning sister, works Gendebien/Hill Testa Rossa. The chassis finally bagged an overdue win when Lorenzo Bandini and Georgio Scarlatti won the Pescara 4 Hours late in the year.

Gendebien 1962 (MotorSport)
#0808 Le Mans 1962 (MotorSport)

Convinced that one of their big front-engined TRs could still do the trick, #0780 was torn down and rebuilt around a new chassis – #0808 – and Tipo 163 Colombo 4-litre SOHC, two-valve V12. The dry-sumped, 60 degree, 3967cc (77×71 mm) engine had modified cylinder heads incorporating bigger valves, fed by six twin-choke Weber 42DCN carbs, it gave about 390bhp @ 7500rpm, about 50bhp more than the 250TR unit. The five speed gearbox was modified to take the extra power and torque.

The new chassis, a more sophisticated mix of traditional ladder frame, and multi-tube spaceframe was 63mm longer than the 250’s, in part this was to accommodate the slightly longer engine and to improve overall balance. Suspension design was a carryover from the 250; upper and lower wishbones, coil springs and Koni dampers both front and rear. Steering was by way of worm and sector.

Nice shot showing the the rear aero/roll bar of #0808 in 1962, whereas the shot below is of the cockpit 12 months hence at Le Mans, with the aero structure removed by NART (MotorSport)
(MotorSport)

Wheels/tyres were Borrani wire/Dunlop-6×16 inch and 7x16inch front/rear, brakes were Dunlop disc front and rear, front/rear tracks 1225mm, the wheelbase 2400mm – same as the short-block – and weight quotes very from 685Kg to 820Kg!

To cap it all off, Carozzeria Fantuzzi built a new body, developed with the aid of Ferrari’s small wind tunnel installed in 1960, to Pininfarina’s design incorporating an aerodynamic roll hoop which served to aid the flow of turbulent air caused by the cockpit/windscreen and therefore improve high speed stability.

#0808 first appeared at the Le Mans test in April driven by the defending winners, Gendebien and Hill. It recorded fastest time of the day despite damp conditions and being fitted with only three Webers, so wasn’t raced, but was rather developed further at the factory and one test at Monza before dominating Le Mans.

The off, Le Mans 1962. (MotorSport)
(MotorSport)

It wasn’t a cakewalk though. Hill broke Mike Hawthorn’s lap record in practice but both drivers experienced a slipping clutch all weekend. This had to be managed by precise ‘changes and using a taller gear than optimal, neither driver expected it to last the race.

The major potential opposition comprised a mix of other Ferraris, two Maserati Tipo 151s entered by Briggs Cunningham and the works Aston Martin DP212. After the Rodriguez brothers’ works-Dino 246SP retired at 4.30am on Sunday morning, the 330 inherited a four lap lead, they extended to five laps before the end.

(MotorSport)
(MotorSport)

Don Rodriguez acquired the car after the race, with Pedro driving the NART prepared car – now devoid of roll hoop which Chinetti didn’t consider aerodynamic – win to a Bridghampton GP win and second place in the Canadian GP in late ’62. After Ricardo Rodriguez was killed in the Mexican GP, Master Gregory raced #0808 to fourth in the Nassau Trophy.

Into 1963, Pedro and Graham Hill raced the car to third at Sebring behind two new, mid-engined 3-litre V12 250Ps. At one stage the 330 led by three laps until mechanical, electrical and exhaust manifold problems intervened.

Graham Hill, #0808 at Sebring in 1963 (L Galanos)
Pedro during a pitstop at Le Mans in 1963 (unattributed)
Penske, Le Mans 1963 NART 330 TRI/LM (MotorSport)

NART entered the car at Le Mans to defend its title, Pedro and Roger Penske started from pole, then trailed the works 250Ps until a rod failed during the ninth hour. Lubricant on tyres can be a lethal mix, Penske lost the car and took Jo Bonnier’s Porsche 718/8 GTR out in the ensuing prang which left Penske uninjured but #0808 severely damaged, and never to be raced again.

Returned to the factory for repair, the car was fitted with a Fantuzzi coupe body (below) and returned to the US where it was purchased by Hisashi Okada who used it as roadie from 1965 to 1974. Pierre Bardinon used it similarly until commissioning Fantuzzi to return it back to ’62 specs in 1974-75. It continues its life as global investable commodity

Scrappy, crappy shot of #0808 in Fantuzzi coupe guise circa 1963 (Wikipedia)
Le Mans 1963 (MotorSport)

Etcetera…

(MotorSport)

The Mairesse/Parkes 250 TRI/61 #0780 – the 330 ‘donor car’ – with a touch of the opposites at Le Mans in 1961.

(MotorSport)

“The clutch Mauro, the clutch…”. “Treat it like your girlfriend Pheel…very, very gently.” Or words to that general effect.

(more…)

Alan Jones Can-Am…

Posted: January 2, 2026 in Sports Racers
Tags: , , ,
8
(K Oblinger)

Alan Jones was a formidable weapon in anything; it took him four or so years to clear F3, but it was whammo after that as he stepped into more powerful cars: Formula Atlantic, F5000 and F1.

He raced F5000 on most continents, here in an F5000 in drag, a 5-litre central-seat Can-Am car, Carl Haas Lola T333CS Chev, at Riverside on October 15, 1978, where he won from fellow Aussie, Warwick Brown’s similar VDS Racing machine.

(R Deming)

Jones won five of the 1978 championships’ ten rounds, gathering 2712 points and the title from Brown, on 2548 then Al Holbert in another T333 on 1674 points.

Watkins Glen 1978 (P Goesina)

Jones is swapping notes in the Watkins Glen pits above with Jean-Pierre Jarier who raced a works Shadow DN10 Dodge, Q6/DNF gearbox. Brown won that round from Al Holbert and Rocky Moran, all three raced Lola T333CS, with Jones a DNF.

Jones at Watkins Glen (P Goesina)
(P Goesina)

The rear of Jones’ T333CS Chev in the Watkins Glen paddock, essential elements at this end of the car are a 5-litre 525bhp or so Chev V8 and Hewland DG300 five-speed transaxle.

In the US, many Lola T332 Chev F5000 cars became Lola T332CS Chev Can-Am cars by buying the requisite body kit from Lola. You could buy a T332CS from the factory as well. The mildly updated Lola T333CS could be converted back the other way. The VDS Racing Lolas that Warwick Brown raced in the 1978-79 Rothmans F5000 internationals were T333 HU1 and HU2 fitted with good ‘ole T332C bodywork.

Check out the Lola T333CS on the Lola Heritage website:https://www.lolaheritage.co.uk/type_numbers/t333cs/t333cs.html and the 1978 Can-Am season here:https://www.oldracingcars.com/canam/1978/

Etcetera F5000…

Despite missing half the season, Jones was equal seventh in the 1975 Shellsport British F5000 Championship 1975, together with Bob Evans. He won two rounds in RAM Racing cars, here at Brands Hatch on August 25, aboard a March 75A powered by the Ford Cosworth GAA 3.4-litre twin-cam, four-valve V6 fitted to Ford’s Cologne Capri RS3100 touring cars. Tony Brise and Guy Edwards were second and third aboard T332 Chevs.

Redman, Lola T332C Chev, Jones, Lola T332 Chev, Ongais, Lola T332 Chev, Oliver, Shadow DN6B Dodge and the rest #4 Pilette, Lola T430 Chev and #7 Sam Posey Talon MR-1A Chev (Getty)

Brian Redman and Alan Jones on the front row of the rolling start Mosport Park round of the 1976 US F5000 Championship on June 20, 1976.

Jones won here and at Watkins Glen later in a season where Jones mixed his Surtees F1 and F5000 programs, finding the latter much more satisfying!

Allan Brown wrote, ‘With two rounds to go, Jones (2 round wins) and Oliver (1 win Shadow DN6B Dodge) were tied for the championship lead, but when Oliver retired at Road America, and Jones had to miss the race to be at the Dutch GP, Redman (3 wins) won and leapt into a significant points lead. Third place in the last round secured the Lancastrian his third successive title, while Al Unser’s win (1 win Lola T332) propelled him into second place in the final points table.’

Grids of great depth that year, in addition to the above, competitors included Warwick Brown, Vern Schuppan, Teddy Pillette, Peter Gethin, Graham McRae, John Cannon, Brett Lunger, Danny Ongais, and occasionals/one-offs David Purley, Bruce Allison, Derek Bell, Maurizio Flammini and Patrick Tambay.

Jones, Sid Taylor/Teddy Yip Lola T332 Chev leads Peter Gethin, VDS Racing Chevron B37 Chev early in the 1977 Sandown International won by Max Stewart, his final race win (B Forsyth)

Jones was far and away the quickest bloke on the grid in Australia’s four-round Rothmans F5000 Championship in 1977. Still, he jumped the start in the Oran Park AGP, boofed a car in Surfers Paradise, then had overheating at Sandown and DNFd. Still, he won in Adelaide and made it awfully clear to his countrymen – having not raced in Australia since finishing second in the September 1968 Sandown 3-Hour touring car race in a Holden Monaro GTS327 shared with Clive Millis – just how blindingly quick he was!

Sandown pits (R Steffanoni)

The Jones/Millis second place Holden HK Monaro GTS327 at Shell Corner, Sandown during the September 3-Hour ‘Bathurst warm up’.

While entered by Jones, the car has Lloyd Holyoak Holden signage on it. Holyoak – still with us – was one of Stan Jones’ oldest friends/employees/confidants/supporters, so for sure Lloyd will have pulled the car off his Warrandyte dealership forecourt. One little old lady owner etc…

(M Bisset)

Melbourne enthusiast/historian David Zeunert (second from right) organised a small gathering of Stan Jones Nutters to pay our respects on the centenary of Stans birthday, March 16, 2023, at Springvale Cemetery, a stone’s throw from Sandown.

That’s Lloyd Holyoak sharing his recollections of all things Stan. Some Melburnian Aussie Rules fans may recall Holyoak, a very handy cricketer and football player in his youth, as the North Melbourne Football Club President when North won the VFL ’77 Flag.

(M Bisset)

Credits…

Kurt Oblinger, Richard Deming, Peter Goesina, Lola Heritage, Rod Steffanoni, autopics.com.au

Finito…