primotipo…

I love this shot of Ken Ward’s Morgan Ford – Series IV 4/4 aluminium bodied Ford 1498cc – at Warwick Farm during the December 1969 meeting, taken by Stephen Fryer. A little later after this, the roll bar regs ruined such a pucka-racy look!

Several years ago, talented racer/car builder/historian/photographer Peter Houston very kindly gave me a copy of his photo archive, which I’ve finally got around to having a serious look at! Thanks so much, Wirra!

Some of Stephen Fryer’s shots, almost entirely at Warwick Farm, caught my eye, so I thought I’d start there. I’m sure Peter will give us Stephen’s CV once he spots this post. I’m guessing this is our man shortly after obtaining his licence and putting his P’s on a Cooper S. Not a bad first car at all!

I suspect this bunch of photographs was taken during the RAC Trophy meeting at the Farm over the May 3, 1970 weekend.

It was the second round of that year’s Australian Sports Car Championship (ASCC) won by Niel Allen’s Elfin ME5 Chev 5-litre (below) from Frank Matich’s dominant Matich SR4 Repco 760 5-litre (above), with Phil Moore’s Elfin 300C Lotus-Ford third. Dennis Uhrane follows in his Elfin 300 Lotus-Ford 1.5.

There is no way Niel beat FM on equal terms that day; Matich must have had mechanical problems with the car that toasted the opposition in the 1969 ASCC. SR4 was famously built to contest the 1968 Can-Am Cup, but the chassis, body and engine all ran late, so the car never made it stateside and instead became king of the kids at home. It was somewhat akin to taking an AK47 to a fight where the rest of the crew were armed with 303s.

See here for way more than you need on the SR4 with the ME5 copping a paragraph or three towards the end:https://primotipo.com/2016/07/15/matich-sr4-repco-by-nigel-tait-and-mark-bisset/

Stephen’s overhead shot above, taken from the steps of the Dunlop Bridge, I suspect, shows Garrie Cooper’s edgy-wedgy for 1969 body design. This monocoque chassis big sporty had quite a short wheelbase and needed an elite-level driver such as Allen to get the best out of it.

He didn’t race it for long. With the onward march of F5000, he had Peter Molloy crank the Bartz Chevy outta the Elfin and into a ‘spankers McLaren M10B. ME5 co-design/contribution credits to Tony Alcock and John Webb.

On May 2, 1971, there was a 100-lapper for Series Production cars; the Castrol Trophy was the second of five rounds of the Australian Manufacturers’ Championship.

The shot above shows three very capable long-time steerers: Bob Forbes in a Fiat 1600 Coupe, Allan Moffat’s works Ford Falcon GTHO, and Don Holland’s Holden Torana LC Torana GTR XU-1, the latter duo fighting for outright honours.

Moffat and Holland are monstering an Escort Twin-Cam this time, on the Northern Crossing (of the horse racing track underneath). Stephen’s panoramas of a circuit I love, despite never having been there, are fantastic, and help in my understanding of the place!

Lynton Hemer tells us that ‘The race started at 11.30am and lasted just over three hours, the longest race ever held at the Farm, a race distance never to be repeated there. The Holden Dealer Team Toranas of Colin Bond and Peter Brock were the only cars to go the distance, taking first and second, 30 seconds apart, with Moffat in third place, a lap down.’

Finally, Rob Bartholomaeus’ research shows the shots above are actually of the 1971 South Pacific Touring Cars race held during the Farm’s Tasman round on February 14. ‘The outright results of the 1971 South Pacific Touring Series race at Warwick Farm were Colin Bond from Don Holland and Digby Cooke, all in Holden Torana GTR XU-1s. Moffat was third in Class E, and Forbes placed second in Class C,’ Rob wrote.

Thankfully, the Australian G & G F’cd attitude prevails even in these, homogenised, pasteurised, sanitised and purified days. Warwick Farm c-1971.

I reckon Stephen waited for Chummy to get bored up on his fabulous perch, then jumped up and took the shot below, which appears to be the start/warm-up lap of the 1971 Warwick Farm 100 Tasman round.

That’s Frank Gardner’s works Lola T192 Chev #31 peeling out on this side with Frank Matich’s McLaren M10B Repco-Holden on pole. #25 is Chris Amon’s Lotus 70 Ford, and the splash of yellow is Kevin Bartlett’s Mildren Chev. Gardner won the 45 lap 100 mile race from Amon and Bartlett. See here:https://primotipo.com/2025/06/15/warwick-farm-100-1971/

Another of Stephen Fryer’s high shots, again from the Dunlop Bridge (?) this time a bunch of battling Cooper ‘Esses’.

I thought it was an improved tourer race at first glance, but the presence of John Leffler’s blue-white works sports-racing-closed/sports sedan Cooper S Lwt tells me it’s a mixed grid. Peter Manton is up the front, but who are the blue and red cars, circa-1970, how about the May 3, ’70 meeting?

It could be the same race, but Stephen has swapped lenses. This time it’s Jim McKeown’s Porsche 911S 2.4 improved tourer and below Pete Geoghegan’s immortal John Sheppard built Ford Mustang 302 carrying #1 as the reigning (1969) Australian Touring Car Champion in 1970.

And how ’bout Marvin the Marvel in the same race? Were the Minilites on that shagadelic thing in 1970? Allan Moffat, Kar-Kraft Boss 302.

Lets change the pace a bit. Frank Matich giving the punters a wave during his very first race meeting with his brand new McLaren M10A Chev, again at Warwick Farm, in September 1969.

The period of Matich dominance, if not absolute domination of Australian F5000 racing started right here. It’s still two years until the class became Australia’s National F1 ‘ANF1’ but the 1970 Tasman Cup was run for Tasman 2.5s and F5000 and FM was in on the ground floor. Rothmans Team Matich wasn’t far away, soo too Repco’s F5000 program with Holden, of which FM became the works driver.

For the moment, the focus of just arrived from the UK, Derek Kneller, Peter Mabey and FM was making this car as fast as the new McLaren M10B. That’s Derek’s recently fabricated rear engine cover-wing, the Traco Chev is on Webers but was injected by the Tasman’s commencement. It’s all here:https://primotipo.com/2023/06/25/matichs-mclaren-m10c-repco-holden-v8/

Stephen has caught Jochen Rindt sliding his way around the Farm during the terribly wet February 6, 1969 Warwick Farm 100 aboard his works Lotus 49B Ford DFW 2.5. He was on another planet that dreary day providing yet another reminder to just minted teammate F1 World Champion Graham Hill that it was game-on! in ’69.

That’s Frank Gardner in Alec Mildren’s Mildren Alfa Romeo T33 2.5 V8 – soon to be dubbed the Yellow Submarine – below, while the following photo is Graham Hill, sans goggles, I think, about to gather up Niel Allen’s ex-Piers Courage McLaren M4A Ford FVA F2.

Rindt won from Derek Bell’s works Ferrari 246T V6 and Gardner. See here:https://primotipo.com/2018/01/19/rindt-tasman-random/

The Allan Moffat and John French works Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 2s lead away at the start of the Rothmans 3 Hour race for Series Production cars at Mount Panorama on Easter Monday, April 12, 1971.

They were first and second in the 65 lap race – the first heat in the 1971 Australian Manufacturers Championship – from the HDT LC XU1s of Peter Brock and Colin Bond.

Stephen only took only the one shot it seems, new girlfriend to attend to is my guess as to poor prioritisation…

Its got a bit of a 1969 feel about it to me…

Bob Jane, Pete Geoghegan and Peter Manton, then AN Other in the Warwick Farm Esses: Shelby Mustang, Sheppo Mustang and Skinny Cooper S.

That’s Chris Brauer in the ex-Jane ‘390 Mustang’below, he did pretty well in it until the car’s death in the Lakeside July 1970 ATCC round, so therefore he is at the Farm before then…see here:https://primotipo.com/2020/01/03/jano/

Credits…

Stephen Fryer photographs via Peter Houston, Lynton Hemer

Tailpiece…

Let’s finish with a shot from the same race as the first one.

This time, Merv Newby’s Jaguar XK150S FHC. ‘He raced that Jaguar at Bathurst. Merv had an automotive/smash repair business in Sydney’s western suburbs’, wrote Paul Newby.

It’s much too nice a car to race, much better to be taking the babe to Palmy or Bowral, surely?

Finito…