‘Michael Turner painting of Raymond Mays at Shelsley Walsh in 1949 with his famous 2-litre ERA R4D‘…
Mays was the King of Shelsley Walsh from the 1920s to the late 1940s, taking numerous FTDs and outright records in this period. He was ERA’s founding force ‘which was the first commercial racing car maker in Great Britain in 1934 and the rock upon which Britain’s current billion dollar racing car industry is built,’ wrote Simon Lewis. Mays won the first two British Hillclimb Championships in 1947-48 aboard R4D.
Ray Mays at Donington during the April 9, 1938 Empire Trophy meeting, the first time this chassis appeared in ‘D-specification’ .
Of the rest of the articles within the April 1962 issue of Motor Racing I rather liked the coverage of Stirling Moss’ dominance of the Warwick Farm 100.
Credits…
Motor Racing April 1962, ERA Facebook Group, Adam Ferrington, Adam Wragg and Vlad Shnur Collections
Tailpiece…
(A Wragg Collection)
While R4D features on the cover of the 1939 South African Grand Prix programme, it didn’t race.
Gigi Villoresi won the 18 lap race held on the 11 mile Prince George Circuit around East London aboard a Maserati 6CM, but the 15 starters included four ERAs: Roy Hesketh in R3A was fourth, Earl Howe R8B, fifth, while Peter Aitken raced R11B to seventh, with Peter Whitehead the only ERA DNF, he blew a piston on R10B. Perhaps the car was a little tired after its extensive tour of Australia – inclusive of an AGP win at Bathurst – throughout 1938.
Chris Amon sneaks a look in his mirrors, no need to worry too much! Ferrari Dino 246T/69 #0008 (MotorSport)
Unlike previous years when the cars had been shipped across The Ditch – the Tasman sea – from New Zealand to Australia, in 1969 they were air freighted as there was only a week between the Teretonga and Lakeside rounds, that year the site of the 1969 Australian Grand Prix held on February 2.
Top Guns were the Scuderia Ferrari/Chris Amon/Scuderia Veloce run Ferrari Dino 246Ts of Chris Amon and Derek Bell and the Gold Leaf Team Lotus Lotus 49B Ford DFW V8’s of just minted World F1 Champion Graham Hill and The Hunter-Jochen Rindt, with everything to prove.
The 1969 Tasman Cup gets underway at Pukekohe on January 4 with the gig-two on the front row. Chris Amon, Ferrari Dino 246T and Jochen Rindt, Lotus 49B Ford. Amon won from Rindt and Courage (MotorSport)
At the end of the four Kiwi rounds Amon was looking the goods for Tasman Cup honours, having won at Pukekohe and Levin and picking up third place points at Wigram and Teretonga. While the Lotuses were the fastest cars, they weren’t as reliable as the Ferraris: Amon and Bell had six out of seven point scoring finishes, while Rindt, Hill and Piers Courage – in Frank Williams Brabham BT24 Ford DFW – scored off only four races. Chris won the cup with four race wins (his two in Australia were at Lakeside and Sandown) to Jochen’s two (Wigram and Warwick Farm) and Piers’ one (Teretonga).
Rindt, Lotus 49B Ford #R10 heads towards The Karussel with Lake (MotorSport)
Practice…
Of the internationals, Only Ferrari and Piers Courage managed to get themselves sorted out in time, Bruce Sergent wrote. “While Lotus had all sorts of problems with customs and freight. It was apparent that Ford Australia weren’t behind the Lotus effort this year, for they had to do most of their own organising right from administration down to transport for drivers and mechanics.” Ferrari, of course had the well drilled David McKay/Scuderia Veloce organisation to deal with the logistics, and it showed throughout the weekend.
The new stiffer rear springs Amon was after from the start of the series were waiting for the two Ferraris in Brisbane, and with these fitted the cars were out early on Friday and soon showed it would be a tough round Lotus to even make a clean breast of. While Amon and Bell were making hay on a clear track, Lotus had only just received their cars and both needed attention. Rindt’s engine was misfiring, and Hill’s blew up shortly after starting up in the garage. Even with getting an engine back from Courage, it still left them with one very sick car, Rindt’s.
On Saturday, Amon comfortably took pole pole from Courage. Gardner had fitted a bi-wing set-up to his Mildren Racing Mildren Yellow Submarine Alfa Romeo V8 like Courage’s in unofficial practice but didn’t have the time to evaluate it and had to remove the front one and save it for testing on home turf at Warwick Farm, Sydney, the following week. Hill broke his wing in practice – the curse of Team Lotus at the time – but still managed fourth fastest, while Rindt was only able to push his Lotus 49B to fifth, creditable under the extreme circumstances.
Piers Courage, Brabham BT24 Ford DFW from Jochen Rindt, Lotus 49B Ford DFW thru the kink. The start-finish line is just out of shot (MotorSport)They are off: Amon and Courage, Hill and Bell partially obscured by Courage, then the two yellow winged Mildren entries of Gardner and Bartlett (G Ruckert)
Race…
Amon won the jump from Courage and streaked off into the afternoon sun while Hill, Courage and Bell lined up for battle behind, then followed Gardner, Rindt and Kevin Bartlett aboard the Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 2.5-litre-V8 that Gardner raced in the ’68 Tasman and was then driven by KB to victory in that years Gold Star, the Australian Drivers Championship. Next was Niel Allen’s ex-Courage McLaren M4A Ford FVA. It was Niel’s first drive at Lakeside after his huge accident during the Gold Star round in July 1968, the car’s monocoque having been rebuilt/replaced by Bowin Cars.
Positions remained static for a bit until Courage closed in on Hill and tried to pass on the outside as they ranged under brakes for BMC bend. But Piers didn’t quite make it and there wasn’t enough room left for both cars, Graham didn’t give way, being on-line for the corner so the two cars touched and Courage suddenly ran out of track and retired the car on the dirt with slightly bent front suspension. Hill lost four seconds giving Bell his opportunity and he went through into second position to make it a Ferrari 1-2 for the first time in the series.
Bartlett retired on the following lap with no water and blown head gaskets, giving away his position to Niel Allen. Then he overdid it under brakes, the front set locked, and he lost four places getting things in hand. He picked up one of the lost places immediately and set out on a long hard haul back through the field.
Rindt hustles his Lotus – engine problem duly noted – into BP Bend, Q5 and DNF. With fresh engine he made good and ‘blew the field off the planet’ in the Warwick Farm 100 one week henceFrank Gardner, Mildren Alfa Romeo V8 aka the Mildren Mono/Yellow Submarine (MotorSport)
Jochen Rindt made the next move when he displaced Leo Geoghegan’s ex-Clark Lotus 39 albeit with a Repco Brabham V8 rather than the Climax FPF four, on the 13th lap for fifth spot, but Geoghegan was hanging on grimly and didn’t let the Austrian get away from him. But Rindt pulled out every horse he could find in the ailing Cosworth V8 and slipped by Frank Gardner on lap 19, making the order Amon and Bell in Ferrari Dinos, Rindt’s Lotus 49B, Gardner’s Mildren Alfa, Geoghegan’s Lotus Repco, Max Stewart, Mildren Alfa 1.6 F2, Allen, Glyn Scott, Bowin P3 Ford FVA F2 and Malcolm Guthrie, Brabham BT21B Lotus-Ford 1.6.
Rindt held onto this position, trailed by Gardner, who was becoming concerned over oil pressure. His fears were confirmed when the Alfa Romeo engine blew an internal oil line and he was forced out of the race on lap 12. Gardner’s demise brought everyone up a place but Jochen Rindt’s forceful run ended when the Cosworth Ford V8 engine lost power and he quickly shut off and headed for the pits.
Derek Bell, Ferrari Dino 246T/69 #0010. No adjustable wing for Derek (MotorSport)
Chris Amon was busy lapping all but his team mate, Derek Bell, while Leo Geoghegan was sitting in a wonderful position behind Graham Hill in fourth spot. Col Green, ex-Hill/Gardner Brabham BT16 Climax 2.5 FPF was in and out of the pits with gearbox and engine problems while Alf Costanzo, McLaren M4A Ford FVA F2 had retired after a spin over the back of the circuit, then stalled and was unable to restart.
The rear wing on Hill’s Lotus 49 had looked shaky for a few laps and finally it broke and folded over his rear wheel. He tried to keep the car as steady as possible so not to be black flagged, and finally pitted to have the offending piece of iron cut from the car. Geoghegan, meanwhile, seeing Hill’s problem, had speeded up and went by as Hill was having the operation finished to his wing. He came back into the fray bent on getting his third spot back from Geoghegan, but the Lotus was suffering from oversteer with the now, light rear end, and he steadily lost ground.
Graham Hill’s 49B #R8 with the rear wing mount problems that Lotus never satisfactorily solved. No bodily harm caused on this occasion. Ultimately the FIA solved Lotuses problem for them with their intervention over the 1969 Monaco GP weekend (G Ruckert)Niel Allen, McLaren M4A Ford FVA. #M4A/2 is the ex-John Coombs/Courage ’67 Euro F2 entry, then, in Pier’s ownership his ’68 Tasman machine, and Longford round winner (MotorSport)
Niel Allen, worked hard to make up time lost in two spins and managed to catch Max Stewart in the surviving Alec Mildren Racing entry, the Mildren Alfa/Autodelta 1.6 four-valve F2 car and, now in fifth spot, went on to win the battle of the F2’s. Englishman, Malcolm Guthrie, having sat behind Glyn Scott on the Queenslander’s home circuit, finally made a last-minute burst and finished ahead of the Bowin. Scott was still waiting for a set of rods to come from Cosworth for his FVA engine, he was running on a set borrowed from Allen.
With two rounds to run, Amon’s win put him into an almost uncatchable Tasman Cup points lead. Only Piers Courage, with a bit of luck and by winning the final two races, could take the championship from the New Zealander. Rindt and Hill, equal on 15 points, were at that stage relegated to fighting out second spot.
Ain’t she sweet, Graham Ruckert has captured the car with its unloaded left-front off the deck. Note the hydraulics to operate Chris’ rear wing
Etcetera…
(MotorSport)
Graham Hill blasts through the hole left for him by Glyn Scott at Lakesides flat-knacker Kink.
It’s a David and Goliath shot. John Joyce’s superb monocoque was Lotus inspired too, he had a number of senior engineering posts at Lotus between 1963 and late 1967 when he returned home to start P3 – Project 3 – his first two cars (Projects 1 and 2) built before he left for his stint in the UK were a modified Cooper and the Koala Formula Junior. More about Glyn and the Bowin P3 here: https://primotipo.com/2020/07/24/glyn-scott/ and here: https://primotipo.com/2021/05/06/ian-peters-ex-glyn-scott-bowin-p3-101-68/
(MotorSport)
Nah, its too skinny to be Sergeant Schultz! It must be Jochen Rindt with a touch of the Adolfs, not the best protection for the searing Queensland summer sun, and with a smile on his face despite the challenges of the weekend.
Piers Courage took up where he left off in the ’68 Tasman, as a front runner in the clever car Frank Williams assembled for him. Brabham BT24-3 was ex-Brabham/Rindt/Gurney/Ahrens, with its F1 3-litre 740 Series Repco Brabham V8 removed and a 2.5-litre Ford Cosworth DFW installed the bi-winged Brabham was a very competitive car raced ably throughout. Piers ultimate pace was reinforced during that years GP season where he proved one of the quickest men around…he arrived that year big time.
Courage, Brabham BT24 Ford. Generally, but not completely, Ron Tauranac’s wings remained where he intended them from the start to the finish of the weekend (MotorSport)(MotorSport)
Frank Gardner’s (above) Len Bailey designed, Alan Mann Racing built Mildren Alfa used many Brabham BT23 components and was ‘best of the rest’ behind the big-five. Gardner arrived in New Zealand ‘under-winged’, he scored in four of the seven rounds and would have gained a bit with more downforce from the start of the series.
It’s one of the most iconic and instantly recognisable single-seaters ever raced in Australia by – in turn – FG, Kevin Bartlett, Bob Muir and Ray Winter with Tipo 33 2.5 V8 as here, then Waggott 2-litre TC-4V and finally 1.6-litre Lotus-Ford twin-cam in ANF2 spec.
Derek Bell drove well throughout the series, a pair of seconds at Lakeside and Warwick Farm his bests. He was fourth at Pukekohe, and fifth at Wigram, Teretonga and Sandown. Depending upon your source, Scuderia Ferrari provided four of the latest spec 2.4-litre, DOHC, four-valve fuel injected V6s for the two-car touring team. Bell was given less revs to play with than his team-leader!
I truncated and added to Thomas B Floyd’s race report in the Australian Motor Racing Annual 1969, Sutton, MotorSport Images, Graham Ruckert Photography, Bruce Sergent on sergent.com, oldracingcars.com
My friend Tony Johns lent me a couple of early AutoCourses that I turned into a couple of interesting posts. I’ll continue with that but thought I’d add an occasional piece based on my own collection of Automobile Years.
It’s the beauty of the some of the ads that really caught my eye. The reproduction of small monochrome racing shots isn’t that flash so I’m sharing the best of the relatively small number of colour shots and a few monochrome photographs within the mix of ads.
The artwork on the cover has a name but I can’t read it, nor is it disclosed elsewhere. The cars shown are a Fiat 8001 Turbina, Renault Shooting Star, General Motors XP-500 gas turbines.
Superb Yves Debraine shot of the start of the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix.
The two Lancia-Ferrari D50s of JM Fangio and #22 Eugenio Castellotti sandwiching Stirling Moss in a works-Maserati 250F. #16 is Harry Schell, Vanwall VW1, #30 Jean Behra, 250F, #24 Luigi Musso, Lancia-Ferrari D50, #32 Cesare Perdisa in another works Maserati 250F.
(Yves Debraine)
‘Stirling Moss had been in the lead from first to last and gave a faultless display of brilliant driving and faultless race strategy (being under great pressure from Fangio’s Ferrari late in the race). The discovery of the day was Peter Collins (Ferrari second) . Behra drove a steady race into 3rd place, with no incidents (250F).’ See here for more: https://primotipo.com/2014/08/21/stirling-moss-monaco-gp-1956-maserati-250f/
(Y Debraine)
Le Mans 24-Hours.
‘The privately entered Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar D-Type driven by Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson gave Jaguar an unexpected victory – the fourth since the war – after bad luck had struck the works team.’
‘Mike Hawthorn was in magnificent form and held the lead (of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone) for 15 laps.’
‘The BRM (Type 25) showed again that it is probably the fastest of all current Grand Prix cars, but Hawthorn was eventually passed by Moss (Maserati 250F) and others before being forced to retire at 23 laps by loss of lubricant to a rear universal joint, which produced incipient seizure.’
Moss the led until the 68th lap when misfiring intervened with Roy Salvadori driving the race of his life in the Gilby Engineering 250F, holding second place for 30 laps in front of all of the works cars! Fangio, Lancia-Ferrari D50 led to the finish after Moss retired, with Peter Collins/Alfonso de Portago second and Jean Behra, Maserati 250F third.
(B Cahier)
JM Fangio’s F1 Drivers Championship winning Lancia-Ferrari D50.
‘Front engine, V8 mounted at an angle. Bore and stroke 76 x 68.5mm, 2495cc. Maximum power 285bhp @ 8500rpm, 4-overhead camshafts, chain driven. 4 downdraught Solex twin-choke carburettors. Dual ignition: 2 magnetos, 16 plugs. Clutch at rear in unit with 5-speed gearbox and differential. Front suspension by double wishbones with transverse leaf spring. Rear suspension De Dion, with transverse leaf spring. Drum brakes. The tanks in the wheel fairings are no longer used, all the fuel being carried in the tail.’
(Y Debraine)
The Big Red Cars to the fore at the start of the French GP, Reims, July 1: Peter Collins, Eugenio Castellotti and JM Fangio in Lancia-Ferrari D50s ahead of the Moss Maserati 250F, Harry Schell’s Vanwall VW1 #22, and Jean Behra’s 250F, then one of the Gordinis, and the rest…
Fangio led until he pitted on lap 40, but he joined the fray after a change of plugs. Harry Schell raced brilliantly, retired his own Vanwall, then took over Hawthorn’s while it was in seventh place, and then chipped away at the leading Ferraris passing all but Fangio until injection pump trouble intervened.
Collins won from teammate Castellotti by three-tenths after 2 hr 34 min of close racing, then Behra 30 seconds back.
Sebring 12-Hour
‘The victory of the Fangio-Castellotti team (in the Sebring 12-Hour) was largely the work of the young Italian. Fangio, feeling unwell, had handed the car to him for the last hours of the race. The 3422cc four-cylinder Ferrari (860 Monza) covered a distance of 1008.72 miles in twelve-hours and put up a new record by doing twelve more laps than the winning Jaguar (D-Type) in 1955.’
Luigi Musso and Harry Schell were second in another Scuderia Ferrari 860 Monza with the Bob Sweikert/Jack Ensley Jaguar D-Type third.
Mille Miglia 1956…
I was going to give the shot below the same treatment as the rest and then I read the prophetic piece that went with it…not too long before the 1957 Mille disaster. It’s worth sharing in full I thought, an insiders view of the time clearly expressed.
‘For a long time after the catastrophe at the Le Mans Twenty-four Hours in 1955, motor-racing circles feared that the XXIInd Mille Miglia had been the last of the series. That race, in which 365 cars competed over 1,000 miles of roads lined by hundreds of thousands of spectators, is the most dangerous of all motor races for the drivers and even more so for the spectators.’
‘Therefore those who love the sport were all the more pleased when, after long and bitter disputes, the XXIII edition of the race was permitted-for it was a triumph over the enemies of motor racing-but they felt some uneasiness nonetheless. So few changes had been made in the regulations that the old risks were still there. The competitors were still to start off in the pitch dark and charge at headlong speed along roads lined – and in some places obstructed – by enthusiastie spectators many of whom had taken up their stand at the most dangerous points.’
‘The rain that fell incessantly throughout the race made the surface slippery in the extreme. Several cars left the road and the day closed with 7 fatal casualties – two of them among the spectators – and 16 injured. Indeed it was really only by sheer good luck that there were not a great many more. For these reasons we are against the Mille Miglia in its present form.’
‘Sooner or later it is bound to lead to a catastrophe fraught with the direst consequences because it could be so easily avoided. There must be fewer starters with a severe selection of the entries, and the most dangerous points-especially where the cars come out of a bend-must be closed to spectators. If these conditions, which without eliminating all danger would reduce the risk to reasonable proportions, cannot be satisfied the Mille Miglia will have to be considered anachronistic. We have nothing against the organizers. We simply believe that in common sense it must be admitted that the pleasure and interest of a limited number of people together with the technical advances brought about by the event are no justification for the terrible risks involved in a race where for 20 hours on end thousands of spectators without the slightest protection are within arm’s length of meteors unleashed at terrific speed.’
(‘A fine colour study which catches the typical atmosphere of many Mille Miglias. Rain pelting down from a leaden sky, spectators huddled together under umbrellas, and a brilliantly coloured car, headlamps blazing, as it roars on towards the finish at the end of the long day. The car is Collin’s Ferrari (860 Monza Scaglietti), taking second place in the XXIIIrd Mille Miglia with photographer and journalist Louis Klemantaski acting as navigator’ Y Debraine)
‘The XXIIIrd Mille Miglia was run in appalling weather which prevented the repetition of performances on a par with those recorded in 1955. The times chalked up by all the classes were slower than last year with the sole exception of Michy on RENAULT 750 c.c, who broke the record set up by Galtier in 1955. All in all one may say that the small, and therefore less speedy, cars were less severely handicapped by the rain than the powerful machines capable of doing over 125 m.p.h.’
‘Victory smiled on Eugenio Castellotti on a 3 ½-litre 12-cylinder FERRARI (290 MM Scaglietti). He took 1 hour 29 minutes 22 seconds more than Moss last year to cover the 1,597 kilometres of the course but his average speed was most impressive in view of the atmospheric conditions he was up against. Second place was taken by another FERRARI – a 3 1/2 litre 4-cylinder model – driven by Peter Collins whose passenger was our contributor Klemantaski, a bearded British journalist like Jenkinson.’
‘FERRARI won all the laurels taking 3rd, 4th and 5th places with Musso, Fangio and Gendebien, the latter being the winner of the “Grand Tourisme” class. In the next three places we find three MERCEDES 300 SL privately entered but prepared by the works. The MASERATIs were a disappointment although Scarlatti took first place in the class for sports cars under 2,000 c.c., while Perdisa was first in the under 3,000 c.c. class but only 28th in the general classification. Stirling Moss, No. I member of the team, whose car was not quite up to scratch, ran off the road before Rome and withdrew from the race.’
‘The ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA which had disappointed in 1955 put up a magnificent show this year. As usual PORSCHE took first place in the “Grand Tourisme” class under 1,500 c.c. but was defeated in the sports class by Cabianca’s OSCA 1500 and Jean Behra’s MASERATI. All four RENAULT DAUPHINES entered by the works finished the race although Paul Frère capsized when leading the team. The winner was Gilberte Thirion at an average of 65.85 m.p.h. Our contributor Bernard Cahier, at the wheel of his own DAUPHINE – a production model in every respect – covered the course at 58.28 m.p.h. Michy on a modified 4 H.P. RENAULT produced a fine performance, as already mentioned, by lowering the record for his class established in 1955 on a dry surface by Gaultier with a car of the same type.’
‘Of the 427 entries, 365 started but only 182 reached the finish – a wastage of 50 per cent.’
‘The Frölander and Lindbergh, shortly after take-off, on their flight to the Midnight Sun in a single-engined (?) Austin Healey.’ This crew didn’t finish in the top-10, the May 29-June 3, 1956 event was won by a VW 1200 driven by H Bengtsson and navigator A Righard.
Credits…
Automobile Year, Yves Debraine, Louis Klemantaski, Junior, Bernard Cahier, B Gronlund
Tailpiece…
I’ve long thought the power of an ad is inversely proportional to the word count…particularly if the visual imagery is up to snuff!
Ernesto Maserati looks on as Giuseppe Furmanik readies himself and his lightweight, streamlined, four cylinder 4C powered Maserati 6CM, chassis #1136 for a run during several speed record attempts he made at Tassignano on the Firenze-Mare Autostrada on June 2-3 1937.
Furmanik set the 1001-1500cc Flying One Kilometre record on June 3 at 148.4mph/237.568kmh (or 148.2/238.6 depending upon your source).
The car’s special aluminium bodywork was designed by the Centro Sperimentale Aeronautico di Giudonia and built by Carozzeria S. A. Viotti of Torino. Furmanik used the machine – also referred to as 4CM #1536, for which no factory build sheet exists – and another 4CM, chassis #1120, in record attempts.
Giuseppe Furmanik before a run in #1536, Pirelli tyres (Pirelli)
Of Polish descent Joseph Furmanik was born in Switzerland in 1903 then moved to Italy with his father circa 1919-20. He adopted ‘Giuseppe’, became an engineer, co-designed a parachute named the Salvator and married money.
Settled in Rome, he became a prominent figure in 1930s Italian motor racing with his competition exploits probably funded by parachute royalties. He succeeded Count Vincenzo Florio as President of the Royal Automobile Club of Italy (RACI) in 1937.
What a big arse you have my dear…I wonder what the insignia on the tail represents? (Pirelli)
4CM Technical Specifications…
Furmanik took delivery of 4CM #1120, a four-cylinder, twin-cam, two-valve, Roots-supercharged 125bhp at 5000-6000rpm 1100cc Maserati 4CM monoposto, on August 12, 1932.
The 4CM was avant-garde for its time, Maserati followed Alfa Romeo’s single-seater lead set by Vittorio Jano and his team with their Grand Prix Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 Monopostos.
Very light, the car’s two parallel channel section chassis members were only 620mm wide with bodywork tightly proportioned around the key mechanical components. Hydraulic brakes were fitted, again, leading edge for the time. The car had a four speed gearbox and period typical suspension comprising solid axles front and rear sprung by semi-elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers were fitted. The wheelbase was 240cm, track 120/120cm and weight circa 520-580kg.
4CM early competition…
The 4CMs looked great and were fast in a limited number of outings in their first year of competition, 1932. In the German Grand Prix held on the Nurburgring in July, Ernesto Maserati and Amedeo Ruggeri were third of 15 Group 2 800-1500cc cars in the race won by Rudy Caracciola’s Alfa Tipo B 2.6. Maserati followed up with fourth of the Voiturettes – Ernesto’s little 1100cc Maser was surrounded by 1500cc cars – at the Masarykuv Okruh at Brno in September.
Giuseppe Campari’s Maserati 4CM 2-litre ahead of Jean-Pierre Wimille’s Alfa Romeo Monza during the August 6, 1933 Nice GP (MotorSport)This shot and the one below shows the earlier Furmanik 4CM #1120, with body designed by Mario Revelli di Beaumont (RACI Motor Sport February 1936)
Furmanik’s Record Breaking…
Furmanik raced #1120 throughout 1933 finishing third in the Coppa Ciano Junior and Coppa Acerbo Junior in July/August and missing the final of the Monza Grand Prix in September and DNF in his heat.
Into 1934 Furmanik started the Coppa Ciano as favourite in the Voiturette class but didn’t finish after a slight accident on the first lap. He was fourth in the Coppa Acerbo Junior.
Giuseppe does not appear to have raced #1120 in 1935 (see change of ownership to Gino Rovere shortly) and then decided to plan an attack on the World Speed Record.
#1120’s power was increased (output not specified) and a lighter more streamlined body was designed by Mario Revelli di Beaumont – ‘the most prolific car designed you’ve never heard of’ – and the front brakes removed, the result about 470kg/1036lbs. He also adapted the gearbox to provide for three tall gears.
Furmanik’s first runs, on November 28, 1935 were made on the Lucca-Altopascio section of the Firenze-Mare Autostrada, then on the Pescara road circuit on January 8, 1936, and then again on the same section of the Firenze-Mare Autostrada on January 29, 1936.
Gino Rovere aboard Maserati 4CM #1120 at Brooklands on May 6, 1935 (MotorSport)
Gino Rovere…
Gino Rovere was a wealthy enthusiast who became Maserati’s President. He supported Furmanik’s efforts, making available funds to increase the engine’s output and further improve aerodynamics.
With a 4C engine then developing some 150bhp at 7,200 rpm and the Centro Sperimentale Aeronautico di Giudonia/Carozzeria closed aero body fitted to 6CM chassis #1536, Furmanik set the Flying Kilometre record mentioned at the outset in June 1937.
Along the way #1120’s ownership changed from Furmanik to Rovere and the car was returned to Maserati’s Bologna factory where it’s said it was fitted with a 1.5-litre engine for Rovere to race in selected 1935 Voiturette events: Brooklands in the May 6 JCC International Trophy (results please), then at Dieppe and finally Modena.
Gino Rovere lines up #1120 before the start of the Junior Car Club International Trophy , Brooklands, May 6, 1935 (MotorSport)Dieppe GP grid #30 P Veyron Bugatti T51A, the Rovere 4CM, #6 Humphrey Cook, ERA A-Type, #50 Ippolito Berrone, Maserati 4CM – note the standard grille compared with Rovere’s machine – #48 Eddie Herzberger, MG K3 Magnette and #28 Maurice Baumer’s K3. Pat Fairfield’s ERA A-type won from Bird’s B-Type and Veyron’s Bugatti (Bonhams)Beautiful shot of Giuseppe Farina aboard the Rovere 4CM #1120 at Dieppe (Bonhams)
In the GP de Dieppe on July 20, Rovere qualified seventh on the 19 car grid and finished eighth, handing his car over to ‘his protege’ Giuseppe Farina late in the race, Farina promptly set the fastest time of the day despite the car’s quoted 1.1-litre capacity. Rovere also contested the Circuit di Modena Junior on September 15 for Q5 and DNF, again the capacity is quoted as 1100cc in the goldenera.fi results.
In 1936 Rovere’s team competed under the works banner given his status as Maserati’s President. #1120 was raced by various works drivers early that year and then sold to Scuderia Impero. Agostino Prosperi and Mario Colini drove it, then Rovere had a return bout with his old car at Pescara.
In the modern era, #1120 has been a regular part of the UK historic scene in 1100cc and 1500cc form raced by many drivers including Sean Danaher, Martin Stretton, Barrie Baxter and Stefan Schollwoeck.
Build numbers…
Maserati built 16 4CMs between 1932-35: Nine 1100s – chassis numbers #1115, 1116, 1118, 1119, 1120, 1122, 1125, 1127 and 1128 (note that #1120 and 1125 were both later fitted with 1500cc engines), Six 1500s – 1514, 1521 (also fitted with an 1100cc engine), 1525, 1526, 1527 and 1528, and One 2000cc – 2011.
Etcetera…
(MotorSport)
Two more shots of Rovere in the Brooklands 1935 paddock, #1120 in profile and three-quarter rear for a pitstop.
(MotorSport)(coachbuild.com)
A rendering of the Centro Sperimentale Aeronautico di Giudonia design, and below #1536 in one specification in which the car ran. Compare and contrast with the first three photographs in this piece.
(unattributed)Ad for AGIP’s Robur fuel 1936, Furmanik aboard #1120
Credits…
Anonymous photographer within the Pirelli Archives, MotorSport Images, Leif Snellman’s superb The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing – goldenera.fi, The Nostalgia Forum, thanks to Maserati historian Kevin Tjeerdsma for advice on correction of facts and chassis numbers
John Surtees is chasing Jack Brabham hard in the latter stages of the 1963 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm on February 10, 1963. He is racing a Lola Mk4A Climax 2.7 FPF chassis #BRGP44.
Jack’s Brabham, Brabham BT4 Climax passed him late in the race, John fell short by 12 seconds in a race run in intensive heat, but he had a good southern summer, winning two of the eight Australasian internationals, the NZ GP at Pukekohe and the Lakeside International.
Dick Ellis cutaway of an F1 Lola Mk4 Coventry Climax FWMV 1.5 V8Surtees, Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax at Ardmore during the 1961 NZ GP, DNF (M Fistonic)
1963 wasn’t his first trip Down Under. Il Grande John did the Kiwi Internationals with Team Lotus in 1961 when Innes Ireland, Jim Clark and Surtees raced Lotus 18 2.5 FPFs fitted with the dreaded Queerbox. In a grim tour for the team, Surtees didn’t finish any of his three races at Ardmore, Levin or Wigram.
He was back again in 1962, running a Reg Parnell Cooper T53 2.7 in Australia, finishing second at Sandown and winning from Jack Brabham’s Cooper T55 2.7 on Longford’s daunting mix of roads, undulations, railway viaduct and barbed wire.
Parnell ran a pair of Lola T4 Climaxes, 1.5 FPF powered early on, then 1.5 FWMV V8 engined when the engine became available in Grand Prix racing that year. Surtees finished a great fourth in the World Drivers Championship during the season in which the monocoque Lotus 25 Climax rewrote the chassis design rulebook.
Surtees winning Lola Mk4A and Bruce McLaren, Cooper T62 on the front row at Pukekohe, NZ GP 1963. That’s Brabham’s #4 BT4, and Tony Maggs in the other Parnell Lola Mk4 at far left (D Oxton)Later Kiwi Ace, David Oxton attends to a Colotti ratio change on Surtees’ car, Pukekohe (D Oxton)
Reg (Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team) fitted 2.7FPFs to two of his T4s in place of the smaller F1 V8 for the 1963 Formula Libre Australasian Internationals for Surtees and South African driver, Tony Maggs use. Parnell knew the local-ropes, having raced a Ferrari Super Squalo 3.4 as part of a two car team together with Peter Whitehead in the 1957 New Zealand Internationals. He did well too, winning the NZ GP and the Dunedin Road Race in what was his last hurrah as a driver before taking on Aston Martin team management duties.
Other hot-shots that summer included Jack Brabham in his new F1 BT3 derived BT4 2.7 FPF, while Bruce McLaren raced the similarly powered Cooper T62 with which he won the 1962 Australian Grand Prix at Caversham, near Perth that November. Graham Hill (and Innes Ireland in some NZ races) raced the radical, fast Ferguson P99 albeit he lacked the mumbo of his completion, running 2.5 FPF’s rather than the more fancied 2.7 ‘Indy’ variant.
Young Cooper T53 mounted thrusters included Chris Amon, Jim Palmer and Angus Hyslop. In Australia the local quicks included David McKay and Bib Stillwell in new BT4s, while Lex Davison and young grazier John Youl raced Coopers T53 and T55 respectively.
Surtees’s Lola Mk4A #BRGP44 was quick everywhere, starting the tour with a bang by winning the NZ GP at the new Pukekohe circuit near Auckland, then gearbox problems caused DNFs at Levinand Wigram. He failed to finish at Teretonga as well, albeit Maggs placed second behind McLaren at the track near Invercargill at the very south of the South Island.
Surtees in the Wigram – RNZAF airfield – paddock. That Ferrari 250 SWB belonged to ‘Richardson’ for those wanting to do further research (W Collins)Surtees and handsome Mk4A at Teretonga, ninth after undisclosed problems (G Woods)
There was then a fortnight to ship the cars across the Tasman Sea to Sydney Harbour for the AGP to be held on the challenging, technical Warwick Farm on February 10.
Surtees put down a marker, popping his Lola on pole in Jack’s backyard. He then led the race until Brabham – who started well back on the grid having sorted a new BT4 chassis during practice – passed him with 14 laps to run, the Brit suffering along with many others in the intense heat. John had the consolation of meeting fastest lap.
Then it was off to Lakeside, north of Brisbane. There Surtees started from Q3 and won from Hill, bagging the P99’s best result for the tour, with Stillwell third in his new Brabham BT4. Chris Amon was fourth and impressing pit-pundits with every drive. At the end of the summer Reg Parnell took the 19 year old off to Europe where he did rather well…initially racing #BRGP44 FWMV powered throughout 1963.
Shell drivers at Warwick Farm: David McKay, Tony Maggs, Graham Hill, John Surtees, Jim Palmer and Chris Amon (C Galloway)Surtees hooks into the right-hander at the end of Pit Straight, Paddock, at Warwick Farm 1963 (B Donaldson)
Surtees returned to Europe to meet his new Ferrari team commitments, missing the final two races at Longford and Sandown, with Tony Maggs, sixth and second in the Parnell Lolas respectively.
Had there been a Tasman Cup that summer – the first was contested and won by Bruce McLaren in 1964 – Bruce would have won it. Brabham won at Levin and Warwick Farm, Surtees at Pukekohe and Lakeside, while McLaren was victorious at Wigram, Teretonga, Longford and Sandown.
The Lolas had proved very competitive Formula Libre machines but were thoroughly outclassed in ’63 GP racing: Amon, Maurice Trintignant, Lucien Bianchi, Mike Hailwood and Masten Gregory all failed to bag a point for Reg Parnell Racing.
Surtees Mk4 during 1962. The idea of that yellow enamelled spaceframe chassis was to make it easy to see any cracks that arose (unattributed)
Etcetera…
(MotorSport)
Pretty car. Surtees during the soggy German Grand Prix was second behind Graham Hill’s BRM. He first raced the chassis he used throughout his 1963 Australiasion Tour, T4A #BRGP44, at Karlskoga in August, there he led until a valve spring broke.
(MotorSport)
Main Men. Reg Parnell, Surtees and who? during the May 1962 Dutch Grand Prix weekend at Zandvoort. John popped his car on pole but crashed in the early laps after a wishbone failure.
(MotorSport)
More Main Men. Surtees and Lola’s Eric Broadley at Aintree during the British GP meeting in July. And below, John with the car in the paddock. FWMV is on Webers, a bit cheaper, but less powerful than the Lucas injected alternative.
Lola had a fantastic weekend with Surtees qualifying and finishing second in the race. The cars gained pace after the cockpit area was found to be flexing by Surtees in the lead up to the Belgian Grand Prix, when additional tubes were added to the suspect area.
(MotorSport)(N Beresford Collection)
Don Beresford – father of engineer Nigel Beresford of Ralt, Tyrrell, Penske Cars et al fame – working on a T4 at Bromley during 1962. It’s after the chassis cockpit section was strengthened, note the additional tubular section which has been added, so it’s probably the chassis Surtees raced carrying #6 in the December 29, 1962 South African Grand Prix at East London, DNF.
The ’63 New Zealand GP was a week later on January 5, no rest for the wicked!
Credits…
Bob Donaldson-State Library of New South Wales, Dick Ellis, Colin Galloway, Milan Fistonic, David Oxton Collection, Graham Woods Collection, Warner Collins, Lynton Hemer, Dick Simpson-oldracephotos.com, Michelle Glenn, Nigel Beresford Collection
Tailpieces…
Surtees, Surtees TS8/9 Chev, Alan Hamilton, McLaren M10B Chev, Colin Bond, McLaren M10C Repco-Holden and Graeme Lawrence, Brabham BT29 Ford FVC (L Hemer)
John Surtees was a busy lad throughout the 1960s with Grand Prix, World Endurance Championship and Can-Am programmes in most seasons, so he never did do a Tasman.
Scuderia Ferrari had plans afoot for Surtees to race a Ferrari Dino V6 – the ‘Surtees Tasman Special’ Ferrari 246 #006 – in 1966 but a late season Can-Am accident at Mosport in a Lola T70 Chev hospitalised him that winter so that didn’t happen. Chris Amon subsequently went rather well with updated 246 variants in 1968-69.
(M Glenn)
By 1971 Surtees’ commercial imperatives had evolved somewhat. Not only was he contesting Grand Prix racing with a two car team, he was also a constructor of customer racing cars, including Formula 5000 machines, which had been adopted as the Tasman Formula from 1970.
So it made sense for Surtees to contest the November 1971 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm in a Surtees TS8/TS9 Chev, perhaps selling a car or two, then leave the car here for his protege, Mike Hailwood to race in the following 1972 Tasman.
Surtees in front of Max Stewart’s Mildren Waggott TC-4V in the Farm’s Esses (D Simpson-oldracephotos.com)
Surtees qualified ninth after fraught practice sessions sorting handling problems, then had a miserable race without his preferred Firestones, but he still got as high as fourth before pitting for a new left-front tyre, losing three laps in the process, before having another puncture late in the race, finally finishing 14th. “He certainly gave the crowd good value while he was going, “The History of The Australian Grand Prix” recorded.
Frank Matich triumphed that day in his brand new Matich A50 Repco-Holden with Kevin Bartlett and Hamilton second and third in their McLaren M10B Chevs.
Finally, Mike Hailwood did well in the 1972 Tasman Series, he was second to Graham McRae’s Leda GM1 Chev despite not winning round, and was then the best of Team Surtees F1 drivers that season; eighth in the World Championship.
One thing leads to another. I was researching Giuseppe Luraghi, a longtime CEO of Alfa Romeo. Apart from mega talent as a corporate leader he was somewhat of a renaissance man, a gifted writer and poet. He initiated the Pirelli magazine way back in 1948 when he headed up Linoleum, a Pirelli Group subsidiary.
Pirelli, “Addressed it to the general public, it was a way of reaching out to the consumer with much more than a simple advertising message. Above all it was a way of conveying business culture.”
So, then yer go digging on that internet thingy and find Pirelli’s archives, these shots are the amazing result. I’ve mixed them up, they aren’t placed in chronological order so I’ve visually separated them by choosing Pirelli magazine covers or impactful or clever advertisements so you know when we are onto another subject. I’ve kept the words to a minimum, let the pics do the talkin’…
Gastone Brilli-Peri, by winning the Italian Grand Prix, gave Alfa Romeo the four-round 1925 Manufacturers World Championship in an Alfa Romeo P2.
Pete DePaolo won the Indy 500 in a Duesenberg 122, Albert Divo the French Grand Prix in a Delage 2LCV, while Alfa’s P2 won at Monza and at Spa, where Antonio Ascari drove the winning machine in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Brilli Peri, enroute to his Italian GP win and Campari below, in another P2 in the pits. Brilli Peri won from Giuseppe Campari/Minozzi/Sozzi with Meo Costantini third in a Bugatti T39.
Poster 1977
Antonio Brivio after winning the 1935 Targa Florio in a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Tipo B.
Sticking with the P3 theme, Luigi Fagioli stands beside his car during the September 1933 Spanish Grand Prix weekend. The race was won by Louis Chiron’s Alfa P3 from Fagioli, and held on the Laserte road circuit near San Sebastián.
Mock up for a 1952 ad by Pavel Engelmann
Piero Taruffi and navigator Isidoro Ceroli with Alfa Romeo 6C2500 Sport during the first Carrera Panamericana from May 5-10 1950.
They finished fourth behind three American crews driving an Oldsmobile and two Cadillacs.
Piero Taruffi, again, but a little earlier, here with a shock of dark hair! and his Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Monza after finishing second in the April 1932 Rome Grand Prix.
The race, held on the 4km Circuito del Littorio, was won by Luigi Fagioli’s works-Maserati V5 5-litre V16.
Pirelli White Star, sketch for an exhibition stand in 1931
Pirelli wrote that of all the motor racing films, “there was only one racing driver who was called upon time and again to play himself in front of the camera – the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.”
“It was in 1950: in the photos now in the Pirelli Historical Archive, the film is referred to with its provisional title Perdizone. It was actually released the following year as Ultimo incontro (last meeting).”
“We are on the Monza racetrack, with the protagonists Amedeo Nazzari, Alida Valli and Jean-Pierre Aumont. It is a sombre tale of betrayal and blackmail in the world of motor sport, in which the driver Fangio plays…the driver Fangio.”
“That year the Argentine was racing with the mighty Alfa Romeo team along with legends of speed such as Nino Farina, who went on to win the (1950) world title.”
“The long P-logo of Pirelli, which supplied the read Alfa Romeo cars with Stella Bianca tyres, is embroidered on their overalls, underneath the cloverleaf symbol.”
“In Perdizone/Ultimo incontro, Fangio was already on his way to becoming a legend, but his serious, watchful look is that of a true actor. The driver from Balcarce stopped racing in the late 1950s, with five world championships under his belt.”
“During his career his name appeared a number of times next to that of Pirelli: it happened again in 1965, and once again there was a camera there to record it. This was a spot produced for Carosello TV commercials with reportage by Ugo Mulas.”
“The driver once again played himself, the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio now clocking up the laps in his Alfa Giulia GTC.”
“When he gets out, he looks into the camera and recalls: ‘I used to race with the Stelvio, but now this Cinturato is really different from the rest. Extraordinario!’ And in his magnificent Italian-Argentine manner, Fangio goes on to tell the audience on the television screen about his endless string of successes.”
75th anniversary poster
Benito Mussolini and pet pussy aboard an Alfa Romeo in 1923. What model is it I wonder?
Meanwhile poor old Tazio is tasked with amusing Ill Duce’s sons in his P3, Bruno in the driving seat and Vittorio behind.
Mussolini with Nuvolari again, and the director-general of Alfa Romeo Prospero Gianferrari (both in the centre). “The P3 is probably the car with which Nuvolari won the August 14, 1932 Coppa Acerbo.”
1971
Antonio Ascari in the P2, with designers Luigi Bazzi in the light coloured overalls at left, Vittorio Jano and Giorgio Rimini during the 1924 Italian Grand Prix weekend.
Before the start of the race: Antonio Ascari’s Alfa P2 #1 Christian Werner’s Mercedes M72 #2 and Jules Goux’ Rolland-Pilain Schmid #3.
Alfa Romeo won in a rout taking the first four placings: Ascari, Louis Wagner, Campari and Bruno Presenti, and Fernando Minoia.
Scuderia Alfa Romeo: unidentified in the overcoat, mechanic Giulio Ramponi, drivers Minoia and Campari, the engineer and entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, and driver Antonio Ascari.
Ascari and Ramponi go for a greet-the-punters wander.
Giuseppe Campari and P2.
(Federico Patellani)
Gigi Villoresi, Nino Farina and Alberto Ascari in 1950, this photo was published on the cover of the January-February issue of the Pirelli magazine. Nice portrait of Gigi in a Ferrari below.
(Ferrucio Testi)
Scuderia Ferrari shot of Luigi Arcangeli, Tazio Nuvolari and Enzo Ferrari sitting on an Alfa Romeo P2 during the European Hillclimb Championship in June 29, 1930
The Pirellis are Stella Bianca’s, the venue is Cuneo-Colle della Maddalena. While Pirelli wrote that Tazio was first and Luigi third, Rudy Caracciola won the day on a Mercedes.
And below walking to the start alongside an Alfa – a modified P2 of the type Achille Varzi used to win the Targa Florio in 1930 Bob King reckons, a quick look at Hull & Slater confirms this – circa 1930. Does anybody recognise the venue?
Antonio Ascari and a mechanic aboard, “probably an Alfa Romeo P1”, venue unknown.
I’m not so sure about the P1 theory…Giuseppe Merosi’s Fiat 804 copy wasn’t much chop. His engine had most of the same features as Fiat’s Type 404: DOHC, 65x100mm bore/stroke 1991cc six so the power output was about the same but the Gran Premio Romeo was longer and heavier. Its aero was inferior too, the epochal Fiat had a staggered mechanics seat which slimmed down its profile, the Alfa did not.
While P1s were entered for the 1923 Italian Grand Prix – for Ugo Sivocci, Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Compari – after Sivocci crashed to his death in practice the team withdrew from the meeting as a mark of respect, the P1s never raced.
The car shown above carries #18, the Monza P1s used numbers, 6, 12 and 17, so the shot wasn’t taken on or about that weekend.
Is the car shown a P2, an early one? The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing is my reference site for the results of the major races in this era, I cannot see an Alfa P2 number 18 entered in any of the races the site covers in either 1924 or 1925. A mystery…
Pirelli sponge ad 1922 by A Franchi
Oscar Galvez fettles the engine of his 3-litre supercharged straight-eight Alfa Romeo 308 in January 1949, can’t quite read the chassis number…
He was third in the Buenos Aires Grand Prix behind the Maserati 4CLT’s raced by Alberto Ascari and Gigi Villerosi.
Achille Varzi’s Mille Miglia winning Alfa Romeo 8C2600 Monza Spider Brianza on the Carozzeria Brianza Stand in 1934.
The first four cars home were (2654cc) 8C2600 Monzas: Varzi/Bignami, Nuvolari/Siena, Chiron/Rosa and Battglia/Bianchi.
Fangio plugs Cinturato’s in 1965
Classic shot of Nino Farina on the way to winning the July 1950 British Grand Prix in an Alfa 158.
A month later the circus is on the grid at Pescara for the August 19 Grand Prix on the road circuit of the same name.
From the left is Fangio’s #34 Alfa 158, then the similar machine of Luigi Fagioli’s, with Louis Rosier’s Talbot-Lago T26C on the right. The race was won by Fangio from Rosier and Fagioli.
(F Patellani)
Paddock scenes at Monza during the September 1950 Italian GP weekend.
The Consalvo Sanesi 158, and Giuseppe Farina #10 Alfa Romeo 159 above, and Fagioli’s 158 below. Farina won the race from Alberto Ascari’s Ferrari 375, then Fagioli.
(F Patellani)
Below mechanics attend to the engine of Fagioli’s 158.
1959(Publifoto)
Prince Raimondo Lanza di Trabia inspects his left-front Pirelli, Alfa Romeo 1900 TI during pre-event scrutineering in Milan before the start of the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally.
He was 72nd in the event won by Sydney Allard/Guy Warburton Allard P1, the best of the Alfa’s was the 17th placed Andersson/Lumme 1900TI.
Pirelli Stelvio tyre ad 1956 (L Bonzi)
Count Leonardo Bonzi alongside his Alfa Romeo in Bicocca, Milan before the start of the Mato Gross Rally in 1952.
Pirelli Coria soles resist the passage of time Ezio Bonini 1953 (INCOM)
Mille Miglia 1955 start with the Santo Ciocca Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint on the ramp DNF. The race was of course won by the Stirling Moss/Denis Jenkinson Mercedes Benz 300SLR.
View of the pits during a soggy August 1949 Pescara Grand Prix weekend. Franco Rol won in his Alfa Romeo 6C2500 SS from Robert Vallone’s Ferrari 166S. Car 10 is Henri Louveau’s third placed Delage D6, #4 Louis Rosier’s Talbot Spéciale (DNS) and car #50, Bormioli’s ?
Asmara December 1938, site of the first Coppa di Natale. Behind the Pirelli sign is the Beata Vergine del Rosario church
Credits…
All images are from the Pirelli Foundation archives. Leonardo Bonzi, Publifoto, Federico Patellani. ‘Alfa Romeo A History’ Peter Hull and Roy Slater
Don Wright with his eyes riveted on the apex of a corner at Sydney’s Mount Druitt circuit aboard his Citroen Special in 1956.
Racer/engineer/restorer/historian Dick Willis in his fabulous book, Optimism, describes the Citroen Light Fifteen (Light 15) based monoposto as “Probably Australia’s only front wheel drive racing car of the fifties…it had a successful career especially in the late 1950s and early 1960s when it raced as a Division 2 car in NSW having many memorable dices with the Nota Major.”
At the 1951 Easter Bathurst meeting, Bill Buckle, a member of the noted motor dealer family – then the holder of the Sydney Citroen franchise amongst other marques – raced a Light 15 to second place in the Production Closed Car Handicap.
Suitably impressed by the competition potential of his product, he cast around for a crash damaged car and commenced construction of a monoposto racer to accept the road cars core mechanicals.
Working with his close school friend, and fellow auto apprentice, Charlie Buck, they built a simple twin-tube ladder chassis to which was mated the Citroën front subframe, steering, 2-litre OHV engine and gearbox, and rear beam axle.
Before the car was finished Buckle decided to visit France and sold the project to Don Wright to help fund his trip.
Wright and Buck then set to work in Wright’s Castle Hills workshop to finish it including fabrication of a stainless steel fuel tank and a slinky body made together with Stan Barrett. The 1911cc Light Fifteen engine was fitted with special valves, a pair of 1 1/2 inch SU carbs fed by an aircraft fuel pump and 17 inch stub exhausts. Those radical looking wheels were options Citroen offered in Europe but not here: light Michelin made ‘Pilote’ shod with the French tyre manufacturers new X-radial tyres
Don Wright, King Edward Park, Newcastle hillclimb circa 1953. Bob Winley, “In this shot the Citroen Special is very new with its original beam axle rear suspension and short nose.”
After several drives the cars shortcomings were laid bare and addressed. The duo modified the gearbox by eliminating reverse gear and machining and fitting a fourth forward gear in the space so released.
Unhappy with the rear suspension, Wright replaced the Citroen beam axle and transverse torsion bars with Morris Minor longitudinal (front) bars and bottom arms. “Uprights and top wishbones were fabricated to suit, the original rear stub axles having that convenient eight-bolt attachment,” Bob Winley, a later owner, and ultimately the car’s restorer, wrote
The car soon became a common sight on the hills and circuits of NSW including Foleys Hill, King Edward Park, Mount Druitt, Gnoo Blas, and then Bathurst in 1955. That year Don won the NSW Hillclimb championship at King Edward Park, Newcastle; quite a triumph for the sweet handling machine.
King Edward Park, Newcastle 1954. Winley, “The Citroen Special early on but after it was fitted with IRS: parallel wishbones and longitudinal Morris Minor torsion bars. Note the 17-inch stub exhausts. It seems to have grown an oil cooler too. I haven’t seen the ‘Mickey Mouse ears’ before. The front wheels could certainly throw rocks and water at the driver on any but clean tracks.” (J Moxham Collection)Wheels‘ caption, “Don Wright’s FWD Citroen Special was one of three cars which broke 60 seconds at the 1955 NSW Hillclimb Championship. It is seen in our picture rounding the hairpin at Newcastle where the climb was held.” Covering the same meeting Modern Motor observed that “Speed, roadholding and showroom finish have made Don Wright’s Citroen Special a favourite with racing fans.”Photographer Bruce Moxon wrote, “The Citroen Special at Castlereagh Airstrip on August 21, 1960 with girlfriend, Pauline at the wheel. It was owned by Geoff Thorne, with whom I worked at GE Cranes in Glebe, Sydney. Geoff was a toolmaker, but also a professional ice skater and musician.”
Later, Don sold the car to dentist lan Steele who raced at Bathurst circa 1957, the car passed it to Geoff Thorne, a genius ice-skating clown amongst his other talents. He raced it extensively and then Don James did well on new tracks such as Oran Park and Catalina Park from circa 1963. By then the machine was fitted with a crossflow DS cylinder head, extractors in lieu of the stack-exhausts, and Big Six front brakes. He did well in the Division 2/Formula Libre races common at the time.
Ray Bell wrote, “In November 1968 Bob Winley bought it and started racing it but couldn’t wear his red shirt because CAMS required fireproof overalls and underwear from then on! Bob ran in ‘modern’ races and the newly created Historic Car races and club events, winning money and trophies and being accused of doing ‘rain dances’ before race days, such are the car’s abilities in the wet. Bob fitted extractors and a muffler.”
Lynton Hemer’s shots of Bob Winley racing the Citroen at Oran Park – sporting its crossflow DS engine – on June 27, 1970, and below, exiting Forrest’s Elbow at Bathurst during practice for the Easter 1970 meeting (L Hemer)(L Hemer)
After six years John Moxham, a Citroen fancier, bought the car and re-fitted an original type of cylinder head. The car sat unused, then John moved interstate, selling the car to another Citroen collector, John Vanechop. The car languished until Don Wright’s friends bought it in pieces and Don began its restoration. With Bob Winley’s help the car is now ready to re-join the Historic Racing scene with proud owner Perry Long at the wheel, Dick Willis wrote.
“It was on display at Eastern Creek in 2006 and underwent some testing by John Bowe at Wakefield Park (pic below in 2017) but hasn’t been seen since although its return to competition is believed to be imminent and we look forward to it with great anticipation as the Citroen Special is a really interesting and unique Australian Special.”
Etcetera…
(G Mackie)
Not a great photo of Don Wright but better than nothing! Greg Mackie observed of the man, “Citroen Special and Lancia Fancier.” Ray Bell spoke to Wright circa 2001, at that stage he was still operating an automotive repair business in West Pennant Hills, “his major pursuit these days is making replacement blocks for Lancia Lambdas, which he carves out of billets of aluminium! No castings…”
Citroen Special in its original form, a nice shot of the Michelin Pilote wheels and immaculate line of the car even in its original short-nose guise.
Don Wright coming down the mountain at Bathurst in 1955, he carried #20 in both the Easter and October meetings.
Bob Winley commented in an exchange on Facebook with Australian Gold Star Champion, Spencer Martin, about Spencer’s observation of the Citroen Special’s understeer, “Near the driver’s left hand is a slight bulge in the body for the gear lever and fuel filler for the stainless steel tank between the chassis rails, keeping the centre of gravity well forward. Spencer Martin I steered it ‘on the throttle’ in BP Corner at Oran Park. I found it a delight to drive (and I don’t enjoy understeer).”
Don Wright chasing Tom Sulman’s Maserati at Gnoo Blas or Mount Druitt, thoughts on venue folks?
(D Willis)
A couple of fabulous in-period colour shots by Dick Willis. The one above is the front row of the grid, perhaps the November 1956 meeting at Mount Druitt.
From the left, perhaps Greg Hunt in the ex-Tomlinson/Bartlett/Brydon MG TA Spl, Jim Johnson in the Cigar MG, probably Ian Steele in the light blue Citroen Special – with gleaming Pilote wheels – and on the right in the low-slung, mid-engined Stewart MG with Gordon Stewart at the wheel.
Below is a superb paddock scene at Silverdale, perhaps the June 1960 meeting.
Gordon Stewart in the Stewart MG at left, #47 is our Citroen with Geoff Thorne up, #3 is Jack Myers WM-Cooper Waggott-Holden, #42 Don Swanson’s Lotus 11 Climax – up from Melbourne or had it changed hands by then? – while the Sprite at the far left was run by Leigh Whitely.
(D Willis)(D Simpson)
Bob Winley in the Huntley Hills Esses during the December 1968 meeting. He recalls, “I found something out that day. I did my practice run without seatbelts and nearly got thrown out of the car towards the end of the run. Lesson learn’t!”
(J Moxham Collection)
A page from John Moxham’s photo album now in the custody of John Barass.
Credits…
The main image, the catalyst for this particular research journey, is courtesy of the Auto Action Archive.
The information was gleaned from Dick Willis wonderful book, ‘Optimism’ about Australian Specials, and demonstrates the potency of some Facebook groups. I carefully mined the comments of a whole lot of people on Bob Williamson’s Old Australian Motor Racing Photographs, and Greg Smith’s Pre-1960 Historic Racing in Australasia Facebook pages. Those photos and information are attributed to Ray Bell in one of Bob Winley’s posts, the Rick Marks, and Don Coe Collections, Nurk Daddo, John Moxham Collection via John Barass, Australian Motor Heritage Foundation via Brian Caldersmith, Bruce Moxon, Greg Mackie, Dick Simpson, Tim Shellshear, Bob Williamson and multiple, wonderfully informative posts by Bob Winley.
Wonderful teamwork! Let me know if I’ve cocked anything up on mark@bisset.com.au.
The somewhat other-worldly sight of two Mercedes Benz W196S/300SLR’s with air-brakes deployed as they approach the Esses at Le Mans in 1955…
When you consider the engineering of this clever response to the braking power of the Jaguar D-Type’s Dunlop brakes one can’t but wonder about the development of a German equivalent?!
The Benz was the champion sportscar of 1955 winning most of the blue-riband events: Targa Florio, the Mille Miglia and the Tourist Trophy, the exception being Le Mans of course.
Mercedes withdrew whilst in the lead due to the accident in which Pierre Levegh was an innocent party, which took his life and that of about 84 spectators, not to forget the 180 folks who were injured.
Built by Mercedes test department, this one-off 3-litre 192bhp 300SL powered 105mph race transporter, in Mercedes words “Was predestined to demoralise the opposition. If the racing car transported was that fast, even worse could be expected of the Silver Arrow on its platform.”(Mercedes Benz)Le Mans 1955. Hawthorn, Jaguar D-Type from Fangio early in the race, Dunlop Curves, note that Fangio’s air-brake is still deployed (unattributed)Le Mans 1955. Castellotti, Hawthorn, Fangio: Ferrari 121 LM DNF, Jag XKD first, Benz 300SLR entry withdrawn (Getty)
Design and construction…
In essence the W196S, as the factory model number suggests, “is basically a Type W196R Formula One racing car with a two-seater sports car body,” Mercedes Benz (mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com) wrote. The W196R won back to back drivers titles for Juan Manuel Fangio and Mercedes in 1954-55.
“The main technical difference is to found in the engine: the racing sports car, not being bound by the Formula One regulations, limiting the engines displacement (to 2.5-litres), is powered by a 3-litre version of the eight-cylinder in-line engine and features cylinder blocks made, not from steel, but from light alloy. Apart from this, the 300SLR was not powered by special methanol-based racing fuel but by premium petrol.”
W196S cutaway with the multi-tubular spaceframe chassis and the disposition of major components: 3-litre straight-eight fuel injected engine, rear mounted transaxle and inboard drum brakes front and rear are clear (Autocar)(Mercedes Benz)
Key design elements of the car start with a multi-tubular steel spaceframe chassis. Suspension is by upper and lower wishbones at the front, torsion bars and dampers. At the rear are swing-axles, torsion bars with again telescopic dampers or shocks. Massive inboard drum brakes are used at both ends to stop the 701kg car in ready to race trim.
Le Mans 1955. The engine view is dominated by the Bosch direct-injection high pressure pump and inlets (Getty)
At the heart of the matter is the superbly built Mercedes straight-eight cylinder engine. Cast in two blocks of four-cylinders it runs on a pre-war style roller bearing crankshaft. Bosch provided the fuel injection, the two valves per cylinder of desmodromic actuation. The 3-litre engine produced circa 310 bhp @ 7400 rpm on ‘pump’ fuel as against the more exotic brew which fed its GP brother.
The full technical specifications of this car are at the end of the article.
A very famous photo I first saw in Automobile Year, Moss and Jenkinson, Mille Miglia 1955 (unattributed)
Race programme…
Mercedes didn’t attend the 23 January Buenos Aires 1000 Km first round of the Manufacturers Championship which was won by the Ferrari 375 Plus raced by Valiente/Ibanez. The Sebring 12 Hour was won by the Briggs Cunningham entered Jaguar XKD crewed by Mike Hawthorn and Phil Waters, again Mercedes missed the event held on 13 March.
The 300SLRs arrived with a bang in Italy with the Stirling Moss/Denis Jenkinson combination winning the Mille Miglia in front of Fangio driving solo in a sister car.
This win and all-time-record speed of 157.65km/h has been eulogised down the decades and needs no further comment from me. Seek out Denis Jenkinson’s account of the race in MotorSport, it is one of the great pieces of automotive race journalism.
Le Mans followed in June with the works Jag-Ds of Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb completing the largest number of laps to cross the line in first position, after Mercedes Benz respectful withdrawal from the event whilst in the lead.
Moss, 300SLR, Dundrod 1955 with the unmistakable slender frame of Herr Neubauer at rightMoss, SLR winner of the TT at Dundrod 1955, the following cars folks? (unattributed)
Dundrod’s wild road circuit hosted the Tourist Trophy in mid September. The race started in warm weather which deteriorated to rain later in an event became an 300SLR rout: the Moss/John Fitch car won from the Fangio/Kling machine with the Von Trips/Simon/Kling machine third. The best placed Jag was the Hawthorn/Desmond Titterington car in fourth, albeit it wasn’t running at the finish.
Targa Florio 1955, the Titterington/Fitch SLR gets s tickle before the off, typical Sicilian backdrop. The winner was the Moss/Peter Collins 300SLR (unattributed)
Targa Florio 1955, again Titterinton/Fitch fourth placed SLR from the third place Ferrari Monza 860 of Castellotti/Robert Manzon (unattributed)
The Germans again beat the Italians on home turf, taking the Targa Florio with a one-two from Ferrari on 16 October. The Moss/Peter Collins car finished ahead of Fangio/Kling with the best placed Ferrari the 860 Monza raced by Eugenio Castellotti and Robert Manzon.
Despite missing several events, Mercedes won the constructors championship by one point from Ferrari: 24 points to 23 with Jaguar in third on 16. The W196S won every single race it entered and finished…
The chassis is a light-weight multi-tubular spaceframe, front suspension comprised upper and lower wishbones, torsion bar springs and telescopic shocks. Those huge, light alloy finned drum brakes are mounted inboard and 300mm in diameter. Steering is worm-and-sector, the front tyres 6.00 x 16, the radiator is huge! The alloy oil tank is behind the right-front wheel, while the fuel tank sits high at the back, its capacity not specified by Mercedes.
The 234kg engine – type M196S – is eight-cylinders in line and inclined 53 degrees to the right in the chassis. The silumin head is cast in one piece: DOHC, two plugs per cylinder, two inclined valves per cylinder with desmodromic valve gear, compression ratio 9:1. Bosch 8-plunger injection pump,
Block – two Silumin blocks of four-cylinders each with chrome plated aluminium liners. Bore/stroke 78 x 78 mm, capacity 2982 cc. Crankshaft 10-bearing (roller bearings) Hirth-type crank with central power take off. Dry sump lubrication via a gear pump. Electricals are by Bosch: starter, generator and twin-magneto ignition.
The rear suspension comprises alloy uprights, a single-joint lower swing axle and top links, longitudinal torsion bar springs and telescopic shocks. The 275mm diameter brakes are inboard duplex light-alloy drums and air-cooled.
The transaxle is five-speed, a gate shift was used with a locking system
(Mercedes Benz)
The wheelbase is 2370mm, front track 1330mm, rear track 1380mm, the cars length 4300mm, its width 1740mm and height 1100mm and the “weight of the car in ready for operation status” is/was 901kg.
While the five gear ratios were fixed, the final drive was to choice with top sipped quoted as “over 300km/h.”over 300 km/h. Wheelbase, 2370 m, Front track,1330 mm, Rear track, 1380 mm, Length, 4300 mm, Width, 1740 mm, Height, 1100 mm, Weight, 901 kg ready to race, Fuel tank 265 litres, Engine weight, 234 kg
(Mercedes Benz)
Etcetera…
(Mercedes Benz)
You should take a trip to mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com some time, the quality of the racing content is unbelievable. I’ve added in some shots but these are just the tip of the iceberg, have a look for yourself.
Top shot! Isn’t that machine such a cohesive, great looking, purposeful racing car…
JM Fangio on the way to winning the 209km Swedish GP held at Kristianstad on August 7, 1955. He won from Stirling Moss’ 300SLR and Eugenio Castellotti’s works-Ferrari 121 LM in 1 hr 18m 13.7sec.
I imagine the colour of the underwear of the photographer was changing at this moment, protected only by a layer of Armco as he was. Still, if the worst happened he could decamp into the dam behind…Shots from this spot at Sandown, outside Peters/Torana Corner are rare after about this time as the spot was made Verboten!
Norm Beechey, Holden Monaro HT GTS 350 from the Pete Geoghegan (left) and Bob Jane Mustang 302s, with a smidge of Jim McKeown’s Porsche 911S behind Pete, and then most of Brian Foley’s, and the rest. 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship, round three, April 19.
While Allan Moffat started from pole (where is he in this shot!?), Stormin’ Norm had a great day at the office, leading from start to finish and setting a lap record. He took his second 1970 ATCC round win of the season, victorious from Geoghegan and Moffat (Mustang Trans-Am 302) on the way to an immensely popular series win in his big, booming, Shell-yellow Monaro GTS 350; the first time an Oz built car had won the title.
(G Feltham)
These two shots are of man and machine at Symmons Plains circa-1970, not sure of the meeting date, the number doesn’t work for the ATCC round.
(G Feltham)
Ray Barfield races his ex-works/David McKay Aston Martin DB3S, chassis 9, at Caversham in 1959, meeting date folks?
The second placed car at Le Mans in 1956 (Stirling Moss/Peter Collins) was initially raced in Australia by McKay with success, before passing briefly through Stan Jones’ hands and into Barfield’s, where, I believe, it remains. More about the car in this article: https://primotipo.com/2017/09/28/david-mckays-aston-martin-db3ss/
(G Russell-Brown)
Gary Russell-Brown very kindly sent in these shots of the Barfield/DB3S combination at Caversham during the June 6, 1960 Six Hour Le Mans. Ray was a DNF after completing 60 laps, the winner, Jack Ayres/Lionel Beattie did 178.
(G Russell-Brown)(unattributed)
John Harvey under brakes on the entry to Creek Corner, Warwick Farm 1972. His mount is the brilliant – small, variable rate suspension, side-radiator, edgy-wedge – work of John Joyce, the Bob Jane owned Bowin P8 Repco-Holden F5000
P8-118-72 was completed at Bowin’s, Brookvale, Sydney factory in August 1972 to Bob Jane’s order, fitted with a Repco Holden V8 for John Harvey.
It practiced at the Surfers Aug 27 Gold Star round but didn’t start with fuel problems. Harvey then raced in a non-championship event at Warwick Farm a week later (above), where he was fifth in the first heat but collided with Kevin Bartlett at the start of second.
At that point, major team sponsor, Castrol, directed Jane to put most of the team’s energies into racing their touring cars: the Camaro, Monaro and Torana’s, while the Bowin and McLaren M6B Repco V8 sportscar were largely set aside.
In mid-1974 the car, less engine and gearbox, was sold to John Leffler to replace his damaged ANF2 Bowin P8 Hart-Ford #P8-136-74. Leffler pranged his new Bowin on its debut at Amaroo Park.
Converted to ANF2 specification – fitted with a Hart-Ford 416B 1.6-litre engine, Hewland FT200 gearbox etc – he raced P8-118-72 in the Australian F2 Championship and in Gold Star events. Once sorted, the car was a jet, winning the Phillip Island F2 round late in the year.
Sue Ransom leased and raced it at Calder and Wanneroo Park in 1975. The car remained in Western Australia, perhaps owned by Rod Housego and Ian Wookey, before reappearing at Wanneroo in Rob Richards hands between 1980-82 in Formula Pacific – Ford BDA engined – specification.
Perth Bowin fan Matthew Lloyd did a superb job restoring the car to ANF2 spec, but he died in 2008 just as it was being finished. Bought by Dean Saunders in 2009, I believe it is being slowly re-restored to Repco-Holden F5000 spec, do get in touch if you have more recent information. .
I just like this pair of posters to promote brand new Surfers Paradise International Raceway in 1966.
While it was a fabulous circuit, and at the time built in the-sticks, the incredible growth of the Gold Coast made it irresistible to developers, which was its fate circa August 1987.
John Harvey’s Brabham BT23E Repco 740 in the foreground, while Niel Allen jumps aboard his McLaren M10B Chev at Bathurst during the Easter 1970 weekend.
In the shot below Niel jumps off the line, it’s Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 39 Repco on the far side.
Ain’t she sweet…John Harvey’s Bob Jane Racing Jane Repco 830 2.5 V8 at rest in the Warwick Farm paddock during the Gold Star round on September 6.
Harves was out with fuel pump failure, Leo Geoghegan won the race, and ultimately the title aboard his Lotus 59B Waggott TC-4V 2-litre.
This car was built on Bob Britton’s (Rennmax Engineering) Brabham BT23 jig to replace Jane’s ageing BT23E with many mods but notably changes in suspension geometry to suit the latest generation of ever-widening tyres. It exists in a West Australian museum.
I love Graham Ruckert’s superb shot of John French on the limit in Pete Geoghegan’s recalcitrant but very powerful Ford Super Falcon in front of Brian Foley’s superb in every respect Alfa Romeo GTAm at Lakeside on July 25, 1971.
It was Lakeside’s Australian Touring Car Championship round that weekend. Pete gave the car a gallop in a support race but elected to race his trusty Mustang in the championship event, having French – a Ford factory racer – drive the Big Henry.
It seems right to show you furriners what a standard Ford Falcon GTHO looks like…here it’s Allan Moffat easing his beast – an XW Phase 1 GTHO – out of Peters Corner at Sandown during his victorious Sandown 3-Hour win on September 14, 1969.
Moffat/John French won from two other similar cars crewed by Tom Roddy/Murray Carter and Fred Gibson/Barry Seton.
Jim Clark, Lotus 49 Ford DFW ahead of Chris Amon, Ferrari Dino 246T at Dandenong Road, Sandown during their epic dice for the lead of the 1968 Australian Grand Prix in February 1968.
Geoff Brabham – 1975 Australian F2 Champion – raced his Birrana 274 Hart-Ford 416-B 1.6 ANF2 car twice at Calder in May and August 1975.
While Brian Sampson’s Cheetah Mk5 Toyota ANF3 car behind makes sense the Alan Gissing Holden sporty does not, so I guess it’s a practice session. Geoff won three of the seven rounds, and the ’75 title, with Alf Costanzo second and Andrew Miedecke third. See here: https://primotipo.com/2018/09/20/brabs-gets-the-jump/
Garrie Cooper won that day at Mallala – GC’s only Gold Star victory – in his superb Elfin 600C Repco 830 V8 from Geoghegan and Max Stewart’s Mildren Waggott TC-4V 1.6.
Kevin Bartlett won the Gold Star that year aboard the Mildren Yellow Submarine which was powered by Alfa Romeo T33 2.5 V8s until the final round when he won the Hordern Trophy at Warwick Farm armed with the first of Merv Waggott’s 2-litre TC-4Vs.
(MotorSport)
Paul Radisich (above and below) tips his Holden Special Vehicles Commodore VE into Shell Corner during the Sandown 500, the ninth round of the 2007 Australian V8 Supercar Championship on September 14-16.
He shared the car with Rick Kelly to second place, the following machine is the Will Davison/Steve Johnson Ford Falcon BF. The race was won by Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes’ Triple Eight Falcon BF.
Garth Tander (HSV Commodore VE) won the 2007 drivers title – by two points from Whincup – and HSV the team championship.
(MotorSport)(E Solomon)
All antipodean front row at the start of the 1969 Selangor Grand Prix. Roly Levis’ Brabham BT23C Ford on pole, then Graeme Lawrence’s McLaren M4A Ford FVA in the middle, and Garrie Cooper’s Elfin 600C Repco 830 V8 2.5 on the right.
Lawrence, surely with John McDonald the ‘winningest’ of drivers in South East Asia in the period, won the race from Levis and Australian, Tony Maw, Elfin 600 Ford.
Ron Marks and Graham Gillies aboard Marks’ Lancia Stratos HF in the Samford Forest on the press day before the start of the 1976 Lutwyche Village Warana Rally, the final round of six in the Australian Rally Championship that year.
The pair finished fourth, first was Murray Coote and Brian Marsden in a Datsun 1600. The ARC was won by Ross Dunkerton and Jeff Beaumont aboard a Datsun 240Z; four wins and one second placing.
Ex-water-skiing champion, Marks’ other rally credits included starts in the 1976 Holden Dealers, SEV Marchal and Southern Cross, and 1978 Southern Cross and the Castrol International rallies.
(G Ruckert)
The shot above shows the car out front of the Annand & Thompson Lancia and Fiat dealership in Newstead, Brisbane, before the ’76 Warana Rally.
Graham Ruckert, “I was selling Fiat/Lancia cars for the dealership at the time, they provided some sponsorship for the event and we got to display the car during the week before the event…I had a short run in the passenger seat with Ron Marks on the Press Day at Samford which was pretty memorable!”
(B Keys)
And above demonstrating the style for which the Stratos was famous during the October 1976 Holden Dealers International Rally held in the forests around Moe and Traralgon. Those large chimneys in the background belong to one of the coal fired power stations in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.
(T Parkinson Collection)
MG TC Specials to the fore at the start of the Lobethal 50, a support race for the 1948 South Australian 100, held at Lobethal on New Years Day, January 1. #32 is Ron Edgerton, #29 is Harold Clisby, #31 is WJ Mentz, while car #34 further back is raced by AK Eadie.
The 100 mile, 12 lap, handicap feature race was run in front of 10,000 spectators in cool conditions and was won by Jim Gullan’s Ballot Oldsmobile from Granton Harrison in the Phillips Ford V8 Special, then Edgerton’s TC.
(K Drage)
Speaking of the great Harold Clisby, here he is a few years later at left with the equally talented Phil Irving at Sandown on March 2, 1962.
Harold would have been up to his armpits designing his F1 Clisby 1.5-litre engine, while Phil’s Repco Brabham RB620 2.5/3-litre is still a couple of years away…Mind you, Jack Brabham took more than a passing glance of the aluminium 3.9-litre Buick V8 fitted in the back of Chuck Daigh’s Scarab RE only yards away.
The F85 Oldsmobile V8 that Jack pitched successfully to the Repco Board as the basis of his new Tasman 2.5 litre engine was the Buick’s brother, different only in the number of head retention studs. See here: https://primotipo.com/2016/01/27/chucks-t-bird/
Derek Kneller has just finished assembling Bob Muir’s – Bob and Marj Brown owned – Chevron B35 Ford BDX 2-litre F2 car in Chevron’s Bolton factory in early 1977.
Barry Randall’s Ex-Doug MacArthur Rennmax Repco 2.5 V8 blasting out of MG Corner at Phillip Island as a car in the background makes the downhill plunge into it.
Car then raced for many years in Victoria by the Gibson family out of Benalla, and for many years owned by Jay Bondini.
Battle of the ‘1.6-litre Four Valvers’ during the May 3, 1969 J.A.F. Grand Prix aka the Japanese GP.
Sohei Kato’s third-placed Mitsubishi Colt F2C R39B ahead of Glyn Scott’s fourth placed Bowin P3 Waggott TC-4V at Fuji International. Up the front, Leo Geoghegan won in his venerable ex-Jim Clark Lotus 39 Repco 830 2.5 V8 from Roly Levis’ Brabham BT23C Ford FVA. More here: https://primotipo.com/2015/03/02/leo-geoghegan-australian-driving-champion-rip/
(B Dickson)
A random internet find, a decent drawing of the Alec Mildren Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo T33 2.5 V8 raced throughout 1968-69 by Frank Gardner and Kevin Bartlett.
KB is shown below in grand style by Dick Simpson at Bathurst during Easter 1968. Kevin was the quickest man on the mountain that weekend but was ousted with a broken rear upright, Phil West won his only Gold Star round aboard the Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT23A Repco V8. See here for more: https://primotipo.com/2021/07/06/mellow-yellow/
(Dick Simpson-oldracephotos.com)
Credits…
Peter D’Abbs, Greg Feltham, Gary Russell-Brown, Jock Alexander, Lance Ruting, Graham Ruckert, David Blanch-autopics.com.au, Repco, MotorSport Images, Eli Solomon Archive, Bruce Keys, Tony Parkinson Collection, Derek Kneller, Kevin Drage, Graham Ruckert, Bob Dickson, Dick Simpson-oldracephotos.com
Tailpiece…
(G Ruckert)
Marks and Gillies again in the Warana Rally.
Does anyone know the history of this car before it came to Australia? My Stratos owning friend, Phil Allen tells me he thinks there are only two Stratos resident in Australia at present and this isn’t the other one…
Jaime Gard flicking through one of his scrap books in December 2023 at Joe Ricciardo’s outer-Perth headquarters.
The 87 year old youngster is as fit as a fiddle, a lifelong focus on exercise and health allows him to put in plenty of time looking after Joe’s car collection.
Throughout a career that dates back to the early 1950s he has worked for some of the best racing outfits in the country including Bob Jane, Ian Diffen, Frank Matich and most importantly his longtime friend, confidant and Perth co-conspirator, the late Don O’Sullivan.
It was Don who was confident enough in Jaime’s ability to commission the design and construction of two world class Repco-Holden 5-litre V8 powered machines: the 1972 Gardos Sports/McLaren M8DG and 1973 Gardos OR2 F5000.
Jaime tries the cockpit for size, Gard 27 Ford. Head is a Brian Martin designed and built three-valver Gard Archive)Gard BMC FJ and Holden 48-215 at Lesmurdie Hillclimb in 1964 (Gard Archive)Gard aboard O’Sullivan’s Cooper Ford at Caversham in 1967 (Gard Archive)
Gard cut his racing teeth preparing speedway cars before adding circuit machines to his repertoire, then started racing a self-prepared Appendix J Holden 48-215. Not long after he built his first single seater, the Gard BMC FJ, and then the Gard 27 Ford 1.5.
By the mid-1960s Jaime had joined O’Sullivan – a successful Perth property developer and entrepreneur – preparing and racing some of his cars, including various Coopers and a Lola T70 Ford.
The connection with Matich began with the purchase of the Matich SR3 Repco raced by O’Sullivan and was followed by an M10A McLaren Repco-Holden F5000.
Jaime primes the big Ford V8 while Don waits. Lola T70 Ford, Wanneroo Park 1970 (Gard Archive)Jaime alongside O’Sullivan in the hi-winged Matich SR3 Repco 720 4.4 on the Warwick Farm grid in 1969. The bit of nosecone belongs to Matich’s all-conquering SR4 Repco (Gard Archive)
After O’Sullivan withdrew from racing Jaime had a long stint across town with Ian Diffen, including building a wild Valiant Charger V8 sports-sedan.
He was a noted speaker on vehicle dynamics, handling and engineering at various WA tertiary institutions during this period, and developed tyre testing equipment and processes which were adopted by Bob Jane T-Marts and Diffen’s tyre outlets.
Jaime maintains his currency too, still working on the Ricciardello family’s Alfa Romeo Alfetta Chev V8 sports sedan.
To read my story on Jaime – nobody has given him the full-treatment before – 4500 words, 42 photographs, 10 pages – you’ll need to buy the latest issue of Australian Muscle Car. Issue 144 is in-store in Australia now, and for the next month or so, or purchase the mag online here: https://www.musclecarmag.com.au/current-issue
About half the mag comprises Steve Normoyle’s pieces about the fantastic Holden Torana SL/R 5000 L34, it’s 50 this year, while Bryan Thompson Part 1 is a beauty too, plus lots more.
Etcetera…
(Gard Archive)
The brand new Gardos OR2 Repco-Holden sits in the Adelaide International sun during the Adelaide 100, February 25, 1973 Tasman round weekend. Howie Sangster did too few laps to be classified, but the car impressed onlookers on its debut.
Warwick Brown won the race in his Lola T332 Chev, the wing alongside belongs to one of the two Racing Team VDS Chevron B24s raced by Peter Gethin and Teddy Pilette.
(Gard Archive)
Jaime, seated, during the mid-1970s build of the Ian Diffen Charger sports-sedan.
It started life as Diffen’s Series Prod E38, then morphed into a Group C machine before being completely re-purposed. It’s extant and living back in Perth after being a Queenslander for decades.
(Gard Archive)
Gard got to know Frank Gardner over the years, he did the initial track testing of the Diffen Charger.
Here he is snooping around O’Sullivan’s workshops in the late 1980’s sussing Jaime’s build of a new Lola Mk3B Chev, a Lola model with which FG was very familiar.
(unattributed)
Credits…
Jaime Gard Collection
Tailpiece…
(Gard Archive)
Jaime, Gard BMC FJ on the wilds of the Albany Round the Houses street circuit in 1964. Doesn’t that look fantastic!
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