Stirling Moss on his way to winning the January 20, 1962 Lady Wigram Trophy in searing New Zealand heat.
He has the side-panels of Rob Walker’s Lotus 21 Climax FPF 2.5 removed to get a bit of air flowing through the cockpit of chassis #935.
I love this ode to the demise of the fabulous front-engined Grand Prix cars written by Digby Paape.
‘I remember coming away from this race thinking, “Well, that’s the end of exciting racing.” Gone were the front engined monopostos with loud exhausts that rang off the Port Hills, the drivers biceps fighting the wood-rimmed steering wheel, the blue chrome on the exhausts, the dirty spoked wheels, the broadsides and four-wheel-drifts. All gone with the advent of these pesky little cars that cornered on rails and sounded like Austin A40’s.’
Luvvit!
Australian great Lex Davison referred to the Coopers as ‘Anti-Climaxes’ and ‘Mechanical Mice’…not that it stopped him racing and winning in them!
Moss approaching the Wigram hairpin (unattributed)Jack Brabham on his way to victory at Ardmore in 1958, Cooper T43 FPF 2.2 (unattributed)
The mid-engined rout started early in NZ. Jack Brabham won the 1958 NZ GP at Ardmore aboard a Cooper T43 Climax on January 11, a week before Moss won the first Championship F1 race in a mid-engined car at Buenos Aires on January 19. He too raced a Cooper T43 in that Argentine Grand Prix, one of Rob Walker’s cars.
Broaden the definition to Grand Prix racing and the mid-engined feat wasn’t a big deal given Auto Union’s pre-war successes, but such is the fixation with Formula One these days that most prefer to ignore the history of a period that doesn’t interest them or of which they have no knowledge.
It wasn’t too many years before – 1956 – that Moss had first visited the country and taken New Zealand’s premier race, again at Ardmore aboard one of the great front-engined Grand Prix cars, the Maserati 250F.
#7 is Moss’ with the 3-litre Ferrari 500/625s of Peter Whitehead and #4 Tony Gaze alongside. The Bugatti is Ron Roycroft’s T35A Jaguar, #6 is another Jaguar engined car, Peter Whitehead’s Cooper T38 being raced by Reg Parnell. Peter lent Reg the car after Parnell’s Aston Martin DP155 had engine problems in practice. Moss won from Gaze and Whithead.
Moss post race with biceps bulging having wrestled with his 250F’s wood-rimmed wheel for the previous 2 hours 32 minutes!
Tailpiece…
(R Herrick)
Rob Walker’s NZ GP winning Lotus 21 Climax leaves Ardmore on the back of a modest trailer towed by a Borgward Isabella Coupe…simpler times.
‘It’s the first McLaren M8A Chev outside McLaren’s David Road factory in Colnbrook,’ Derek Kneller recalled.
‘I was a fabricator working with Don Beresford, John Thompson and George Begg on the M8As. The shot was taken on my Polaroid camera when the first body was fitted.’
The shot below of Alistair Caldwell, Bruce McLaren and Teddy Mayer testing the car at Goodwood in July 1968 dates Derek’s shot. The car is still not fitted with mirrors, but does have a small spoiler on the rear bodywork, so perhaps a day #1 or day #2 test…
(goodwood.com.)
Bruce blasting past the Super Shell Building at Goodwood, what is that material going across the back of the car from wheel arch to wheel arch?
It wasn’t a bad season, McLarens won all six Can-Am Cup rounds: Denny Hulme took three, Bruce, Mark Donohue (M6A Chev) and John Cannon (M1B Chev) one apiece. Denny won the Canadian-American Challenge Cup from Bruce and Mark.
Etcetera…
As David Road is today courtesy of Andrew Hicks.
Credit…
Derek Kneller, Motorsport Images, Goodwood.com, Andrew Hicks
Beechey exits the Pukekohe hairpin in his legendary 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship winning Holden Monaro HT GTS350 during the 1971 NZGP weekend.
The idea for the first in this occasional series of Australian Touring Cars Abroad came from my latest photo raid of two fantastic Kiwi racing FB sites: Old New Zealand Motor Racing and South Island Motorsports, suss them both out.
But of course New Zealand wasn’t/isn’t the only country ‘Oz tourer pros‘ have visited. I’ve prostituted the idea a bit by including blokes like Frank Gardner, Brian Muir and Horst Kwech whose over-there touring car racing was based over-there not here, if that makes sense as a differentiator…
(Bay of Plenty News)
Terry Allan at Baypark in May 1970
Steve Holmes wrote on The Roaring Season, ‘In 1967, young Melbourne motorsport enthusiast Terry Allan took a trip to the US and purchased a new Camaro to race in Australia. Fitted with a 396ci big block Rat motor, and quad-side draught Webers, the Camaro caused a huge stir with race fans on its debut in May 1967, as this was the first Camaro to race anywhere in Australasia.’
‘Allan raced the Camaro from 1967 to 1971, then sold it to Graeme Blanchard. From there it went to Lakis Manticas and then to Barry Wearing in 1974, after which it appears to have vanished.’
‘Information about Terry Allan’s Camaro has been difficult to find. A couple of magazines have attempted to trace its current whereabouts, or ultimate fate, but have drawn blanks. Rumours surrounded the car, and its US origins, and the possibility it may have been race prepared at the workshop of GM racing guru Bill Thomas, but these were all hearsay.’
What became of Terry Allan folks?
(Bay of Plenty News)
Allan Moffat’s Team Harper/Ford Cologne Ford Capri RS2600 on the way to winning the 53 lap November 18, 1973 Touring Car Race at Macau. Second and third were Tachi Nobuhide and Jose Ramirez aboard Toyota Celica GTs.
Moffat must have been impressed, a year later FoMoCo Oz had an RS3100 on the water for him to race in Australia. Macau was a little bit of try before you buy in a sense. See here: https://primotipo.com/2015/04/09/australias-cologne-capris/
(T Growden)
Brian Foley’s Morris Cooper S at Pukekohe during the 1969 New Zealand Grand Prix weekend. ‘Second in the the 1000-1300cc race.’
The title for Australian King of the Coopers was a tussle between Sydney based Foley, and Melbourne based Peter Manton, with honourable mentions to John Leffler, Lynn Brown and Don Holland. And yes my friends, there are more depending upon the period you have in mind.
By 1971 Brian was teasing Australian Alfisti with this ex-Auto Delta Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm. The 2-litre machine was under-gunned against the V8 Pony Cars that had the ATCC stitched up, but it was still a crowd-pleaser and ‘2-litre Class’ winning machine.
Here he is below at Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1972.
Peter Brock raced overseas a bit: BMW 3.5-litre CSL, Porsche 956 and some Commodores but maybe not as much as one would have expected of one of the world’s greatest touring car drivers of his era?
In 1977 he teamed up with his ‘UK GM equivalent’, Gerry Marshall for the 24 Hours of Spa in a factory Vauxhall Firenza Magnum.
Built by Bill Blydentein’s Dealer Team Vauxhall squad, the Group 1 Spa Magnum had some trick modifications including twin Weber 48DCOEs and a cam fitted to the 2.3-litre slant-four increasing its power to circa-172bhp. A Getrag five-speed ‘box completed a light, fast package.
(Bonhams)
Marshall and Brock were second at Spa with the Beefy-Brit chasing down second with 30 minutes to go, they also took the ‘Coup du Roi’ teams and the Index of Performance.
Frank Gardner on the way to winning a Guards Trophy race at Brands Hatch in May 1970, Ford Mustang Boss 302.
FG won the British Saloon/Touring Car Championship in 1967-68 aboard a Ford Falcon Sprint and Lotus Cortina/Ford Escort Twin-Cam respectively. In a decade long dream run in Europe, Gardner annually had single-seater, sportscar and touring car programmes/races in all corners of the globe and did justice to all of the different disciplines.
He returned to Australia in late 1974.
(John Lawton)
Pete Geoghegan in characteristic style giving his Ford Falcon GTHO Super Falcon a lungful at Baypark in 1973.
Pete took pretty much all of his cars across the ditch, I’ll do a post of those exclusively some time soon.
(S Laverick)
Moffat’s Coke Mustang Boss 302 at rest in the Pukekohe paddock in 1972, and on the move below.
More often than not race-paddocks are shit-holes, not so Puke which always looks wonderful in photos with its undulations, leafy trees and grass.
Colin Bond in the NZ Holden Dealer Team Holden Torana GTR XU-1 during the 1973 Heatway Rally run between July 7-14 out of Christchurch.
120 cars entered the event which was won by 1983 World Rally Drivers Championship winner Hannu Mikkola and Jim Porter, and Mike Marshall and Arthur McWatt both in Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1s, then Shekhar Mehta and Wayne Jones Datsun 180B, then the Bond/George Shepheard LJ XU-1.
Bondy was a crowd favourite in whatever he drove and is one of Australia’s most versatile drivers of any era. On-the-dirt he won three Australian Rally Championships in 1971-72-74, all with George Shepheard alongside and all in GTR XU-1s. Funny, in my mind he bagged another in his Escort RS days, but not so…albeit Greg Carr won one aboard a CB prepared Escort in 1978.
(S Taylor)(Alpina Auomobiles)
Brian ‘Yogi’ Muir in the Alpina BMW CSL 3-litre during the first round of the 1973 European Touring Car Championship at Monza in March 1973. He shared the car with Niki Lauda. See here: https://primotipo.com/2022/09/03/brian-muir/
Amazing career as a UK based international from the mid-1960s in touring cars and sportscars until his death from a heart attack on the way home from the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone on September 11, 1973. He was only 52, born June 30, 1931.
Brilliantly conceived by Sydney racer Tom Nailard, the project was acquired by Frank Gardner who essentially created a two-seat Lola F5000 car with his expansive knowledge of the Huntington company’s parts catalogue.
Winner of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship from 1977-79 for Gardner/Grice/Grice before CAMS’ legislative pencil caught up with them.
(unattributed)
Peter Brock on the way to second place in the Guia Production Car race at Macau in 1971.
LC XU-1 with Globe Rallymaster wheels. Which car izzit, the Holden Dealer Team wrenches had wenches nicknames for the cars didn’t they?: Saggy Sally, Juicy Lucy! Raunchy Rita or whatever!?
(NAS)
Moffat again, this time during the 1973 Singapore Grand Prix weekend on the tough, dangerous Thomson Road circuit.
FoMoCo Oz bought this Alan Mann Racing built Ford Escort Ford FVA for AM to race as a sports sedan about 1970. It was always a struggle to keep up with the V8s. There ain’t no substitute for cubes. Sometimes.
By the time it got to Singapore it was probably fitted with a 2-litre Ford BDG engine. The spec and destiny of the car is of interest if someone can fill me in.
Moff won a heat but had a flat in the final that caused an accident, Brian Foley’s Alfa GTA Lwt won the final.
(Klemantaski Collection)
Speaking of which, here is Horst Kwech racing an Alfa Romeo GTA in a 1970 Trans-Am round at Mid Ohio, and below a Ford Capri RS3100 in an IMSA race in 1974, circuit unknown.
The Baypark promoters were clearly very touring car friendly, they promoted a lot of NZ v Oz contests which must have been fantastic to watch and hear.
Here Melbourne’s own is doing battle in his Chev Nova with, I think, Paul Fahey’s Ford Mustang. Who won these December 1996 or 1967 hitouts? A little bit more here: https://primotipo.com/2019/09/26/norm-jim-and-pete/
(R Grimwood)
The cars got presence hasn’t it! Not the rare under bonnet shot of the 327 fed by four Weber DCOs on a neat crossover inlet manifold nicely ducted with cool air.
Did Claude Morton do Norm’s engines?
(J Copsey)(J Copsey)
Credits…
Steve Elliott, Stephen Dalton Archive, Bay of Plenty News shots via Bryan Miller, National Archive of Singapore, Klemantaski Collection, JD Decrevel, Getty Images, Stephen Laverick, Sean Taylor, Bruce Scott, Alpina Automobiles, Klemantaski Collection, JD Decrevel, Rod Grimwood, The Motorhood, Terry Baker, Jeff Copsey
Frank Matich during the LA Times GP, Riverside Can-Am round on October 29, 1967.
He qualified the 4.4-litre tiddly Matich SR3 Repco-Brabham V8 20th but crashed out of the event won by Bruce McLaren’s 5.7-litre McLaren M6A Chev after completing only 30 of the 62 lap, 200 mile journey.
FM is one of my obsessions, every now and then I Google ‘Frank Matich, United States’ to see what pops up. This time, Pete Biro’s shot did, then you Google the bloke you’ve heard of but know nothing about…
Biro – June 1, 1933-December 26, 2018 – was a semi-pro stage and close-up magician and photo-journalist/author who got his start when Road & Track engaged him to do a story about the Barneson Special, then David E Davis discovered him and gave him assignments for Car and Driver.
He and Davis travelled the world, along the way Biro was commissioned by Goodyear, Sports Illustrated, Time, Life and many others. Of course many of his subjects became friends, including Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, AJ Foyt, Richard Petty and many others. See here: https://youtu.be/uNEHyexrC_I?si=NpbKvFdyur4LArfB
(P Biro)
Jim Clark, Lotus 38 Ford, Indianapolis 1966.
The Great Scot started from the middle of the front row and may well have won the race…but he was second behind, perhaps, Graham Hill’s Lola T90 Ford.
Jim Hall enquires of Vic Elford, ‘Hows it going out there?’ With the legendary – still as innovative as tomorrow – sucker – Chaparral 2J Chev in 1970.
Interviewed by George Levy, Vic Elford remembered that ‘My first impression was, I don’t really see it as very quick, because it just sort of goes around corners. But then of course it got down to analysing it, we found it was going around corners about 12 or 15% quicker than anything else would.’
‘The 2-litre Class’ during the 1966 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen on October 6.
Peter Arundell’s Lotus 33 Climax FWMV V8, Mike Spence, Lotus 25 BRM perhaps, then maybe the fast approaching Jochen Rindt’s Cooper T81 Maserati. Who knows?
Dan Gurney, McLaren M8D Chev, Mont Tremblant, St Jovite June 28, 1970.
Who better to help McLaren recover after the loss of Bruce at Goodwood in 1970?
It was all looking good for a while, until competing oil sponsors – Gulf and Castrol – got in the way. Understandable I guess. Dan won the season opener at Mosport and then St Jovite in June, then had dramas at Watkins Glen in mid-July that saw him finish sixth from grid 2.
Bruce McLaren gulps a fresh breath of air at Riverside during the 1960 US GP, he was third in his Cooper T53 Climax behind the Lotus 18s of Stirling Moss and Innes Ireland.
Biro about to have the colour of his jocks changed by five laps alongside Jackie Oliver in a Can-Am Shadow DN4 Chev around Laguna Seca in 1973-74, see here: https://primotipo.com/2017/02/11/delicate-touch/
Chassis #840 was sourced from SEFAC, Ferrari’s racing department with the completed car presented at the Paris Salon in the October .
(unattributed)(Getty Images)
Here the cutie is being largely ignored by the world’s horsepower press at the launch of Ferrari’s new 3-litre Tipo 312 Grand Prix car at Maranello in March 1966. John Bolster’s Deerstalker stands out! More about that Ferrari 312 launch here: https://primotipo.com/2017/10/26/surtees-ferrari-312-modena-1966/
Charlie Dean in magnificent Maybach 1, then 4.3-litres in capacity, descending The Mountain.
The original machine of 1947, hillclimbed initially sans bodywork, has now evolved into a refined racing car in its middle age; the last hurrah for Maybach 1 was victory in the 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix held on the Ardmore airfield circuit on January 9.
Charlie was third at Bathurst behind Lex Davison’s Alfa Romeo P3 and Doug Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago T26C in the 6 lap over 1500 handicap, but didn’t finish the 3-lap scratch or start the Redex 100 mile – the Bathurst 100 became the Redex 100 with a few sponsorship £’s – feature with mechanical dramas.
As you will see below, by the October Bathurst meeting Stan Jones had bought the car from Dean and entered into a deal with Repco Research, of which Charlie was general manager/chief engineer, whereby the preparation and ongoing development of the car(s) was Repco’s responsibility.
These fabulous photographs were taken by FS Furness and posted on Bob Williamson’s ‘Motor Racing Photographs – Australia’ Facebook page recently by enthusiast Mal Elliot. With the help of John Medley’s Bathurst Bible ‘Bathurst:Cradle of Australian Motor Racing’ I have cobbled together a few words to go with the images. So large was Mal’s post that there are a couple more pieces to come. Many thanks Mal, information on FS Furniss would be most appreciated folks!
(FS Furness)
Tom Hawkes ex-Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago T26C #110007 had not been long in the country and was shared with, and soon sold to very experienced racer, 1950 AGP winner and fellow Victorian Doug Whiteford.
Whiteford soon had the big car going well that weekend, doing 136mph down Conrod. That combo, aided by Doug’s skilful preparation became the top-gun combination in Australia for the next few years. Hawkes was third in the Redex 100 feature, while Whiteford was third in the 3 lap scratch and fifth in the over 1500cc handicap.
The big blue, 4.5-litre six-cylinder Grand Prix car was ‘blooded’ in its first meeting in the Antipodes. That ding in the nose was caused when Whiteford gave Lex Davison’s Alfa Romeo P3 a tap-up-the-bum during the latter stages of the over 1500cc handicap won by Laurie Oxenford’s Alvis Mercury. Lex’s P3 Alfa brakes were usually problematic, a moments hesitation into Hell corner resulted in the hit. The blue and white T-L nose badge became lodged in the Italian’s perky rump, incensed after the race, Lex didn’t return it. Davo was fourth and Whiteford fifth. More about the Talbot-Lago here: https://primotipo.com/2022/05/04/doug-whiteford-talbot-lago-t26c-take-3/
(FS Furness)
Jack Murray had a great weekend aboard his Allard J2 Cadillac. Three J2s were entered by the NSW distributors, Gardiner Motor Service. The best result of the four Allards entered was Murray’s third place in the over 1500cc 6 lap handicap.
(FS Furness)
Dick Cobden had a great weekend in his MG TC Spl. He was third in the 6 lap under 1500cc handicap, and won the 12 lap 50 mile handicap for Redex 100 non-qualifiers.
The first four cars home were MGs; George Pearse’ TB Spl s/c, Curley Brydon’s TC Spl s/c, Cobden, and LG Barnard’s TC. MGs were in many years Australia’s ‘FF and F2 cars’, depending on specification, for decades of handicap racing.
Uber-rare shot of champion cyclist’s Nino Borsari’s Cisitalia from Alf Mazengarb’s Riley, neither car was well up in the closed production car handicap where French cars were to the fore: the M Rolls Renault 750 won from Citroens raced by Bill Buckle and P Damman.
(FS Furness)
Jack Saywell’s 1-litre JAP 8/80 powered Cooper Mk4. He did well, winning the 3 Lap Scratch from Frank Kleinig’s Kleinig Hudson Spl and Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago T26C.
(FS Furness)
Lyndon Duckett aboard the Ecurie de Pur Sang Bugatti Type 51A – T35B-4847 converted by the factory to a 51A- substituting for Peter Menere. The car doesn’t appear to have figured in the results.
Eldred Norman blasting his Maserati 6CM down Mount Panorama during the feature race, the Redex 50 Mile Championship held over 12 laps on October 1.
Colin Murray brought 6CM #1542 to Australia to contest the 1951 AGP held on the Round the Houses circuit laid out at Narrogin, a wheatbelt town 200km south-east of Perth. He failed to finish the race, then sold the car to Norman who also contested the GP, leading it for a while aboard his famous Double Eight, twin-Ford Mercury V8 engined special until it expired. Eldred sold that car to Perth’s Syd Anderson and ‘stepped-up’ to the Maserati. Quite why he bought a car he soundly belted with the Double Eight is intriguing.
Eldred had a baptism of fire with the Maserati. By the time he got to Bathurst he had already blown the Maserati’s 1.5-litre, six-cylinder twin-cam engine after a connecting rod came adrift at either Gawler or Glen Ewin and reconstructed it.
‘He fabricated up a new steel block and cast new detachable bronze cylinders heads. The detachable heads not only made engine maintenance easier but allowed the fitting of larger valves. The conrods are now 1500 Fiat and the pistons are from a BSA motorcycle,’ AMS October 1951 reported. See the Etcetera section below for more detail on Eldred’s engine reconstruction and ongoing developments.
How much testing the car had undergone before the tow from Adelaide to Bathurst is interesting. It was running well at that stage though, the weekend after Bathurst, on October 8, the Maserati/Norman duo were third in Australia’s first F1 race – The Jubilee Woodside Formula 1 Race – behind Whiteford and Jones.
Other front-runners were Whiteford‘s Talbot-Lago T26C, Ron Edgerton’s ex-Alf Barrett Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Monza, Jones’ Maybach 1 and Davison’s Alfa P3 albeit Lex didn’t leave the startline with transmission failure.
Whiteford raced well, clear of Jones in second, then Edgerton who gave the Monza’s former owner Barrett a look at the Monza from close-quarters when Alf took Mischa Ravdell’s Cooper into fourth place before hitting a displaced sandbag and retiring.
Whiteford won in a large, quality field from Jones (above) and Edgerton.
(FS Furness)
Above, DA ‘Bill’ MacLachlan in a Bugatti T37A-37358 Ford V8 Spl – originally Bill Thomson’s 1930/32 Phillip Island AGP winning machine – from Clive Warwick Pratley in the George Reed Spl Monoskate 2 (Ford V8 Spl) and Clive Adams, Brad Holden. Pratley was fourth in the Redex feature and had won the Australian Grand Prix in George Reed’s ‘Red Car’, another Ford V8 Spl at Narrogin in March.
(FS Furness)
Reg Hunt in his Hunt Vincent 998 aka The Flying Bedstead, from Barrett in Ravdell’s Cooper Vincent 998 and DG Leonard’s MG-Vauxhall .
Medley records that Barrett took over the car after Ravdell and mechanic Harry Firth were injured in a road accident in Bathurst before racing began. Hunt ran fourth early on before brake troubles intervened.
(FS Furness)
Lex Davison, Doug Whiteford and Ron Edgerton aboard Alfa Romeo P3 #50003, Talbot-Lago T26C #110007 and Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Monza #2211134 respectively. Whiteford won the 6 lap 25 mile over 1500cc race from Davison and Frank Kleinig, Kleinig Hudson Spl.
(FS Furness)
DW McDonald Morgan Plus-Four leads the PG Harrison MG TD Spl and Holt Binnie MG TC Spl s/c.
(FS Furness)
Doug Whiteford’s monoposto Grand Prix 4.5-litre six-cylinder Talbot-Lago T26C above, and Stan Jones biposto 4.3-litre six-cylinder Maybach 1 below, through Forrest’s Elbow. This relatively rare shot of Maybach 1 from the rear shows just how capacious the cockpit was.
The Melbourne motor dealers had much in common, not least combative determination but were otherwise like chalk and cheese.
(FS Furness)
Etcetera…
The Narrogin Observer March 28, 1952
These three articles are for Maserati fetishists interested in the evolution of Eldred De Bracton Norman’s engine developments of his Maserati 6CM #1542 in the two and a bit years he owned it. He made changes to the chassis as well, hydraulic front shock absorbers being the most obvious but unfortunately these articles focus just on the engine, interesting as it is!
Note that the engine damage wasn’t sustained at Woodside ’51, he raced successfully that weekend, David Beaumont reckons the venues the engine popped are either Gawler Airfield or Glen Ewin Hillclimb. That June 11, 1951 meeting at Gawler was perhaps the car’s first appearance in Eldred’s hands. The article below says that Norman’s engine changes were made because ‘he was not happy with the car’s performance at Gawler,’ so maybe the internal haemorrhage didn’t actually occur.
The big races referred to are: Woodside, the ’51 Jubilee Formula 1 race, in Western Australia the March 1952 Great Southern Flying 50 at Narrogin, and at Bathurst, the April 1952 Australian Grand Prix. Clearly, the Maserati by then had a good level of reliability and performance.
One of the many apocryphal Eldred Norman stories was reported in the October 9, 1951 issue of the News Adelaide newspaper. ‘Norman had two purposes in mind as he hurtled around Woodside. One was to win the race, the other to get his lunch ready. Strapped to the exhaust pipe of his Maserati as it sped around the circuit were two cans of pork and beans – piping hot for lunch as soon as the race was over.’
Norman sold the car to Melbourne businessman/motor dealer Ted McKinnon in time for McKinnon to contest the November 1953 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, DNF after 50 of 64 laps. #1542 was restored by Alf Blight between 1966’ish and 1982 when he raced it at Mallala. The car left Australia shortly thereafter and went through various European owners before Bernie Ecclestone swallowed it whole in 1997…and not been seen since, pending auction/sales duly noted.
Credits…
FS Furness via Mal Elliott, ‘Bathurst:Cradle of Australian Motor Racing’ John Medley, Australian Motor Sports, ‘A History of the Woodside Motor Racing Circuit 1947-51’ David Beaumont, Narrogin Observer, News Adelaide
‘Here’s an oldie my dad took when he came home from the war aged 20. He said he took this in 1946, it’s heading up Mountain Straight towards The Cutting,’ Wayne Greene said of his father, Ron Greene.
He’s a bit out, it’s actually 1948 John Medley tells us, and Alf Najar’s MG TB Spl is leading the pack on the parade lap before the start of the New South Wales Hundred, a race won by John Barraclough’s MG NE Magnette. Najar, winner of the event in 1946, was unplaced.
Bathurst pits, date unknown (VSCCA)
Chris Amon, Lotus 70 Ford in the Warwick Farm pitlane during the 1971 Warwick Farm 100 Tasman Cup round. He was second in the race won by Frank Gardner’s Lola T192 Chev.
Lotus shipped the car, Lotus 70-02, to Australia for works-driver Dave Walker to race in the 1970 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm (below), he was fifth in the race won by Frank Matich’s McLaren M10B Repco-Holden.
Chris Amon and David Oxton then played swapsies during the 1971 Tasman Cup with a pair of STP sponsored cars: the Lotus 70 and a March 701 Ford DFW 2.5-litre. There is a bit about that at the end of this arcticle: https://primotipo.com/2024/08/11/new-zealand-racing-random-1/
Alec Mildren on his way to winning the 1960 Australian Grand Prix in the very clever Cooper T51 Maserati concepted by Alec and built up by Glenn Abbey in their Sydney ‘shop.
Frank Matich and his Matich SR4 Repco 760 4.8 V8 about to blow off the high-winged Matich SR3 Repco raced by Don O’Sullivan, Bob Beasley’s Lotus 47 behind Matich and Glyn Scott’s Lotus 23B Ford at right and the rest blast off during Surfers Paradise Australian Sportscar Championship round in 1969.
Catalina Park, Katoomba grid in August 1962: David McKay in the #10 Scuderia Veloce Cooper T53 Climax, then Kevin Bartlett, Lynx BMC FJ, the obscured red BRM P48 of Arnold Glass and Leo Geoghegan’s dark Lotus by the KLG sign. It’s Greg Cusack in the older SV T51 Cooper on the second row, alongside him is the Gordon Stewart, Stewart MG and Frank Walters in the George Reed Special Ford V8 ‘So Cal’.
(G Moulds)
Swiss engine-whizz, Louis Morand provided the Chev engines which powered the Racing Team VDS Chevron B24s of Teddy Pilette and here, Peter Gethin, before the off at the Sandown Tasman round in February 1974.
Peter had a great weekend, winning the race from Graham McRae, McRae GM2 Chev and John Walker, Lola T330 Repco-Holden. He had a great series too, winning it with victories here at Sandown and at Pukekohe, the NZ GP.
(C Hyams Archive)(G Moulds)
Peter Gethin was one of the Kings of F5000 from its earliest days, winning the first British F5000 Championship in 1969, and then won it again in his F1 breakthrough year, 1970. He mixed F5000 with other single-seater and sportscar drives throughout his career; he was a very popular racer in Australasia with regular visits through until 1977.
The dominant F5000s of that era were the Lola T330/T332 and derivatives, but Chevrons B24 and B28 won their share of races steered by the likes of Gethin, Teddy Pilette – who won the 1973 Euro F5000 Championship aboard the same VDS B24 he raced that Australasian Summer of ’74 – Tony Dean, Steve Thompson, and Brian Redman until he threw in his lot with Jim Hall’s Chaparral/Lola outfit, dominant in the US of course.
Alan Hamilton about to launch his Porsche 906 Spyder #906-007 off the line at Collingrove in South Australia’s Barossa Valley in April 1967. He set a course record of 35.60 seconds that day.
The road cars of the day always provide valuable visual context for just how advanced a racing car is, don’t you think? Chrysler Valiant, Toyota Crown and Holden HD in the Collingrove paddock in 1967 (J Lemm)
The Bugatti Holden – T37-37209 – at Phillip Island circa-1958. Who is the driver folks, John Elkins or John Pyers?
#37209 gave Bill Thompson his AGP debut at Phillip Island in 1929, he only did two laps before blowing the engine. It had nine or so owners before ‘Bud’ Luke fitted a Holden Grey six-cylinder engine in time for the 1952 Bathurst Easter meeting. Bob King claims that Luke created the very first Holden engined racing special in so doing.
A lousy photograph before the start of an Easter 1970 Racing Car Scratch at Mount Panorama: John Harvey, Brabham BT23E Repco, Leo Geoghegan Lotus 39 Repco, and on this side, Niel Allen, McLaren M10B Chev.
But as Lynton Hemer wrote ‘an important bit of Bathurst history is about to start…Lap 3 of 3 in the Captain Cook Trophy was a 2.09.7sec’ journey. Nigel Allen set a lap record that stood for 32 years, see here: https://primotipo.com/2018/11/26/bathurst-lap-record/
(M Bradley)
Kevin Bartlett turns into Warwick Farm’s Esses in the iconic ‘Yellow Submarine’, the Alec Mildren Racing Mildren Waggott 2-litre TC-4V.
It’s the 1970 Warwick Farm 100 Tasman Cup round that KB won in splendid fashion ahead of a swag of 2.5-litre Tasman and 5-litre F5000 cars. Surely the Sub’s finest hour was on February 15, 1970? To make Alec Mildren’s day complete, Max Stewart, KB’s teammate and great mate finished second, a second back, in the Rennmax built spaceframe-Brabham BT23 copy Mildren Waggott TC-4V 2-litre.
Just can’t get enough of the Sub…originally Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 2.5-litre V8 powered, the Mildren Alfa was designed by Len Bailey and built by Alan Mann Racing for Frank Gardner’s 1969 Tasman Cup campaign. Then Bartlett took it over and won his second Gold Star with it later that year using Alfa Romeo and late in the year, Waggott TC-4V 2-litre power. See here: https://primotipo.com/2017/11/14/missed-it-by-that-much/
(Guy & Penny)
The best of the Maybachs…
The coulda-woulda-shoulda been Maybach 2, here in the Southport paddock before its untimely death the following day during the 1954 Australian Grand Prix on November 7.
A chassis weld broke pitching Stan Jones into the mother-and-father of an accident he was lucky to survive. His mount didn’t share his good fortune.
John McCormack awaits the start of the Sandown 100 Tasman Cup round in February 1975, Elfin MR6 Repco-Holden. To the right is John Leffler’s new Bowin P8 Chev.
It was a great day for SuperMac, he finished second behind John Goss’ similarly powered Matich A53 Repco. That ’75 Tasman was a bounce-back campaign for the understated Tasmanian, his new Elfin MR6 had problems, mainly with the also new Repco-Leyland engine, the development of which stalled when Repco withdrew from racing mid-year.
Frustrated with continuous engine failures, McCormack set the Repco-Leyland V8 aside and went back to reliable Repco-Holden power and finished fourth in the Tasman with a pair of seconds at Teretonga and Sandown. Finishes in all but one round was a further indication of a change in fortunes.
Then he brought home the Gold Star bacon for the second time winning the ’75 title in the MR6 Repco-Holden with two wins in the five rounds at Oran Park and Calder. See here: https://primotipo.com/2021/02/11/repco-rbe-980-series-billy-cart/ He would win a third ‘Star of course, Repco-Leyland-McCormack/Irving V8 powered…
(C Adams)
Jeweller Jack Robinson and a group of friends at a race meeting with his Jaguar XK120, chassis 660178, purchased on January 26, 1951.
Terry McGrath reports that he raced the car at Mount Druitt and Bathurst – winning a race at Mount Panorama in October’51 – in 1951-52 and was thought to have been sold before he built up his XK120 special,’ which is shown below at Bathurst in October 1955.
(I Arnold)
Robinson’s best race was a win in the handicap section of the October 1953 New South Wales Grand Prix at Gnoo Blas. He raced the car right through into the early-1960s including the first Warwick Farm meeting, the Warwick Farm Trophy event on December 18, 1960. What became of it?
Jack Hunnam’s Elfin Mono Mk2D Lotus-Ford ANF 1.5 #MD6574 was completed at Elfin Sports Cars Edwardstown workshop in January 1967 and is shown above upon its debut at Winton that March.
Hunnam was Elfin’s Victorian agent. He was third in the 1963 Australian FJ Championship at Warwick Farm aboard an Elfin Ford FJ #6312 behind Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 22 Ford and Greg Cusack’s Brabham Ford.
(unattributed)
He was seventh in the 1966 Australian One and a Half Litre Championship in a Mark 1 Mono Lotus-Ford #M6443 and ninth in the ’67 Championship with the Mk 2D. He scored four Gold Star points in 1966 with his Mono Mk1 (at Calder above) and one point in 1967 with the #36 car above.
Operator of a Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick servo in the period he raced the Elfins, by the early 1970s Jack Hunnam Motors (JHM) was in Wren Road, Moorabbin (below).
David ‘Chocolates’ Robertsons Ford Capri Boss 302 Sports Sedan awaits its turn on the dyno…What became of Jack after those years?
(M Leslie)Hunnam leads a gaggle of cars at Warwick Farm during the 1963 Australian FJ Championship race. His Elfin Ford FJ is being chased by the J Gates Lotus 18 (E Holly Collection)(A Thompson)
Graham Thompson in the ex-Doug Whiteford Talbot Lago T26C #110007 1952-53 Australian Grand Prix winning car going through Dandenong Road corner at Sandown circa 1963 in an historic event. Amazing given that Barry Collerson raced the car very skilfully in-period into 1961!
Thompson acquired the car from Arnold Glass’ Capitol Motors in Sydney in September 1962, here she is below in the driveway of his Bendigo home shortly thereafter.
Bill Anderson aboard the Prad Healey 100-6 at Lakeside during the Queensland Tourist Trophy meeting in November 1962. John Dickson advises that it’s Sid Sakzewski’s Porsche Carrera with Orlando ‘Tony’ Basile the driver while Sid was in Italy on a business trip.
Leo Geoghegan, Lotus 20 Ford and Gavin Youl, MRD Ford? at Lakeside in 1962. Geoghegan won the Australian FJ Championship at Warwick Farm in 1963 racing a Lotus 22 Ford.
Credits…
Ron Greene, Vintage Sports Car Club of Australia, Graham Ruckert, Glenn Moulds, Colin Hyams Archive, John Lemm, Janice Jamieson, Garry Woodward, Mal Bradley, Keith Trotter, Chantelle Adams, Terry McGrath, Paul Geard Collection, Ed Holly Collection, Ian Smith, Ian Arnold via Mark Arnold, Thompson Family Archive, Ray Bell, Monty Leslie
Have had a fun week or so with a few back to back events, the first of which was a drive and photo-shoot of Rob Alsop’s superb, just finished restoration of a Bugatti T23 Brescia.
The article is scheduled to appear in a February magazine, shall let you know when. We did the shoot between the bays – Westernport and Port Phillip – at Arthurs Seat, Flinders and Shoreham. The shot above was taken at Flinders Golf Club looking towards Cape Schanck, Phillip Island is to the left 10k or whatever away.
(M Bisset)
Andrew and Dave Hewison do their stuff at Arthurs Seat, there were lotsa rubber-necks from countries-to-our-north around even at 10am Thursday morning…
Clutch-throttle-brake pedals have their challenges as the daily driver of a manual car. So too the right-hand brake, which operates the two-wheel only, rear brakes. Bugatti gearboxes are fantastic, the lever is alongside the brake, the brake-downchange caper takes some thought and coordination.
T23-2063 turned 100 in May, a peppy 1.5-litre, SOHC, three-valve four cylinder engine is impressive for the day.
(R Alsop)(M Bisset)
The Motors and Masterpieces car show held at the Melbourne Showgrounds last weekend is the successor to the much-admired and now dead Motorclassica.
The Showgrounds can never match the Royal Exhibition Buildings for grandeur, but critically the rent is much lower, so hopefully the thing makes a dollar and will therefore survive. We should be kissing owner/promoter Carlos Piteira on the arse with thanks for persisting but the usual array of whinging-do-fuck-all mob are railing from the sidelines, where of course they belong.
I’m not a big one for Shiny Car Shows – once every three years at Motorclassica – especially when they are largely devoid of racing cars, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Long may it continue…
(M Bisset)
The only two racing cars present were the ex-Brabham/Bob Jane-John Harvey 1968 Brabham BT23E Repco 830 2.5 V8, and ex-Tony Martin/Paul England-Peter Larner-Larry Perkins Chevron B39/45 Ford BDA 1.6. The Porsche is a tribute car.
(M Bisset)(M Bisset)
I ‘spose the ex-Rupert Steele Bentley qualifies as a racer too, see here for a piece about the car, which is coming up for sale in Donington Auction’s next sale: https://primotipo.com/2021/07/18/sir-ruperts-bentley/
(M Bisset)
The Harry Firth built ex-Gavin Bailleu/Wes Nalder/Dianne Leighton et al Triumph TR2 Special aka Ausca Triumph never looked this good in period. Creative Custom Cars in Dromana and a generous budget have done an extraordinary job.
Apart from a decade or so sitting on display in the Country Club Hotel in Longford the car has had a hard racing life, a more sedentary existence seems entirely appropriate.
Dianne Leighton in the Sandown paddock 1962 (unattributed)oopsie, Ausca TR methinks (M Bisset)(Creative Custom Cars)(M Bisset)(M Bisset)
Fifty Shades of Grey. Ferrari 550 Maranello and Aston Martin DB2-4 (M Bisset)
The Pursang Rally is an annual one-dayer orgnised by the Ferrari and Bugatti clubs.
Held last Sunday, the start was at Snapper Point, Mornington – where these shots were taken – and then proceeded down the Mornington Peninsula to St Andrews via Arthurs Seat, Boneo, Red Hill, Shoreham, Flinders and loops thereof.
A great day was had by all, the rain stopped, it’s not the go to name the owners of these cars other, perhaps, than Joe Killeja whose ownership of this sensational AC Cobra #CSX2522 is in the public domain.
(M Bisset)
The car is one of two Slalom Special/Slalom Snakes built in 1964. As the names suggests, they were factory built club competition specials fitted with a swag of desirable goodies: front and rear roll bars, Konis, American brand mag-alloy rather than wire wheels, high performance Goodyears, brake and bonnet scoops, side exhausts and bumper bars deleted. Yes, I can see bumperettes in the pic above.
Jack Quinn, the lucky prick, had command of the car for the day, the AC had promotional filming duties in the afternoon for Jack’s upcoming Rippon Lea Concours, see here: https://ripponleaconcours.com/
(M Bisset)
Ford 289 small-block Windsor with four downdraught Weber IDA’s and lots of trick internals. Quoted at 385bhp ex-factory but this baby gives plenty more.
Delahaye 135M (M Bisset)Brescia by two (M Bisset)
The largesse rolled on with Mark Johnson and Jack Quinn’s X-Mas bash in North Melbourne and Donington’s pre-event viewing of the cars of the late Ric Begg in Brunswick. See here: https://www.doningtonauctions.com.au/ Not too many alcohol free days at all in the last 10 I’m afraid…
(M Bisset)
The owner of this car sold his Cameron Millar Maserati 250F and bought this Ferrari 250TR Replica, there won’t be too many of these in Portsea this summer.
(M Bisset)
This pair of Sunbeam Specials were impressive, mind you there is about $A200k to spend on the one below after you buy the car Grant Cowie reckons…
John Surtees and works-Norton Manx 500 prior to the start of a race at the International Meeting, Silverstone 9 April 1955…
Born in 1934 (11 February 1934-10 March 2017) at Tatsfield, Surrey, Surtees famously grew up working in his dad’s South London motorcycle shop. Jack Surtees was a former bus driver turned sidecar racer, it was on his father’s Vincent 1000cc sidecar-outfit that John first competed at 14.
As a school leaver at 15, John contested grass track races at Brands Hatch on a Excelsior-JAP B14 500, soon graduating to road racing, initially aboard a Triumph Tiger 70 250, at Brands in April 1950. After commencing his apprenticeship with Vincents’ Stevenage factory the same year he soon commenced racing a self-prepared Vincent Grey 500 single, taking his first win at Aberdare Park, South Wales.
Jack and John Surtees on Jack’s Vincent 1000cc outfit at Brands Hatch in 1952 (J Topham)On the Vincent Grey Flash 500 single, circuit folks? (John Surtees World Champion)
In 1951 he hit the headlines after giving World Champion Geoff Duke’s factory twin-cam Norton curry on his pushrod single at Thruxton, soon establishing himself as one of Britain’s future stars, graduating from the Vincent in 1952 to a 500cc Manx Norton on which he contested his first World Championship race, finishing sixth in the Ulster GP.
In 1953 John made his Isle of Man debut having been loaned a pair of factory Nortons by race chief Joe Craig. But he got himself in Craig’s bad-book as he’d already committed to run Dr Joe Ehrlich’s works 125cc EMC two-stroke, only to crash it in practice and break his wrists after front-fork failure.
John Surtees at right during the June 1954 IOM TT weekend: 15th in the Senior and 11th in the Junior TTs on his privately entered machines. #5 is perhaps the 350
Craig cracked the shits when he couldn’t race his Nortons so John raced a pair of customer Norton 350/500s with great success in 1954. On these bikes he was 11th in the IOM 350cc Junior race and 15th in the 500cc Senior, also taking the British 250cc championship that year by winning 15 races of 17 starts on the unique R.E.G. 250 DOHC parallel-twin built by talented businessman Robert E Geeson.
As a consequence of that great season, Craig finally gave Surtees his first works Norton rides in what proved to be the British manufacturer’s final season of racing what were by then outclassed singles in 1955. John won 69 of 75 races that he started in Britain and raced regularly on the Continent, but it was on an NSU Sportmax that he recorded his first GP win, the 250cc Ulster GP at Dundrod on August 13.
Surtees, NSU Sportmax, 250cc Ulster GP winner, Dundrod August 13, 1955 (unattributed)Surtees, works-Norton Manx 500, Ulster GP, Dundrod, 1955 Senior TT. Led until his fuel stop then DNF with mechanical failure. Bill Lomas won both the 350 and 500 races on Moto Guzzis (A Herl)
With Norton’s end-of-season retirement from racing imminent, John finished the year by twice beating reigning 500cc World Champion Geoff Duke’s Gilera 500-4 at Silverstone and then Brands Hatch. Gilera, Moto Guzzi and BMW (for whom he’d ridden in the German GP on an RS500 Boxer) all chased his signature on a contract for 1956.
Instead Surtees began a five-year association with MV Agusta – after Count Domenico Agusta’s elderly mother had inspected him to decide whether she liked the cut-of-his-jib – winning his first seven races on the sonorous Italian in early-season British national races before winning the Isle of Man Senior TT, his debut World Championship Grand Prix race on the MV 500-four. And the rest, as they say, is history…click here for my article on the champion: https://primotipo.com/2014/11/30/john-surtees-world-champion-50-years-ago/
Surtees testing an MV, date and place unknown (unattributed)Surtees on the way to winning the Senior TT at Kates Cottage on the Isle of Man in 1956, MV 500 (ttracepics.com)
Credit…
Central Press, ridersdrivemag.com, A Herl, ttracepics.com, ‘John Surtees-World Champion’ by John Surtees and Alan Henry, J Topham-TopFoto, Rodger Kirby
Evocative shot of Jack Phillips’ Ford V8 Special ascending Rob Roy hill in the Christmas Hills, 50km east of Melbourne
This car was one of the fastest and most successful racers in Australia – where handicap events then were standard fare – in the immediate pre and post-War period. Built by Phillips and Ted Parsons, his riding mechanic and partner in a Wangaratta Ford dealership, I’ve written about the combo before: https://primotipo.com/2023/03/07/jack-phillips-ted-parsons-ford-v8/
I’d love to know the date of the meeting and how Jack went? Before the January 13, 1939 Black Friday fires it seems?
(B King Collection)
Phillips/Parsons (above and below) on the way to a win in the South Australian Hundred on formidable Lobethal in 1940.
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