Archive for the ‘Obscurities’ Category

‘Motori Porno’: Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Tasman 2.5 litre V8…

Posted: November 30, 2018 in F1, Obscurities
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frank

(Rod MacKenzie)

Frank Gardner using all of his Mildren Alfa’s 310bhp chasing Jochen Rindt’s Lotus 49 ‘Warwick Farm International’ pole time, 8 February 1969…

Alfa’s Tipo 33 V8 sportscar engine was first used in elite single seater racing by Australia’s Alec Mildren Racing- a step on its way to F1 competition by the Arese marque.

Mildren, a Sydney Alfa Dealer, former Australian Gold Star Champion and Australian Grand Prix winner had one of the most professional teams in Australia. He had impeccable Alfa Romeo/Autodelta connections having acquired and raced two GTA’s and a TZ2 in the early to mid sixties, and in the process ‘polished’ Alfa’s Australian brand, one of the greatest of the ‘Grand Marques’ which was then relatively new to the ‘Oz market.

Click on these links to articles about Alec Mildren and the Mildren Racing Autodelta Alfa’s;

Mildren’s Unfair Advantage…

The Master of Opposite Lock: Kevin Bartlett: Alfa Romeo GTA…

Mildren’s 2.5 litre Coventry Climax FPF engined Tasman Brabham BT11A/BT16 being raced by Gardner on his annual trips home from Europe was being ‘flogged’ by the Repco Brabham, BRM and Coventry Climax V8’s in 1966/7, so he sought an appropriate response- a sprint variant of the Tipo 33 engine was the obvious choice given his Alfa connections and local marketing needs.

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What a beautifully integrated bit of kit the Mildren Brabham BT23D Alfa was? Here just before it progressively grew wings. Kevin Bartlett drove the wheels off the thing, here at Hell Corner Bathurst during the ’68 Easter Gold Star round. KB was on pole by 9! seconds but DNF with a broken rear upright, Phil West took the win in the Brabham BT23A Repco. Bartlett won the ’68 Gold Star in this car and was equal 9th in the ’69 Tasman (Dick Simpson)

Mildren ordered eventaully three 2.5 litre Tipo 33 V8 engines which were initially fitted to a bespoke Brabham BT23D…

The car arrived in Australia in time for the final round of the domestic Gold Star Championship- the Hordern Trophy at Warwick Farm in 1967- FG won upon the cars race debut. He then contested the 1968 Tasman.

The motors were then installed 12 months later into the Mildren ‘Yellow Submarine’, a monocoque car designed by Len Bailey and built for the team by Alan Mann Racing for the 1969 Tasman Series.

Both cars were raced by Frank Gardner in the Tasman Series and then ‘handed over’ to Kevin Bartlett for the Gold Star Championship, when Gardner returned to the UK at the end of each Australasian summer.

Bartlett won the Gold Star  in 1968 and 1969 with each chassis respectively- BT23D and ‘The Sub’ respectively.

In 1969 the ‘Sub’ was also powered by Merv Waggotts’s 2 litre ‘TC4V’ 4-cylinder, DOHC, 4 valve, Lucas injected 275 bhp engine for part of the season.

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(Ian Peak/The Roaring Season)

Above is a beautiful photograph of the 2.5 litre, 2 valve, 4 cam, fuel injected, 2 plug Alfa Tipo 33 V8 installed in Alec Mildren’s Gardner driven Brabham BT23D at Teretonga during the 1968 Tasman.

Gardner was equal fourth with Graham Hill in the series behind Jim Clark, Chris Amon and Piers Courage in Lotus 49, Ferrari Dino 246T and McLaren M4A Ford FVA respectively.

Kevin Bartlett had this to say about the Alfa Romeo 2.5 litre Tasman V8 and Waggott DOHC 4 valve engine, both of which powered the Mildren ‘Yellow Submarine’…

‘My memory tells me the Alfa had around 350lbs (of torque) and the Waggott about 230lbs. The useable power range was quite different with the Alfa workable between 4500-8800 rpm and the Waggott 6800-8750rpm. Not perfectly accurate as i work from  memory but around that kind of difference’.

‘The driving difference was the main change, as the power to weight felt little different behind the wheel, mainly due i suppose to the fact full throttle was used much sooner with the 4 cyl 2000cc Waggott.’

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Kevin Bartlett won the Macau Grand Prix in 1969 in the Mildren Alfa ‘Sub’, here in the paddock. What a handsome bit of kit the car was and still is- restored by Lionel Ayers a decade ago to Waggott engined spec and retained by his family (Natalino Couto)

‘The turn in changed to a marked degree with the lighter power plant (Waggott) having less moment of inertia allowing the car to be literally flung into a turn. As it happens i am the only driver to experience both configurations. Frank Gardner having raced only the Alfa Romeo engined variant of each car’.

‘Len Bailey was the (Mildren’s) designer of the tub which flexed a little at the rear with the Alfa’s torque, less so when the Waggott went in, with suspension being a (Brabham designer) Ron Tauranac adaption’.

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Mildren’s Glenn Abbey fettling the ‘Sub’ in the Singapore GP paddock , 1970 (Eli Solomon)

Alfa Romeo claimed 315bhp at 8800 rpm for the 2.5 litre variant of the engine. A similar 3 litre, four valve per cylinder, 32 valve engine (the Mildren V8’s were all chain driven two-valvers) was developed for Cooper in F1 but wasn’t used before the teams demise.

The F1 Alfa Romeo 3 litre V8…

Was an all aluminium unit with a bore/stroke of 86mm X 64.4mm for a total of 2998cc. Five main and camshaft bearings were used, the four camshafts driven by chains.

 

mac engine

Andrea de Adamich, McLaren M14D Alfa Romeo during 1970 (unattributed)

The valves were inclined at 30 degrees, the inlets were 32mm and exhausts 27mm in size, Alfa Romeo/Autodelta claimed an output of 400bhp @ 9000rpm in sportscar form. Modified with gear driven camshafts for F1 use, Autodelta claimed 430bhp @ 10,500 rpm at a time the 3 litre F1 competition- Ford Cosworth DFV gave circa 440, the Matra V12 445-450 and Flat-12 Ferrari 460bhp @ 12,000 rpm.

It was not enough really, not without impeccable reliability, but Alfa had put their toes back in F1 waters with McLaren in 1970 and then March in 1971- and would return with Brabham in the mid-seventies, as they had started with Mildren’s Brabham BT23D a decade before.

Etcetera…

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Another photo of the Tipo 33 V8 in the spaceframe BT23D- FT200 gearbox clear as are the four coils and two distributors for all those plugs- 2 per cylinder. Car had a chequered history but still exists happily in restored form in Australia (Ian Peak)

 

Frank Gardner in the BT23D during the 1968 Warwick Farm Tasman round- very soggy outfield that year, this is in The Esses before Shell Bridge (oldracephotos.com/DSimpson)

 

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Just to show the ‘Sub’ was yellow! Bartlett the cover boy of this terrific seasonal publication of the 1969 Australian Racing Season. Here the car is in 2 litre Waggott spec

 

Bartlett all ready to go- BT23D with Alec Mildren at right

Bibliography…

Kevin Bartlett, Doug Nye ‘History of The GP Car’

Photo Credits…

Dick Simpson, Rod MacKenzie, Ian Peak Collection/The Roaring Season, Eli Solomon, Natalino Couto, oldracephotos.com/Dick Simpson

Tailpiece: Rod’s initial Frank Gardner ‘Yellow Sub’ photo at the articles outset, uncropped…

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Finito…

 

Bathurst Lap Record…

Posted: November 26, 2018 in Fotos, Obscurities
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(P Greenfield)

Niel Allen blasts 5 litres of fuel-injected Chevy off the line at Bathurst, Easter 1970- McLaren M10B Chev F5000…

Peter Greenfield has beautifully captured Niel at the start of the historic three lap ‘Captain Cook Trophy’ in which Allen set a lap record at Bathurst with a time of 2:9.7 seconds which stood for 32 years until it was taken by John Bowe in a Ford V8 AU Supercar with 2:8.3873 to take provisional pole in 2002. Brad Jones did a race lap of 2:9.5705 in the same AU Falcon.

Whilst the track changed in the interim period as to a much better surface it was slowed by the high speed ‘The Chase’ on Conrod. Not to mention the fact that the last Easter Meeting with outright open-wheelers took place in 1973- the track had simply become too dangerous for cars of that performance envelope as it then was.

The feature event on the program that Easter 1970 weekend was the second round of the Australian Touring Car Championship which was won by Norm Beechey’s Holden Monaro GTS350, click here to read about that race;

Variety Is The Spice…

(Rod MacKenzie)

Start of the lap record race, above, with an obscured Niel Allen over against the Pit Counter. On this side is John Harvey, Brabham BT23E Repco and in white, Leo Geoghegan, Lotus 39 Repco- there was life in the old dog though, in beating Harves in the racing car 13 lapper Leo did a 2:12.1, the fastest ever time by a Tasman 2.5 car at Bathurst.

This meeting must have been just about the last race for each of those cars before John and Leo jumped into the Bob Britton built Jane Repco V8 and Lotus 59B Waggott respectively for the balance of their 1970 Gold Star campaigns- a title won by Geoghegan.

(J Bondini Collection)

The shadows are getting longer- Niel squints in the afternoon sun as he guides his 5 litre missile around Hell Corner for the blast up Mountain Straight- McLaren M10B in the pantheon of Formula 5000 cars one of the greats.

Niel Allen collects one of his trophies for the weekend from Chris Davison (C Williams)

Allen did a qualifying lap of 2:11.2 with a trick flat-plane crank Chev engine fitted to one of the fastest F5000’s on the planet at the time. The 1970 NZ GP winner flew around the treacherous for ultra fast single-seaters, circuit to do his amazing time- 171.7 miles per hour down Conrod in the process, a much narrower strip of bitumen than it is now.

The current Bathurst lap records are held by McLarens.

Shane van Gisbergen did a 2:1.5670 in his McLaren 650S GT3 during the February 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race. Jenson Button did a 1:48.88 in his F1 McLaren MP4-23 Mercedes in the pre-event Vodaphone publicity session he did with Craig Lowndes and his V8 Supercar prior to the 2011 AGP at Albert Park- I do like the symmetry of ‘another’ McLaren single-seater holding the ‘lap record’ even though the time was not set in a race.

I wish.

(zimbio.com)

Credits…

Peter Greenfield, motorsport.com, Road & Track, Wikipedia, Rod MacKenzie, ‘Bathurst: Cradle of Australian Motor Racing’ John Medley, Craig Williams

Tailpiece: Shane Van Gisbergen, McLaren 650S 2016…

(Road and Track)

Finito…

Racing Abstract Art…

Posted: November 25, 2018 in Fotos, Obscurities
Tags:
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Still life of Indian juggling clubs, Bell helmet and a bowling pin…

The image was featured in a ‘Design for Sport’ exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in February 1962.

Quite what the connection between the items in this ‘installation’ as we call it in the art world is, I am ferked if I know! All creative interpretations welcome.

My partner is into art, in fact she has an art business ‘on the side’ including a website of which I am the star, read the only, writer despite knowing five-eighths of four-fifths of bugger all about the subject. Nothing a little bit of research can’t fix mind you. Click here for one of my masterpieces on the Venice Biennale; http://www.moha.com.au/australian-pavilion-venice-biennale-who-gets-go/

We spend a lot of time in galleries of all types, the things we do for love I guess. I enjoy looking at art even though most of the time I have absolutely no idea what it is I am looking at.

Just like this still life really…

Credit…

Mark Kauffman

Penrith Speedway, 1928 New Year Weekend…

Posted: November 20, 2018 in Fotos, Obscurities
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Hector Jenkins, Fronty Ford, Penrith Speedway, New South Wales, practice in December 1927/January 1928…

Ronald Taylor took these wonderful, evocative photographs of a much more relaxed time and place, getting on for a century ago. Above is quite possibly Peter White testing the Fronty before winning the Unlimited Scratch Race on 2 January 1928.

The car above is the Alert Special, whilst it had an Alvis radiator it was a modified Ford. It appears more of a road-racer in specification than a dirt-track machine but the racers of the day often used the same car to do road trials, dirt events and race on the concrete saucer at Maroubra. The times of specialisation are still a way off in Australia.

Jenkins, Fronty Ford

Penrith is 60 Km west of Sydney, a long way then but now a soda, depending upon traffic traversing the Western Motorway to the Blue Mountains and beyond, I wrote an article about the place a while back which provides plenty of background; https://primotipo.com/2017/06/08/penriths-world-championship-race-1930/

David Manson has researched the photographs in this piece and wrote that ‘Bridget Wynne (photo further below in the article) claimed to be an experienced racing driver in England but she never drove in or raced in this country as far as can be established’ despite that he suspects it may be her at the wheel. I am intrigued to learn more about this lady.

Alert Special and Flint driven by T Poole- or is it being tested before the meeting by Peter White who was ‘timed to cover laps at a speed of about 70 mph’ the SMH reported on 22 December 1927

It’s all happening above- capped mechanics fuelling the cars and plenty of envious onlookers, amidst the Friday practice perhaps?

T Poole contested the Unlimited Car Scratch Race run over 3 miles on 2 January 1928 in the Flint and won by Peter White’s Fronty Ford, his average speed 67 mph.

The Thomas Special, Fronty Ford and the Flint ran at Penrith Speedway at a meeting which was split between 26 December 1927 and 2 January 1928- New Years Day was on a Sunday which partially explains the odd dates.

Thomas, Thomas Ford Special

Hector Jenkins was the New South Wales agent for Frontenac hotting-up parts for Fords, operating out of the Saunders Chambers premises at 247 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, he and his family used to camp at the Penrith  Speedway for race meetings. There are hints in the photos that not much racing was going on, so maybe they were taken on practice days before the Christmas/New Year meeting.

And we have ‘lift off’ below- a practice race start for Ms Wynne.

Miss Wynne aboard the Alert Special

Etcetera…

(mfca.com)

Here is the Hector Jenkins team/family campsite, come workshop at Penrith with banner proclaiming the Australian Track Record and Dirt Track Championship of NSW held by Fronty Fords. Hector is second from the right.

Peter White’s personal Fronty Ford had the Maroubra record at 101.3 mph whilst Hector’s DO Fronty had the dirt track record at Penrith. The cars above are the R, DO and SR Fronty.

Credits…

Ronald Vernon Taylor- all but one photo, David Manson, mfca.com, various newspaper articles via Trove

Tailpiece: Yep! He is the guy we have to beat: The Jenkins Fronty Ford crew watching the action…

 

Finito…

Bernie Haehnle: Rennmax Mk1 FV…

Posted: November 13, 2018 in Fotos, Obscurities, Touring Cars
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Bernie Haehnle aboard his Rennmax Mk1 Formula Vee on the front row of the grid at Warwick Farm in 1971…

Nice find of a batch of interesting photos- this one of Bernie on the front of the grid, where he typically resided, and the other two which triggered this article are Australian Department of Immigration ‘success stories of migrants in sport’ of whom Bernie was one- he hails from Stuttgart, Germany.

(DIA)

 

(DIA)

 

At the time of the article ( I wonder where it was published?) he had his own automotive business in Lane Cove, Sydney. Haehnle progressed from FV- these Bob Britton built Rennmax Mk1’s were the ‘ducks-guts’ to have, especially in New South Wales, to Formula Ford, racing a Bowin P6F with much elan. As was the case for top open-wheeler racers he usually saddled up in a Series Production car for the annual enduros at Bathurst, Sandown and Surfers. I wonder what he is up to these days?

Bernie, Rennmax Mk1 in the Warwick Farm Esses, November 1971 (L Hemer)

Credits…

Industrial Photography, Department of Immigration Australia, Lynton Hemer, Pictorial History of Racing Cars

What a great way for a young driver to have his profile lifted. As a sponsored driver, these Shell ads were placed in the mainstream motoring magazines of the day, not just niche ones like ‘Australian Hot Rod’.

(Pic History of Racing Cars)

Tailpiece: Just a smidge more, five more minutes…

Bernie was clearly determined and clever!

His disagreement with local real estate occurred at XL (Griffins) Bend during the running of the 1969 Bathurst 500 classic when he ran out of road heading up the mountain.

With his trusty fence post, leverage, push-and-shove and the fall of the land Bernie was able to get the little GH Whitehead entered Mazda R100 back onto its wheels and into the fray after an hour of toil. He drove down the mountain and through a farm before rejoining the blacktop.

It is one of those feats of never-say-die which has gone down in Bathurst folklore- and garnered far more TV coverage than a mid-field class car could have ever dreamed of!

Co-driver Peter Wherrett shared the car with him, the pair retired on lap 31 with PW not getting a drive but watching the drama unfold on the telly in the pits. The car was driveable, a tad second hand, but without a windscreen officialdom stepped in.

(autopics.com.au)

In an historic sidebar it was the first time a rotary engined car raced at the Mountain- in fact it was one of the R100’s first race appearances anywhere in the world.

Whilst the 982cc, twin-rotor, 100bhp cars were very quick in a straight line thanks to a combination of power and light weight.

Haehnle, R100 early in the race (autopics.com.au)

With only 805 kg to cart along, the little coupe did the standing quarter in sub 18 seconds with a top whack of 175 km/h. It wasn’t as flash through the corners though- the R100 was very narrow and tall relative to its length, resulting in lots of body roll and fearful roll oversteer at high speed caused by toe-out on the outside rear wheels due to deflection in the leaf springs. Ask Bernie.

Three R100’s started at Mount Panorama, the quickest of the two remaining finished fifth (Garry Cooke/Geoff Spence) in Class C behind the winning Cooper S, two Fiat 125s and a lone Valiant Pacer. The second R100 was seventh- the Mazdas finished two laps behind the winning Coopers with their superior handling, fuel economy and long track record of motor racing success.

What was impressive was that two standard, off the production line examples of Mazda’s new mass-produced rotary survived 500 miles flat-knacker on one of the world’s most challenging circuits without a drama. Mazda became an important force in Australian touring car racing over the ensuing decade, all of which started with the R100 and test-pilots like Bernie!

Finito…

Bluebird, Lake Eyre 1963/4…

Posted: November 6, 2018 in Fotos, Icons & Iconoclasts, Obscurities
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(J Frith)

‘All set, everything ship shape!’…

I’ve already written a couple of articles about Donald Campbell’s achievements against the odds of the weather gods at Lake Eyre, South Australia during the winters of 1963 and 1964.

He had a torrid time from the media, his sponsors- many of whom he lost during that first year, the public and some in the Australian Parliament.

Click below for a brilliant article, the best written, about Campbell’s ultimately successful record attempt by the late Evan Green, a superb Australian motoring and motor-racing journalist, very talented rally and race driver and the man appointed by Campbell’s major sponsor in 1964, Ampol, to manage the program from Muloorina Station and Lake Eyre- so it is very much a first-hand participants account.

It provides useful context for this small random selection of cartoons and photographs.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/classic-wheels/classic-wheels-donald-campbell-and-his-bluebird-car-world-speed-record

The first cartoon is by John E Frith, one of Australia’s great cartoonists who worked early in his career for the Sydney Morning Herald and later for the Melbourne Herald (as here I suspect) and is dated 26 April 1963.

It shows DC about to close the cockpit of Bluebird, with a dutiful salute being provided. ‘SS Bluebird’ is an amalgam of plane, ship and car carrying the colours of both Britain and Australia, the watching kangaroo and aboriginal are amusing, the latter totally politically incorrect these days!

Bluebird Proteus CN7 Lake Eyre 1964 (J Carter)

 

Jeff Carter’s photo was taken during the 1964 attempt.

His caption reads ‘Donald Campbell’s attempt on the world speed record in a vehicle driven through the wheels (not jet propelled) dragged on for almost two years during the winters of 1963 and 1964.

Fluctuating dampness of the dry saltpan that is Lake Eyre was a major problem, making it difficult to maintain a perfectly smooth, dry, hard surface for the many necessary practice runs and the final attempt.

Sponsors grew impatient with the endless delays and withdrew support. New sponsors had to be found.

Campbell’s unpredictable temperament was a factor in splitting the large group of sponsors, technicians, caterers, time-keepers etc- some 60 or more people in two camps.

Eventually in the late winter of 1964, the 4,500 horsepower jet-engined Bluebird attained a new Land Speed Record of 403.1miles per hour (an average) of its top speeds on two consecutive runs, north and south.

Craig Breedlove, driving a jet-propelled vehicle on a salt lake in the USA achieved a considerably higher speed in 1964. His vehicle was not driven through the wheels. In this photo, technicians, time keepers, photographers and photographers play football beteen practice runs’. (look carefully, you can see the ball)

(J Carter)

Jeff Carter was the official photographer for the attempt, representing the international photo agency ‘Black Star’.

‘When nothing much was happening in the Campbell/Bluebird camp, I and other members of the press would adjourn to Marree, (above) where nothing much was happening either!’

(LAT)

Of course everything did eventually get to a stage where Campbell drove the car in conditions which were still sub-optimal as related in Even Green’s article- but good enough to have a crack and placate those who had been more than patient with him for an inordinate amount of time. 17 July 1964.

The good citizens of Adelaide, a good proportion of the cities total population turned out to see the Bluebird parade on King William Street, and so they should.

It was a remarkable achievement.

(NAA)

Bluebird…

50 years Ago Today : 17 July 1964 : Donald Campbell Broke the World Land Speed Record in ‘Bluebird’ at Lake Eyre, South Australia, a Speed Of 403.10 MPH…

Credits…

John Frith, Jeff Carter, Article by Evan Green in ‘Wheels’ magazine, National Archive of Australia, LAT

Tailpiece: Ground Control to Major Donald…

(J Frith)

John Frith has captured the adventure of the times with this cartoon dated 16 May 1963, the Apollo space program is in full swing- the space-race is underway. The astronaut returns to earth in sunny conditions but below him are dark clouds which have caused flooding on Lake Eyre, stranding Campbell and Bluebird with DC atop the troubled vehicle…

Finito…

GoPro 1970 Style…

Posted: November 4, 2018 in Fotos, Icons & Iconoclasts, Obscurities
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JMF trying to stay warm at chilly Silverstone, 5 October 1970…

In this day and age of every Tom, Dick and Irving recording their every exploit from the bedroom to the mountain top it’s instructive to look at just how far we have come in camera packaging over four decades or so.

Patrice Pouget is just about to shoot some action footage from a precariously mounted camera atop the svelte tail of a Maserati 250F for a documentary on the great mans life. ‘Fangio’, directed by Hugh Hudson and narrated by the champ himself was released in 1971. The car is ‘2516’, originally a 1955 ex-works car raced mainly by Jean Behra and then sold to Australian Reg Hunt and raced in turn by Bib Stillwell and Arnold Glass before returning to Europe in the sixties and Historic Racing.

I must watch it.

Credit…

Terry Disney

Tailpiece…

 

Calder Formula Ford ‘Race of Champions’ August 1971…

Posted: October 30, 2018 in Fotos, Obscurities
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(NAA)

Jack Brabham testing the ‘Jack Brabham Ford’ Bowin P4X Formula Ford normally raced by Bob Beasley, August 1971…

I’ve rattled on a couple of times before about Jack’s last ‘in-period’ race victory being the Calder Raceway ‘Race Of Champions’ on 15 August 1971- he beat a stellar field.

Jack carried #1 on the flanks of the Bowin in the Calder race- its hard to know where this photo is taken, maybe its at Calder on the weekend of the meeting or perhaps Jack is putting in a few test miles elsewhere to get the hang of the car- its 100 bhp and Goodyear RR12 all weather tyres rather than the 440 bhp, slick shod F1 Brabham BT33 Ford he raced in 1970.

Maybe he is thinkin’- ‘i’ll just soften the rear bar a smidge and see if i can get a bit more bite from the back’…

Check out this article for heaps more on the Bowin Formula Fords;

Bowin P4A and Oz Formula Ford Formative…

(R Beckman)

 

Jack checks his times, eagle eyed Brabham watchers will note the Bell Star as the one he wore thru most of 1970, his last F1 season (R Hawthorn)

 

Front to rear, Stillwell Elfin 600, Brabham Bowin P4X and Matich Aztec- at right front Jane in the other Stillwell Racing Elfin 600 (Bennett)

The Calder race was a wonderful bit of promotion by Bob Jane- here is Tom Naughton’s ‘Racing Car News’ race report from the October issue of ‘The Monthly Bible’…

‘With all the pomp and ceremony of a Grand Prix, Calder staged a ‘Race Of Champions’ for their 15 August meeting.

Coming out of retirement were Jack Brabham and Bib Stillwell (Australian Gold Star National Champion 1962-1965) along with some of todays champions, and all mounted in borrowed Formula Fords, they turned on a most entertaining race. The ‘Master’ showed the way home, easing effortlessly away from the main scrap and showing that he had lost none of the skill after his period of retirement’. (only 8 months at the time!)

‘Brabham lined up in his own (Jack Brabham Ford, Bankstown, Sydney) FF normally steered by Bob Beasley, while Bib Stillwell took over his number one car (Elfin 600) usually driven by Larry Perkins (he won the Driver to Europe Series that year).

Allan Moffat (in fact the only driver without racing car experience) (not quite true, he had an outing or two in Bob Jane’s Brabham BT23E Repco Tasman car boofing it at Sandown in 1968) took over David Green’s car (Wren).

Bob Jane hopped into Mike Stillwell’s Elfin 600, Alan Hamilton into Graeme Peart’s (Wren) and Kevin Bartlett into Murray Coombs’ car (Wren). Frank Matich took over Mike Hall’s Aztec, while Leo Geoghegan slipped into Peter Edwards’ car (Elfin 600)’.

Moffat Wren, with 3 Elfin 600’s behind him- perhaps Leo G immediately behind him and Jack ranging in, partially obscured to his outside, Jack is ranging in (autopix)

 

Frank Matich in Mike Hall’s Aztec. In August 1971 FM is up to his armpits in the build of the Matich A50 Repco F5000, so my guess he may have preferred to stay in Sydney, in which he was to win the November AGP at Warwick Farm – wonder what he thought of the Melbourne, Ould brothers built Aztec? (AMRA)

‘That was the field and at the flag Jane was first away, leading from Moffat, Brabham, Geoghegan and Hamilton. By lap 2, the front three had closed up and on the following lap both Moffat and Brabham slipped by at Repco. Geoghegan came up to challenge Jane, while Brabham took the lead on lap 4. He started to ease away from the rest, while Jane slipped Moffat at Toyota, these next three keeping close company. By lap 6, Geoghegan took Moffat, and then inherited second spot when Jane slipped wide at Repco, dropping back behind Stillwell’.

‘Oops! The same thing happened the last time I drove one of these open-wheeler thingies’. Moffat in David Greens slightly second-hand Wren (Bob Jane)

In lap 9, Stillwell started a challenge on Moffat and Hamilton, but in front Brabham was well clear. He took the flag in true champion style, with Leo second, then a scrapping duo of Hamilton and Moffat, with Stillwell hard on their heels, then came Jane, Matich and Bartlett. Leo did the fastest lap, a 48.6.’

The three Brabham sons all had stints in Australian Formula Ford before heading off to Europe, Geoff in 1973/4 aboard Bowin P4X/Elfin 620/Bowin P6F, Gary in 1982 with the Birrana F73 and David in 1986/7 with Van Diemen RF85/86. There is a neat bit of symmetry in the ‘old man’ also having a race win in Oz FF- was it his very last race win I wonder?

Credit…

‘Racing Car News’ October 1971, Laurie and Nick Bennett Collection, Bob Jane Heritage Collection, Autopix, Australian Motor Racing Annual, Jonathon Koch Collection for the program and RCN, National Archives Australia, Lynton Hemer, Russell Beckman, Stephen Dalton Collection, Russell Hawthorn

Etcetera…

(S Dalton Collection)

From the Calder 15 August meeting program. Car in the photo is Jack’s last Tasman mount, the Brabham BT31 Repco at the Sandown Tasman meeting in February 1969

The race certainly had a great entry, for overseas readers, Stillwell, Bartlett, Matich and Geoghegan were all Gold Star Champions and Moffat, Jane and Hamilton national title holders on multiple occasions aboard Touring Cars and Sports Cars in Hamilton’s case. Jack probably requires no introduction…

For the sake of correctness, the car driver/combinations did not quite start as listed in the program.

Brabham was aboard the one off Bowin P4X- slightly different in the suspension to production P4A’s, Matich the Aztec, Jane a Stillwell Elfin 600, Geoghegan the Edwards Elfin 600 with Moffat, Bartlett and Hamilton aboard Wrens.

Brabham doing a parade lap in the P4X at Oran Park on 26 March 1972 (L Hemer)

Tailpiece: ‘It feels a bit like the ‘Stang, gearchange is on the right anyway’…

Moff saddles up in David Green’s Wren Formula Ford, these cars (not to forget his ‘Mk2’s constructed in the later 1970’s) were built in reasonable numbers by Bill Reynolds in his Carlisle Street, St Kilda workshop, not too far away from Calder.

Allan Moffat’s open-wheeler appearances, apart from this, were limited to a couple of races in the States circa 1966/7 (details please) and limited laps in Bob Jane’s Brabham BT23E Repco at Sandown in 1968.

Finito…

Rays Formula Libre race…

Posted: October 28, 2018 in Fotos, Obscurities
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It can only be a Formula Libre race, somehow I doubt 4 year old Ray Dones had a future as a race promoter…

This shot of the little dude and his eclectic grid of racers was taken at the Denver Toy and Hobby Show on 3 April 1965, but it could just as easily be me at the ‘Scalextric’ track at Rosebud on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in 1969.

We ‘useter holiday at McCrae during the long, hot Australian summer- in between working on the ‘tan my brother and cousin spent lotsa time and money on donuts and laps at that place up the road in the Summer of ’69.

I never did parlay my Scalextric pace at 11 to exceptional Formula Vee speed at 21, sadly!

Credit…

Georgia Lowell

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McCrae in the summer of ’69

Finito…

Elfin Mono Clisby V6…

Posted: October 21, 2018 in Fotos, Obscurities
Tags: , , , ,
2

(D Lupton)

Andy Brown’s unique Elfin Mono Clisby V6 in the Calder paddock during the 21-23 May weekend in 1965…

Melbourne racer, restorer and Brabham expert Denis Lupton sent this photo to me yesterday- it is magnificent in its colourful detail so I thought we might finish the weekend as we started it- with a Clisby theme. I’ll pop it into the other article too, but it was too good to ‘lose’ within there, so here it is in all of its detailed glory.

Click on the link to the earlier article for the engine’s full technical details, the following occurs to me in absorbing the photograph.

Clisby Douglas Spl and Clisby F1 1.5 litre V6…

Isn’t it an exquisite little thang! Denis’ shot is so sharp we can easily see the beautiful finish of the cam-covers, ‘Clisby’ script and contrasting coloured retaining bolts. Three of the four Bosch-Clisby distributors are clear, as is the battery of four coils to provide lotsa spark for each of the twin-plugs per cylinder.

Blow the shot up and the intricate, beautifully fabricated, ‘Rose’-jointed throttle linkage is clear- as are the two triple-throat Clisby carburettors- boy they look yummy, so nicely made and finished. Die or sand cast?

Garrie Cooper designed the Type 100 Elfin or more colloquially the ‘Mono’ to suit the Ford pushrod and Lotus Ford twin-cam inline four-cylinder engines- I wonder if the tub of this chassis, Mk1 ‘M6548’ is different to the rest, perhaps Mono Experts Ron and James Lambert can let us know.

Either way, routing the exhausts to clear the top of the aluminium full-monocoque tub and then through the rear suspension linkages was a challenge and a test of the pipe-benders art. The nickel plated top radius rod on this side is clear as is the similarly shiny gear linkage which pops from under the fibreglass body and travels between the cam-covers to the Elfin modified VW case- Southcotts cut the gears in Adelaide if my memory of a conversation with James Lambert last weekend is correct.

The oil filter is atop the ‘box, as is the rear black roll-bar which is set to full soft at this stage of the Autumn weekend. That engine is low, the conceptual thinking of the 120 degree V6 is clear in terms of getting the masses as low down in the chassis as possible.

Wow. A visual feast.

And, if only…

Photo Credit…

Denis Lupton

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