Australian enthusiast/historian Gerard Murnane wrote in a wonderful exchange on Facebook with fellow enthusiasts – the medium at its best – ‘Jack Gallivan made at least six twin-cam Gallivan 8-valve heads for Model-T Fords, crossflow with huge 2-inch valves from a Hispano Suiza and hemispherical chambers with huge porting. If you looked through the inlet of the head you could see the light on the exhaust side. One of these rare heads is on a racer here in Australia.’
‘Jack was in the US Navy in the early-mid 1920s, the rumour is that he used Navy parts to build the engines and did-time for it.’
‘The patterns were originally made by Joe Jagersberger of Rajo Ford speed equipment fame. Joe didn’t build the first Rajo twin-cam until after he sold the patterns to Jack, and he built his heads and engines.’
‘Drive towers for both Gallivan and Rajo are different designs. Later the patterns were again sold, to Joe Lencki, who built a much stronger head and special Ford-T based cylinder block which was raced at Indianapolis in 1935 (Louis Tomei aboard a Miller Lencki). A Lencki block also survives in Australia, one of possibly three in existence.’
Colin Wade‘s Gallivan Special with plenty of fans in Australia Louis Tomei and Frank Del Roy at Indianapolis in their Burd Piston Ring Special – Miller Lencki – in 1935. Q32/28th DNF valve trouble after 47 of 200 laps (indycar.com)Wade Gallivan Special (M Bradley)
On the Model-T cranks, ‘Billet cranks were available back then in at least two different stroke sizes for normal and 1500cc capacity. The Lencki block had five main-bearings with two-inch journals and still fitted a standard T-head and sump pattern etc.’
Neil Worthing asked the question, ‘Was a single T-Model part used?’ Gerard Murnane, ‘In the Gallivan, initially a Model-T sump, block, transmission cover, modified rear axle and tailshaft, axles and springs and modified chassis. In the Lencki, not a lot used.’
‘Model-T chassis and running gear were cheap in the 1920’s-30s and most speed equipment was made to bolt onto standard-T stuff.’ Lencki still used the basic sump, head, block, timing bolt on dimensions in their equipment, but a different transmission connection.’
‘The wheel hub pattern for a Model-T was still used in speedway cars up to the knock-on wheels era. The dimension of the ball end of a Model-T tailshaft tube was also possibly used into the 1970s and later.’
The BMC Australia entered Austin 1800S Mk2 – SMO 227G – that competed in the November 24-December 17 1968 London-Sydney Marathon in the hands of Evan Green, ‘Gelignite Jack’ Murray and George Shepheard in Ulverstone, Tasmania shortly after the event.
They finished 21st with 332 lost points, the winners, Andrew Cowan, Colin Malkin and Brian Coyle lost 50 in their Rootes Motor Group Hillman Hunter, while the best of the Austin 1800s, second placed Paddy Hopkirk, Tony Nash and Alec Poole lost 56 penalty points.
Grant Brooks posted these photographs on the Old Motor Racing Photographs – Australia Facebook page and wrote, ‘My father, had to pick it up in Hobart and drive it to Ulverstone, (300km from Tasmania’s capital in the south, north to the coast) I was the lucky passenger. Here it’s shown outside Dangerfields BMC garage in Ulverstone. Dad did his apprenticeship with them and continued as a mechanic until they closed the workshop.’
‘The man in the suit is John Dangerfield, the dealer’s son, the mechanic is a dude from the servo over the road.’
(H Brooks)
‘It went well, I can still see the look on the face of a V8 Valiant driver as we passed him selecting top-gear!’
‘There was a hand-pump on the back parcel-shelf to adjust the hydrolastic suspension, a seat sideways mounted in the rear, with the whole interior painted black except for the gauges.’
Can anyone assist with life-journey of this machine after BMC had finished with it?
See the links at the end of this article for a couple of other pieces on the London-Sydney. There have been quite a few shots of cars from this event posted on social media over the years, I must scoop them up and pop them in one place to make them easily searchable.
(H Brooks)
The power of the internet never ceases to amaze me. Several hours after uploading this post, enthusiast/historian Laurie Mason got in touch to share these rare colour photographs of car #31 at Wirrealpa Station, a 400,000 acre sheep and cattle farm 570km north of Adelaide in South Australia’s northern Flinders Ranges on December 16, 1968; the events second last day.
Laurie Mason, ‘the second shows the car being repaired after a rear wheel bearing seized ending their run for a top finish. This photo was taken halfway across Wirrealpa. Warren and Barbara took us to the exact spot in 2021 when we were doing the recycle for the 2022 Perth-Sydney Marathon. The last is Gelignite Jack and Evan Green in discussion with BMC mechanics at the repair site.’
(W Fargher)
Etcetera…
Long after this article was posted, enthusiast Luke Manton uploaded these photographs below of the Marathon Austin 1800s being built, and before the London start, on social media – Bob Williamson’s Australian Motor Racing Photographs Facebook page – from memory.
(L Manton Collection)
Given that, I’ve ratted Mark Oastler’s excellent Shannon’s piece referenced above on the preparation of the cars; ratted means pinched and paraphrased. Here goes…
The ‘68 London-Sydney Marathon was thin on technical rules, you could run almost any vehicle you wanted, as long as it had four wheels and only two were driven. Vital parts like the bodyshell and engine block were tagged, so if you had to change them, you were out. There was a maximum height limit so the cars fitted in the hold of the P&O SS Chusan when the field was shipped from Bombay to Fremantle.
BMC’s Competition Department in Abingdon committed to building seven Austin 1800s for the Marathon. These cars would incorporate all that BMC had learned from its arduous East African Safari and Acropolis campaigns plus hundreds of hours of destructive testing in the UK.
The four official factory cars and their service car all featured UK rego plates starting with the letters SMO and were to be driven by the some of the sport’s biggest names from Britain, Scandanavia and Australia: SMO 223G Service car, SMO 225G Rauno Aaltonen/Henry Liddon/Paul Easter, SMO 226G Paddy Hopkirk/Tony Nash/Alec Poole , SMO 227G Evan Green/’Gelignite’ Jack Murray/ George Shepheard , SMO 974G Tony Fall/Mike Wood/Brian Culcheth
The other two factory prepared cars were comprised defence personnel teams representing the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. They were semi-works cars not built to the same peak specs as the ‘SMO’ cars.
The Australian connection came about through Evan Green’s activities with BMC Australia, which had included overseeing the multi-car Mini Cooper S works team winning 1966 Bathurst 500 and his own rally competition in BMC products. His crew consisted of race and rally veteran Jack ‘Gelignite ‘Murray and ace navigator/mechanic George Shepheard.
(L Manton Collection)
The Marathon cars were based on the new sportier Mk2 1800S. Starting with bare ‘shells, weight was reduced by some of the window glass being replaced with Perspex and the doors, bonnet and boot panels were skinned in aluminium. The sump guard was also made from lighter materials.
The bodyshells were beefed up in critical areas including two skins of floor metal and the boots were filled with twin fuel tanks holding 26 gallons (118 litres), each with their own aluminium filler in each rear guard. These extra tanks took up so much space that two spare wheels could be carried on the roof.
The Hydrolastic suspension had larger front actuators also fitted to the rear to cope with heavier loads on rough roads. Front and rear anti-roll bars improved higher speed handling and stability along with Koni adjustable shocks.
The 4.4:1 ratio rack and pinion steering was sharpened up with a drop to 3.25:1. This increased the turning effort, which is why bus-sized steering wheels (16-inch diameter) were specified to improve leverage.
A stout ‘roo bar’ and powerful driving lights were mounted up front. Thick rubber mud flaps were fitted at each corner to shroud 13-inch Minilite magnesium wheels shod with an assortment of Dunlop rally tyres.
The engines were not highly tuned, as reliability was paramount for such a long-distance event. The capacity was increased to 1894cc (some say 1846cc), and a standard MGB camshaft grind was used. The heads were reworked to improve gas flow, entering through 1800S inlet manifolds equipped with dual 1.75-inch SU carbs and exiting through special exhaust systems that tucked well away. This mild tuning produced a reliable 100 bhp, not much given the car’s hefty weight plus all the extra equipment and three-man crew.
Lightened flywheels and rugged competition clutches were fitted, with the standard gearbox ratios matched to a typically short 4.1:1 final drive ratio for improved acceleration.
The interiors incorporated a special rear seat convertible to a makeshift bed. The cabins featured roll cages, rally seats with four-point harnesses, extra switch panels, Halda Twinmaster navigation units and 100 mph (160km/h) speedometers. Given that the finished cars – with full tanks and three crewmen on board – were claimed to weigh close to 2,000 kgs, it gives you some idea why the 100 mph speedos could be considered optimistic.
Evan Green recalled that the highest top speed he saw during the Marathon was only 90 mph (145 km/h) which occurred when descending the steep Lataban Pass in Afghanistan.
Evan Green impressed many with his Austin 1800’s leech-like grip in the loose stuff and its tank-tough construction. These works cars were superbly designed and built for the harshest treatment that long distance rallying could dish out.
(L Manton Collection)
The BMC crews before the London start above, and Evan Green, Jack Murray and Miss World below.
(L Manton Collection)(L Manton Collection)
Graham Hill is amongst the onlookers at the start, under the Australian flag. And who knows where below!
(L Manton Collection)
Credits…
Howard Brooks photographs via his son Grant Brooks, Wikipedia, Shannons, Mini & British Lifestyle, Warren Fargher and Laurie Mason, Luke Manton Collection
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
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.
Smokey Yunick looks on as famed GM Engineer and ‘Father of the Corvette’, Zora Arkus Duntov awaits the Daytona Beach start on 1956…
Zora was always seeking to build the Corvette brand. Ford and GM were in a performance battle at the time, his GM paymasters were keen to support his attempt to top 150mph in an ‘essentially stock’ Corvette having just attracted considerable press with a class record run at Pikes Peak.
In the photo above Zora is in #A81, the car with the head fairing, and John Fitch in A82 behind.
Zora Arkus-Duntov chatting to officials after one of his runs. Chev Corvette, Daytona Beach February 1956 (Racing One)
Three cars were prepared for the attempts at Daytona Beach in early 1956, they were driven by Arkus-Duntov, racer John Fitch, and aviatrix Betty Skelton.
Way back in 2014 I was commuting by ‘plane weekly from Melbourne to Adelaide. It was a good job but without any mates I was bored shitless in the evenings. When Rodway Wolfe arrived in Adelaide with his collection of Repco Brabham Engines material, the die was cast, I owed it to him make public the material. Thanks again Rodway for being the catalyst for implementing what I had been procrastinating about for a while. My friend Dianne Ward set the site up and off I went.
We’ve had good staff retention, the senior scribbler is still with us and hogs the limelight, but thanks to Bob King and Stephen Dalton for their contributions down the years. The ‘sub-editors’ are critical in any publication, thanks here again to Stephen, and Rob Bartholomaeus for their enduring attention to detail and polite patience!
Here’s to another 10 I guess, onwards and upwards…
Lyndon Duckett on the way to winning the Longford Trophy in the Anzani Bugatti – Anzani R1 four cylinder, twin-cam engined Bugatti Type 35 chassis #4450 – on March 7, 1955.
Reportage of the early Longford meetings is pretty thin on the ground, so this contemporary summary of the weekend’s proceedings written by Brian Nichols for the May 1955 issue of Modern Motor is great to see, and share. Many thanks to Barry Oliver for posting it online.
Etcetera…
Geoff Smedley’s Triumph TR2 rounding Pub Corner, the Country Club Hotel more formally.
Pretty scratchy, shitty one of a favourite car, the Cisitalia D46 driven by Alan Watson; the machines Australian debut apparently. Through the viaduct in front of an MG T-Type Special. See here for more: https://primotipo.com/2023/09/08/cisitalia-d46/
‘No idea of time period, wife found them in a secondhand shop!’ wrote Robert Haines of this post on Bob Williamson’s Old Motor Racing Photographs – Australia page. Many thanks to Robert and his chairperson!
Mountford Corner, happily that magnificent tree still marks the spot!
The MG TF above is driven by longtime Tasmanian Senator, Peter Rae, still alive in his 90s.
And this T-Type special was raced either by Derrick Holden or Mike Winch.
Credits…
Paul Cross Collection via Neil Kearney’s ‘Longford: A Little Town with a Big Motor’, Modern Motor May 1955 via Barry Oliver Collection, Robert Staines, Rob Knott, Matthew Magilton
Jack Brabham from Bruce McLaren: a works Cooper T51/Climax 1-2 seemed likely for much of the race (MotorSport)
A thrilling race of course, Bruce McLaren took an historic win – as the youngest ever F1 championship GP winner, a title he held for yonks – after Jack Brabham’s Cooper T51 Climax ran out of juice on the last lap. Jack was fourth, Maurice Trintignant, Cooper T51 Climax was second and Tony Brooks, Ferrari Dino 246 was third.
Just before the off, Harry Schell, Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss all aboard Cooper T51s on the front row; Harry controversially so as he had taken a short cut during qualifying! #6 is Maurice Trintignant’s Walker T51, #2 Tony Brooks’ Ferrari Dino 246 (MotorSport)
The Americans entered F1 etc – Indy being part of the F1 World Championship from 1950-1960 duly noted – but the interesting thing was the mix of cars. Not just Rodger Ward’s utterly nuts and utterly wonderful, Kurtis Kraft Offy, but also Fritz d’Orey’s Tec-Mec F415 Maserati, Allesandro de Tomaso’s Cooper T43 OSCA Streamliner and Bob Said’s Connaught C-Type Alta.
(MotorSport)(MotorSport)
Fritz d’Orey in the one-off Valerio Colotti designed, Gordon Pennington owned Tec-Mec F415 Maserati at Sebring during practice.
Remember those days before carefully homogenised and pasteurised, hermetically clean and certified absolute sameness and dull-shit-boredom. Where did it all go wrong? See here for a story on this car: https://primotipo.com/2024/03/11/tec-mec-f415-maserati/
(MotorSport)
De Tomaso’s works Officine Specializate Costruzione Automobili entered Cooper T43 OSCA 2-litre was only ever going to be an also-ran given the modest displacement and endurance background its twin-cam, Weber fed four-cylinder engine. He qualified the car 14th on the 19 car grid and completed 14 laps before brake troubles intervened.
The car’s swoopy, beautifully finished and fitting body is far more attractive than any of the Coopers of that era, and more aerodynamically efficient? While said to be a Cooper T43, the chassis may be a copy, the wheels are also of De Tomaso’s design and manufacture. An interesting experiment, what became of the car?
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It made great commercial sense for the organisers to run the reigning Indy 500 champion, Rodger Ward, in the race. If you believe the hype, Ward thought his lightly modified Kuris Kraft Midget would give the ‘European Buggies’ a run for their money.
Jack Brabham related to Doug Nye, “The next day he, Bruce, and and I arrived together at the first corner of the track, and just as we jumped from brake to throttle pedal and streaked away from him he was astonished. To his credit he took it well.”
Ward’s qualifying time was well short of pole-sitter Stirling Moss in Rob Walker’s Cooper T51 Climax: 3 min dead vs 3 min 43.8 sec. Rodger lasted for 21 of the race’s 42 5.2-mile laps, getting as high as ninth as others retired, before clutch failure intervened.
A popular racer and a good sport, he became a Cooper convert overnight and worked on Jack and John Cooper to convince them to run a car at Indianapolis. After the 1960 US GP Jack ran his GP Cooper T53 Climax at Indy in a series of tests, aided and abetted by Ward; Coopers participation in the 1961 500 with a Climax powered Cooper T54 changed Indy history, and Rodger Ward played a key role.
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Ward’s 1946 Leader Card Kurtis Kraft Midget, chassis #0-10-46 was powered by a 1.7-litre, DOHC, two-valve Offenhauser engine that gave away heaps of performance to the mainly 2.5-litre competition. It had a two-speed gearbox, a two-ratio rear axle, hand-disc-brakes and the usual other dirt-track accoutrements! Those Halibrand wheels are 12-inches in diameter and Firestone provided the tyres.
The beam front axle is sprung by a transverse leaf and located bt two radius rods. I’ll take your advice on shock-absorbers. Note the front discs, nerf protection in front of the rear wheels and high standard of preparation and presentation.
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Jesse Alexander observed the following about the Kurtis Kraft in his Sports Cars Illustrated meeting report.
“The greater part of the two practice sessions was spent getting the car to run properly on Avgas (rather than the usual methanol). The several times that it did appear on the circuit it was obvious that the few modifications to the chassis to suit it better for road racing were worthwhile. Surprisingly stabile and getting through many of the corners as fast (in some cases faster) as much of the field.”
“The red and white Offy differed from normal midgets in having its engine fitted several inches farther forward in the chassis as well as having a supplementary 2-speed transmission installed. This meant that actually there were two 2-speed units, one behind the engine and the other in unit with the final drive gears. But these alterations could never possibly make up for the displacement gap between the parky Midget and her overseas competitors.”
“Rodger Ward deserves credit for his spirit and enthusiasm – it was great to see him at Sebring and lets hope it won’t be the last time out for an Offy-engined car.”
By late 1959 the car was owned by Florida man Gordon Pennington, he decided to enter the machine for its one-and-only race at Sebring.
With Brazilian wealthy-journeyman Fritz d’Oley at the wheel, the new car, being run for Pennington and D’Oley by the Camoradi Team, managed to qualify 16th, one grid-slot in front of the only 250F in the race driven by Phil Cade.
The Tec-Mec completed 7 laps before an oil leak forced Fritz’ withdrawal, while Cade didn’t take the start given the old-gal’s lack of pace: 3 min 39 sec in qualifying. While Tony Brooks’ front-engined Ferrari Dino 246 was third, and the Dinos raced on into 1960, Ferrari wheeled out a mid-engined prototype at Monaco that year.
Fritz d’Orey, Tec-Mec F415 Maserati during the race. “The Tec-Mec was never driven quickly enough to show up any defects. The only time we know of it being driven fast was when Jo Bonnier took it around the Modena Autodromo last summer. His comments were not all that favourable. He complained of, among other things, a flexing chassis.”
Fritz d’Orey, Tec Mec F415 on the hop (MotorSport)Bob Said in the Connaught C-Type Alta. Unusual and attractive body, Dunlop alloy wheels (MotorSport)
A bit like the Tec Mec, the Connaught C-Type Alta (chassis #C8) was also stillborn.
Rodney Clarke’s spaceframe chassis, disc braked, strut/De Dion tube rear suspension, double wishbone front suspension, Alta DOHC, two-valve four powered, Wilson pre-selector ‘transmissioned’ vast improvement of Connaught’s successful B-Type was tested but unraced when the assets of Connaught Engineering were sold in 1957.
Passed in at the auction, #C8 was later sold to Paul Emery (of Emeryson fame) and “keen amateur racing driver John Turner”. They soon did a deal with American driver, Bob Said, to race the car at Sebring.
Inevitably, shipping delays meant the project was knee-capped from the start. Poor Said had little testing time, with fuel injection difficulties adding to the challenge. He qualified the car a great 13th in the circumstances but had clutch problems in the race and then crashed it when he was caught out by the Alta engine’s erratic throttle response without completing a lap.
Jesse Alexander wrote, “The Connaught with Bob said driving drew many interested onlookers. This was the first racing appearance of the space-framed car that was under construction back when Connaught decided to cease building and racing cars. They never sold this one, which embodies many novel design features like a telescoping de Dion tube and servo-operated Lockheed disc brakes. Paul Emery got it running well enough for Said to turn a 3:27.3sec practice lap.”
Connaught C-Type #C8 in-build at Send. Note Alta engine and spaceframe chassis which looks very torsionally stiff in this photo and the one below. Double wishbone IFS and bespoke? uprights. Who are they folks? (W I’Anson Ltd)Dunlop wheels, diff clear but not the strut/De Dion arrangement. It all looks thoroughly modern and light, Wilson pre-selector box more weighty (W I’Anson Ltd)
While outside the scope of this article, the car was repaired back at the Send factory, near Guildford. With six inches added to the wheelbase, cut-down bodywork, a push-bar, and the Alta fuel injected engine tuned to 260bhp on methanol, Jack Fairman attempted unsuccessfully to qualify the car for the 1962 Indianapolis 500.
It’s such a shame this Connaught didn’t contest Grands Prix in 1957 as planned…
C8 was sold via a Road & Track ad and then lived in a private California museum from late ’62 until 1974 when Rodney Clarke repatriated the car to the UK. In another Tec Mec similarity, the car has been an historic racing front runner for decades, initially in Indy LWB spec and since the late 1990s in its original GP specifications.
Stirling Moss in the Walker Cooper T51 in front of the seventh placed Harry Blanchard’s Porsche RSK and Taffy Von Trips’ Ferrari Dino 246, sixth (MotorSport)
Stirling Moss’ Rob Walker Cooper started from pole but was out after only five laps with Colotti gearbox failure.
Alf Francis had modified the rear suspension from the standard Cooper transverse leaf setup to coil springs and ‘wishbones’ as shown in the shot below.
Jesse Alexander explains, “The new rear suspension had been tried out in the Fall back in England. Stirling liked its feel, then proved it by bettering the Goodwood lap record. Wire wheels at the rear, and the Colotti five-speed transmission were the only major differences bwtween the Walker cars and the works cars of Brabham and McLaren.”
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Bruce McLaren – with Jack in front of him – demonstrates the geometry of the standard T51 transverse leaf layout (at Sebring) where said spring performs that task, and locational duties. The 1960 Cooper Lowline (T53) quickly concocted by Messrs Cooper C, Brabham, McLaren and Maddock after the first race of the year, included among its successful bag-of-tricks a coil sprung rear end.
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McLaren enroute to victory above. Alexander tells us that Brabham had initially practiced this car but “it had experimental settings for 1960” and Jack didn’t like the feel of it, so he and Bruce swapped chassis. “McLaren had not even expected to race at Sebring when I spoke with him in England in October. He expected to be in New Zealand for Christmas and participate in their Grand Prix. As it turned out, Masten Gregory’s injuries failed to heal in time for him to race at Sebring and Bruce replaced him.”
Didn’t fate play a couple of hands in Bruce’s favour!
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Credits…
MotorSport Images, Jesse Alexander in Sports Cars Illustrated March 1960 via Stephen Dalton’s archive, William I’Anson Ltd
This pair of shots are of Jim Hawker at the 16th Rob Roy in June 1948 above, and the 10th Rob Roy meeting below, in 1946.
(G Thomas)(G Thomas)
Peeling out during a run at the Vintage Sports Car Club speed trials on June 16, 1947.
Spaceframe chassis, independent suspension front and rear, front wheel drive, and a complex four cylinder 1.1-litre, stepped bore, eight-piston, vertically opposed, supercharged two-stroke, twin-plug engine amongst its pre-war bag of tricks.
primotipo... 
