Bruce McLaren awaits his crew making changes to the setup of his new McLaren M7A Ford, chassis M7A-1, Silverstone 25 April 1968…
Its a day or so before the BRDC International Trophy, one of three non-championship F1 races run in Europe that season. Bruce is to have another good weekend, off the back of his Brands Hatch ‘Race Of Champions’ win in March, his teammate and Kiwi buddy Denny Hulme won the prestigious Silverstone race in an emphatic demonstration of the quality of Bruce McLaren and Robin Herd’s F1 design and construction capabilities.
McLaren in the M7A, from pole, Brands Race of Champions in 1968- he won. Alongside is Mike Spence BRM P126, Jackie Stewart Matra MS10 Ford and on row 2 Chris Amon Ferrari 312 and Denny in his M7A. That’s Jo Bonnier in last years McLaren M5A BRM V12 with his hand up on the second last row. Bruce won from Pedro Rodriguez BRM P133 and Denny LAT)
That season Bruce McLaren famously became one of the very few to win a championship GP in a car of his own name and construction when he won the Belgian GP. Denny Hulme took another three GP victories and challenged for the 1968 World Championship ultimately won by Graham Hill’s Lotus 49B Ford, the car for which the Ford Cosworth DFV was designed.
At the end of 1967 Ford’s Walter Hayes implored Colin Chapman to allow him to offer the DFV to other teams ‘for the good of Grand Prix racing’ such was his fear of Team Lotus dominance. Chapman, to his credit, waived his contractual entitlement to exclusivity- Lotus, Matra and McLaren raced the Ford engine in GP events in 1968.
McLaren M7A Ford cutaway (Dick Ellis)
The duo concepted a car which typified the ‘Cosworth Kit Car’ era. A short monocoque chassis ended aft of the driver’s seat and consisted of three steel bulkheads- one at the back, one at the front, and one open bulkhead at the dashboard which was then skinned with aluminium panels to form a full monocoque over the driver’s legs. It was an immensely torsionally rigid and strong structure compared with the very best spaceframes of only a few years before.
The M7A used glued and riveted skins of L72 aluminium alloy, a British standard for the aviation industry in a thickness of 22 gauge and in a few places 20 guage magnesium sheet. 40 gallons of fuel were distributed between four rubber bag-tanks- one either side of the driver in the tub, another behind his seat and the fourth in the scuttle. The Cosworth DFV engine was bolted directly to the rear bulkhead and at that stage of its development produced circa 420 bhp @ 9500 rpm.
Early test of the M7A at Silverstone on 5 April 1968. Denny up, Bruce by front wheel. Notice the McLaren wheels, ‘nostril’ ducted radiator outlets and top and bottom front suspension radius rods which mount to the bulkhead in the dash area of the tub (R Dumont)
The suspension, of conventional outboard design was derived from the very successful 1967 Can-Am Championship winning M6A Chev. It comprised outboard coil spring/damper units at both ends and single lateral links and trailing arms at the front- and single lateral top links, reversed lower wishbones and twin radius rods at the rear. Uprights were cast magnesium with of course adjustable roll bars front and rear. Steering was McLaren rack and pinion, brakes Lockheed discs all round and the transmission the ubiquitous Hewland DG 300 transaxle five-speed.
The radiator was conventionally mounted at the front, with a sleek fibreglass body topping the whole visually arresting package- hot air vented McLaren style out of ‘nostrils’ in the nose with an oil radiator at the rear above the ‘box and clear in the opening shot.
‘Pop’ McLaren and Alastair Caldwell supervise the McLaren pit in the French GP paddock, Rouen 1968. Note general car layout as per text, suspension, rad duct in lower shot- quality of design, execution and presentation a treat. #8 Denny 5th, #10 Bruce 8th. Shocker of a wet race with Jo Schlesser dead on lap 2 in the experimental Honda RA302 (unattributed)
Allen Brown reports in oldracingcars.com of the M7A’s 1968 season; ‘The first two cars were finished in March 1968, and both debuted at the 1968 Race of Champions, where Bruce McLaren dominated the race, winning from pole position, with his new teammate Denny Hulme finishing third. At the next race, the Silverstone International Trophy, Hulme took pole position and won, with Bruce content to take second place. It was not quite so easy at the first GP, the Spanish, but the M7As were third and fourth on the grid and Hulme finished second.’
‘After a poor weekend in Monaco, Bruce McLaren took his team’s first GP victory in the Belgian GP at Spa in June after Jackie Stewart’s Matra MS10 retired on the last lap. Results were mixed over the next few races, but Hulme won in Italy and in Canada to equal Graham Hill’s score at the top of the World Championship standings. A crash at Watkins Glen and retirement in Mexico ended his challenge, but had been a wonderful season for McLaren’s F1 team’.
McLaren M7A from Pedro Rodriguez, BRM P133- 1st and 2nd, Spa 1968 (unattributed)
McLaren and M7A at Watkins Glen 1968. Note the mount and location of the rear wing in the context of the text below (A Upitis)
In terms of the ebbs and flows of the season, in ‘The Year of Wings’, Matra and Ferrari- on Firestone and Dunlop tyres respectively won races later in the season and Lotus set the aerodynamic standard with high-wings after their initial appearance on the Ferrari 312 and Brabham BT26 Repco at Spa. McLaren lost some of their edge- the cars wings were less effective than Lotuses, when they remained attached to their cars, mounted in the middle of the M7A on the cars sprung mass, rather than Lotus 49 style at the rear on the unsprung suspension uprights, and Goodyear too lost their edge. Remember when there was competition between the tyre manufacturers?!
Goodyear’s new G9 boots gave Denny the kicker he needed to win at Monza and then at St Jovite, Canada but Graham Hill and Lotus deserved the title in a year during which Hill held the team together and picked everybody up after Jim Clark’s tragic death at Hockenheim in April.
Looking at the M7 design from a commercial perspective, whilst McLaren by this stage were well funded by the standards of the day- the M7 design worked hard in contributing to the companies success by providing the basis of the M14 F1 car and the phenomenally successful M10A and M10B F5000 designs which were the ‘class standard’ from 1969-1971- constructed as they were under licence by Trojan Cars in Croydon.
Bruce, M7A Silverstone (V Blackman)
Lets get back to the photo which inspired this piece though, here is none other than DC Nye’s race report of the BRDC International Trophy, in full, from the June 1968 issue of MotorSport, the photographs are all my editorial selections…
‘For the 20th B.R.D.C. International Daily Express Trophy race at Silverstone, the Club amassed a small but fairly representative field of Formula One cars. Heading the entry were Hulme and McLaren in the two impeccably-prepared McLaren M7A-Cosworth V8s, which finished first and third in the Race of Champions, and Ferrari sent over two cars, one a new, slightly sleeker-chassised V12 with the engine lower-mounted than hitherto, and the other the car which Amon normally races. Drivers were the young Belgian, Ickx, and Amon, and though the New Zealander tried both cars he decided he preferred his own, and Ickx raced the new one.
Amon’s Ferrari 312’s, Ickx car in the foreground, Silverstone 1968. Amon Q5 and Ickx Q7 with Chris proving the pace of the Ferrari, despite the Cosworth onslaught with a fastest lap and 3rd place, Jacky 4th (unattributed)
Graham Hill had a solitary Lotus 49-Cosworth V8 which was entered by Gold Leaf Team Lotus, and B.R.M. were well represented with Rodriguez in the Bourne-built, Terry-designed P133 V12 and Spence in the similar, T.A.C.-built P126. Also in a P126 was Courage, having his first F1 race this season for Parnell, and Hobbs had Bernard White’s relatively unsorted Tasman 2-litre B.R.M. P261 chassis, specially lengthened by the works to accommodate the new V12 engine. Also B.R.M.-powered was the lone works Cooper T86B, with Gardner driving, as Scarfiotti was away practicing for the Targa Florio and Redman was reputedly testing F2 Dino Ferraris in Modena. Rob Walker had acquired a new Tasman Lotus 49 chassis to replace the one lost recently in a fire at his Dorking headquarters, Siffert driving as usual; Bonnier was in his 1967 McLaren M5A-B.R.M. V12, and the Swiss Moser had the ex-Hulme, ex-Ligier Brabham BT20-Repco V8. Lanfranchi completed the field in a 2.7-litre Climax 4-cylinder powered Brabham BT23.
Withdrawn entries included a second Parnell B.R.M. for Attwood and Sheppard’s Mallite McLaren fitted with a 3-litre version of the original Climax Godiva V8 for Taylor. Two works Brabhams were listed, but were not complete.
Last year’s G.P. practice record of 1 min. 25.3 sec. by Clark in the Lotus 49 looked a little sick compared with this year’s speeds, Hulme taking pole position with 1 min. 24.3 sec. to Spence’s 1 min. 24.9 sec., McLaren’s 1 min. 25.1 sec. and Rodriguez’s 1 min. 25.3 sec. Behind these four on the front row came Amon at 1 min. 25.5 sec., Hill 1 min. 25.6 sec., Ickx 1 min. 26.4 sec., and Siffert 1 min. 27.6 sec.
One minutes silence in memory of Jim Clark before the off. Hulme at far left on pole, then Spence BRM P126, McLaren M7A and the other BRM P133 of Pedro Rodriguez. Amon, Hill and Ickx on row 2 (Getty)
After a poignant silence in memory of the late Jim Clark, the field were given a maximum of three warming-up laps, and from the start McLaren took an immediate lead ahead of Spence, Hulme, Rodriguez, Ickx, Hill, Amon, Courage, Bonnier and Gardner. Lap 2 and the leading bunch were all scratching hard to draw out some sort of advantage; Courage was briefly ahead of Amon at Copse and Siffert and Gardner were both by Bonnier, who was being harried by Hobbs.
The leading McLarens, B.R.M.s, the lone Lotus and the two Ferraris soon towed each other away from the rest of the field, with Hulme slotting by Spence into second place on lap 4, then being repassed by the B.R.M. Lanfranchi had already stopped for a plug change on his 4-cylinder, and at the start of lap 6 Spence led McLaren into Copse, and was re-passed on the way out to Maggotts to remain the meat in an orange McLaren sandwich for a short distance before chopping by again and leading the bunch on lap 7 from Hulme, McLaren, Rodriguez and Hill, all nose-to-tail. Amon and Ickx had become slightly detached in the works Ferraris, but as they sped down Hangar Straight on that lap a stone was thrown up from Spence’s B.R.M., smashing Hulme’s goggles and giving him a nasty moment which dropped him back to seventh.
Hill and Amon in 3rd and 4th- Ferrari 312 and Lotus 49 Ford (LAT)
Almost immediately Rodriguez’s B.R.M. V12 began to misfire, an ignition lead dropping off, and he stopped before Maggotts, replaced the wire and drove on to the pits, where a more lasting repair was made. By lap 9, with Spence leading narrowly from McLaren, Hill was third in the lone Lotus, Amon was a close fourth and Hulme, whose eyes had stopped watering, was already on his tail and looking for a way by. Positions remained unchanged until lap 14, when the Lotus’ V8 engine died, and, seeing a lot of fluid resting in the vee, Hill thought the engine had suffered a serious breakage and had thrown water. In fact, a fuel pipe had split, and the fluid was petrol, but he was out anyway, and walked back to the pits. Hulme had nipped by Amon on this lap, and was going out after Spence, who had been re-passed by McLaren. lckx was falling back in fifth place with the very new and understeering Ferrari, with Siffert some distance behind, followed by Courage, Gardner, Hobbs, Moser, Lanfranchi and then an unhappy Rodriguez in the misfiring B.R.M., last.
Next lap Hulme was up into second place, and on lap 20 he passed McLaren after getting round in 1 min. 25.3 sec. to take the lead narrowly from his “number one”, Spence and Amon, and these four were still driving in very close company. But Lanfranchi had retired with bad oil surge, and Siffert’s sixth place evaporated on lap 26 when the clutch broke in the Tasman-chassised Lotus, and two laps previously Gardner had gone out in a trail of smoke and steam when the B.R.M. engine broke a liner.
Lap 28, and Spence slotted his slim B.R.M. past McLaren into second place, and as they lapped the tail-enders the leading group began to space out. But Amon closed on McLaren noticeably on lap 36 and was looking for a way by, but then lost time lapping Moser at Copse and dropped back, letting McLaren get away and latch on to Spence’s tail in second place. These two then drove very hard, entering corners side-by-side occasionally until lap 41 when the B.R.M.’s engine stopped suddenly at Club with a timing chain breakage, letting McLaren up into second place, but delaying him sufficiently to let Amon catch up in the Ferrari. Rodriguez had finally retired his sick B.R.M., Ickx was running a lonely fourth, with Courage fifth and about to be lapped, while the only other cars still running were Hobbs’ B.R.M. and Moser’s Brabham-Repco.
Hulme on his way to the first of four M7A wins in 1968, Silverstone, April 1968 (LAT)
Amon was trying hard to wrest second place from McLaren, setting a new outright circuit record on lap 44 of 1 min. 25.1 sec., 123.82 m.p.h., but Bruce was trying equally hard to stay ahead, doing 1 min. 25.2 sec. on the same lap, and, although the two of them were very close together on lap 45, Amon’s luck was running out and his goggles strap broke. Shielding his eyes from the airstream with one hand he drove for two laps before managing to haul his stand-by pair into position on his face, and this dropped him well back from McLaren, and although closing the gap slightly before the finish he came home in third place. Hulme was battered but triumphant, Bruce McLaren had a lot to smile about with his cars’ first one-two victory, and B.R.M. were well pleased with their turn of speed and not too worried about the frailty their cars had shown since they are still at an early stage in their development. The Ferraris had been rather outpaced from the start, but on a clear track and with McLaren as his target Amon had proved that he is one of the quickest drivers around.’—D. C. N.
Denny on his way to a win at St Jovite, Canadian GP 1968 (unattributed)
Etcetera: M7A Chassis by Chassis courtesy Allen Brown at oldracingcars.com…
‘The first two cars were finished in March 1968, and both debuted at the 1968 Race of Champions, where Bruce McLaren dominated the race, winning from pole position, with his new teammate Denny Hulme finishing third. At the next race, the Silverstone International Trophy, Hulme took pole position and won, with Bruce content to take second place. It was not quite so easy at the first GP, the Spanish, but the M7As were third and fourth on the grid and Hulme finished second. After a poor weekend in Monaco, Bruce McLaren took his team’s first GP victory in the Belgian GP at Spa in June after Jackie Stewart’s Matra MS10 retired on the last lap. Results were mixed over the next few races, but Hulme won in Italy and in Canada to equal Graham Hill’s score at the top of the World Championship standings. A crash at Watkins Glen and retirement in Mexico ended his challenge, but had been a wonderful season for McLaren’s F1 team
Bruce 8th, with Tyler Alexander and Alastair Caldwell and M7A at Rouen, Chris Amon 10th Ferrari 312 just heading out (unattributed)
Denny and Bruce at Jarama prior to the 1968 Spanish GP, M7A’s fitted with pannier side tanks. Denny 2nd and Bruce retired in the race won by Hill’s Lotus 49 Ford (unattributed)
Bruce on the way to that historic win aboard his M7A at Spa in 1968 (unattributed)
Hulme’s M7As was retained for 1969 for the Kiwi to drive, and the latest car, M7A/3, was modified to M7B specification with pannier tanks. When that did not work, both the M7B and the prototype M7A were sold to privateers; both were crashed later in 1969 and both cars scrapped. Bruce drove a new McLaren M7C for the rest of 1969, and a huge amount of effort was wasted on the four-wheel-drive McLaren M9A. It didn’t help that Goodyear, McLaren’s tyre supplier, were well behind Firestone and Dunlop until the end of the season, when the latest rubber helped Hulme win the Mexican GP in his well-used sole surviving M7A. That last M7A was bought by Tony Dean for Formula 5000, and was then sold to a French Museum where it remains, the museum owners having turned down all McLaren International’s offers for the car.’
McLaren, Brands, M7A British GP 1968 (M Hayward)
More on the M7A’s…
Check out Allen Brown’s article which I have referenced and filched from extensively in this article
Getty Images, Victor Blackman, Ronald Dumont, Alvis Upitis, MotorSport June 1968 article by Doug Nye, Dick Ellis, LAT, Mike Hayward, Allen Brown-oldracingcars.com
The prototype Ferrari 250 GTB SWB on test at Modena Autodrome on 29 October 1959…
Carlo Chiti, Chief Engineer is behind the car, to his left in overalls is the legendary Enzo Ferrari Lieutenant Luigi Bazzi, by then I think ‘Technical Consultant’. You can just see the tip of Richie Ginther’s head over Bazzi’s shoulder.
I wonder if Richie had a steer of the 250 or whether he was focussed on the GP 246 Dino, the nose of which can be seen at left.
This session is in the huge gap between the Italian GP at Monza on 13 September in which Hill was second behind Moss’ Cooper T51 Climax, and the US event at Sebring in December. There Tony Brooks Dino was third behind the Cooper T51’s of both Bruce McLaren and Maurice Trintignant.
Ferrari got the hang of the mid-engined caper in 1961 with the Tipo 156 but 1960 was to be a year of slim pickings, the front-engined Dino was well past its useby date.
What a car the 250 SWB proved to be!?
Shorter in wheelbase than the 250 ‘cruisers’ to lower the cars weight and increase it’s agility. High power- between 237-276 BHP from the 3 litre V12 and well sorted suspension by the design and development team of Chiti, Giotto Bizzarini and the youthful Mauro Forghieri made it a winner. Around 176 were built in both steel and aluminium ‘Lusso’ and ‘Corsa’ forms.
The car below is chassis ‘3281GT’, imported to Australia by WH Lowe Automobiles Pty. Ltd. in 1962. Bill Lowe was the Australian importer of Lancia’s and Ferrari’s for decades.
(unattributed)
I was a Camberwell Grammar School prat nearby Lowe’s factory/showroom and regularly dribbled over the showroom window in Whitehorse Road, Balwyn, Melbourne from 1969-1974. I admired everything, particularly 246 Dinos. I was as infatuated with those almost as much as the perky, pert, teenage temptresses at Fintona Girls School just round the corner. Both were unattainable of course.
‘3281GT’ was Lowe’s daily drive until he sold to Jim Leech in 1964. Jim and his brother Bill Leech were ‘Light Car Club of Australia’ stalwarts, racers pre and post war and owners of some wonderful cars. From memory they had a Lombard AL3- this car was raced by Bill Lowe in the Australian GP at Phillip Island from 1929-33, Cisitalia D46, Maser 300S, Bug T37A and some great road stuff including this Ferrari- the 58th steel bodied car built, RHD too. It was a familiar beast at many Victorian events forever, inevitably it was sold overseas, cars such as this are global commodities after all.
Here ‘3281’ is participating in the Geelong Sprints along Ritchie Boulevard, on Geelong’s waterfront circa 1970 at a guess.
Jack Brabham and his ‘Repco Special’, Hay Street, Subiaco, Perth 1962…
With a bit of detective work from West Australians Ken Devine and Billy Hughes this photo from Nigel Tait’s Collection, which was originally thought to be of Jack Brabham in Sydney was taken during Jack’s 1962 trip to Perth for the Caversham Australian Grand Prix, won by Bruce McLaren’s Cooper T62 Climax. Click here for an article about that meeting; https://primotipo.com/2016/05/20/bruce-lex-and-rockys-cooper-t62-climax/
The speedway midget is ‘definitely Bill Kirkham’s WA7 Repco Special driven by Laurie Stevens…looks like Jack sitting in the car and shaking the proprietors hand’ Billy Hughes wrote, another Perth enthusiast/photographer Gary Russell-Brown agrees.
‘Kayes’ was a Repco aligned engine reconditioner in Hay Street Subiaco, an inner Perth suburb. Clearly Kayes’ owner Kirkham had enough ‘pull’ to entice Jack back into the cockpit of a speedway car from whence he came!
Jack’s very first race, a speedway event of course, was at Cumberland Oval, Parramatta on 5 December 1947, click on this ‘Loose Fillings’ link to an interesting article written by Terry Wright article on these formative, successful Brabham racing steps/successes; https://loosefillings.com/2017/07/15/its-amazing-whats-still-out-there-2/
Brabham, 22 years old, receives the Australian Championship tray at Kilburn Speedway, Adelaide, 25 February 1949.
(vintagespeedway.com.au)
Jack during his first raceday at Parramatta Speedway, December 1947 (Brabham Family)
Perth enthusiast, Gary Russell-Brown provides some more information on speedway racing in Western Australia and photographs of the Kirkham midget in particular.
‘Dirt track speedway racing started in Australia in the late 1930’s – solos initially then followed by sidecars and speedcars or ‘midgets’. Before its relocation to the Kwinana Motorsports complex circa 2002 Perth’s Claremont Speedway was recognised as the longest running speedway in Australia, it opened in 1927.’
‘At 641 yards it was longer than most- its long straights resulted in higher top speeds than most as well,this may have been the reason for the venues shocking mortality rate- seventeen over the years. Speedcars were ill equipped in terms of safety until recent times.’
(G Russell-Brown)
Claremont Speedway and panorama #7 Stevens in the Kayes Repco Spl then eastern staters R Clarke from NSW and Victorian D Maher, they were here for the WA round of the 1964-1965 Australian Speedcar Championship’ Gary recalls.
The shot below is of Johnny Stewart in the car, ‘He crashed his own car in Adelaide, the previous weekend in January 1965 and through a connection between Kim Bonython and Bill Kirkham it was arranged for Stewart to use 7+ which wasn’t racing at that stage, Laurie Stevens having retired.’
Claremont is a western suburb of Perth- ten kilometres from the CBD on the north bank of the Swan River.
(G Russell-Brown)
‘Visting internationals came to the track with the peak years of Australian speedway racing perhaps the fifties and sixties. Bill Kirkham was keen to get involved as speedcars gained in prominence, his Subiaco engineering business ‘Kayes Engineering’ acquired, owned and raced #7.’
‘Bills son Ross Kirkham worked for Repco, along the way he moved to Melbourne and became a key engineer on the Repco Brabham Engines F1/Tasman/Sportscar program in the early to later 1960s- he sent west one of the first Repco Hi-Power cylinder heads made which was fitted to the ‘Holden Grey’ six and made #7 very quick.’
‘Laurie Stevens drove the car very well in that era and had amazing success with it against the east-coasters and Americans including some Offy powered cars.’
(G Russell-Brown)
The car above is the original #7, which had the added ‘+” after its first outing with the Repco modifications in 1959.
‘See above the distinctive, tuned exhaust system fitted to the Repco Hi-Power Holden six- it was an aluminium cross flow Phil Irving design, in this application fitted with twin-carburettors, Solexes, i think, which you can see in the shot below.’
‘Lynn Kirkham is fettling the car below with Johnny Stewart up in January 1965.’
‘The yellow version was a totally new car built, perhaps, for the 1961-1962 season
(G Russell-Brown)
Etcetera…
(G Russell-Brown)
A couple of Claremont fans looking for an autograph from Laurie Stevens- love the ‘Ringmasters’ office, these days the more grandiose ‘Circuit Manager’ title would be applied!
Bill Kirkham behind his car, Laurie Stevens at the wheel, chief mechanic George Williams and a Claremont official after Equipe Kirkham’s first state title.
(G Russell-Brown)
(Repco)
For the sake of completeness here is a photograph of Ross Kirkham manning the controls of a Repco Engine Lab dyno circa 1964- testing a Coventry Climax four-cylinder FPF race engine of 2.5 or 2.7 litres capacity.
Former Repco engineer/racer/restorer Nigel Tait recalled ‘Then Engine Laboratory Manager and Senior Product Development Engineer Ross Kirkham and Senior Technician Mchael Gasking. Ross was my boss when i started there as an Engineering Cadet- a very clever and terrific guy. The dynamometer is our Heenan and Froude GB4. It’s in a tin shed in an otherwise residential area (Richmond, Melbourne) and as you can see there was no sound insulation.’
‘Work on the RB620 V8 would have commenced by then…by 1965 the first 2.5 litre V8 would have been run on the same dyno- for sure Michael Gasking would have assenbled this one and all of the early engines.’
Photo Credits…
Nigel Tait Collection, Repco, vintagespeedway.com.au, Billy Hughes, Gary Russell-Brown
Tailpiece…
(G Russell-Brown)
#7+ Kirkham Repco Special tail shot for the tailpiece! Out back of the Kayes Engineering workshop in Subiaco.
Who is pretty-boy then!? 21 years old James Hunt aboard his brand-new Merlyn Mk11A Formula Ford on 2 December 1968…
Gowrings of Reading have gone to some considerable expense to capitalise on their new signing for 1969- they had bought one of the best Formula Fords of the era and Hunt was to do it justice bigtime. A news brief in the 15 November issue of Autosport announced that Hunt would drive the new car pictured to be fitted with a ‘Gowrings tweaked unit’ with Gowrings able to ‘undertake all types of race preparation’.
James Hunt’s last 1967 race in his first racer, a Mini at Brands Hatch coincided with his appreciation of the potential of the new Formula Ford class for F1 aspirants like himself. Soon a new Russell Alexis Mk14 was acquired, largely funded by a 100 pound twenty-first birthday gift from his parents which helped a down-payment on the car financed on the ‘never-never’.
His speed throughout 1968 gradually increased as he grew in confidence and also ‘let himself off the leash’ keen as he was initially to avoid repair bills- a cost he could not afford. A monumental accident not of his making at Oulton Park later in the season resulted in the Alexis flying off the road after vaulting a car which had spun depositing car and driver into the lake- James separated from the racer mid-flight due to the lack of a budget to buy seat-belts which at the time weren’t mandatory.
Gowrings, a Reading Ford dealer, liked the cut of James jib and agreed to sponsor him for 1969 inclusive of the purchase of the Merlyn which replaced the drowned Alexis in the last few races of 1968- he achieved a third at Brands and a win at Lydden Hill which convinced Gowrings further of Hunts competitiveness.
Mallory Park March 1969, Hunt’s Merlyn is car no 11 on row 3. Two Lotus 61’s on the right first and second row, a Frank Williams car mid front row – happy to know the names of the other cars/drivers from 1969 FF fans! (unattributed)
During 1969 Hunt was one of the stars of Formula Ford with plenty of heat wins and top three finishes. Later in the season James stood in for one of the MRE (Motor Racing Enterprises) FF drivers at Lydden Hill winning the race- that team, having seen enough, gave him his first F3 start in their Brabham BT21 Ford. The car was a couple of years old but Hunt did well enough to win a Grovewood Award.
James impressed the right people thanks to an outstanding performance at Cadwell Park on 28 September. In a handful of full international F3 races in the UK in 1969 Hunt raced wheel to wheel with Ronnie Peterson- the Swede was shortly to break through into F1, in the prototype March 693 Ford…’Many observers, including the astute Max Mosley, took note when Hunt raced wheel to wheel with Peterson as they raced for third place, the brand new March edging the ancient Brabham by a whisker as they crossed the line side by side’ Maurice Hamilton wrote in his biography ‘James Hunt’.
Longford’s Pit Straight- Illawarra Road from a Percival EP-9 at low altitude during the 1959 meeting…
We are indebted to Tasmanian enthusiast Rob Saward who left his, and his father, Jim’s photographic archive in the care of Lindsay Ross (oldracephotos.com.au) who periodically uploads tidbits of visual pleasure from his coterie of talented ‘snappers such as the aerial shots Jim took here.The perspective provided as a result, is gold.
My Longford obsession I’ve admitted a number of times. I suspect I have written more articles which involve this circuit than on any other single topic. The idea for this piece arose out of a swag of photos I’ve accumulated but not yet uploaded of the circuit, and the notion of a ‘photographic lap of Longford’ with the emphasis on more panoramic images taken from a distance to give us a feel for the flow of the place rather than close up shots of the cars and drivers themselves. Most of the photographs in this article I’ve not used in the many Longford pieces on this site thus far.
What also brings the article to life are the accounts of Longford from those who were there in period, these I have filched from The Nostalgia Forum ‘Longford: Reims of The South Pacific’ thread particularly the scribblings of Ray Bell, The Late Barry Lake, Stephen Dalton, ‘Longfordboy’, Lindsay Ross, Ellis French and others. I have quoted these fellas throughout.
Treat the article as Work In Progress though as the drivers perspective is largely missing. I am very keen to hear your views/recollections, many ex-Longford racers are readers, so it would be great to hear from you folk about the particular challenges this remarkable piece of Tasmanian real estate presented to racers of the time.
I’ve inserted a Longford circuit map to assist in understanding ‘where we are’, the reality is that the map is indicative rather than definitive, there are plenty of more nuanced twists and turns revealed by the photos which follow not reflected on a circuit map of this small scale.
Other essential homework before you read the article is to look several times at the in-car footage taken from Lex Davison’s Cooper T62 during the 1964 meeting. Many of you will have seen ‘Long Weekend At Longford’ already. After listending to and watching Davo’s great commentary (it starts at about the 2 minute 52 second mark) a couple of times turn the sound off and just focus on the circuit’s twists and turns, topography and changes in elevation.Then read the article having in part at least got into Longford’s rythmn…
The opening shot by Jim Saward is above Mountford Corner where the red sportscar is about to turn in.
The escape road from ‘The Flying Mile’ straight from whence our sportscar came is dead ahead of him- being the road to Perth (Tasmania not Western Australia- mind you, the direction is the same for both!) The racing pits are to the right of the white painted line on the tarmac and were moved there from the outside of the circuit on The Flying Mile in 1959- this change was made after consultation with leading drivers and officials after safety concerns. To the top left of Saward’s photo is the Water Tower which marks the turn in to the fast right-hand downhill pluge to The Viaduct,in the distance is Longford village.
Ray Bell ‘The road narrowed about 100 yards or so after the start, then there was clear paddock each side of the straight till some trees came up on the right as you go over the crest…’
Kerry Grant’s Brabham BT4 Climax off to the side of the road, he pulled up after Rocky Tresise’ fatal Cooper T62 accident and could not restart (oldracephotos/DKeep)
The shot above is the drivers eye view of the Water Tower approach.
Its Bruce McLaren’s white Cooper T79 Climax dicing with Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT11A Climax for the lead of the 1965 Australian Grand Prix with Jack looking for an inside run into McKinnons Hill on the run down into The Viaduct. Bruce won on that particular day, in very fine form from Jack about three seconds in arrears.
Bell ‘The poplars can clearly be seen down the hill, (below) the railway embankment was just clear… and here’s a point… the grass wasn’t usually green! It was late summer, mostly hot, bushfire season and all that when Longford was held. The trees had a gap on the right where there was a gate into the paddock just at the turn in point for The Viaduct, and there was a sort of run-off track straight ahead at this point. In 1965 this was just dirt, maybe grassed later.’
The Viaduct section of the circuit Bell refers to above is the bit Chris Amon is negotiating below.
Waaah-raaap-waaaahhh, you can just about hear that Ferrari V12 as he shifts down through the gears from fourth or fifth to second for the Viaduct left, then right Ess to head back up the hill into the trees then down towards the Kings Bridge and Longford village itself. But lets not get ahead of ourselves.
Stephen Dalton notes in his caption of this photo ‘The keen enthusiast set up their vantage point from the edge of the trainline, as Chris Amon goes past Longford Motor Racing Association President Ron McKinnon’s ‘Mountford’ property while attempting to make up the 2 laps he lost when the P4 was discovered to have a flat battery on the grid for the 12 lap Event 2 Sports Car Scratch Race’ (S Dalton)
Chris mainly cleaned up in David McKay’s P4/Can-Am 350 in the sportscar races the car famously doing 178 mph on ‘The Flying Mile’ that day in the wet! And 182 mph in the dry on the Saturday. Here the track is patchy wet, very tricky in this powerful car, its the Monday raceday ‘Longford Cup’ day, the famously wet race won by Piers Courage’ F2 McLaren M4 Ford FVA car from the 2.5 litre cars which were somewhat hampered in the wet conditions by an inability to put their power down.
‘It was an extraordinarily quick circuit’ recalled Chris in MotorSport. ‘It was basically a rectangle, and by the time you were halfway down the straight you were absolutely flat out. It was a wonderful circuit in the dry, but in the wet it had the potential to be bloody dangerous’ he said in somewhat masterful understatement! In the dry Saturday sportscar scratch Chris set what became the all-time lap record at 2:12.6 seconds, an average of 122.19 mph.
‘As far as steepness of the area of the track is concerned – “McKinnons Hill” as we used to call it is much steeper at the initial descent to just before the gateway (just up the hill a bit on the left from where Chris is shown) where it becomes a more gentle drop…In real life it was narrow, steep and the kink past McKinnon’s Gate was a nice sweeper if there was no traffic around (i.e. a racing line used in your road car) but the fast cars would be balancing braking and set up for The Viaduct. (the point referred to is exactly where Amon just apexed above) I don’t think this kink had a name other than McKinnon’s Gate…We could ride our bikes from The Viaduct up to just past the gateway but then had to get off and push. My drivers licence test with a local policeman was 1 lap of the circuit on my 17th birthday- Sunday 6 March 1966 with hay bales and braking markers in place!’ wrote ‘Longfordboy’.
Gaggle of cars heading into The Viaduct in 1961- Austin Miller Cooper T51 Climax chasing Lex Davison Aston DBR4/250 at the rear of the group- note the run-off area between the haybales and marshalls- limited mind you, a bit of dirt then bush and a steel drop into a culvert (S Dalton)
‘I think the fast cars were just about airborn as they started the descent as it dropped suddenly at first – i think Greg Cusack in an open wheeler had a big crash there (in the Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT23A Repco in 1968 ) when he did not land straight and spun off going down the hill before the gateway’…’In the lead up to the long weekend we would ride our bikes to The Viaduct at night to watch some local competitors practicing – with sentries to advise if anyone was coming so they could use all the road!’ Longfordboy added.
‘McKinnons Hill’ is the area of the main entrance of Ron McKinnon’s (Longford Motor Racing Association’s President & Chairman) ‘Mountford’ property. That ran all the way back to Mountford Corner and had the pit building on his property…The Viaduct and the land that runs down to the South Esk river is also on Mountford property…’wrote Stephen Dalton.
(oldracephotos/DKeep)
The photo above during one of the 1966 Touring Car races is of the outside of The Viaduct and shows the Rob Boote Holden EH from Robin Pare’s Ford Mustang turning into the corner. Note the spectators to the side of the railway line as mentioned in the Amon shot above and stationary blue flag from the ‘flaggie’.
(oldracephotos/DKeep)
Whilst the colour shot above shows the run-off area into The Viaduct there was not too much space to play with as Spencer Martin demonstrates in his Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT11A Climax in 1966. The SV team got the car sorted though, Spencer was fifth in the Monday ‘South Pacific Trophy’ event- and won the first of his Gold Star national titles with this chassis that year.
(oldracephotos/DKeep)
Above is gaggle of cars the first of which is Frank Gardner’s Brabham BT23D Alfa heading under the bridge- then Leo Geoghegan Lotus 39 Repco, Richard Attwood BRM P126, Kevin Bartlett’s Brabham BT11A Climax, Pedro Rodriguez BRM P126 and the rest- the Saturday dry preliminary in 1968.
Whilst the view from the outside or exit of the corner below shows Bib Stillwell’s Cooper T51 Climax ahead of John Youl, Cooper T55 Climax during the 1963 South Pacific Championship race won by Bruce McLaren’s Cooper T62 Climax. It is a beautiful photograph, and not a bad vantage point for those who could cadge a pass into that area!
(oldracephotos)
After the cars have cleared the final right of the Viaduct combination the cars disappear up a slight rise into the Australian bush, you can smell the eucalypt’s in these next coupe of shots.
Bib Stillwell is literally lining his Cooper up for the left-right combination the cars below are traversing- clear in the shot is Austin Miller’s distinctive Cooper T51 in his trademark vivid, glorious yellow hue. Notice the drain culvert and quite dense nature of the bush- we call it bush in this part of the world rather than forest folks!
(oldracephotos)
So. Back to the map – we have cleared the railway line and are on the section of track between the Viaduct and Kings Bridge. Photos of this part of the track are as rare as rocking horse poop.
The photo below shows the track to be quite narrow and rough at its edges, not a part of the track to pop a wheel into the dirt. ‘Trees were thick from The Viaduct to Kings Bridge, then stayed thick the other side on the left’ says Bell whose magic photo it is which shows Jim Clark’s Lotus 39 Climax leading Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT19 Repco through the bush in 1966 – it’s the same stretch of track in both photos taken from atop The Viaduct, the two photographers using lens of different focal length.
(R Bell)
Onto the photo below of Kings Bridge we are looking from the bridge back to the bushy section of the track the cars in the two photos above are heading towards, note the open approach to the bridge below is preceded by a left-hander the last car below is just completing.
After the drivers turn right above they go down the hill and across Kings Bridge – one of two crossings of the South Esk River – the shorter of the two bridges, it’s Jack Brabham here, Brabham BT4 mounted in 1963 ahead of Bruce McLaren’s Cooper T62 Climax.
Longfordboy ‘The pump house (brick building to the left of the photo) is the new pump house for the town that pumped water up to the reservoir (water tower). The old pump house was on the opposite side of the road and the old pump in a bit of a shed remained with a large wire cage around it…We used to water ski under the Kings Bridge – provided the water was low enough.’
‘Many farmers had their own small pump houses for their own irrigation systems. My father was a mechanic so i was brought up grinding in valves by hand with suction caps on wooden handles. Of interest in 1958 or ’59 Arnold Glass brought a Maserati 250F to race and it was housed in our large single car garage/workshop beside our house. The mechanics finished working on it around midnight – to start it dad towed it around the block (in Longford) it fired up half way round and sounded “magnificent”. Neighbours never complained – it was accepted that weekend.’ quipped Longfordboy.
Spencer Martin in the SV Ferrari 250LM chasing Brian (father of John) Bowe Lotus 11 Replica HEA Simca s/c Spl on, or more particularly off Kings Bridge, morning practice Saturday in 1965 (R Bell)(oldracephotos)
John Surtees beside the Pumphouse just off Kings Bridge on the way to South Pacific Trophy victory in his Cooper T53 Climax FPF 2.7 in 1962- I guess for the great Brit Longford was ‘safe’ by the standards of some of the ‘bike racing circuits from whence he came!
Exiting Kings Bridge was fast, a top gear right hand open curve. Then there is a deceptively (in terms of the map) long straight stretch into the village of Longford itself – the approach to it is very fast and dangerous due to the presence of mature, solid Plane trees and ‘The Hump’ in the braking area.
The location and Longford Corner is much photographed with the Country Club Hotel (which happily is still there, do pay a visit and check out the racing memorabilia inside) a familiar backdrop. There was a Mobilgas Service Station opposite the pub which is shown in one of the following photos.
(oldracephotos)
The image above shows Graham Hill, Brabham BT11A Climax and Phil Hill’s Cooper T70 trying to set a lap record to stop Jack Brabham, behind him in a Brabham BT11A Climax catching his teammate- and eventual winner, Bruce McLaren during the 1965 AGP. They are in the braking area for Longford Corner- whilst the Union Street plane trees have been trimmed, their solidity is readily apparent.
With unguarded trees on both sides of the track and ‘The Hump’ in the braking area the take-off and landing of ones machine was critical- getting the car settled and straight before caressing the brake pedal firmly and progressively was important. This, and a wheel in the dirt caught out young American driver Tim Mayer who lost his life in a Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax much like Bruce’s T79 above, against a tree in 1964. The hump was removed after this incident.
(E French)
In fact, in the words of Murray Walker, if I am not very much mistaken Jack Brabham’s Cooper T51 Climax above is just landing after ‘The Hump’ in 1960 above- checkout the shadow under his machine. Brabham won that day from the Mildren and Stillwell’s T51’s.
(G Smedley)
Shot above is a favourite, Geoff Smedley’s, of Clark, his obscured teammate Hill and Amon- Lotus 49 times two and Ferrari Dino 246T then Frank Gardner’s Brabham BT23D Alfa, and then, i think Kevin Bartlett, Brabham BT11A sandwiched between the two BRM’s of Richard Attwood and Pedro Rodriguez- Clark the winner in this Saturday 1968 preliminary. By the look of the nose of JC’s Lotus he has just started to brake into Longford- the hump is now gone and the tarmac appears smooth albeit the verges are to be kept clear of as are the ever present plane trees.
All of the photos in this article make clear the impossibility of keeping the flavour and character of the place and provide greater elements of safety for both drivers and spectators of the day. There simply was never the sort of budget in Tasmania which allowed the Nurburgring to be transformed in 1971 in a way which trod the straddle between the vistas and challenges of the past and present day safety requirements pretty well.
(oldracephotos/JSaward)
Saward’s photo of Austin Miller’s Cooper T51 above chasing a gaggle of similar Coopers and Lex Davison’s (second car in this group of five) Aston DBR4/250 is interesting as we can see both the immediate environs and also have a peek around Longford Corner and along the start of Tannery Straight. At the top of the rise in the road the first three cars are travelling towards is the railway crossing ‘jump’ which is the subject of the next series of photographs coming shortly.
Len Lukey Cooper T45 Climax from Doug Whiteford Maser 300S during the 1959 AGP weekend (oldracephotos)
The photograph above is a classic ‘Pub Corner’ shot- the corner of Union Street and Wellington Streets in Longford village with the 1959 Australian Grand Prix combatants Len Lukey and Doug Whiteford apexing the corner for the run along the start of Tannery Straight (along Wellington Street) and just up the road the jump over the railway line.
Stan Jones won that 1959 AGP, a long overdue win for the perennial frontrunner in his then ageing Maserati 250F.
(oldracephotos)
The photo above shows opposite locking Bob Jane’s Lotus Cortina chasing Sir Gawaine Baillie’s 7 litre Ford Galaxie, repaired after its near death experience against the Sandown Park, Peters Corner fence whilst driven by Lex Davison the previous November, on the exit of Longford Corner.
The Mobil Servo referred to earlier is clear as are more plane trees and an enthusiastic crowd ‘protected’ by lots of haybales and their own fast reactions! That Ford would have been mighty impressive bellowing and thundering along Longford’s long straights. The twiddly bits would not have been quite so impressive!
After exiting Longford/Pub Corner the cars accelerate through the gears including a ‘yump’ over the railway crossing along Tannery Straight.
Actually, for the most part after leaving Longford- that’s Doug Whiteford’s ex-works Maserati 300S coming in for a landing below, note the handily parked Austin!- its a long gentle curve, for a mile and a bit and then brake hard for Tannery Corner, a right hander.
Doug Whiteford Maser 300S, over the Tannery Straight (Wellington Street) railway crossing in 1959 (E French)
There was some technique required in addition to enjoying the ride! Kevin Bartlett recalls having to release the throttle for a fraction of a second so that the rear halfshaft donuts didn’t overstress on his Brabham BT11A, with Ellis French adding that ‘Humpy’ Holden crankshafts didn’t like the spot either. Geoff Smedley quipped ‘That crossing is the only place in the world where a race had to be paused to allow trains to pass through!’
Jaguar Mk1’s 1960- David McKay from Ron Hodgson (oldracephotos)(E French)
Marvellous shot above of Ellis’ on the same day as his Whiteford one prior- its beauty is both literal and symbolic.
Literal in terms of the scene itself- the crossing, handily placed spectator’s Austin, watching, relaxed ‘coppers and of course the Maserati 250F and Cooper T45 Climax of Arnold Glass and Bill Patterson. Its practice for the 1959 AGP, Arnold was third and Bill failed to start, as mentioned earlier, the race was won by Stan Jones Maserati 250F.
Its the 250F that is the symbolic bit- the little mid-engined Coventry Climax FPF powered Cooper chasing down the thoroughbred Italian car. The first such locally domiciled car was Reg Hunts 250F engined A6GCM which arrived in early 1955. In the period which followed the 250F’s did well albeit Lex Davison’s older 3 litre Ferrari 500 pretty much always had their measure- what it may sometimes have lacked in outright pace to Hunt, Jones & Co being compensated for by strong reliability, especially on the big occasions. Whilst Stan Jones won the 1958 Gold Star Series and the 1959 AGP in his 250F the period of the big red cars was coming to an end, a smidge later in Australia than in Europe. In the ’59 Gold Star, twelve races were contested- mid-engined Cooper’s won nine of them with three going to the front-engines, and all of these wins were early in the year prior to 31 March. Jones and Kiwi Ross Jensen won in 250F’s at Longford and Bathurst with Stan rolling out the Ern Seeliger modified Maybach 4 Chev at Port Wakefield for a victory in South Australia. The days of mid-engined omnipotence had arrived.
Ray Bell’s shot below after the end of race proceedings in 1965 shows the gently curving nature of Tannery Straight- heading in the direction of Tannery Road from Longford. Its flat-knacker in top gear but clearly is not straight as is shown in pretty much all of the circuit maps available. Mind you, none of the modern maps will be from ‘source references’ but rather digital renditions of earlier work. Plenty of trees, bush and typical highway of the day with rough verges.
(R Bell)
‘The left of Tannery was like a huge hedge, the right was random trees growing thickly, with the odd track into the bush where lovers used to go and that sort of thing…
By the time they were looking for the brakes (the drivers not the lovers) they were well into clear paddock scenery, with a kind of flat and uninteresting (Windsor, Sydney after a flood kind of thing…) appearance for Tannery, where the road was built up and going off would mean dropping onto a lower level. The paddock straight ahead had a gate and driveway for convenient escape for late brakers’ Ray Bell recalled.
The image below of the Triumph TR3 and Lotus 11 is Tannery Corner, the T-intersection of Tannery Road and Bishopsbourne Road, the drivers have negotiated the corner and are heading towards Long Bridge and then Newry Corner, to the intersection with Pateena Road. Love that ‘Longford Motor Racing Circuit’ sign.
Owen Mortimer Triumph TR3 leads Allan Caelli Lotus 11 Climax out of Tannery in 1965 (oldracephotos/DKeep)
This photo below I have used before. Of all the thousands of photos i’ve seen and selected in the four years I have been writing primotipo this is one of my favourite ten- its Stan Jones’s Maser 250F negotiating Tannery Corner, the photo, from the outside of the corner is from the Dunstan Family Collection. Again, check out the terrain, flatness at this point, and don’t miss the dude standing at middle-right. Stan is heading for our next stop, the fast left-hander onto Long Bridge.
(Dunstan Family)
(R Bell)
Then follows another wild section of track including the flat out fast left-hand entry onto Long Bridge, again over the South Esk.
This part of the track is again much photographed with scuba divers strategically positioned in the event of a major mishap.
Ray Bell’s shot of Jim Clark’s Lotus 39 Climax leading Graham Hill, BRM P261 in 1966 is in large part included as his composition shows the prodigiously fast ‘flat’ entry onto the the bridge which must have been a big test of ‘wedding tackle’ size, not an issue with these blokes one can only surmise. The exit left was also very quick.
The image below in 1968 (Saturday) shows the order reversed, Hill from Clark’s Lotus 49 Ford DFW’s from Amon Ferrari Dino 246T, Gardner Brabham BT23D Alfa, Geoghegan Lotus 39 Repco, Attwood BRM P126, Bartlett Brabham BT11A Climax and Rodriguez BRM P126.
(R MacKenzie)
Barry Lake recalls being at this part of Longford with Jack Brabham in the early 1990s, doing a piece for a TV report. ‘There was no fence of any sort beside the road, although there was one down a very steep embankment. If you went off the road, you would have had to be almost at a standstill to drop sharply enough to hit the fence. With any speed at all, a car would easily have cleared the fence into the cow paddock. I seem to remember some mid-sized trees in there and could picture a car landing right in the top of one if it went off.’
I asked Jack, “Did it ever worry you at all, to know you would be coming through here virtually flat, with nothing to stop you flying out there?” He said, “I’ve never seen it before. I didn’t know what was out there. I only looked at the road… I didn’t ever intend to go off there anyway, so why would I need to know.”
(D Cox)
The shots above and below of Kerry Cox in the Paramount Jaguar having a huge, high speed moment on the bridge are as good a panorama as we will see inclusive of the fast, open approach to the left hander. David Cox wrote of his Dad’s incident in 1966 ‘…he did a 270 degree spin without touching either side! He told me he was in second place, had lifted slightly there the lap before , so this lap he was trying to hold it flat through the corner before the bridge and touched the barrier on the inside which put him into the spin down the bridge. He had to reverse up the bridge and turn around, and still came third in the race. When he got back to the pits there was a massive bit of wood stuck between the rim and the tyre, we have a pic of that somewhere too!’ The other car appears to be a Lotus 7, note the little dinghy riverside.
(D Cox)
Below is another of the Long Bridge panorama albeit its in 1958, the Gold Star round that year was won by the Ted Gray driven Tornado Chev- here Austin Miller’s Cooper T43 Climax is being pursued by Bill Patterson’s Cooper T39 Bobtail Climax. There is far more undergrowth a decade earlier than the shots above but the bridge looks the same. Note the haybales on exit and huge penalties for anyone getting their turn-in off the bridge wrong!
(oldracephotos)
In fact that 1958 Gold Star round was the race meeting that put Longford on the map from a car perspective. The motor cycle racing guys first used the circuit in 1953 with cars almost an afterthought. Sedans and sportscars raced on the ‘bike meeting cards but that all changed with the award of a round of the national drivers championship on the March Labour Day long weekend in ’58- which was always ‘Longford Weekend’.
Bruce Walton was multiple times Australian Hillclimb Champion when all the aces of the circuits chased this prize eagerly. He occasionally raced on the circuits and is here at the wheel of Australian Porsche importer Norman Hamilton’s Porsche 550 Spyder during that 1958 meeting- he was third in the Sportscar Trophy event. By all means suss the car but the shot is included to show the topography after the cars exited Long Bridge. Even today this is a typical Oz country road scene.
(oldracephotos)
Bob Jane howling towards Longford below in his Elfin 400 Repco ‘620’ 4.4 V8 in 1967, one of his earliest races in his new car. He is not long off Long Bridge with the South Esk River in the background- its hue a nice contrast to the parched paddocks and the fencing less visually pleasing than above but just as lethal as a decade before.
(oldracephotos/King)(S Dalton)
The next corner after the section off the left-hand exit off Long Bridge is the Newry right hander into Pateena Road.
‘The climb out of there is quite sharp and a bit narrow between the edges of the embankments each side…ie not much shoulder for 50 yards or so, then evening out with crowd on the fence on the right.’ notes Bell. Above is the Elfin Mallala Climax FPF of Bryan Thomson during the 1964 meeting.
Rob Saward rated Newry Corner and Long Bridge as the best spectator viewing on the circuit adding that the steep exit was named by the locals ‘Newry Hill’ which then led on to The Flying Mile a straight about 1.5 miles in length- it was straight for the first quarter of a mile and then kinked to the left for the balance of the run into the Mountford Corner right hander- at the intersection of Pateena and Illawarra Roads.
(oldracephotos.com/JEllis)
This amazing and unusual shot by Jack Ellis shows the incline of ‘Newry Hill’ on a very blowy Saturday during the 1968 meeting- Jim Clark and Graham Hill in Lotus 49 Fords are being pursued by Frank Gardner in Alec Mildren’s Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo V8. The trio are a smidge further up the road than the Elfin Mallala above.
(oldracephotos/DKeep)
I love this shot of evergreen, talented Tassie racer Barry Cassidy giving his ‘brand-spankers’ 1967 XR Ford Falcon GT plenty of FoMoCo 289 cid V8 wellie out of Newry during the 1968 meeting.
This was the very first of an immensely successful run of Ford Australia V8 engined ‘Pony Cars’ and apart from showing Cassidy’s deft touch with the throttle also clearly shows the rise out of Newry on exit before the road flattens for the fast blast along The Flying Mile- the car was stock but would have been good for just shy of 130 mph or thereabouts.
(R MacKenzie)
Queenslander Rod MacKenzie took some sensational Longford shots on his 1968 trip down south- this moody, foreboding one of Clark’s Lotus 49 exiting Newry is one of my favourite photographs and illustrates the elevation of the circuit at this point, and again, the rise upon exit until the circuit flattens a little further along The Flying Mile.
(S Dalton)
You can just about feel and hear the shrill scream of Spencer Martin’s 3.3 litre V12 @ 7500 rpm as the exotic, much loved Italian racer blasts along ‘The Flying Mile’ at around 165 mph frightening the life out of kangaroos and Tasmanians equally as much (above and below). I wonder what the speed limit on Pateena Road was at the time?! The sounds of the racing cars echoed off the surrounding hills across the brown paddocks of summer in rural northern Tasmania. The majesty of the place is one of the things that always takes my breath away- something which can only be achieved on long, open circuits in spectacular scenery on public roads.
(oldracephotos)(R MacKenzie)
It wasn’t always sunny mind you. The Tasmanian weather could be capricious as it was during the 1968 meeting.
Jim Clark was belting down The Flying Mile in his Lotus 49 DFW on sunny Saturday for a win in the 12 lap preliminary- and a lap record he held for a few hours until Amon’s P4/CanAm 350 took it later in the day and then toiling hard to fifth place in the ‘pissin rain on South Pacific Trophy day- Monday. He finished behind Courage, Rodriguez, Gardner and Attwood that day but wrapped up the ’68 Tasman with four wins to Chris Amon’s two.
(E French)
After the flat out blast of ‘The Flying Mile’ we are back whence we started, the Mountford right-hander, the corner of Pateena and Illawarra Roads onto Pit Straight- Illawarra Road.
Stan Jones Maser 250F is chasing Len Lukey’s Cooper T45 Climax during their great 1959 AGP dice, the gents in the foreground providing almosphere enhanced by the huge, imposing and shady Mountford pine tree.
Pit Straight wasn’t always Pit Straight mind you, when the roads were first used as a race-track the Pits were located on The Flying Mile on Pateena Road, as noted early in the article, but safety concerns led to their relocation down the road and around the corner on the Illawarra Road section of track between Mountford and the Water Tower, from 1959.
Jim Saward’s photos below show the layout as it then was, these shots were taken from a Percival EP-9 aircraft which Rob Saward relates had a hatch in its bottom which was used to take quite a unique set of photographs. The landing strip for ‘planes was in the paddock behind The Flying Mile.
In the photo below you can see Pit Straight without the control tower and pit buildings which were built later and are shown in the various shots below. Note the ex-Launceston Tram Number 4, which, redundant in its initial role as public transport was relocated to provide officials with a building from which to operate- I wonder what became of it after Longford closed?
(oldracephotos/JSaward)
The photo below shows Pit Straight, Illawarra Road, checkout that tram at centre shot- at its end is Mountford Corner- left towards Newry Corner and the village of Pateena along Pateena Road and to the right is the road to Perth, several miles to Longfords east. The ‘capital’ of Tasmania’s north is Launceston, 25 Km away and Devonport where the then ‘Princess of Tasmania’ ferry disgorged its cargo of cars and racers from Port Melbourne is 95 Km from Longford.
(oldracephotos/JimSaward)
The two photographs below from Stephen Dalton’s Collection are undated, the cars will be a clue for some of you, look back towards Mountford on the inside of the circuit behind the tall poplar tree and you can see the Control Tower. ‘Over your right shoulder’ behind you on the upper shot is an incline and the Water Tower.
(S Dalton
(S Dalton)
Ellis French’s grid level shot of Doug Whiteford and Arnold Glass’ Maserati 300S and 250F is taken in 1959- its not the AGP but rather a heat, further back is the white Bill Patterson Cooper T45 Climax and his former Cooper Bobtail T39 Climax then owned by Alan Jack. There is still no low-level grandstand on the outside of the circuit at that point.
(E French)
The facilities were still fairly basic below in 1960, I love the beach umbrella erected atop the control stand to afford the starter some shade to better fulfil his duties.
From the left of the grid it’s Brabham, Miller and Stillwell in Cooper T51’s with the Glass Maser 250F at far right. Jack won from Alec Mildren and Stillwell all in T51’s albeit Alec’s was Maserati 250S powered rather than by the Coventry Climax FPF’s in the rear of the other two chap’s machines.
(oldracephotos)
By 1963 it was ‘carnivale’ as this South Pacific Championship grid shot below shows the Control Tower and Pits building- together with all the advertising hoardings and bunting it looks fantastic.
The great big Mountford pine tree is there in the distance standing guard over the corner. On the front row its Bruce McLaren on pole in his Cooper T62 Climax, then Bib Stillwell’s Brabham BT4 Climax and Lex Davison, Cooper T53 Climax on the outside. The race was won by Bruce’ Cooper from Stillwell and John Youl’s T55.
(G Smedley)
The photo below is the same 1963 grid as above- just look at the atmosphere!
From the rear is the #87 Frank Matich Lotus 19B Climax and alongside the Bob Holden Lynx Peugeot 1.5, on the next row is Frank Gardner’s Brabham BT2 Ford FJ which is sandwiched by Tony Shelley’s Lotus 18/21 Climax against the pits and Peter Boyd-Squires Cooper T45 Climax. The white #9 Cooper T51 is Bill Patterson and alongside him is the #3 Cooper T53 of Jim Palmer. Then Chris Amon is in the red Cooper T51 #14 with John Youl alongside, Cooper T55 Climax and an obscured Brabham in his BT4. On the second row is David McKay’s Brabham BT4 Climax and an obscured Tony Maggs Lola Mk4 Climax with Davison, Stillwell and obscured McLaren up front.
(S Dalton)
This view is across the bonnet of Lex Davison’s Len Lukey owned Ford Galaxie in 1964, opposite the pits, with plenty of spectator viewing and easy access for them back to Mountford. Jag is Bob Jane’s very successful Mk2- Galaxie gave Lex quite a wild ride in Tasmania, the brakes in particular were wanting.
Lex Davison in Len Lukey’s Ford Galaxie in front of Bob Jane’s Jag Mk2 in 1964 (oldracephotos)
The Australian Tourist Trophy for sportscars below was the main, hotly contested support event run during the 1964 meeting.
The spectators on the outside of Pit Straight enjoy the start with Frank Gardner’s Alec Mildren owned Lotus 23 Ford leading from Bib Stillwell’s Cooper Monaco, Frank Matich in the Total owned Lotus 19B Climax and Bob Jane’s superb Jag E Lwt- Matich took the win after Bib was disqualified for a push-start at the races outset.
(olracephotos)
The 1966 panorama just after the start below emphasises the flat nature of the terrain at this point and the great brown land in which we live, distinctive also is the footbridge absent in the earlier images.
That’s Clark J’s Lotus 39 Climax from Frank Gardner’s Mildren Brabham BT11A Climax and Jackie Stewart’s BRM P261 out front. Jackie took the honours that year from his teammate Graham Hill and Jack Brabham aboard BT19 Repco- the chassis with which he won the 1966 F1 Drivers and Constructors Championships. It was the third race for the Repco Brabham ‘RB620’ V8.
Ever laconic Frank Gardner said of Longford in MotorSport ‘It was over railway lines, onto a bridge with a curve in it, with well-spaced wooden railings which you could force a car through. You were coming onto a strip of oily board over a river. That was the safety procedure! It made the Nurburgring look quite safe…’
(S Dalton)
The photo below shows ‘all the fun of the Longford fair’ with the Pit Straight facility at its zenith of development with control tower, footbridge and pit building complete with prized spectator viewing facilities. Looking away from Mountford in the direction of the Water Tower and beyond. Intrigued to know the year of this shot, circa 1966.
(oldracephotos)
Despite the uniquely challenging nature of the place with its bumpy bridges, slow Viaduct Esses with tight rise beyond, its level crossing jump and pre-1965 hump it was a FAST circuit. Chris Amon set the all-time lap record at 2:12.6 seconds, 122.19 mph in his Scuderia Veloce Ferrari P4/CanAm 350 during the 1968 dry, Saturday sportscar scratch race. Average speed folks. Imagine what it felt like on the narrowish Flying Mile in that car at 178 mph in the wet!
A confluence of events conspired to bring about the circuits closure.
Ticket sales were poor in wet 1968, the circuit was only used once per year thereby limiting the return on capital investment, local environmentalists were against permanent advertsing hoardings but most critically the Grand Prix cars of the day were becoming exponentially quicker due to the 3 litre formula introduced from 1966 (fast even when raced at Tasman 2.5 litres), tyre ‘alchemy’ or polymer chemistry was giving much greater levels of grip let alone the performance impact of wings which exploded after Longford’s final 1968 meeting. In essence the cars had outgrown the track and there was not the funding to make the necessary investment to keep the track intact but safe enough for changing times.
It was such a shame, it is not too much to think that the South Pacific Trophy could have been to Tasmania what the TT still is to the Isle of Man.
The Siffert/Redman John Wyer Porsche 917K lines up for The Viaduct during the 1970 Longford South Pacific Trophy 1000 Km. I wish!…
(woochoo)
Bibliography…
The Nostalgia Forum ‘Longford: Reims of The South Pacific’ thread-particularly the contributions of Ray Bell, The Late Barry Lake, Rob Saward, Lindsay Ross, Stephen Dalton, Ellis French, Wirra, oldracingcars.com
Photo Credits…
Lindsay Ross and his oldracephotos.com.au which provided the vast bulk of the images used in this article. I salute the work of David Keep in particular; http://oldracephotos.com/content/home/
Jim Saward, Stephen Dalton Collection, Ray Bell, Ellis French, Geoff Smedley, Rod MacKenzie, Dunstan Family Collection, Paul Geard Collection, Cox Family Collection
Etcetera…
(SCW)
Perhaps the culvert just out of The Viaduct. Mick Watt in the Prefect Ford Spl now owned by Ian Tate, mid-fifties (P Geard)
Tailpiece: Quintessential Longford 1960- Pub and Holden FJ…
(oldracephotos)
Longford was all about international racing cars and stars but equally it was motor racing mecca for Tasmanian and Australian racers with modest budgets and self prepared cars.
Endpiece: We started, and let’s finish with a Jim Saward shot at Mountford!…
(oldracephotos)
Lyn Archer’s Cooper T39 Bobtail Climax during the 1959 meeting. The shot’s composition is marvellous from the crowd involvement, the car- in the sun, just- clear of the Mountford pine’s shade and the view up the hill to the Water Tower which marks the fast right hand plunge down to The Viaduct.
Jim Clark stops his Lotus 39 to collect a celebratory beer after winning the 13 February 1966 ‘Warwick Farm 100’ Tasman round…
Clark won the Tasman Series in 1965, 1967 and 1968. His 1966 mount, whilst a good car, the 2.5 litre Coventry Climax four-cylinder engine was outgunned by the ex-F1 BRM P261, the capacity of which had been stretched from 1.5 to 1.9 litres with Jackie Stewart winning the championship taking four victories from eight rounds.
JC and the lads looking fairly relaxed for this Thursday or Friday WF test of the 39, WF pitlane 1966 (ABC)
From the off at WF: Clark’s Lotus 39 scampers away from the Hill and Stewart BRM P261’s and Frank Gardner in Alec Mildren’s Brabham BT11A Climax #4 (WFFB)
Jim’s only 1966 Tasman win was in Sydney- Barry Hickson took this photograph whilst a flag marshall at Homestead Corner recalled that Dick MacArthur Onslow, the Homestead Sector Marshall promised Jim a ‘cold one’ if he won, here in the opening photo, the great Scot has pulled up to collect the promised cool beverage from Dick!
Benz 230SL to Clark’s liking, Homestead Corner fans happy to have JC back after his stop a short time before (B Hickson)
Clark and WF supremo Geoff Sykes swap notes after the 1966 win (WFFB)
Clark excelled at the technical, depending, outer Sydney track, he started from pole and won from Graham Hill, BRM P261 and Frank Gardner in Alec Mildren’s Brabham BT11A Climax with JYS fourth in the other P261.
In fact the ‘Farm was a very happy hunting ground for Jim, he raced there from 1965 to 1968 winning on three of his four visits aboard works Lotus machines- 1965 32B Climax FPF, 1966 39 FPF, and in 1968 aboard a 49 Ford DFW, the 2.5 litre variant of the 3 litre F1 Ford Cosworth DFV. In 1967 he fell short of the mark but not by much taking second to Jackie Stewart’s BRM P261, that Tasman Series the BRM V8’s were stretched to 2.1 litres in capacity. Jim’s 1967 car was an F1 Lotus 33 Coventry Climax FWMV 2 litre V8.
Victory for Clark at WF in 1966 aboard the Lotus 39- a car which would become iconic in Australia thereafter in Leo Geoghegan’s hands in both Coventry Climax and Repco V8 engined forms. And still resident in Oz (unattributed)
Credits…
Barry Hickson, Aust Broadcasting Corp, Warwick Farm Facebook page
Tailpiece: Clark on the way to his 1965 Warwick Farm 100 win, this time in his Lotus 32B Climax, Homestead Corner…
(B Hickson)
And the same 32B chassis in the WF paddock beside Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT11A Climax, with Roy Billington toiling on Jack’s car. Is that Ray Parsons behind the 32B? Who is the Repco clad bloke looking at Jim’s car who attended to Jack every year whilst he was in Oz?
Doug Cavill or perhaps Bill Reynolds races his Austin Healey 100-6 based Prad Healey at Lowood, Queensland circa 1959…
The car was a new one on me, quite a wild, fantastic looking machine, the modifications to the body were made by Jack Pryer and Clive Adams- the Prad boys in Sydney whilst the engine was breathed upon by racer/mechanic Bill Reynolds. Cavill- the Surfers Paradise ‘main drag’ Cavill Avenue was named after his father Jim Cavill- was a successful estate agent and had the readies to fund this interesting car.
Quentin Miles has been progressively uploading some photographs taken by his late father on Bob Williamson’s ‘Old Motor Racing Photographs – Australia Facebook page- check it out, this is a beauty despite the ravages of time to the negative.
Patrick Quinn wrote an article about this interesting car published in the Victorian Austin Healey Owners Club magazine ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ in 2013 which is reproduced below. The ‘restoration’ of the car is a shame, tragic really.
Etcetera…
This shot by the Salter brothers is at Lakeside circa 1961-62.
Credits…
Quentin Miles, Patrick Quinn, ‘Hundreds and Thousands’, B & N Salter
Bruce Walton aboard Norman Hamilton’s Porsche 550 Spyder at Longford in March 1958…
The 1958 ‘Longford Trophy’ was the first Gold Star round held at what became the legendary Tasmanian road circuit that March long-weekend. Ted Gray was victorious in Lou Abrahams Tornado 2 Chev. Bruce Walton shared the beautiful Porsche 550 Spyder with its owner, Norman Hamilton. Here he is parked beside ‘The Flying Mile’ near the old startline towards the end of the ‘mile. In 1959 the start/finish line and pits were moved to a safer spot around the corner between Mountford and the Water Tower.
Porsche Spyder 550 chassis ‘550-0056’ was ordered on 2 June 1955 and arrived on the MV Sumbawa in October 1955. One of 91 cars built, it was the only 550 imported to Australia by Norman Hamilton, famously one of the first people awarded commercial rights to the then nascent marque way back in 1951.
The story of Norman’s ‘Porsche introduction’ is a well known in Australia, its an amusing one. The Melbourne pump manufacturer was rumbling up the Glossglockner Pass on the way from Austria to Switzerland to check out the latest in pump technology in an American beast- an Oldsmobile 88 when he was ’rounded up’ by a low slung, snarling silver bullet.
In a village further up the valley he came upon German racer and Porsche tester Richard von Frankenberg partaking of a refreshing beverage in an Inn. He interrupted his break from the arduous task of refining the cars chassis and showed Norman the weird little car. In a burst of entrepreneurial zeal Hamilton followed the German and the car back to the Porsche factory and on a handshake secured the Australian commercial rights- in so doing he became the second agent outside Europe after Max Hoffman in the US.
Looks nothing like my Aston old boy?! South Melbourne Town Hall 1 November 1951 (PCA)
Months later, on 1 November 1951 Hamilton held a cocktail party for Melbourne’s ‘great and good’ at South Melbourne Town Hall, not far from Albert Park, to launch the marque in Oz.
On show were a maroon coupe and a silver cabriolet- forty months after the first 356 Porsche received its road permit in Austria, the cars looked like ‘flying saucers’ compared with the British and American cars with which we were so familiar.
Shortly thereafter selected local motorsport people were invited to test the cars- around Albert Park Lake of course! Very soon after that the Porsche Australian motorsport debut took place with Hamilton family friend and experienced racer/constructor Ken Wylie running the coupe up the dusty Hurstbridge Hillclimb, northeast of Melbourne on 28 January 1952.
Ken Harper and Norman Hamilton with Porsche 356 before the 1953 Redex Round Oz (PCA)
Porsche had fallen into the very best of motorsport friendly hands in Australia. In the following decades Norman, and particularly his son Alan Hamilton, raced exotic Porsches in Australia and aided and abetted the careers of drivers such as Colin Bond, Alan Jones and especially Alfredo Costanzo in Porkers and F5000 and Formula Pacific single-seaters. That story is well covered here; https://primotipo.com/2015/08/20/alan-hamilton-his-porsche-9048-and-two-906s/
(Clarence La Tourette)
The 550-1500 RS Spyder was first exhibited at the 1953 Paris Salon, the sexy body hid Dr Ernst Fuhrmann’s ‘Type 547’ DOHC, 2 valve, air-cooled, 1498 cc (85X66 mm bore/stroke) horizontally opposed, twin-Solex fed four cylinder circa 110 bhp @ 6200 rpm engine. This motor provided the basis, as it was progressively modified, for the motive power of successive Porsche racers until 1961. Built from 1954-1955 the 550 design had ‘an integral body-frame with floor frame…the flat frame consisted of welded tubing’. The transaxle was 4 speed with a ‘slippery’ diff, drum brakes were fitted front and rear. With the machine weighing a feather-light 590 Kg, a top-speed of about 137 mph was achieved with levels of endurance and reliability which became key brand values.
When the 550 first arrived at Port Melbourne it was delivered the short distance to the Southern Cross Service Station on St Kilda Road, Melbourne where it was uncrated and checked over by engineer/mechanic/racer Otto Stone. Pronounced fit, veteran AGP winner Les Murphy gave the car it’s competition debut at Rob Roy on Melbourne Cup Day in November 1955.
Delivered to New Zealand for Stirling Moss to drive in the 1956 New Zealand Grand Prix meeting at Ardmore, the great Brit won the ‘Ardmore Handicap’ in the 550 and then jumped into his works Maserati 250F to win the NZ GP. The Spyder also participated in that Formula Libre GP- to ninth place driven by New South Wales ace Frank Kleinig.
One of the great shames of Australian Motor Racing is that Kleinig didn’t win an AGP in his wonderful (and still extant) Kleinig Hudson straight-8 Spl. It was apt that Hamilton gave Frank this ‘works’ drive. I’ve mused more than once about how many ‘big races’ Kleinig could have won had he raced a car equal to that of Bill Thompson, Alf Barrett and Lex Davison to name some drivers of equal calibre who spanned ‘the Kleinig decades’ but had much better rides.
Frank Kleinig and the 550 outside his Parrmatta Rd, Burwood, Sydney workshop in early 1956 (C Gibson)
The car was shipped back from New Zealand to Sydney in time for the South Pacific Championship meeting at Gnoo Blas, Orange on 30 January. Kleinig was to drive the Porsche but was barred from competing by CAMS, then a new organisation- the controlling body of motorsport in Australia. Frank had taken part in the ‘unofficial’, as in not sanctioned by CAMS, Mobilgas Economy Run and was punished for his crime by not being allowed to race.
Jack Brabham, who that weekend raced the Cooper T40 Bristol he drove to victory in the 1955 AGP at Port Wakefied to second in the Sou Pac feature race behind Reg Hunt’s Maser 250F- then drove the heavily handicapped Porsche to sixth in the last event of the day, a five lap racing car handicap.
Ron Phillips AH 100S approaches the looped Otto Stone in the 550 Spyder at Jaguar Corner during the Moomba TT, Albert Park in March 1956 (unattributed)
Otto Stone had a few steers of the 550 including meetings at Fishermans Bend and the 1956 Moomba TT in March (4th) and the November Australian TT both at Albert Park- the latter race famously won by Stirling Moss’ works Maserati 300S from Jean Behra’s similar car, both of which stayed in Australia and were then raced successfully by Doug Whiteford and Bob Jane. Otto failed to finish the race.
Into 1957 Stone contested a 15 lap club trophy race at Fishermans Bend (below) running with the quick guys including Paul England’s Ausca Holden Hi-Power and Doug Whiteford’s Maser 300S- following Stone is Ron Phillip’s Austin Healey 100S.
(unattributed)
Norman Hamilton, Fishermans Bend, June 1957 (autopics)
Walton won the Australian Hillclimb Championship from 1958 to 1963 at a diversity of venues across the country aboard his Walton Cooper in an era when the title ‘really mattered’ and attracted both large crowds and the best of the circuit racers, some of whom like Stan Jones and Lex Davison had cars in their equipes acquired and developed to suit the particular rigours of the ‘hill discipline.
Bruce Walton fettles his modified Cooper Mk8 in John Hartnett’s Melbourne workshop, date folks? (L Sims)
Bruce Walton does his thing at Rob Roy in Melbourne’s Christmas Hills, 1953. Walton Jap Spl (unattributed)
Whilst Bruce also circuit raced, he did not contest as many events as many enthusiasts would have liked- had he done so he was the calibre of racer who could have won a Gold Star or at least won a Gold Star round- he was that good.
Not much has been written about the great Bruce Walton who died not so long ago in 2017, this article in ‘Loose Fillings’ is a nice comprehensive piece about his hillclimb exploits. Click here to read Terry Wright’s work; https://loosefillings.com/2017/06/10/climbed-your-last-hill/
Walton, 550 mounted at Fishermans Bend in Feb 1958 (autopics)
Bruce Walton passes the Newry Pumphouse, Flying Mile, Longford, Porsche 550, Longford 1958
Walton raced the Porsche at Fishermans Bend in February 1958 which was a good means of getting the feel of the car before attacking the formidable Longford road circuit over the Labour Day long-weekend in March 1958.
In the 5 lapper on Saturday Norman Hamilton drove to second behind Bill Patterson and ahead of John Youl’s Porsche 356. In the feature sportscar race, the Tasmanian Tourist Trophy, Bruce drove to third behind Whiteford’s Maserati 300S and Royce Fullard.
The Marsh owned 550 Spyder at Templestowe Hillclimb in Melbourne’s east circa 1962 (unattributed)
In November 1959 the car was sold to Reg Smith, and sold again after the unfortunate motor dealer lost his life at Bathurst driving a 356 Coupe. Acquired by Victorian Lionel Marsh, it was raced extensively with great class success in Australian and Victorian Hillclimb Championships, Marsh raced it up until 1964 inclusive of hitting an earth bank at Lakeland Hillclimb to Melbourne’s outer east.
After changing hands on several occasions over the following twenty years, including into and out of Alan Hamilton’s hands once or twice, prominent Melbourne businessman Lindsay Fox acquired ‘0056’ in 1992. He tasked Brian Tanti to restore it, a job which took three years to complete.
The RS550 Spyder now resides in considerable comfort at the Fox Collection in Melbourne’s Docklands and is exercised every now and again attracting all the attention it deserves for a car with a roll call of prominent to great drivers including Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Les Murphy, Otto Stone, Frank Kleinig, Bruce Walton, Allan Williams, Ted Gray, Austin Miller, Ern Tadgell, Lionel Marsh and of course Norman Hamilton…
Albert Park paddock, 1958 Victorian Tourist Trophy, Ern Tadgell up that weekend (unattributed)
Credits…
porsche.com, oldracephotos.com.au, Walkem Family Collection, autopics.com.au, Clive Gibson, Porsche Cars Australia, Paul Geard Collection, Clarence La Tourette, ‘Historic Racing Cars in Australia’ John Blanden
Etcetera…
£1500, oh dear! Give Lionel a call, not far from my mums place actually!
Tailpiece: Walton using all the road exiting Mountford Corner for the run up Pit Straight, Longford 1958…
Amaroo Park, Sydney May 1976, Formula 3. The Two Brians- Shead and Sampson lead Peter Macrow, all three aboard Cheetah Mk6 Toyotas from #4 Mal Brewster, Rennmax and then David Booth in a Birrana 374 Ford, Terry Finnigan, Cheetah and the rest- Elfin 600’s, 623 etcetera…
By 1972 the classes of single-seater racing in Australia comprised the following: Australian National Formula 1- F5000 at the pinnacle through ANF2- 1600, twin-cam, 2 valve, fuel injected which effectively meant the Lotus-Ford twin-cam the ultimate expression of which were Brian Hart’s alloy, injected 205 bhp’ish 416B motors. ANF3- SOHC, 2 valve, carbs with Toyota Corolla and Kent Fords the most common but there were Datsun and a smattering of other engines too. Formula Ford and Formula Vee require no explanation.
In Gold Star rounds some F2’s help bolster skinny F5000 fields, so too did F3 run with F2- which had a national championship whilst F3 did not. Combined F3 and FF races were common at State level with FF also having a national championship- ‘The Driver To Europe Series’ with FVee always racing on their lonesome but having a one-race ‘FV Nationals’ which was a de-facto national championship- very hotly contested it was too.
Sheady and Sambo ‘sambo: Shead and Sampson in Cheetah Mk4 Toyotas sandwich the F2 Birrana 273 Ford of Tony Stewart circa 1973 at Sandown. Mk4 the last of Shead’s spaceframe single-seaters- vestigial rear wing but no front. Maybe not the prettiest of Cheetahs but fast (B Jones)
Year in, year out the quickest F3 cars were the ‘works’ Cheetah Toyota’s fielded by the ‘Sheady and Sambo Show’- Shead built over fifty Cheetahs (F3, F2, F Pac, F Holden and Clubman) in a small workshop at Mordialloc and Sampson’s ‘Motor Improvements’ concern built the engines in the Nepean Highway, St Kilda, both southern bayside suburbs of Melbourne.
Both Shead’s Cheetah’s and Sampson’s circa 130 bhp Toyota Corolla motors were sold to customers but usually the two Brians had the answers with a combination of age and experience, finely set-up chassis’ and just a smidge more power than the customers got.
Shead and Sambo in the new, monocoque Cheetah Mk5 Toyota chased by Paul King’s Lew Wade owned Birrana 374 Toyota in the summer of 1975 at Hume Weir on the NSW/Victorian ‘Albury’ border. Who won this encounter Paul?? (B Jones)
For me the sexiest F3 machine of the period was the Birrana 374 Toyota with Paul King and Dean Hosking giving the two Brians something to think about particularly in 1974/5. The Elfin 700 was also a nice bit of kit but never did as well as the equally simple (spaceframe) Elfin 600 which preceded it, mind you the level of competition was stiffer in the mid-seventies than the late sixties.
Chassis of the F3 cars by that stage were aluminium monocoques pretty much universally with the Hewland Mk9 or Peter Holinger 5 speed ‘boxes the transmissions of choice.
I’ve no idea who won that Amaroo race but I’ve my money on one of the two Brians despite being away from home…
Credits…
Glenn Moulds, Brendan Jones Collection, Bruce Keys
Tailpiece: Sports Car World Birrana 374 track test…
If memory serves, always dangerous, Richard Steigler’s 374 (above) was the ex-John Blanden Adelaide owned Dean Hosking driven chassis. A fellow by the name of Adrian Van Loon useter to drive and write these SCW track test articles. Mighty fine bits of communication they were to a budding teenage enthusiast too, well and truly wetted the appetite he did. Died of cancer many years ago way too young sadly.
Here Bob Kent allowed Randall Bromfield to do a few practice laps of Baskerville in 1970 aboard his very tidy 1310cc Morris Cooper S, whereupon Randall ‘lost it at the bottom of the hill’.
Bigtime by the look of it.
Clearly Randall had not mastered the complex topography of that particular part of Tasmania to the required degree. The fiscal arrangements between ‘ole Randall and trusting Bob subsequent to this misunderstanding of the laws of physics remains unrecorded but it seems to me The P&O System is an eminently fair and reasonable one in circumstances such as this…
Credits…
All photos oldracephotos.com.au
Tailpiece: Daffy-Ducked ‘innit like?- it will take more than the application of Uri Geller’s talents and polish before the ‘brick is ready for its next meeting…
primotipo... 