Sam Posey, Surtees TS11 Chev in the Wigram pitlane during the January 20, 1973 Lady Wigram Trophy weekend.
John Surtees’ first two F5000 designs – the Len Terry designed 1969-71 TS5/TS5A and 1971 TS8 – sold well and were quite successful.
The TS11 was Surtees 1972 F5000 car. Based on the Grand Prix TS9B the prototype was tested by Big John at Goodwood but was written off shortly thereafter when Mike Hailwood hit a patch of oil and crashed it at Brands Hatch on October 28..
That curtailed plans for John Surtees to race it, and win the November 1971 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm to help generate some sales.
Sam Posey at Tyler Graphics, Mount Kisko, New York in 1987. This photograph by Marabeth Cohen-Taylor was given to the National Gallery of AustraliaJohn Surtees, Surtees TS8/9-002 battling with Alan Hamilton’s McLaren M10B Chev, Colin Bond, McLaren M10C Repco-Holden and Graeme Lawrence’s Brabham BT30 Ford FVC in the Warwick Farm Esses during the 1971 AGP (L Hemer)
Surtees’ and Hailwood‘s TS8/9 and first TS11…
An alternative car, a TS8 (with TS9 chassis 002) was sent to Sydney instead. Surtees qualified it ninth and was well placed for a decent finish before a slow puncture forced an even slower pitstop and tyre change.
That same car was then raced very competitively by Mike Hailwood in the 1972 Tasman Cup. Hailwood crashed the TS8 (chassis TS9-002) in the final New Zealand round at Teretonga so a new TS11 chassis was sent to Sydney and a front-radiator TS11 – tagged TS11/03 – was built up from the pile of parts to complete the final four Australian rounds.
Mike was second in the championship behind Graham McRae despite not winning a round: Q3 and second at Pukekohe, Levin Q4/third, Wigram Q4/second, Teretonga Q1/DNF crash. In Australia, this time with the outwardly similar TS11: Surfers Paradise no time/sixth, Warwick Farm Q17/fifth, Sandown Q7/fourth and Adelaide Q4/second.
Mike Hailwood at Warwick Farm during the February 1972 Tasman Cup round, Surtees TS11 Chev (L Hemer)NZ (T Marshall)
Build numbers and competitor set…
Five TS11s were built, including the Hailwood Tasman car, and there are another four mystery-cars as Allen Brown correctly describes such machines, see here: https://www.oldracingcars.com/surtees/ts11/
The most successful TS11 was TS11/04, the Champcarr Inc – Doug Champion and Fred Carrillo – machine based in San Juan, California raced by Sam Posey in the 1972 US F5000 L&M Championship, the most competitive of the F5000 competitions globally.
Posey testing TS11/04 at Ontario Speedway in 1972. That venue was not part of the ’72 L&M (M Rizzo)Posey in TS11/04 in the Lime Rock pitlane in 1972. Q9 and third behind Brett Lunger and Brian Redman (G Rickes)
1972 was the year of the McRae GM1 and Lola T300 so the going was tough, but the talkative, talented American racer of single-seaters, Can-Am, Champcars – plus an occasional F1 drive – got the best out of the car, finishing second behind Graham McRae and then Brian Redman and Brett Lunger tied in third in Chevron B24/Lola T300 respectively: 87, 69 and 60 points respectively.
Posey didn’t win a round but placed second at Laguna Seca, Road America and Riverside in a season of consistency and reliability.
Bomb Bay, Wigram Q11 and DNF engine on January 20. McRae won from Warwick Brown and Steve Thompson (B Hopping)Posey at Surfers Paradise in February 1973. Fifth from Q9, Frank Matich won (P Overell)
Posey’s Tasman…
When Sam crossed the Pacific his reliability seems to have deserted him! What didn’t change was the pace of McRae, and there were a few other quicks at the front of the 1973 Tasman Cup field too: Frank Matich, John McCormack, Steve Thompson, Allan Rollinson, Max Stewart and Warwick Brown to name a few.
In the four Kiwi rounds he was: Pukekohe NZGP Q11 DNF throttle, Levin Q7 DNF engine, Wigram Q11 DNF engine and Teretonga Q9 and second behind Alan Rollinson. So, a good finish to the first half of the series before crossing the Tasman for Surfers Paradise.
Surfers Q9 and fifth, Warwick Farm Q6 and seventh, Sandown Q6 and sixth, Adelaide Q2 and DNF undisclosed. It was all pretty uninspiring, the sheer pace evident in the US was missing and four DNF’s in eight races doesn’t win championships.
McRae won the championship with three wins aboard his McRae GM1 Chev, 40 points from John McCormack, Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden two wins and 29 points and Frank Matich, Matich A50 Repco-Holden, one win, 27 points.
Posey in the Sandown pits, and paddock below in February 1973. Q6 and sixth, McRae won (stupix)(J Blanden)Pukekohe pits 1973. Q11 and DNF throttle. John McCormack won the NZ GP in an Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden (B Kempthorne)
Specifications…
Gijs van Lennep won the European F5000 Championship with his car (TS11/02) but was lucky in that the quicker McRae and Brian Redman biased their F5000 seasons on both sides of the Atlantic to the US L&M rather than the British Rothmans Formula 5000 Championship.
As mentioned above the, TS11 was a development of the F1 TS9B. It had a period typical aluminium alloy monocoque chassis, a Chev 5-litre engine to the choice of the customer, and used Hewland’s ubiquitous DG300 five speed transaxle.
It had a Tyrrell or sportscar type nose, side radiators and inboard front suspension, the top rocker actuating a coil spring damper unit, magnesium uprights with an adjustable roll bar. The brakes were outboard. At the rear was magnesium uprights, a single top and parallel bottom yonks with a pair of radius rods doing fore and aft locational duties on either side. Brakes were inboard, note the oil-rads under the wing.
Posey on Sandown’s main straight during the 1973 Tasman round. That Sandown is part of a horse racing complex is readily apparent…and a might fine venue it is (G Moulds)
Etcetera…
This shot of Mike Hailwood in the Sandown Park, Australian GP dummy grid on February 20, 1972 gives us a better look at the unpainted full-monocoque Surtees TS11 chassis – TS11/03 – of the three-week old car.
The structure extends right up behind behind the drivers shoulders in the photograph below. Mike was fourth from Q7, the was race won by Graham McRae’s Leda GM1 Chev.
(B Jackson)
Mike Hailwood chats with a mechanic in the Warwick Farm 100 paddock over the February 13, 1972 weekend.
Note the inboard rocker front suspension and single radius rod doing locational duties at the rear.
(B Jackson)
Rear wing area very busy, to the detriment of it doing its job!
Note the faired oil coolers either side of the vertically mounted oil tank, and Varley battery underneath it. The rear suspension has only one – top – radius rod on each side but the lower suspension comprises a wide based wishbone and an additional ‘toe’ link.
(B Jackson)
Roll bar mounted directly to the rear bulkhead and in nicely braced both fore and aft, note the single radius rod.
There was nothing wrong with the assembly of the new car by Mike’s mechanics. It finished all four races in Australia, well up too.
(M Nidd)
Without wanting to confuse things further, see above a wonderful painting of Hailwood’s Surtees TS8 as it appeared in New Zealand in the summer of ’72…
(S Love)
John Surtees and Sam Posey in the Laguna Seca paddock in 1971. ‘Well, keep going the way you are and there probably is an F1 drive at home for you Sam.’
(Pinterest)
Sam Posey in front of Mike Hailwood during the October 1972 US GP at Watkins Glen.
The pair are racing Champcarr/works-Surtees TS9B Ford DFVs. Sam was Q24 and 12th, Mike Q14 and an accident impacted 17th. Jackie Stewart won in a Tyrrell 005 Ford DFV.
Credits…
Dave Waldron via Gerard Richards, Bryn Kempthorne, Maurizio Rizzo, Marabeth Cohen-Tyler, Brian Hopping, Paul Overell, Greg Rickes, Glen Moulds, Michael Kidd, Steve Love, Stupix, Old Motor Racing Photographs Australia Archive, Pinterest, Brian Jackson photos via Glenn Paine, John Blanden
The Peak Hill, Silverton, hillclimb meeting near Broken Hill on September 14, 1958.
That’s none other than future Elfin Sportscars boss Garrie Cooper looking immaculate in his Persil-white overalls alongside his BMC A-series powered Austin 7 Spl.
#70 is Bruce Went’s Austin, he did a 55.39 sec run, while the more potent Cooper Motor Bodies clad machine, sleeved down to sneak into the under 750cc class, did a best of 45.17.
What a scene! Red Holden FJ, the Austin Atlantic at right and a couple of chicks making the best of the dusty paddock on a good old-fashioned struggle-rug. Bleak indeed!
We have Peter Kelly to thank for these unique, Kodakrome shots which he bought in a Trash n’ Treasure Market a few years ago. ‘Yer can be lucky, he was, and so are we, many thanks Peter! Bill Williamson’s Facebook page does it yet again! Special thanks also to Doug Gordon and Tony Johns for their archival material and leading the charge on car IDs.
Note that some of the photographs are from a meeting held at Peak Hill twelve months before, on July 28, 1957.
(P Kelly Collection)
Silverton is only a drop-kick from the New South Wales-South Australian border, 1,200km from Sydney, 540km from Adelaide. Big drives for your racing-fix, not really, not in Australia!
The two cars above were top-shelf here at the time. Up front is #5 Jack Myers’ W.M. Special – a modified Cooper T20 powered by a 2440cc Waggott-Holden DOHC, triple-SU fed six-cylinder engine – the slinky British Racing Green sportscar behind is Derek Jolly’s #6 Lotus inspired Decca Mk2 Climax FWA Spl. Car #10 is ME Nancarrow’s Holden 48-215. ‘Malcolm Nancarrow, who went on to race a Lotus Elite and a Lotus Cortina in South Australia during the 1960s.’ wrote Rob Bartholomaeus.
Jack Myers fettling the Waggott-Holden twin-cam ‘Grey six’ cylinder engine in the Gnoo Blas paddock (P Kelly Collection)
Enthusiast/historian Doug Gordon writes that ‘Peak Hill hillclimb was laid out on hilly ground just outside Silverton, a little mining township close to Broken Hill. These days it’s famous as the location for filming Mad Max, there is a Mad Max museum there.’
‘When (vintagent/racer) Neville Webb was there a branch of the Vintage Sports Car Club of Australia was formed. From the early 1950s to June 1959 a hillclimb track was laid out in the dirt and drew a wide-range of cars including the ex-Bira MG K3.’
‘There were plans to build a bitumen racetrack nearby but that was quashed by the local police who were concerned about the safety aspects as the club was small and didn’t have the budget for the extensive safety fencing that would have been required.’
‘Here is the original layout of the hillclimb being held by local historian Don Mudie. There is still an active Veteran and Vintage Car Club but their interests are outside racing.’
(D Gordon Archive)(P Kelly Collection)
Neville Webb’s Frazer Nash Monoposto and below.
A special, the car is not one of the three factory cars, one of which was raced in-period by Tim Joshua/Ron Egerton and others in Australia, and is still here currently being restored.
(D Gordon Archive)(T Johns Collection)(P Kelly Collection)(P Kelly Collection)
South Australia’s Murray Trenberth bagged FTD in his 996 Vee-Twin Vincent Spl, he did a 42.54 sec run. A very quick car on the circuits as well. Ralt wheels? Big Bertha behind is R Laneyrie’s Ford V8 Coupe.
(P Kelly Collection)
M Dillon’s Triumph Spl 351-1000cc entry.
(P Kelly Collection)
Bill Pile, MG TC Spl s/c, great looking car, who built the body?
(P Kelly Collection)
I Virgo VMF under 350cc car, July 1957.
D Evans D & D Ford 10 Spl front and centre. #34 behind is the Webb Frazer Nash monoposto, no idea about the other car (P Kelly Collection)
Keith Rilstone in the Eldred Norman built Zephyr Special s/c, July 1957.
(P Kelly)
B Bowring, Allard M drophead, Ford flathead V8, July 1957.
(P Kelly)
The legendary MacHealey, Greg McEwin up, July 1957.
(P Kelly)
‘Meadows Special, Riley 12 chassis, Lancia running gear: 5th Series front end and diff, 7th Series gearbox, and Meadows engine out of a Chick car built in Adelaide.’
‘I bought the car in 1968 for $25, then fitted the engine and gearbox into the Chandler Lancia Special, to become the Lancia Meadows.’ thanks Rob Harcourt.
‘Here it is below as I bought it. I towed it home to Adelaide from Broken Hill on an A-frame behind my mates AP6 Valiant. Imagine doing that today!’
(R Harcourt)(P Kelly)
I Phillips, PDS, an under 350cc car. July 1957.
(P Kelly)
F Roberts, Holden 6 Special.
‘Perhaps the first Holden Special to compete in Australia,’ observed John Medley. July 1957.
Credits…
Peter Kelly Collection via a random Trash ‘n Treasure purchase!, Tony Johns Collection, Doug Gordon Archive, Lindsay Siebler, Rob Harcourt
‘It’s the first McLaren M8A Chev outside McLaren’s David Road factory in Colnbrook,’ Derek Kneller recalled.
‘I was a fabricator working with Don Beresford, John Thompson and George Begg on the M8As. The shot was taken on my Polaroid camera when the first body was fitted.’
The shot below of Alistair Caldwell, Bruce McLaren and Teddy Mayer testing the car at Goodwood in July 1968 dates Derek’s shot. The car is still not fitted with mirrors, but does have a small spoiler on the rear bodywork, so perhaps a day #1 or day #2 test…
(goodwood.com.)
Bruce blasting past the Super Shell Building at Goodwood, what is that material going across the back of the car from wheel arch to wheel arch?
It wasn’t a bad season, McLarens won all six Can-Am Cup rounds: Denny Hulme took three, Bruce, Mark Donohue (M6A Chev) and John Cannon (M1B Chev) one apiece. Denny won the Canadian-American Challenge Cup from Bruce and Mark.
Etcetera…
As David Road is today courtesy of Andrew Hicks.
Credit…
Derek Kneller, Motorsport Images, Goodwood.com, Andrew Hicks
Beechey exits the Pukekohe hairpin in his legendary 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship winning Holden Monaro HT GTS350 during the 1971 NZGP weekend.
The idea for the first in this occasional series of Australian Touring Cars Abroad came from my latest photo raid of two fantastic Kiwi racing FB sites: Old New Zealand Motor Racing and South Island Motorsports, suss them both out.
But of course New Zealand wasn’t/isn’t the only country ‘Oz tourer pros‘ have visited. I’ve prostituted the idea a bit by including blokes like Frank Gardner, Brian Muir and Horst Kwech whose over-there touring car racing was based over-there not here, if that makes sense as a differentiator…
(Bay of Plenty News)
Terry Allan at Baypark in May 1970
Steve Holmes wrote on The Roaring Season, ‘In 1967, young Melbourne motorsport enthusiast Terry Allan took a trip to the US and purchased a new Camaro to race in Australia. Fitted with a 396ci big block Rat motor, and quad-side draught Webers, the Camaro caused a huge stir with race fans on its debut in May 1967, as this was the first Camaro to race anywhere in Australasia.’
‘Allan raced the Camaro from 1967 to 1971, then sold it to Graeme Blanchard. From there it went to Lakis Manticas and then to Barry Wearing in 1974, after which it appears to have vanished.’
‘Information about Terry Allan’s Camaro has been difficult to find. A couple of magazines have attempted to trace its current whereabouts, or ultimate fate, but have drawn blanks. Rumours surrounded the car, and its US origins, and the possibility it may have been race prepared at the workshop of GM racing guru Bill Thomas, but these were all hearsay.’
What became of Terry Allan folks?
(Bay of Plenty News)
Allan Moffat’s Team Harper/Ford Cologne Ford Capri RS2600 on the way to winning the 53 lap November 18, 1973 Touring Car Race at Macau. Second and third were Tachi Nobuhide and Jose Ramirez aboard Toyota Celica GTs.
Moffat must have been impressed, a year later FoMoCo Oz had an RS3100 on the water for him to race in Australia. Macau was a little bit of try before you buy in a sense. See here: https://primotipo.com/2015/04/09/australias-cologne-capris/
(T Growden)
Brian Foley’s Morris Cooper S at Pukekohe during the 1969 New Zealand Grand Prix weekend. ‘Second in the the 1000-1300cc race.’
The title for Australian King of the Coopers was a tussle between Sydney based Foley, and Melbourne based Peter Manton, with honourable mentions to John Leffler, Lynn Brown and Don Holland. And yes my friends, there are more depending upon the period you have in mind.
By 1971 Brian was teasing Australian Alfisti with this ex-Auto Delta Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm. The 2-litre machine was under-gunned against the V8 Pony Cars that had the ATCC stitched up, but it was still a crowd-pleaser and ‘2-litre Class’ winning machine.
Here he is below at Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1972.
Peter Brock raced overseas a bit: BMW 3.5-litre CSL, Porsche 956 and some Commodores but maybe not as much as one would have expected of one of the world’s greatest touring car drivers of his era?
In 1977 he teamed up with his ‘UK GM equivalent’, Gerry Marshall for the 24 Hours of Spa in a factory Vauxhall Firenza Magnum.
Built by Bill Blydentein’s Dealer Team Vauxhall squad, the Group 1 Spa Magnum had some trick modifications including twin Weber 48DCOEs and a cam fitted to the 2.3-litre slant-four increasing its power to circa-172bhp. A Getrag five-speed ‘box completed a light, fast package.
(Bonhams)
Marshall and Brock were second at Spa with the Beefy-Brit chasing down second with 30 minutes to go, they also took the ‘Coup du Roi’ teams and the Index of Performance.
Frank Gardner on the way to winning a Guards Trophy race at Brands Hatch in May 1970, Ford Mustang Boss 302.
FG won the British Saloon/Touring Car Championship in 1967-68 aboard a Ford Falcon Sprint and Lotus Cortina/Ford Escort Twin-Cam respectively. In a decade long dream run in Europe, Gardner annually had single-seater, sportscar and touring car programmes/races in all corners of the globe and did justice to all of the different disciplines.
He returned to Australia in late 1974.
(John Lawton)
Pete Geoghegan in characteristic style giving his Ford Falcon GTHO Super Falcon a lungful at Baypark in 1973.
Pete took pretty much all of his cars across the ditch, I’ll do a post of those exclusively some time soon.
(S Laverick)
Moffat’s Coke Mustang Boss 302 at rest in the Pukekohe paddock in 1972, and on the move below.
More often than not race-paddocks are shit-holes, not so Puke which always looks wonderful in photos with its undulations, leafy trees and grass.
Colin Bond in the NZ Holden Dealer Team Holden Torana GTR XU-1 during the 1973 Heatway Rally run between July 7-14 out of Christchurch.
120 cars entered the event which was won by 1983 World Rally Drivers Championship winner Hannu Mikkola and Jim Porter, and Mike Marshall and Arthur McWatt both in Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1s, then Shekhar Mehta and Wayne Jones Datsun 180B, then the Bond/George Shepheard LJ XU-1.
Bondy was a crowd favourite in whatever he drove and is one of Australia’s most versatile drivers of any era. On-the-dirt he won three Australian Rally Championships in 1971-72-74, all with George Shepheard alongside and all in GTR XU-1s. Funny, in my mind he bagged another in his Escort RS days, but not so…albeit Greg Carr won one aboard a CB prepared Escort in 1978.
(S Taylor)(Alpina Auomobiles)
Brian ‘Yogi’ Muir in the Alpina BMW CSL 3-litre during the first round of the 1973 European Touring Car Championship at Monza in March 1973. He shared the car with Niki Lauda. See here: https://primotipo.com/2022/09/03/brian-muir/
Amazing career as a UK based international from the mid-1960s in touring cars and sportscars until his death from a heart attack on the way home from the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone on September 11, 1973. He was only 52, born June 30, 1931.
Brilliantly conceived by Sydney racer Tom Nailard, the project was acquired by Frank Gardner who essentially created a two-seat Lola F5000 car with his expansive knowledge of the Huntington company’s parts catalogue.
Winner of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship from 1977-79 for Gardner/Grice/Grice before CAMS’ legislative pencil caught up with them.
(unattributed)
Peter Brock on the way to second place in the Guia Production Car race at Macau in 1971.
LC XU-1 with Globe Rallymaster wheels. Which car izzit, the Holden Dealer Team wrenches had wenches nicknames for the cars didn’t they?: Saggy Sally, Juicy Lucy! Raunchy Rita or whatever!?
(NAS)
Moffat again, this time during the 1973 Singapore Grand Prix weekend on the tough, dangerous Thomson Road circuit.
FoMoCo Oz bought this Alan Mann Racing built Ford Escort Ford FVA for AM to race as a sports sedan about 1970. It was always a struggle to keep up with the V8s. There ain’t no substitute for cubes. Sometimes.
By the time it got to Singapore it was probably fitted with a 2-litre Ford BDG engine. The spec and destiny of the car is of interest if someone can fill me in.
Moff won a heat but had a flat in the final that caused an accident, Brian Foley’s Alfa GTA Lwt won the final.
(Klemantaski Collection)
Speaking of which, here is Horst Kwech racing an Alfa Romeo GTA in a 1970 Trans-Am round at Mid Ohio, and below a Ford Capri RS3100 in an IMSA race in 1974, circuit unknown.
The Baypark promoters were clearly very touring car friendly, they promoted a lot of NZ v Oz contests which must have been fantastic to watch and hear.
Here Melbourne’s own is doing battle in his Chev Nova with, I think, Paul Fahey’s Ford Mustang. Who won these December 1996 or 1967 hitouts? A little bit more here: https://primotipo.com/2019/09/26/norm-jim-and-pete/
(R Grimwood)
The cars got presence hasn’t it! Not the rare under bonnet shot of the 327 fed by four Weber DCOs on a neat crossover inlet manifold nicely ducted with cool air.
Did Claude Morton do Norm’s engines?
(J Copsey)(J Copsey)
Credits…
Steve Elliott, Stephen Dalton Archive, Bay of Plenty News shots via Bryan Miller, National Archive of Singapore, Klemantaski Collection, JD Decrevel, Getty Images, Stephen Laverick, Sean Taylor, Bruce Scott, Alpina Automobiles, Klemantaski Collection, JD Decrevel, Rod Grimwood, The Motorhood, Terry Baker, Jeff Copsey
The Ardmore line up of Maserati 250Fs in January 1959 would have done justice to a European Grand Epreuve of two years before. They weren’t the duck’s-guts there in 1959 but were still competitive in Australasia for twelve months or so.
From the left it’s Jo Bonnier #2529, Carroll Shelby #2534, Harry Schell #2533 and Bib Stillwell #2516. Three other 250Fs were entered that weekend: Ross Jensen #2509/2504, Gavin Quirk #2504/2509, and Johnny Mansel #2508/2513.
The Maserati 250Fs are away well at the start of the race, Harry Schell leads from Jo Bonnier, Carroll Shelby and then #4 Jack Brabham’s Cooper T45 Climax from Stirling Moss #7 and Bruce McLaren #47 similar cars. Then comes Merv Neil, Cooper T43 Climax, Ross Jenson, right and Bib Stillwell centre in 250Fs. Tom Clark’s Ferrari Super Squalo #22 then Syd Jensen’s Cooper #14 and John Mansel Maserati 250F.Approaching the corner Pat Hoare, Ferrari, Len Gilbert- partially obscured in a Cooper Bristol, Ken Harris in his sports Ferrari Monza #9 and Allen Freeman’s Talbot Lago T26C
The January 10, 1959 Ardmore grid was the most impressive to that point in the events history.
Inspiration for this piece was tripping over the opening photographs whilst researching something else and being amazed by the breadth and depth of the field.
This article is a truncated, hot-rodded version of Bruce Sergent’s sergent.com’s coverage of the race. This is a ripper site, my standard Kiwi reference tool, click here for their full account of the race; https://sergent.com.au/motor/1959.html
This amazing grid was due to ‘the barnstorming tour by the NZIGP’s livewire secretary Frank ‘Buzz’ Perkins, who had taken off the previous July, followed the circuits of Europe, and signed up everyone in sight, including the eventual world champion, Mike Hawthorn, whose grim tenacity won him the 1958 crown in the face of the greater brilliance of Moss’ wrote Sergent.
Stirling Moss (above) won the 150 mile Grand Prix in Rob Walker’s Cooper T45 Climax FPF 2015cc. Jack Brabham, the previous years winner, was second and Bruce McLaren third, both also in T45 Coopers (2.2 and 2-litre FPFs respectively). Then came a trio of Maserati 250Fs raced by Carroll Shelby, Ross Jensen and Bib Stillwell.
‘Hawthorn won his championship and retired from racing. The New Zealand Grand Prix was run on January 10, and on January 19 Hawthorn met his death when his Jaguar, travelling at over 80mph, skidded on a greasy main highway south of London. Had he come to New Zealand he might still have been alive.’
The dangers of motor racing were ever present at the time, Sergent observed, ‘There were some old faces missing from the 1959 entry. Stewart Lewis-Evans had been killed at Casablanca, Archie Scott-Brown died at Spa and Peter Whitehead had been fatally injured as a passenger in the Tour de France.’
Brabham and McLaren’s works Coopers were powered by Coventry Climax FPFs of 2200cc and 1960cc respectively, 2.5 litre variants would be available to the duo in F1 Championship events that year. Ron Flockhart raced a front-engined BRM Type 25, the Owen Racing Organisation returning to NZ for the first time of many, since 1954.
‘All sorts of rumours were current as to the might of the Maserati entry. By this time, the Modena factory was kept going only with the support of American finance and oil millionaire Temple Buell, who had in effect taken over the racing management of Maserati.’
‘The cars, to be driven by Harry Schell and colourful Texan Carroll Shelby…were rumoured to be the latest “Piccolo” design – the ultra-lightweight model under development at the time Fangio left racing – and one of them was to have a motor with the new desmodromic valve gear, operated mechanically instead of by return springs.’
Photographer Garth Taylor, ‘The Buell cars have just been taken off the ship and were being “unwrapped” at Ross Jensen Motors in Remuera Road, Auckland’ (G Taylor)(G Taylor)
‘Travelling in company with the Buell stable, but as an independent, was wealthy Swedish driver Joakim Bonnier, with the prototype lightweight which had been driven by Fangio, and finally, also under the Maserati banner, was Ross Jensen, in a car built round the frame of the Bira race-winner of 1955, but with the latest motor and transmission, giving the low, offset driving position.’
‘And finally, the great Guerino Bertocchi, famous old-time racing drover and Maserati’s chief tester, was to be on the spot to supervise preparation and running of the Buell cars’.
In addition to the overseas visitors there was a strong local entry plus several Australian’s who made the trip ‘across the ditch.’
Tom Clark entered his Ferrari Super-Squalo with Arnold Glass who came over from Sydney with the sister-car, ‘right up to scratch after a refit at Maranello, getting a new 625/555 motor in the process’. Pat Hoare’s 625 rounded out the Ferrari entry.
Syd Jensen had returned from a successful European tour with his Cooper T45 fitted with a F2 1500cc FPF. Other local Coopers included Merv Neil, who had raced in Europe and returned home via Australia for a couple of races, with a new 2-litre FPF for his Cooper T45. Ray Thackwell also returned from the UK with a T43 powered by a 1.5 FPF whilst Tony Shelly’s Cooper was the single-cam T41 model.
Allan Freeman, Talbot Lago T26C (unattributed)(NatLib)
Johnny Mansel (above) acquired Ross Jensen’s ex-Moss 250F, Bib Stillwell had a similar ex-Hunt Maserati 250F fitted with disc brakes, Gavin Quirk also entered his 250F, while Ron Roycroft entered his Ferrari 375.
Jack Malcolm’s Cooper Holden, Len Gilbert’s ex-George Palmer Cooper-Bristol were also entered. Allan Freeman raced his Lago-Talbot T26C, Ron Duncan his Connaught and Brian Tracey the ex-Moore/Roycroft/Mansel Alfa Romeo Tipo-B, both cars now very long in the tooth.
‘Specials’ included Watson’s Lycoming with Bob Gibbons at the wheel. The Normac Special, driven by Reg McCutcheon failed to qualify. Frank Cantwell (Tojeiro-Jaguar 3442cc) was the leading sports-car with Ken Harris (Monza Ferrari) and the Austin-Healeys of Graham Pierce and Max Richards also entered.
Len Gilbert’s swoopily-bodied Cooper T23 Bristol (NatLib)(NatLib)
Moss’ Cooper T45 (above) was the same chassis in which he won the 1958 Formula Libre Melbourne Grand Prix at Albert Park on 30 November, the very last meeting at the venue until the modern era. Moss won that 100 mile race from Jack’s Cooper T45 and Doug Whiteford’s Maserati 300S.
It was fitted with an Alf Francis built 2-litre Climax FPF, not the normal engine of 1964cc, one with an Alf Francis specification crank which increased the stroke to give 2015cc. The engine was very hot and bothered by the end of the stifling Albert Park weekend but was made good in time for Ardmore.
‘On arrival, the bunch of Maseratis proved slightly disappointing. The Bonnier car had raced in the first United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and was not in the happiest condition, and neither of the Buell cars had the expected desmodromic valve system. They were, however, right up to the mark in other respects, the one to be driven by Shelby having a very high tail, similar to the Vanwall and quite unlike the traditional Maserati line.’
Ron Flockhart on the way to winning the Lady Wigram Trophy that summer from pole, BRM Type 25 (unattributed)Flockhart’s BRM was allocated #2 in the NZ GP programme, but raced with #12 (unattributed)
Ron Flockhart was out early in his Type 25 BRM doing a time of 1m 23.6s, or 86.7 mph, over two seconds faster than Ross Jensen’s 1m 26s in the ex-Moss Maserati during the ‘Little Ardmore’ meeting after the last NZ GP.
Moss first appeared in official practice, his Cooper doing 1m 23s, Brabham was a second slower, Flockhart on 1.24.5, McLaren 1.26.2, Ross Jensen 1.26.3 and Harry Schell 1.26.4. ‘Five thousand unexpected visitors turned up to see the practice, despite official warnings to keep away from the (airfield) course.’
In the afternoon Moss did ‘1.21.5, a time which caught organisers napping by being right off the official time-to-speed conversion chart. This was 5 seconds better than Jensen’s record. Moss’ driving in practice could only be described as fantastic, and no-one who was there will ever forget the sight of the Cooper coming out of the left-hander into Pit Straight, travelling at well over 100 mph and literally bucking with the acceleration, while Moss coolly kept the car in line.’
Whilst all was calm in the RRC Walker camp ‘…those of the Maserati establishment were not so happy. The ebullient Schell and Bertocchi were not in agreement over tactics, though all the drivers and Bertocchi were unhappy over the braking situation. Even in practice, Shelby’s car was suffering from grabbing brakes, though both machines were going well otherwise. It was eventually decided to run the cars without a full complement of fuel, risking a pit stop in an effort to lighten the load on the braking systems.’
Moss pushes his Cooper after braking a rear driveshaft, said item being repaired in the shot below (NatLib)
Heats and the Grand Prix…
The excitement of raceday started early for young Maserati enthusiast, David Williamson, ‘We were heading to the racetrack at Ardmore. As we pottered along in my mate’s Morris 8, suddenly we were almost blown off the road when Guerino Bertocchi wailed past at twice our speed in the 250F Maserati Piccolo, his cap on backwards, smiling as he cut through the early morning traffic!’
At the circuit, much to the crowd’s disappointment, Moss broke a halfshaft. Brabham had a spare Cooper and, without hesitation, offered the part to the Moss crew, who set to work to replace the part.
Brabham won the first heat in 21m 48s, with a fastest lap of 1.25.8 (84 mph), ahead of McLaren, Bonnier, Schell and Stillwell, indicating that the Maseratis were going to be outclassed by the Coopers from the outset. Bob Gibbons, who actually led for some time, was sixth in the Lycoming.
Ron Flockhart conceded the lead to Moss in the early stages of the second heat and won the race in his BRM Type 25 upon Moss’ retirement. He was followed by Shelby, Ross Jensen, Syd Jensen and Mansel. Race time was 21m 40s, and the fastest lap 1.24.2 (85.2 mph) was shared by Moss and Flockhart.
Pole position on the grid was Flockhart’s, followed by Brabham, McLaren, Bonnier, Schell, Shelby, Ross Jensen, Stillwell, Gibbons, Syd Jensen, Mansel, Clark, Hoare, Neil, Thackwell, Glass, Quirk, Harris, Gilbert, Freeman, Moss and Shelly.
The start was a shattering affair in more ways than one.
‘The Minister of Transport, the Hon. J. Mathison, added prestige but not skill to the occasion, and the field got away after a misunderstanding which left Flockhart stalled on the line, to be pushed away, the length of Pit Straight behind the remainder of the field.’
Moss carved through the field from the back of the grid, he was sixth by the time the cars reached the end of the straight and turned into College Corner.
Brabham, Cooper T45 (NatLib)Harry Schell (unattributed)
The three ‘team’ Maseratis led from the start, Harry Schell was fast away from the second row to tail Bonnier from Shelby, Brabham, McLaren, Moss, Neil and Stillwell.
Along the back straight, having by then overtaken all but Schell, Bonnier and Brabham,Moss jumped Brabham, but was in turn overtaken by Jack going into the Cloverleaf.
‘By a display of his driving at its most superb, Moss cut out three of the world’s best drivers in a matter of half a mile, roaring into Pit Straight in the lead at the end of the first lap, an astounding piece of driving.’
He was followed by Bonnier, Schell and Brabham, with Shelby a wheel’s distance ahead of McLaren and Stillwell. By lap four Moss had surged away to a 60-yard lead from Brabham’s Cooper T45 with the Schell, Bonnier and Shelby Maseratis and McLaren on his tail. The rest were Ross Jensen, Stillwell, Clark, Neil, Mansel and Syd Jensen.
The BRM had meanwhile been making up lost ground spectacularly, by the sixth lap Flockhart had come up to fourth place, following a spin by McLaren, which had dropped him back to eighth. There ensued a battle royal between Jensen, Maserati 250F who challenged Flockhart’s BRM for the position, a contest which lasted until lap 14.
Bonnier retired on lap 5, a fuel leak forcing a visit to the pits, after two laps he returned and worked up to 10th position, finally retiring on lap 41 with a steering problem.
At the end of 19 laps, Moss had lapped all but six of the field, was 35 seconds ahead of Brabham and on the way to lapping Schell. Flockhart had moved up to third place, Jensen was fourth, and Shelby and McLaren were disputing fifth position, a duel which ended on the 20th lap when McLaren pipped the high-tailed Maserati on the Cloverleaf.
Two consistent drivers were Stillwell and Syd Jensen, who retained their Maserati 250F places next over the first 20 laps as the leaders fought it out, and behind them came the bright red Super Squalo driven by Clark.
Moss was a half-lap ahead of Brabham by lap 22, whist Flockhart, who had clocked 144 mph in the speedy BRM along the back straight, was making ground on Brabham’s Cooper.
‘Hard on Jensen’s heels (he was lying third) came McLaren and Shelby, the trio holding station together for a number of laps. Next came Schell in the other and faster Buell Maserati, but oil fumes were rising from it and the motor was missing.’
On the next lap round, Jensen was in third place and Flockhart missing. A minute later, he coasted into the pits. The bonnet was lifted, and a mechanic threw a pipe into the pits in disgust; it was the oil breather, which had come adrift and allowed oil to spurt out on to the rear tyres. So ended yet another BRM bid for the New Zealand Grand Prix.
‘After two more laps, during which Moss put in his fastest lap, one of 1m 24.8s (85 mph), and reached 152mph on the back straight, Moss had lengthened his lead to a lap. He and Brabham both lapped a very groggy Schell, who came into the pits, overcome by fumes from oil leaking through a loosened cylinder head stud onto the red-hot exhaust manifold.’
Bruce McLaren, Cooper T45 Climax (NatLib)Bruce McLaren approaches his Cooper T45, #4 is Jack’s car (NatLib)
This left the two Coopers out in front, Jensen and McLaren having a private dogfight with Shelby over the next three positions. At half-way, the position was the same with the rest of the positions filled by Stillwell, Syd Jensen, Gibbons, Neil, Clark and Mansel.
At this stage, it looked as though McLaren was going smoothly, with Jensen in much the same vein, both having a slight edge on Shelby. But the spectators were not to know that McLaren was changing gears with his glove torn to tatters and the skin already working off the palm of his hand, after losing the knob of the gear-lever on his early spin.
Jensen’s car was beginning to show signs of clutch trouble which was to slow him for the duration, towards the finish the car was clutchless and Jensen was making his changes on engine note.
Shelby was in trouble, for although he took Jensen and McLaren for third position, with the white-streaked, high-tailed Maserati sounding healthy, he was suffering from agonising cramp in one leg – and his brakes were beginning to fade.
Finally he stopped at the pits on lap 41, hopping around on one leg while Harry Schell leapt into the car and set off after the leaders. Driving furiously, he pulled himself up into fifth place behind Jensen by the 51st lap, and in the meantime McLaren had finally established a lead over the low, light-blue Jensen Maserati, to be now third.
Carroll Shelby, Le Mans winner together with Roy Salvadori before the year was out, Aston Martin DBR1/300 (NatLib)
Moss was going great guns, and Brabham’s only hope was that the other halfshaft would break, or some other failure. McLaren sat equally patiently in third place, but Jensen began to lose ground to Schell from lap 55 onwards, the motor misfiring with plug trouble.
Jensen’s clutch deteriorated and his motor sickened, Schell reeled him in rapidly, going past on the back straight on lap 63. The leading group was so far ahead of the rest, headed by Bib Stillwell and Syd Jensen in the little Formula II Cooper, that Jensen was still able to run on into fifth position, despite a spin on the second last lap.
Schell’s bid to put the Maserati further up the field failed, both because of Moss’ pace and also through the complete failure of the drum brakes – the linings of the rear brakes had been welded to the drum castings by heat – torn clean off the shoes with only Schell’s experience carrying him through.
‘Probably 80,000 people saw the race, a record for any type of sporting event in New Zealand. Moss’ time, 1h 48m 24.4s, an average of 82.8 mph., was over three miles faster than Brabham’s winning drive over exactly the same course the year before, and he put in a lap of 1m 24.8s (85 mph), also a race record, though well outside his remarkable 1.21.5 in practice.’
Moss (NatLib)Brabham, Moss, who is holding the trophy? (NatLib)
Ardmore was New Zealand’s best known circuit in the 1950s and 1960s, the airfield 30km to Auckland’s south. There was only the one big race meeting of the year otherwise the strip was mainly used by crop-dusters and the Auckland Gliding Club.
Etcetera…
(NatLib)
Bib Stillwell smiling for the camera, although I doubt he would have listed his ex-Hunt Maserati 250F as amongst his favourite machines however much they were the customer 2.5 litre GP car of the era. More of a Cooper and Brabham kinda guy?
#2516 below was the ex-Reg Hunt very successful 1956 season car. Bib popped it on a ship to Modena to freshen and update it. It was a long time before he got it back!
McLaren (NatLib)(NatLib)
Gavin Quirk’s Maserati 250F is the ex-BRM machine soon to shoot Christopher The Great, Chris Amon to prominence under the guidance of Bruce Wilson. Happily, the car is still in NZ.
Dunno, who is it? (NatLib)
Photo and other Credits…
Digital NZ- Alexander Turnbull Library, ‘NaLib’- National Library, Government of NZ, Garth Taylor, David Williamson
Bibliography…
The narrative is a heavily truncated, modified version of Bruce Sergent’s sergent.com race account, any errors are mine
Tailpieces…
Lets check out the new car!…
The fans check out the latest Cooper at the McLaren Garage in Remeura before the Ardmore meeting- Brabham’s T45 Climax.
Hoss Cartwright’s Chev Corvette powered Campbell Corvette Special was one helluva way to get around the Paramount Studios’ backlot!
Dan Blocker poses on the set of ‘Bonanza’ with the first racing car he sponsored. The neat, small, fast Campbell Corvette Special was built by ace ex-AJ Watson Indycar fabricator/welder Wayne Ewing for Bill Campbell, an ex-dry-lake racer and boat manufacturer.
Blocker was a serious enthusiast. In 1966 his daily rides comprised a Chev El Camino ute and a Corvette, both provided by Chevrolet, sponsors of Bonanza. In addition he had an Iso Rivolta, Maserati 3500GT, Elva Maserati, a ‘Mercer Speedster’ powered by a flathead Seagrave V12, and had ordered a Lamborghini…and goodness knows what else.
Initially powered by an 1100cc JAP engine, the ever-evolving Campbell became a fire-breather when a Corvette 283cid V8 was dropped into it. The car was then raced successfully by Dan’s close friend, stuntman Bob Harris.
(unattributed)
Blocker tries to insert his not inconsiderable 6 foot four into the SWB Campbell, it’s a pity there isn’t a next shot. I suspect he probably failed, to the relief of driver Harris in the blue race-suit.
Ewing’s chassis was made of 4130 chrome-moly tube and proved sound enough to take the triple-Stromberg cast-iron lump, other features of which included a Weiand manifold, Schaefer flywheel and Hunt magneto. The engine was inclined downwards at the front by 5-degrees. A three-speed Chev gearbox and stock Corvette clutch was actuated by a Healey slave cylinder. The clutch and brake master cylinders were of Studebaker origin.
The Chev ‘box bolted directly to a quick-change Halibrand rear end while the original rear swing-axle was replaced by a De Dion set up fabricated by Ralph Ball and Barney Navarro. It was located by four-links and a watts linkage. The aluminium radiator was ’61 Vette, a Morris Minor donated the the steering rack and pinion which was modified to suit.
Up front, the original Fiat suspension were replaced with stronger, lighter upper and lower wishbones with uprights/spindles donated by a Chev Corvair. Halibrand also provided the disc brakes and wheels.
Harris, having led the first few laps of the Pacific Coast Championship at Del Mar in late 1962, returns to the track, only to run out of road in a subsequent attempt to make up lost ground on leader Jay Hills’ Porsche RSK (unattributed)
The result was a potent 1,375 pound machine with 50-50 weight distribution. One of the first Corvette powered mid-engined machines, the car was competitive from the outset and with a Chev 327 installed Harris took the cars first win at an SCCA regional at Riverside in June 1962. Yes, happily it still exists as an historic racer.
Harris raced the car through 1959-62 with wins Ian SCCA Regional at Riverside in in June ’62 and a second place at Las Vegas in October 1961. Harris crashed it at Santa Barbara in September 1962.
Campbell rebuilt it over the off-season, Jim Parkinson took the wheel in 1963 – still owned by Campbell – with his bests two wins at Del Mar and Santa Barbara in April-May, and second at Santa Barbara in September.
Campbell did a deal with Joshua Saslove in late ’63, trading the car on a Mistral bodied Kurtis. Saslove entered it in a couple of meetings but didn’t appear, raced it once at Mid-Ohio in June 1964 before it dropped outta sight. Acquired and restored by a Mr Mittler, its contemporary debut was at the 2005 Monterey Historic meeting.
(Gooding)(Gooding)
Etcetera…
While this unidentified magazine – a sold eBay item via a Google search – photographs is poorly reproduced you can at least get better sense of this innovative little special.
The race shot above shows Bob Harris in front of Olivier Gendebien’s Lotus 19 Climax during the Riverside Grand Prix; 13th and sixth in the 200 mile race won by Jack Brabham’s Cooper T57 Climax.
Credits…
gtplanet.net, article by Jerry Titus in Sports Car Graphic, Getty Images, Gooding & Co
Tailpieces…
See here for an article about this great Car Guy’s Can Am Genie Mk10 Oldsmobile raced by John Cannon: https://primotipo.com/2016/02/19/john-cannons-bonanza/ Cannon and Blocker on the Bonanza set a few years after the Campbell Corvette Special phase…
Frank Matich during the LA Times GP, Riverside Can-Am round on October 29, 1967.
He qualified the 4.4-litre tiddly Matich SR3 Repco-Brabham V8 20th but crashed out of the event won by Bruce McLaren’s 5.7-litre McLaren M6A Chev after completing only 30 of the 62 lap, 200 mile journey.
FM is one of my obsessions, every now and then I Google ‘Frank Matich, United States’ to see what pops up. This time, Pete Biro’s shot did, then you Google the bloke you’ve heard of but know nothing about…
Biro – June 1, 1933-December 26, 2018 – was a semi-pro stage and close-up magician and photo-journalist/author who got his start when Road & Track engaged him to do a story about the Barneson Special, then David E Davis discovered him and gave him assignments for Car and Driver.
He and Davis travelled the world, along the way Biro was commissioned by Goodyear, Sports Illustrated, Time, Life and many others. Of course many of his subjects became friends, including Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, AJ Foyt, Richard Petty and many others. See here: https://youtu.be/uNEHyexrC_I?si=NpbKvFdyur4LArfB
(P Biro)
Jim Clark, Lotus 38 Ford, Indianapolis 1966.
The Great Scot started from the middle of the front row and may well have won the race…but he was second behind, perhaps, Graham Hill’s Lola T90 Ford.
Jim Hall enquires of Vic Elford, ‘Hows it going out there?’ With the legendary – still as innovative as tomorrow – sucker – Chaparral 2J Chev in 1970.
Interviewed by George Levy, Vic Elford remembered that ‘My first impression was, I don’t really see it as very quick, because it just sort of goes around corners. But then of course it got down to analysing it, we found it was going around corners about 12 or 15% quicker than anything else would.’
‘The 2-litre Class’ during the 1966 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen on October 6.
Peter Arundell’s Lotus 33 Climax FWMV V8, Mike Spence, Lotus 25 BRM perhaps, then maybe the fast approaching Jochen Rindt’s Cooper T81 Maserati. Who knows?
Dan Gurney, McLaren M8D Chev, Mont Tremblant, St Jovite June 28, 1970.
Who better to help McLaren recover after the loss of Bruce at Goodwood in 1970?
It was all looking good for a while, until competing oil sponsors – Gulf and Castrol – got in the way. Understandable I guess. Dan won the season opener at Mosport and then St Jovite in June, then had dramas at Watkins Glen in mid-July that saw him finish sixth from grid 2.
Bruce McLaren gulps a fresh breath of air at Riverside during the 1960 US GP, he was third in his Cooper T53 Climax behind the Lotus 18s of Stirling Moss and Innes Ireland.
Biro about to have the colour of his jocks changed by five laps alongside Jackie Oliver in a Can-Am Shadow DN4 Chev around Laguna Seca in 1973-74, see here: https://primotipo.com/2017/02/11/delicate-touch/
‘50 years ago today, Gentleman Jim Richards chasing Allan Moffat at Wigram, Christchurch, New Zealand, January 19, 1975,’ wrote Mike Norris.
‘On this occasion Allan took the honour of being the only saloon car to average 100mph over a lap. As Jim recorded the same lap time just inches behind him the record was equalled within the blink of an eye. As Allan had done it first he got the chocolates.’
Mike’s post was on Facebook, one of his respondees observed ‘Kar-Kraft vs Chook Shed’ in terms of the respective Moostang’s parentage! Murray Bunn’s was one helluva shed! Boss 302 vs Boss 351 mind you.
Jim Crossed the Ditch in ’75 of course, Bathurst ’74 duly noted. I was at that first wet Sandown meeting he did in June/July. I don’t remember who he beat – ok, he had 12-inchers rather than the tens or whatever he had to have here – but it was a convincing display, the first of thousands of great drives in Australia.
I dips ‘me lid to them both…
(T Marshall)
Same weekend with Jum on it and up it, flat knacker into Bombay…final in-period meeting for Moff’s car that weekend?
Jack and Betty Brabham during the 1954 Australian Grand Prix weekend in the Southport paddock attending to the needs of Jack’s Cooper T23 Bristol.
I’ve done Cooper Bristols to death but these two colour shots of Jack are the earliest I’ve seen – Kodachrome at its best – so I thought I’d pop them up rather than add them to an existing post and effectively lose them.
Brabham had a lousy weekend in Southport, out with engine troubles on lap 2. Lex Davison won the race in his HWM Jaguar after Stan Jones suffered a chassis weld failure that pitched him off the road and through the undergrowth, killing the car but thankfully not its intrepid driver.
Brabham at Mount Druitt, the youngster is a youthful Pete Geoghegan (D Willis)(LAT)
CB/Mk2/1/53 was pretty trick by this stage, where is the photo above folks?
Jack had been racing it for a couple of years and made some modifications – some suggested by British mechanic/engineer Frank Ashby who was then living at Whale Beach on Sydney’s Barrenjoey Peninsula – including fitment of triple Stromberg carbs instead of the usual trio of Zeniths and taking bulk weight off the Bristol engine’s flywheel by adapting a Harley Davidson type clutch as used on his speedcar, and extensive machining. The Stromberg BXOV-1 carbs were lightly modified units of examples fitted as standard to the Holden 48-215.
Stan didn’t have it for long before selling it to Tom Hawkes in time for the 1955 Australian Grand Prix at Port Wakefield.
The rare shot below shows Hawkes in Jack’s old Cooper Bristol #8, with Brabham looking on from car #6, the monoposto Cooper T40 Bobtail Jack built at Coopers for his championship Grand Prix debut at Aintree in the British GP that July. He then brought it home and scored a lucky win at Port Wakefield after top-guns, Reg Hunt, #5 Maserati A6GCM-250 and Stan Jones, #4 Maybach 3 retired.
(E Steet)Hawkes on the way to a DNF in the 1957 AGP at Caversham in the ex-Brabham Cooper T23, now fitted with a Repco-Holden engine (E Steet)
The ultimate spec of CB/Mk2/1/53 was created when Tom Hawkes got his hands on it. He raced it initially as was and then made changes to the suspension, replacing the transverse leaf suspension with wishbones and coil springs, added a slimline body, fitted wider Lukey alloy wheels, and critically, replacing the 2-litre Bristol six with a 2.3-litre pushrod Holden Grey six topped by a crossflow Repco Hi-Power cylinder head and a pair of SU carbs.
Hawkes in the Albert Park paddock, 1956 AGP weekend. Repco-Holden engine, car still fitted with transverse-leaf IFS (NAA)Hawkes ascends Mount Panorama during the ‘58 AGP weekend, note the stance of the car and Lukey alloy wheels (T Martin)
Tom was third in the 1958 AGP at Bathurst – the ultimate Australian power circuit – with the Cooper in this spec behind Lex Davison’s 3-litre Ferrari 500/625 and Ern Seeliger’s 4.6-litre Maybach 4 Chev V8. Sure, Ted Gray, Tornado 2 Chev and Stan Jones, Maserati 250F retired from the lead, but was the best ever AGP finish for a Holden six, a great achievement.
Etcetera…
Brabham and crew at Mount Druitt circa 1953, names folks? (A Cox)(A Patterson Collection)(A Patterson Collection)
John Sherwood and Jack Brabham, perhaps at one of the send-off functions for Jack when he left for the UK in early 1955
Brabham chats to Doug Whiteford on the Australian Grand Prix-Port Wakefield grid in 1955. Cooper T40 Bristol and Talbot Lago T26C.
(unattributed)
This pair of shots show Jack aboard the Cooper T40 Bristol during the January 30, 1956 South Pacific Championship meeting at Gnoo Blas. Brabham was second behind Reg Hunt’s new F1 Maserati 250F with Kevin Neale third in, you guessed it, a Cooper T23 Bristol.
These cars – Type 20 and Type 23 or Cooper Bristol Marks 1 and 2 if you like – were hugely important machines in Australian racing for a decent chunk of the 1950s in original spec and modified from mild to wild…
(unattributed)
Credits…
Old Motor Racing Photographs Australia, Dick Willis, Allen Cox, LAT photographic, Ed Steet shots via David Zeunert, Lex Denniston shot via Tony Johns, Tony Martin, Adrian Patterson Collection
Tailpiece…
Three of the 1954 AGP protagonists on the cover of Wheels magazine in January 1955. Lex Davison’s HWM Jaguar, an ex-Moss F2 chassis fitted with a C-Type engine, Dick Cobden’s ex-Whitehead Ferrari 125 s/c and Jack Brabham’s RedeX Special Cooper T23 Bristol.
Quite why yerd’ put the winner, Davison, on the cover and two DNFs I know not…the answer is probably the timelines in hand-colouring the photographs for a race held on November 7, 1954.
Warwick Brown and the Wrightcars truck he used in New Zealand during his successful 1975 Tasman Cup campaign. He was the only Aussie to win the coveted series, shown here with Lola T332 Chev #HU27 at Pukekohe, where he won the NZ GP on January 12.
HU27 is the first T332 built, first racing in the opening Tasman round at Levin on January 6, 1974. Brown won the Adelaide 100 on February 24 and in so doing won the first of hundreds of in-period victories for the 332 and its many variants on every continent.
A very successful machine, Brown showed well in the US L&M F5000 championship in mid-1974 before coming home and proving the class of the AGP field before his Peter Molloy Chev broke a harmonic balancer. Then followed the Tasman in which he won two of the eight rounds in a very open year, five drivers won races.
Brown on the hop in HU27 in the 1975/Surfers Paradise Tasman round. He and mechanic/engineer/driver-whisperer Peter Molloy developed the car to a fine pitch in some US L&M races in mid-1974. Lola perves will notice the single-post supported banana-wing. Compare and contrast with the Lola factory fitment twelve months before (unattributed)Brown during the February 1974 Oran Park Tasman round. Rear view of the early spec T332s-HU27 here. Compare and contrast with the Jones’ T332C further on. Car owned by Brown’s patron, Sydney businessman Pat Burke (D Harvey)
This article is largely an assemblage of factory/Carl Haas T332 information accumulated by Australian racer/restorer Jay Bondini who owned, restored and raced two T332s: HU43 ex-Carl Hogan and HU37 ex-Sid Taylor.
The Lola T330/T332/T332C/T332CS/T333 as a series of ‘same chassis’ related models are right up there as a contender for the title of ‘greatest production racing car’ – where greatest is defined as the most wins relative to production numbers.
Others that spring to mind are the Bugatti T35/T37/T39 series, Ralt’s RT2/3/4/5, the McLaren M7/M10 series and McLaren M8/8A/12/8B/8C/8D/8E/8F and Ford GT40 Marks 1-4 and more. Oh yeah, not to forget Lola’s own T70 series…it would be an interesting list to create and debate. One for another time.
For those unfamiliar with a T330, here is Max Stewart in HU1 ahead of Graeme Lawrence’s T332 HU28, both Chev powered, during the 1974 Sandown Tasman round won by Peter Gethin’s Chevron B24 Chev (B Keys)
Only 10 carryover parts from other model Lolas. No surprises there albeit most of the T330/332s I recall seeing in paddocks were fitted with Koni double-adjustable alloy shocks not Armstrongs.
Jongbloed 15-inch rear wheels became the-go later in ’74 from memory. So too, did the Chaparral type all-enveloping engine cowl/airbox, that turned a stunning looking car into the positively sinful: the T332C followed.
$US3,650 for a new tub in 1974 is about $US26,000 today. I wonder how much a new monocoque actually costs now from Lola’s designated chassis maker (who owns those rights these days?) or your favourite fabricator?
(C Parker Archive)
Alan Jones in Teddy Yip’s T332C HU61 Chev at Riverside in 1976, the final year of the US F5000 Championship before changing to 5-litre central-seat Can-Am in 1977…and further Lola T332 domination.
Chaparral were the first to do the enveloping engine cover/airbox on a T332. Apart from the body changes, the oil tank was moved, the roll-bar mounting changed and a central post rear-wing adopted. The later 332s also had the FIA mandated roll-hoop over the dash which had the byproduct of providing a bit more chassis stiffness.
See the letter from Chaparral‘s Jim Hall to Eric Broadley via Carl Haas explaining improvements to their car raced so successfully by Brian Redman in 1974-75 that allowed Lola to ‘productionise’ them as the T332C for 1976. Fascinating detail stuff of all the one-percenters that made a topline well funded outfit like Chaparral so successful: https://www.lolaheritage.co.uk/type_numbers/t332c/t332c.html
‘What are your three favourite racing cars Alan?’ I asked Jones at the Governor’s function before the 2023 AGP. ‘My F1 Williams FW07, the Lola T332, both the 5000 and Can-Am versions, and Alan Hamilton’s Porsche 935…’ was his response.
About says it all really, given his career spanned the mid-1960s well into the early-2000s and hundreds of different cars.
It’s not a factory drawing but is useful to show how wide and shallow the chassis of the T332 and T330 are. Note that, unlike the T300 chassis, the 330/332 used the engine as a semi-stressed member.
The flaw in the drawing – purportedly T332 – is that the rear suspension shows an inverted rear wishbone (T330) arrangement rather than the twin-parallel link set up used on T332s.
Steve Elliot, Jay Bondini Archive, Dale Harvey, Chris Parker Archive, oldracingcars.com, Getty Images
Tailpiece…
(S Elliott)
Graeme Lawrence in the second T332 built, HU28, from Max Stewart in T400 Chev HU2 during the 1976 Peter Stuyvesant New Zealand F5000 Championship.
Just love Steve Elliott’s shot above – a corker! – but I have no idea of the circuit, help please Kiwis!?
Lawrence, the 1970 Tasman Cup winner aboard an ex-Amon Ferrari Dino 246T, fought out the 1975 Tasman with fellow T332 exponents Lawrence, John Walker (T330 HU23 Repco-Holden was rebuilt around a T332 tub) and Brown.
The battle went down to the wire at the final Sandown round where WB prevailed after Walker lived-to-fight-another-day with a monster first lap accident and Graeme had problems. John Goss won the race in his Matich A53 Repco-Holden.
Lawrence won the 1975 NZ Gold Star in this car and was always a front-runner in Australasian F5000. You can’t mention Kiwi Lola exponents without recognising Ken Smith, who won the Peter Stuyvesant Series, NZ GP at Pukekohe, and the NZ Gold Star in 1976. A big year! His mount was an ex-Chaparral/Brian Redman Lola T330/2 HU8. He may still be having the occasional Lola steer in his eighties!
Max Stewart was pretty-handy in Lolas too. In T330 HU1 he won the Australian Grand Prix at Oran Park and the Gold Star series in 1974, then took another AGP victory in the wet at Surfers Paradise the following year in the T400.
Brian Redman in the Chaparral/Haas Lola T332 HU42 Chev at Riverside, the final round of the 1974 US championship on October 27. Mario Andretti won from Brian aboard…the Vel’s Parnelli Jones T332 HU29 (Getty Images)
Afterthought…
The fact that the first and second T332s built were sold to colonials allowed me to make this piece Australasian centric, not that I need encouragement.
But how can you write something about Lola’s T330/332 without mentioning Brian Redman, King of F5000 in its latter era? Earlier Monarchs were, arguably, Peter Gethin and Graham McRae, the latter gets bonus points for doing much of his work aboard cars of his own manufacture.
It’s not that Brian was a Lola F5000 man early on either. He had success in McLaren’s M10 and M18s and did all the early development testing of the Chevron B24 in mid-1972 together with Derek Bennett.
But when he decided F1 wasn’t for him and made US F5000 his primary programme, his partnership with the factory-Carl Haas/Chaparral team yielded a trio of championships from their 1973-76 F5000 partnership – subsequent short Can-Am programme duly recognised. He raced Lola T330s in ’73 and T332s from ’74-76.
Redman didn’t give a yard away to any of the Formula One Johnnies he raced with in Scuderia Ferrari’s 1972-73 World Sportscar Championship campaign aboard 3-litre flat-12 312PBs: Ickx, Andretti, Peterson, Schenken, Pace, Reutemann etc. Surely Brian was the best driver outside F1 at the time? Bias duly declared…
primotipo... 