I’ve occasionally wondered exactly when Repco Ltd commenced operating in the UK, in a Repco-Brabham connection. Repco’s in-house magazine, the ‘Repco Record’ Christmas 1964 issue tells me the former Australian automotive industry colossus hung-the-shingle out at 59 St James Street, London on August 1, 1957.
The meetings Frank Hallam had in London that are of the most interest to us go unrecorded of course: Messrs Irving, Brabham and Tauranac, Laystall and Lucas spring to mind.
I suspect the primary purpose of the trip was to put-a-rocket up Phil Irving, who in Hallam’s mind, was running late with the design of RBE620, the SOHC, two valve, fuel-injected 2.5-litre Tasman Cup V8 based on the Oldsmobile F85 aluminium block. Worse to Frank, Phil and Jack were occasionally leaving-the-reservation on ‘agreed design direction.’ Said engine fired its first shot in Repco’s Richmond engine laboratory dyno on March 26, 1965.
Credits…
Repco Ltd, the Repco Record is from Rodway Wolfe’s archive
Spitfire, Alan Hamilton and a Bentley not long after Hamiltons Rolls Royce was created to take on the Rolls and Bentley franchises, ‘Laverton, Victoria on December 20, 1988’ Tony Johns advises.
Alan Douglas McKinnon Hamilton, a wonderful man, Australian Porsche importer, racer, entrepreneur and entrant died on March 3, 2025 in Melbourne. He was born on July 29, 1942.
What follows is a photograph based tribute. I was lucky enough to meet with and speak to Alan in the last five years about various articles, and sometimes just racing shite more generally…a Prince of a Bloke.
(R Rundle)
Early days aboard a 356 Coupe at Calder circa-1962
This tribute is a pot-pourri of the cars he raced but is far from all of them. It excludes machines he entered for others…of which they are a lot.
(G Chennells)
It could be Europe but its outer Melbourne. Hamilton’s 2-litre six powered 904-8 Bergspyder #007 at Templestowe Hillclimb during 1966.
‘Alan Hamilton leaving The Hole with the Porsche engine making its very distinctive and glorious bellowing sound. It always scared me a bit watching Alan because he was so quick out of The Hole that when he arrived at Barons, a sharp U-turn with trees on the outside, he was going so fast that if anything went wrong…I hated to think. But always fantastic to watch and hear.’
(B Jackson)
In the paddock at Surfers Paradise during the 1966 12-Hour meeting. Alan was sharing the car with Brique Reed.
And below during the March ‘66 Longford Tasman meeting while contesting the Australian Tourist Trophy. Hammo is turning into The Viaduct in front of Lionel Ayers’s MRC/Lotus 23B Ford and Spencer Martin aboard the Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 250LM.
Frank Matich won in his new Elfin 400 Traco-Oldsmobile from Hamilton and Martin.
(S Fryer)(R Rundle)
Hamilton rounds up the John Kiran/Colin Bond/Max Winkless Volvo P1800 during the 1967 Surfers Paradise 12 Hour. Alan and Glyn Scott were third behind the Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 250LM raced by Bill Brown and Greg Cusack, and the Paul Hawkins/Jackie Epstein Lola T70 Mk3 Chev.
This 906 is his first – chassis#007 – had its lid lopped off locally to accommodate Alan’s considerable length. His second 906 was tagged 007 too… That’s it below at Warwick Farm during the RAC Trophy meeting in May 1971.
(L Hemer)Longford, March 1967 aboard the first 906Peters Corner Sandown in 1967 with Neil Allen’s ex-Matich Elfin 400 Olds behind (unattributed)(oldracephotos.com/King)
Hamilton having a drive of a front-engined car for a change. The MW Motors Alfa Romeo GTA at Longford in 1968, Murray Wright was the Melbourne Alfa Romeo dealer.
(MotorSport)
Hammo taking some air during the 1968 Nurburgring 1000km. He was 28th, sharing the Porsche 911S 2-litre with Hans Dieter-Blatzheim on May 19.
Up at the front was a pair of Porsces: Jo Siffert and Vic Elford won in a 908 with local-lads Hans Herrmann and Rolf Stommelen second in a 907.
(Porsche)
Alan at Station Pier for the handover of a of carton of beer or three to the Waterside Workers Federation dogs to avoid his new Porsche 911 T/R being accidentally damaged on the downward drop onto said Pier…
MG corner at Phillip Island? (A Scott)Warwick Farm with the car dancing on its tippy-toes, lots of shots of this car are in this pose (Porsche)
Hammo in his maiden single-seater drive in his new McLaren M10B Chev at Lakeside over the June 6 weekend in 1971. Third behind Kevin Bartlett and Max Stewart.
Chassis #400-19 was Niel Allen’s spare tub which was built up into a complete car when Allen retired from racing after the end of the 1971 Tasman Cup.
(B Jackson)
Hamilton inserts himself into the McLaren’s cockpit in the Warwick Farm pits and is shown below in the very best of company dicing with John Surtees, Surtees TS8 Chev during the ‘71 AGP.
That’s Colin Bond in Frank Matich’s McLarens M10C Repco-Holden and the Graeme Lawrence’s Brabham Ford FVC. A deflating tyre cruelled Surtees chances, Frank Matich won the race from with Hamilton third and Lawrence fourth, Bondy lost Phil-pressure and retired.
Max Stewart’s fast and reliable Mildren Waggott TC-4V won the Gold Star that year with the two ex-Allen M10Bs driven by Bartlett and Hamilton in equal second-place.
(L Hemer)(J Lemm)
Hamilton at Collingrove on the way to a 33 seconds-dead run at Easter, taking FTD in the Australian Hillclimb Championship (AHC) in April 1971.
Alan had won here before, taking the 1966 title in the 904 Bergspyder. He returned to hillclimbing after losing his General Competition Licence as a result becoming an insulin dependent diabetic as a consequence of his 1978 massive Sandown accident. He won the 1981 AHC in a Porsche Special, then took it one final time at Gippsland Park, Morwell in a Lola T87/50 Buick, a device which started life as a Formula 3000 car.
(unattributed)
Hammo leading Allan Moffat and Bryan Thomson during the 1972 Sandown Tasman meeting.
The 911S 2.4-litre, ex-Brian Foley/Jim Palmer, Mustang Boss 302 and Holden Torana Chev glimpse in a mixed Improved Tourer and Sports Sedan race. Neil Stratton wrote that this was palmers first race in the car and that Moffat retired the Mustang after losing its brakes over Lukey – the rise at the top of the back straight – and hitting the Armco protecting the Marshalls.
The same pair at Calder later in the year below.
(P Husband)
On the hop at Oran Park in a 3-litre Carrera RSR in 1976. Famously the 1975 Paris Show 911 Turbo/930 prototype, long since left our shores and lives in Europe.
(Auto Action)
Allan Moffat created a crushing touring car team in 1977 by recruiting American engineer-team manager Carrroll Smith, engine builder Peter Molloy and Colin Bond.
After winning the ATCC Moffat recruited Jacky Ickx and Hamilton for the Enduros. Moffat’s 1-2 form finish has had taxi fans foaming at the mouth for decades with colulda-woulda-shouldas but The Boss prevailed, as he should have: Moffat/Ickx first, Bond/Hamilton second.
(B Atkin)
A very poignant photograph of Hammo in the Sandown pitlane during the 1978 Australian Grand Prix weekend; The Fangio Meeting at which the great JMF demonstrated a Mercedes Benz W196 Grand Prix car with much brio.
The utter excitement of the sight and sound of that legendary car-driver combination was to a large extent ruined by the accidents that befell Garrie Cooper and Alan Hamilton, and to a lesser extent Vern Schuppan, in the Grand Prix. Racing Car News summarised it thus:
Hamilton turns in to Dandenong Road not long before the crash. If the Lola T430 Chev looks a little odd, it’s because Porsche Cars Australia modified the car by removing the sportscar-type-front and replaced it with a T332 type wing which provided more bite…and looked better.
Alan lost control of the twitchy, unforgiving Lola on the fast left-hander off The Causeway then went backwards into the Dunlop Bridge breaking the car into two and breaking a leg, his pelvis and sustaining serious head injuries. While there that day I was nowhere near the accident which is in a no-spectators area on the inside of the track. The vibe of the place that day with three big-hits, and limited information flow to we punters, is something I still remember.
(B Polain)
Hammo competing in the Seaforth Tourist Trophy in 1983. Not a lot of safety for cars doing 180mph…
This 917/30 #004 was Mark Donohue’s unraced spare in 1973. Alan always had a snoop around the Zuffenhausen ‘shops on his trips to Deutschland and spotted this little baby on one of those trips. Long-since left our shores.
Hammo’s 908 Coupe following the 917/30. The 908 was, ahem, road-registered for a while in Victoria (unattributed)(unattributed)A cursory glance at the 917/30 spaceframe chassis and its driver-forward driving position shows the importance of not having a frontal impact at anything more than 30mph…(unattributed)(unattributed)
The Seaforth Racing Car parade was a fantastic event put together by Bruce Polain and a bunch of his mates at the Historic Racing Car Club of Australia in Sydney.
The street circuit was about 2.5km around the heights of Seaforth, descending to Spit Bridge with views of the inner-harbour, then winding up through the gears to the top of Spit Hill to Sydney Road, then left into the Seaforth shopping centre. Twice. Two runs during the day.
December 10, 1983 with Bob Jane’s Chev Monza and Bruce Polain’s Wylie Javelin heading out of town towards Seaforth. Any tourist who has taken a dip at Manly will have made this trip…unless you went the fun way by ferry! Shot taken from the Ethel Street overpass (unattributed)(unattributed)(T Johns)
Tony Johns, ‘Alan Hamilton driving the Porsche Factory Museum 1962 Type 804 F1 racing car.’
‘Sandown Tribute to Champions meeting February 14, 1982. A real gentleman to have worked for at Porsche all those years ago.’
‘Another photo from the same morning. The 804 and 718 RSK ex-USA and the ex-factory 908 Coupe were part of Alan’s collection. Rob Walker, Stirling Moss’ long-time patron is seated in the Spyder and Moss is chatting with Norman Hamilton (jacket and cap), the founder of Porsche in Australia.’
(D Pearce)
Alan Hamilton, Porsche 911SC during the 1987 Sea Lake Mallee Rally, perhaps with Jim Hardman alongside.
It’s not just any SC either! This car is ‘C20’ the prototype of what ultimately became the 911-964 four-wheel-drive, and along the way the competition 953 Paris-Dakar rallycars. The 3.2-litre car started life as Helmuth Bott’s brown-SC company car before morphing into a double-front wishbone machine with front and rear diffs. When it was pensioned off guess who spotted it on one of his trips to Germany in 1986?…
Hamilton on the hop at Gippsland Park Morwell on October 15, 1989 aboard his Lola T87/50 Buick 4.9 V6, another AHC victory, not the last for this chassis either.
This machine, T87/50 HU12 Cosworth V8 3-litre, was Michel Ferte’s 1987 Euro F3000 Championship car. It and another T87/50 – acquired by Bob Minogue for Formula Holden use – were purchased by Hamilton.
Paul Newby’s research (written on The Nostalgia Forum) says that the car was at one time fitted with a Ford DFL-035 3.3-litre ex-Spice Engineering Racing acquired at the 1988 Sandown WEC race attended by Hamilton, wearing his PCA hat.
(D Hardman)
Hamilton and friends – Jim Hardman constructor of the three F2/FPac cars of the same name and Porsche Cars Australia Chief Engineer/Mechanic during the Costanzo glory years is behind him – with a Cosworth V8 powered hillclimb special at Morwell, date unknown but circa 1981-82.
Spaceframe chassis with the DFV/DFL used as a stressed member, as it was intended. Nick Bennett observed that ‘I believe Alan only dove it once and scared the shit out of himself.’ Two meetings only perhaps folks: Morwell and Collingrove? More information on this car welcome.
(D Hardman)
Credits…
Ian Smith, Ron Rundle, Stephen Fryer, Geoff Chessells, Bob Atkinson, Lynton Hemer, Australian Autosportsman, Alexis Scott, Lynton Hemer, Brian Jackson, Racing Car News, Brian Stratton, Auto Action, Daryl Pearce, Peter Husband, Jarrod Bryant, David Hardman, John Lemm
Tailpiece…
(I Smith)
Ian Smith was a long time friend of Alan, I love this portrait which was taken circa-1978.
Afterthought…
1985 AGP Historic Demo Adelaide (J Lemm)
The final words go to Rob Newman.
‘Years ago, when John Walker was driving the 934 Martin Sampson had purchased from Alan Hamilton I had the privilege of preparing the car for each race in Alan’s workshop out by Sandown, so I spent some time there.’
‘Late one day Alan gave John and I a personal tour of the complex and his toys, one of which was his 917. The car was on stands without bodywork, the chassis with engine, suspension and various bits fitted including the fibreglass seat. But what caught my eye was the size of the hole in the seat where the crutch belts were fed through, it was massive, a large square cut out in the seat. I must have made comment because I clearly remember Alan, pipe in hand and with a straight face replied “That’s how big your balls need to be to drive this thing.”
Auto Action Premium is on sale in NSW today, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania on Friday, and Queensland probably Saturday, in your favourite news outlet.
This issue of ‘Premium’ is the first of an exciting features-based monthly. It’s the latest part of Auto Action’s multi-media coverage of motorsport in Australia and globally and takes the 54 year old title to another level.
Print is alive and well because it engages readers in a way websites cannot. It’s is not about clickbait or a 15-second read but rather deep immersion and perpetuity. The first issue is a 132-page example of what readers and the motorsport industry can expect from the new ‘Premium’ Auto Action monthly.
An expansive 12-page feature by me on Jim Clark’s 1965 season. Clark’s performance across many different categories that year in Formula 1, at Indianapolis, in sports cars, F2 and saloon car racing is regarded as the best individual season in history from a driver many rate as the best.
Our in-house F1 expert Reese Mautone looks at all the 2025 F1 Rookies including Jack Doohan as they prepare to take on their full time F1 drives.
Auto Action’s International F1 man Luis Vasconcelos takes a look at the season ahead and crystal balls Oscar Piastri’s potential to beome our third World Drivers’ Champion.
Supercars’ boss Tim Edwards talks about a year on the ‘Other Side of the Fence’ and how the changes to the series played out at the recent Sydney Motorsport Park round.
AA talks with the two new full time Supercar racers, Rookies Kai Allen and Cooper Murray as they fight for Supercars glory.
Shane van Gisbergen opens up about his NASCAR evolution in the world’s biggest tin-top series in an interview with Andrew Clarke. Andrew got to drive the new Corvette too, read his road-test of an icon.
Still on NASCAR, we were on the ground for the 2025 Daytona 500 and The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, a stunning quarter-mile oval.
Sprintcar driver James McFadden talks about his dominant sprintcar season including winning a third Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic and an Australian title in one season-a feat rarely done before.
Aussie Daniel Sanders talks with AA’s T W Neal and relives his stunning Dakar win.
With its soon to be realised commitment to Supercars, I investigate Toyota’s Australian racing past and reveal how its first forays into motorsport were here in Australia in 1957.
Aussie Rally driver Taylor Gill and co-driver Dan Brkic are in their second season in the ultra-competitive Junior WRC. They won the opening round of the season in the snow lands of Finland piloting a Ford Fiesta Rally3. They spoke to AA’s T W Neal about the program.
And then there’s a look at the new Aston Martin Valkyrie, a howling V12 hypercar targeting Le Mans glory… as is Ford with its return to Le Sarthe announced in the past month.
Plus, there is plenty of race coverage and ‘News Extra’ inside. Something for everyone!
Give the new mag a go, it’s traditional magazine size, so look up on the shelves not down amongst the newspapers where Auto Action inevitably got dumped!
In fact, buy two, one for yourself and one for a mate who hasn’t read us for a while. We need this thing to fire, if it doesn’t, nobody else will follow Bruce Williams’, Andrew Clarke’s and Betty Klimenko’s passionate belief in the look, feel and smell of traditional magazines…
Buy it folks and then give us some feedback on what you do and don’t like so we can evolve the mag to suit the tastes of the majority.
Jack Brabham on the way to winning the 1959 Monaco GP, Cooper T51 Climax
This ad in the December 1960 issue of MotorSport piqued my interest. I had a vague recollection of tripping over some Getty Images shots of school activity and soon rediscovered them.
Cooper launched the school at Brands Hatch on March 20, 1957 with The Honourable Gerald Lascelles in attendance to formally open the training facility. He is shown below shaking the hand of US Army Sergeant Henry Klyner, with John Cooper at the wheel of a Cooper T39 Climax.
Roy Salvadori in the same car
I’m intrigued to know if the school found any talent of note? It seems readily apparent that Jim Russell’s Jim Russell Racing Drivers School that started at Snetterton in May 1957 became the market leader of race-schools globally.
Pat Trigg was clearly a popular student with John Cooper, car above a Cooper T43 Climax 1.5-litre F2 machine, and below in the T39.
In the shot below Cooper is posed with the two Cooper T43’s being driven by Arthur Mallock and John Forster.
Denis Jenkinson wrote an article about the school’s activities in that December 1960 issue of MotorSport I referred to at the outset.
‘Last winter the Cooper Driving School selected six drivers from their many candidates to take part in races during the 1960 season in Formula Junior. At the time it was anticipated that the best two drivers, Bill Lacey from Ireland and Don Rickman the motorcyclist, would be given a Formula Junior Cooper on permanent loan for the whole season, but as things turned out this was not possible. Activity at the works with Formula 1 and Formula 2 cars, and the demand for Juniors by the sales department, rather left the school short of material. However, the school Junior was used many times during the past season for these six successful pupils to have a go at a proper race. In addition, when the idea of loaning cars to pupils originated Formula Junior in this country was barely beginning, and Coopers had no idea that it was going to develop into such cut-throat racing amongst experienced drivers, so that when they saw the trend of things as the 1960 season progressed they were a bit reluctant to send their pupils out into the free-for-all of Formula Junior. However, there were sufficient races at club meetings at Silverstone and Goodwood, both for Formula Junior and Formule Libre, for the six successful ones to have a go.
John Cooper with trainee, Henry Kilner in a Cooper T43 at Brands Hatch in March 1957
It will be recalled that Lacey was the most promising driver and he was entered by the school for Brands Hatch on Boxing Day, where he finished seventh, and then in the spring he had another drive at a Silverstone club meeting, but unfortunately retired. It should have been Don Rickman’s turn next, but his motorcycle scrambles activity prevented him from taking up the offer, so the next on the list had a drive, this being Tony Skelton, and he finished fifth in his first race. Then Freddie Jacks had a drive at Goodwood and finished fifth and back at another Silverstone club meeting Skelton scored a second place and Miss Elizabeth Jones finished eighth.
Before this second Silverstone meeting the school hired the Club Circuit for a day and Lacey, Jacks, Skelton, Rickman and Miss Jones had the opportunity to put in unlimited practice, using the school car. The sixth pupil to be selected was Keith Ballisat, but as he had contracted a regular drive with Ken Tyrell’s team, he did not avail himself of the school activities.
Charles Cooper flags the cars away, filming underway below (J Ross)
At a further Silverstone club meeting Lacey scored a fifth and Jacks scored a third, while at the end of the season the school entered Rickman for the B.R.D.C. race on the full Silverstone circuit, and set him off on his first race in the midst of the Open Formula Junior free-for-all. Being his first motor race, and his first visit to Silverstone on the full circuit, he did remarkably well to finish in eighth place. Although the season was not as active for the school pupils as had been hoped, at least the promise of driving a works-entered Junior had been fulfilled, and it is hoped that 1961 will see a lot more racing for the successful pupils.
Already two more names have been selected, these being Richard Wilson and Jean-Claude Franck, and they should get a start in a race early in the new season. Meanwhile, the school continues to sort out the many applications for membership.’
Credits…
MotorSport December 1960, Getty Images, John Ross Archive
Jim Clark’s single-seater debut – aboard Gemini Mk2 BMC #30 – took place in a Formula Junior event at Brands Hatch’s Boxing Day meeting in 1959. Who is driving the Cooper T52 number 3-something in front of the Gemini?: Mike McKee, Bill Lacy, Edward Hine or Ian Burgess.
Clark was invited to contest the John Davy Trophy by his regular Lotus Elite opponent, ex-RAF pilot Graham Warner. Warner wanted the Scots youngster who had impressed him so much to drive one of his new Gemini Mk2s (#chassis number please folks, one I can rely on) for The Chequered Flag, a renowned London sportscar dealership. Clark’s Elite was owned by his mentor Iain Scott-Watson.
Clark aboard the Gemini in the Brands paddock. Helmet brand folks? (B Ward)
Jim qualified the unfamiliar car mid-pack after reliability issues during practice. On raceday his battery was flat on the grid so he was push-started after the pack had departed, finishing eighth. 12 cars contested that race which was won by Peter Arundell, one of Clark’s Team Lotus teammates in 1960.
The pair and Trevor Taylor, all raced Team Lotus Lotus 18 Cosworth-Fords, were the stars of Formula Junior in 1960. Clark won the John Davy race at the same Brands Boxing Day meeting twelve months hence and the John Davy British Formula Junior Championship, while Taylor won the BRDC/MotorRacing British Formula Junior Championship.
By then Formula Junior was a bit ho-hum for Jim as he made his Grand Prix debut at Zandvoort aboard a Lotus 18 Climax 2.5 FPF on June 6, 1960.
Motorsport January 1960
Gemini Mk2…
The entrepreneurial Warner had planned to race the Moorland, a front-engined Speedwell-BMC powered Formula Junior designed by the great Len Terry – everybody writes this but Terry does not make any reference to this car in his ‘Racing Car Design and Development’ Terry and Alan Baker – and built by Les Redmond in the August 3, 1959 Brands Hatch meeting.
Running late returning home after racing his Lotus Elite in a support event for the German Grand Prix on the Nurburgring, Warner phoned Ian Raby and offered him the drive. Despite starting at the back of the grid, he passed two Elvas and won the mixed FJ-F3 race.
Without the means to mass-produce the cars, Warner took over the project from Redmond, building and selling the slimmed down and stiffened car which Warner called the Gemini Mk2; Gemini being his star-sign. Warner’s The Chequered Flag Engineering Ltd subsidiary planned to build six cars but ended up constructing about 30.
Ian Raby raced the first Gemini Mk2 BMC in the World Sports Trophy FJ race at Brands Hatch on October 4, 1959 but failed to finish. Up front were three Elva 100 BMCs, the winner was Mike McKee. Warner was entered in a Ford powered Gemini as well but did not race.
Ford’s fourth-series, frugal, family man Anglia also had a new two-OHV, all-cast iron, four-cylinder engine pumping out a massive 39bhp. Warner could see the latent potential of the design and was intrigued to know what Keith Duckworth, who looked after his Elite, could extract from the engine.
After initial reluctance from FoMoCo, Warner bought and shipped six 105E motors to Cosworth Engineering to be breathed upon.
And so it was that Graham Warner entered the Brands Boxing Day ’59 meeting with a pair of Geminis. Warner’s was fitted with the Cosworth engine while Clark’s car had a BMC motor. In practice Warner’s engine threw a flywheel which caused Graham to crash, ruling the car out of the race.
Graham Warner and Gemini Mk2 Cosworth, Brands Boxing Day 1959 (B Ward)
The Cosworth engine from Warner’s car, rectified, was then fitted to the Lotus 18 unpainted prototype which was having its first race in Alan Stacey’s hands with a mildly tuned Ford Anglia engine. Colin Chapman had placed an order for an engine from his former employee too.
Despite working throughout Christmas Day, Duckworth couldn’t finish both engines. Warner got the race unit while Chapman’s for Stacey was fitted with twin-carbs and extractors but was otherwise standard’ish.
The switch ended up being not so simple as the Gemini Cosworth engine had a lower sump than the Anglia unit fitted to the Lotus 18 which caused bottoming problems in the race. Clark was pushed away last with a flat battery and finished eighth as stated above, while Stacey with his bitsa-engine and with suspension settings awry and far from resolved, spun, finishing 10th.
Despite the lowly placing, Chapman was sold. He could foresee selling lots of Lotus 18 FJs and ordered 25 Cosworth 105Es to power them. Duckworth was out of penury…and the rest is history. See here: https://primotipo.com/2024/07/11/cosworth-engineering-ltd/
FoMoCo Anglia ad circa-1961. Lotus 20. The 85bhp @ 8,000rpm quoted is the claimed output – 85/90 @ 7,500 actually – of a 1960 Cosworth Ford MkIII 997cc FJ engine. ‘An improved version of the MkII using A3 profile cam with strengthened bottom-end and (optional) dry sump lubrication.’ (Ford)
Afterburn…
The same day I put this piece up Roger Herrick sent me a note and the fantastic photographs below.
‘Here are some more photos of the swap of the Cosworth Ford engine from the Gemini to the Lotus 18 – done in the paddock on the back of a trailer – just in time to get the Lotus out to the grid.’
‘ I don’t know if the early Geminis had chassis numbers unless they needed overseas carnets. The first Gemini Mk2 (the Mk1 was a ‘badge engineered’ Moorland) had a chassis plate with the name “Anne” after Brad ward’s girlfriend. This car is in NZ and still has the Anne plate.’
Given the point in time we are talking about, the end of 1959, who better to give us a perspective on the FJ state-of-play right then, than the learned DSJ.
Credits…
MotorSport Images, MotorSport December 1959, racecarsdirect.com, F2Index-Fastlane, the judge13.com, Brad Ward, Roger Herrick Archive
Stirling Moss on his way to winning the January 20, 1962 Lady Wigram Trophy in searing New Zealand heat.
He has the side-panels of Rob Walker’s Lotus 21 Climax FPF 2.5 removed to get a bit of air flowing through the cockpit of chassis #935.
I love this ode to the demise of the fabulous front-engined Grand Prix cars written by Digby Paape.
‘I remember coming away from this race thinking, “Well, that’s the end of exciting racing.” Gone were the front engined monopostos with loud exhausts that rang off the Port Hills, the drivers biceps fighting the wood-rimmed steering wheel, the blue chrome on the exhausts, the dirty spoked wheels, the broadsides and four-wheel-drifts. All gone with the advent of these pesky little cars that cornered on rails and sounded like Austin A40’s.’
Luvvit!
Australian great Lex Davison referred to the Coopers as ‘Anti-Climaxes’ and ‘Mechanical Mice’…not that it stopped him racing and winning in them!
Moss approaching the Wigram hairpin (unattributed)Jack Brabham on his way to victory at Ardmore in 1958, Cooper T43 FPF 2.2 (unattributed)
The mid-engined rout started early in NZ. Jack Brabham won the 1958 NZ GP at Ardmore aboard a Cooper T43 Climax on January 11, a week before Moss won the first Championship F1 race in a mid-engined car at Buenos Aires on January 19. He too raced a Cooper T43 in that Argentine Grand Prix, one of Rob Walker’s cars.
Broaden the definition to Grand Prix racing and the mid-engined feat wasn’t a big deal given Auto Union’s pre-war successes, but such is the fixation with Formula One these days that most prefer to ignore the history of a period that doesn’t interest them or of which they have no knowledge.
It wasn’t too many years before – 1956 – that Moss had first visited the country and taken New Zealand’s premier race, again at Ardmore aboard one of the great front-engined Grand Prix cars, the Maserati 250F.
#7 is Moss’ with the 3-litre Ferrari 500/625s of Peter Whitehead and #4 Tony Gaze alongside. The Bugatti is Ron Roycroft’s T35A Jaguar, #6 is another Jaguar engined car, Peter Whitehead’s Cooper T38 being raced by Reg Parnell. Peter lent Reg the car after Parnell’s Aston Martin DP155 had engine problems in practice. Moss won from Gaze and Whithead.
Moss post race with biceps bulging having wrestled with his 250F’s wood-rimmed wheel for the previous 2 hours 32 minutes!
Tailpiece…
(R Herrick)
Rob Walker’s NZ GP winning Lotus 21 Climax leaves Ardmore on the back of a modest trailer towed by a Borgward Isabella Coupe…simpler times.
Peter Revson’s Shelby Ford Mustang Boss 302 is chased by George Follmer’s similar Bud Morre prepared car in the October 5, 1969 Mission Bell 250 Trans-Am round at Riverside.
Revvie was fourth and and George lost a wheel, Mark Donohue’s Penske Chev Camaro Z28 won.
You cannot be my age without getting all hot and sweaty about the better American and Australian pony-cars of the day, the Boss 302 has always been the high water mark of the genre for me. They are an incredibly handsome road car, while the Kar-Kraft built racers are simply as good as a racing tourer ever gets.
Alan Moffat’s Coke-Red Trans-Am is seared into the souls of a couple of generations of Australian race-fans. While it won a gazillion races Moff never quite took the Australian Touring Car Championship in it. It’s still here thankfully, and gets around a bit, it’s still as big a magnet in the paddock for me as it ever was. See this epic here: https://primotipo.com/2020/03/06/moffats-shelby-brabham-elfin-and-trans-am/
Lynton Hemer has so nailed Marvin’s Mustang in its ultimate spec – Coke red and ROH Dragmags – for me at least. Arty-farty, back-lit shot on Warwick Farm’s Northern Crossing in April 1972. Long, low, mean and menacing…it was all of that, and more (L Hemer)Engine bay of Moffat’s car in the Symmons Plains paddock in 1971. Note the Minilites and 48IDA Webers with which the car mainly raced. If memory serves the car was delivered – it was given to him – with a Tunnel-Port 302 not a Boss 302. This was soon addressed, am I right in saying – short 351 Clevo period excepted – that the car always raced with Webers? Time to buy The Book, then I would know! (G Feltham)
This article is the byproduct of a search for information on F5000 variants of the 5-litre Boss V8.
Such detail is as rare as the engines themselves were in the day. Ford Boss F5000 engines mainly found their way into the small number of Lotus 70s built by Lotus Components in 1969-70.
George Follmer won a few races in Lotus 70s fitted with Ryan Falconer prepared engines in 1970-71. The shot below shows the business end of one of them at Ontario Speedway in 1971.
George Follmer, his crew and Lotus 70B-01 Ford during the F1/F5000 Questor GP weekend in March 1971. Q30 and DNF rocker arm in the first heat, DNS the second, race winner Mario Andretti, Ferrari 312B. Al Bartz is my best guess of Boss 302 supplier, neat installation (P Brosius)Horst Kwech, Shelby Boss 302, Bridghampton June 22, 1969. DNF transmission in the race won by George Follmer’s Bud Moore Boss 302 (Bonhams-Revs)
Before I start rabbiting on about the Boss 302 F5000 aspect you might find it interesting to see how the Ford Mustang Boss 302 car came into being. It was very much a function of the failure of Ford’s Tunnel-Port (T-P) 302 V8 engines in the Mustangs run by Shelby American in 1968.
Dan Gurney?, Shelby Mustang, Kent Pacific, September 1969 (unattributed)Ace Kiwi David Oxton, Lotus 70-02, Sebring October 25, 1970. Q10 and a fabulous fourth behind seasoned pros Donohue, Hobbs and Wietzes. I’m not sure David had even finished with his Elfin 600 Formula Ford at that point! Falconer & Dunn prepped Boss 302
Race engineering legend Carroll Smith assessed the F5000 engine alternatives in a December 22, 1971 document he prepared for Roy Woods Racing in advance of the 1972 season.
‘The Ford Boss 302 will put out more power than the Chev right now,’ he wrote. ‘The increase is in the neighbourhood of 5% which, while significant, is not enormous. The engine is 25-30 pounds heavier than the Chevy and all of the increase is in the cylinder heads, which is unfortunate from the handling point of view.’
‘In my opinion this engine has not been developed to the same level as the Chevy unit and some surprises, particularly in the valve-train, should be expected. Parts can be obtained and while the overall program would be $10,000/$15,000 more expensive, I believe that a Ford program is more attractive than a Chevy program simply because of the power advantage.’
‘Development is necessary in the following areas: valve train geometry and materials, dry-sump configuration, piston configuration, exhaust configuration, ram-air box configuration. Bartz is the only conceivable builder. Falconer should not be considered.’
Ultimately, Woods chose an Al Bartz prepared Boss 302 for the Matich A50 chassis Smith successfully recommended, rather than the Repco-Holden V8 he preferred. George Follmer raced the car several times in early 1972 before it was damaged and set aside.
George Follmer Matich A50-03 Ford Boss at Laguna Seca in 1972. Al Bartz engine (M Follmer Archive)Chris Amon sneaking a look at Frank Gardner just after The Esses apex, Warwick Farm 100 Tasman round, February 1971. Lotus 70-2 Ford Boss 302 Falconer & Dunn and Lola T192 Morand-Chev (L Hemer)
Ford’s Total Performance ethos didn’t extend to Formula 5000, why bother with that investment when you are belting the hell out of everybody globally on the circuits, in the forests and on the strips?!
The Penske Camaro Z28s were the over 2-litre Trans-Am champs in 1969: Mark Donohue won at Briar, Mont Tremblant, Watkins Glen, Laguna Seca, Sears Point and Riverside, while Ronnie Bucknum won at Mid Ohio and Seattle. Bud Moore’s outfit were the dominant Ford team, it was a skinny year for Carroll Shelby. Parnelli Jones won at Michigan and Donnybrooke, Sam Posey (Shelby) at Lime Rock and George Follmer at Bridghampton.
In 1970 Penske jumped ship from Chevrolet to American Motor Corporation. They ran the AMC Javelin programme and only just missed the drivers title. Parnelli Jones’ Moore Mustang beat Donohue by a point, 142-141, but Ford comfortably won the manufacturers title, 72 to 59 points.
The Bud Moore Jones and Follmer Boss 302s at rest in the Bridghampton paddock, 1969. Minilites on Jones’ car, American Racing Wheels on Follmer’s (Revs-A Bochroch))Horst Kwech, Shelby Boss goes inside Jim Harrell’s Mustang at Bridghampton in June 1969, both DNF (Bonhams-Revs)
Bud Moore ran the Fords with Jones winning at Laguna, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Seattle and Riverside, and Follmer at Bryar. Donohue prevailed at Bridghampton, Road America and Mont Tremblant.
With a Trans-Am in the bag FoMoCo withdrew from the fray – so too did Chev and Chrysler – leaving Bud Moore to run the cars again in ’71 against AMC, Penske/Donohue won.
It was the end of the Boss 302 programme, before too long Total Performance became Total Boredom as the automotive world dealt with the perennial Middle East Clusterfuck, global stagflation and the push for lower car emissions. FoMoCo had bigger fish to fry than racing for a while.
There was decent money invested in F5000 but all the big-guys ran Chevs: VDS, Chaparral-Haas and Vels-Parnelli when they came in. Derek Bennett found it easy to put Alan Smith Chevs in his Chevrons, Rugby wasn’t far from Bolton. It’s interesting that nobody did a decent Ford programme, but again, in Frank Gardners words, ‘if yer aunty had balls she’d be ‘yer uncle’, who cares what didn’t happen!
A race-ready Trans-Am Boss 302 V8 with a pair of Holley Dominators atop, transistorised ignition and a deep sump road-race oil pan (J Smart)
Engine Specifications…
The standard Boss 302 engine combined the Windsor four-bolt small block and the then-upcoming 351 Cleveland’s cylinder heads to provide a high-performance road engine as the basis for a great road-racing engine.
The 90° V8 302cid pushrod, two-overhead valve, cast iron block/heads unit had a bore/stroke of 4 inches (101.6 mm)/3 inches (76.2 mm) and a compression ratio of 10.5:1. In road form a Holley 780CFM 4-barrel carb was fitted.
The crankshaft was a high-strength steel forging, it was cross-drilled in 1969 (eliminated in 1970 for better reliability??) High-performance rods were 5.155″ length (same as 289 Hi-Po) Main bearings are four-bolt design. The high-lift cam design had 290 degrees of duration and .477 in (12.1 mm) lift. The combustion chambers are a closed 62cc design.
The block was a unique high nickel percentage, thin wall, nodular iron casting. The canted valve head design was shared with the 351 Cleveland but modified for Boss 302 use. Rocker arms were adjustable rocker studs with new long slot rockers. The harmonic balancer design was new. The crankcase was equipped with a windage tray.
Of course, what I’m really after is a similar spec sheet for a Ryan Falconer or Al Bartz F5000 Boss 302…If you have some hard data, it’s information I’d love to see it, mark@bisset.com.au
Etcetera…
(Hot Rod)
Parnelli Jones in the 1969 Mission Bell 250 at Riverside aboard a Bud Moore Boss 302. Mark Donohue won the race in a Penske Chev Camaro Z28. GM won the Trans-Am.
The following year Jones won the title with Moore, albeit the cars were repainted the yellow FoMoCo wanted to more effectively grab the punters eye! That’s Jones below winning at Laguna Seca in April 1970, and the following shot is a Laguna pit lane scene.
(A Brown)
Lotus 70-01, Follmer, Sebring October 25, 1970 Q5 and DNF overheating. Falconer & Dunn built Boss 302.
I’ve never really rated these cars – most of the books don’t – but Follmer won at Mont Tremblant and Mid-Ohio during the hotly-contested SCCA Continental Championship in 1970, so there cannot have been too much wrong with either the chassis…or engine! George’s skill at twiddling the wheel duly noted.
(Getty)
Let’s finish with the Trans-Am stuff as we started, with the Mission Bell 250.
Horst Kwech leads the AMC Javelins of Jerry Grant #3 and Ron Grable #4. October 6, 1969. The Donohue and Ronnie Bucknum Z28s were up front with Jerry Titus’ Pontiac Firebird third.
What a fabulous spectacle of under and over 2-litre variety the Trans-Am must have been!
Follmer at Sebring during the final round of the 1970 SCCA Continental F5000 championship on October 25. Q5 and DNF overheating. Looks like he’s ‘winged’ somebody or something.
George didn’t contest the championship in 1971 but came back with the Roy Woods Matich A50 Bartz-Ford Boss shown below in the Watkins Glen pitlane during the June 18, weekend. Q9 and retired, it was the last time he raced the Matich.
About which he was disparaging in a December 2009 Vintage Racecar interview. Follmer regarded the chassis as too flexible, which is intriguing as the other five Repco-Holden V8 powered chassis did not suffer from that affliction at all.
The plot thickens in the sense that Carroll Smith helped build Matich A50-03 over the Southern Summer of 1971-72 in Sydney inclusive of the critical mounting plate and related components to mount the Boss Ford to the Matich tub. A dummy block was used in this process. The installation of the Bartz-Ford race engine was done in Wood’s Northridge, California workshop.
I don’t doubt George’s diagnostic skills, but am intrigued to see if any of you can find contemporary accounts of this lot.
(Revs-Bill Oursler)
While George didn’t have a happy time with the Matich at the ‘Glen, all wasn’t lost that weekend as he won the Trans-Am round in a Roy Woods AMC Javelin! Jerry Thompson’s Mustang (above #24) was second and Woods in his other team Javelin, third.
Credits…
Getty Images, FoMoCo, Jim Smart, Bonhams-Revs, Harry Hurst, Allen Brown, Greg Feltham, John Lemm, Mike Follmer Collection, Stephen Dalton Archive, Ian Smith, Phil Brosius, oldracingcars.com
Tailpieces…
Stan Keen, Elfin MR5 Ford, Adelaide 100 Tasman round February 25, 1973 seventh (J Lemm)
I forgot about the national championship won by a Boss Ford 302 in Australia…
Stan Keen won the four-round 1975 Australian Hillclimb Championship in his ex-John Walker Elfin MR5 #5724.
Keen ran the car on the circuits and in the hills. While it was off the pace at Tasman and Gold Star F5000 level it was always a frontrunner on the South Australian circuits with Stan a quick driver. It would have been interesting to have seen him have a steer of something a bit more current.
(unattributed)
The engine was self prepared and is fed, as you can see, by 48IDAs. Output? Who knows, well short of the Chevs and Repco-Holdens though! Really a Ford Boss 302, or a Boss Ford 302 in name only?…dunno.
(J Lemm)
Happy chap, certainly Collingrove, perhaps after Stan’s bagged the ’75 AHCC round there? And yes, he usually ‘climbed it with the MR5 cockpit surround off.
Afterthought…
What about Gossy’s Matich A53-007 Ford aka A55 Ford ya’phuckin idiot? I can hear some of my Orstralian friends saying.
Nobody seems to know exactly what concoction of Ford bits that Peter Molloy built ‘Boss engine’ comprised…watch this space, I’ll spare you the ‘I reckons’.
The shot below is of JG being installed in the car in the Sandown paddock by Grant O’Neill and bearded Peter Doulman over the February 5, 1978 Rothmans International round weekend. From memory he did only few laps before it broke, not enough to be given a time.
Goss did practise it at Oran Park over the February 26 weekend, doing a 1.07.9, he did a 1.06.8 in A51/53 Repco-Holden; and this was one-second away from Warwick Brown’s pole in the latest Lola T333/T332C Chev.
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
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