Posts Tagged ‘Australian Motor Racing History’

Sam Posey, Surtees TS11 Chev…

Posted: February 18, 2025 in Features
Tags: , , , , ,
2
(D Waldron)

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 Australia
John 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 is a most interesting renaissance man, I like this Motor Trend article about him: https://www.motortrend.com/features/racer-same-posey-shines-bright/

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

Finito…

Peak Hill, Silverton…

Posted: February 16, 2025 in Features
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12
(P Kelly Collection)

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)

(T Johns Collection)
(T Johns Collection)
(T Johns Collection)
(T Johns Collection)
(T Johns Collection)
(P Kelly)

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

Finito…

Tourers on Tour…

Posted: February 5, 2025 in Fotos, Touring Cars
Tags:
5
(S Elliott)

That’s a Stormin’ Norm backdrop unfamiliar to me!

Beechey exits the Pukekohe hairpin in his legendary 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship winning Holden Monaro HT GTS350 during the 1971 NZGP weekend.

There is a bit more about this car here: https://primotipo.com/2018/04/01/variety-is-the-spice/

From the 1971 NZ GP programme via Stephen Dalton

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.

The same car in its Castrol livery at Baypark in 1972 below, results folks? See here for a feature about the car: https://primotipo.com/2024/07/13/alfa-romeo-1750-gtam/

(B Scott)
(Bonhams)

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.

Piece on the variety of cars Peter raced here: https://primotipo.com/2018/05/07/brocks-birrana/

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.

See this epic about Moffat’s career in the US: https://primotipo.com/2020/03/06/moffats-shelby-brabham-elfin-and-trans-am/

(S Taylor)

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.

Frank Gardner in his Chev Corvair V8 at Baypark circa 1976 see here: https://primotipo.com/2020/01/31/chev-corvair-v8/

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.

I’ve never got around to having a crack at something about Horst, Australia’s should seek out Paul Newby’s articles in Australian Muscle Car, failing that here is a summary of his career: http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/LWFWIW/focusLWFWIW.php?db2=LWF&db=ct&n=2919

(JD Decrevel)

Let’s finish as we started, with Norm Beechey.

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

Finito…

Brabham’s Cooper Bristol Take 5…

Posted: January 17, 2025 in Features
Tags: , , , , ,
4

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.

Jack sold the car to Stan Jones when he left to chance his hand in the UK in early 1955 and famously regretted it. The Cooper Alta he bought from Peter Whitehead when he got to Mother England wasn’t a patch on his own car, see here: https://primotipo.com/2016/06/24/jacks-altona-grand-prix-and-cooper-t23-bristol/

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.

Finito…

Lola T332 Factory Specification Information…

Posted: January 12, 2025 in Features
Tags: , , , , , , ,
4
(S Elliott)

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.

The combination of Lola Heritage’s website: T330 here: https://www.lolaheritage.co.uk/type_numbers/t330/t330.html T332 here: https://www.lolaheritage.co.uk/type_numbers/t332/t332.html and Allen Brown’s oldracingcars will keep you going for a while: the T330 is here: https://www.oldracingcars.com/lola/t330/ and T332 here: https://www.oldracingcars.com/lola/t332/

Credits…

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…

Finito…

Bathurst 1951…

Posted: December 30, 2024 in Features, Fotos
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
11
(FS Furness)

Easter 1951…

Charlie Dean in magnificent Maybach 1, then 4.3-litres in capacity, descending The Mountain.

The original machine of 1947, hillclimbed initially sans bodywork, has now evolved into a refined racing car in its middle age; the last hurrah for Maybach 1 was victory in the 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix held on the Ardmore airfield circuit on January 9.

Charlie was third at Bathurst behind Lex Davison’s Alfa Romeo P3 and Doug Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago T26C in the 6 lap over 1500 handicap, but didn’t finish the 3-lap scratch or start the Redex 100 mile – the Bathurst 100 became the Redex 100 with a few sponsorship £’s – feature with mechanical dramas.

As you will see below, by the October Bathurst meeting Stan Jones had bought the car from Dean and entered into a deal with Repco Research, of which Charlie was general manager/chief engineer, whereby the preparation and ongoing development of the car(s) was Repco’s responsibility.

More about the Maybachs here: https://primotipo.com/2024/01/15/maybach-1-technical-specifications/ and here: https://primotipo.com/2024/03/22/maybachs-2-4-technical-specifications-by-john-goode/

These fabulous photographs were taken by FS Furness and posted on Bob Williamson’s ‘Motor Racing Photographs – Australia’ Facebook page recently by enthusiast Mal Elliot. With the help of John Medley’s Bathurst Bible ‘Bathurst:Cradle of Australian Motor Racing’ I have cobbled together a few words to go with the images. So large was Mal’s post that there are a couple more pieces to come. Many thanks Mal, information on FS Furniss would be most appreciated folks!

(FS Furness)

Tom Hawkes ex-Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago T26C #110007 had not been long in the country and was shared with, and soon sold to very experienced racer, 1950 AGP winner and fellow Victorian Doug Whiteford.

Whiteford soon had the big car going well that weekend, doing 136mph down Conrod. That combo, aided by Doug’s skilful preparation became the top-gun combination in Australia for the next few years. Hawkes was third in the Redex 100 feature, while Whiteford was third in the 3 lap scratch and fifth in the over 1500cc handicap.

The big blue, 4.5-litre six-cylinder Grand Prix car was ‘blooded’ in its first meeting in the Antipodes. That ding in the nose was caused when Whiteford gave Lex Davison’s Alfa Romeo P3 a tap-up-the-bum during the latter stages of the over 1500cc handicap won by Laurie Oxenford’s Alvis Mercury. Lex’s P3 Alfa brakes were usually problematic, a moments hesitation into Hell corner resulted in the hit. The blue and white T-L nose badge became lodged in the Italian’s perky rump, incensed after the race, Lex didn’t return it. Davo was fourth and Whiteford fifth. More about the Talbot-Lago here: https://primotipo.com/2022/05/04/doug-whiteford-talbot-lago-t26c-take-3/

(FS Furness)

Jack Murray had a great weekend aboard his Allard J2 Cadillac. Three J2s were entered by the NSW distributors, Gardiner Motor Service. The best result of the four Allards entered was Murray’s third place in the over 1500cc 6 lap handicap.

(FS Furness)

Dick Cobden had a great weekend in his MG TC Spl. He was third in the 6 lap under 1500cc handicap, and won the 12 lap 50 mile handicap for Redex 100 non-qualifiers.

The first four cars home were MGs; George Pearse’ TB Spl s/c, Curley Brydon’s TC Spl s/c, Cobden, and LG Barnard’s TC. MGs were in many years Australia’s ‘FF and F2 cars’, depending on specification, for decades of handicap racing.

(FS Furness)

H Monday in the RA Gardiner entered Allard J2 was fifth in the McLaughlin Motors Handicap. See this Allard J2 article here: https://primotipo.com/2015/08/07/allard-j2-tom-hawkes-collingrove-hillclimb-1952/

(FS Furness)

Uber-rare shot of champion cyclist’s Nino Borsari’s Cisitalia from Alf Mazengarb’s Riley, neither car was well up in the closed production car handicap where French cars were to the fore: the M Rolls Renault 750 won from Citroens raced by Bill Buckle and P Damman.

(FS Furness)

Jack Saywell’s 1-litre JAP 8/80 powered Cooper Mk4. He did well, winning the 3 Lap Scratch from Frank Kleinig’s Kleinig Hudson Spl and Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago T26C.

(FS Furness)

Lyndon Duckett aboard the Ecurie de Pur Sang Bugatti Type 51A – T35B-4847 converted by the factory to a 51A- substituting for Peter Menere. The car doesn’t appear to have figured in the results.

#4847 was a car brought to Australia by the Dale brothers circa 1951, see here: https://primotipo.com/2018/08/23/words-from-werrangourt-1-by-bob-king/

(FS Furness)

October 1951…

Eldred Norman blasting his Maserati 6CM down Mount Panorama during the feature race, the Redex 50 Mile Championship held over 12 laps on October 1.

Colin Murray brought 6CM #1542 to Australia to contest the 1951 AGP held on the Round the Houses circuit laid out at Narrogin, a wheatbelt town 200km south-east of Perth. He failed to finish the race, then sold the car to Norman who also contested the GP, leading it for a while aboard his famous Double Eight, twin-Ford Mercury V8 engined special until it expired. Eldred sold that car to Perth’s Syd Anderson and ‘stepped-up’ to the Maserati. Quite why he bought a car he soundly belted with the Double Eight is intriguing.

Eldred had a baptism of fire with the Maserati. By the time he got to Bathurst he had already blown the Maserati’s 1.5-litre, six-cylinder twin-cam engine after a connecting rod came adrift at either Gawler or Glen Ewin and reconstructed it.

‘He fabricated up a new steel block and cast new detachable bronze cylinders heads. The detachable heads not only made engine maintenance easier but allowed the fitting of larger valves. The conrods are now 1500 Fiat and the pistons are from a BSA motorcycle,’ AMS October 1951 reported. See the Etcetera section below for more detail on Eldred’s engine reconstruction and ongoing developments.

How much testing the car had undergone before the tow from Adelaide to Bathurst is interesting. It was running well at that stage though, the weekend after Bathurst, on October 8, the Maserati/Norman duo were third in Australia’s first F1 race – The Jubilee Woodside Formula 1 Race – behind Whiteford and Jones.

Information about 6CM #1542 is here: https://forums.autosport.com/topic/99776-researching-the-history-of-maserati-6cm-chassis-1542/ and the 6CM more generally here: https://primotipo.com/2023/10/21/maserati-6cm-1546/

(FS Furness)

Other front-runners were Whiteford‘s Talbot-Lago T26C, Ron Edgerton’s ex-Alf Barrett Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Monza, Jones’ Maybach 1 and Davison’s Alfa P3 albeit Lex didn’t leave the startline with transmission failure.

Whiteford raced well, clear of Jones in second, then Edgerton who gave the Monza’s former owner Barrett a look at the Monza from close-quarters when Alf took Mischa Ravdell’s Cooper into fourth place before hitting a displaced sandbag and retiring.

Whiteford won in a large, quality field from Jones (above) and Edgerton.

(FS Furness)

Above, DA ‘Bill’ MacLachlan in a Bugatti T37A-37358 Ford V8 Spl – originally Bill Thomson’s 1930/32 Phillip Island AGP winning machine – from Clive Warwick Pratley in the George Reed Spl Monoskate 2 (Ford V8 Spl) and Clive Adams, Brad Holden. Pratley was fourth in the Redex feature and had won the Australian Grand Prix in George Reed’s ‘Red Car’, another Ford V8 Spl at Narrogin in March.

(FS Furness)

Reg Hunt in his Hunt Vincent 998 aka The Flying Bedstead, from Barrett in Ravdell’s Cooper Vincent 998 and DG Leonard’s MG-Vauxhall .

Medley records that Barrett took over the car after Ravdell and mechanic Harry Firth were injured in a road accident in Bathurst before racing began. Hunt ran fourth early on before brake troubles intervened.

(FS Furness)

Lex Davison, Doug Whiteford and Ron Edgerton aboard Alfa Romeo P3 #50003, Talbot-Lago T26C #110007 and Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Monza #2211134 respectively. Whiteford won the 6 lap 25 mile over 1500cc race from Davison and Frank Kleinig, Kleinig Hudson Spl.

(FS Furness)

DW McDonald Morgan Plus-Four leads the PG Harrison MG TD Spl and Holt Binnie MG TC Spl s/c.

(FS Furness)

Doug Whiteford’s monoposto Grand Prix 4.5-litre six-cylinder Talbot-Lago T26C above, and Stan Jones biposto 4.3-litre six-cylinder Maybach 1 below, through Forrest’s Elbow. This relatively rare shot of Maybach 1 from the rear shows just how capacious the cockpit was.

The Melbourne motor dealers had much in common, not least combative determination but were otherwise like chalk and cheese.

(FS Furness)

Etcetera…

The Narrogin Observer March 28, 1952

These three articles are for Maserati fetishists interested in the evolution of Eldred De Bracton Norman’s engine developments of his Maserati 6CM #1542 in the two and a bit years he owned it. He made changes to the chassis as well, hydraulic front shock absorbers being the most obvious but unfortunately these articles focus just on the engine, interesting as it is!

Note that the engine damage wasn’t sustained at Woodside ’51, he raced successfully that weekend, David Beaumont reckons the venues the engine popped are either Gawler Airfield or Glen Ewin Hillclimb. That June 11, 1951 meeting at Gawler was perhaps the car’s first appearance in Eldred’s hands. The article below says that Norman’s engine changes were made because ‘he was not happy with the car’s performance at Gawler,’ so maybe the internal haemorrhage didn’t actually occur.

The big races referred to are: Woodside, the ’51 Jubilee Formula 1 race, in Western Australia the March 1952 Great Southern Flying 50 at Narrogin, and at Bathurst, the April 1952 Australian Grand Prix. Clearly, the Maserati by then had a good level of reliability and performance.

One of the many apocryphal Eldred Norman stories was reported in the October 9, 1951 issue of the News Adelaide newspaper. ‘Norman had two purposes in mind as he hurtled around Woodside. One was to win the race, the other to get his lunch ready. Strapped to the exhaust pipe of his Maserati as it sped around the circuit were two cans of pork and beans – piping hot for lunch as soon as the race was over.’

Norman sold the car to Melbourne businessman/motor dealer Ted McKinnon in time for McKinnon to contest the November 1953 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, DNF after 50 of 64 laps. #1542 was restored by Alf Blight between 1966’ish and 1982 when he raced it at Mallala. The car left Australia shortly thereafter and went through various European owners before Bernie Ecclestone swallowed it whole in 1997…and not been seen since, pending auction/sales duly noted.

Credits…

FS Furness via Mal Elliott, ‘Bathurst:Cradle of Australian Motor Racing’ John Medley, Australian Motor Sports, ‘A History of the Woodside Motor Racing Circuit 1947-51’ David Beaumont, Narrogin Observer, News Adelaide

Finito…

Australian Racing Random 16…

Posted: December 27, 2024 in Features, Fotos
Tags: , , , ,
6

‘Here’s an oldie my dad took when he came home from the war aged 20. He said he took this in 1946, it’s heading up Mountain Straight towards The Cutting,’ Wayne Greene said of his father, Ron Greene.

He’s a bit out, it’s actually 1948 John Medley tells us, and Alf Najar’s MG TB Spl is leading the pack on the parade lap before the start of the New South Wales Hundred, a race won by John Barraclough’s MG NE Magnette. Najar, winner of the event in 1946, was unplaced.

Bathurst pits, date unknown (VSCCA)

Chris Amon, Lotus 70 Ford in the Warwick Farm pitlane during the 1971 Warwick Farm 100 Tasman Cup round. He was second in the race won by Frank Gardner’s Lola T192 Chev.

Lotus shipped the car, Lotus 70-02, to Australia for works-driver Dave Walker to race in the 1970 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm (below), he was fifth in the race won by Frank Matich’s McLaren M10B Repco-Holden.

Chris Amon and David Oxton then played swapsies during the 1971 Tasman Cup with a pair of STP sponsored cars: the Lotus 70 and a March 701 Ford DFW 2.5-litre. There is a bit about that at the end of this arcticle: https://primotipo.com/2024/08/11/new-zealand-racing-random-1/

Alec Mildren on his way to winning the 1960 Australian Grand Prix in the very clever Cooper T51 Maserati concepted by Alec and built up by Glenn Abbey in their Sydney ‘shop.

The race is covered in this lengthy epic about the car: https://primotipo.com/2020/07/07/panoramic-lowood/ The panorama below takes us there, wonderful innit?

(Govt Queensland)

(J Jamieson)

David McKay exits Hell Corner in ‘Grey Pussy’, his first Jaguar Mk 1 3.4 at Bathurst October 6, 1958.

McKay won the 1960 Australian Touring Car Championship at Gnoo Blas in his later car, there is a bit about that event at the end of this piece: https://primotipo.com/2014/08/05/gnoo-who-gnoo-blas-circuit-jaguar-xkc-type-xkc037/

CAMS and the Supercar Mafiosi would have you believe the 1960 race was the first ATCC, it wasn’t, the first was way back in 1939, at Lobethal: https://primotipo.com/2018/10/04/first-australian-touring-car-championship-lobethal-1939/

Did the earth move for you darling!?

Frank Matich and his Matich SR4 Repco 760 4.8 V8 about to blow off the high-winged Matich SR3 Repco raced by Don O’Sullivan, Bob Beasley’s Lotus 47 behind Matich and Glyn Scott’s Lotus 23B Ford at right and the rest blast off during Surfers Paradise Australian Sportscar Championship round in 1969.

Matich SR4 epic here: https://primotipo.com/2016/07/15/matich-sr4-repco-by-nigel-tait-and-mark-bisset/

(D Willis)

Catalina Park, Katoomba grid in August 1962: David McKay in the #10 Scuderia Veloce Cooper T53 Climax, then Kevin Bartlett, Lynx BMC FJ, the obscured red BRM P48 of Arnold Glass and Leo Geoghegan’s dark Lotus by the KLG sign. It’s Greg Cusack in the older SV T51 Cooper on the second row, alongside him is the Gordon Stewart, Stewart MG and Frank Walters in the George Reed Special Ford V8 ‘So Cal’.

(G Moulds)

Swiss engine-whizz, Louis Morand provided the Chev engines which powered the Racing Team VDS Chevron B24s of Teddy Pilette and here, Peter Gethin, before the off at the Sandown Tasman round in February 1974.

Peter had a great weekend, winning the race from Graham McRae, McRae GM2 Chev and John Walker, Lola T330 Repco-Holden. He had a great series too, winning it with victories here at Sandown and at Pukekohe, the NZ GP.

(C Hyams Archive)
(G Moulds)

Peter Gethin was one of the Kings of F5000 from its earliest days, winning the first British F5000 Championship in 1969, and then won it again in his F1 breakthrough year, 1970. He mixed F5000 with other single-seater and sportscar drives throughout his career; he was a very popular racer in Australasia with regular visits through until 1977.

The dominant F5000s of that era were the Lola T330/T332 and derivatives, but Chevrons B24 and B28 won their share of races steered by the likes of Gethin, Teddy Pilette – who won the 1973 Euro F5000 Championship aboard the same VDS B24 he raced that Australasian Summer of ’74 – Tony Dean, Steve Thompson, and Brian Redman until he threw in his lot with Jim Hall’s Chaparral/Lola outfit, dominant in the US of course.

Check out Allen Brown’s summaries of the Chevron B24 here:https://www.oldracingcars.com/chevron/b24/ and B28 here: https://www.oldracingcars.com/chevron/b28/

(G Moulds)
(G Woodward)

‘Des West’s second Holden 48-215 has just returned to Des’s Wingham workshop after breaking his old cars record at Lowood in 1964.’

More on the Holden 48-215 here, and on West’s car at the end of this article: https://primotipo.com/2018/12/06/general-motors-holden-formative/

(J Lemm)

Alan Hamilton about to launch his Porsche 906 Spyder #906-007 off the line at Collingrove in South Australia’s Barossa Valley in April 1967. He set a course record of 35.60 seconds that day.

Hamilton had a successful season with the car before selling it to Hong Konger, Richard Wong late in the year. See here: https://primotipo.com/2015/08/20/alan-hamilton-his-porsche-9048-and-two-906s/

The road cars of the day always provide valuable visual context for just how advanced a racing car is, don’t you think? Chrysler Valiant, Toyota Crown and Holden HD in the Collingrove paddock in 1967 (J Lemm)

The Bugatti Holden – T37-37209 – at Phillip Island circa-1958. Who is the driver folks, John Elkins or John Pyers?

#37209 gave Bill Thompson his AGP debut at Phillip Island in 1929, he only did two laps before blowing the engine. It had nine or so owners before ‘Bud’ Luke fitted a Holden Grey six-cylinder engine in time for the 1952 Bathurst Easter meeting. Bob King claims that Luke created the very first Holden engined racing special in so doing.

Owned for a long time by David Watson in Glen Iris, Melbourne it always brought a smile to my face when he was setting off on his early morning Sunday run just as I set off on mine; his was Holden powered, mine was Nike fuelled…https://primotipo.com/2018/10/07/werrangourt-archives-2-holden-engined-bugattis-by-bob-king/

(K Bayliss)

A lousy photograph before the start of an Easter 1970 Racing Car Scratch at Mount Panorama: John Harvey, Brabham BT23E Repco, Leo Geoghegan Lotus 39 Repco, and on this side, Niel Allen, McLaren M10B Chev.

But as Lynton Hemer wrote ‘an important bit of Bathurst history is about to start…Lap 3 of 3 in the Captain Cook Trophy was a 2.09.7sec’ journey. Nigel Allen set a lap record that stood for 32 years, see here: https://primotipo.com/2018/11/26/bathurst-lap-record/

(M Bradley)

Kevin Bartlett turns into Warwick Farm’s Esses in the iconic ‘Yellow Submarine’, the Alec Mildren Racing Mildren Waggott 2-litre TC-4V.

It’s the 1970 Warwick Farm 100 Tasman Cup round that KB won in splendid fashion ahead of a swag of 2.5-litre Tasman and 5-litre F5000 cars. Surely the Sub’s finest hour was on February 15, 1970? To make Alec Mildren’s day complete, Max Stewart, KB’s teammate and great mate finished second, a second back, in the Rennmax built spaceframe-Brabham BT23 copy Mildren Waggott TC-4V 2-litre.

Just can’t get enough of the Sub…originally Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 2.5-litre V8 powered, the Mildren Alfa was designed by Len Bailey and built by Alan Mann Racing for Frank Gardner’s 1969 Tasman Cup campaign. Then Bartlett took it over and won his second Gold Star with it later that year using Alfa Romeo and late in the year, Waggott TC-4V 2-litre power. See here: https://primotipo.com/2017/11/14/missed-it-by-that-much/

(Guy & Penny)

The best of the Maybachs…

The coulda-woulda-shoulda been Maybach 2, here in the Southport paddock before its untimely death the following day during the 1954 Australian Grand Prix on November 7.

A chassis weld broke pitching Stan Jones into the mother-and-father of an accident he was lucky to survive. His mount didn’t share his good fortune.

See here for the race: https://primotipo.com/2018/03/01/1954-australian-grand-prix-southport-qld/ and here for technical details of Maybach 2: https://primotipo.com/2024/03/22/maybachs-2-4-technical-specifications-by-john-goode/

(K Trotter)

John McCormack awaits the start of the Sandown 100 Tasman Cup round in February 1975, Elfin MR6 Repco-Holden. To the right is John Leffler’s new Bowin P8 Chev.

It was a great day for SuperMac, he finished second behind John Goss’ similarly powered Matich A53 Repco. That ’75 Tasman was a bounce-back campaign for the understated Tasmanian, his new Elfin MR6 had problems, mainly with the also new Repco-Leyland engine, the development of which stalled when Repco withdrew from racing mid-year.

Frustrated with continuous engine failures, McCormack set the Repco-Leyland V8 aside and went back to reliable Repco-Holden power and finished fourth in the Tasman with a pair of seconds at Teretonga and Sandown. Finishes in all but one round was a further indication of a change in fortunes.

Then he brought home the Gold Star bacon for the second time winning the ’75 title in the MR6 Repco-Holden with two wins in the five rounds at Oran Park and Calder. See here: https://primotipo.com/2021/02/11/repco-rbe-980-series-billy-cart/ He would win a third ‘Star of course, Repco-Leyland-McCormack/Irving V8 powered…

(C Adams)

Jeweller Jack Robinson and a group of friends at a race meeting with his Jaguar XK120, chassis 660178, purchased on January 26, 1951.

Terry McGrath reports that he raced the car at Mount Druitt and Bathurst – winning a race at Mount Panorama in October’51 – in 1951-52 and was thought to have been sold before he built up his XK120 special,’ which is shown below at Bathurst in October 1955.

(I Arnold)

Robinson’s best race was a win in the handicap section of the October 1953 New South Wales Grand Prix at Gnoo Blas. He raced the car right through into the early-1960s including the first Warwick Farm meeting, the Warwick Farm Trophy event on December 18, 1960. What became of it?

(P Geard)

Bruce Walton aboard Norman Hamilton’s Porsche 550 Spyder at Mountford corner, Longford in March 1958.What a shot! See here: https://primotipo.com/2018/06/28/hamiltons-porsche-550-spyder/

Jack Hunnam’s Elfin Mono Mk2D Lotus-Ford ANF 1.5 #MD6574 was completed at Elfin Sports Cars Edwardstown workshop in January 1967 and is shown above upon its debut at Winton that March.

Hunnam was Elfin’s Victorian agent. He was third in the 1963 Australian FJ Championship at Warwick Farm aboard an Elfin Ford FJ #6312 behind Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 22 Ford and Greg Cusack’s Brabham Ford.

(unattributed)

He was seventh in the 1966 Australian One and a Half Litre Championship in a Mark 1 Mono Lotus-Ford #M6443 and ninth in the ’67 Championship with the Mk 2D. He scored four Gold Star points in 1966 with his Mono Mk1 (at Calder above) and one point in 1967 with the #36 car above.

Operator of a Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick servo in the period he raced the Elfins, by the early 1970s Jack Hunnam Motors (JHM) was in Wren Road, Moorabbin (below).

David ‘Chocolates’ Robertsons Ford Capri Boss 302 Sports Sedan awaits its turn on the dyno…What became of Jack after those years?

(M Leslie)
Hunnam leads a gaggle of cars at Warwick Farm during the 1963 Australian FJ Championship race. His Elfin Ford FJ is being chased by the J Gates Lotus 18 (E Holly Collection)
(A Thompson)

Graham Thompson in the ex-Doug Whiteford Talbot Lago T26C #110007 1952-53 Australian Grand Prix winning car going through Dandenong Road corner at Sandown circa 1963 in an historic event. Amazing given that Barry Collerson raced the car very skilfully in-period into 1961!

Thompson acquired the car from Arnold Glass’ Capitol Motors in Sydney in September 1962, here she is below in the driveway of his Bendigo home shortly thereafter.

Bernie Ecclestone eventually bought it and I guess it’s now for sale. See here: https://primotipo.com/2022/05/04/doug-whiteford-talbot-lago-t26c-take-3/

(A Thompson)
(Guy & Penny-Brier Thomas)

Bill Anderson aboard the Prad Healey 100-6 at Lakeside during the Queensland Tourist Trophy meeting in November 1962. John Dickson advises that it’s Sid Sakzewski’s Porsche Carrera with Orlando ‘Tony’ Basile the driver while Sid was in Italy on a business trip.

The interesting but sad story of this beautiful Healey is here: https://primotipo.com/2018/07/01/prad-healey/

Bill Pitt, in the Anderson Jaguar D-Type #XKD526 charges across the top of Mount Panorama during the October 1958 Australian Tourist Trophy.

He failed to finish the race won by David McKay’s Aston Martin DB3S. The story of this car is here: https://primotipo.com/2016/03/18/lowood-courier-mail-tt-1957-jaguar-d-type-xkd526-and-bill-pitt/

(Guy & Penny)

Leo Geoghegan, Lotus 20 Ford and Gavin Youl, MRD Ford? at Lakeside in 1962. Geoghegan won the Australian FJ Championship at Warwick Farm in 1963 racing a Lotus 22 Ford.

Credits…

Ron Greene, Vintage Sports Car Club of Australia, Graham Ruckert, Glenn Moulds, Colin Hyams Archive, John Lemm, Janice Jamieson, Garry Woodward, Mal Bradley, Keith Trotter, Chantelle Adams, Terry McGrath, Paul Geard Collection, Ed Holly Collection, Ian Smith, Ian Arnold via Mark Arnold, Thompson Family Archive, Ray Bell, Monty Leslie

Finito…

Cheetah F5000…

Posted: December 20, 2024 in Who,What,Where & When...?
Tags: , , , ,
15

Would you believe Brian Sampson blasting his Cheetah Mk5 Chev through Shell corner at Sandown in 1973? Nup, me neither…

Clearly he was playing with downdraught Webers instead of the 40DCOE’s usually fitted to his works-Motor Improvements 1.3-litre Toyota Corolla based F3 engine, an experiment that didn’t cause him to change induction direction: the car is a Cheetah Mk5 Toyota.

Sambo in his Cheetah Mk5 Toyota at Hume Weir circa 1973 (M Bishop)

Great little motors, one was fitted to an ASP 340 Clubman car I owned. Lordy knows how many 1.3-litre ANF3 and Clubman races those engines won in mid-1970s in the hands of works-pilots Brian Shead, Brian Sampson and Peter Jones plus a swag of customers of whom Peter Macrow, Paul King and Dean Hosking readily spring to mind. There were plenty more.

The Two Amigos, Bruce Williams and Brian Sampson, outside Brian’s Speco Thomas, Moorabbin warehouse on July 6, 2021. The car is Sambo’s Cheetah Mk6 Toyota Celica 1.6 ANF2 car (M Bisset)
(M Bisset)

I got to know Brian later in his life via my friend and Auto Action publisher/owner Bruce Williams. I did a piece about the Cheetah Mk6 for Auto Action in July 2021 and spent the better part of a day talking to Brian and Brendan Jones while Sambo and Williams relentlessly and hilariously hung-shit on one another for the duration. They had known and worked together for the better part of 40 years.

We did a return bout not too long before Brian died (17 November 2023), I’ve never completed the planned two articles, but we taped the long three-way chat and one day will remove the too-naughty bits and pop it up on the A-A website. Such a talented driver, engineer and businessman, not forgetting the top-bloke factor.

(Sampson Archive)

Brian buckles up, probably, but not definitely in the works-Toyota Celica sports-sedan which is shown below at Warwick Farm, perhaps in early 1973.

(Sampson Archive)

Etcetera…

(Sampson Archive)
(Sampson Archive)

After the initial post, racer, Brendan Jones, Sampson’s stepson sent me some more shots of Brian racing with the downdraught setup. The two shots above are at Adelaide International?, the two below at Calder. That’s David Crabtree’s #70 self modified Cheetah MK 4 below, a car he still owns. Dates of the meetings would be a bonus too.

(Sampson Archive)
(Sampson Archive)

Credits…

Brian Sampson Archive via Brendan Jones, Auto Action Archive-Greg Stanfield by courtesy of Bruce Williams, Mark Bishop

Tailpieces…

(Greg Stanfield)

Of course, Cheetah aficionados know that Brian Shead built an F5000 car – of sorts – the Cheetah Mk4 Oldsmobile 3.5-litre V8. Originally to Don Biggar’s order, it’s raced above by Ian Judd at Mount Leura, Camperdown in the mid-1970s. Judd won the Australian Hillclimb Championship with it at Morwell in 1977.

See here for a piece I wrote in the current issue of Australian Auto Action about hillclimbing in the 1970s including this car, it’s on page 40: https://issuu.com/me8674/docs/aa1901_digital_issue

(Auto Action)

Of course there was a time when motor-noters speculated about Brian Shead building an F5000 Cheetah, in the mid-1970s.

Auto Action’s graphic designer has used a shot of Sambo aboard a Mk5 at Calder as the basis of his rendering of a potential ‘Cheetah Chev’ in issue #126, December 1975.

Finito…

Fugly Car Cup 3…

Posted: December 14, 2024 in Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , , , ,
1
(M Bishop)

Bernie Bignell in his Lotus 23B Oldsmobile GT at Winton in 1976, that’s Alan Newton’s R&T Chev aka the ex-Frank Matich-Niel Allen Elfin 400 Chev behind, and a gaggle of Clubmans in the distance..

This remarkably ugly Lotus was bought by Dr Bernie from Willie Green in the UK in 1970. Motor Racing and Sportscar reported in January 1968 that Green, ‘a very rapid bra-strap manufacturer’ planned to turn Lotus 23 #23-S-70 into a GT car.

D &A Shells operating from the Bow flyover area of East London, in the region of Abbey and Livingstone Roads produced the Mercury GT ‘kit’. Quite a few were sold as the 23/23B approached middle-age and GT-racing grew.

The unfinished project, complete with Mercury body, Hewland HD5 transaxle and a bell-housing to suit an aluminium Oldsmobile/Buick V8 ended up in the hands of a dealer in Redditch from whom Bignell acquired the car.

Attractive enough at a distance! Bignell at Lakeland Hillclimb, east of Melbourne in 1972 (R Rodgers)

Bignell soon installed an 3.5-litre aluminium Oldsmobile V8 fed by four downdraught Webers, the thing was an arresting sight on-track and certainly sounded the goods. As a teenage spectator I remember it – how could you forget? – racing at Calder and Phillip Island, and perhaps Sandown.

Bernie enhanced the performance of the thing by lengthening the wheelbase by six inches, making changes to the suspension, adapting F5000 brakes and in a back-to-the-future moment returned the car back to open-sports spec. The result was a towering monument to supreme ugliness, ‘as the coupe was like a sauna even with the air-scoop’.

Bignell’s car at Calder in 1974. Gulf colours distract from a multitude of sins… (oldracephotos.com-Hammond)
(G Stanfield via Marc Schagen)

Marc Schagen records that Bernie contested 32 race meetings until an engine failure sidelined it in 1978.

Master engineer/mechanic/team manager, the legendary John Sheppard – he has 13 national championships and two Bathurst 1000s to his name – bought the car and restored it to original Lotus Ford twin-cam specs circa 1981, it has passed through many hands since.

John Sheppard in the Lotus 23 at the Mangalore Airport sprints in 1993. Both the 23 and Lotus 22 Ford are in Geoghegan colours. Sheppo prepared their cars in period, the 22 is ex-Geoghegan, the 23 is not. Roy Williams in Sabrina awaits his turn (S Dalton)
The RH Millar Lotus 23B Ford 1.6 Mercury GT, Llandow August 1968 (H Llewelyn)

Etcetera…
Mr Sainswor wrote on the tentenths.com forum about the ‘Background on D&A and the Mercury GT.
Founders Dennis Pollard and Alan Fowler, of D & A Shells, Ltd., started in London in 1962 to provide body kits and chassis for customers to convert their own cars (i.e. the Merlyn MK6 and Lotus 23) into closed GT cars.

In addition they produced a small number of space frames specifically to fit their fibreglass bodies. They continued to produce bodies and chassis for various frames and manufacturers until 1970 under the trade name Mercury.

The cars from D & A were period frames from various manufacturers fitted with the required body at D & A’s London site. The Mercury has a square tube frame originally thought to have been built by Chevron or Groopers of London and fitted with a Lotus 23 body, (note that the frame is four inches shorter than the Lotus 23). Because of it’s extremely light weight, rigid frame and semi-monocoque construction, it is much stronger than the Lotus 23.

I fell in love with these cars about 1965 when I saw one racing at the 750MC Relay at Snetterton entered by Mike Spence Racing (along with a Tojeiro EE ) – they were in the Scratch team. I know that George Silverwood raced one for some time (1300cc car?), and there was one that ran in the up to 2000cc class in the Motoring News GT Championship driven by Reg Skeels(?). The 2 litre car had cast magnesium MRE (Brabham) wheels – 7″ fronts and 9″ rears. I recall one well known Mercury GT had the registration number UWT2F (this might have been George Silverwood’s car – but can’t remember)’.

Credits…

Mark Bishop, Richard Rodgers, Lotus : The Historic Sports & Racing Cars of Australia’ Marc Schagen, The Nostalgia Forum, sainswor on tentenths.com, oldracephotos.com, Hugh Llewelyn via Wikipedia, Stephen Dalton

Finito…

Elfin FF84P Formula Ford…

Posted: December 11, 2024 in Features
Tags: , , , , , ,
0
(S McCawley)

Elfin boss, Tony Edmondson, about to have a steer of his new Elfin FF84P on July 27, 1984 before handing the car over to Mark Poole in the centre. It’s a significant day in the history of Elfin Sports Cars.

Company founder, Garrie Cooper’s untimely death was on April 25, 1982. Garrie’s father, Cliff, kept the wheels on the wagon after dealing with his grief, building and selling six Elfin NG (New Generation) Formula Vees and continuing repair and restoration work. This car is the first built under the Don Elliott and Tony Edmondson ownership/management regime after the sale by the Coopers to them in 1983.

All enveloping body work, inboard rear suspension by upper and wide based lower wishbones. Vertically mounted spring-shock assy actuated by a pullrod with a separate link for toe adjustment (C Canon)

Reflecting on the early period of his Elfin ownership, Elliott said, ‘We thought, bugger it, there’s no-one building cars (in Australia), so we built a couple of Formula Fords. It started from there. We were flat out from that time building and repairing cars.’

FF84P #EP006 was designed by Jon Porter together with Edmondson, and built by that pair and legendary Elfin welder/fabricator Fulvio Mattiolo; Porter and Mattiolo stayed on after the sale of the business.

Mark Poole was the designated driver, he had been making name for himself in an Elfin NG and an old Elfin 623 VW ANF2 car. Poole’s father, Keith made the very first Elfin NG sing way back in 1976. Keith’s business, Volksrepair was Elfin Sports Cars neighbour at 3-7 Conmurra Ave, Edwardstown; Elfins were at 1 Conmurra. Mark Poole operates RSR Sports Cars, a Porsche race, service and restoration business from the same address today.

Poole contested local meetings (?), the 1984 Winton round of the Australian Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series finishing ninth, he took in the ’85 Oran Park round and was seventh. The car was sold to David Craig in 1986, he ran Russell Ingall in it in the ’87 FF race at the Australian GP carnival in Adelaide, finishing ninth. Clive Hill bought it in 1989.

Russell Ingall negotiates one of Adelaide’s chicanes during the 1987 AGP weekend aboard the FF84P (ETSS)
Right hand shift for the four-speed Hewland Mk 9 transaxle (C Canon)

Tony Edmondson, ‘The Formula Ford was an in-house development funded entirely from the factory and the intention was always to be competitive in that car, then make multiple cars for customers.’

Only one customer car was sold, #EP009 was completed in 1985, and therefore called an FF85 and sold to David Duncombe.

‘With Formula Ford, the leaning was always for competitors to buy tried and proven cars from England. That was disappointing. That’s the sort of marketplace that we were dealing with all the time’, recalled Edmondson.

It’s the sort of marketplace Elfin, Bowin, Birrana, Cheetah, Rennmax and others have always faced, and in which they often prevailed.

If Edmondson and Elliott wanted to sell FFs in volume, the-go would have been to put Elfin Old-Boy Larry Perkins into the FF84P for two days of testing to get the basic settings right: springs, bars, camber, castor, toe, brake bias etc. Then plonk into it a seasoned FF campaigner, bringing a bit of a budget and win a few races. Ingall would have done quite nicely, not that he was a seasoned FF pilot at that stage; he won the Australian title/series aboard a Van Diemen RF90 in 1990 before heading to the UK and more FF success. His subsequent FF credentials are well covered here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Ingall

Lovely top-rocker actuating coil spring shocks, wide based lower wishbones (C Canon)

The standout FF designs in 1984-85 were Adrian Reynard’s Reynard FF83-84, and the Van Diemen RF85, these cars were inspired by David Bruns’ Swift DB1 in the United States, one of THE FF designs; none raced here in-period.

Edmondson mucks in. 1.6-litre Ford Cortina 711M overhead-two-valve, single twin-choke Weber fed engine gives about 110bhp (C Canon)

The slender chassis, needle nose, hip radiators, central fuel tank and inboard suspension front and rear are all absolutely state of the FF art at the time. It does make you wonder what the cars could have done with the right development…

Credits…

Steve McCawley, Colin Locke Canon via the Auto Action Archive courtesy of Bruce Williams, ‘ETSS’ ‘Elfin:The Spirit of Speed’ David Dowsey

Finito…

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