Garrie Cooper aboard Australian Racing Royalty, the ultimate Elfin 600, the car he built for himself to contest the 1970 Australian Gold Star Championship, Elfin 600D chassis #7012 powered by a 295bhp 2.5-litre Repco 830 SOHC, two valve V8
He’s in the shadows of the Wanneroo Park control tower during the May 3, 1970 Lex Davison Memorial meeting, the feature race of which was the 35-lap West Australian Road Racing Championship.
The two raiding invaders were Elfin 600 mounted South Australians, the boss himself, Garrie Cooper, and long-time Elfin customer, the fast-rising John Walker in #6907, the first of his two 600Bs, #7018 being the other. Walker was the reigning WA Champion but had little chance of defending his title against the far quicker 2.5-litre car.
Racing Car News’ Mike Cuss wrote, ‘Both cars were magnificently prepared, and if evaluated point by point would leave many European cars we see here a long way back in second place. Detail design and standard of finish of the Elfin 600 series must be the best bar none.’
The flag drops with Cooper on pole, Walker and Craig McAllister in the yellow Macon Ford on this side on the front row, then George Cole, Befa-Ford and Bob Ilich’s on row two
Team Ilich with their heads chopped off, unfortunately; Brabham BT21B Cosworth SCB, chassis #16. Bob Ilich was a Brabham Racing Organisation mechanic during the 1964-67 glory years and returned to WA with this car, which he raced very successfully for many years. The west had a very strong local 1.5-1.6-litre scene; for most of the 1960s and 1970s, they didn’t have Gold Star rounds due to the tyranny of distance from the east coast. More about Bob here:https://primotipo.com/2026/03/28/australian-racing-random-24/
Cooper led the race comfortably from Walker (above), the pair lapping comfortably in the 61-second bracket, about 3 seconds quicker than the locals. Cooper, Walker, McAllister and Ilich were out front, way ahead of George Cole, Befa-Ford and Bernie Zampatti’s, Zalfa, an Alfa Romeo-powered spaceframe chassis machine.
GC copped a bit of excitement on lap 2 when the right-rear of Ken Gardiner’s GR3 zipped across the ‘main-straightaway’ in front of him, ‘Shades of Barnes Wallis and his dam-busting bouncing bombs!’ as Mike Cuss wrote.
By lap 11 of 35, Cooper was lapping the tail-enders for the second time, ‘leaving a string of slower cars between him and second-placed man John Walker, who was easing the Elfin along with overheating problems.’ McAllister spun and let Ilich through into third place and that’s the way they finished: Cooper, Walker 34 laps, Ilich 33, McAllister 31 and Colin Ekert, Elfin, 29 laps.
John Walker, note the period-correct Marlboro in his gob, did well in his 600Bs, winning the Victorian Joseph Lucas/Stillwell-Davison Trophy in #6907, and finishing second behind Max Stewart’s Mildren Waggott in the one-race, 40-lap, 67-mile 1970 Australian F2 Championship at Lakeside in September aboard his new #7018.
He raced that car on into 1971, finishing fourth in the 1971 F2 championship won by Larry Perkins’ Gary Campbell-owned Elfin 600B/E, then refocused on the Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden F5000 car from late 1971. #5714 was delivered in February 1972. JW had been racing twin-cam Elfins – Mono Mk2 and two 600Bs from late 1966 – so the step up was timely and just the ticket for the new class.
Noting that I am a hopelessly biased Elfin fan, I think the gist of the following piece I wrote a while back about the 1970 Australian Gold Star Championship was, in part, that Cooper’s – designed and built by him and his team – 600D Repco 830 V8 was the COTY (car of the year), albeit one that was under-developed and a tad unreliable, see here: https://primotipo.com/2019/07/05/oran-park-diamond-trophy-gold-star-1970/
More about Elfin 600s here:https://primotipo.com/2022/04/23/sinfully-sexy-600/
Elfin 600 front uprights, please discuss! Alford & Alder (Triumph Herald etc) forgings on the 600, 600B and 600 Formula Ford, cast magnesium on the 600E and fabricated steel on 600C and 600D, as above…
The 600D has always been on my list of favourite Australian Racing Cars along with a Matich A53 Repco-Holden, Bowin P8 Hart-Ford 416B, Elfin 360 Repco 830 2.5, Birrana 374 Ford and the Mawer 004 Formula Ford. Hmm, if I can only have one, it’s the 600D, lucky Frank Arronis, the car’s current custodian.
Etcetera…
Walker and Cooper on the Wanneroo dummy grid, I’ve never been to the place, it’s time to go.
Howie Sangster took a couple of wins in his Pinocchio (Nightclub) Racing Team Lola T70 Mk2 Chev. #SL71/38 the ex-Jack Epstein machine raced by Paul Hawkins, was gussied up with some McLaren components by this stage and was dubbed the McLaren LT70 or McLola, depending upon your religion.
Howie was a busy boy that weekend, also taking victory in a scratch race for Minis in Jim Mullins’ Cooper S; who are driving the first two cars in the panorama below, folks?
Cosworth SCA/SCB/SCC…
The following are the specifications of a Weber-fed 1964 Cosworth SCA F2 engine.
The SC series is a significant engine in Cosworth’s back catalogue and no doubt occupied a bullet point or three in Colin Chapman’s PowerPoint presentation to Ford’s Walter Hayes when our-Col pitched Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin’s outfit as the preferred designer/constructors of his planned 3-litre V8 Grand Prix engine in 1965-66…the Ford Cosworth DFV V8 was the result of the alliance.
Four cylinder engine, capacity 997cc bore/stroke of 81mm/48.36 mm, compression ratio of 12.5:1 giving 115 bhp minimum @ 8700 rpm and torque of 76 lb ft @ 6800 rpm.
Cylinder Head. Cast aluminium alloy; cylinders, cast iron – bored in block. Bore dia. 3.1890/3.1895
Crankcase. Cast iron (Ford 116E) – monobloc type, crankshaft forged-nitrided steel (Laystall), end play .002 – 011″, thrust taken by two half washers. Main journal dia. 2.1255/2.1360″ Conrod journal dia. 1.9370/1.9375″ Stroke 1.903/1.906″ Main bearings shells – ‘Vandervell’ lead-indium, steel backed. Cosworth Part No. F0012 Main bearing caps are special steel, housing bored .015″ o/s
Camshaft. Monikrom, run in five bearings. Driven by a train of seven gears from the crankshaft. Bearings – white metal shell type ‘Vandervell’
Valve Mechanism: Inverted piston-type tappets, running directly on the camshaft. Chill-cast iron. Valve Timing F1 – 102 deg Cosworth camshaft 1O 58 deg BTDC IC 82 deg ATDC EO 82 deg BTDC EC 58 deg ATDC Valve lift .400″ Ramp .010″
Valves. Inlet material: austenitic steel. Head dia. 1.45 “; seat angle 45 deg; stem dia 9/32”. Exhaust. Material: austenitic steel. Head dia. 1.25 “; seat angle 45 deg; stem dia 9/32″. Valve Springs. Double springs, outer variable-pitch wound. Rate 260 Ib/in. Free length 1.65”. Fitted length 1.29″ (both measured on outer). Close coils to be fitted at head end.
Connecting rods material EN.24 Length centre to centre 5.434″ End Play .002 / .006″ Bearings Trimetal (steel backed)
Pistons. Special Cosworth/Hepolite, forged in RR59, one compression, one oil control ring. Gudgeon pins: hollow taper bored. Ground o/d 13/16″ dia nominal Clearance .0002 – 0005″ Retained by flat circlips Compression Ring Material Cast iron. Plain, high radial pressure. Ring gap .019″. Oil control ring Two separate scrapers in single groove
Water Pump, Cosworth, driven from front of jackshaft
Lubrication: dry sump full-pressure system. Main bearings – pressure fed. Connecting rods – pressure fed. Gudeon pins – splash. Cylinder wall, camshaft bearings – pressure fed. Tappets – splash. Timing gears – jet and splash. Oil Pump ‘Hobourn-Eaton’ type, Cosworth designed, mounted on side of cylinder block. Oil Filter. Not supplied with engine; should be full flow with special felt cartridge, and by-pass valve blanked off.
Distributor Lucas 40731 10 deg – 1000 rpm. Rotation anti-clockwise, Firing order 1 3 4 2. Contact breaker arm spring tension 32 oz. Centrifugal advance 20 deg on crank. Contact breaker gap .010 / 012″
Carburation: Two 40 DCM2 Weber. Choke size 32mm Jetted to suit the engine whilst being tested on a dynamometer. Inlet Manifolds: Cast Aluminium alloy, machined to house ‘O’ rings for flexible mounting.
Credits…
Chris Munday, State Library of Western Australia, Racing Car News July 1970, Autocar April 16, 1965, John Marsden, John Scott-Davies
Finito…
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