Once upon a time the in-crowd could pick a driver by his helmet design, Derek Bell in this case. That era spanned the 1960s-1980s and a bit. These days the helmets have more of a puke-the paint from on-high-factor about them. Drivers change them as often as they do their jocks, so one may be just getting a ‘design’ into ones head, then out she goes…
Derek shared this Ron Hodgson Holden Torana A9X 5-litre with Dieter Quester in the October 1, 1978 Bathurst 1000. They were out after 5 of the 163 laps from Q5 (Bell) after Derek experienced a steering failure and crashed. Peter Brock and Jim Richards won in a Holden Dealer Team A9X.
Paul Hawkins on his way to third place in the Zeltweg 500km, round 9 of the International Championship of Makes on August 25, 1968.
In front of him were the works-Porsche 908s of Jo Siffert and Hans Herrmann/Kurt Ahrens. Hawkins car was his own.
In Paul other 1968 results, he and David Hobbs won the Monza 1000km in a JW Automotive GT40. The same pair were fourth in the Brands Hatch 6 Hours in a Hawkins entry, Hawkins and Ickx were third in the Nurburgring 1000km in a JW car, at Spa Hawkins/Hobbs were fourth, and at Watkins Glen second in JW entries. More on Paul here: https://primotipo.com/2020/09/25/hawkeye/
A very poignant photograph of Alan Hamilton 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 an extent ruined by the accidents that befell Garrie Cooper and Alan Hamilton, and to a lesser extent Vern Schuppan, in the Grand Prix. See here in my Hamilton tribute: https://primotipo.com/2025/03/16/alan-hamilton-rip/
Robin Pare over the top at Skyline, Baskerville, in Don Elliott’s Elfin ME5 Chev.
What a fabulous racetrack it is too. This car, with a relatively short track to wheelbase ratio was reputedly a twitchy little bugger, its bit Robin circa 1973-74.
Here are the remains of the car after a reasonably Big One at Baskerville on October 12, 1975. ‘I was only 30 metres away from the crashing, cartwheeling car with my camera tucked away securely in my bag while I was having lunch,’ photographer Bruce Smart wrote. The car still exists today.
Warwick Brown’s McLaren M10B Chev in the Sandown paddock in September 1973, ‘when he got back into an F5000 and did a demonstration run after his huge accident at Surfers paradise earlier in the year.’ Neil Stratton.
It was a remarkably brave thing to do, I attended the Glyn Scott Memorial Trophy Gold Star round at Surfers Paradise while on a family holiday on the Gold Coast only ? weeks before. Warwick was at that meeting hobbling around with crutches/ walking stick. No way would I have thought he’d be back in the car even for an exploratory run such a short time later. Mind over matter folks…
WB for ‘73 here: https://primotipo.com/2017/03/09/wb-for-73/
Ron Tauranac in one of his Ralts – Ralt 1 perhaps – date and place folks? https://primotipo.com/2023/06/10/ron-tauranacs-series-one-ralts/
John French ascending Inverell Hillclimb in a Holden FJ in 1958, I penned an obituary/career summary in Auto Action a month ago.
Peter Brock, Birrana 273 Ford #008 during the August 5 Oran Park round of the 1973 Australian F2 Championship.
Brocky finished second behind Leo Geoghegan’s works 273 in this second round of the Championship but only did the following round at Amaroo before pulling the pin; no funds and no Hart 416-B Twin-cam the reasons given if memory serves. See here: https://primotipo.com/2018/05/07/brocks-birrana/
As good as an XU-1 got…
Peter Brock in a Holden Dealer Team Holden Torana GTR XU-1 on the exit of Torana Corner at Sandown during the 250k Manchamps round on September 10, 1972.
Harry finally got around to slapping a decent coat of paint on his cars, fitted by then with the just homologated Globe alloys.
A DNF for Peter and Colin Bond. Fords reigned supreme in the traditional Bathurst warm-up event: John Goss from Fred Gibson and Murray Carter in Phase 3 GTHO’s. It all came good for Brocky on the mountain of course…
A list of all of the Coopers owned by Bib Stillwell would be interesting…
Here the T53 Climax and T49 Monaco are shown in the Mallala paddock during The Advertiser Trophy Gold Star meeting weekend on October 8, 1962.
Bib won the race from John Youl and David McKay in Coopers T55 and T51 respectively. More on Bib’s Coopers here: https://primotipo.com/2015/03/10/bib-stillwell-cooper-t49-monaco-warwick-farm-sydney-december-1961/
Aussie Invaders Brian Muir and Frank Gardner on the front row of the 1972 British Grand Prix BTCC support race at Brands Hatch on July 15. Ford Capri RS2600 and Chev Camaro Z28 Mk2.
Gardner won the sixth round of the BTCC, 20 lap race from the David Brodie and David Matthews Ford Escort RS1600s. Brian Muir led the first 16 laps and sliced a big chunk off the lap record before spinning to rest on his own oil after a major engine failure on lap 17.
More about Brian Muir here: https://primotipo.com/2022/09/03/brian-muir/
This Jaguar XK150 was used to test tyre compunds and tbe way they reacted to Lake Eyre salt in 1963.
Chassis T825278DN, a late 3.8S was loaned to Dunlop for tyre testing purposes for the Donald Campbell-Bluebird Proteus land speed record attempt. What became of the car folks?
More on Bluebird’s Australian campaign: https://primotipo.com/2014/07/16/50-years-ago-today-17-july-1964-donald-campbell-broke-the-world-land-speed-record-in-bluebird-at-lake-eyre-south-australia-a-speed-of-403-10-mph/
Lynton Hemer catches Frank Gardner on the hop through the Warwick Farm Esses during his victorious run in the works Lola T192 Chev in February 1971. Warwick Farm 100 Tasman Cup race.
More about the Lola T192 in this article: https://primotipo.com/2021/05/15/angus-and-cootes-lola-t300s/
Tim Schenken at right with the Team Tiga Formula 3 Ralt RT1/76 Toyota chassis 16 with Eddie Jordan aboard during during a test session at Goodwood in 1978. From the left are Steve Elly Ellison, John Love, Eddy and Tim.
Jordan won the 1978 Irish Formula Atlantic Championship aboard a Marlboro Team Ireland Chevron B29 Ford BDA. EJ seems to have only done one race in this car, at the November 11, 1978 Thruxton round where he qualified ninth and finished seventh in the race won by Derek Warwick’s RT1 Toyota.
Tiga ran this chassis for Andrea de Cesaris in the British F3 Championship that year, he brought the Marlboro money via his father. Andrea got quicker as the year went on, finishing seventh in the title chase with his best results thirds at Mallory Park in May, Brands Hatch and Donington in July, and fourth placings at Paul Ricard and Silverstone in July and Donington in August.
Tim Schenken and Howden Ganley ran De Cesaris again the following year in a Team Tiga March 793 Toyota, he was second in the championship that year…behind Chico Serra in the other Team Tiga 793. Not to worry, Andrea graduated to F2 and F1 in 1980.
Back to Eddie. When his own race-career was on the decline he formed Eddie Jordan Racing which proved to be rather a successful enterprise!
Tom Sulman looking very pre-War in ‘his’ Maserati 4CM at Mount Panorama in October 1960.
Unclassified in the Craven A International won by Jack Brabham’s Cooper T51, with four Coopers behind him. More about Sulman in this feature here: https://primotipo.com/2018/04/19/tom-sulman/
Jim McKeown in the short-lived Porsche Cars Australia Porsche 911 Turbo mid-engined Sports Sedan at Calder in 1975. I’ll take your advice on the meeting date please?
Allan Moffat giving chase in his RS3100 Cologne Capri then Leo or Pete Geoghegan in the Grace Bros Porsche 911S.
CAMS could never work out what category to pop the 911 into, they chopped and changed a number of times. In this case Hammo pissed a lot of money up against the wall to build a car that was kosher one minute and daffied the next. See here: https://primotipo.com/2018/09/04/long-neck-fosters/
Peter Larner during the 1978 New Zealand Formula Pacific Championship, circuit folks? By then Paul England’s Dolphin Ford BDA – a Brabham BT36 built up by Don Baker using an Arch Motors chassis – was an old gal by then, but Pedro contested the whole series with bests of ninth at Baypark and 11th at Manfield and Wigram. The 1977 Australian F2 Champion (Elfin 700 Lotus-Ford twin-cam) deserved a better mount.
Up at the pointy end Keke Rosberg won the championship from Larry Perkins and Bobby Rahal aboard Chevron B39, Ralt RT1 and Chevron B39 respectively.
Leo Geoghegan, Lotus Elite from David Lewis Holden Grey, Gavin Youl, Porsche 356, David McKay, Ferrari 250 Pininfarina, #39 Ron Marshall, AC Bristol #30 Alan Ling, Holden and the rest at Longford in 1961, mixed GT and Touring Car race.
McKay raced the Tony Oxley owned car – chassis 1973 – which I believe is still in the same family.
And below a better shot of the ‘Ron Marshall, Yass, ex-Mary Seed AC Ace with Sydney made hardtop for Appendix K GT regulations’. Thanks to Stephen Dalton and Rob Bartholomaeus. There is a bit more about this Ace at the end of this piece here: https://primotipo.com/2022/10/02/australian-racing-random-11/
What an impactful cover. The Bunbury Speedway’s first season was in 1972.
Bunbury, 175 km south of Perth and has a motorsport heritage all the way back to the 1920s when beach racing was conducted on the wide, hard-packed sand of Bunbury Back Beach! See here: https://primotipo.com/2017/03/23/bunbury-flying-50-allan-tomlinson-ferrari-500-et-al/
Bib Stillwell and Stan Jones in the front row of a race during the Victorian Trophy meeting at Calder over the February 25, 1962 weekend. Coopers T53 and T51 Climax.
Stan (below) didn’t start the feature event which was won by Bib from Lex Davison, Aston Martin DBR4 3-litre and Bryan Thomson, Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.2.
See here for Calder’s early days: https://primotipo.com/2022/08/27/calder-raceway/
Credits…
Ian Smith, Tony Wright, John Spinks, Graham C Forsyth, Chevron Publishing, Auto Action, Robert Clayton, Lynton Hemer, Steve Elly Ellison via Ed Brunette, Bruce Smart, Mark Heeler, Lynn Keetelaar Collection, speedwayandroadracehistory.com via Rob Bartholomaeus
Finito…
primotipo... 