Alan Hamilton launches his Porsche 906 Spyder off the line at Collingrove during his successful assault on the track record over the Easter 1967 long weekend, 35.60 seconds.
It’s a delightfully bucolic Angaston, Barossa Valley scene complete with a couple of Humpy Holdens – an FJ and 48-215 – and a part hidden Gunter-Wagen, VW Beetle. Great stuff, John Lemm.
While the laddos should be drinking in the 908 visage, their eyes are on the prize sitting in the Valiant AP5/6! That’s a Toyota Crown S40 and a Holden HD too. The Japs really upset the local order with their Crown, which was far posher and better built than the contemporary Holden Premier and Ford Fairmont. I wonder who the bloke in the red driving suit is?
And below on April 10, 1971, Easter again, Hammo is in the process of winning the second of his four Australian Hillclimb Championships, at Collingrove with his second 906 Spyder, this one had chassis number 906-007 too.
See here for the full story:https://primotipo.com/2015/08/20/alan-hamilton-his-porsche-9048-and-two-906s/ and about Hamilton here:https://primotipo.com/2025/03/16/alan-hamilton-rip/
The great Hope Bartlett’s MG Q-Type at Wirlinga during the March 1938 Interstate Grand Prix/Albury Grand Prix weekend. The race was won by Jack Phillips and Ted Parsons in their self-built Ford V8 Special.
See here:https://primotipo.com/2019/01/12/interstate-grand-prix-wirlinga-albury-1938/ I’m not too sure on the blokes/cars below. It’s Wirlinga, but either 1939 or 1940, I think?
Commitment, Gordon Mitchell was absolutely nuts about his racing! ‘My Simca Station Wagon that I bought for $15, towing my Bugeye Austin Healey Sprite across the Nullarbor to an early night race meeting at Oran Park and a race meeting at Warwick Farm in 1971. Memories.’ It’s only 3820 km each way…London to Moscow is 2900 km.
Mitchell was a racer of vast experience with a CV extending from several Sprites, to Porsche 911S, Morris Marina V8, Alfa Romeo GTV, Fiat 131 Abarth, Fiat X19 Abarth and many more.
I’ve had some fun lately thumbing through my 1969-72 collection of Racing Car News researching a piece on FoMoCo Oz two Ford GTHO Super Falcons. It takes a helluva long time because of the tangents, not least the ads, wasn’t it a great mag in the day?
Bernie Haehnle was a turn of the 1970s Formula Vee Ace who did well in Series Production and a season or so of Formula Ford in a Bowin P6F. What became of him?
‘The Narellan Cup meeting at Oran Park on 6th November 1971, was the first night meeting held after daylight saving began in NSW,’ wrote Lynton Hemer.
‘This meant that the organizers could include Formula Vees in the programme with 4 and 6 lap races at 5:30 and 6:30, before the darkness set in. Here are Bernie Haehnle, Damon Beck, Paul Bernasconi, Laurie Campfield, Denis Riley and Enno Buesselmann.’
See here for more about Bernie:https://primotipo.com/2018/11/13/bernie-haehnle-rennmax-mk1-fv/
Bruce McLaren on the way to winning the November 18, 1962, Australian Grand Prix in his Cooper T62 Climax at Caversham, Western Australia.
It was a lucky victory in that Jack Brabham was taken out when he zigged, and Arnold Glass zagged, eliminating Jack’s Brabham BT4 Climax and clipping the wings of Arnold’s BRM P48 Buick 3.9 V8. John Youl and Bib Stilwell were second and third in Coopers T55 and T53, respectively.
David McKay susses Bruce’s new Cooper; he bought Jack’s Brabham BT4 shortly thereafter. More about this car here:https://primotipo.com/2016/05/20/bruce-lex-and-rockys-cooper-t62-climax/ On the road near Perth, below, Eoin Young, Wally Willmott, Bruce McLaren and Cooper T62 Climax FPF 2.7.
The Max Winkless/Jan Woelders Porsche 356A 1600 during the August 21-September 8, 1957 Mobilgas Round Australia Trial.
The winners were Laurie Whitehead and Kevin Young in a VW Beetle 1200 ahead of five other Beetles!
The other ‘Porsche Cars Australia’ 356s were driven by Tom Jackson/David McKay (1500) 27th – above with Jackson working on his car – and the boss, Norman Hamilton (356A), the other cars of Hamilton and Winkless/Woelders were DNFs.
I guess 1971 Australian F2 Championship, Henk Woelders was Jan’s son? Henk is ahead of an Elfin 600 1.6 Lotus-Ford F2 pack at Calder: he, John Walker and Clive Millis, the black and yellow interloper is Peter Larner’s Rennmax.
And below Henk sharing an HK Holden Monaro GTS327 with Dyno Dave Bennett during the 1968 Sandown 3 Hour enduro, DNF, the race was won by the Tony Roberts/Bob Watson GTS327. More about Henk here:https://primotipo.com/2018/12/30/henk-woelders/
Unusual colour shot of Don O’Sullivan in his Matich SR3 Repco 720 4.4 V8 during 1969.
The Perth-based racer did quite a few East Coast meetings in 1969, finishing second in the 1969 Australian Sports Car Championship behind Frank Matich’s dominant Matich SR4 Repco 760 4.8 V8. His mechanic/engineer/driver and lifelong friend, Jaime Gard, was based in the Matich workshops that year to prepare the car and lend a highly skilled hand with FM’s cars, too, on occasion
The shot below is of Don in one of his Cooper Climaxes – T58 perhaps – at Caversham in the mid-1960s. Don O’Sullivan here:https://primotipo.com/2017/11/30/dons-party-f5000-party/ and Jaime Gard here:https://primotipo.com/2024/05/28/jaime-gard-perth-racer-and-engineer/
Lynton Hemer catches the sun and beautiful lines of Bill Brown’s new Porsche Carrera RS at Warwick Farm on May 6, 1973. The inside front is just clearing the deck.
Meanwhile, Scuderia Veloce’s Bob Atkin was in the pits and took this shot of one of the races on the same day on the grid: Brian Foley in his Alfa Lightweight- the ex-Mildren-French GTA after further ‘Project 9’ surgery by John Joyce’s Bowin Cars team over the summer of 1972-73, Brown, Carrera RS, Bob Steven’s Mustang and another Grace Bros 911S, one of the Geoghegans I guess.
Scratch-men Frank Kleinig, Kleinig Hudson Spl, and John Crouch, Delahaye 135, start the handicap New South Wales Grand Prix, Mount Panorama, Bathurst October 1946.
The race was won by won by Alf Najar’s MG TB monoposto in an Abingdon trifecta, Jack Nind’s TB Special was second and Alby Johnson’s TC third. See here for a feature on the race:https://primotipo.com/2019/11/15/1946-new-south-wales-grand-prix/
I’ve done Frank Kleinig and his Kleinig Hudson Spl before: https://primotipo.com/2019/12/06/frank-kleinig-kleinig-hudson-special/ while John Crouch and his Delahaye 135S gets a run here:https://primotipo.com/2022/10/05/1949-australian-grand-prix-leyburn/
See the race here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmYUGVKR-DQ#:~:text=1946%20NEW%20SOUTH%20WALES%20GRAND,.org.au…
Rare feel the vibe colour shots of the first Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island over the November 20 1960 weekend; the Bathurst 1000 started right here, of course, folks.
The Bill Nalder/John Ampt Ford Anglia blasts down the main straight, mud flaps and all. See all of these shots and a piece about the race here:https://primotipo.com/2024/06/19/1960-armstrong-500-phillip-island/
Car 43C below, amongst the ‘BRM mechanics’, is a works Morris Major driven by Rod Murphy and John Callaway. Activ-8 was a local oil company, Golden Fleece’s brand at the time. HC Sleigh Ltd sold Golden Fleece to Caltex in 1981.
You can just see a glimpse of Bass Straight below the distant Shell banner in this Main Straightaway – I’m channelling Mike Raymond – photograph. The Mercedes 220SE was crewed by the Youl brothers, Gavin and John, DNF.
A couple of Garrie Cooper shots at Wanneroo Park, Western Australia.
The first shows him #5 on the grid of the WA Road Racing Championship on May 3, 1970, aboard his Elfin 600D Repco 830 2.5 V8 alongside fellow South Aussie John Walker’s Elfin 600B Lotus Ford 1.6 with Craig McAllister, Macon Ford 1.6 on the left. Cooper won from Walker with Bob Ilich’s Brabham BT21B Cosworth SCB third. See a piece about this race and Cooper’s car here:https://primotipo.com/2018/03/06/garrie-cooper-elfin-600d-repco-v8/
The one below is of Ansett Team Elfin: Garrie Cooper and John McCormack’s Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden F5000s at the Wanneroo Indian Pacific Plate meeting on August 12, 1973.
Cooper took out the three heat event overall with two wins to McCormack’s one Mac fastest of the day however a new lap record of 56.8 sec during the final 20 lapper.
Credits…
John Lemm, Bill Forsyth Collection, Martin Kass, Bob Atkin, Ken Devine, John Cronin, Peter Cartwright, Mark Goldsworthy Collection via Bob Williamson, Sandy Fernanace, Chris Munday, Rob Hagarty, Stewart Johnson, Stephen Stockdale, Gordon Mitchell Collection
Finito…
primotipo... 