Brabham, Cooper T23 Bristol, Altona, 9 March 1954 (SLV)
Jack Brabham thrilled a crowd of over 12000 with his Cooper Bristol’s speed during the inaugural car meeting of the new Altona circuit in Melbourne’s inner west on 9 March 1954…
Brabham made the switch from speedway to circuit racing in, one of the characteristics of his driving style was the ‘Brabham Crouch’ over the wheel, its much in evidence down the years and very much present at the 2 1/4 mile Altona track.
Brabham crouch, Cooper Bristol, Altona 1954 (SLV)
Jack set a lap record of 1:50, an average speed of 73.5 mph, the Cooper was timed at nearly 130 mph. Stan Jones won the F Libre open event after Jack’s Cooper sheared the magneto drive of its Bristol engine. ‘The duels between Brabham and Jones Cooper 1100 were a feature of the meeting, the brilliant cornering of the latter helping him hold the bigger faster car’ The Age newspaper reported.
Many of the noted racers of the day entered the meeting; Jones, Reg Smith, John O’Dea and Lex Davison in 1100 Coopers and Bill Patterson in a 500. Cec Warren’s Maserati 4CLT, Ted Gray’s Alta Ford, Tom Hawkes Allard, Doug Whieford in his Ford Spl ‘Black Bess’ as well as Lex Davison’s HWM Jaguar, it won the AGP at Southport on Queensland’s Gold Coast, later in the year completed a strong line-up
Aerial view of the Altona Circuit and Williamstown horse racing course taken in 1958 after the circuits closure , at the top of the shot is Port Phillip Bay (SLV)
Over the years there was motor racing at Point Cook (one race only, the 1948 AGP on the airforce base) Fishermans Bend and Altona, they are all in the ‘same part of the world’, respectively 26/6/16 Km from Melbourne’s CBD. Of the three, Altona was the least successful, only six meetings were held.
Well known Melbourne racer/businessmen Stewart and Neil Charge invested between 35000-40000 pounds in the venture. They acquired land on the west side of Millers Road transforming ‘ a swamp into a GP track…they formed the Altona Motor Racing Co with preliminary work to commence in two weeks’ the ‘Williamstown Chronicle’ reported on 2 April 1953.
Neil Charge took leave from the family trucking business to pull the enormous project of creating the facility, ‘the track was built from fly-ash from the South Melbourne gasworks’
The swamp was converted into ‘Cherry Lake’, later reports suggested the promoters intention to ‘dredge the lake (deeper) to form a speedboat circuit’. Six meetings year were planned with local charities to benefit to the tune of about 4000 pounds per year.
Somewhat prophetically ‘The Chronicle’ noted the circuit may pose new problems for the promoters of Phillip Island, the expectation that Altona because of its close proximity to Melbourne may draw larger crowds. In the event, Phillip Island is still with us, despite a few ups and downs over the decades and Altona is long gone and largely forgotten!
‘Williamstown Chronicle’ 19 February 1954
Altona was completed on time, its first meeting, for bikes, was opened by former Australian Olympic cyclist, Federal Parliamentarian, Sir Hubert Opperman on 21 February 1954…
Before the opening meeting the Williamstown Chronicle described the circuit as the first of its type in Australia, the Charges ‘have laid more than 2 1/4 miles of all weather bitumen fully enclosed by a steel safety fence…future plans provide for stands, changing rooms, fully equipped racing pits and permanent refreshment rooms’. The opening included a novelty match race between Jones Cooper and F Sinclair’s Vincent Spl sidecar, its not reported who won!
Car racing events were promoted by the Victorian Sporting Car Club, there were problems with the surface from the start. The track was ‘re-surfaced and built up where necessary after the recent ‘consolidation’ meeting. The track surround is safer with the removal of boulders and an encircling safety fence’. Edges were levelled to give a safe emergency run-off area. The Argus reported the improvements cost 4000 pounds with speeds expected to be higher by 20% compared with the first meeting.
In a 2013 interview Altona owner Neil Charge said that had the investors in the consortium, (there were 6 he said, not just he and his brother as reported by the media at the time) known that Albert Park was to be used for motor racing they would not have proceeded with their investment. International readers will understand the inherent beauty of Albert Park and its proximity to Melbourne’s CBD. Imagine the exact visual opposite; what was then flat, featureless, muddy or dusty, industrial land on the cities outskirts. In short, in a popularity contest close to Melbourne’s CBD, Albert Park wins hands down every time from a spectators perspective.
That the Charge brothers didn’t know about Albert Park as a racing possibility is a little hard to fathom, they were well connected Melbourne businessmen and stalwarts of the local racing community, which was even more incestuous then than now.
Other issues which inhibited the circuits success was the converted swamp land upon which it was built, land consolidation not understood as well then as now. The land continually subsided making the track difficult to maintain and dangerous, which is the reputation it gained from competitors. Entry numbers suffered as a consequence. If you can’t attract the cars, the ‘punters’ don’t come to watch and so a bit of a downward spiral started.
The Phillip Island Auto Racing Club in its own history relating the trials and tribulations of getting their circuit running have this to say; ‘ One example of a circuit hurriedly built and opened was Altona in 1954. With sharp corners, narrow straights and a dangerous lack of shoulders running along the edge of the circuit the track started to deteriorate from the very first (motor cycle) race. With four cars rolling over the same spot and several parts of the track crumbling to powder, it was clear the track was doomed from the beginning. This was despite an average lap speed of below 65mph’
Cherry Lake, Altona in modern times, the industry of the Inner West is in the distance (unattributed)
Ultimately the Altona investors made the commercial decision to sell the land, the acquirer, local authorities who used it as parkland. Charge said the transaction resulted in a small profit which must have been some kind of miracle given the sum invested and paucity of spectator numbers in the 6 meetings run. Now the area is a residential one, the local amenity very much enhanced by Cherry Lake!
There are few photos to be easily found of this interesting track, if any Australian readers have an image or three you would like to share I am sure we would all like to see them! Please get in touch.
Hand colored print of the Redex Spl prior to the 1954 AGP at Southport on Queenslands Gold Coast. (Kev Bartlett reckons its Mt Druitt not Southport) The Bristol engines front camshaft bearing turned in its housing blanking off the drilling for lubricating oil, seizing le moteur. Stub exhausts interesting, not they way they were raced in the UK (Nye/Brabham)
Jack’s Cooper T23 Bristol…
I have done the ‘Cooper Bristol to death’ in terms of articles written, check these links out for information and photos about these important, wonderful cars, rather than me repeat it all again;
The shots of Jack’s car do beg the question about its history though, important as it was in his development as a driver. His success in it directly lead to his decision to try his hand in England in 1955, in fact he regretted selling the car in Oz, carefully developed as it was. Peter Whitehead’s Cooper Alta, the car he bought and raced when he first arrived in the UK was not a patch on the car he left behind.
The summary of the car is based on an article from John Blanden’s book, that research largely based on Doug Nye’s Cooper tome albeit its somewhat truncated. The best source of information on Jack’s formative years is the biography he wrote with Doug Nye, picking that book up always brings a smile to my face.
JB publicised ‘The Jack Brabham Story’ in Melbourne shortly after it was published and in the Friday before the 2004 AGP. He spoke at a function at the Windsor Hotel, the book was sold after the event and autographed by the champ for those prepared to stand in a long queue. My youngest son was 8, the only kid amongst 300 businessmen at the breakfast.
Windsor Hotel menu of the day! I wish i had the presence of mind to get Jack to sign this as well as the book! Sponsors are the Age Newspaper and Dymocks, a book retailer
Local ‘motor-noter’ and TV commentator Will Hagon was MC for the event, they used a question and answer format which worked well. Hagon was a great choice as the ‘right questions’ were asked rather than the crap someone with no knowledge of the sport, ‘how fast did she go Jack?’ ask.
Brabham was an absolute prince in the way he dealt with Nick when we collected his signature. ‘Bic’ still remembers that gig, Jack and the long day we had together strolling the wide open spaces of Albert Park. We still do the wide open spaces of Albert Park but all three sons are as interested in the beers on dad as much as the racing! You would think I would get one racer outta them given the number of events they did with me racing my Historic FF!? (Lola T342 at that time)
Brabham at Parramatta Speedway on 26 February 1954. Harley V twin engined speedcar owned by Spike Jennings modelled on Jack’s old car (Fairfax)
Brabham cut his racing teeth in the immediate post-war years on Sydney Speedways. By the early fifties he was essentially making his living on his prizemoney, racing three times a week made it difficult to keep up with the workload of his machine shop as well. He ran his Speedcar in some hillclimbs, and, fitted with front brakes won the 1951 Australian Hillclimb Championship at Rob Roy in outer Melbourne.
Beating the road racers with his Speedway car caused quite a stir, but also ‘put his name and capabilities up in lights’. He was effectively a professional in an amateur sport (road racing in Oz) well before he left for the UK. It was during these years he met Ron and Austin Tauranac who were racing their Ralts at the time, RT of course the other half of the ‘BT’ partnership.
Jack enjoyed the hillclimbs which convinced him to give circuits a go. In quick succession he acquired and raced Coopers Mk 4 and 5. To fund his road racing he sold his speedcar, continuing to race on the dirt tracks in a car owned by Spike Jennings with whom he shared the prizemoney.
The big step up was purchase of the Cooper Bristol.
Chassis ‘CB/Mk2/1/53’ was despatched to Australia as a new car to the order of David Chambers,prior to the cars arrival by sea, he committed suicide as a consequence of the financial trauma in which he was engulfed. The car was offered for sale on behalf of his deceased estate, Brabham’s bid of 4250 pounds, supported by some funds from his father and Redex, his sponsor, was the successful one.
Jack recounts how, upon testing the new car at Mt Druitt, an old WW2 emergency landing strip just outside Sydney for the first time, the Bristol engine lost oil pressure within a few laps. A subsequent tear-down revealed a bent crank and badly worn bearings. It soon became apparent that the new car was thoroughly ‘shop-soiled’, it had been raced by its first owner, John Barber in Argentina. Upon return to the UK, it was given a ‘cut and polish’ and then despatched to Chambers as a new car. It was not the first or last time ‘colonials’ were shafted by ‘nasty furriners’ in the UK and Europe a long way from the South Pacific!
Jack fettles the Cooper in his Penshurst workshop. He recounts the story of welding a crack under the engine, the torch ignited some fuel vapours. Brabham’s extinguished was in another locked shed, he ripped the lock off in his bare hands to get the ext and doused the fire but ‘that day i could have lost everything’ (Nye)
When Jack carefully assessed the Bristol engine, having raced the car a few times, he couldn’t believe the hefty flywheel and quickly modified it along the lines of the Harley Davidson clutch assembly used on his Speedcar. He lightened the clutch/flywheel assembly from around 34Kg to 7kg thereby vastly improving the responsiveness of the engine and its reliability. The long, thin crank of the Bristol engine was a weakness because of the vast weight of the flywheel assembly. Further improvements to the engine were made with the assistance of British pre-war racer Frank Ashby who had moved to Sydney’s Whale Beach.
Jack had already replaced the Bristol’s Solex carbs with ex-Holden Stromberg units which were modified further after Ashhby’s suggestion to incorporate smoothly shaped bell mouths to aid air entry with consequent increases in power. Jacks hands-on engineering capabilities were part of his ‘competitive back of tricks and unfair advantage’ which never left him.
Brabham quickly established himself as one of the men to beat with the Cooper winning many events. His battles with the nascent Confederation of Australian Motorsport and their ‘no advertising on cars’ policy became a constant thorn in his side, RedeX’ commercial involvement essential to his ability to run the car.
Brabham at Altona again in 1954 (SLV)
In Europe and the UK the ‘no advertising thing’ didn’t seem to hold the sport back, there were enough wealthy individuals to make up the numbers and manufacturers to give worthy drivers without wealth a steer. Here in the mid fifties the drivers of ‘ANF1’ cars were either ‘silvertails’ like Lex Davison, mind you he made much more than he inherited or ‘self made’ blokes, a whole swag of whom were motor traders (Mildren, Jones, Stillwell, Patterson, Hunt, Glass and others, I’ve included Patto and Stillwell on this list but they too had family $ behind them from the start). The point is it was RedeX money which helped fund Brabham’s campaign, without it he probably wouldn’t have achieved what he did. What am I saying? The Americans goddit right from the start with a totally commercial approach which allowed those with talent access to sponsors funds to help them progress.
The cars race debut was at Leyburn, Queensland on 23 August, he won the ’53 Qld Road racing Championship. Brabham set quickest time in the NSW GP at Gnoo Blas, Orange but non-started the 1953 AGP at Albert Park after he ran the Bristol’s rear camshaft bearings in practice due to excessive friction.
Brabham contested the 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix, finishing 6th, meeting Tony Gaze, Reg Parnell, Peter Whitehead, Ken Wharton and a VERY young Bruce McLaren. Jack stayed in the McLaren home, Leslie McLaren a local racer and garage owner. The race was won by Stan Jones Maybach .
The car continued to do well throughout Australia, his clashes with Davison’s HWM Jag, Dick Cobden’s Ferrari and Jones Maybach were highlights of the period.
At the ’55 NZGP meeting two visitors from the UK, Dunlop Racing Manager Dick Jeffrey and Dean Delamont, Competition Manager of the RAC, convinced him he should try his hand in the UK the following year. By the time he alighted the ship on the journey back to Sydney he determined to do just that, and the rest as they say is history.
Stan Jones in the ex-Brabham Cooper T23 Bristol, Altona, date uncertain (unattributed)
Stan Jones was the eager buyer of the Cooper having destroyed his new Maybach 2 whilst leading the 1954 AGP. Stan was lucky to survive a very high speed journey backwards through Southport’s trees. Whilst Charlie Dean and his band of merry, Repco men designed and built Maybach 3, Stan first raced the CB in the Victorian Trophy at Fishermans Bend on 19 February. The nose of the car was slightly modified before his next race at Albert Park in March 1955.
Stan retained ownership and had Ern Seeliger race at Bathurst Easter 1955, Ern was 2nd in the ‘Bathurst 100.’ Jones was forever buying and selling racing cars, ‘moving metal’ was his business after all! Have a read of my article about the champion racer if you are unfamiliar with Alan’s father and his own impressive racing CV;
Later in 1955 Jones sold the car to ‘Ecurie Corio’s’ Tom Hawkes, the Geelong businessman raced the car for 3 years before leaving for Europe.
Hawkes in the Cooper T23 Holden at Port Wakefield, SA, Labor Day meeting 1957. Top shot! (Geoff Chennells)
Hawkes first race was the 1955 AGP at Port Wakefield, winning a heat but DNF in the race itself with fuel feed problems. Tom then modified the car by lengthening the nose, altered the front suspension and most importantly fitted a Holden ‘Grey Motor’ incorporating a Phil Irving Repco ‘Hi-Power’ head. The car raced in this form at Albert Park in March 1956 and over the next 2 years in this spec.
Cooper T23, with its neat 6 cylinder Holden Repco engine Gnoo Blas or Bathurst (Ian McKay)
The car was very fast in this form, not quite an outright contender amongst the ‘heavy metal’ of 250F’s, Ferrari 500/625 and Ted Gray’s V8 engined Tornado but still quick enough to finish 2nd in the 1957 Gold Star series to Davison. Those points were amassed by finishing 4th in the Victorian Trophy, 2nd in the Qld Road Racing Championship, 2nd in the NSW Road Racing Championship. He was a terrific 3rd in the 1958 AGP at Bathurst.
Same meeting as the pic above, longer in the nose and all the prettier and quicker for it. Gnoo Blas or Bathurst (Ian McKay Collection)
Tom Hawkes, Cooper T23 Holden Repco, about as pretty as racer of the period can get, and mighty fast in ‘Hi-po’ Repco head form (Ellis French)
Ace historian/researcher Stephen Dalton dates these Phillip Island shots (above and below) of Tom’s T23 as during the October 1957 meeting, note the mixed grid of MG T Spls. The shots show just how sleek the car has become in its ‘definitive’ later Repco headed Holden form. It may not have quite been an outright car in terms of outright performance by then but Hawkes did a mighty fine job of extracting all the car could give.
Next to Hawkes Cooper T23 Holden on the right is Eddie (father of Larry) Perkins, Porsche Spl and Ted Gray in the Tornado Chev at left, Unlimited Racing Car event, October 1957, Phillip Island (Ellis French)
When Hawkes left for the UK at the end of 1958 he retained the car but tasked Murray Rainey to fit a Chev Corvette 283cid ‘small block’ V8 into the Coopers lissom spaceframe chassis.
This job was completed by Earl Davey Milne who bought the car in April 1962. Gearbox used was Borg Warner T10, a slippery diff was also fitted and the bodywork modified. The car is still retained by his family 50 years later. Because it never raced ‘in period’ in this form the Cooper is ineligible for a CAMS ‘Certificate of Description’ and appropriate logbook.
The car appears in demonstrations from time to time, looking immaculate, its importance as the first Mk2 CB and its role in the ‘Brabham Ascent’ appreciated by all enthusiasts.
The ‘Cooper Corvette’ ex-Brabham T23 driven by Troy Davey-Milne at Albert Park in one of the historic demonstrations during the AGP carnival (Davey-Milne)
Chev 283 Corvette ‘small block’ with 2 big Holleys atop, installation very neatly done ‘in period’ but ‘Cooper Corvette’ never raced in this form. Albert Park 2006 (Davey-Milne)
Troy Davey-Milne in #CB/Mk2/1-53 Cooper T23 Chev at the wet Geelong Sprints, Ritchie Boulevard in November 1995 (Stephen Dalton)
Still a handsome car, Troy Davey Milne at Albert Park in 2006 (Davey-Milne)
Etcetera…
Probably too arcane a topic for international readers but some Australian enthusiasts may find this short photo based article about the Charge Brothers on the great ‘Aussie Homestead’ site, of interest. None of the photos of the brothers cars are at their Altona circuit. In fact they are everywhere in Victoria but the place which is not what I wanted at all! Click on this link to have a look;
Lex Davison #4 lights up his Dunlops with Bib Stillwell and David McKay on the front row of the ‘Victorian Trophy’ grid, Calder Raceway on 13 March 1963…
They finished in this order, Lex’ ex-McLaren Cooper T62 the winner from the Stillwell and McKay Brabham BT4 Climaxes. David’s was a ‘little’ 2.5 litre FPF, the other two were toting big ‘Indy’ 2.7 litre engines.
In a season of consistency Stillwell won his second Gold Star, Taswegian John Youl won at Warwick Farm and Mallala, Davo won at Calder, Bathurst and Sandown but only Sandown was a championship round so the Melbourne motor dealer took the second of 4 Gold Stars on the trot, 1962-1965.
Calder Victorian Trophy grid 1963 from the front, Davo, Stillwell and McKay (John Ellacott)
Tale of the Cooper T62 #’CTA/BM/2’…
It’s a sad tale too. This car was successful, winning races in the hands of both Bruce Mclaren for whom it was built and for Lex Davison who raced it next. But for those around the car there was much tragedy, so its an interesting tale if not a happy one. Rocky Tresise died at its wheel, not much has been written about the young Melburnian, Davo’s protégé. The point of the article is largely to right that a little, if you can add more to Rocky’s story I am interested to hear from you to flesh it out further.
Perth hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1962…
The Lord Mayor, like so many before and after him globally saw the games as a way of putting his city on the map and expediting the development of much needed infrastructure.
The event was tiny by the standards of Commonwealth and Olympic games today; 35 countries sent 863 athletes to compete in 9 sports but the event was huge in the context of the cities small population of around 500,000 people.
The games were the first to have an athletes village, till then competitors had been housed in hotels and billeted in private homes. As a fan of Perth’s City Beach I was astounded to learn the area was largely bushland until 65 acres were developed for the village in advance of the games. Now it’s a great place to live beachside and an easy train ride into town.
At the time the Australian Grand Prix didn’t have a permanent home, the event was rotated around the countries six states. This was good and bad.
Good in the sense that spectators/competitors had a chance to see/participate in their home race every few years but bad in the sense that no one circuit owner/promoter could set up ‘infrastructure’ knowing they had one or two big events they could plan their revenues and therefore capital outlays around. This ‘sharing arrangement’ applied until the first F1 AGP in Adelaide in 1985, which became Albert Park when the nasty Victorians ‘nicked the race’ from SA.
Perth circa 1964 (unattributed)
It made good sense to have the AGP in Perth at the time of the games to get along a decent crowd of locals and overseas visitors.
The ‘Games, held from 22 November-1 December were noted for ‘heat, dust and glory’. The opening ceremony was 105 degrees fahrenheit, (40.5 centigrade) the heat continued throughout the competition. The army were pressed into service ferrying constant supplies of water to parched competitors.
The 18 November 1962 AGP was held at Caversham, an ex-military airfield circuit in Perth’s Swan Valley, 20 km north-east of the city centre and was also scorching hot.
The circuit hosted two AGP’s in 1962 and 1957, that race was won somewhat controversially by Lex Davison’s Ferrari 500/625, co-driven by Bill Patterson, again in scorching heat. To this day many pundits believe the race was won by Stan Jones Maser 250F who took the chequered flag but subsequently the win was given to his great friend and Melbourne rival after ‘lap countbacks’ and protests
In order to secure some world class competitors Brabham and McLaren were paid to attend, both brought cars intended to compete in the Antipodean summer internationals which traditionally commenced in New Zealand early in the new year.
The Brabham BT4 and Cooper T62 were variants of the respective marques 1962 F1 cars, the BT3 and T60, both powered in that application by the Coventry Climax 1.5 litre FWMV V8.
For ‘Tasman’ use, actually Formula Libre at the time, both cars were fitted with 2.7 litre Coventry Climax FPF 4 cylinder engines, CC’s 2.5 litre very successful 1959/60 World Championship winning engine taken out to 2.7 litres. These ‘Indy’ engines were originally developed for Jack’s first Cooper mounted Indianapolis appearance in the Memorial Day classic.
Brabham and Stillwell take to the Caversham track, AGP weekend 1962. Brabham BT4 and Cooper T53 (Terry Walker)
‘The History of The Australian Grand Prix’ relevant chapter was written by Graham Howard. He records that Jack and Bruce started the race very evenly matched; Jack ‘popped’ his 2.7 Climax in practice, Bruce lent him his 2.5 spare, indicative of the great friendship between two guys who were also fierce competitors particularly on ‘their home turf’ during the annual Tasman races.
For McLaren’s part, Bruce had his Cooper handling beautifully having tested the car at Goodwood prior to his trip but then John Cooper grabbed the springs fitted to it for Monza F1 use leaving Bruce with a skittish, twitchier chassis than was his optimum.
So, Bruce had a bit more ‘puff’ than Jack, the alcohol fuelled 2.7 FPF giving around 260bhp to Jack’s 230 but Jack had the sweeter handling car- the scene was set for a fascinating contest.
Whilst the entry was ‘skinny’ the race promised to be a close one and so it was.
Other entries included the Coopers of Davison T53, John Youl T55, Bib Stillwell T53 and Bill Patterson, the latter somewhat hamstrung by driving an older T51.
Stillwells Cooper T53 cruising the Caversham paddock (oldracephotos.com)
Local enthusiasts who raced were Syd Negus’ Cooper T23 Holden, E Edwards TS Spl and Jeff Dunkerton’s Lotus 7.
Small field shown in this start shot, fortunately the torrid duel between Brabham and McLaren made up for the paucity of competitors. Brabham then dark green Coopers, Patterson’s white one, Davo’s red Cooper and similar colored BRM P48 Olds of Arnold Glass, then the front engined Cooper T23 Holden of Negus, green TS Spl of Ted Edwards and finally the green Lotus Super 7 of Jeff Dunkerton, the last sports car to start an AGP. Note the State Governor’s Roller in the foreground (Lyn Morgan/Terry Walker)
The race only had 10 starters, Perth is a long way from the east coast where most of the Gold Star contenders were based. The balance of the field was made up of WA competitors. Indicative of the change in the nature of AGP fields is that this race was the last for a front engined car (the appearance of the Ferguson in 1963 excepted), the last for an air-cooled and Holden engined cars.
Brabham’s brand new BT4 Climax at Caversham, this car the first of many very successful ‘Intercontinental’ Brabhams; the Coventry Climax powered BT4/7A/11A won a lot of races in Australasia (Milton McCutcheon)
Even though the field was small the race settled into an absorbing battle between McLaren and Brabham at the front. The thrust and parry continued for over 40 laps, the gap varying between 2 and 8 seconds as attack and counter-attack was staged.
Lex with a big smile for the cameras! Cooper T53 Climax 2.7 ‘Lowline’ . The T53 was the works only ’60 GP car and sold to customers for ’61 (oldracephotos.com)
The race went on with Jack unable to get past Bruce but opportunity arose when Bruce ran wide lapping Arnold Glass for the second time.
Jack focused on Bruce, Glass took his line for the next corner, he and Brabhamcollided, the latter racing an ex-Scarab aluminium Buick V8 powered BRM P48. Arnold finished but JB was out on lap 50 leaving Bruce to take a popular win.
McLaren takes the plaudits of the crowd on his victory lap, Caversham 1962 (Terry Walker)
Youl was 2nd after an interesting battle with Stillwell 3rd, 4 seconds behind, Patterson 4th, then Glass in the BRM and Negus the first of the locals in the Cooper T23 Holden.
McLaren takes the plaudits of the crowd and the Governor, McLaren manager/journalist Eoin Young is the ‘blood nut’ in glasses behind the governor (Terry Walker)
With that Bruce and Jack returned to Europe for the finish of the season and then returned in January to race the cars in the annual Australasian summer series of races.
Bruce McLaren shows racer/journo/team owner David McKay his new T62 toy, McKay could not race having damaged his ex-McLaren Cooper T55, famously demolishing a marshalls ‘dunny’ after an off into Warwick Farm’s infield. Front wishbone suspension, Alford & Alder uprights, big oil reservoir for the CC FPF and aluminium side fuel tanks all clear (Peter Longley/Terry Walker)
Cooper T62 Climax…
The Cooper was conventional for its day the T60 F1 chassis was laid out by Owen Maddocks after discussion with Bruce and John Cooper.
The T62 was built on the T60 jig by Tommy Atkins team at his Chessington ‘shop, Harry Pearce and Wally Willmott did the work. The rear frame was designed to take a P56 BRM 1.5 litre V8, the plan was for Bruce to drive it in non-championship F1 races Cooper themselves were not interested to contest.
When the engine was late, Atkins shelved the project and instead modified its frame to accept a 2.7 litre ‘Indy’ Coventry Climax FPF engine and Colotti T32 5 speed transaxle for ‘Tasman’ use.
Bruce and David again, rear frame detail and big 58DCO Weber fed 2.7 litre CC FPF engine, circa 260bhp on alcohol (Terry Walker)
Suspension was upper and lower wishbones and coil spring/shocks at the front and rear. There were adjustable roll bars front and rear, rack and pinion steering and disc brakes all round clamped by Girling BR/AR calipers front/rear. Wheel diameter was 15 inches.
#10 McLaren Cooper T62, Tony Maggs Lola Mk4 and Davison Cooper T53 on the ’63 Longford grid preliminary race (Ellis French)
McLaren raced the car that summer in the Antipodean Internationals
He took Kiwi wins at Wigram and Teretonga in January and then Sandown and Longford in Oz.
He was third at Warwick Farm and retired at Pukekohe, Levin and Lakeside. Bruce then sold the car, which had won five of its nine starts to Lex and headed back to Europe.
1963 AGP at Warwick Farm 10 February 1963; #2 Surtees Lola Mk4a 2nd #5 David McKay Brabham BT4 4th #10 McLaren Cooper T62 3rd, Brabham won the race in his BT4 (Howard)
1963 Internationals and Gold Star…
As stated in the first paragraphs of this article, Bib Stillwell won the second of his four Gold Stars with consistent performances in his Brabham BT4 all year. Lex showed plenty of speed in the T62 winning the Victorian Trophy at Calder and Bathurst 100 but neither were Gold Star rounds that year. Sandown was another T62 win, a hometown one and a championship round in September.
Jack Brabham won the AGP at Warwick Farm, the race held on 10 February whilst the ‘Tasman’ drivers were in the country, a pattern which continued for years, making the race much harder, and prized, to win by locals. Bruce was 3rd in the T62 with John Surtees 2nd in his Lola Mk4A.
McLaren won, as stated in the T62 at Longford and Sandown before selling the car to Lex and John Youl took two great wins in his Geoff Smedley fettled Cooper T55 at Mallala and Warwick Farm, the final 2 races of the Gold Star championship.
Davison with ‘Bathurst 100’ victory laurels 15 April 1963, the Cooper T62 looks superb, his cars always beautifully presented and prepared by Alan Ashton and the rest of the crew (John Ellacott)
Lex T62 ahead of Stillwell’s Brabham BT4 during the Victorian Trophy, Calder 11 April 1963 (‘stan patterson’)
Lex had 1963 Gold Star speed if not reliability. In the ’64 Tasman Series, he contested the Sandown, Warwick Farm and Longford rounds for DNF/8th/6th in the T62.
Bruce returned to the Antipodes with a 2 car team in 1964, the so-called ‘first McLarens’ were Cooper T70’s designed by Bruce, albeit built in the Cooper ‘shop. Bruce took 3 wins, Brabham 3 as well in his new BT7A but greater consistency gave Bruce the title.
Denny Hulme was Jack’s teammate in the Brabham BT4 Jack used the previous year, the car Davison would later purchase at the series conclusion.Tim Mayer showed great speed and promise in the other T70 but sadly lost his life in an accident at Longford.
oopsie! Lex having a moment in the T62 at Sandowns turn 1 or Shell Corner, in front is Frank Matich and behind Jack Brabham both in Brabham BT7A Climaxes. AGP which Brabham won, 9 February 1964, the other two both DNF (Howard)
Lex joined the ‘circus’ for his home race, the AGP at Sandown on 9 February but was out with piston failure in the T62 on lap 29, Jack won the race.
Davo was 8th and 2nd local home behind Stillwell at Warwick Farm, Brabham again taking the win.
He didn’t contest the ‘Lakeside 99’ in Queensland but was 6th a little closer to home at Longford in early March, this time Graham Hill won in a Brabham, David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce BT4.
Longford ‘South Pacific Trophy’ grid 2 March 1964; #2 Brabham BT7A, Hill in the red winning BT4 and Matich in the pale BT7A, then Stillwell on row 2 in the dark BT4 with Lex alongside in the red T62 and the rest (Geoff Smedley)
Lex started the ’64 Gold Star series in the Cooper but soon ‘got with the strength’ and bought one of Ron Tauranac’s ‘Intercontinental’ Brabhams, the marque pretty much had a stranglehold on the domestic competition from this point for the next few years. From 1963-68 to be precise.
Cooper T62 (right) and new Brabham BT4 with Davison team engineer Alan Ashton’s Ford Mainline ute towcar. ‘The BT4 was JB’s works car then Denny Hulme’s winning the AGP and Tasman Champs then to Davo and later John McCormack’s first ANF1 car. This is the BT4’s first run at Calder by Davison still in factory colors, after this meeting ’twas painted red (Terry Walker/Denis Lupton)
Stillwell again won the Gold Star, his well developed and beautifully prepared Brabham BT4, the national championship now run to the Tasman 2.5 litre formula.
He was more than quick enough to take the title with a win at Lakeside and strong placings elsewhere including an excellent 2nd to Brabham at Sandown in the AGP contested by the internationals on 4 February.
Lex won at Mallala in his new Brabham BT4 with Rocky Tresise finishing third at Warwick Farm in Lex’ Cooper T62, the nearly 1 hour race great preparation for the internationals Tresise was to contest that summer. The quicker 2.5’s of Matich and Stillwell didn’t finish the race but Rocky finished in front of Lex who was 4th. Leo Geoghegan and Greg Cusack were 1st and 2nd in Ford/Lotus 1.5 powered Lotus 32 and Elfin FJ respectively
Rocky Tresise…
Davo raced the Brabham from the 13 September Lakeside round giving Rocky Tresise, an up-and-comer and neighbour some races in the now second-string T62 during 1964.
Rocky’s first exposure to motor racing was as a 15 year old Melbourne Grammar schoolboy attending a Fishermans Bend meeting in 1958 with a mate whose family knew David McKay. The Scuderia Veloce chief was racing his Aston DB3S at the meeting.
Tresise was hooked ‘the noise, the smell and the excitement really got me in and from then on I bought every motor magazine I could get to try to learn more about motor racing’ he said in an AMS article about him in June 1964.
Rocky Tresise in 1964 aged 21 (AMS)
Rocky worked as a ‘servo’ pump attendant and on a farm in his school holidays to get together sufficient money to buy a car when he turned 18, his MGA contested 52 races at Sandown and Calder in 1962 having started in sprints and hillclimbs.
In 1961 the Davisons moved to Clendon Road, Toorak, one of the best streets in Melbourne, the Tresise family were the neighbours.
Chris Davison, Lex’ son and a racer himself recalls; ‘We grew up at Killara Park, the farm at Lilydale my grandfather established, dad used to commute into Collingwood each day where the shoe factory was. (Paragon Shoes) As we got older and needed to be closer to Burke Hall (Xavier Junior School) in Kew dad bought a house at 81 Clendon Road, Toorak just over the road from St Johns Toorak’.
‘Rocky had obviously heard via the grapevine we were moving in and on the very first night, the first night as we sat down to dinner there was a helluva racket, an engine being blipped and revved next door. Dad said ‘what the hell is that?’ and went next door to investigate, so they literally met the first night we moved into Clendon Road! Rocky’s furious blipping and revving of the engine was to let dad know there was a racer next door’
‘Rocky was a terrific bloke, i was 13/14 and liked him a lot. I often travelled with he and his girlfriend Robyn Atherton between race meetings. Rocky’s dad died some years back and Lex quickly became someone Rocky looked up to. A bit of a father figure and as time went on dad spoke of Rocky as his protege. Dad was famous for his Dame Nellie Melba (Australian opera singer) like retirements and comebacks but he knew his time to retire wasn’t too far off. The one of these i remember most was during one of the Albert Park meetings when we had Stirling Moss staying with us, we spent the whole weekend on a boat in the middle of Albert Park Lake so dad wouldn’t be tempted to get involved!’.
Tresise scoots thru The Esses in the Triumph 2000 Mk1 he shared with Lex at Bathurst in 1964 (autopics)
Rocky, having gained useful experience, but not winning any races in his stock car, realised he would not be competitive without extensive and expensive modifications to the MGA.
RT had met Jack Hunnam racing a Morris 850 in the same team during the 1962 Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island, Hunnam sold Rocky his Lotus 18 Ford FJ, Hunnam was moving up to an Elfin.
The MG was sold, his road car an A Model Ford, his goal of an open-wheeler the important next step was a choice made with Davo’s advice. Rocky’s first race in the car was at Calder in January 1963, he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory touching wheels with another and having it aviate over the top of his Lotus.
In another race a rear suspension failure resulted in a spin, these mechanical problems were typical of his 1963 but he worked hard at night at Hunnams to better prepare the car whilst Lex assisted with advice on race craft, lines and so on. His first success, a 3rd in the 1963 Australian FJ championship. Tim Schenken later bought the Lotus which was an important part of his ascension.
After that success Rocky managed 4 wins and a 2nd from 5 starts in FJ events. By this stage he was working fulltime as a hardware salesman for the family business. Chris Davison did some research and identified WP Tresise & Co Pty. Ltd. with outlets in Flinders Lane, Melbourne and Lower Malvern Road, East Malvern as the family company.
On April 9 1964 Tresise (real name Rodney) was given the ultimate 21st birthday present when Lex gave him an Ecurie Australie pocket emblem as a welcome to the team, he was to drive the Cooper T62 at the 19 April Victorian Trophy Sandown meeting.
‘Dad wasn’t an easy bloke, he was a stickler and a tough disciplinarian so he would have had Rocky under a tight rein and insisting on him doing as he was asked. The famous occasion was when Rocky ran off at the bottom of Conrod at Bathurst during the 500 and arrived back at the pits…’what about getting the car son!’ was dads response!’
During lunchtime on the Friday before the April Victorian Trophy meeting Lex drove the circuit with Rocky in his DB4 Aston. They stopped at various points to discuss lines, gear change and braking points and then played ‘follow the leader’, Lex in the Brabham, Rocky the Cooper.
Tresise got his times down to mid 14’s, the lap record then was Brabham/McLaren’s 1:8.1. Tresise ‘I thought I’d be frightened of the car, but I wasn’t. Even when it’s sitting still you know it’s tremendously fast, everything is so functional but the biggest thing about it is it’s fantastic acceleration’ he quipped.
Spencer Martin was having his second start in the Scuderia Veloce Brabham Climax both of the young drivers performed well albeit Rocky fluffed a gear off the grid causing engine failure later in the race.
In the 15 lap feature he was last into Shell Corner, having botched a change but got his times down to the mid 12’s, up to 5th by lap 4 and on lap 10 3rd behind Stillwell and Lex after Frank Matich retired from the lead. On lap 13 the engine popped but 1:12.3 was good after only half an hour behind the wheel of what was one of the fastest single-seaters on the planet at the time. These 2.7 litre FPF Climax engined cars were quicker than the 1.5 litre F1’s of the day.
Lex Davison had this to say of Tresise in his AMS column; ‘…he has had over 60 starts. This is more than Bib Stillwell, Bill Patterson, Doug Whiteford, Stan Jones or myself had in our first 10 years of racing. His driving has improved gradually and after the usual errors of youth, over-confidence and inexperience he has developed a businesslike and earnest approach to driving racing cars’.
During 1964 Davison and Tresise shared a Triumph 2000 in the Bathurst 500 finishing 8th in class D, the race was won by the Bob Jane/Harry Firth Ford Cortina Mk1 GT.
In November 1964 Tresise borrowed Ian Kaufman’s ex-works Frank Matich driven Elfin for the Victorian 1500cc Championship, the final of five rounds of the Lucas/Davison Trophy Series. Rocky was 4th outright and won the 1100cc class in the race taking out the 1100cc championship, the car prepared by Lou Russo ‘in such good shape that some of the 1500cc cars couldn’t get near it’, the Australian Motor Sports race report said.
Hunnam won the series from Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 27, Tresise was 5th in the pitscore and Lex presented Geoghegan and Rocky their trophies. Interestingly AMS records Alan Jones racing Stan’s Cooper T51 Climax in a special handicap race ‘Alan handled the big car well to come 2nd’ to Bib Stillwell’s Cooper Monaco Buick.
Ecurie Australie in the Warwick Farm paddock during the Hordern Trophy weekend, December 1964. L>R Jon Davo, Lou Russo, Lex, Alan Ashton, Rocky, Peter Davo and Warwick Cumming, Brabham BT4 left and Cooper T62 right (Chris Davison Collection)
As stated earlier Tresise contested the ‘Hordern Trophy’ at Warwick Farm over the weekend of 5/6 December 1964.
Rocky finished third in the Cooper T62, the nearly 1 hour race great preparation for the internationals Tresise was to contest that summer. The quicker 2.5’s of Matich and Stillwell didn’t finish the race but Rocky finished in front of Lex who was 4th. Leo Geoghegan and Greg Cusack were 1st and 2nd in Ford/Lotus 1.5 powered Lotus 32 and Elfin FJ respectively.
Rocky in the T62 at Warwick Farm during the ‘Hordern Trophy’ 1964 (Bruce Wells)
He may not have been the youngest driver in the field but Davo could still make a car dance; here left on the front row in Brabham BT4 alongside Clark’s Lotus 32B and Hills Brabham BT11A, NZGP Pukekohe 1965 (Jack Brabham with Doug Nye)
1965 Tasman Series…
The ’65 Tasman was won convincingly by Jim Clark’s Lotus 32B Climax, who started his amazing 1965 season with a bang. That year he won the Tasman, Indy and his second F1 World Championship.
Lex raced his Brabham BT4 in the season opening NZ GP at Pukekohe starting off the front row and proving their was very much still ‘life in the old dog’ starting alongside Hill and Clark and ahead of all the rest including Brabham, Gardner, McLaren, Phil Hill and others. It was an amazing performance which deserved better than a DNF with overheating on lap 33.
He chose not to race the remaining Kiwi rounds, shipping the car back to Oz, direct to Sydney where Ecurie Australie, Lex in BT4 and Rocky in T62 contested the ‘Warwick Farm 100’ on 14 February.
Rocky has the Cooper T62 on tippy-toes as he finesses the big,powerful car around the technically challenging ‘Farm circuit 14 February 1965 (Bruce Wells)
Clark won the race, Rocky was 9th, 3 laps behind Clark with Lex withdrawing on lap 3 with a broken steering wheel, not the first time that had happened to him! Rocky’s was a good performance, he was behind the 1.5’s of Roly Levis and Leo Geoghegan but he still lacked miles in the car.
Tresise ahead of Bib Stillwell during the Tasman ‘Warwick Farm 100’, Cooper T62 and Brabham BT11A, Bib first resident local home in 4th 14 Feb 1965 (Bruce Wells)
Racing in this company and finishing was a fillip to his confidence. It was only his third meeting in the car. The top 6 were Clark, Brabham, Matich, Stillwell, Hill G and Jim Palmer, drivers of vast experience and calibre…
Lex in the Brabham BT4 at Warwick Farm during his last race, a broken steering wheel the cause. Thats the Ecurie Australie badge to the right of the mirror. He died at Sandown 6 days later (Bruce Wells)
Sandown Tasman Meeting, 20 February 1965…
The teams then pointed their trucks south down the Hume Highway, from Sydneys western outskirts horse racing venue to Melbournes eastern outskirts horse racing facility, Sandown Park.
During that tragic weekend Lex Davison died when his Brabham left the circuit on a Saturday practice session in an undemanding part of the track, the gentle right hand kink on the back straight, he went over a culvert and hit the horse racing perimeter fence coming to rest some distance further on in the circuit infield.
Chris Davison, a racer himself; ‘Dad had done a few ‘Nellie Melba’s’, retired and come back. He’d had some warnings about his heart from the doctor. What is probable is that something happened to his heart, maybe not an attack as such but he may have momentarily blacked out, the car following him, Glynn Scott, said the car turned inexplicably left and we lost him as a consequence of the collision itself. Days later his badly damaged helmet was delivered home to Clendon Road by a couple of policemen, I’m still not sure where it is now after all these years’.
I don’t propose to go into this further, the salient facts above are sufficient.
The result was that one of Australian motor racings greatest, a titan since the 1940’s was lost.
Rocky’s Cooper was of course, withdrawn from the meeting.
Chris Davison; ‘I really like this photo with all the Davo clan and a young Rocky. Taken at the Vic Trophy Race at Calder in 1963. That’s me wearing Dad’s cap and Richard with Rocky at the back wheel’ Cooper T62 (autopics)
The impact of Davison’s death cannot be overstated in Melbourne at the time…
Lex was a four time AGP and the inaugural Gold Star title winner, a well known sportsman in a city obsessed with sport. He was a successful, respected businessman, Paragon Shoes, the business his father started was an employer of a large number of people. A good looking athletic bloke, his wife Diana was an attractive woman so they cut a fine figure as a couple in Melbourne at a time it was small. It was big, very sad news for the broader populace let alone the Davison family and extended network.
Enthusiasts of a particular age remember what they were doing when they heard the news on 20 February 1965, it was one of ‘those’ events in ones lifetime.
Aussie GP driver Tim Schenken, a Melburnian provided a personal perspective in a MotorSport interview ‘…in 1964 Rocky Tresise was selling his Lotus 18 because he was joining Lex Davison’s team. I borrowed the money from my dad to get it. Now I was in a proper racing car started attracting a bit of attention at Calder, Winton, Tarrawingee and Sandown…’
‘Then out of the blue Lex Davison called. He was a major figure of course and a real hero of mine. He told me he was going to retire and Rocky Tresise was going to take over his big single-seaters. He’d watched me in the Lotus 18 and wanted to put me in his Elfin. (Lex had paid a deposit on a new Elfin 100 ‘Mono’ 1.5 Ford) It was unbelievable for me’. Barely a week after Lex’ conversation with Tim, Lex died at Sandown and then Rocky the weekend after that at Longford.
‘Because of Lex’s status in Australia, there were hundreds of people at his funeral in Melbourne’s St Patricks Cathedral including Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren. I’d never been to a funeral before and it was dreadful. On the coffin was a chequered flag his helmet and gloves. I didn’t know anyone, I just hung around on the edge of it, very muddled about it all’.
‘It was terrible, Lex and Rocky dying on consecutive weekends. It just stunned everybody. The thing was the weekend after Rocky’s crash I was due to run for the first time under the Ecurie Australie banner at Calder in my Lotus 18. The newspapers got hold of it and were speculating about whether it would be three fatal crashes in 3 weekends. I went to see Diana Davison and she pleaded with me not to race at Calder. I was under a lot of pressure not to drive; I felt I couldn’t talk to my parents about it but all I wanted to do was to go racing. I was a very confused boy’, Tim raced the Lotus at Calder entered in his own name, the transmission broke on the startline.
Frank Matich, left and Rocky at Warwick Farm during the Hordern Trophy meeting in December 1964 (autopics)
Australian Grand Prix, Longford 1 March 1965…
Chris Davison ‘Longford was usually one of ‘my’ races as a kid so i knew the place well. A few days after dads funeral which was huge, it was like a State funeral so many people attended, the city was brought to a standstill, i was still numb just trying as a kid to absorb what had happened. It was like looking outside watching people going about their daily lives and wondering why they didn’t see what you are going through, that things weren’t the same at all’.
‘Rocky and dads team; Alan Ashton, Lou Russo and Warwick Cumming came to the house to see the family and find out if they should race the car the following weekend at Longford. To go or not to go was the call we had to make. Over all these years when this question comes up i ask people what you would do, what would you have decided was the right thing? Most say ‘race on in Lex’s honor’ which is of course what we decided’.
And so the scene was set. Ecurie Australie crossed Bass Straight on the overnight ‘Princess of Tasmania’ voyage. After berthing in Devonport the team took the short drive to Longford, a picturesque village 25km from Launceston, Tasmania’s ‘northern capital’ in the Apple Isles northern midlands.
The race was always held on a long weekend and was well supported by non-motor racing type Taswegians as a major sporting event on their calendar, over 30000 attended the ’65 event.
This 1964 documentary footage captures the essence of the place and its inherent dangers in a modestly powered sedan, let alone a GP car, click here to see and enjoy it;
Overseas visitors to Oz doing a ‘motor racing tour’ should include Longford amongst your ‘must visit’ circuits. Other circuits/ex-circuits whilst itinerary planning are Phillip Island and Albert Park in Victoria, Mount Panorama at Bathurst NSW, and the Lobethal and Nuriootpa road courses in SA’s Barossa Valley. Lobethal is amazing. Checkout the Adelaide GP street circuit whilst you are in town of course.
Middle of the grid before the ‘Examiner Trophy’ preliminary race. Stillwell #6 Brabham BT11A, Matich BT7A and Frank Gardner in the yellow Mildren BT11A with Rocky in the red Cooper T62 in the row behind (Stephen Dalton)
Rocky hadn’t raced on the demanding, dangerous, fast, over 100mph average speed and technical road circuit before. Lex wasn’t there to guide him. Its intriguing to know who looked after him in terms of getting his head around the circuit and his approach to it that weekend with all of the tragedy of the week before at the forefront of his mind. He was a very brave young fella of great character to race.
He practiced and started the preliminary race ‘The Examiner Road Racing Championship’ without incident. Bruce won from Jack and Graham Hill, Rocky was 10th.
He had misgivings about contesting the main race ‘The South Pacific Trophy’ on the Monday though.
‘Racing Car News’ and ‘History of The Australian GP’ journalist Ray Bell recalled on The Nostalgia Forum in 2015 ‘Rocky did have some serious misgivings about driving in the race. He’d been talking to (Tasmanian racer) Lynn Archer earlier in the day. Lynn told him if he didn’t feel like driving he should tell the team and pack the car away, but it was his decision and nobody else could make it for him’.
The Ecurie Australie Cooper T62 is pushed onto the grid for its last fateful race in Rocky’s hands 1 March 1965 (oldracephotos.com)
Start of the AGP Longford 1965. Graham Hill BT11A on the right gets away well with Brabham BT11A in the middle and winner McLaren Cooper T79 at left. #8 is Clark’s Lotus 32B, #7 Gardner’s Brabham BT11A, #11 is Phil Hills Cooper T70, #3 Matich BT7A and Stillwell alongside Frank in the dark BT11A, Tresise in #12 T62 is to Bibs left with Bob Jane in the light colored Elfin Mono Ford 1.5 beside and behind Rocky #15 is Jack Hobden’s Cooper T51 and #9 Bill Patterson’s light coloured Cooper T51 (Howard)
In terms of the Grand Prix itself, Bell summarised it thus; ‘ It was a stinking hot day, we saw the greatest race I ever saw. A contest that had four World Champions (Phil and Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Jim Clark) and a multi-times second placegetter (not to mention Tasman Champion, Bruce McLaren) at each others throats for the whole distance…Phil Hill had his last open-wheeler race, it was more than that to him. It was the best race he ever drove in his opinion and when I reflect on what I saw that day it certainly was a great drive’.
The road narrows beyond Mountford Corner as the cars pass the end of the pits which is where the accident ocurred. You can see from the start shot above how wide the circuit is in that start/finish/pits area of the track
Rocky‘…had trouble all weekend getting first gear out of Mountford. The first time he got it right (that is selected and used 1st gear from the tight corner) was at the end of that first lap, then he came boiling out of the hairpin passing 1.5 cars one after the other. Tragically that’s why he ran out of room (where the circuit narrows). I’d met Robin d’ Abrera just a few weeks earlier, he was with Peter Bakalor whom I’d known for a year or two. He was really enjoying being with the other photographers and following this important series for Autosport.’
‘So for Anthony Davison, the family representative that day, a young man, (17) after running across to the crash site and learning of Rocky’s death, he had that to deal with before, an hour or so later, having to present the new trophy named in his fathers honour to Bruce McLaren’ the race winner in his Cooper T79. Jack was next, 3 seconds behind in his BT11A and Phil Hill a further second back in Bruce’ Cooper T70.
Bruce McLaren won the tragic ’65 AGP in a great drive, Cooper T79 Climax. Two motorcyclists also perished at Longford that weekend, an incredibly black one for the sport (Howard)
The Davison family ordeal was far from over though, Bell; ‘The night of the race Anthony, Peter and Jon (Davison) flew back to Essendon Airport, Melbourne and went straight to the Tresise home. There Rocky’s older brother and sister were waiting to hear what happened to their brother. The older brother asked Jon (a decade later a leading F5000 racer) ‘He kept his foot down when he should have backed off’ said Jon. It was that simple. The road has narrowed as he ranged alongside Glynn Scott (Lotus 27 Ford 1.5), with two wheels in the dirt the car lost traction, skewed sideways and started the crazy flight that took the lives of Rocky and Robin d’Abrera’.
Chris Davison; ‘I didnt go to Tasmania that year in all the circumstances of course but i can still recall arriving home from rowing practice on the Monday evening (of the South Pacific Trophy in which Tresise died) and a friend of the family giving me the news about Rocky’s accident. I was devastated, the team, dad, Rocky dead. It was just too much for a kid to absorb, tragic on so many levels. Rocky had two other brothers, one was an army officer, David, Ian the other brother was at the races decades later when David Purley raced here in the LEC sponsored Lola T330 F5000, he had some sort of connection with that company. Rocky was special, he was kind and generous to me, gave me space that was sometimes hard to get with my older brothers dominating the space’.
As to the future of the Tresise family little is known, Chris; ‘Rocky’s mother was Val Tresise, she married some years after Rocky was killed…a man from Western Victoria, or Penola in South Australia, i think his name was Arch de Garris. Rocky’s fiancé was Robyn Atherton and sadly I have no idea what happened to Robyn after Rocky was killed. I guess I was too young to really understand what was happening in those difficult years after both Lex and Rocky were killed, and by the time I was 17, I just wanted to get on with my own life, so I went bush as a jackaroo at Hay and lost contact with many people. The person who was all knowledgeable on these matters was my mother and sadly she has taken all this knowledge with her’.
Anything i say at this point would be trite or superfluous. I am very thankful to Chris for discussing and sharing his recollections of this quite extraordinary fortnight in the lives of the Davison and Tresise families.
The remains of the Ecurie Australie Brabham and Cooper were advertised and bought by Victorian racer Wally Mitchell who used some of the components to build the ‘RM1 Climax’ sportscar.
Mitchell crashed the car at Symmons Plains on 12 March 1967 suffering burns which claimed him, he died on 18 April, to make the story even more macabre.
Prior to his demise historian Stephen Dalton advises his uncle, John Dalton had done a deal with Mitchell to acquire the T62 bits, these components passed to John after delicate discussions with his distraught widow.
Dalton; ‘I remember it under my uncles house at Olinda during the September school holidays of 1978, I was earning some money tidying things up to put more MG stuff under there! I was 13 and didn’t know the sad history of the car at the time’.
‘The car remained a crumpled wreck until the mid to late eighties when a new chassis was built by Charlie Singleton, the car was displayed in chassis form at one of Paul Sabine’s Classic Car Shows in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Things went pear shaped financially and John sold it in the early 1990’s. By the time it was displayed Roger James had ownership and perhaps Richard Bendell was involved. I think Gary Dubois built the body for it’.
The car was sold to the ‘States in the early 1990’s and has been sold a couple of times since when I saw it at Sandown Historics in 2014, but I’m not sure who owns it’, but it seems the car is now owned by an American enthusiast.
Bruce McLaren winning the 1962 AGP at Caversham in the Cooper T62 Climax (oldracephotos.com)
The Cursed Car?…
Its a fact that a whole swag of people closely associated with the Cooper T62 died before their time, not just the obvious four; McLaren, Davison, Tresise and Wally Mitchell. Later owners or part owners John Dalton and Roger James died early, so too Paul Higgins a respected Melbourne journalist ‘attached’ to the Davison team who was murdered along with his wife in gruesome circumstances twenty years ago.
The above are facts not the stuff of a fictional thriller. For those of us a little superstitious the reality is that some cars shouldn’t be rebuilt, but buried. Perhaps this is one such car…
Etcetera…
Cooper T62 upon completion at an early Goodwood test in late 1962 prior to shipment to Fremantle, WA (Mike Lawrence)
McLaren in the Lakeside paddock in early 1963, Tony Shelly behind (B Williamson)
Alan Ashton aboard Lex’ T62 at Mallala, Gold Star round 14 October 1963. Behind is Stillwell’s Cooper Monaco and Pat Hawthorn’s Aston Martin DBR4, blue #16 is Mel McEwin’s Elfin FJ Ford. John Youl won this race in a Cooper T55 (Kevin Drage)
Credits and Bibliography…
Chris Davison who was very generous with his time and insights into a very difficult part of his life as a young teenager
‘History of The AGP’ by Graham Howard and Ors in particular the 1962 and 1965 chapters written by Howard and Des White
‘The Nostalgia Forum’ threads in relation to Lex and Rocky in particular the contributions/insights of Ray Bell and Stephen Dalton
‘Australian Motor Sports’ June 1964 issue, the Melbourne ‘Age’ newspaper 20 February 1965
‘MotorSport’ interview with Tim Schenken
Stephen Dalton Collection, Chris Davison Collection John Ellacott, Terry Walker, oldracephotos.com, Milton McCutcheon, Peter Longley, Ellis French, Geoff Smedley, Ron Lambert Collection, Denis Lupton, Geoff Smedley, autopics.com.au, Murray Lord, Bob Williamson
Tailpiece: Davo in the best of company: Graham Hill’s Brabham BT4, Davison’s Cooper T62 and the white nose of Jim Palmer’s Cooper T53 Climax, Longford 1964
Bob Jane leading his champion driver, Spencer Martin onto the Hume Weir dummy grid for his first race in ‘Bob’s baby’, his Elfin 400 Repco 4.4 V8, June Queens Birthday weekend 1967…
Martin was by then the reigning national Gold Star Champion. In fact he was half way through a year in which he won his second title on the trot, and then having achieved his motor racing aims retired from the sport at elite level’.
#85 in the background is the ex-Bib Stillwell, Tony Osborne owned Cooper Monaco Olds V8 driven by Ian Cook.
The inspiration for this article are a number of great shots of the Hume Weir circuit near the mighty Murray River and border of New South Wales and Victoria. The circuit, closed in 1977 won’t be on the radar of international enthusiasts although Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori raced there during the Australian International races in the summer of ’61.
Brabham 1961, Cooper T53 Climax (C McQuellin)
Jack Brabham wins the ‘Craven A International’ in his Cooper T53 Climax in March 1961, love the ‘Fergy’ in the background, Hume Weir (unattributed)
JB post one of his wins with booty, ours is a parched brown land (C McQuellin)
I knew the circuit, i just missed racing there, it was closed by 1979 when in bought my first Formula Vee, was built in a disused quarry which provided construction stone and gravel material to build the Hume Dam, particularly its retaining wall. Although a Victorian i am a Thredbo skier, a legacy of 9 years working in Sydney and for years summer and winter have driven from Melbourne along the stretch of road from Ebden to Tallangatta with Lake Hume to my left. From Khancoban where the Alpine Way starts is a phenomenal drive to Thredbo Village. This drive, in fact the whole journey from Albury through Corryong, Khancoban, Geehi and Dead Horse Gap to Thredbo is one of Australia’s great drives.
Watch the ‘coppers’ though they police it furiously, the area near Scammells Lookout, a must stop, is an area to stick to the limits in particular!
For years i have driven for miles with Hume Dam on my left and wondered about the Hume Weir project and researched it, some old shots i found are too good not to share.
So, this masterpiece comprises a piece about the building of the Hume Dam, the birth of its Hume Weir Circuit ‘love-child’, the history and some shots of the circuit and a bit about Bob Jane’s Elfin 400 the photos of which at Hume Weir inspired the article.
For my international friends, the ‘where the hell is he talking about?’ question is addressed by the map below, ‘Hume Weir Circuit’ is in red, the road to Thredbo is also there.
1960’s aerial shot of Hume Weir circuit, dam and dam wall. At the bottom of the shot is ‘Scrub Corner’, the tightest hairpin in the country, then heading ‘up’ is the ‘Back Straight’ into the combination of corners called ‘The Loop’, then left (going down the page again) into ‘The Esses’ past the pit entry and onto the ‘Front Straight’, the start/finish line is at the start of which (Dallinger)
Dean Street, Albury 1920’s (Dallinger)
Australia is the driest continent on the planet, as a consequence there have been some major infrastructure projects since Federation in 1901 to provide water for irrigation of crops and/or power. The Hume Dam is one, on much bigger scales are the Ord River Scheme in WA and most impressively and significantly the post-war Snowy Mountains Scheme in NSW.
Travelling the roads mentioned above gives some insights into the ‘Snowy the scale of this nation building post-war project, its one of the civil engineering wonders of the world, can only be experienced on the ground, its un-Australian not to experience it at some point in your life!
Explorers Hume and Hovell trekked through the area in 1824, Albury was first settled by Europeans in the 1840’s.
As early as 1863, it was clear that water management was needed to ease the boom and bust flows of the rivers. Lochs and weirs were advocated but when representatives of the three colonies impacted, NSW, Victoria and South Australia met in Melbourne, the talks came to nothing. Not much different to today really, when the Premiers meet. Difficulties with border customs, bridge and punt tolls, along with self interest made necessary compromises between the parties impossible.
Albury/Bethanga Bridge construction 1920’s (Dallinger)
After Federation (when the colonies joined to form a country) in 1901 a more global view of national priorities was capable of being made and after consideration of 25 sites the present one was chosen.
The factual material which follows is a truncated version of a paper by Joe Wooding for the ‘Albury & District Historical Society’ on construction of Hume Dam.
To build a reservoir, lots of land is needed, in this case, prime river frontage. 15,582 acres in NSW and 87,268 in Victoria. Not everyone was pleased with the compensation offered, the lawyers were happy though as the courts were ‘chockers’ with disputes for over a decade.
Construction commenced in November 1919, soon tent cities sprang up on both sides of the river. More permanent buildings were soon erected. On the Victorian side, the hamlet of Mitta Junction, became known as Ebden Weir and the site for operations.The higher ground in NSW was called Hume Weir, started from nothing. In 1920, the title Hume Weir was officially bestowed on the whole project in honour of the explorer.
Relatively early works, 1920’s (Dallinger)
Massive amounts of infrastructure were needed. I must admit to always being amazed at what was built with the equipment available in earlier times. (noting the Pyramids scale of achievement!)
A metalled road from the main road at Wirlinga, now Old Sydney Road was built to the site. A Hume Weir rail siding was established from which vast amounts of stores, equipment and cement were conveyed to the NSW work site by a fleet of 10 solid rubber tyred Thornycroft motor lorries. In Victoria, a branch from the Wodonga to Cudgewa rail line was laid to Mitta Junction. A road bridge to link the two villages spanned the Murray just below the work site.
Two quarries were established. The one in Victoria provided earth fill and clay for the embankment and later the site for the Hume Weir circuit. Originally, 2 steam locos were used to haul trucks along the earthen bank, 8 were added later. The rail tracks were constantly re-laid as the bank grew. Two steam grab cranes were used in early excavation work at the quarry. Two ‘navvies’ were deployed, steam cranes which ran on the rail system. Much of this equipment was brought from Nagambie and Eildon. Over 500 horses were used to haul monkey-tailed scoops and drays.
Horses still had a role despite modern construction techniques of the day (Dallinger)
In NSW the stone quarry is on Hawksview Hill. Four steam locos and numerous trucks were brought from Burrinjuck. The rail system was extensive, rails ran to and from the quarry and the Bethanga Bridge site. Rail was also used inside the coffer dam to service the spillway foundation excavations.
Steam power was widely used, some of the machinery was extraordinary. In NSW two huge cement mixers capable of producing 900 cubic yards per day were operated. The crusher was a 30 ton Hadfield made in Sheffield, England. It was unloaded at the weir rail siding and with great difficulty, transported to the quarry by 2 large steam traction engines.
(unattributed)
A flying fox spanned the river from east to west with a large steel cable 400m long. The cables were attached in such a way allowing coverage of almost the entire work site. 300 tons of concrete blocks were used as ballast on the mobile pylon. A trolley was attached to the cable, enabling loads of up to 10 tons to be placed almost anywhere on the work site. The Bucyrus steam shovel was capable of lifting 3½ cubic yards and the only machine on site using caterpillar tracks.
(Dallinger)
‘The process of using crushed rock rather than smooth river gravel and adding large rock individually, produces ‘cyclopean concrete’. A 750mm wide concave rubberized conveyor belt carried the concrete, which could be retrieved at any point, by concrete shutes, for placement at the work site. Belts were pressure cleaned for their return journey. The huge rocks, some weighing up to 10 tons, called ‘plums,’ were cleaned with a high pressure hose before being individually craned into the wet concrete. Some were completely buried, but many were left half exposed to ‘key in’ the next batch of concrete. Steel reinforcing was only used near the top of the spillway. The structure is about 17% rock. At its base, the wall is 32m thick and double that if you take in the dissipater wall’.
Dam wall 1927, looking at the Murray upstream (unattributed)
‘As well as road works in the villages, other amenities were provided. Residences, barracks, stores, recreation halls, a post office and police presence were established. Electricity was installed for lighting only and turned off at 11pm. A Church of England was transported in. A casualty ward, a doctor with a phone and car were provided. Dances and pictures, obviously silent, as ‘talkies’ were not seen in Albury until 1928. The school had 66 pupils in 1921. The baker, milkman, greengrocer and butcher called regularly as did the ice man. Sport attracted many of course’.
Dam wall work progression (unattributed)
Manual labour was harsh with a 48 hour week, later reduced to 44 hours. Picks, shovels and
bare hands were often the only method of filling drays. Returned soldiers from the Great War
were given preference for employment, followed by married men. Estimated numbers of
workmen employed varies greatly with about 1000 cited. At the peak of construction around 1927, numbers given were Victoria 355, NSW 650, Bethanga Bridge 89. With a large workforce and dangerous working conditions, accidents were a reality, with total fatalities estimated at 6-9 people.
The Weir was officially opened by the Governor-General, Lord Gowrie, on November 21 1936
‘by closing an electric valve control circuit which released the water through two giant needle valves…the greatest irrigation work in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the most important in the world. It cost £5,550,000 to construct, and is located nine miles from Albury’ The Albury Banner’ said.
Dam opening ceremony in 1936 (Dallinger)
In 1957, the Power Station was completed with 2 turbines now capable of producing 58 Mw which is not large in the electricity industry. As a comparison, Albury’s peak demand for summe of 2013 was 110 Mw.
The 1960s saw a large increase in the weir’s pondage necessitating additional works on the
dam. One aspect was to open the old stone quarry and supply thousands of tons of granite to
stabilize the clay bank of the earthen wall.
Wirlinga…
Hume Weir wasn’t the first circuit in the Albury area, Wirlinga was.
A public roads layout of 6.79K, roughly rectangular shape using Thurgoona, St Johns and Bowna Roads as well as the Riverina Highway was used. 14km from the centre of Albury, the track was used several times before WW2. Rather than get lost in that tangent now, tempting though it is, we will come back to Wirlinga another time.
Car #22 is Alf Barrett’s Morris Bullnose Spl. #3 Tim Joshua’s Frazer Nash TT Replica, #4 Hope Bartlett’s MG Q Type, #6 Jack Phillips winning Ford V8 Spl, Wirlinga 1938 (Dallinger)
The 150 mile ‘Interstate Grand Prix’ (called the ‘Albury Grand Prix’ in the Sydney Morning Herald report of the 1939 race) was run on 19 March 1938. The ‘Albury and Interstate Gold Cup’ was run on 12 June 1939. Both handicap races were won by local Wangaratta boy, Jack Phillips Ford V8 Spl. The track wasn’t used post war.
The lower pic shows Les Murphy in the O’Dea MG P Type from Colin Dunne’s similar car and George Bonser’s Terraplane Spl, help wanted in relation to the cars in the upper shot Wirlinga 1938 (Dallinger)
‘Sydney Morning Herald’ 13 June 1939
Typically parched Australian summer, 1970’s. Hume Weir wall middle right and Great Dividing Range clear (unattributed)
Hume Weir Circuit…
Hume Weir was enormously popular in the immediate area, in fact depending upon the year the locals were served by Tarrawingee, Winton outside Benalla and the ‘Weir.
When the circuit was leased from the Hume Dam authority by the Albury and District Car Club the members initially established an unsurfaced layout which was first raced on 2 November 1959. It was lengthened to 1.1 miles during the year, first used sealed for the Christmas meeting on December 12 1959.
Cars race at one of the earlier meetings on the original dirt layout, Hume Weir 1959 (unattributed)
The financial support of Gold Star champion Len Lukey’s and his ‘Lukey Mufflers’ business allowed the amenities to be improved sufficiently to hold the 1961 international event. The ‘weir only got the gig, historian Stephen Dalton records as negotiations with PIARC to use Phillip Island fell over.
The 1961 program comprised an ambitious 21 events held on the Sunday and Monday 12 and 13 March, they were mainly short races with the feature ‘Craven A International’s 20 lappers on each day.
The meeting was contested by Brabham, Salvadori, Bib Stillwell, Bill Patterson, Austin Miller and Jon Leighton. It wasn’t a big field; Moss had long since left the country, as had the BRM drivers Hill, Gurney and Ron Flockhart and his Cooper.
This shot shows the two sections of the track separated by a narrow strip of concrete, March 1961 meeting perhaps (unattributed)
Brabham.
The Internationals that summer were raced at Warwick Farm, Ballarat Airfield in Victoria and Longford and won by Moss Lotus 18 Climax, Gurney BRM P48 and Roy Salvadori’s Cooper T51 Climax respectively.
The Longford meeting was on March 5, Brabham and Salvadori travelled back to Melbourne from Tasmania, the Coopers were towed up the Hume Highway, the main Melbourne/Sydney artery to contest the ‘Craven A Internatioanals’ at Hume Weir on 12 and 13 March. No doubt it gave Jack an opportunity to catch up with his family in Sydney.
Brabham’s Cooper T53 Climax out front of its Albury digs, Gabriel Motors. (Border Mail)
It was all fairly casual, Jack’s car was accompanied by his mechanic and a driver for the towcar, an FC Holden Station Wagon which was maintained at a local Esso servo/workshop.
Brabham’s Cooper T53 during his victorious March 1961 weekend (unattributed)
Jack won the race on the Sunday by just 0.9 sec from Patterson, the reigning Gold Star champion and Bib Stillwell’s Cooper T51’s in his T53.’The last 3 laps saw the leaders in the esses together and the crowd was wild with excitement as it was still anybody’s race but Jack Brabham showed championship form and held off the challenge to win’ said the Border Mails report.
(Border Mail)
Austin Miller’s distinctive yellow Cooper T51 Climax perhaps chasing Jon Leighton’s Cooper T45 and Roy Salvadori’s T51 during the Sunday race in which they were 4/5/6th (unattributed)
Roy Salvadori sussing the size of the cheque- ‘Can you make it in pounds sterling matey?’ (C McQuellin)
Brabham, Cooper T53 Climax (unattributed)
Brabham from Salvadori- Cooper T53 from T51 (unattributed)
Salvadori, Cooper T51 (unattributed)
On Monday ‘Brabham streeted the field in the international cup race and set a lap record of 51.2 seconds, a time equated to 147kmh’. ‘Twas again a Cooper 1-3, JB winning from Stillwell and Jon Leighton in Cooper T51 and T45 respectively.
With that both internationals jumped on a plane for the UK, their first event the Lombank Trophy at Snetterton which Jack won in his Cooper T53, Roy was 5th in a similar car.
Brabham T53 just in front of Patterson T51 in Sunday’s race closing stages (unattributed)
(Border Mail)
The short nature of the circuit perhaps mitigated against its use for championship events having said that it hosted a round of the Australian F2 Championship from 1973-76…
Later multiple Gold Star winner Alfredo Costanzo set the all-time lap record in a Birrana 274 Hart 1.6 F2 car on 15 June 1975, in 1976 the circuit also held a round of the Australian Sports Car Championship, fundamentally though it is a circuit which is fondly remembered by club racers of both bikes and cars and spectators of course.
The circuit was essentially ‘killed-off’ by CAMS with ever increasing and more difficult safety requirements which the owner/promoters couldn’t afford. There was a section where the cars passed each other separated by a concrete wall which was of particular concern.
The last race meeting was held on 27 March 1977 although the track was used as part of the Alpine Rally which was run out of Bright, not too far away. Every now and again a ‘comp sec’ of a car club convinced CAMS to issue a permit for a ‘sprint event’ but essentially another circuit was lost, a real shame as the usual causes; noise in a built up area or urban encroachment which simply made the entreaties of property developers irresistible to circuit owners didn’t apply in this rural area.
(Dallinger)
The photo above nicely juxtaposes the Dam with the circuit which is clear to see above the dam wall in the middle of the picture, plenty of water about in this shot! At present it is as dry as!
Larry Perkins in the ‘boonies’ at ‘Scrub Corner’ on 28 December 1969 early in his career, car is characteristically a Perkins Vee. He is looking for a marshall to help him back to terra firma.
He was in F1 in a private Ensign nee Boro in 1975. This is early days tho, his early break was to get one of Bib Stillwell’s Elfin 600FF seats in 1971 taking the ‘Driver to Europe’ series. He stayed in Oz for ’72 and raced an Elfin 600B/E Ford to win the national F2 title. He then took Garrie Cooper’s first Elfin 620FF to the Formula Ford Festival at Snetterton at the end of the year, contesting the Festival with a few other Aussies and then stayed in the UK. F3 in 1973 and the rest is history…
Brock.
Peter Brock ahead of Lynn Brown’s Cooper S, these are ‘Sports Sedans’, anything goes sedans with Brock and Brown two of the sports finest pracitioners of the art. Brocky is young and made his Holden ‘Red’ 6 cylinder engined A30 sing, his performances in it resulted in Harry Firth, fine judge of talent picking him up as a Holden Dealer Team driver. Brock took his first Bathurst win in 1972.
‘Peter Perfect’ only did one fullish season in single-seaters in this ex-works Birrana 272 Ford, its the very first of Tony Alcock’s monocoque cars. A good car but it didn’t have a Hart Ford engine, and the competition was hot in 1973-5 in F2, Brocky quickly went back to Holdens. A great pity, a natural driver of great smoothness, finesse and throttle control; oh to have seen Brock in a Repco Holden engined F5000 in the 1970’s!
Hansford.
(P Hall)
Greg Hansford blasts onto the main straight 1977. Kawasaki KR750 water-cooled 2 stroke.
Beechey.
(Bowdens)
Beechey changed from Holden to Ford running this ex-works Series Production Ford Falcon GTHO Ph3 with some cash from Ford in 1972. Here he is in April, DNF with clutch failure. Ford apparently then changed their minds wanting Norm to return the car and money they paid him, Norm telling them unsurprisingly to ‘jam it’.
Bartlett.
(Bruce Wells)
Kevin Bartlett in polo-shirt at the wheel of the works Lynx BMC, the Curl-Curl kid was on his way! Lotus 20 behind i think. Year anyone?
Bikes.
(John Small)
Jim Budd and Roger Hayes Team Avon Kawasaki’s lead the 1 hour production race at the ‘weir in November 1977. Third is Jeff Parkin and then Alan Hales both on Suzuki’s. Hot work in the heat.
Jane.
(oldracephotos.com)
Bob giving his factory Shelby built Mustang Trans-Am plenty during the 1970 Christmas ‘Weir meeting. His new Chevy Camaro 427 cannot be too far away, Norm Beechey took the 1970 ATCC in his Holden Monaro GTS350 but Jano won it in 1971/2 in the same car with a 427 in ’71 and ‘tiddly’ 350 small block in 1972.
(Dick Simpson)
Bob was back with another new toy in 1971, one of his finest, the John Sheppard built Holden Torana into which was slotted one of the 4.4 litre SOHC ‘620 Series’ Repco V8’s once fitted to the Elfin 400 pictured below. CAMS didn’t allow it to compete with the wing for long, check out the Vees in the Weir ‘form up’ or dummy grid area in the background. This car was mainly raced by John Harvey, in ’71 Bob focused on the Camaro and winning the ATCC. The car is still around albeit Chev engined and in need of restoration.
(oldracephotos.com)
Bob Jane didn’t race his Elfin 400 too much, it was mainly driven by his drivers; Spencer Martin, Ian Cook and Bevan Gibson.
Here in early 1968 at Hume Weir Jane is ahead of a Lotus 11, Meyers Manx beach buggy! and, is it an Elva Courier. These big Elfins are sensational cars, i wrote a long article about them a while back, click here to read it;
It’s interesting to see racing cars in the context of their day to gauge the impact they had on people, how ‘other worldly’ and fast they looked. Seeing them at historic race meetings is not the way the populace saw them at the time.
This shot does that in spades and the fair citizens of Conmurra Avenue, Edwardstown, an Adelaide suburb had seen plenty of cars leave the Elfin factory in their street. This one clearly captured their attention all the same.
That WOW! factor we all still experience at the sight of something really special, mind you, these days it’s usually the ‘WOW! Ugly as a Hatful of Arseholes’ impact rather than ‘WOW! Beautiful’. Such is the impact of cad-cam and the aerodynamicists ‘art’ on free flowing curvaceous forms.
The Mini 850 and Holden ‘EH’ on the typically Aussie outer suburban street nicely juxtapose the body of Elfins first ‘big-banger’ sports car with contemporary ‘roadies’ of the day.
WOW! indeed.
Elfin built four Elfin 400’s, all with different engines, the first completed was the Frank Matich Elfin 400/ Traco Olds featured in the article link above.
This car is about to be delivered to Bob Jane Racing in Melbourne in early 1967 in time for the sports car events which were a part of each years Tasman rounds.
It’s the first 4.4litre Repco ‘620 Series’ V8 fitted to a car, the engine developed in parallel with the 1966 Championship winning 3 litre variant of the same engine, victorious in Jack Brabhams hands that year.
In fact it is the first customer Repco engine sold, the first fitted to a sports car and the first fitted to a car built in Australia, Brabhams were built in the UK. So, significant in Repco’s’ history.
The SOHC 2 valve, Olds block, Lucas injected engine produced around 400bhp@8000rpm, enough in Australia, but not elsewhere in the world at the time, where big Chevs were dominant. In 1965/66 the Lola T70 was the ‘ducks guts’ in Group 7 sports car racing but the McLaren M6A appeared in 1967, from that moment the record books were attacked by the McLaren steamroller until the end of 1971 when Porsche ‘rained on their parade’ with the 917/10 and 917/30 turbo’ cars.
As stated above this car was raced by Jane himself, Ian Cook and Bevan Gibson. Unfortunately it was the car in which Bevan flipped on Conrod Straight, Bathurst at the Easter 1969 meeting, killing the promising young driver instantly.
Frank Matich was dominant in his range of sports cars in Australia into 1967, pickings at championship level were slim when FM was present. Matich’s Elfin 400 Traco Olds delivered its promise and his own SR3’s were almost identical in terms of chassis to the Elfin 400 if not the body.
The ex-Jane 400 is now restored and owned by Elfins’ Bill Hemming.
Hamilton Porsche 906 Spyder, Spencer Martin Elfin 400 Repco and Bevan Gibson Lotus 15 Climax, Hume Weir, Queens Birthday weekend 1967. Somewhat poignant shot given Bevan is to die in the car beside him 2 years later. Gibson made the families Lotus 15 Climax absolutely sing, it was his drives in this old car which earned him the Bob Jane drive (Bryan Liersch)
Bibliography…
Joe Wooding ‘Albury & District Historical Society’ paper on construction of Hume Weir
‘Elfin Sports and Racing Cars’ John Blanden and Barry Catford, Elfin Sports Cars Facebook page
(P Hawthorn)
Photo Credits…
Bryan Liersch, Bob Mills Collection, Dick Simpson, John Small, oldracephotos.com, Bowdens, Bruce Wells Collection, Robert Davies, Bowdens, Christopher McQuellin, Phil Hall, Terry Kelly Collection, Pat Hawthorn Collection
John J Dallinger’s stunning collection of Albury photographs
Tailpieces: Family, fun day out at the Weir…
(unattributed)
Terry Kelly, Ryleford, Hume Weir circa 1960 (T Kelly)
I was lookin’ for shots of chicks and cars as I do a fortnightly post of a babe with a car. When I spotted this image ’twas the lady who initially caught my eye…
But we ‘anoraks’ are so into chassis numbers right?
‘935’ on the engine cover stood out, a Lotus 18 number I thought- a quick google and no less an authority than DC Nye identified the car as a Lotus 21 delivered to Rob Walker, its locale Monza, lets come back to that.
Stirling Moss raced ‘935’ in the Australasian summer ‘Tasman’ races in early 1962.
Here it is below after its victorious run in the very wet, Ardmore, New Zealand Grand Prix. I love the way the gent ‘touches the greatness of Moss’ by giving the Lotus an affectionate pat! ‘Red cap’, a more technical type of bloke is sussing the rear suspension of the 21 compared with the Lotus 18s from the year before.
(Stephen Page)
Lotus 21: The Forgotten Chapman GP Car?…
When you think about it Colin Chapman peaked early as an F1 designer.
His 1956 Vanwall, or rather his chassis design and choice of Frank Costin as it’s body designer/aerodynamicist was a GP winner, not too many fellas have done that with their first car.
Press launch of the Lotus 12 Climax F2 car in 1956, note the extraordinary smallness of the car, the 12 and 16 remarkable bits of front-engined GP kit. Cliff Allison did 167mph in a Coventry Climax 2207cc FPF engined 12 on Masta Straight, Spa in 1958, with much of his small body outside the cockpit! He was fourth but famously could have won the race had it gone another lap as the first 3 cars all failed to complete the cool-down lap (John Ross)
His first Lotus GP design was the 16, Chapman always referred to the 12, which competed in Grands’ Prix from Monaco 1958, as an F2 car, the design was originally used in 1.5 litre racing before being fitted with Coventry Climax 1960cc and 2207cc engines for F1 use.
One of the things which intrigues me given his subsequent record as the designer/design inspiration for so many epochal cars is why Chapman didn’t design a mid-engined car for 1959? Cooper blazed that trail, GP winners from Argentina 1958, Moss of course taking that win in a Rob Walker Cooper T43 Climax.
Allison, tenth in the Lotus 16 Climax, Nurburgring 1958. Brooks won in a Vanwall, Lotus 16 famously the ‘Mini-Vanwall’, both Chapman chassis designs (Klemantaski)
Whilst the front engined 12 is understandable, it appeared in late 1956 and was quite the smallest front engined ‘F1 car’ ever, the 16 shoulda’ been mid-engined?
The 16 was quick mind you, but fragile in both chassis and it’s ‘queerbox’, Lotus’ own gearbox which was unreliable largely due to one small set of dogs trying to pick up every gear. The 16 also didn’t receive a 2.5litre Climax FPF until later in the piece. But if Chapman set trends, and he did, he was a slowish adopter of the mid-engined trend.
Works Lotus 18 Climax, Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1960. Chapman was quick to refine the mid-engined paradigm! 2.5 litre CC FPF, 5 speed Lotus ‘box, rear suspension notable for lack of a top-link, the fixed length driveshafts performed locational duties as well as motive ones. This is Alan Stacey’s car, DNF gearbox on lap 57 from Q8. Ireland’s car was second from Q3, quick cars 18’s! Brabham won in his Cooper T53 Climax (Dave Friedman)
His first such design, the 18 was an immensely successful car in FJ, F2 and F1 specification.
Despite its ‘chubster, biscuit shaped’ looks it was the fastest 2.5 Litre F1 car of 1960 if not the most robust or reliable. No less than Moss himself had strong views on Chapman’s ‘marginal engineering’ of key components the failure of same caused some massive accidents.
Ireland, works Lotus 18 Climax, Monaco 1960, 9th in the race won by Moss’ similar car. Lotus’ first GP win (Dave Friedman)
Roll on into 1961, the first year of the 1.5 litre F1, the Brits were faced without a suitable engine as their ‘racing mafia’ were convinced the CSI, in the end, would not make the change to the smaller engines. They did, Ferrari the beneficiary with their 156, a car developed in F1/2 in 1960, click here for a story on that wonderful conveyance;
Whilst BRM and Coventry Climax worked hard to get their V8’s completed all of the British firms persevered with Mk2 versions of the 1.5 litre Coventry Climax FPF- in 2.5 litre form the championship winning engine of 1959/60.
Chapman and his team had the dimensions of the coming Coventry Climax FWMV V8 when they set to work on the 21, their 1961 contender, but they knew initially the little, underpowered FPF would be used.
So, light weight and aerodynamic efficiency were key design tenets of the new Lotus 21.
These aims were achieved by lying the driver down in the cockpit, Chapman went further in 1962 with his 24/25 designs, but the trend was set by the 21. The car was notably small in size, low in frontal area, the body enveloping the chassis all the way to the casing of its ZF gearbox, specially made for the car. Have a look at a 21 beside a 156 and see just how ‘butch’ in size the Fazz is by comparison.
Chapman used a top rocker and lower wishbone for the cars front suspension, getting the spring/shocks outta the airstream, thus further adding to top speed. At the rear the suspension was outboard- single top link, inverted lower wishbone and coil spring/damper unit with twin radius rods for location.
Lotus 21 Climax FPF cutaway, specifications as per text (James Allington)
Lotus Components built eleven of the 21 chassis’ during the year, which otherwise in specification were leaders of the mid-engined paradigm- multi-tubular spaceframe chassis, Chapman the high priest of chassis design. Rack and pinion steering, discs on all four wheels, magnesium alloy (Lotus ‘wobbly web’) wheels, Ferrari still used heavy Borrani wires till 1963. The CC 1495cc, DOHC, 2 valve, all alloy, Weber carbed 4 cylinder engine gave circa 155bhp, the Lotus weighed 990lb, had an 89 inch wheelbase and a track of 53 inches front and rear.
The prototype was built from scratch in six weeks, just missing the Aintree 200 meeting but was tested at Silverstone two days later, the car made its debut at Monaco in May. The works cars in 1961 were steered by two Scots- Innes Ireland, the seasoned professional and up and coming Jim Clark who graduated from the works Lotus 18 FJ he raced in 1960.
Fitted with the new Coventry Climax V8 the Lotus 21 was a winning car in Moss’ hands if not Ireland’s or Clark’s. But as it was Chapman didn’t get his hands on an FWMV in 1961 due at least in part to the spat he was having with Climax’ MD Leonard Lee about the quality of the CC FWE engines supplied for his Elite road cars- the engines weren’t the Elites only reliability problems mind you!
In the event the 21 won only one championship GP at Watkins Glen, Innes Ireland broke through for both Team Lotus and his first win that October.
Ireland’s winning Lotus 21 leads Gurney’s second placed Porsche 718 and Graham Hill’s fifth placed BRM P48/57 Climax, US GP Watkins Glen, 8 October 1961 (unattributed)
The cars chances of more wins were missed by Chapman’s decision not to sell Rob Walker his latest car, as he had with the 18 the year before. Moss’ two wins in 1961, remarkable ones, were in the Walker 18 at Monaco and 18/21 hybrid at the Nurburgring. Armed with a new 21 all year he may, praps have taken one or two wins off Ferrari despite the car’s relative ‘lack of puff’.
The 21 took wins in non-championship 1961 events- the Solitude GP for Ireland in July, the Flugplatzrennen at Zeltweg again for Ireland in September, and the Rand, Natal and South African Grands’ Prix in Jim Clark’s ‘African Tour’ in December 1961. As written here Moss did well in Australasia in early 1962.
The Lotus 21 should be remembered as both a GP winner and the progenitor of the design maxims Chapman’s ever creative mind evolved with the 1962 spaceframe Lotus 24 and it’s revolutionary monocoque sibling, the 25.
Love the atmospherics of this 1961 Italian GP, Monza paddock shot. #10 is Brabham’s Cooper T58 CC V8, contrast it with McLaren’s #12 CC FPF powered T55 behind. #38 and 36 are the Ireland/Clark Lotus 21 CC FPF’s before the ‘jiggery pokery’ with the chassis swap between Innes and Stirling. The pale green painted ‘T’car is UDT-Laystall’s spare, the Cooper T51 is Jack Lewis’ (Hutton Archive)
Moss’ first drive of a Lotus 21 was his steer of Innes Ireland’s works car at Monza on 10September.
That weekend was infamous for the tragic race collision between Jim Clark’s Lotus 21 and Taffy von Trips Ferrari 156 which resulted in von Trips death as well as that of 15 innocent spectators.
Moss took Lotus’ first ever GP win at Monaco in May. Whilst Chapman was eternally grateful he wasn’t inclined to give Moss or Walker too much of a ‘free-kick’ by selling them his latest car, the 21, given his primary aim was works car wins. In fact its probably Esso we have to blame as they were Lotus’ fuel supplier, BP were the sponsor of Rob Walker/Moss, both companies had their commercial positions to protect.
Moss and Ireland swapping notes at Monza, Italian GP, September 1961 (GP Photo)
The Monza weekend was also significant for the first race appearance of the new 1.5 litre BRM P56 V8 and the further appearance of the Coventry Climax FWMV V8 first raced by Jack Brabham at the Nurburgring the month before.
Jack qualified his new Cooper T58 on grid 2 in the Eifel Mountains but crashed on lap 1 with a sticking throttle so the engine hadn’t been race-tested.
The P56 V8’s were fitted to modified BRM P48/57 chassis, the CC V8 to Jack’s Cooper and a specially modified Lotus 18/21 built up by the Walker Team. Team Lotus were unable to secure an engine as noted earlier, so appeared in 21’s powered by the 1.5 litre 4 cylinder FPF Mk2 used by the British teams, including BRM that year.
BRM tested their new engines with no intention to race them, Brabham raced his Cooper despite problems in practice.
Moss was sportingly offered Ireland’s factory 21 FPF, chassis ‘933’. Chapman and Ireland reasoned that Moss would have a better chance of success in a 21 rather than the tired Walker 18/21. Moss was the only Lotus driver with a vague (very) chance at the World Championship, Ireland raced the Walker 18/21 FPF engined car. In Denis Jenkinson’s race account he writes about the ‘cloak and dagger’ stuff behind closed garages to make the necessary change of chassis and body work between Moss and Ireland, the secretive stuff was doubtless so as not to upset the trade supporters of both teams.
Which brings us back to ‘ole 935’ and the photo at this articles outset.
The two works Lotus Monza chassis according to Nye’s ‘Theme Lotus’ were ‘933’ and ‘934’. If ‘935’ was at Monza there was no point making the chassis and bodywork changes between the Moss/Ireland cars both Jenkinson and Nye report took place. If ‘935’ were at Monza either as a works spare or delivered to the Walker Team Moss would have raced it and Ireland his regular works 21 rather than the inferior Walker 18/21.
So, whats the explanation of the photo then?
Either it isn’t Monza, although i am inclined to believe Nye who has been there once or twice! The probable story is that the engine cover of the new ‘935’ was ‘borrowed’ and fitted to one of the works Lotus 21’s for the weekend. The first race entry for ‘935’ i can find, looking at non-championship and championship Grands’ Prix results later in 1961 seems be its races in New Zealand in early 1962-the 1962 NZ GP report by sergent.com describes ‘935’ as unraced before that event on 6 January.
Moss and Alf Francis confer during Monza practice, by the look of it neither are ‘happy campers’, the Lotus 18/21 CC FWMV chassis #’906′ was always a handful (GP Library)
The Moss 18/21 was modified to fit the FWMV V8 with the assistance of Ferguson Research.
The rear of the 18 chassis aft of the drivers seat was ‘chopped off’ and replaced with a frame to suit the width and mounting needs of the new engine. 21 rear suspension was incorporated comprising new 21 uprights which were located at the top by a link to the chassis thus relieving the half shafts of the suspension loads the solid ‘shafts of the 18 performed- the new components had Hardy Spicer splined shafts to accommodate ‘plunge and droop’.
A Colotti Type 32 gearbox was used. The rear framework was a complete assembly which attached to the main frame by large bolts screwed into the ends of the tubes, which had been plugged and tapped. The structure was made from small diameter tubing which had to be detached completely before the engine and gearbox could be removed. The car was finished in a big hurry so the old Lotus engine cover was retained with a bulge to clear the four downdraft Webers.
Whilst no-doubt well engineered it doesn’t all add up to the levels of torsional stiffness no doubt required to put all of the new engines power to the ground effectively.
During the race the tragic accident between Clark and von Trips occurred on the first lap, the German and hapless spectators killed, the race continued whilst the carnage was attended to.
Moss retired on lap 36 with wheel bearing failure, Ireland on lap 5 with chassis problems and Brabham’s FWMV failed on lap 8 due to overheating problems- shortcomings sorted over the winter off-season.
Phil Hill’s Ferrari 156 won the race and 1961 title from Gurney’s Porsche 718 and McLaren’s Cooper T55 FPF.
The Walker Lotus 18/21 CC V8 during 1961 Monza practice (GP Library)
Italian GP ’61 start with a swag of 5 Ferrari’s up front, leading green car at left is probably Hill G’s BRM Climax, Clark is between Hill and a Ferrari, thats Gurney’s Porsche 718 on the right from grid 12, the carnage took place shortly thereafter (Klemantaski)
Moss in the Walker bodied works Lotus 21 CC FPF during the race, dicing with Gurney’s 2nd placed Porsche 718 (GP Library)
New Zealand…
Over that 1962 European winter Coventry Climax worked on the reliability of the FWMV and BRM their P56 V8 and the P578 chassis to carry it. At Cheshunt Colin Chapman was building the spaceframe 24 and its epochal monocoque sibling, the Lotus 25.
Both marques were the key players in an amazing 1962 season which in the main didn’t feature Stirling Moss, whose Glover Trophy career ending accident took place on Easter Monday 23 April 1962 in the Walker Lotus 18/21 Climax V8 ‘906’ described above.
The Walker Team would make do with their 18/21 in GP’s, later in the season they raced two Lotus 24 FWMV’s but by the time they were ready Moss’ career was finito.
Moss looking after the fans, Kiwi kiddies drawn to the great Brit, Ardmore NZGP meeting. Car is 21 ‘935’ (Stephen Page)
For Moss, in the meantime there were the annual summer internationals to contest in Australasia.
Whilst Stirling loved the speed of his Lotus he revelled in the forgiving ‘chuckability’ and robustness of Coopers. Robust is not an apt adjective to describe the Lotus single-seaters of the period. So, hedging his bets for his 1962 Australasian Tour he had Rob Walker ship both ‘935’ as well as a Cooper T55 ‘F1-7-61’ on the long voyage south. Both cars were Coventry Climax FPF powered- engines of both 2.5 and 2.7 litres capacity were used, our International Series was run to Formula Libre in its pre-Tasman Cup formula days.
Moss and second placed Surtees on the Ardmore victory dais (Stephen Page)
Moss raced the Lotus to an NZ GP win at Ardmore on 6 January and at the Wigram Airfield circuit event fitted with 2.5 litre FPF’s. At Levin and Teretonga he was second in the Cooper powered by a 2.7 FPF, Brabham won at Levin and McLaren at Teretonga- so Moss’ campaign had started well.
Borgward Isabella and 21 off to the next round of the NZ Internationals at Levin. Shot shows the inboard front suspension, the top rocker actuating inboard mounted spring/shock. At the rear is a single top link, reversed lower wishbone, outboard spring/shock and twin radius rods. Extreme lowness clear as is the slippery nature of the body and reduction in driver space which advanced as a trend over the following decades! (Stephen Page)
The NZ Internationals were contested by Moss, Surtees, McLaren and Salvadori, the latter three drivers in Cooper T53 Climaxes, Bandini in a Cooper T53 Maserati, Brabham a Cooper T55 Climax and Ron Flockhart, a Lotus 18 Climax.
Chris Amon made his first international appearances that summer in the ex-BRM/Brabham Maser 250F, other ‘local heroes’ were Pat Hoare Ferrari 246/256 V12, Angus Hyslop, Cooper T53 Climax and Aussies Bib Stillwell, Aston Martin DBR4/250, David McKay, Cooper T51 Climax and Arnold Glass’ in a BRM P48.
Moss ‘brained’ the NZGP field in an awful, wet race- he lapped the field winning from Surtees, McLaren and Salvadori.
Australia…
Beautiful shot of Moss in the Walker Lotus 21 Climax 2.5 ‘935’ on Warwick Farm’s pit straight, he practised the car but raced the more ‘chuckable’ Cooper (Mal Simpson)
The cars were then shipped to Sydney, the first race of the Australian leg was the ‘Warwick Farm 100’ on the testing, technical outer western Sydney circuit on 4 February.
Moss practised both cars but elected to race the Cooper to a race win from McLaren and Stillwell.
Moss in his Lotus 21 passes John Youl sneaking a peek over his shoulder, Cooper T51 Climax during WF practice. Youl DNF in the 2.2 litre car with clutch problems in the race, the Taswegian a very quick steerer (John Ellacott)
WF 100 front row, 4 February 1962- Moss, Brabham, McLaren in Coopers T53, T55, T53 (Mal Simpson)
Moss missed the Lakeside event won by Brabham’s T55 Cooper and Longford’s ‘South Pacific Championship’ race won by Surtees Cooper T53 Climax but raced ‘935’ fitted with a 2.7 litre FPF at the Australian Grand Prix, Sandown’s inaugural meeting on 12 March.
Jack Brabham won the race in his 2.7 engined Cooper from Surtees, McLaren and Chuck Daigh in the very interesting Scarab RE Buick V8, the cars only race- read my Chuck Daigh article for that cars interesting story.
Moss cruises the Sandown paddock in the 2.7 ‘Indy’ FPF engined Lotus ‘935’, March 1962. The man absolutely the best and fastest driver in the world at the time (Kevin Drage)
In between these Australian events, reinforcing the regularity and intensity of his racing schedule, Moss raced in the Daytona 3 Hours, finishing fourth in a Ferrari 250 GT SWB on 11 February.
After Sandown he returned to the US to contest the Sebring 3 Hours and Sebring 24 Hours on 23/24 March finishing third in an Austin Healey Sprite and DNF in a NART Ferrari Dino 248SP respectively.
Moss, maidens, Sebring 1962. That he was in such great physical shape no doubt a factor in his attraction to the babes but it also stood him in good stead in surviving the horrific Goodwood shunt, surgery and month long coma (Tom Bigelow)
Moss then returned to Europe for the 1 April GP of Brussels and Lombank Trophy at Snetterton on 14 April yielding second and seventh in the Walker Lotus 18/21 FWMV V8 ‘906’ before that fateful day at Goodwood on 23 April.
Moss, Goodwood, Lotus 18/21 ‘906’ not long before the prang, Easter Monday 1962 (Doug Nye)
It took over an hour to cut Stirling free from the mortally wounded Lotus. One of the things I have learned and detest in researching various pieces is the vast number of gruesome images of racing crashes on the internet- you won’t ever see them here, I am all for ‘freedom of the press’ but believe there is a place for censorship of said images (Victor Blackman)
Moss was an enormously popular visitor to Australia from the mid-fifties, sadly his Goodwood 1962 accident was not too far away during his early 1962 tour.
His Antipodean fans never forgot him though.
We turned out in droves to see his ‘comeback’ drive in a Holden Torana L34 V8 at Bathurst in 1976, he shared the car with Jack Brabham. The all-star combination had a shocker of a race when Jack copped a Triumph Dolomite ‘up the arse’ on the startline thanks to his Holden’s clutch failure.
Brabham was stranded as the rest of the field moved post-haste towards Hell Corner, the unsighted Dolly was an innocent victim of Black-Jacks misfortune, the car was patched up but Jack and Stirling failed to finish, a great shame!
Moss, a great man, ’tis wonderful he remains one of our sports great ambassadors.
Moss and Brabham at Bathurst in ’76, that’s Scuderia Veloce’s David McKay in between (autopics.com)
Bibliography…
Automobile Year, MotorSport 1961 Italian GP race report by Denis Jenkinson, Doug Nye ‘Theme Lotus’, William Taylor ‘The Lotus Book’, oldracingcars.com, GP Encyclopaedia, silhouet.com, Team Dan
Photo Credits…
GP Library, James Allington, Mal Simpson, Kevin Drage, Stephen Page, John Ellacott, Klemantaski Collection, John Ross Motor Racing Archive, Dave Friedman Collection, autopics.com, Victor Blackman, Doug Nye, Tom Bigelow
Tailpiece: The future. Jim Clark at Sandown, Lotus 21 Climax ‘933’, World Champion in the new, epochal monocoque Lotus 25 within two years and a GP winner within months. Here with the lower sidepanel removed due to Melbourne summer heat…
One tends to sometimes forget that British Entrepreneur, Engineer, Team Owner John Cooper was also a driver and the birth of Cooper as a marque is a function of his need for a racer…
The great Brit is piloting his works Cooper T20 Bristol F2, the caption for the photo says in the ‘IV Daily Express International Trophy’ race at Goodwood on Whit Monday, 10 May 1952′. In fact JC was entered for that meeting/race at Silverstone on that day as #14 but did not arrive, so ‘praps this is a practice shot.
Before focusing on the construction and sales of his cars and managing the team he was a very capable driver taking many 500cc wins, a class for which the first Cooper, famously constructed of two Fiat 500’s welded together to provide an independently suspended car, was built.
Cooper 500 Drivers L>R in this 1948 photo; John Cooper, George Saunders, Charles Cooper, the shot credits Chas as the cars designer and Stirling Moss. ‘New midget racing cars made by Charles Cooper at his Surbiton, Surrey garage’ is the caption (Popperfoto)
I started to research an article to write on John Cooper’s career and influence and came upon the obituary published by Britain’s ‘The Telegraph’ on 27 December 2000, it seems to me it covers things rather well so here it is, truncated slightly and with my photographic additions…
JC at left, having already done a few laps, slightly quizzical supervises Ken Wharton’s test of a Cooper T23 Bristol at Goodwood in 1953. What a ripper period scene, love the casual dude in suit pants, vest, tie and fag! (Popperfoto)
‘John Cooper, who has died aged 77, was one of the great figures in the history of motor racing; his Cooper-Climax cars were the force behind Jack Brabham’s dominance of the drivers’ championship in the early 1960s, while his Mini Cooper was destined to become a symbol of the decade itself.
Cooper and his small design team at Cooper Cars first came up with a rear-engined sports car in 1955. Based around a Coventry Climax firepump engine, the “Bobtail” Cooper-Climax was without peer in its class. By narrowing the chassis and fitting slender bodywork which left suspension and wheels exposed, Cooper then created a rear-engined Formula Two car which could easily be upgraded to meet the demands of Formula One.
Jack Brabhams Cooper T40 Bristol ‘Bobtail’ on the way to a lucky Australian Grand Prix win at Port Wakefield, South Australia in 1955 (unattributed)
By 1957, the Australian Jack Brabham had joined Coopers, and a 2-litre version of the Formula Two car was entered for the Monaco Grand Prix. Brabham pushed it home in sixth, having been third. On twisting circuits, the nimble rear-engined Cooper could challenge the comparatively flat-footed Ferraris’, Maseratis’ and Vanwalls’ which traditionally competed for places on the podium.
Stirling Moss on his way to the first mid-engined car F1 win, Cooper T43 Climax 1.9, Argentine GP 19 January 1958 (Getty)
The next year, in the Argentine Grand Prix, Stirling Moss drove a Cooper to a first world championship victory by the rear-engined car, and at Monaco another Cooper won, this time driven by Maurice Trintignant.
Moss, Argentina 1960, Moss giving away more than 500cc to his competitors, the Coventry Climax FPF 1.9 litres (Getty)
The persuasive Cooper then managed to talk Coventry Climax into building full-sized 2.5 litre engines for his works’ drivers – Brabham and Bruce McLaren – and under his direction Coopers promptly won both the 1959 and 1960 Formula One constructors’ titles, while Brabham took two consecutive world champion drivers’ titles. By 1962 every Formula One marque had put their engines where Cooper had his – behind the driver.
John Cooper aboard the Cooper T49 ‘Monaco’ in March 1959 during a press release, Brands Hatch (John Ross)
Lap 1 Portuguese GP 1960; Brabham’s Cooper T53 Climax from Gurney’s BRM P48 DNF and Surtees Lotus 18 Climax DNF. Jack won the race having had a huge accident in Oporto the year before (Autosport)
Argentine GP 1960 post victory in the UK; McLaren 1st Cooper T51 Climax, Brabham DNF and JC (unattributed)
In the mid-1940s, Cooper had competed against Alec Issigonis, the designer of the Mini, in hill-climbs. Soon after its launch in the mid-1960s, Cooper suggested to George Harriman, head of the British Motor Corporation (the Mini’s manufacturer), that he should market a tuned-up version. Harriman doubted that he could sell more than 1,000; the final total of owners attracted by Cooper’s modifications exceeded 125,000.
Cooper was consulted regularly about improvements to the design and an entire family of Mini Cooper variants evolved, among them the Mini Cooper S. The Mini Cooper lorded it over rally racing for the rest of the 1960s, winning multiple championships and four consecutive Monte Carlo rallies between 1964 and 1967.
It was the first economy car to become a status symbol, the height of chic. Its owners included King Hussein of Jordan and members of The Beatles. “Drive a Mini Cooper – the most fun you can have with your clothes on!” ran the advertisements. “If your tyres survive more than 2,000 miles, you’ve driven like a wimp.”
At the end of the decade the car featured prominently in the film The Italian Job (1969), in which Michael Caine and his team of bullion raiders made the most of the Mini’s virtues of small size and great speed to escape pursuit via the roofs, sewers and marble staircases of Turin. The Minis were painted red, white and blue, and the film not only helped boost sales of the Mini Cooper all over the world but, by identifying the car with a time of great British style and ingenuity, helped it also to attain immortality.
John Cooper was always going to be involved with cars! Caption of this 27 May 1935 photo’ Dwarfed by a full-sized car, Mr CW Cooper of Surbiton drives the miniature racing car which he built for his son John. The tiny vehicle is fitted with a 1.25 horsepower two-stroke engine and can travel 52 miles an hour. The other car is an Alfa Romeo 8C Monza, does anybody know who the occupants are? (Fox Photos/Getty)
Cooper was born on July 17 1923 at Kingston, Surrey. His father Charles ran a modest garage in nearby Surbiton; among the cars he maintained for customers was the Wolseley “Viper” raced at Brooklands by Kaye Don. When John was eight, his father made him a half-scale car with a motorcycle engine. At 12, he was given a lightweight Austin 7-based special capable of 90mph; he tried it out at Brooklands but was chased off the track by enraged officials.
On leaving Surbiton County School at 15, John became an apprentice toolmaker, and after RAF service in 1944-45, he and his friend Eric Brandon (later a successful racing driver) built themselves a single-seater racing car for the new 500cc class. Two scrap Fiat 500 front-ends were welded together to provide an independently suspended chassis, on to which was mounted a 500cc motorcycle engine behind the driver’s seat to chain-drive the back axle.
Wearing sheet aluminium bodywork, this first Cooper racing car was very successful, and a second was built for Brandon in 1947. Cooper and his father then founded the Cooper Car Company to build a batch of 12 replica 500s for sale. One of their first buyers was the 18-year old Stirling Moss.
The Cooper Car Company quickly became the first, and largest, post-war specialist racing car manufacturer; Lotus, Lola and March – among others – would follow them. While John Cooper provided the firm’s enthusiasm and drive, Charles Cooper kept control of the firm’s finances.
Cooper after victory at Rouen in 1952. Cooper MkV 500 (Heritage)
John Cooper was also a very capable racing driver in his own right. In 1952 at Grenzlandring he scored the first 500cc race to be won at an average of more than 100mph, and the next year drove his streamlined works car to victory in the Avus Speedbowl, Berlin. He also enjoyed first places at Monza and at Rouen.
JC record breaking at Monthlery, France on 9 October 1951, car is streamlined, slightly stretched Cooper MkV JAP. 500 & 1100cc engines used (Popperfoto)
Click here for an interesting article on the Cooper Land Speed Record cars;
JC in the chassis of the Mk V record-breaker, a variety of JAP engines used, 15 November 1952 (Central Press)
In the early 1950s, Coopers diversified into front-engined sports and single-seater racing cars. The first British world champion driver, Mike Hawthorn, first made his mark in a 1952 Cooper-Bristol Grand Prix.
A warm, even extrovert man, John Cooper relished every moment of his fame, although he was perhaps never the same after being badly injured in 1963 when his prototype four-wheel drive Mini Cooper crashed. It was many months before he was fully fit, and in 1965 – the year after his father died – he sold the Cooper Car Company to the Chipstead Motor Group.
1966 US GP Watkins Glen; front row Brabham in BT19 Repco DNF, Bandini Ferrari312 DNF and Surtees Cooper T81 Maserati 3rd. Jim Clark took the only win for the BRM H16 engine in his Lotus 43 (Alvis Upitis)
Although he continued to co-direct the Formula One racing team until 1969, when it was disbanded, from the mid-Sixties onwards its homegrown construction was overtaken by more sophisticated and better-funded technology at Lola, Lotus, BRM and Ferrari. Characteristically, Cooper never felt any envy as his company was upstaged.
He retired to the Sussex coast, where he founded the garage business at Ferring, near Worthing, which still bears his name. Recently, he had been much cheered by the decision of Rover to develop a new generation of Mini Coopers, primarily for enthusiasts in Japan. Rover’s new owner, BMW, has embraced the project, and just before his death Cooper was delighted to see his son drive the prototype BMW Mini Cooper.
John Cooper was appointed CBE last year. He leaves a wife, a son and daughter. Another daughter predeceased him.’
JC ‘races’ the ‘first Cooper ‘ his dad built for him in 1930 (Keystone France)
Credits…
‘The Telegraph’ John Cooper obituary 27 December 2000, GP Library, GP Encyclopaedia
Getty Images, Keystone France, Alvis Upitis, Central Press, Popperfoto, Heritage Press, Fox Photos, Autosport, John Ross Motor Racing Archive
Tailpiece: ‘I don’t care Bruce just go faster!’ With Bruce McLaren and Phil Hill in 1964…
European/British GP, Brands Hatch 1 July 1964; JC, Phil Hill 6th and McLaren DNF #10 is Hill’s Cooper T73 Climax. Clark won the race in a Lotus 25 Climax (G Pollard)
Jack Brabham’s ‘go-kart’ wins the ‘Lakeside 99’ Tasman Round in February 1964…
The photographer has created a ‘turn of the century’ distorted effect, the Brabham BT7A Climax looks quite weird , the off-beat nature of the shot enhanced by the cars lack of bodywork to try and deal with the harsh, summer Queensland heat.
Brabham won the race from John Youl’s Cooper T55 Climax, Jacks ’61 F1 and ’62 Australian Internationals chassis and Bruce Mclaren’s Cooper T70 Climax.
Brabham exits the Lakeside pitlane onto the hot, steamy circuit (Peter Mellor/The Roaring Season)
By the looks of these Peter Mellor shots the lead up to the race was wet, the tropical humidity would have made the race a real endurance test.
Bruce McLaren won the first Tasman Series, with both he and Jack taking 3 wins, appropriately Bruce’s in NZ and Jack’s in Oz!
Stirling Moss cruises his works Maserati 300S chassis #3059 through the Albert Park paddock prior to winning the Australian Tourist Trophy on 25 November 1956, he repeated the dose in a 250F in the following weekends Australian Grand Prix…
One of the wonderful things about this internet thingy is the number of unseen photos of our sport which pop up from time to time giving people like me something to write about. And so it is that Sharaz Jek recently posted photos his father took as a paying-punter at the Australian Grand Prix carnival at Albert Park held during the Olympic Games.
It would have been more considerate had he posted them six months ago when i first wrote about the two Maser sportscars brought to Australia as part of a five car team by Officine Maserati!. But hey, it gives me a chance to write about the ATT specifically, click here to read the earlier article, i won’t repeat the background or destiny of the two 300S’ which stayed in Oz post event;
I wasn’t born in 1956 but its fair to say i was more than a twinkle in my parents eyes, so i didn’t attend the mid-fifties Albert Park meetings which older enthusiasts speak so fondly about. Running around the lake last weekend i reflected on how little Albert Park had changed but also how much Melbourne had, the skyline of the city a short 2 Km away.
In 1956 Melbourne’s population was circa 1.5 million people, now it’s 4.7 million, the war ended only a decade before and with it successive Australian Governments established an aggressive migration program which provided, and continues to provide us with the wonderful, peaceful mix of people and their cultures which makes this such a special country and city in which to live. Disgraceful offshore detention centres notwithstanding!
The ’56 Olympic Games, held from 22 November to 8 December was an important part of opening our society to other cultures and equally allowed us to showcase our country, city and capabilities to the world.
The same can be said about the 1956 Albert Park International race meetings and their impact on Australian motor-racing; Barry Green in his wonderful book ‘Albert Park: Glory Days’ said; ‘The weekend was the proverbial moment which changed the face of motor racing in this country. Here for the first time we had a current works sports car and F1 team and other leading international drivers in ex-factory cars; their presence prompting the best of the locals to upgrade their machinery, spend even more and charge harder. A world class field deserved a world class venue and world class crowd. And in the picturesque Albert Park and thousands of international visitors filling Melbourne to overflowing for the first Olympic Games to be held south of the equator, it had just that’.
So, to put you in the zone of the times before reading this piece I have added some photos of Melbourne in 1956 to give you the ‘feel of the joint’ and flavour of the times six decades ago, the racing stuff is after that if you wish to cut to the chase…
The ‘Eyetalians’ brought their weird steaming coffee making machines with ’em post-war, the local coffee obsession was underway, school below is Melbourne High in South YarraTV was introduced to Australia in the lead up to the games, here some locals are sussing the weird new contraption in the window of ‘Myers’ department store in Bourke Street‘Sultry beauty Gunhild Larking, 20, Sweden’s entry for the high jump pensively awaiting her turn to compete’ is the caption. A post sporting career in modelling or TV awaits d’yer reckon!?
The first weekend of the two week AGP carnival comprised four events, the feature the Australian Tourist Trophy for Sports Cars was held on 25 November…
A convoy of Maserati mechanics drove the 250F and 300S, the 5km from Australian International and 250F driver Reg Hunt’s Elsternwick Holden Dealership, where the cars were maintained each day to Albert Park, on the Nepean Highway and St Kilda Road. Not too much of a problem then but guaranteed to boil a Maserati 300S sans radiator fan these days!
Behra and Moss @ Albert Park in 1956, the first and only time, sadly, Behra raced here but Moss was an annual, usually victorious visitor to Oz till the end of his career in the Masers, then Rob Walker entered Coopers and Loti (Graham Hoinville)
Most of the drivers stayed close by in the ‘Espy’, the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, it’s still there if you want a ‘bevvy’ during the AGP carnival and is well known to Australians as the home of the ‘RocKwiz’ music quiz show.
Fitzroy Street St Kilda felt exotic and buzzed with thousands of visitors from all over the world eager to explore the local delights of the bayside suburbs restaurants and bars. They were full of people including recent European migrants eager to get a touch of home for a few hours at least. The Espy and Tolarno’s were ‘chockers’ and no doubt the proprietors of the areas ‘red light’ precinct did good trade.
Guerino Bertocchi, Maserati chief mechanic and factory test driver and his helper start the 5 Km journey from Albert Park to Reg Hunt’s Elsternwick Holden dealership where the team were based (Arnold Terdich)Maserati’s as far as the eye can see! Masers brought 5 cars to Oz, 3 250F’s (one unraced spare which at one stage looked as tho it may have been raced by Brabham but ’twas not to be) and 2 300S, Reg Hunt Motors, Nepean Highway, Elsternwick (Eileen Richards)
In ’57 the factory 300S’ were campaigned by Moss, Behra and Piero Taruffi taking wins at Silverstone, Nassau, the Nurburgring, Rouen and Buenos Aires; the works allocated # 3055 to Behra and # 3059, the ‘featured car’ here to Moss. Stirling was in sparkling form having won the Venezuelan Grand Prix in Caracas a fortnight before arriving in Melbourne, Behra also contested the race.
There was a strong entry for the ATT of around 36 cars; Peter Whitehead returned to Australia hoping to repeat the success of his 1938 tour which culminated in an ERA Bathurst Australian Grand Prix win for him.
His entry in the ATT was a Ferrari Monza, similar cars were entered by Brit Peter Wharton and local motor dealer Stan Coffey. The Whitehead and Wharton Ferrari’s were garaged at AP Hollins in Malvern where Lex Davison’s mechanic/engineer Alan Ashton, well familiar with 4 cylinder Ferrari’s (Davison raced the ex-Ascari Tipo 500/625) could keep a close eye on them.
Lex, already the winner of one of his four AGP’s in 1954, entered his HWM Jaguar, his Ferrari was raced in the AGP won by Moss’ 250F the following weekend.
Stan Coffey’s Ferrari 750 Monza, of earlier vintage than those of Wharton and Whitehead but still quick if tricky to drive (John Blanden)
Jaguar D Types were entered for Kew motor dealer and later multiple Australian Gold Star champion Bib Stillwell and Queensland’s Bill Pitt driving the Mrs Anderson owned car.
Jack Brabham returned from Europe where he was establishing a strong reputation to drive a Cooper T39 ‘Bobtail’ Climax with future Gold Star Champion Bill Patterson, another Melbourne, Ringwood, Ford dealer in a similar car.
Jack refuels the Cooper T39 in the Albert Park paddock. ‘COR’ is Commonwealth Oil Refineries soon to be BP (John Blanden)
Veteran Tom Sulman raced his ‘Kangaroo Stable’ Aston Martin DB3S, the quicker entries rounded out by Austin Healey 100S’ for multiple AGP winner Doug Whiteford and Ron Phillips.
Moss positions his Maser on the front row of the ATT grid, Behra started on pole. Such a sexy shape . Properties on Canterbury Road near the Mills Street corner in the distance (Sharaz Jek)Behra’s 300S gets the jump at the start, thats Whitehead’s Monza at left, Moss 300S slightly behind, the Jag is Stillwell’s D at left and the little car on the far right Brabham’s Cooper T39 (John Blanden)
A fantastic crowd of 150,000 people gathered to watch the days racingwhich was marred by the critical injury and subsequent death of Peter Catlin in the first race of the day after he lost control of his Bugatti at Melford corner.
This dominated the tabloids coverage of the race but ‘The Argus’ noted Moss’ lap record of 1:55.8 ‘set in a sportscar, the record previously held by a racing car’ and ‘one of the finest exhibitions of race driving seen in Melbourne’.
To the surprise of many Behra put his car on pole and lead from the start of the 100 mile race with Patterson flipping his Cooper at Melford Corner without too much damage to him or the car on the first lap.
Behra hard on the brakes in pursuit of Moss. Maser 300S (Philip Skelton)
Behra lead the other 35 competitors at the end of lap 1 from Moss, Stillwell’s D Type, the two Monza’s of Wharton and Whitehead, Brabham’s Cooper T39, Bill Pitt’s D type and Paul England’s beautifully designed Ausca. The car was built by England in his spare time at Repco, was powered by the first Holden/Repco Hi-Power cylinder head engine.
Pitt’s Jag D chasing Jim Leech’s MM Holden Spl with the Ron Phillips Austin Healey 100S behind (unattributed)
On lap 2 Moss gave his French teammate a blast on his Masers ‘Fiamms’ at Jaguar Corner to let him through, and an even bigger one when he did so, team orders not new in motor racing! At the front Wharton and Brabham slipped past Stillwell with Bill Pitt getting progressively quicker in his XKD and closer to the shapely tail of Whitehead’s Monza.
Brabham wringing the little Cooper T39’s Climax engine hard! (John Blanden)
Moss had a lead of 20 seconds from Behra, Stillwell spun giving Pitt ‘a sniff’ at him as Moss set fastest lap on the 27th tour, passing lots of slower traffic in the process.
By the race’s end only Jean Behra was on the same lap as Moss, the Brit took the flag from Behra, Wharton, Pitt a great 4th and first local home, Stillwell, Whitehead, Lex Davison’s HWM Jaguar and Kiwi Ross Jenson in an Austin Healey 100S and the rest.
Moss exits Jaguar corner in his 300S complete with accumulated hay from bales disturbed by other errant competitors during the race’ 100 miles, in the cars inlet (Graham Hoinville)‘Motori Porno’ innit!? Plug change, 12 of them for Moss’ twin plug #3059. Twin distributors, big Weber 45DCO3 carbs of the 2992cc circa 280 bhp 6 cylinder, DOHC 2 valve engine all clear (Sharaz Jek)
Other ATT Meeting Photos…
Albert Park vista #20 the Phillips Austin Healey 100S (unattributed)Another start shot, row 3 this time with the 2 D Types of Stillwell and Bill Pitt (right) in shot, thats Sulman’s Aston DB3S on the far right (unattributed)Phillip’s 8th placed pretty Austin Healey 100S, great run for the Melburnian in a model very popular in Oz, sadly most have now left our shores (unattributed)Stan Coffey’s Ferrari 750 Monza behind its Holden FE towcar (Sharaz Jek)Moss passing and thanking with a wave MG T driver Newman for his track etiquette (Arnold Terdich)Ken Wharton’s races his Ferrari 750 Monza to 3rd place. Southern Command Army buildings in the background. He raced this car in NZ that summer and sadly died in it at Ardmore on 12 January 1957 (John Blanden)Bib Stillwell’s ‘XKD520’, the seventh D Type Jag built appropriately going thru Jag Corner. An important step in the later Australian Champs rise thru the ranks, he raced it in ’56 to early ’57 , then progressed to Hunt’s 250F (autopics.com)Another paddock vista which again has ‘COR’ Commonwealth Oil Refineries in shot, clearly the firms PR function was working well! the Phillips Healey 100S and a Porsche Speedster in shot (unattributed)
Etcetera…
Fifties circuit conceptually similar to but not identical to the contemporary one, direction of racing opposite to the present (Barry Green)
Bibliography…
Barry Green ‘Albert Park: Glory Years’
Photo Credits…
Sharaz Jek especially for the shots which inspired the article, Getty Images for all of the Melbourne ‘atmo’ 1956 shots, Arnold Terdich, Eileen Richards, John Blanden, Philip Skelton, Graham Hoinville, autopics.com
Tailpiece: She is MY daughter Stirl don’t even think about it!…
Jack Brabham shakes down his 1968 Tasman contender the Brabham BT23E Repco for Sydney’s media at Oran Park, 14 February 1968…
Nestled in the back is Repco’s latest ‘RB740’ 275bhp 2.5 litre V8, the Tasman variant of Brabham’s successful 1967 F1 3 litre (330bhp) engine. Denny Hulme took the drivers title from Jack in a BT24, with Brabham Repco winning the constructors championship for the second year on the trot.
Brabham in the OP pitlane February 1968 (R Rice)
Jack Brabham at Oran Park, Sydney 1968. He might have raced a Holden touring car there in the mid-seventies but didn’t in his ‘heyday’. Built in the 1960’s 60Km west of Sydney near Camden, OP was extended in 1974 hosting the F5000 1974 and 1977 AGP’s. Subsumed by Sydney’s western sprawl ‘Oran Park Town’ will house around 25,000 people (R Rice)
BT23E being fettled probably in Sydney during the Warwick Farm weekend, Jack hands on as ever, RBE740 2.5 V8, Hewland FT200 gearbox (unattributed)
The Brabham BT23E/1was again built on Ron Tauranac’s BT23 F2 jig and powered by a 2.5-litre Repco V8- as it was for the BT23A he campaigned in the 1967 Tasman before its sale to David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce- BT23A used RBE640’s throughout the 1967 Tasman whereas BT23E used both RBE740 and a new design- the RBE830 (short F1 block and between the Vee crossflow, SOHC, two valve heads) on raceday at Sandown.
Jack Brabham made limited appearances in the 1968 Tasman series, he raced the BT23E twice, at Warwick Farm and Sandown Park in February.
(Brian McInerney)
Brabham in BT23E in the Warwick Farm pitlane several days after the cars Oran Park shakedown.
The car in front of Jack’s is Pedro Rodriguez’ BRM P261, behind him is the nose of Piers Courage’s McLaren M4A Ford FVA F2 car, third in the race. Jack was seventh in the ‘Warwick Farm 100’ on 18 February, Jim Clark ran away with the race from teammate Graham Hill’s identical Lotus 49 Ford DFW. Click here for an article on this meeting;
At Sandown on 25 February Clark again won the race and the title, Jack’s new Repco ‘830’ engine failed. It was a bit of a portent of the F1 year he and Jochen Rindt were to experience with the Repco engines.
The Ford Cosworth DFV, in its second year, challenged the new quad-cam 32 valve Repco RB860 V8, its fragility was as problematic as its RB620 and 740 brothers had been reliable…
Sandown AGP 1968. Clark, Lotus 49 Ford DFW, Chris Amon, Ferrari Dino 246T and Jack in BT23E/1. Row 2 is Graham Hill and Leo Geoghegan in Lotus 49 Ford DFW and Lotus 39 Repco 740 respectively. The other glimpse of a car beside the fence is Frank Gardner’s Brabham BT23D Alfa. Jim won in a thriller diller of a race by a ‘bees-dick’ from Chris (HAGP)
RBE830 engine cobbled together to fit in the BT23E frame- the blocks were different, note oil cooler and breather arrangements (R MacKenzie)
The car was then sold to Bob Jane Racing and driven by John Harvey, but he was injured in a massive accident in practice on his first outing in the car at Bathurst during the Gold Star meeting.
It was repaired before Harvey recovered from the life threatening accident, which was a bumma for John but also in terms of the ’68 Gold Star competition, it would have been great to have Harves give Kevin Bartlett, who won that year in Alec Mildren’s Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo Tipo V8 a run for his money- Leo raced his ex-Clark Lotus 39 Repco.
Bob Jane gave Ian Cook a run in the car at Lakeside in July and then by Allan Moffat at Sandown Park in August, Moffatt crashed it again and it was out of action until the 1969 Tasman series. Moffat had returned to Australia after making a strong name for himself in the US in the two years before in Lotus Cortinas, a Ford Mercury Cougar in late 1967 and sharing a works Shelby Mustang at Daytona and Sebring in the first quarter of 1968.
Harvey in the bi-winged Brabham BT23E 740 at Bathurst Easter 1969 before the big accident caused by upright failure, the mangled mess is shown below. The car was run in this form only once (oldracephotos.com)
(J Davis)
(D Harvey)
Harvey and the marshalls push BT23E 740 to the inside on the run out of Dandenong Road at Sandown in February 1969- Jochen Rindt’s Lotus 49B Ford DFV sings past (R MacKenzie)
When John and the car were ready to race again he contested Bob Jane Racing’s home race at Sandown but failed to finish after having engine problems.
Harvey raced it through the 1969 Australian Gold Star series, winning at Sandown in September and finishing second at Bathurst at Easter but retired from four races- due to oil pressure at Symmons Plains, undisclosed engine problems at Mallala, a cam-follower at Surfers Paradise and an accident in practice at Warwick Farm. Kevin Bartlett won his second Gold Star in 1969 aboard the Mildren ‘Yellow Submarine’ Alfa from Leo Geoghegan’s Lotus 39 Repco and Max Stewart in the other Alec Mildren entry, the Mildren Waggott TC-4V 1.9 litre.
During this period the car evolved in look a lot- constant experimentation with wings and engine- Bob Jane acquired the latest circa 300bhp RBE830 series V8 prior to the commencement of the Gold Star, the team yielded a performance dividend but not a reliability one. Repco Brabham Engines’ Rodway Wolfe recalls being instructed to give the two works RBE830 engines used by Jack Brabham in his little raced 1969 Tasman campaigner, the Brabham BT31 to Jane after Jack’s last event with that car- a win in the 1969 Easter Bathurst Gold Star round, so Bob/Harvey should have had the best of Repco Tasman V8s.
Harvey, BT23E, Warwick Farm 1970 (R Thorncraft)
Harvey, BT23E 830, Warwick Farm 100 Tasman round 1970. That neatly integrated engine cover/cowling wing assembly was fabricated by ex-Repco man John Brookfield in Melbourne (D Simpson)
Formula 5000 cars were eligible to enter the 1970 Tasman Series but despite that a good 2.5, or 2.4 litre car in fact won the championship- Graeme Lawrence won in the same V6 Ferrari Dino 246T chassis Chris Amon used to win in 1969. Bob Jane Racing entered only the Warwick Farm and Sandown rounds- Harves was a good fifth at the Farm where KB won in the Sub 2 litre Waggott powered whereas at Sandown he had an oil leak and retired the car- Niel Allen won ina McLaren M10B Chev.
He raced BT23E in the first round of the 1970 Gold Star series, winning at Symmons Plains in March from Leo Geoghegan and Kevin Bartlett but from the following round at Lakeside the teams front line tool became the Jane-Repco 830 V8- a machine built on Bob Britton’s Brabham BT23 jig but optimised to suit the latest generation of Firestone tyres- with more reliability Harvey had the speed to win the Gold Star that year. The story of that year is told here; https://primotipo.com/2019/07/05/oran-park-diamond-trophy-gold-star-1970/
After the sale of the car by Bob Jane it was converted to an F2 car with a Ford twin-cam engine and raced by Woody Curran in Tasmania from 1970-1977, it was sold to Bill Marshall who restored and historic raced passing via Ray Delaney into the hands of Art Valdez in the United States, and then a consortium in the UK in 2017, in more recent times it was acquired by Australian racer/restorer Aaron Lewis who has rebuilt it in RBE830 engined form.
Symmons Gold Star round 1970. From left Leo Geoghegan, Lotus 39 Repco 730, Kevin Bartlett, Mildren ‘Sub’ Waggott TC-4V 2 litre- Max Stewart on the row behind in the Mildren Waggott TC-4V 2 litre and John Harvey, Brabham BT23E Repco 830. Harvey won from Geoghegan, Bartlett and Stewart (H Ellis)
The last few races for the BT23E in its Repco heyday seem to be the 1970 Symmons Plains Gold Star round (above) on 2 March 1970, the ANF1 races during the Easter Bathurst meeting (no longer a Gold Star round due to safety issues) and finally the ANF1 races held during the RAC Trophy sportscar championship meeting (below) at Warwick Farm on May 3 1970
Harvey, BT23E 830 in its final front-line Repco engine race at Warwick Farm on 3 May 1970 (R MacKenzie)
(M Bisset)
(M Bisset)
Aaron Lewis’ restoration of the car is superb, as shown it is fitted with an RBE830 2.5 litre V8 and sans wings- that is the specification in which it raced in the 1968 Sandown AGP. This is the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings in Carlton during ‘Motorclassica’ in October 2018.
Surrounding cars include the ex-Alan Jones Williams FW07 Ford, the green ex-Nelson Piquet 1981 AGP Ralt RT4 Ford BDA, ‘Ansett’ Elfin MR8 Chev F5000 and red Allan Hamilton owned McLaren M10B F5000.
Etcetera…
(oldracephotos.com
Bob Jane Racing Council of War at Symmons Plains in March 1970, I guess that weekend they may have run the Shelby Mustang, Brabham, McLaren M6B Repco sporty and a series-production Monaro GTS350 perhaps.
Bob, Harvey, Pat Purcell, an obscured fellow and John Sawyer at right. Harvey is sitting on the rear tyre of the BT23E.
(R MacKenzie)
Three photographs of John Harvey at Bathurst in 1970- this was the famous meeting/event at which Niel Allen set a lap record for Mount Panorama in his McLaren M10B Chev F5000, which stood for a couple of decades .
Note that in the shot above at Easter the car has a separate wing rather than the integrated engine cover cowling and wing- cowling at Symmons in on 3 March, separate wing above on 27-30 March and back to the cowling fot that final meeting at Warwick Farm in May 1970- perhaps they were testing a different wing for the pending Jane V8?
Note the tyre going flat in the closeup shot below on the way down the mountain.
(Wirra)
Bathurst Easter 1970 grid (R MacKenzie)
(P Townsend)
Photograph in the Warwick Farm paddock during the May 1970 RAC Trophy meeting. That near engine over/wing does have a 1969 F1 Matra MS80 touch about it.
Credits:
R Rice, Brian McInerney, Wirra, Rod MacKenzie, Peter Townsend, Dale Harvey, oldracingcars.com, Harold Ellis, Dick Simpson, ‘History of the AGP’ G Howard and ors, M Bisset, Jeff Davis
Tailpiece: Jack’s BT23E cruisin’ the Warwick Farm paddock…
(Wirra)
Brabham, Brabham BT23E Repco 740, Warwick Farm Tasman meeting 1968, all gorgeous in its turquoise/gold stripe livery.
Jackie Stewart passes the burning molten alloy remains of Jackie Oliver’s BRM P153 and Jacky Ickx’ Ferrari 312B, fortunately both drivers escaped with only minor injuries, burns in Ickx’ case, lucky, it could have been much worse…
On the first of the 90 lap 19 April 1970 event Oliver had a suspension failure at the Ciudalcampo, Jarama, Madrid circuit, ploughing into Ickx and puncturing his fuel tank. The other P153 BRM of Pedro Rodriguez was withdrawn as a precautionary measure, Ollie reported stub axle failure as the accident’s cause.
#2 Ickx Ferrari 312B and Oliver’s white BRM P153, inside an inferno. ‘Bag type’ safety bladder fuel tanks mandated from the start of the 1970 season. The FIA at this time, pretty much year by year changed the regulations to improve safety around fuel tanks; safety foam around tanks in ’72, crushable structures around tanks in ’73, self-seal breakaway tank/hose coupling in ’74. (unattributed)
The full horror of the situation confronting the two drivers; Oliver has punched the release on his Willans 6 point harness and is jumping out of the BRM, Ickx is in the process of popping his Britax Ferrari belts. Johnny Servoz-Gavin’s Tyrrell March 701 Ford 5th passes. (unattributed)
Ickx disoriented and on fire in search of a marshall (Automobile Year 18)
A soldier beckons in Jacky’s direction. (Automobile Year 18)
The soldier, not a marshall puts Ickx’ overalls fire out. At this stage foam is being sprayed on the car fire but the foam extinguishers were soon emptied leaving water only, the impact on the molten magnesium componentry was to make the fire worse. (Automobile Year 18)
Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT33 Ford was on pole, reinforcing the speed of Ron Tauranac’s first monocoque GP contender, but Jackie Stewart won the race in one of his least favourite cars, the March 701 Ford.
The accident happened at the ‘Esses Bugatti’, a stub axle failed and Oliver’s BRM rammed Ickx’ Ferrari puncturing its fuel tanks and releasing 45 gallons of avgas, a similar amount aboard the BRM. Oliver got out quickly, Ickx finally emerged with his overalls on fire, the flames were put out by a soldier. Ickx suffered as a result of keeping his fuel soaked overalls on.
‘The accident created race havoc, not only the visibility being dangerously reduced for drivers…but the flaming petrol constituted another hazard. The fire-fighting was abysmal, vast quantities of water being hosed on the flames for a long time-a procedure which caused the magnesium elements to ‘gas’ and flare up time and time again. The BRM was still burning at the end of the race, but miraculously no-one was hurt’ the Automobile Year race report said.
Stewart didn’t have the race to himself; he initially pulled away from Brabham and Hulme, electronic dramas causing the Kiwi’s demise. Despite spinning twice Jack chased Stewart and Pescarolo, taking second when the Frenchman’s Matra V12 seized, he was five seconds behind JYS. Only a few metres separated them when Brabham’s Ford Cosworth failed, allowing Jackie to ease off to take victory.
Bruce McLaren was second, McLaren M14A and Mario Andretti in another privately entered March 701, third.
The 1970 speed of BT33 was reinforced by Jack’s pole. He won the season opening South African GP. Here spinning on the ‘extinguisher foam rink’. He spun twice but despite that was right on Stewart’s tail when his engine blew. Jarama 1970. (unattributed)
Jarama 1970 was also notable for the race debut of Chapman’s latest design the Lotus 72.
Jochen Rindt qualified his 8th, John Miles in the sister car did not make the cut. Rindt was out of the race on lap 8 with ignition failure.
It would take intensive development by Colin Chapman and his team to make the car competitive, the cars monocoques had to be ‘unpicked’ to make the suspension changes to eliminate a lot of the anti-dive/squat geometry and many other modifications but by June they had a winning car; victorious for Rindt in the sad Dutch Grand Prix, unfortunately the fire on that day had far more serious, fatal consequences for Piers Courage and his De Tomaso 505 Ford.
The sad reality of days like Jarama and Zandvoort in 1970, look how ill equipped in terms of fire protective clothing the marshalls are in the photos above, was the acceptance that safety standards in every respect; circuits, car construction and race support services had to improve to societal levels of acceptability. Thankfully we are on a different level in every respect today…
Rindt, Lotus 72 Ford, Jarama 1970. Look at the suspension travel on that early 72! (unattributed)
Jochen and Colin making a long joblist during Spanish GP practice. The car which won at the Dutch GP in June was a 72C which shows how much change there was in 2 short months. ‘Sol’ pitboard is Alex Soler-Roig who failed to qualify a Lotus 49C. (unattributed)
John Surtees ran as high as 3rd in his ex-works McLaren M7C Ford but faded and then retired with gearbox problems. Back at base his team were building John’s first F1 car the ‘TS7’ which made its debut at the British GP in July. (The Cahier Archive)
Piers Courage during Jarama practice 1970. His Frank Williams De Tomaso 505 Ford non-started after a practice accident. (The Cahier Archive)
Tailpiece: Stewart’s winning March 701 passes the conflagration…
Jack Brabham starts the plunge from the Casino Square to Mirabeau in his factory Lotus 25 Climax ‘R3’ during the 1963 Monaco Grand Prix…
Brabham was joined at ‘Brabham Racing Organisation’ by Dan Gurney in 1963, the lanky Californian left Porsche at the end of their F1 program. In 1962 BRO ran a car for Jack only in the teams first F1 season.
For 1963 both were driving the latest Brabham BT7’s powered by short stroke, fuel injected Coventry Climax V8’s. In first Monaco practice Jack’s Climax munched a valve, Jack flew the engine back to the UK in his Cessna to have it rebuilt it in time for Sundays race. The F1 racer of 1963 was a DIY kinda guy, if his name was Brabham anyway!
Dan Gurney’s brand new Brabham BT7 Climax, Monaco 1963, he was mighty fast if lacking in reliability and luck in that car that year! Famously the driver Clark came to respect the most. (unattributed)
In final practice Gurney lost the head off a valve, as had Trintignants Lotus 24, Roy Billington gave Jack the sad news when The Guvnor returned with his rebuilt FWMV from Coventry.
Brabham decided to start Gurney and withdraw from the race. The following morning having heard of Jack’s predicament Colin Chapman sportingly offered Jack a drive in the Team Lotus spare, ‘R3’ fitted with last years Weber carb Coventry Climax V8. Clark did a 1:35:2 in this car ‘just for fun’ only 9/10 of a second slower than his pole time in his race chassis towards the end of qualifying.
Chapman knew Jack was well familiar with the handling characteristics of the car as Jack acquired a Lotus 24 in early 1962, the spaceframe variant of the epochal, monocoque 25 whilst Ron Tauranac completed the build of Jacks 1962 and first GP contender, the Brabham BT3.
And so it was that Jack had the opportunity to drive a car he had wondered a lot about since driving his own Lotus 24 Climax for much of 1962. ‘That was a great gesture by Colin and i was delighted not to miss the race, but i can’t say i liked his car. If i thought my tube chassis Lotus 24 had been cramped, this Lotus 25 redefined the term. Its German ZF gearbox had a weird ‘upside down’ change pattern, and whilst i thought Dans feet were big, Jimmy’s must have been microscopic! The 25 seemed to have terrific traction and cornered well, but the gearbox got stuck in 5th twice and i had to stop to have it fixed and finished way back’ said Jack in Doug Nye’s biography of him. Click here for an article on this race and the Lotus 25;
’63 Monaco GP lap 1, the field led by Hill’s BRM P57 1st and Clark’s Lotus 25 cl 8th exiting the Station Hairpin. Next is Ginthers BRM P57 2nd, Surtees’ Ferrari T56 4th, #7 is a flash of McLaren’s Cooper T66 Climax 3rd, #4 Gurney’s Brabham BT7 Climax DNF ‘box and the rest. (unattributed)
MRD, BRO and the 1962 Season…
Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac formed ‘MRD’ Motor Racing Developments Ltd to build racing cars in 1961, their first car, the FJ MRD was raced by Aussie Gavin Youl that year.
The main games were both production racing cars and F1, ‘Motor Racing Developments’ jointly owned by Brabham and Tauranac built the cars and ‘Brabham Racing Organisation’ owned by Jack (at that stage) ran the F1 program; prepared and entered the cars and contracted commercial agreements to fund the program.
Brabham being pushed to the Sandown grid, March 1962. Brabham sold this Cooper T55 to John Youl who raced it very successfully over the next couple of years the car continually developed by engineer Geoff Smedley including fitment of a twin-plug 2.5 FPF built by Smedley, an interesting story in itself. (autopics.com.au)
Jack raced in the International Series of races in the Australasian summer in early 1962 in a Cooper T55 under his own ‘Ecurie Vitesse’ banner.
The car was his factory Cooper 1961 F1 chassis ‘F1-10-61’ the little 1.5 litre FPF used in GP events replaced by its big FPF brother, an ‘Indy’ 2.7 for the Antipodean F Libre races. He won at Levin in NZ and Lakeside Queensland, i reckon his last Cooper win was his victory in the ‘Sandown Park International’ on 12 March 1962 from Surtees and McLaren both Cooper T53 mounted.
Jack Brabham in his F1 BT3 derived BT4 ‘Intercontinental’ Formula Brabham powered by a Coventry Climax 2.7 litre FPF ‘Indy’ engine. BT4 used smaller tanks than BT3 and 15 inch wheels all round. Australian national F1 was F Libre at this time. AGP, Caversham, WA, November 1962. Bruce Mclaren won the race in a Cooper T62 Climax, Jack collided with another competitor. (Milton McCutcheon)
By the end of the year he was racing his own BT4, 2.7 FPF powered in the Australian Grand Prix at Caversham WA in November.
But first there was a season of Grand Prix racing to contest, BT3 wouldn’t be ready until mid year as the customer FJ program had priority; MRD built 11 BT2 FJ’s, BT3 and 3 BT4’s in 1962, not bad for a new concern!
‘Brabham Racing Organisation’ needed a car for Jack to race in both championship and non championship 1962 events in the interim.
Colin Chapman was more than happy to oblige, selling Jack Lotus 21 chassis ‘936’ and 24 ‘947’ to enable the Aussie to chase the prizemoney and championship points on offer.
The 21 was the factory 1961 F1 design, a beautiful chassis only let down by the lack of a suitable, modern engine, the old 1.5 litre Coventry Climax FPF even in updated Mk2 form was too long in the tooth to keep up with the Ferrari Dino V6’s in 1961. Mind you, the brilliance of Moss in Rob Walker’s Lotus 18 took two wins at Monaco and the Nurburgring and Innes Ireland one in his factory 21 at the season ending Watkins Glen round.
Chapman updated the Lotus 21 design into the 24 for 1962, adapting the chassis to take the new 1.5 litre V8 Coventry Climax FWMV engine and the suspension of his ‘experimental’ masterstroke, the Lotus 25, the first modern, monocoque single seater from which all such racing cars right through to the present owe their parental lineage.
Lotus 24 cutaway drawing. Multi-tubular spaceframe chassis, front suspension by top rocker and lower wishbones and coil spring/damper units. Rear suspension by reversed lower wishbone, single top link and 2 radius rods for lateral location, coil spring/damper units. Girling disc brakes. Wheelbase 91 inches, front track 51 1/2 and rear 51 3/4 inches. Weight 1036 lb dry. Fuel tank capacity 27 gallons. Engines Coventry Climax V8 or BRM V8, gear boxes 5 speed ZF or 5/6 speed Colotti Francis. A good Coventry Climax FWMV V8 developed around 181bhp@8200rpm in 1962. (unattributed)
Mind you, the customers of the 24 thought they were buying Cols latest design…
As is well known, the conceptual inspiration for the Lotus 25 was Chapman’s Elan road car and it’s backbone chassis; why not widen the ‘backbone’ to accommodate the driver, pop the fuel into the structure so created either side of him and get enhanced torsional rigidity for less weight, the primary objectives of the exercise?
Chapman sketched his ideas, the 25 was drawn by draftsman Alan Styman, the prototype ‘R1’ put together in the early months of 1962 in a partitioned part of Team Lotus workshop at Cheshunt by mechanics Dick Scammell and Ted Woodley working with Mike Costin, Lotus Engineering Director (and shortly the ‘Cos’ of Cosworth) and Chapman himself . Doug Nye; ‘Chapman suspected the concept might not work out, but would in fact revolutionise racing car design’
The 1961 Lotus 21 chassis frames torsional stiffness was only 700lb/ft per degree of deflection, the 24 frame was 10 pounds lighter bare weight (before brackets and aluminium fuel tanks) and had similar rigidity to the 21. The 25 weighed in at 65 pounds bare, ‘yet offered 1000 lb/ft per degree rigidity rising to what was at that time a staggering 2400 lb/ft per degree when the new Coventry Climax V8 was installed in its rear bay’ said Nye.
Clark all snuggled into his brand new Lotus 25 ‘R1’, Belgian GP 1962. Monocoque structure by rivetted D Shaped light alloy longerons with fabricated steel bulkheads to support suspension, steering and engine. Suspension, wheelbase and track as per Lotus 24. Engine Coventry Climax FWMV V8 and ZF 5 speed ‘box. Fuel capacity 32 gallons. Weight 990lb dry. (Yves Debraine)
Chapman justified the new type 24 customer design as against offering them the 25 saying ‘just in case the monocoque idea didn’t work out’. Many customers had ordered 24’s unsuspecting the works was going to be running something quite different and superior. From Chapman’s perspective it was simple; he could build and sell plenty of 24’s then, off the back of the speed of the 21 in 1961, the 25 was unproven and it would take months to fulfil the orders even if he could talk his customers into embracing what was a new concept. Better to ‘take the bird in hand’, Lotus Components could build the 24’s quickly allowing Chapman to focus on the new 25 and deal with the flack later!
Lotus 24 customers in 1962 included UDT Laystall 4 chassis, Rob Walker 2 chassis, Wolfgang Seidel, Team Lotus themselves and Brabham.
Maurice Trintignant in one of Rob Walkers Lotus 24 during the 1962 French GP. He was 7th and highest placed Lotus in the race won by Dan Gurney’s Porsche 804. (unattributed)
It’s interesting to reflect on Jack’s thoughts when the 25 was announced but he probably had more than a sneaking admiration for Chapmans ‘guile’, Jack and Chapman both ‘wheeler-dealers’ par excellence, one needed to get up pretty early in the day to get the better of them; if anyone ever did!
In any event, Jack was a racer, he needed to work with what he had knowing the BT3 was coming along later in the season and in any event the 25 might not work.
Jack’s 21 ‘936’ was first tested at Goodwood ‘I found one needed a shoehorn to fit into it-Colin Chapman seemed to build cars for midgets. But its ride was softer than any Cooper, its steering lighter and its handling good’ said Jack.
Only a few days later the car was destroyed in a workshop fire at the Repco facility in Surbiton where Tim Wall was preparing the car. Whilst fitting the battery a spanner shorted against one of the fuel tanks, making a small hole which then gushed burning fuel! Brabham and Wall ran out of fire extinguishers trying to control the fire and the fire brigade were unable to save the uninsured 21.
Chapman lent Jack the parts to build up another car which was ‘flung together’ in time for the Pau GP on 23 April. Jack qualified well in 4th but the car ran its bearings on lap 4.
The team rushed to make the ‘Aintree 200’, the following weekend but they missed practice, the car stripped its gears in the race which was won by Clark’s Lotus 24. Chapman and Clark let Jack drive the 24 for the first time in practice ‘Again i found it as tight as a sardine can’ quipped Brabham. Tight but fast!
By early May Jack’s 24 was ready, Roy Billington and Jacks team worked feverishly on the car to finish it at Lotus in Cheshunt in time for the ‘BRDC International Trophy’ at Silverstone on May 12. He was 13th on the grid and finished 6th, the race won by Hill’s BRM P578. It was a good result, final chassis set-up was done by guesswork/the eye and the tacho drive failed.
Brabham raced his Lotus 24 competitively in Holland before running into the spinning Rodriguez Ferrari 156. Q4, DNF on lap 4 upon Clark’s debut of the Lotus 25. (unattributed)
On 20 May the Lotus 25 made its race debut in Jim Clark’s hands at Zandvoort, Holland. The racing world drooled over ‘R1’ which Clark qualified 2nd and lead the race until clutch problems intervened.
Jim Clark debuts one of the most influential GP cars of all time; Lotus 25 Climax chassis ‘R1’ Zandvoort 1962. (unattributed)
24’s were entered for Trevor Taylor, Innes Ireland and Jack, the competitiveness of the chassis shown by Taylor’s 2nd place, Jack qualified very well 4th, but was punted out of the race by Ricardo Rodriguez’ Ferrari 156. The Mexican spun across his path as Jack lined him up for a fast downhill pass. The race was won by Hills BRM P57.
Jack blasts up Beau Rivage, Ste Devote in the background, Monaco 1962. Behind his Lotus 24 is Clark’s Lotus 25. Jim Q1 DNF with clutch dramas, Jack classified 8th. In the distance is one of the Ferrari 156’s. (Sutton Images)
At Monte Carlo Jack had ‘947’ flying,he qualified 6th and raced in 3rd until until a prang forced his withdrawal. He was classified 8th and quipped ‘I had a wishbone break-after i hit the barricade’ avoiding Phil Hill’s spun Ferrari 156 in Casino Square. Bruce McLaren won in a Cooper T60 Climax.
Back in the UK a week later for the ‘International 200 Guineas’ at Mallory Park on June 11he finished 2nd from 3rd on the grid and continued to get good experience of the new Climax V8 in the 24. Surtees was victorious in his Lola Mk4 Climax.
Brabham, Lotus 24, ‘2000 Guineas’ Mallory Park. June 1962. (unattributed)
A week later at Spa on 17 June he qualified 15th having arrived late and had little practice but raced well finishing 6th. Clark took his and the 25’s first championship win.
There the handling of the Lotus ‘was simply evil-demanding the full road width at 150mph…the boys straightened out the bent chassis (damaged in the Monaco prang) in time for Reims’.
Innes Ireland’s BRP/UDT Laystall Lotus 24 Climax being loaded at the 1962 French GP at Rouen. Innes Q8 DNF puncture on lap 1. Fine carefully faired rump on display, as is the rear suspension, typical layout of the day described in the text earlier. (unattributed)
At Reims for the non-championship GP he was 4th from grid 5 on 1 July, McLaren again winning in a T60 Cooper. Jack enjoyed a long high speed slip-streaming dice with Bruce and Graham Hill’s BRM and in the process forgot to switch to the reserve fuel tank late in the race.
Then a week later Jack contested the French Grand Prix at Rouen-Les Essarts qualifying 4th but failed to finish with a suspension breakage, a rear shocker mount had broken. Dan Gurney took a popular win in the Porsche 804 from Tony Maggs Cooper T60, a wonderful result for the young South African. Hill and Clark both had troubles.
Brabham firing up the Coventry Climax FMWV 1.5 litre V8 engine of his Brabham Racing Organisation Lotus 24 under the watchful eye of chief mechanic Roy Billington, Aintree, British GP paddock 1962. This shot shows the svelte lines of the car to good effect. (unattributed)
Back home for the British GP, that year held at Liverpool’s Aintree on 21 July he qualified 9th and raced to 5th. The new BT3 was nearly completed only difficulties finishing the complex ‘crossover’ exhaust system required by the early series Climax engines prevented its debut.
Brabham, Aintree British GP 1962. Lotus 24 Climax. (unattributed)
The BT3 ‘F1-1-62’ was completed the week after Aintree and run briefly at Goodwood before Coventry Climax dramas intervened…
The engine out of the 24 was slotted in and then tested at Brands ‘here at last was a modern F1 car into which i actually fitted. Its cockpit wasn’t too hot and most critically it handled beautifully. Ron really knew his stuff’ said Jack.
Brands BT3 test in late July at Brands Hatch. Tauranac at left, Harry Speirs of Climax fettling the engine and Jack. (Jack Brabham Story)
The BT3 was taken straight to the Nurburgring for its GP debut.
Brabham awaits the start of the very sodden German GP, the Nurburgring awash. He looks calm but it had been a fraught practice with the new car, the Climax V8 ran a bearing. (unattributed)
On the 5th of August BT3 finally made its GP debut at the Nurburgring,Jack was taking the new car gently but it still ran the bearings in his Climax engine.
The team built an engine from the bottom end of a Team Lotus unit and top end of the one in BT3, which was rough but allowed him to qualify. Jack’s spare was flown in that night to Cologne and fitted in the morning.
He qualified 24th but failed to finish with a throttle linkage which had been lashed up with extra springs to ensure it would close safely, throttle balance in the corners a real challenge, so he retired. This thrilling race in awful wet conditions, watched by over 350000 fans was won by Graham Hill, a supreme drive in his BRM P57 by 2.5 seconds from Surtees’ Lola Mk4 Climax and Gurney’s Porsche 804.
Brabham BT3 cutaway. Muti-tubular spaceframe chassis. Front suspension by unequal length upper and lower wishbones with coil spring/Armstrong damper units. Rear by reversed top wishbones, wide based lower wishbones coil spring/Armstrong damper units. Girling disc brakes. Fuel capacity 26 gallons. Wheelbase, as for the Lotus 24 and 25 was 91 inches. Front track 52 and rear track 50 1/2 inches. Weight 1045 lb dry. Engine Coventry Climax FWMV V8 circa 180bhp@8600rpm, 6 speed Colotti-Francis gearbox. (unattributed)
Brabham’s first GP car, the BT3 Climax makes its debut at the Nurburgring 1963. (unattributed)
Whilst testing of BT3 continued Jack raced the Lotus 24 ‘947’ one last time in the 3rd Danish GP at Roskildering on 25 August winning all 3 heats in a real carve-up with Masten Gregory in a similar Lotus 24, and the event as a consequence.
Nice portrait of Brabham in his Lotus 24 Climax in the Aintree paddock 1962. Cars behind are the Lola Mk4 Climaxes of John Surtees and Roy Salvadori. (unattributed)
Back in the UK Jack contested the ‘9th Gold Cup’ at Oulton Park on 1 September,Clark won the race in his Lotus 25, he seemed to have more luck in the non-championship than title rounds in 1962, Jack was 3rd in BT3 having qualified 5th. The race was held over a full GP distance so provided valuable mileage for the new car.
A critical learning was that the brake pads had worn after only 40 laps of a total of 73, the discs were increased in size from 9 to 10.5 inches and spring rates stiffened, the body was also ‘tidied up’ post Oulton.
Brabhams BT3, Oulton Park ‘Gold Cup’ September 1962. (unattributed)
Jack elected to miss the Italian Grand Prix on September 16 in order to better prepare for the ‘away races’ at the end of the season; the non-championship Mexican GP and final championship rounds at Watkins Glen and Kyalami. Graham Hill won at Monza from teammate Richie Ginthers BRM P57, Clark started from pole but this time gearbox dramas caused a lap 12 DNF.
Brabham BT3, US GP. (George Phillips)
The US Grand Prix was held at Watkins Glen on October 7, Clark won the race from Hill and in so doing kept his championship hopes alive, the title was decided in the final round in South Africa.
Jack had a competitive run finishing 4th, having a big dice with Gurney and McLaren, despite his Colotti box jumping out of gear and qualifying 5th, the ‘Automobile Year’ report stating Jack ‘created a sensation in qualifying’ with what was still a new car.
The non-championship Mexican Grand Prix was contested by many of the GP teams on 4 November as it was close to the US Grand Prix in both time and proximity. The event was a tragic one; Ferrari had not entered but local star Ricardo Rodriguez, a Ferrari driver that year was keen to strut his stuff in front of his home crowd at the Magdalena Mixhuca circuit at Mexico City.
He approached Rob Walker who entered the 20 year old in his Lotus 24 Climax.
Jack’s Lotus 24 ‘947’ was lent to John Surtees for this race and was a ‘bit player’ in the sequence of events which lead to Ricardos death.
Rodriguez had fastest time, which Surtees then pipped in ‘947’. Rodriguez kissed his father on the hand from the cockpit of the Lotus and went out to attempt to retake pole to keep the faith with the thousands of his countrymen who had turned up to see him.
Poignant and sad shot. Ricardo Rodriguez kisses his fathers hand, youngest brother Alejandro looks on and drives the Rob Walker owned Lotus 24 Climax to his death. Mexico 1962. (unattributed)
The poor driver had a massive, fatal accident on the dauntingly fast Peraltada corner.
Some reports say their was a right rear suspension failure on the Lotus, others that he was simply going too fast in a car he wasn’t familiar with. Innes Ireland’s account in his autobiography of the differences in handling of the Lotus 24 and Ferrari 156, he raced both in 1962, is that they were considerably different. Its possible given his limited time in the Lotus that Rodriguez made an error as a result of the differences in handling characteristics of the different chassis’. Whatever the case the young driver was dead.
Clark and Trevor Taylor shared the winning Lotus 25 from Jack’s BT3 and Ireland’s Lotus 24.
Jacks BT3 2nd leads good mate Bruce McLaren’s Cooper T60 Climax DNF engine in the 1962 Mexican GP. 4 November. (Dave Friedman Collection)
John Surtees, in Jack’s Lotus 24 qualified 4th in front of Jack in 7th but had ignition failure in the race and failed to complete a lap. ‘947 was then sold to Syd van der Vyver in South Africa. It was subsequently destroyed in a workshop fire there, it and Jack’s Lotus 21 ‘936’ have been ‘reconstructed/rebuilt/rebirthed’ and run in Historic Events to this day.
At Kyalami on December 29 Jack had another competitive points winning run again finishing 4th, despite a gearbox jumping out of 3rd and 4th gears. Jack experimented with the first Hewland gearbox in BT7 in 1963 and in so doing ended the gearbox unreliability for the non-BRM British teams of the era, Mike Hewland’s transmissions amazingly robust.
All of the South African GP drama was centred on the battle for the championship between rivals and friends, Clark and Hill.
Clark led from pole and had the race ‘in the bag’ but as was so often the case in 1962, whilst the Lotus 25 was easily the fastest car it was not the most reliable. Races were lost due to engine, gearbox, clutch and other component failures, and so it was that Jim retired on lap 61 of the 82 lap event with an engine losing oil, a liquid which cannot be replenished during a race.
Hill took a popular race and drivers championship win, and BRM’s only one as a manufacturer.
Brabham races to victory in BT3, the first GP win for Brabham as a marque, at Solitude, Stuttgart 28 July 1963. (unattributed)
BT3 raced on into 1963 and GP Success…
Ron Tauranac developed a new car for 1963, the BT7 which was a lighter and cleaned-up BT3, Gurneys car 2 inches longer in the wheelbase than Jack’s in an effort to keep the lanky Californian comfier than Jack had been in Chapman’s Lotus 24!
Jacks BT7 was not ready until later in the season, he ran BT3 at Monaco before the Climax engine failure, racing the Team Lotus 25 and at Spa before using BT7 in the championship events from the Dutch GP in June.
Fittingly BT3 won Brabham’s first GP as a manufacturer when Jack won the Solitude GP, near Stuttgart, Germany on 28 July 1963 from Peter Arundell’s works Lotus 25 and Innes Ireland’s BRP BRM. The circuit was majestic, 7.1 miles long with many fast corners through pine forests with average speeds of over 105 mph, it was a fitting place to take such a win.
Solitude GP 1963. Brabham’s #1 BT3 1st from #30 Jo Bonnier’s Cooper T60 Climax 9th, #16 Trevor Taylor’s Lotus 25 Climax ‘R3’ DNF, the car Jack drove at Monaco that May, the red nosed Lola T4A Climax of Chris Amon DNF #2 Innes Ireland BRP BRM 3rd, #17 Peter Arundell’s Lotus 25 Climax and the red Lotus 24 BRM of Jo Siffert DNF. (Michael Turner)
‘Autosport’ 1963 Solitude GP report
Solitude was truly an amazing feat for a newish marque. Jack famously became the first man to win a championship GP in a car of his own name and manufacture at the French GP in 1966, when BT19 Repco took the chequered flag.
BT3 was also used by Jack to win the Austrian GP at Zeltweg on 1 September from Tony Settember’s Scirocco BRM and Carel de Beaufort’s Porsche. Raced by Denny Hulme to 3rd in the Kanonloppet at Karlskoga, Sweden behind Clark and Taylor’s Lotus 25’s on 1 August, BT3 was retained as BRO spare car for the balance of 1963.
Sold to Ian Raby for the 1964 season and a life in British Hillclimbing after that before being restored by Tom Wheatcroft in 1971 and an exhibit of his fantastic Donington Museum. In more recent times BT3 has been sold and is ‘historic raced’ which seems fitting for a car so significant in laying the foundations of success for Tauranac and Brabham all those years ago…
BT3 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2012. (oldracingcars.com)
Team Lotus sorted the 25 over the ’62/3 winter into a more consistent, reliable package,Doug Nye credits Len Terry for his role in finessing and fettling the car and Coventry Climax also developed the engines further.
Not only was the Lotus 25 and its successor 33 the best package of the 1.5 Litre F1 but one of the ten most important GP designs ever…no doubt Ron Tauranac had a good, long, hard look at Jacks sister Lotus 24 as he finalised the design elements of BT3 in the early months of ’62.
Victorious spaceframe amongst the monocoques; #6 Jacky Ickx in his winning Brabham BT26A Ford, #7 Stewart Matra MS80 2nd, Rindt Lotus 49B DNF and Hulme McLaren M7C DNF, all Ford powered. German GP 1969. Tauranac evolved his Repco powered 1968 BT26 into the Cosworth powered BT26A for ’69, Ickx also won at Mosport, Canada. Ron was using aluminium to provide some additional structural stiffness to his multi-tubulat masterpieces by then. (unattributed)
One of the bits of history which amuses me, small things amuse small minds, granted! is that despite the undoubted technical advantages of a monocoque chassis over a good-ole spaceframe, Tauranac’s Brabhams won GP’s with spaceframes right to the end of the sixties; his 1968 design BT26, won 2 Grands Prix for Jacky Ickx in 1969, let alone the titles Ron and Jack took in ’66 and ’67! So theory and practice sometimes diverge.
Tauranac’s first monocoque GP Brabham, the 1970 BT33, a change forced by regulations demanding ‘bag’ fuel tanks (his 1968 BT25 Indycar was his first monocoque) was a ripper car, one of the seasons best, it should have won at least 3 GP’s (South Africa, Monaco and British) instead of the one it did and Jack with luck, could have taken a title in his final, 1970 F1 year.
Brabhams BT33 3rd ahead of Hulme’s McLaren M14D 4th and Peterson’s March 701DNF a Ferrari 312B in the distance. Rindt’s Lotus 72 Ford won. French GP, Clermont Ferrand 1970. BT33 took a win for Jack in South Africa in 1970, Tauranac’s first GP monocoque. (unattributed)
Back to the period at hand; 1962’s BT3 evolved into 1963’s BT7, a very competitive package in the hands of both Jack and particularly Dan Gurney who became the driver the era’s undoubted star, Jim Clark feared the most.
There would be Brabham wins in the 1963-65 period but not as many as there should have been with a series of problems/preparation errors and bad luck of the type Team Lotus experienced in 1962, a story for another time…
Etectera…
Lotus 24.
Lotus 24 outline. (unattributed)
Brabham, Lotus 24 Climax, Dutch GP 1962. (Getty Images)
Jack Brabham Lotus 24 Climax Monaco 1962 (John Hendy)
Brabham BT3.
Brabham BT3 outline. (unattributed)
The photos below by George Phillips were taken of BT3 on 29 July 1962 at MRD’s New Haw Lock factory beside the River Wey navigation canal adjacent to the old Brooklands circuit.
Profile of BT3 (George Phillips)
Cockpit shot of BT3 also shows the spaceframe chassis and unusual front suspension, beefy upper wishbone and single lower link (George Phillips)
BT3 front detail. Spaceframe of 18 guage steel construction, Smiths instruments, LH change for Colotti ‘box, front suspension detail including odd top wishbone. (George Phillips)
BT7 1963 Future.
Brabham’s own spaceframe 1963 vintage. Jack in the Nurburgring paddock in a BT7 Climax, an evolution of BT3, 1963. (unattributed)
Bibliography…
Doug Nye ‘History of The GP Car 1965-85’, ‘Automobile Year’ # 10 and 11, Doug Nye ‘The Jack Brabham Story’, silhouet.com, oldracingcars.com
Photo Credits…
The Cahier Archive, Dave Friedman Collection, Milton McCutcheon, Yves Debraine, John Hendy, George Phillips, autopics.com.au, Getty Images, Sutton Images
Tailpiece: Brabham debuts BT3 Nurburgring 1962…
What a sense of achievement and anticipation Brabham must have felt as he set off on his first laps of The ‘Ring in BT3, in his wildest dreams i doubt he would have imagined the success of the following years?!
primotipo... 