You’ve got to love a multi-purpose tow car!
Steve Holmes’ wrote that Jim Richards’ Holden Monaro HT GTS 350 not only towed his ex-Willment Racing Group 2 Ford Escort Twin-Cam up and down New Zealand’s two islands but also doubled up at some meetings as a production racer, as above at Levin circa-1970, date folks?
Jim’s Escort aerobatics below at Wigram in 1972, three-wheeling out of Hangar en route to Control Tower.
This wonderful history of Jim’s Escort is courtesy of the NZ Historic Muscle & Saloon Cars Facebook site, slightly paraphrased.
‘The Jim Richards twin-cam Mk I Escort famous in NZ motor sport, we are very thankful to Rayden and Irene Smith for saving the car and returning it to the track. Mike Crabtree raced the car in the UK and he and his family have helped piece together its early UK history.
Technical Specs: 1968 Escort Twin Cam racing car built by Willment Racing, England. Engine 1700 cc Lotus Twin Cam 180 bhp. Brakes: Disc front, drum rear. Gearbox: Ford 4 speed with LSD.
The car started life as one of the first Twin Cam Escorts made at Ford’s competition plant in Boreham, England. Ford’s public relations chief, Walter Hayes, gave the car to John Willment for race development. Willment’s facilities were south of London, and they campaigned various cars throughout the 1960s, including single seaters, Cortinas, Ford Galaxie, Cobras, GT40s and the Mk I Escort Twin Cams development, which resulted in quite a unique suspension and chassis setup.
Mike Crabtree worked for Willment and raced the car to win the 2-litre class of the 1969 British Saloon Car Championship, competing alongside the Alan Mann Escort X00349F of Frank Gardner, Roy Pierpoint’s WJ Shaw Falcon Sprint and the works Britax Downton Mini Cooper S of Gordon Spice.
Mike fondly remembers driving it on three wheels and maintains it was a very forgiving racer, something subsequent drivers have mentioned. Mike and his wife Joan have travelled to New Zealand to see the car and are delighted it is still being used as intended 50 years on.
Jim and Mary Carney of Whangarei purchased the car from Willment Racing in late 1969 and imported it to New Zealand for Jim Richards to race in the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship. Running with “Radio Hauraki” and “Carney Racing” liveries, Jim produced some great racing against much larger and more powerful machines in the golden era of NZ saloon racing. It was also used as the bridal car for Jim and Faye when they married in 1972.
Subsequent owners include Lin Nielsen and John Beattie, both racing in the OSCA series in the 1970s. Lin had the car repainted following a paint shop blaze in a bright “Fairmonte Motor Court” colour scheme. Power plants over the years have been Lotus-Ford Twin-Cam, Ford Pinto, Mazda 13B rotary, Ford BDA and back to a Twin-Cam in the 1990s.
Rayden and Irene Smith have been the car’s custodians for 30 years, and Rayden continues to use it competitively. As with many old original race cars, it is no concours “silk purse”. It wears a battle-scarred patina of 50 years of racing with several layers of old paint schemes beneath its Willment livery, and still has the bog and panel repairs from Mike Crabtree’s battles with Pierpoint, Spice and Gardner in England in 1969.
Credits…
Steve Holmes-The Roaring Season, Garry Simkin, Terry Marshall, NZ Historic Muscle & Saloon Car’s Facebook site
Finito…
primotipo... 