Posts Tagged ‘Phil Moore’

Australian Racing Random 10…

Posted: December 28, 2020 in Features, Fotos
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(B Young)

Mick Watt’s Ford Anglia Special ascends Magra Hillclimb north of New Norfolk, 45km and forty minutes north of Hobart.

Mount Dromedary and Black Hills are in the background. Mick Watt achieved over 100 wins with this pretty little car before it fell into disuse in the mid-sixties and ultimate restoration by Ian Tate in Melbourne.

(B Young)

And here at Longford in 1958. It’s returned to Tassie in recent times too, acquired by Launceston/Longford identity, Rob Knott from Ian Tate after 40 years or so on the mainland.

(S5000)

Rubens Barrichelo testing the new Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford S5000 car at Phillip Island in September 2019.

He contested the first race meeting for the new Australian premier category of cars at Sandown on September 21/22 2019. See here for details of the cars; https://primotipo.com/2019/10/26/progress/ and; https://primotipo.com/2020/06/03/with-matich-a50-twist/

Ruben’s copped a tap up the rear in turn 1 of the first heat and recovered to finish seventh in the race won by Tim Macrow. He was fifth in the second heat won by James Golding and second in the feature event also won by Golding.

The first round of the 2021 Gold Star Series, Australia’s premier driving championship for the countries fastest racing cars is at Symmons Plains in late January, Covid permitting.

(D Simpson)

John Harvey at Oran Park during the Diamond Trophy weekend at Oran Park in September 1967, Brabham BT14 Repco 740 2.5.

He won the 15 lap race in a classy field which included Leo Geoghegan, Kevin Bartlett and Paul Bolton in Tasman 2.5s.

It was a great reward for car owner Ron Phillips, mechanic Peter Molloy and Harvey given the teething problems they had after converting the F2 car from Lotus-Ford twin-cam to Repco 2.5 litre V8 power.

John wore this Peter Revson inspired helmet circa 1971-1973 (Harvey Collection)

John died on December 5 2020 of lung-cancer, aged 82. We shall do a photographic tribute to his many years as an elite level racer in single-seaters, sportscars and touring cars soon.

RIP John Harvey.

(N Butler)

Bob Holden at Fishermans Bend circa 1957, Holden FE Repco Hi-Power.

This is, i think, the second of Repco Research’ test cars, it covered 400 miles a day testing all manner of Repco products first in the hands of Reg Robbins and then later Don Halpin.  The car was re-shelled after Don had an accident in it near Seymour. Seeking confirmation folks, not of the story but rather the FE ID as a Repco Research machine which was raced on weekends…

(Langdon Family)

Murray Carter aboard his self-built Carter Corvette at Longford in 1961.

He is pursuading the beast into The Viaduct. Murray built the spaceframe chassis, Chev V8 powered car in 1959 and raced it for several years by the Victorian before sale to Bob Wright in Tasmania. He is shown racing the car below at Symmons Plains in 1969.

Ultimately restored and is still alive and well. See here; https://primotipo.com/2017/01/19/forever-young/

(oldracephotos.com/Harrison)

(M Fistonic)

Wasn’t it sinfully erotic in a wedgy, angular kinda way?

In 1973 Max Stewart had the only Lola T330 contesting the Tasman Cup, chassis ‘HU1’ was the very first of course. By the following year they and the bigger-hipped T332 were everywhere.

Max’ car here is in the Pukekohe paddock during the January 6 NZ GP weekend. The big fella was out after only 3 laps, John McCormack won in his Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden. There is plenty about the Lola T330 in this and succeeding articles; https://primotipo.com/2014/06/24/lellas-lola-restoration-of-the-ex-lella-lombardi-lola-t330-chev-hu18-episode-1/

Max got on very well with this car, winning a swag of races including the 1974 Gold Star and 1974 AGP in it.

(Kelsey Collection)

Jack Myers in the Gnoo Blas paddock during the February 1960 Australian Touring Car Championship weekend.

His car is a Cooper T20/WM Waggott-Holden 3-litre twin-cam, in-line six. Myers is wearing his characteristic ‘fireproofs’ including garish horizontally-hooped shirt. Luvvit. Here is a man whose story deserves to be told comprehensively. See here for a feature on this car; https://primotipo.com/2015/02/10/stirling-moss-cumberland-park-speedway-sydney-cooper-t20-wm-holden-1956/

Note David Finch’s Jaguar D Type and Paul Samuels’ Berkeley on the trailer.

(T Watts)

Pete Geoghegan’s first Mustang looking absolutely superb in its Castrol livery at Longford in March 1967

Didn’t John Sheppard do a superb job with the preparation and presentation of the Geoghegan’s cars? See here; https://primotipo.com/2017/10/17/he-came-he-saw-he-conquered/

(HRCCT)

And Leo’s ex-Clark Lotus 39 Climax at Symmons Plains in mid-November 1966, albeit in Total livery, but looking similarly handsome. Long epic on this car here; https://primotipo.com/2016/02/12/jim-clark-and-leo-geoghegans-lotus-39/

KB is the masked man in the Alec Mildren’s Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax alongside. Both Sydneysiders had poor weekends. Leo didn’t start with engine dramas and KB’s gearbox gave troubles after he had completed only 3 laps- Greg Cusack won in his ex-Clark Lotus 32B Climax.

Poor John Goss. I guess somebody had to do it. Amaroo Park Aunger Wheels advertising shoot.

This sports-sedan didn’t survive did it after a big-hit somewhere? Was this a Goss and Grant O’Neill build?

All terribly politically incorrect these days, what a shame. See here for a feature on this most talented of drivers; https://primotipo.com/2015/07/03/john-goss-bathurst-1000-and-australian-grand-prix-winner/ ,here; https://primotipo.com/2016/06/06/gossy/ ,and here; https://primotipo.com/2018/06/19/john-goss-tornado-ford-longford-1968/

(R Knott Collection)

(B Rigg)

Mount Panorama view across The Cutting from Sulman Park with Bathurst in the distance, circa 1960.

(R McClelland)

Jackie Stewart, Bob Jane, Tim Parnell, a BRM mechanic and P261 ‘2614’ await the start of the South Pacific Championship on March 1967.

Jackie won the race in a scrap with Jim Clark the year before in the same chassis, and the Tasman Cup. This time Jack Brabham took the only ever Tasman round won by a 2.5-litre Repco-Brabham V8 in his BT23A chassis.

See here for a piece on the 1967 Tasman; https://primotipo.com/2014/11/24/1967-hulme-stewart-and-clark-levin-new-zealand-tasman-and-beyond/

(Langdon Brothers)

And again during practice, the BRM’s in 1967 had 2.1-litre P60 motors which stretched the transmissions beyond their comfort zones. Jim Clark’s Lotus 33 Climax FWMV 2-litre is in the distance, the combination which won the 1967 Tasman. See here too; https://primotipo.com/2018/12/14/sandown-park-cup-26-february-1967/

Flaggie 1946 style, during the New South Wales Grand Prix at Mount Panorama

These days the flameproof outfit and fag hangin’ out of the mouth probably wouldn’t make the cut. Alf Najar’s MG TB Special won the race, see here; https://primotipo.com/2019/11/15/1946-new-south-wales-grand-prix/

Alan Hamilton, Porsche 911 and Bob Watson Renault 16TS, Calder Rallycross in 1969.

What became of this 911 folks? Both these guys, champions both are still hale and hearty.

Jim Clark from Chris Amon at Dandenong Road Sandown, epic dice during the 1968 Australian Grand Prix, Jim won by a smidge of a second over Chris.

Lotus 49 Ford V8 from Ferrari Dino 246 V6. See AGP towards the end of this piece; https://primotipo.com/2016/12/09/f1-driverengineers-jack-larry-the-68-agp-and-rb830-v8/

(Peter Jones)

Bill Patterson’s Cooper T43 Climax being made ready at Fishermans Bend circa 1959.

It’s fellow Cooper driver John Roxburgh at right. Others folks? More from the Peter Jones Collection next week. See here for an article on Patterson’s Coopers; https://primotipo.com/2017/02/02/patto-and-his-coopers/

(B Thomas)

Duelling Scots during the ‘Lakeside 99’ Tasman Cup round in February 1967.

Jackie Stewart’s 2.1-litre BRM P261 V8 from Jim Clark, 2-litre Lotus 33 Coventry Climax FWMV V8, look closely and Jackie’s lightly-loaded right-front is just ‘orf terra-firma.

Jim won from Jack Brabham’s Brabham BT23A Repco and Frank Gardner’s Brabham BT16 Climax while Jackie’s gearbox cried enough after 59 of the races 66 laps.

See here for a pictorial piece on this weekend; https://primotipo.com/2019/01/18/lakeside-tasman-meeting-12-february-1967/

(unattributed)

Arthur Wylie, looking very smart in shirt and tie racing the wonderful Wylie Javelin on the short-lived Altona track in Melbourne’s inner-west in March 1954.

How did he go that day folks? Article about the car here; https://primotipo.com/2018/09/14/the-wylies-javelin-special/ and track here; https://primotipo.com/2016/06/24/jacks-altona-grand-prix-and-cooper-t23-bristol/

(AMS June 1954 via S Dalton)

(Auto Action)

John Martin, Spectrum 011 Ford Duratec Formula Ford, bouncing through the chicane, Adelaide during the March 2006 Clipsal 500 meeting.

Giving chase is Ben Clucas’ Van Diemen RF06 and Nathan Carratti, Van Diemen RF04.

Martin won this first ever Duratec powered round, and went on to win the Australian Formula Ford Championship from Tim Slade’s Sonic Motorsport run Van Diemen RF04. Martin then took one of Mike Borland’s 011 machines to the UK later in the year, with with some success.

(Ansett)

Phil Moore aboard John McCormack’s Elfin MR5 Repco-Holden at Oran Park during 1974.

The talented Adelaide Pharmacist won the 1973 Australian Sportscar Championship aboard an Elfin 360 Repco 830 2.5 V8. He won four of the six rounds. Moore was offered the drive of Mac’s 1973 Gold Star and NZ GP winning MR5 in the 1974 Gold Star.

In a grim year for Ansett Team Elfin with McCormack the reigning champion, Moore was the best placed of the teams three drivers, a distant third behind the Lolas of Max Stewart and Kevin Bartlett. Garrie Cooper was fourth and McCormack fifth.

John McCormack, the teams fastest driver was wrestling with the new Repco-Leyland engined MR6. The lightweight, aluminium engine was gutless and suffered severe structural problems. This scenario was exacerbated by Repco’s withdrawal from racing mid-year which meant the companies considerable race-engineering resources were not available to fix the problems. McCormack got there in the end of course, he won his third Gold Star aboard a Repco/Irving/McCormack-Leyland V8 engined McLaren M23 in 1977.

With no pre-season testing Phil Moore was impressive in 1974. His best result in five outings was second to Max Stewart’s Lola T330 Chev at demanding Surfers Paradise.

Phil Moore on the way to an ASCC win at Symmons Plains in November 1973, Elfin 360 Repco (unattributed)

(unattributed)

Vern Schuppan waves to the punters having won the 1973 Singapore Grand Prix.

His weapon of choice is a March 722 Ford. He won on the daunting 4.4km Upper Thomson Road circuit from Graeme Lawrence’s Surtees TS15 Ford and John MacDonald’s Brabham BT40 Ford. See here for a feature on this race; https://primotipo.com/2016/04/29/birrana-cars-and-the-1973-singapore-gp/

Credits…

Bob Young Collection via Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania, Dick Simpson, John Harvey Collection, Langdon Family, Norm Butler Collection, Tim Watts Collection, Rob Knott Collection, Bruce Rigg, Peter Jones, Auto Action, Ansett, Stephen Dalton Collection, Milan Fistonic, oldracephotos.com

Tailpiece…

(B Young)

Let’s finish where we started, at Magra Hillclimb in Tasmania, with a Morris Minor on the hop, driver folks?

Finito…

Sportscar Stalwarts…

Posted: December 21, 2017 in Sports Racers, Who,What,Where & When...?
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
17
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(SLWA)

Lionel Ayers and Stuart Kostera shake hands after Ayers’ victory in the 35 lap Wanneroo Park, West Australian round of the Australian Sportscar Championship (ASC) on 12 August 1973…

Lionel’s car is a real weapon, a Rennmax, ‘the Big Bertha’ of all of the sportscars built by Bob Britton, powered by a Repco ‘740 Series’ SOHC Lucas injected, 5 litre 500 BHP V8. Stuart raced a Matich SR3 Ford into third place behind Henry Michell who was second in an Elfin 360 Repco 2.5 V8.

Both Ayers and Kostera were ‘sportscar stalwarts’, they raced two-seaters for a decade and more and all over Australia- not easy as Ayers was a Brisbane boy with Stuart from Perth.

A majority of the motor racing in Australia is in the Eastern Seaboard states of Victoria and New South Wales so these blokes would have done a million miles over the years travelling from home base to chase the Tourist Trophy or ASC. As the name suggests the ASC was a national series, the distance from Brisbane to Perth and return for Ayers was about 8600 Km for example!

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Lionel Ayers tips his MRC Lotus 23B Ford into The Viaduct at Longford in 1968. What a shot! (oldracephotos.com/DKeep)

Ayers cut his racing teeth in an MG TC and then progressed into single-seaters such as the Cooper MG and Lotus 20 Ford before racing the first of three Rennmax Engineering built sportscars over the next decade.

The first was the MRC Lotus 23B Ford in which he contested the 1966 Australian Tourist Trophy at Longford. Later came the MRC Mk2 Repco, the last the Rennmax Repco which used the Repco ‘740 Series’ 5 litre V8 and Hewland DG300 ‘box from the MRC Mk2.

MRC ‘Motor Racing Components’ was Ayers company, which prepared the cars and part assembled them in Brisbane but the three cars were Rennmax built. Lionel was a pharmacist but he was also a pretty handy engineer.

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John Harvey and Phil Moore, Wanneroo Park 18 August 1972. Howie Sangster won the ASC round at Wanneroo that year in a McLaren LT170 Chev- this car an amalgam of Lola T70 chassis and McLaren bits (SLWA)

Star of the sportscar ranks at the dawn of the seventies, post the sixties ‘Matich Decade’ was John Harvey in Bob Jane’s superb McLaren M6B Repco.

You could liken Harves to an Australian Mario Andretti in some ways, he was a champion in Speedway Midgets before hitting the circuits and was soon into single-seaters after an initial season in a Cooper S.

The shame is that he wasn’t in 2.5 litre Tasman cars earlier, that he never did a full Tasman Series (only the Oz rounds) and in the F5000 era Bob Jane popped the Bowin P8 to one side way too early. Sponsor, Castrol wanted Bob to run ‘taxis’, so it was tourers and sports sedans the team raced- and in which John excelled.

Harvey won the ASC title at a canter in 1971 and 1972, the car only raced sporadically after that as the team focussed on Touring Cars/Sports Sedans. Bob of course still owns it.

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John Harvey in the Symmons Plains paddock, McLaren M6B ‘740 Series’ Repco V8, November 1972. He won the title in ’72 and that round. Love the juxtaposition of the 1967/8 ‘futuristic’ racer with the (mainly) Holden ‘roadies’ in the background (E French)

The South Australian ‘Elfin 360 Repco twins’, Phil Moore and Henry Michell won the ASC in 1973 and 1974 in two different chassis’.

Garrie Cooper built two very clever cars there (three 360’s were built, the other for Bob Romano was Ford twin-cam powered). In essence they comprised spaceframe chassis sporties built of single-seater F2 Elfin 600E hardware into which he dropped (surplus to requirements with the advent of F5000) ex-Tasman Repco Brabham 2.5 litre V8’s and FT200 Hewland gearboxes. In so doing, he created two light, chuckable, circa 300bhp little rockets which were driven with considerable skill and brio.

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Phil Moore Elfin 360 Repco and Stuart Kostera, Matich SR3 Ford in the Wanneroo Park formup area August 1971. Pinocchios is Howie’s club (SLWA)

In 1973 Moore won the ASC convincingly taking four rounds, Phillip Island, Sandown, Symmons Plains and Oran Park, the latter a night meeting. I would love to have seen those cars, lights ablaze in the dark. Lionel won at Wanneroo and Adelaide International.

The photo below is at the Sandown round in July and shows Phil diving down the inside of  Lionel’s Rennmax at Torana/Peters Corner before the blast up the back straight where I suspect 5 litres of Repco V8 triumphed over 2.5 litres of it! Phil won the round mind you.

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(Aust M Racing Year)

The following year, 1974, Ayers again won two of four rounds, at Adelaide and Calder with Henry Michell taking the title in a year of speed and consistency.

Garrie Cooper took the other two wins in ’74 in his new, epoch shifting, Elfin MS7 Repco Holden.

This one off car was a mix of monocoque chassis and bibs and bobs from his F5000 MR6 parts book including uprights, wheels, suspension and brake componentry, Repco Holden 500bhp V8 and of course the ubiquitous DG300 Hewland transaxle.

The car (below) was a crowd and sponsor pleaser, you can just make out the Ansett logo against the bare aluminium body on the nose of the MS7 which is making its race debut at Adelaide International, just down the road from Edwardstown, where the car was built.

Its 25 August 1974, Ayers won the two ASCC rounds before the Elfin raced, Garrie won the other two at Phillip Island and Symmons Plains. In an unfortunate turn of events Lionel broke both of his arms in a low speed motorcycle accident after the first two rounds of the series, perhaps missing out on a title it would have been wonderful to see him win- mainstay of sporties as he had been.

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(G Cooper Elfin MS7 Repco Holden from Stan Keen, Boral Ford, August 1974 (R Davies)

He promptly retired from the sport and sold the Rennmax but remaining close to the scene. A decade ago he did a brilliant job restoring the Mildren Waggott ‘Yellow Submarine’ made famous by Kevin Bartlett and Frank Gardner. He died in 2013 but his memory lives on in that wonderful car retained and used by his family.

The Rennmax did achieve a national title though- after Lionel sold it.

It passed through Melbourne’s Jim Phillips hands, he raced the car for a few years and then sold it to the ‘Racing Gibsons’ in Benalla. There, at Winton in 1979, with yours truly watching the race, I was contesting the Formula Vee support races that weekend, Paul Gibson won the Australian Tourist Trophy- from none other than Stuart Kostera in the Elfin MS7 Repco Holden. The presentation of the Australian Tourist Trophy to Paul was a very proud moment for father ‘Hoot’ Gibson, a racer himself who raised a family of racers!

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Stuart Kostera’s Matich SR3A Ford looking as ugly as sin. Wanneroo Park 9 June 1975 (SLWA)

Kostera cut his racing teeth in sedans but progressed through an Elfin Catalina Ford to the Matich SR3- this famous car was ex-Matich and Don O’Sullivan- who finished 2nd in the 1969 ASSC in it behind Matich’s famous SR4 Repco.

Stuart continually developed the car, 5 litre Ford, not Repco ‘620 Series’ 4.4 V8 powered as it had originally been to the stage that it won the West Australian Sportscar Championship in 1975 having finished second in 1972 and 1974. At national (ASC) level he was 9th in 1972 and 1973, 12th in 1974, and 5th in the single race ASC at Phillip Island in 1975, the winner Cooper’s MS7.

Stuart Kostera, Matich SR3A Ford Wanneroo Park 1976 (SLWA)

He bought the MS7 Repco Holden from Garrie Cooper, running it as a quasi-works machine, the car mainly based at the Elfin works in Edwardstown, Adelaide rather than Stuart’s hometown of Perth.

Kostera’s first big win in the car was at Phillip Island twelve months after Coopers MS7 victory in the one race 1975 Australian Sports Car Championship. Kostera won the 1976 Australian Tourist Trophy at the same fast, demanding circuit tailor made for powerful devices such as the Elfin.

Kostera was a talented driver, I saw him race both the SR3 and MS7 at most of the Victorian circuits on numerous occasions, he always got the best from these big, demanding cars. The Elfin drive ended after Garrie Cooper’s demise in 1982.

Lionel Ayers, Lakeside, MRC Mk2 Repco Brabham V8 circa 1970 (unattributed)

All of the cars mentioned in this article still exist, the MRC Lotus 23, MRC Mk2 Repco, McLaren M6B, Elfin 360’s, Elfin MS7 and Matich SR3.

The Rennmax has been in Jim Phillip’s ownership (back to him post the Gibsons period of ownership) for decades, and will hopefully one day see the light of day outside the outer east of Melbourne garage where it resides. So too do the two 360’s mind you one of those has been in a garage not too far from the Rennmax for about the same time period!

 Etcetera…

Matich SR3 ‘3’ Ford

This ex-Don O’Sullivan/Frank Matich car evolved, as cars do over time. Attached are a couple of shots of the chassis which defeated Chris Amons Ferrari P4/Can Am 350 during the 1968 Tasman Series sportscar races competitive against more modern designs. The story of the SR3’s and a comprehensive chassis list of all the Matich built cars is in this article on the Matich SR4;

https://primotipo.com/2016/07/15/matich-sr4-repco-by-nigel-tait-and-mark-bisset/

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Stuart Kostera Matich SR3 Ford, Wanneroo Park 18 August 1972. Body of the SR3 not too from the car as built albeit guards modified to take much wider tyres than those of 1967/8 (SLWA)

 

Three years earlier than the shot above, Lakeside. Ayers in the MRC Repco Mk2 from Don O’Sullivan in SR3 ‘3’ Repco from a couple of Lotus 23’s and the rest, circa 1969 (unattributed)

 

Lionel Ayers Rennmax Repco at home shortly after collection from Bob Britton (J Lay)

Credits…

State Library of Western Australia, Terry Walkers Place, Ellis French, Robert Davies, Jeffrey Lay, Australian Motor Racing Year

Tailpiece: Phil and Stuart, ready to roll, ASC Wanneroo August 1972…

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Phil Moore and Stuart Kostera in the Wanneroo Park form up area in 1972. Elfin 360 Repco and Matich SR3 Ford. Howie Sangster won the ’72 Wanneroo ASC round that year, McLaren LT170 Chev from Kostera and Moore (SLWA)

Finito…