Images From My Past - Nigel Watts Collection

[nigel watts]

These shots were taken at the 1977 Silverstone TT

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[nigel watts]

The Broadspeed XJ12C Jaguar at the 1977 Silverstone TT


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[nigel watts]

The Willment Coupe

The "Ultimate Car Page" carries the following history

While racing in Europe and North and South America throughout the 1950s, Carroll Shelby cherished one dream; building the world's fastest sportscar. By 1956 he had already come up with a name for his car, it would be named Cobra. Soon after his 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans victory for Aston Martin, Shelby was struck by heart problems. Reluctant to do so, he was forced to give up motor racing as a driver. This did give him time to make his dream come true.

Early in the 1950s John Tojeiro had designed small a sportscar, which was sold under the AC Ace name. Installed in the simple but effective tubular chassis was an AC six cylinder engine and later also Bristol and Ford straight sixes. Its lightweight chassis and body, and effective engine made the Ace a moderately successful racer. When Bristol announced that the 2 litre engine would be phased out, AC was left without an engine to power the Ace. Previous attempts to install other engines, like American V8s had failed miserably and the end of the Ace production was announced.

When Shelby read about the end of the AC Ace, he immediately contacted AC and his long time associates Ford. He convinced AC to continue constructing the Ace and Ford to supply special versions of their Fairlane engine for installation in the AC chassis. Shelby flew over to the UK to supervise the construction of the prototype chassis, which featured modifications designed by Shelby to ensure the hybrid would be drivable

Although the displacement of the Ford '260' V8 was more than twice as large and the initial 260 bhp output almost twice as large as the Bristol's, the Ford unit weighed less. Main difficulty in incorporating American V8 engines was their rather high torque figures. The rear-end needed considerable modifications to handle the torque produced by the Ford. With the beefed up rear suspension, the AC chassis took to the Ford V8 engine surprisingly well and after extensive tests 100 chassis/bodies and Ford V8s were ordered. Shelby's Cobra was born!

The V8 Ford engines were derived from the ones used in the Fairlane and Fairlane 500, but they were delivered to Shelby in a somewhat 'tweaked' form. Breathing through a single Holley Carburettor and fitted with 'hotter' cams, solid tappets and larger ports, the V8 was good for around 260bhp. For competition use Shelby modified the engine even further. With an increased compression ratio and breathing through four twin-choke Webers figures of 335 bhp could be achieved, with the engine revving up to 9000 rpm. Stunning performance was the result of this very powerful engine, which is reflected by the acceleration and top speed figures. Had Shelby succeeded in building the world's fastest sportscar?

In the mean time, the world's largest manufacturer and Ford's biggest competitor, General Motors worked intensively on building their fastest GT-racer yet. Dubbed Sting Ray, the fastest Corvette to date was set to make its debut at the 1962 Riverside 3-hour race for Grand-Touring cars. Coincidently Shelby's workshop was around the corner of the Riverside track and his competition Cobras were about ready to make their debut as well. So in a weird twist of fate, both GM's and Ford's latest racers made their debut in the same race. In qualifying Shelby took the wheel of one of the two Cobras entered and shocked the crowd and even more so GM's racing division by lapping over four seconds faster than the fastest Sting Ray. In the race Bill Krause had built up a lead of over 30 seconds in the first 30 minutes. He was forced to retire when a wheel came off and in doing so he handed the victory to one of the Sting Rays. A legend was born that day, but it wasn't the Sting Ray!

Vowing to decimate the Sting Rays in the following season, Shelby and his Cobras took part in the first US manufacturers' championship in 1963. The Cobra's dominance was total and Shelby took the title with 111 points over Ferrari's 28 and Chevrolet's 19. All but one of the seven races of the championship were won by a Cobra. During the season, the Cobra received a full FIA homologation, which made it eligible for the World Championship races. Around the same time a new Ford engine became available; the 4.7 litre '289', which in competition form was good for at least 340 bhp.

Two of the new FIA homologated 289 engined cars were prepared for the most important round of the World Championship; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ford was not very cooperative, but the hardtop equipped cars were ready in time to be handed over to AC Cars in the UK and Ed Hugus representing the US. In the high speed race the roadster's biggest problem was its poor aerodynamics, which limited is top speed considerably. Eventually the British car finished seventh overall and fourth in class behind three Ferrari 250 GTOs. The American car was forced to retire after one of the con rods pierced the engine.

Although the Cobra's first outing at Le Mans did not prove as successful as its American campaign, it did learn the team a valuable lesson. In the 1964 running a special low drag coupe version was campaigned, which solved the roadster's problems and ended Ferrari's dominance in the GT class.

Chassis CS2131 At the end of the season, the car that finished at Le Mans, s/n CS2131, was sold to privateer John Willment. The car was subsequently damaged heavily during an accident and returned to AC Cars. Due to the extent of the damage, they virtually rebuilt the car from scratch. It was not fitted with a body before being handed back to Willment, as he had big plans for his Cobra.

In the opening races of the 1964 the Shelby team had impressed many, including Willment, with their 'Daytona' coupe bodied Cobra, taking a class win at Sebring. Shelby built six cars for his own use, but Willment convinced the coupe's designer Pete Brock to send him the drawings. Some revisions were carried through to the design and then a coupe body was crafted from aluminium and fitted on the refurbished chassis with the help of Shelby engineer John Ohlsen. Compared to the 'original', the 'Willment' coupe has a sharper nose and a higher tail. Another unusual cue was the open rear window.

Painted in the familiar red and white Willment colours, the Coupe was completed in the fall of 1964. It was driven to a debut victory by Jack Sears in a 3 Hour race at Snetterton against strong competition including a lightweight E-Type and a Ferrari 250 GTO. Before the end of the season the car was raced twice in Africa, clinching one class win. Willment campaigned his unique Coupe throughout Europe in 1965 with mixed results. Sears finished second in the Sussex Trophy at the start of the season and scored the car's only win in the Guards International Trophy in the fall of 1965.

Willment sold the coupe to a Liverpool police officer, who raced the car at club events for many years. He eventually sold the unique racer to one of the Rothschild heirs. Early in the 1980s the car was sold to an American collector. The current owner acquired the machine in 1996 and today it can be seen in the Shelby American Collection together with the Le Mans winning Cobra Daytona Coupe. On a rare outing, it is pictured above during the 2007 Goodwood Revival where it was driven by Desire Wilson and Lyn St. James.

I photographed this car at at Brands Hatch in 1977 on a club race day

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[faminz]

can you check your inbox for a message Nigel?

[nigel watts]

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[nigel watts]

More from Brands Hatch

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[Steve Holmes]

Nigel these photos are incredible, I'm really enjoying them. I bought the Pete Brock book on the Cobra Daytona Coupes several years ago, and although the book is mostly about the six Shelby built cars which he designed, it does cover the Daytona Type 65 Super Coupe, the AC Coupe, the Willment Ghia Coupe, and the Willment Coupe you photographed.

Its thought the Willment car competed in more races and won more races than any other coupe. I guess when you saw the car it wasn't quite at legend status yet, it would have only been 12-13 years old. Quite amazing really.

[nigel watts]

Allan Moffat's Mustang leading Bob Jane's Camaro

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Allan Moffat's 1969 Coca Cola Mustang

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Pete Geoghegan's Mustang

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Norm Beechey's Holden Monaro

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Leo Geoghegan's Valiant Charger

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[nigel watts]

Fred Gibson Falcon

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John Goss Falcon

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Barry Sharp Falcon

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Bob Jane's Holden Torana Sports sedan with Repco V8

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[kiwi285]

Fantastic photo's Nigel. Some great cars there. Have always had a soft spot for the GT 40 and the Daytona Coupe. Always regret never making it to England.

[Jac Mac]

With reference to the 'Williment Coupe', it is now starting to look likely that a second car or more correctly body was built from that Buck that John Ohlsen fabricated for that first leaf spring chassis, There was mention of this car in the 'Shelbys Wildlife' by Wyss and recently I was sent some pics by a friend who did some work on the car - the second one, will have to check the pics again, but I think it is a FE engined car & on a later coil spring chassis

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[GD66]

Thanks, Nigel, fabulous set of pics ! Re the Oran Park set, the #5 Falcon is piloted by John Goss, and the #2 Bob Jane Torana is powered by a Repco V8 : check out the chrome megga exhaust.

[Steve Holmes]

These pics are fantastic Nigel, especially the UK stuff. Is that an Aston Martin Project 212?

[nigel watts]

These pics are fantastic Nigel, especially the UK stuff. Is that an Aston Martin Project 212?

Thanks Steve - yes it is the Project 212 - looks even better in the metal

[nigel watts]

Thanks, Nigel, fabulous set of pics ! Re the Oran Park set, the #5 Falcon is piloted by John Goss, and the #2 Bob Jane Torana is powered by a Repco V8 : check out the chrome megga exhaust.

Thanks - I've updated the post

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Steve - yes it is the Project 212 - looks even better in the metal

Yeah, a beautiful car. I did get to see Project 214 race on a couple of occasions. Again, a beautiful car in every sense.

[kiwi285]

Thanks for sharing Nigel. Some fantastic shots there and some great cars

[nigel watts]

Thanks for sharing Nigel. Some fantastic shots there and some great cars

Thanks, I enjoyed taking them

[nigel watts]

This is 3rd placed - the De Cadenet driven by Alan De Cadenet & Chris Craft

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The BMW was driven by one Peter Brock

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[Steve Holmes]

These photos are superb. What is car #17 on post 27? I have vague recollections of a vintage Porsche 917 running at Le Mans in the late 70s and gaining a bit of notoriety for the fact it was several years old. Is this the car?

[pallmall]

Absolutely stunning photos, thanks for posting.

The #17 Porsche is 1976, Joest 908/3 driven by Kraus and Steckonig, finished 7th o/all.

Wasn't the "old" 917 a bit more modern, at the start of the GT era that followed GpC ?

[nigel watts]

These photos are superb. What is car #17 on post 27? I have vague recollections of a vintage Porsche 917 running at Le Mans in the late 70s and gaining a bit of notoriety for the fact it was several years old. Is this the car?

Thanks Steve & pallmall - I'm really enjoying loading all my old pix
Fortunately I've still got the Programme officiel - pallmall is correct in that it's a Porsche 908/3 Turbo entered by the Jost Racing Team but it was driven by J. Reinhold & J. Barth according to the programme.
However Wikipedia says that the car finished 7th and was driven by Kraus & Steckonig.
I haven't heard about the 917 running in the late 70's. it certainly wasn't entered in '76 or '77.

[Shano]

Outstanding Nigel, thanks for sharing them. I like the crowd and background shots too, always interesting.

[nigel watts]

Outstanding Nigel, thanks for sharing them. I like the crowd and background shots too, always interesting.

Thanks Shano

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[Steve Holmes]

Do you have photos of the other classes at that Bay Park event Nigel?

I keep going back to your Le Mans photos. They really are stunning, and that was such a wonderful period in the history of that race.

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This is Ross Cheever, younger brother of F1 GP driver Eddie Cheever, and two times winner of the NZGP, seen here at Baypark

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[Steve Holmes]

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The two Torana's of Garry Rogers and Peter Brock were Group C cars, but still fared pretty well against the Kiwi Sports Sedans, but Jim Richards in the Graeme Whincup Monza was incredibly fast.

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[Steve Holmes]

Looks like these two cars may have shared the same bodywork molds. Does anyone know what happened to Bruce Manon's Escort Sports Sedan? Perhaps he still owns it? It was a very quick little car, and was turbocharged at one point too.

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[Steve Holmes]

The #62 Commodore of Clyde Collins (driven by Avon Hyde) was later raced by Glen Jones.

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[Steve Holmes]

That Tony Rutherford turbo RX2 (#22) was good for 11.9sec 1/4 miles in the early 80s. It broke all sorts of rotary records at the time. I believe the car is now in Australia.

[Rod Grimwood]

We will get to that but a bit to do before that
The #62 Commodore of Clyde Collins (driven by Avon Hyde) was later raced by Glen Jones.

[Rod Grimwood]

In photo block #54 the little cooper No. 17 (i think) looks very much like Alan Woolf,

That Mazda was very quick, and Tony had a workshop in Barrys Point Rd Takapuna next to Manon Butler Motors. John Butler used to be with Bill Shiels in old days and then went off with Bruce and started a shop of their own. John did the mechanicals on the Mazda. It was busy little right of way with Ron Willoughby down stairs next to Graham Hughes Panelbeaters with Rutherford and his Autoshift and Manon Butler up top. Now that could be another long story.

[RogerH]

Some of the cars in posts 52 - 54.
Car #18 John Holmes in the Lotus 18 - in this photo it is in 1500cc National Formula guise - it is now back to a 1100cc Formula Junior.
Car #12 Colin Waite in his Stanguellini Formula Junior. He still has it and brings it out from time to time.
Car #21 Marsden Robinson (Mayor Robbie's son) in his Elva 100 BMC Formula Junior - now owned by Rob Williams.
Car #27 Rob Williams in his Arnott F3. This car has just been sold to the UK.
Car #17 Allan Woolf in Colin Waite's Cooper Imp - Colin still has it.

[nigel watts]

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[Rod Grimwood]

Colin Waite had both cars along at Rod Millens Birthday skid and Alan had his Brabham there as well. The cars are just beautiful. It was great to see and listen to these cars.

[kiwi285]

The Corolla in post # 48 look like Alan Drinkrow with the Kaipara sponsorship. He has a great collection of cars that I was privileged to see some years ago.

[Steve Holmes]

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I forgot what a monster Peter Meadows' Corvette was. It was black at one stage too from memory. Just kind of vanished in the late '80s.

Jim Short should be able to chime in about his Porsche as soon as he gets his registration done.

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[Shano]

I ran into John Morton last night (drove one of the BMW 635s photographed here) and he's very keen to have a look at the forum - he doesn't have any of the images so I told him he better get along here.

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[Rod Grimwood]

Amazing shots Nigel so great to see. You sure got in some top positions.

[nigel watts]

Thanks Rod - more coming!!

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[Bruce302]

Wow, excellent pics Nigel, thanks for sharing.

Bruce.

[Steve Holmes]

Yep, I second that. This thread is incredibly enjoyable.

[kiwi285]

I endorse that - the photos are really great and again thanks for sharing them.

[nigel watts]

Thanks guys - My pleasure

[nigel watts]

This is Paul Fahey at Warwick Farm in the early 70's

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[Steve Holmes]

Really interesting batch of photos here Nigel. Who is driving the Falcon?

I see the name P.W Burnet on the Charger. Could this be Paul Burnet who now races the pink XU1 Torana?

The #14 L34 Torana of Peter Meadows is a car with an impressive heritage. This is a genuine L34, purchased new by Rod Coppins in 1974, and raced to a well earned 3rd place at Bathurst that year, driven by Coppins and his good buddy Jim Richards. This was the first time Richards had raced at Bathurst.

[Steve Holmes]

This is Paul Fahey at Warwick Farm in the early 70's

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Nigel, this Fahey shot is fantastic!

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[Steve Holmes]

Weren't those little ShellSport cars great! They were such good looking cars, and sounded quite spectacular with their high revving 4-bangers. Its good to see a growing number of them coming out of the woordwork and being restored back as they originally raced.

[Rod Grimwood]

Think that is Mr Bromley in the Bandag Falcon. He had a very quick Forrest Green (i think) XCGT Falcon before this car. And i think a purple XBGT before that. This car did not perform as well as the XB or XC.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks for that info Rod.

[bob homewood]

Think that is Mr Bromley in the Bandag Falcon. He had a very quick Forrest Green (i think) XCGT Falcon before this car. And i think a purple XBGT before that. This car did not perform as well as the XB or XC.

The same Mr Bromley who raced a Anglia back in the mid 60's

[kiwi285]

Not very often we saw a Sunbeam Rapier racing.

Reg Cook always had great looking cars and the Nissan Sunny certainly echoes that. He was a great racer too.

[kiwi285]

Steve, above you mentioned that some of the Shellsport cars are re-appearing and being restored to race again. Could you give us some idea of the cars that you are aware of that are still around.

[Steve Holmes]

Mike, just off the top of my head, the Reg Cook Datsun Cherry has been restored and is back racing in historic events. One of Reg Cooks Datsun Sunny coupes was advertised for sale a year or two back, restored back to its Sanyo guise. The Cherryl Parnell Honda Civic was being advertised for sale a couple of years ago. Don McIntyre has owned an ex-ShellSport BDA MkI Escort for many years. He did tell me once who raced it, but I can't remember. Also, I saw a Datsun 1200 coupe at a car show a couple of years ago that was back to its ShellSport guise. I can't recall who raced it off the top of my head, but it was painted red/blue/yellow.

[Bruce302]

One like this but a different colour ?

http://i56.tinypic.com/n627sz.jpg

[nigel watts]

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[Steve Holmes]

One like this but a different colour ?

http://i56.tinypic.com/n627sz.jpg

Yeah it was that shape Nigel, but I don't remember much else. I thought it might have had bolt on guards, and sat much lower as most of the ShellSport cars did.

[RogerH]

Great Maserati photos. Here are some mechanical photos mainly taken at Ardmore?

Cooper Mk7 Norton - Arnold Stafford
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/558/cc9h.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/204/cc9h.jpg/)

HWM Alta s/c - Jim Boyd
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7756/cc17.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/cc17.jpg/)

BRM rear end?
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1031/cc24m.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/221/cc24m.jpg/)

Hec Green RA Twin Cam
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/2010/cc32n.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/15/cc32n.jpg/)

Ferrari 500
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/9919/cc37.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/688/cc37.jpg/)

Ferrari 500
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5237/cc38d.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/829/cc38d.jpg/)

[RogerH]

And two more :

Porsche RS 550http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2286/cc40.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/231/cc40.jpg/)

Allard
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/2151/cc69.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/42/cc69.jpg/)

[seaqnmac27]

Yeah it was that shape Nigel, but I don't remember much else. I thought it might have had bolt on guards, and sat much lower as most of the ShellSport cars did. Wasn't this one part of a team with Reg Cook? with Grant Aitken driving it?

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I remember Tony Marsh had a Black one as well maybe the same car??

[seaqnmac27]

Steve is this the car you meant? Wayne Murdoch driving. it is being pursued here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnwC7HRREHw&feature=related

[Steve Holmes]

The yellow and red one up ahead? No I don't think that was it.

[Bruce302]

This must be Reg Cook,

http://i56.tinypic.com/jf8848.jpg

But I apologise for hijacking the thread, and Nigels fantastic photos. They are absolutley stunning.

Is the Ferrari 500 like the 555 ?

Bruce.

[pallmall]

"Is the Ferrari 500 like the 555 ?"

Totally different chassis, both 4 cylinder engines ,500 2 litres, 555 2.5 litres, the 555s that raced here had sports car engines around 3 litres.

[Bruce302]

So they were a pretty quick car back then ? (slightly before my time)

[David McKinney]

To be more specific, the 500s that raced in NZ had 3-litre engines, the 555 Supersqualos 3.4 (Tipo 750 and 860 respectively)

And yes Bruce, they were pretty fast (first at Wigram, Ryal Bush and Dunedin in 1956 and 1957 and the GP in 1957, second in the GP 1955, 1956, 1957 etc)

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[seaqnmac27]

Thanks Steve & pallmall - I'm really enjoying loading all my old pix
Fortunately I've still got the Programme officiel - pallmall is correct in that it's a Porsche 908/3 Turbo entered by the Jost Racing Team but it was driven by J. Reinhold & J. Barth according to the programme.
However Wikipedia says that the car finished 7th and was driven by Kraus & Steckonig.
I haven't heard about the 917 running in the late 70's. it certainly wasn't entered in '76 or '77.

Ok, Joest entered 2 cars on e for Kraus and Steckkonig and a second for Joest and Barth according to this.

http://www.lemans-history.com/equipas.php?ano=1976

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[Rod Grimwood]

Mr Alan Woolf and Colin Waite at a friends birthday skid. They ran the cars up the hill great to see this history still being used. Colin also had the original Skoda rally car there for a run, He went with Alan and you could not wipe the smile of their faces. @ very nice guy's.
Some of the cars in posts 52 - 54.
Car #18 John Holmes in the Lotus 18 - in this photo it is in 1500cc National Formula guise - it is now back to a 1100cc Formula Junior.
Car #12 Colin Waite in his Stanguellini Formula Junior. He still has it and brings it out from time to time.
Car #21 Marsden Robinson (Mayor Robbie's son) in his Elva 100 BMC Formula Junior - now owned by Rob Williams.
Car #27 Rob Williams in his Arnott F3. This car has just been sold to the UK.
Car #17 Allan Woolf in Colin Waite's Cooper Imp - Colin still has it.

[kiwi285]

Absolutely magic photos Nigel - keep them coming. They are reviving some great memories.

Do you have any idea who was racing the Mini with Garry Keith Motors sponsorship. I remember Sel Melville from Hamilton raced Mini's for a while but can't remember what his sponsorship was.

[Howard Wood]

Nigel,

Your photo of the deCadenet car at Le Mans 1976 way back in post #25 must have been taken on Sunday afternoon because the NZ flag on the tear off headlight covers have been removed.

The car (and deCad's 1977 car) had a strong NZ connection as it was built by John Anderson, ex Dunedin, McLaren Indy team etc, now retired to Motueka and myself in deCad's mews garage central London (and the DFV engine was a John Nicholson built unit). We had put the four Southern Cross stars beside the Union Jacks on the headlights just prior to the start.

Not the fastest car there by a country mile but one by one all the Renaults and most of the Porsches fell out and we had a completely trouble free run all race, no unsheduled stops all 24 hours.

[AMCO72]

Looks like Bruce Melville in the Riley Elf in posts 114 onwards. If so, the same Brucie went on to be Foggys chief mechanic in his early days. He also drove an Elf. Apart from eventually winning the championship.....could have....should have.....then victory, their claim to fame then was Jim Beam consumption. Have a photo of the car at Baypark with 9 bottles sitting on the roof......EMPTY. Whew, fun days.

[nigel watts]

Nigel,

Your photo of the deCadenet car at Le Mans 1976 way back in post #25 must have been taken on Sunday afternoon because the NZ flag on the tear off headlight covers have been removed.

The car (and deCad's 1977 car) had a strong NZ connection as it was built by John Anderson, ex Dunedin, McLaren Indy team etc, now retired to Motueka and myself in deCad's mews garage central London (and the DFV engine was a John Nicholson built unit). We had put the four Southern Cross stars beside the Union Jacks on the headlights just prior to the start.

Not the fastest car there by a country mile but one by one all the Renaults and most of the Porsches fell out and we had a completely trouble free run all race, no unsheduled stops all 24 hours.

Howard, I'm almost certain that that particular shot was taken close to 4.00PM on the Sunday. It was an very impressive result especially considering the vast resources and budgets of the high profile teams. Now I know why - the Kiwi connection made all the difference.

[Howard Wood]

Nigel,

I can clearly remember walking down the pits pre race, looking at everyone else's set ups, especially the Renaults. We had deCad's old Transit van, John's and my tool box and that was about it!

Were you there in '77? Our '77 car was a much better and faster car as we had done a lot of wind tunnel testing and the DFV was to full Grand Prix specs. Funnily enough despite their resources the Renaults all failed at the same and for the same fault as the year before and the Porsches went down like flies. The leading Bath/ Ickx/ Haywood Porsche 936 had terminal engine issues and they pitted with about 20 minutes to go and stayed in to release the car for one final lap with a few minutes to go, such was their lead. The rules in place at the time were that only cars which crossed the finish line under their own power within 4 minutes after the 4.00pm finish were classified. They had miscalculated and the Bath car smoked it's way over the start finish line a few seconds before 4.00pm and had to do another lap!

The thing made it around again but it was touch and go and was the only factory Porsche to finish. Unfortunately Chris Craft had snotted our car into the wall during some brief localised rain right at dawn on Sunday morning and we spent nearly an hour repairing it, finishing 5th and only 90 seconds behind the 3rd place privateer Porsche. Apart from the accident the car ran as faultlessly as the '76 car but was a lot quicker. Bugger!

[Steve Holmes]

Guys, this is amazing!

[nigel watts]

Yes I went to Le Mans in 76 and 77

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[Steve Holmes]

This is just such a great thread Nigel, and your skills as a photographer are really impressive!

I know I sound like a scratched record, but I just love those early Formula Atlantic cars. Too bad I didn't appreciate them at the time.

[nigel watts]

Thanks Steve - I'm enjoying reliving the memories myself.
There are so many brilliant threads on this forum

[nigel watts]

Absolutely magic photos Nigel - keep them coming. They are reviving some great memories.

Do you have any idea who was racing the Mini with Garry Keith Motors sponsorship. I remember Sel Melville from Hamilton raced Mini's for a while but can't remember what his sponsorship was.

Thanks kiwi285.
Unfortunately I know practically nothing about who drove what. I was mostly out on the track rather than in the pits so didn't get to have a nosey around

[Lee Tracey]

Mike the Name on the front of the GK Mini being Audas I seem to recall there being a Greg(?) Audas who raced the Minis. Assume this could be your answer.

Cheers
Lee

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[kiwi285]

Hi Nigel,

Once agaiin thanks for posting such an amazing array of photos, both local and overseas, they are truly fantastic.

I can remember thinking at the McLaren Festival, after seeing all of the old cars making it on track again, about the thousands of photos that must have been taken over the years and wondering how it would be possible to get to see them. Also to make sure that as few as possible were thrown out as being of no use any more.

Steve and all contributors, a massive thanks for all of your info and photos to date - keep them coming. You have certainly solved the above problem and we are all able to share and enjoy.

[bob homewood]

Yes my thanks as well ,its great to see those photo's ,and yes it is sad to think how many have been thrown out over the years ,I know I have just been a week or so late on a couple of occasions to prevent that happening .Thanks again Nigel for sharing

[nigel watts]

My pleasure - lots more to come

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[seaqnmac27]

I loved that Alfetta, but from memory it wasn't as successful s it could been was that mostly due to timing, it kind of appeared the same time as Crowe's first Starlet, plus Tulloch had the Capri

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[Rod Grimwood]

Nigel I would just like to add to the thanks for some amazing photos and they sure jolt the memory.
The Jag is the ex Silcock-Millen car, I can not recall the guy's name it was driven very well by him.
Monaro is John Learmonth i think.
Note the Aquajets on the Commodore they were the trick back then, shave them and go.

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and some more super quick 250cc Supercarts

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[rogered]

Really interesting batch of photos here Nigel. Who is driving the Falcon?

I see the name P.W Burnet on the Charger. Could this be Paul Burnet who now races the pink XU1 Torana?

The #14 L34 Torana of Peter Meadows is a car with an impressive heritage. This is a genuine L34, purchased new by Rod Coppins in 1974, and raced to a well earned 3rd place at Bathurst that year, driven by Coppins and his good buddy Jim Richards. This was the first time Richards had raced at Bathurst.

Yip, the same paul burnet

[Rod Grimwood]

Post #154 the Pacer, that is Mr Innes if I remember right.

[seaqnmac27]

In post #154, The Trueno would be the ex Radisich? car, was painted Blue when raced 81-83 similar colour to the Baigent/Bowkett Celica. The Charger, chap Little from the South? I remember him racing a Charger in main production, and being relatively successful for a lot longer than he probably should have been as the opposition updated. The Capri was that a McDonald or something similar Mc?

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[bigbanger]

In post #154, The Trueno would be the ex Radisich? car, was painted Blue when raced 81-83 similar colour to the Baigent/Bowkett Celica. The Charger, chap Little from the South? I remember him racing a Charger in main production, and being relatively successful for a lot longer than he probably should have been as the opposition updated. The Capri was that a McDonald or something similar Mc?

The Capri was Bill McFarlane from Dunedin. The Capri was a UK Group 1 car originally bought into NZ by a English gent whose name escapes me, was run in the South Island Production Series by him for a few years, then purchased by Bill.

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[Rod Grimwood]

in above photos The Mk1 Escort No. 20 Robert Van Gisbergen (Cheese) and the Anglia 64 is myself. The monday after this meeting the escort was in my care and remains there today. The Anglia was handed to my brother and then Brian Friend and that was the last i know of it. Anglia was a neat little bit of fun.

[Rod Grimwood]

Couple of photos of car later on, different steerer, same place, same angle, car was well trained by prevoius owners.

[Rod Grimwood]

Capri is Terry O'Brien from Paeroa. It had 302 in it and was quick. It was later painted red. Terry put the engine in a jet boat at some stage.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks again Nigel, wonderful photos. Rod, did that Escort of yours ever go in a straight line?

The Cortina of Steve Vigurs is the old Clyde Collins car, sadly long since departed this earth. Don Grindleys RX7 is still rotary powered there, before he fitted with Buick V6. Boy did that motor have some lungs!

[Rod Grimwood]

Mazda Still in Sth Is

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[nzboss]

So the Vigurs Cortina is the same car as Bruce Bellis ran?
When did it get the Weslake headed Chevy?

[Steve Holmes]

Yep, thats right. I think the Chevy appeared when Bellis had it. Collins had a Mustang motor in the car.

[bigbanger]

Clyde Collins ran a Ford 302 stroked to 326 cubic inches in the Cortina.

From memory, all the cars subsequent owners, (Bruce Bellis, Tony Newton and Steve Vigurs) ran Chev engines.

[Jac Mac]

Clyde fitted & ran the Chev engine before selling the car to Bellis, the 326 Ford was sold to Frank Ryan & used in the Capri that he had built up by Bryan Taylor Invercargill.

There was another owner of the Collins Cortina after Bellis, John Beattie or Beatty, he was a builder & Alec Dickie maintained the Cortina for him at the time & raced his own Victor V8....

[bigbanger]

Clyde fitted & ran the Chev engine before selling the car to Bellis, the 326 Ford was sold to Frank Ryan & used in the Capri that he had built up by Bryan Taylor Invercargill.

There was another owner of the Collins Cortina after Bellis, John Beattie or Beatty, he was a builder & Alec Dickie maintained the Cortina for him at the time & raced his own Victor V8....

Thanks Jack, I'd forgotton about John Beattie.

There was at least two different Chev engines fitted to the Cortina, the first was a 5.0 litre (ex F5000 I think), however Steve Vigurs ran with a 5.8 litre Chev.

[nigel watts]

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Slipstreaming or pushing - hard to tell!
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[Steve Holmes]

That last shot is an absolute gem Nigel! What was going on here? Was it some sort of slipstreaming between team mates, or was the second car just removing the other one out of the way?

[nigel watts]

Just slipsteaming I think - they were both going flat stick down the back straight!!

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[David McKinney]

Any idea of drivers, Nigel?
Looks like Gavin Bain in his ex-Roycroft Ferrari, and Sir Len Southward (with Mark Petch?) in the Stutz
Is it it the man himself in the ex-Amon 250F?
And who's driving the ex-Hyslop/Palmer Cooper-Climax?

[nigel watts]

Not sure of the first 3 but I think it is Chris Amon in the Southward 250F
I have a clearer pic of the Cooper coming up & I'm sure you'll recognise the driver.

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[Steve Holmes]

Whatever happened to that Lister Jaguar Paul Leuch used to race so enthusiastically?

[Rod Grimwood]

Northland Special (red) above is driven here for demo by John Windleburn (man look at all that hair) now theres a guy with a little (lot of) history. Actually i don't understand how he ever kept his hair, with what he has been through. Was racing for years and then had Tony Rutherford as an apprentice, if that wasn't enough then his sons, committee of Sports Sedan Assoc. and involved in numerous cars as rebuilds or built from new as in his Trans Am Firebird with the Algie boy's frequenting the workshop. Thats enough to loose your hair. John has never really changed, quitly spoken, polite and not to much bothers him but if it does, get out of the way.

[seaqnmac27]

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The Stutz at Pukekohe 77?

[rogered]

and the GT40 is Phil (ACDC) Rudd. Amon drove it on the day also

[nigel watts]

Phil Rudd has a great collection of exotic cars now including an F40 Ferrari. He put them on display at the Farmer Auto Village here in Tauranga back in March to raise funds for the Christchurch earthquake appeal.

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Jim Palmer
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[coldrive]

Absolutely magic photos Nigel - keep them coming. They are reviving some great memories.

Do you have any idea who was racing the Mini with Garry Keith Motors sponsorship. I remember Sel Melville from Hamilton raced Mini's for a while but can't remember what his sponsorship was.

Brian Audas, before he raced Mini7s he was one of the stars of the Mystery Creek rallycross with 1426cc Mini and only 3-4 years ago was racing a Corvette saloon car at Baypark Speedway.

[coldrive]

Fantastic selection of pix Nigel, I love being reminded of how cool those Formula Pacific cars were. We saw some great drivers here in the late 70s-early 80s. Rosberg is the obvious one but one of my best memories would have been `82 (?) flag marshalling at point 1 at Baypark (just after the flyover) and watching the brilliant Roberto Moreno drive the RT4.

[GD66]

...plus Davy Jones, Bobby Rahal, Teo Fabi...

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[Rod Grimwood]

Had a good look at the Junior at Puke, it is beautiful. They were and still are a neat looking car. The suspension set up etc for its age just show's how trick the guy's were back then.

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[kiwi285]

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Excuss my ingorance but what are cars numbered 1 and 21 ?

[kiwi285]

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What is car numbered 2 ?

[nigel watts]

#1 is a Lister Jaguar
#21 is a Lola FJ [I think]
#2 is a replica of the Maybach Special which won the first NZGP in 1954 driven by Stan Jones father of Alan Jones

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[Rod Grimwood]

...plus Davy Jones, Bobby Rahal, Teo Fabi...

Yep they were all good, but i think the Baypark Maestro was our own Steve Millen, he beat most of them.

[kiwi285]

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Was this an NZ based car - I haven't heard of it before.

[nigel watts]

I'm not sure. As far as I know I've only seen this particular car once.

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One of the cars being rebuilt for the new HMC class - bring it on!!

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[Howard Wood]

The BSA Special of Lycoming Special creator Ralph Watson, or am I stating the bleeding obvious?