Help With Historic Formula Vee

[Steve Holmes]

I received this message and photo through our Roaring Season Facebook page, regarding this neat old Formula Vee. Maybe someone here could assist?

"Hi guys, does anyone have a photo of this Formula Vee racing? It's an early McQueen that was raced under these colours at Baypark, late 60's early 70's. We know it was owned by Nigel Rusell, Rhys Noland and Lance Monroe. We need photos to prove provenance to gain logbook and a COD for historic racing - very frustrating to have restored it but now have to prove its history. Would love to hear from anyone who knows anything about the car. Ken 0274931855"

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[RGM]

It was hill climbed during the 1980s by two guys one I am sure was Allan Grout the other I cannot remember.I remember competing against it at Bright Road Waiuku.It is great to see a Vee being done I was involved in getting them recognized as a Historic Car through the HRSCC and for many years the purists would not accept them but they play a major stepping stone in getting started in motor racing take Scott Dixon for one example.I still have a copy of my letter to the committee dated 3/05/1992 and the draft regulations dated 4/08/1992

[Oldfart]

PM for you RGM

[Steve Holmes]

Great reply here from our Facebook page by Ross McCorquodale, including this photo:

Alan Grout found it with no motor literally in a chicken shed. He and I got rid of the feathers and other substances and fitted a stock 1500 VW motor he had lying around. With a two-barrel carb from a flat-head Ford V8 it was a great hillclimb car. Alan preferred tarmac and used it for club circuit, where it was very similar in performance to the slimmer, lighter, more modern Formula Vees of the day, with their cammy 1200 engines - but it was much easier to drive, being torquier.

I preferred gravel. We had fitted steel floor panels instead of aluminium, which added weight but was a good move on rough, rocky roads, and an over-height (and over-weight) roll bar to accommodate my height. A couple of thinner tubes went down and forwards to enable it to penetrate a 7-wire fence without decapitating the driver. We never did find out if they worked or not.

For similar reasons, we moved the battery from in front of the front suspension beams and moved it above the gearbox. I didn't fancy being sprayed with acid if it ever hit anything at speed.

The rear suspension had clearly been set up with an anti-roll bar, which made no sense at all to us. Swing axles have a rear roll centre that is too high, with too much roll stiffness anyway. We adapted the mounting points for a Z bar instead. We always retained the number 65.

History before us? - no idea. It was well-used, old, neglected, and cheap when we bought it, and it very easily gave us the performance of a typical club rally car at a fraction of the cost.

Here's an interesting shot of it at a Stevenson's Drury quarry Gold Star Hillclimb. With your head much closer to the ground than in a car, your view could easily be obscured by something as low as a healthy clump of paspalum. The little jump was completely blind. Good fun!

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