New Zealand ShellSport Saloon Series 1978 - 1985

[Rod Grimwood]

Yep Steve, it looks like a 1200 Coupe, (bet thats not what was uder the bonnet) certainly not a 120y

Good old Escorts ah Mk1 or Mk11, no need for dictionary to work out.

[seaqnmac27]

So therefore these 2 pictures show the Datsun 1200 that Reg Cook built in 1975 so is the second one the same car behind the Cherry? or is it another one. If it is a second one where are they both now? I was of the belief that the one in the B & W shot was driven by Grant Aitken, however it would appear that it was Robbie Francevic. This shot is January 77. Is this the car that Tony Marsh drove? There is an XU1 behind Cook in the first pic is that Rex Findlay?
Datsun 1200 1975
10905
Datsun Cherry and 1200 Coupe 1977
10906
The rear end of the XU1 whose is the Sunbeam or Hillman behind the XU1
10907
A better shot of the original 1200
10908

[Steve Emson]

I cannot quite figure out some of the dates mentioned. what I can tell you is this,..............Reg Cook was racing the Schick 1200 coupe and Barry Phillips and people like Rex Hart were in their minis. Reg was the reining champion and held all the lap records in this class.I was racing a white 1200 coupe in Castrol GTX against Dennis Marwood and Bob Homewood.
When Reg found out we were going to build a full on Shellsport Car for the 0-1300 Championship (another 1200 coupe). he approached us and suggested he would build us a car. We thought this was strange, as we were building it to beat him and take the championship from him. We declined his generous offer.
We built our car, and we bought the parts from where ever we could. We bought several things from Mark Petch. I always suspected that he owned that Schick B110. When I started racing our Eastern Tool Co sponsored B110 I was leading the Championship from the second race the car competed in. It also broke all the lap records at every track.
Reg was in my opinion struggling at this time. Then came news of the works Cherry coming out. It was meant to be a world beater and had a truck load of spares and even the Japanese competition manager to oversee its hoped for domination. What Reg did at this point, was put Robbie Francevic into the Schick car and he would race the new car, being the fuel injected Cherry. Robbie was always a quicker driver than Reg in the Schick 1200 coupe.
It is probably best I do not go into the team tactics and other stuff that went down, except to say that both drivers got a dressing down from the powers that be at the end of the season for their behavior.
The Schick car had its motor moved back and other stuff our car did not have. With Robbie Francevic at the wheel it was a real weapon and I happen to rate Robbie as one of the best drivers of his era. Our cars made contact on several occasions, usually when we were driving in a straight line down straights. Neither of us was ever going to back down.
The end of this first season did not end well between the 3 drivers, and was quite controversial, however I was lucky enough to become the Champion.
The Schick 1200 coupe was sold to Graham Crawford, who lived in the same street as me and almost right across the road. He did not race it for long however, and i do not recall who bought it. I raced our car for another year this time in black and Reg kept working on the Cherry and bringing it out every now and then. We won the championship again that year. The car was then sold to Rex Findlay.
It was not until reading something in a thread on here somewhere that there were two cars. One got written off. This will be before my time, as the Schick car that I raced firstly with Reg and then with Robbie driving was always the same car. The thread also reveals just how extensively modified it really was. it was also apparently very light.
After the last season I raced they were to change the rules to 2000 cars.

[seaqnmac27]

Ok so following that then, at a guess I would suggest that the one that was written off would have been the first one, the one thats I show as 1975and that has been showed previously as having Cooky needs a Sponsor plastered on the side.

[Snoozin]

A couple of shots from Hampton Downs this weekend that may be relevant to the thread... (is the red car a Shellsport car? Be gentle... this stuff is all before my time unfortunately :()

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8443/7987621523_2e9a30ed75_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987621523/)
IMG_6255 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987621523/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/7987862528_1896da6725_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987862528/)
IMG_6278 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987862528/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8179/7987844902_9730e78191_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987844902/)
IMG_6273 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987844902/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7987706373_0be4237b6b_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987706373/)
IMG_6293 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987706373/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

[Steve Emson]

Hi Snoozing,

The red NZ freighters escort was also just before my time, (believe it or not) I think this was a BNSW car, which really became Shellsport. Others may be better on this. Great pictures of some great cars.

[Jac Mac]

SEAQNMAC 27, I think the SUNBEAM/IMP might be Bill Leckie, he had one which originally had a BDA? in rear seat area( front of rear axle ) & was made to shift it to the original type rear mounting later...did not slow him down much if at all either...

[Rod Grimwood]

Snoozing, Red car was Don Halliday of the infamous Halliday Brothers/racing and ran in BNSW championship and the yellow one was Roy Harrington who won Shellsport i believe. Both cars legends in their time and great to see. Jac Mac think you right with Imp also, remember that thing, it was quick.

As mentioned before Steve that little Datsun of yours was one out of the bag, had a great career.

[seaqnmac27]

Snoozing, Red car was Don Halliday of the infamous Halliday Brothers/racing and ran in BNSW championship and the yellow one was Roy Harrington who won Shellsport i believe. Both cars legends in their time and great to see. Jac Mac think you right with Imp also, remember that thing, it was quick.

As mentioned before Steve that little Datsun of yours was one out of the bag, had a great career.

Roy won it in 82/83 from memory I did not get to see much of that season as we had just moved to Invercargill and everything was still a bit of a mess. so my memories came from my magazine subscription NZ Motoring News?? David McKinney mag.

Thank you Jack, finally an answer, so that would be from 75? predating his Capri which I would have seen race but I was too busy watching Pat Crea's Cortina, which unfortunately lost its bonnet latch as the Francevic Volvo would famously go on to do years later.

[Jac Mac]

Thank you Jack, finally an answer, so that would be from 75? predating his Capri which I would have seen race but I was too busy watching Pat Crea's Cortina, which unfortunately lost its bonnet latch as the Francevic Volvo would famously go on to do years later.
That fits in I think, my memory of the Capris first ( might have been its only appearance ) at Teretonga was as under 4200cc? & can remember it with twin pipes that extended right out to rear of car, this was before it got the big box-like flares etc, bloody quick as well...

[Snoozin]

Hi Steve/Rod, thanks for that... I'm finding this stuff incredibly interesting. If I see anything else out and about I'll post a few more shots here and there :) I'd love to see a bit of a reunion of this stuff at the Denny Hulme meeting, or just anywhere... all amazing stuff I missed out on.

[Steve Holmes]

A couple of shots from Hampton Downs this weekend that may be relevant to the thread... (is the red car a Shellsport car? Be gentle... this stuff is all before my time unfortunately :()

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8443/7987621523_2e9a30ed75_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987621523/)
IMG_6255 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987621523/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/7987862528_1896da6725_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987862528/)
IMG_6278 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987862528/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8179/7987844902_9730e78191_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987844902/)
IMG_6273 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987844902/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7987706373_0be4237b6b_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987706373/)
IMG_6293 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987706373/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

Wow, nice pics! That Harrington car looks a million bucks!

The Halliday machine is now owned by John Dennehy, who is a member on here. It was restored by Jeff Claire, who from memory fitted the car with a mild BDA, but I'm pretty sure John had since fitted it with a fully worked BDG. It goes like stink!

[Rod Grimwood]

Hi Steve/Rod, thanks for that... I'm finding this stuff incredibly interesting. If I see anything else out and about I'll post a few more shots here and there :) I'd love to see a bit of a reunion of this stuff at the Denny Hulme meeting, or just anywhere... all amazing stuff I missed out on.

Give me the Lotto numbers and there will be one more

[45DCOE]

Snoozing, Red car was Don Halliday of the infamous Halliday Brothers/racing and ran in BNSW championship and the yellow one was Roy Harrington who won Shellsport i believe. Both cars legends in their time and great to see. Jac Mac think you right with Imp also, remember that thing, it was quick.

As mentioned before Steve that little Datsun of yours was one out of the bag, had a great career.

Rex Hart also ran a Mk1 BDA Escort that I recall also ran in NZ Freighters colours. Not sure if this car still exists and there does not appear to be a lot written about it in this forum. Think Rex won his class or championship with it before buying the ex Graeme Lawrence Surtess.

[seaqnmac27]

3 shots from 1975 courtesy of Kevin Thomson
Reg Cook first Datsun 1200 after he got a sponsor
10919
Reg CookDatsun 1200
10920
Rex Hart Escort as mentioned
10921

Now theres a subtle change between pics one and 2 of the Cook 1200, The first one he has a small wing on the boot the second he doesn't, is this pure aerodynamic testing or had something happened??

[Steve Holmes]

Fantastic pics Kevin! Thanks for posting Sean. Wow, those spectators are just sat there right on the outside of that turn in the first pic.

[shellsport]

Yep Steve, it looks like a 1200 Coupe, (bet thats not what was uder the bonnet) certainly not a 120y

Good old Escorts ah Mk1 or Mk11, no need for dictionary to work out.

1300 Pushrod was all that was required to be competitive in a Shellsport KB110 !

[BMCBOY]

I found these photos while searching my records and thought they may be of interest

12644

12645

12646

[Steve Holmes]

These are great Ross!

[jim short]

Just imagine that hill stand done the same as Manfeild modern plastic flip up seats all the way along and 20 rows high!!!

[ERC]

No idea when this was taken, other than it is not before 1983!

12720

[Lurker]

No idea when this was taken, other than it is not before 1983!

12720

It is definitely 82/83 season - possibly the November 1982 meeting or GP meeting in January 1983

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, thats a great photo Ray! Thanks for posting.

[ERC]

It is definitely 82/83 season - possibly the November 1982 meeting or GP meeting in January 1983
As I didn't arrive in NZ until January 1983, it is definitely NOT the 1982 meeting! Thanks for that though. Dating many of my pics is a tough call without a fair bit of either research or wading through old race programmes.

I have started a spreadsheet listing regular driver/car combinations and their race numbers at known meetings (usually where I have a race programme). Very slow work but interesting. The digital age is so much easier.

With over 300 race programmes to wade through, ranging from prewar Donington, through many clubbie and international UK meetings, then sprint/hillclimb results sheets of my own competitions from the UK, it keeps me off the streets at night...

[Lurker]

As I didn't arrive in NZ until January 1983, it is definitely NOT the 1982 meeting! Thanks for that though. Dating many of my pics is a tough call without a fair bit of either research or wading through old race programmes.

I have started a spreadsheet listing regular driver/car combinations and their race numbers at known meetings (usually where I have a race programme). Very slow work but interesting. The digital age is so much easier.

With over 300 race programmes to wade through, ranging from prewar Donington, through many clubbie and international UK meetings, then sprint/hillclimb results sheets of my own competitions from the UK, it keeps me off the streets at night...

In thinking a bit more about it could have the 1983 Puke meeting a week prior to Easter. That was the meeting that Greg Lancaster dive bombed Harrington at the hairpin and the next week was spent splicing a new front on the Escort in time for Bay Park where Harrington and the Escort won the Championship from Reg Cook in the last race of the season in the wet.

ERC - check your PM

[kiwi285]

News received from John Gobbe today indicated that this organisation now has its own website and their first meeting will be at the Skope meeting in February 2013

http://www.shellsportmotoracing.co/Latest-News.html

I think that this will be a great series in a year or so and already there are some great cars that have been mentioned in various threads on this website being rebuilt. I am interested in the number of Starlets being built up. Hope we see a variety other than just the Escorts and Datsuns.

If anyone is interested I could send on John's email with the list of cars ready or being rebuilt at present.

[crunch]

Wow, nice pics! That Harrington car looks a million bucks!

The Halliday machine is now owned by John Dennehy, who is a member on here. It was restored by Jeff Claire, who from memory fitted the car with a mild BDA, but I'm pretty sure John had since fitted it with a fully worked BDG. It goes like stink!

Weren't all the genuine Shellsport Escorts Twin Cams or 2 litre OHC? I do remember the Kelford Cams Mk.2 Escort that was a 1600 X-flow that went as you put it.....like stink!

[Carlo]

Weren't all the genuine Shellsport Escorts Twin Cams or 2 litre OHC? I do remember the Kelford Cams Mk.2 Escort that was a 1600 X-flow that went as you put it.....like stink!

Correct, no 4 valve engines were permitted

[Rod Grimwood]

Correct, no 4 valve engines were permitted

Is this the way it is going to stay ?

[Racer Rog]

I notice that in the regulations that brakes are free, now this would not be in keeping with Schedule "K", and just how massaged are the tech regs, are they the same as they were, as there seems to be a bit of difference between what is stated now, and what was printed then?
Roger

[Carlo]

In my opinion if you want to refer to them Shellsport Cars then they need to comply with Shellsport regulations of the period otherwise they are just another hot rod class in old bodyshells. In saying that I can accept that new cars being built will need to comply with current safety regulations and that we can no longer purchase the control tyres run during the championship years

[Steve Holmes]

I agree Carlo, 100%.

[Steve Holmes]

Weren't all the genuine Shellsport Escorts Twin Cams or 2 litre OHC? I do remember the Kelford Cams Mk.2 Escort that was a 1600 X-flow that went as you put it.....like stink!

I don't know if that particular Halliday Escort ever raced as a ShellSport car crunch. I was only posting that bit of info because a current photo of it was shown earlier in this thread.

[Racer Rog]

Yes I agree here Carl, and that was my point, personally I am not against building a repilica car in any series such as this, for what you could call retrospective racing, but they must be to the same regs as in the day, and if a new build, comply with current safety regulations, as far as tyres are concerned, they could take a lesson out of the HMC rules to solve that problem.
Roger
In my opinion if you want to refer to them Shellsport Cars then they need to comply with Shellsport regulations of the period otherwise they are just another hot rod class in old bodyshells. In saying that I can accept that new cars being built will need to comply with current safety regulations and that we can no longer purchase the control tyres run during the championship years

[Rod Grimwood]

Yes I agree here Carl, and that was my point, personally I am not against building a repilica car in any series such as this, for what you could call retrospective racing, but they must be to the same regs as in the day, and if a new build, comply with current safety regulations, as far as tyres are concerned, they could take a lesson out of the HMC rules to solve that problem.
Roger


Yep agree, as they were in regards to running gear, no big brakes etc. roll cages will have to change for new cars, but should be allowed to stay as they are in older cars.
Have actually shifted some more crap out of garage and can see car now.

[Horizon]

Can I ask a silly question :rolleyes: when I see a picture of a restored car or for that matter a "xerox" , I see there is holey piece tying in the A piller to the Roll cage. Is this a requirement from the Motorsport NZ or a case of Monkey see/monkey do ? None of orginal cars had this ! Why do it now ?

[John McKechnie]

Strength-how much do you value your life. Check out Geoff Sutherlands E49 Chargers flattened roof from Baypark to see that roof pillars are not strong. Once again racing is dangerous, people can get hurt or killed.They go MUCH faster now.I feel great looking at my holey pieces-more practical than praying to God just before an accident.

[Howard Wood]

A 1978 Shellsport car is now 34 years older than when it was built and the shell will not have improved with age, nor has the speed of recovery of us 60+ year old drivers!

Seriously, this has been covered in previous topics but is worth covering again. The one unquestionable improvement in Motorsport over the last 30 - 40 years has been in the area of safety. The structural integrity of an old shell will have been compromised by the ravages of time and in the case of a historic period car by hard racing and impecunious subsequent owners. Building in modern safety structures should be mandatory, nobody questions the authorities demanding alloy cages being replaced, we should not question full cages where once a roll hoop would have been allowed.

[Steve Emson]

Strength-how much do you value your life. Check out Geoff Sutherlands E49 Chargers flattened roof from Baypark to see that roof pillars are not strong. Once again racing is dangerous, people can get hurt or killed.They go MUCH faster now.I feel great looking at my holey pieces-more practical than praying to God just before an accident.
I have said to my son, that i can only thank the almighty i did not have a big accident in my shellsport car. I don't think there would have been much left afterwards. The first year I raced it, there was only a half cage in it. There was a competitor who built a red B110 coupe, raced it a few times and then pulled it apart again.I bought the roll cage, dashboard, fibreglass bumpers and a door from him. My good mate Graeme Hill from school worked at a boat factory, and we spent hours making flares, bonnets and boot lids, trying to make them lighter and lighter. We also did the the other door, more bumpers and spoilers. I don't know how many we made!- lots. Dad took every second bolt out of the car........................and would come back with a bucket of bits he removed. Ha Ha, As I have said many times I don't know if people appreciate how quick these things were going.

[John McKechnie]

Howard-I was at the last v8 Supercar race at Oran Park.Right in front of me on the last corner, an ex Bob Jane Escort rolled and hit the wall while in mid air at full speed..The passenger side and roof was flattened to the floor. The alloy rollcage had bent and broken completely. Absolutely no strength at all.YET the authorities in Aus dont want to compromise the historical value of the car by changing the cage-totally crazy.A roll cage is not a roll over cage, it is the only thing that surrounds you and protects you.And dont get me started about those using exhaust tubing in the early 70s..............

[Rod Grimwood]

John, no problem with the point of a strong roll cage, but some of these older cars have different mounting points, and configuration etc, and i for one will not be cutting mine up and replacing. I am safety concious and believe my original cage is as strong as any new one (It is steel and I gotta sit in it, and want to be safe).

Must get a copy of regs and see what the go is.

[Carlo]

Had a call from John Gobbe this morning who informed me that they have meetings and dates all set in place and that there are quite a few new cars under construction. Best you get hold of him Grimme, hate to see you miss out becasue they were over subscribed with entries

[Racer Rog]

Rod, in my many duties in motor sport, one of these is a Auditor, and sometimes when looking at a older cage, while complying with regs of the I find them wanting, as far as mounting points go, a saloon car is the easiest to put a cage in, and if you are rebuilding a older race car,it is very easy to fit a new Homologated cage, some of the early cages really need careful inspection, but its a bit like crash helmets, if you have a cheap head, buy a cheap helmet, if you value your head, buy a expensive one.they all comply, but some are a lot better than others, safety is all about minimum standards, there is nothing to say you can not go to a higher level.
Roger


John, no problem with the point of a strong roll cage, but some of these older cars have different mounting points, and configuration etc, and i for one will not be cutting mine up and replacing. I am safety concious and believe my original cage is as strong as any new one (It is steel and I gotta sit in it, and want to be safe).

Must get a copy of regs and see what the go is.

[Jac Mac]

With regard to early roll cage regs: At one stage in the past years ( many ) ago I dont think you were actually allowed to 'Tie' the roll cage into the pillars or car structure ( It was meant to be a stand alone feature ) , cannot remember when or if that changed.

[seaqnmac27]

A tale of 2 Escorts.

Both built for the start of the 1978 Shellsport season but neither able to legally compete. One Don Halliday the other Bryan Hartley. Both built up to regs that had changed by the time it came to racing them. Can someone fill in the spaces? the only information I have is that it came down to the square flares.
Don Halliday
14849
Bryan Hartley
14850

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, really? I didn't know that! Would love to find out more. Both cars have ShellSport decals on them, I wonder how they managed to get around the rules? Looks like both are fitted with flares from the same molds.

[seaqnmac27]

I do not know when the Halliday pic is from, at a guess its Bay Park 1978. I as reading through a MotorAction from 78 and it seemed they were unable to race, Hartleys was put up for sale as soon as the regs were changed, not sure what the full story was, the Hartley Escort was a full Zakspeed replica.

[ERC]

Just a comment about current cages and a bit of extra info I find weird.

My long term project car had a basic cage built to the MSNZ regs of the day (2006) but was never signed off - although pics were forwarded to MSNZ prior to painting. All progressed quite happily and the car is now trimmed and painted - but the rules have changed regarding the main hoop - and only the main hoop.

On approaching MSNZ they said they can't pass it as it no longer conforms but an engineer's report will suffice. (The fact that there are 100's of cars out there with the older spec hoops is apparently irrelevant, as they won't have to conform.)

A consulting engineer then came back with what he needed to pass the MSNZ requirements for a freeform cage, because that is what it is now classed as.

There is so much extra steel now required (with 360 degree welds of course) that it is impossible to conform without totally wrecking the car. Now here is the rub.

IF the cage was constructed to the current approved design with the slightly stronger main hoop, IT WOULD FAIL ALL THE TESTS DEMANDED OF A FREEFORM CAGE!!!

I am currently now removing the front cage as it is the one and only option to get the car road legal. Crunch has seen the two designs and can confirm the madness of it all. I wouldn't mind so much but the only reason for putting any cage in at all is for a bit of extra piece of mind in an otherwise perfectly solid 1950's unlightened shell, just in case I want do the odd low key competition in it. It is not a 700hp super tourer but the suggested cage design would suit one.

[Steve Holmes]

Sean, that could explain why the Halliday Escort was advertised here fitted with a quad-cam Cosworth V6 for big-bore sedan racing. I wonder if after it had been made illegal for ShellSport, it was re-engined for other work?

14853

[seaqnmac27]

I will have a look through my MotorActions and see if there is reference to it racing.

[seaqnmac27]

Dads pic of the Hartley Escort was at Manfield with the International Pacifics November or December 78

[crunch]

Ok, my interest is peaked!! I am officially too fat to fit a Formula Pacific car, so need to go searching elsewhere for a potential toy.
Is there a listed that can be provided of any of the original Shellsport cars that are available for sale? I loved these things as I started as a flag marshall at Manfield in 1980, these were great! What happened to the Mike Moore LHD Mark 2 Escort, the Kelford Cams Mark 2 1600 Escort? I crewed for a while on a Datsun 1200 Coupe that was the ex-Sanyo Greg Lancaster car...where did that go? Super excited now...

[Roger Dowding]

Remember the Fuel crisis, still have my " TUESDAY " sticker from my 1967 TR4a, Targa Top roadster, car was sold in 1985, to pay the deposit on a house, how sad, as the car had done the 1979/80 Bardhal series hillclimbs for Triumph car Club - Auckland, got the car from Russ Abbott, who ran a workshop in Greenlane Auckland , specialising in TR's and other Triumphs, as had a GT6 before that, belive that Russ went off into the boat world. you can't usually drive your boat to work, but you can drive your sports / racing car.

[Dave Silcock]

Just a comment about current cages and a bit of extra info I find weird.

My long term project car had a basic cage built to the MSNZ regs of the day (2006) but was never signed off - although pics were forwarded to MSNZ prior to painting. All progressed quite happily and the car is now trimmed and painted - but the rules have changed regarding the main hoop - and only the main hoop.

On approaching MSNZ they said they can't pass it as it no longer conforms but an engineer's report will suffice. (The fact that there are 100's of cars out there with the older spec hoops is apparently irrelevant, as they won't have to conform.)

A consulting engineer then came back with what he needed to pass the MSNZ requirements for a freeform cage, because that is what it is now classed as.

There is so much extra steel now required (with 360 degree welds of course) that it is impossible to conform without totally wrecking the car. Now here is the rub.

IF the cage was constructed to the current approved design with the slightly stronger main hoop, IT WOULD FAIL ALL THE TESTS DEMANDED OF A FREEFORM CAGE!!!

I am currently now removing the front cage as it is the one and only option to get the car road legal. Crunch has seen the two designs and can confirm the madness of it all. I wouldn't mind so much but the only reason for putting any cage in at all is for a bit of extra piece of mind in an otherwise perfectly solid 1950's unlightened shell, just in case I want do the odd low key competition in it. It is not a 700hp super tourer but the suggested cage design would suit one.

That,s interesting as I am in the same boat with my MK2 Jaguar, except that my cage is built from chrome moly and I have an engineers report stating that it is 25% stiffer than the tube MSNZ would have me build it from. A cage built to their specs would have a rubber stamp approval but despite numerous representations this has not been forth coming

[ERC]

And therein lies one of the major problems racers face when bringing out their old warriors - particularly in NZ with saloons.

When you go to Goodwood for example and see beautiful historic race cars covered in scaffolding, it sullies the experience. Like many on here , I grew up in an age before belts, cages etc., and also the high mortality rate, but when you examine the real figures, it was mainly in F1 and top level sports car races where most fatalities occurred, not at club level.

At the risk of highjacking this thread, saloon car racing at our level with an older cage, has to be safer than say VCC racing where many cars do not even have belts, but is it?

Any sport involving speed has an element of risk, but it has to be a calculated risk. It can never be totally risk free and the minor percentage of extra safety from one tube being slightly stronger is minimal, given that in 99.99% of cases, the car won't be crashed anyway.

Existing cage built to previous regs, car fully trimmed and painted:

14857

Engineer's demands to conform to MSNZ requirements for homologation:
14858

Tell me this isn't farcical - just for a classic road car.

[crunch]

It does seem to be.

[jim short]

Steady on you guys Julian? has the say and claims to have worked for Lotus! we all know how strong Lotus cars are or were!!!

[Steve Holmes]

Ok, my interest is peaked!! I am officially too fat to fit a Formula Pacific car, so need to go searching elsewhere for a potential toy.
Is there a listed that can be provided of any of the original Shellsport cars that are available for sale? I loved these things as I started as a flag marshall at Manfield in 1980, these were great! What happened to the Mike Moore LHD Mark 2 Escort, the Kelford Cams Mark 2 1600 Escort? I crewed for a while on a Datsun 1200 Coupe that was the ex-Sanyo Greg Lancaster car...where did that go? Super excited now...

I think most of them are in the South Island now crunch. A forward thinking enthusiast there bought a bunch of them when nobody else wanted them, and likely saved many from extinction. Others do pop up from time to time for sale. One of the Reg Cook Datsuns was for sale a while back, as was the Honda Civic that Cherryl Parnell raced.

[crunch]

I also helped build and crew for Malcolm Webb's Starlet, and knew where that was about 5 years ago; sadly it seems it was broken up into small pieces.

[kiwi285]

Crunch - I have sent you a PM.

Cheers Mike

[Rod Grimwood]

Not Shellsport but,
Just recieved an email from Dave Silcock and the roll cage thing has completely buggered him.
Thanks to an official (1 from MSNZ) who can not see the light for not opening his 'expert' shuttered eyes the car will not be seen now.
Time something was sorted in regard to this as 1 person has buggered 1000's of hours work and interferred in our right to see this car.
I will not go through this crap either.

PS. Another official has been very supportive and it is a pity the expert does not listen to him.

[GD66]

This has been simmering on for a while : is there no grounds for appeal? Surely there must be some avenue where logic and knowledge supported by engineering assent and approval can be brought to bear to get this one across the line ?
It would seem unlikely that any organisation would put their full weight behind the opinion of one man, however well-intentioned if misguided.

[bob homewood]

I don’t want to become embroiled in this subject , but you may well ask Mr Silcock like myself has been building and racing cars for more years than you can poke a stick at and I venture to suggest we have crashed more than a few as well so I would like to suggest that perhaps we have a good understanding of what is necessary to keep our necks as we still have them ! . Have any of these self styled experts ever actually built a car , raced or heaven forbid crashed one , actually for that matter can any of them actually even fish mouth and weld a tube properly personally themselves

[Rod Grimwood]

Rest my case Bob, well put.

[ERC]

The critical thing here is that the free form cage has to pass a test that the MSNZ approved design would fail.

A total farce and like Dave, Bob and others I am extremely angry about it. I have a distant contact at TV's "Fair Go" and was going to get them filming the removal of the front part of the cage, so that the car then conformed, just to show how stupid it all is. Maybe if we all approach Fair Go before we physically attack the cars with angle grinder or plasma cutters, we might get some sense as it is unfair that those MSNZ officials who are backing us, are unfairly put under the same spotlight?

It is down in B & W that MSNZ is there to encourage participation, not discourage it.

[AMCO72]

Let me state right at the beginning, that I am right behind Dave in this struggle......I am a friend, and because of all this bullshit, I am going to loose my drive of this amazing car!

I am still not certain what the issue is. Is it the material the cage is constructed of, or the design of the cage itself.

Now the MSNZ official who is presiding over this matter could quite resonably say, well Mr Silcock has been around motoracing since 'Auntie fell off the tram', and he, of anyone should have known to stick to the rules....OR ELSE.....which he presumably did, until they, the rules, got changed mid restoration. And this is the problem, like all restorations it took twice/three times longer than planned.

If it is not written in the Bible.....the MSNZ manual, then dont do it, even it appears nonsense. If it says you can do something, or NOT do something, then that is it. It is in black and white, until that manual is superseded/updated. Is no use quoting manual number 27, when we are now operating under manual 35.

I think the problem here is that the cage was designed and built under one set of rules, then, what do you know, the rules get MODIFIED.....changed for what ever reason. You only need to look at some of the roll-over protection that was in old race cars to see that we have come a long way in safety regulations. I think some rules are rather over the top, but that is too bad. If you want to race, do as you are told, or stay home and do your knitting!!!! Angus is always berating me when I start growling about something, and he has, on numerous occasions told me to shut up, obey the rules as set down, or dont compete.

MSNZ is probably saying, well if we make an exception for one competitor, it will open the door for others to follow. We have to protect our arse you know.

It is so sad that a car like this will most likely be lost to NZ, and if you want to see it run then you will have to go to America, or wherever.

Once upon a time I would have ranted and raved and got an ulcer worrying about some insignificent ruling made by some car hating clerk in Wellington, but now at my age I cant be bothered, and I suspect that is how Dave is thinking at the moment......stuff it, they can stick their rule up.................. So another interesting car gets parked up.

Would be good to see some COMMON SENSE prevail here, but I aint holding my breath.

There, I have been kind to MSNZ, now come to the party you guys and talk to the man sensibly, and with a bit of good will we could get a resolution to everyones satisfaction.

[John McKechnie]

Without getting too involved here-is it the material involved? I understand after a certain recent rally accident, chrome moly cages are a minefield. I recently had my cage built for HMC -seamless steel- and it was homologated within 1 week-I was very impressed with how quickly it was done.

[Russ Cunningham]

A very good friend of mine went through the same crap with MSNZ over the roll cage in his car. What had been acceptable for years suddenly became unacceptable to the twits in Wellington. He has now sold the car and won't race again. This man has been a competitor in saloons, sportscars and single seaters since the 60's.

Crunch sounds like a decent fellow but the others at MSNZ appear to be mindless F...wits intent on destroying motor racing in this country. Time we went our own way and disregarded MSNZ completely.

[Kiwiboss]

Without getting too involved here-is it the material involved? I understand after a certain recent rally accident, chrome moly cages are a minefield. I recently had my cage built for HMC -seamless steel- and it was homologated within 1 week-I was very impressed with how quickly it was done.

First, can someone start a thread on "Rollcages for Historic and Classic race cars" to save this thread.

OK, I shouldn't be getting embroiled in this conversation as i don't have all the facts but going on what i've read here on the RR, why is it that John McKechnie can build his HMC falcon and have the cage homologated and log booked in 1 week when others have issues? what has he done right that others haven't? I've probably built 6 Mustang rollcages in the last 10 or so years and have NEVER had a problem getting them passed, logbooked, stamped, boom bang done, paid, out the door, even with rules changes!! So whats the REAL issues here? because if its about building a cage to the current day specs "at the time" and then trying to homologate and logbook it say "1 to 10" years later well you're just asking for trouble as current day rules in most anything are constantly changing and on the move, is this the problem? if so well im sorry im with the MSNZ tech guys on this.

There are currently other cage issues like MSNZ not wanting to logbook an existing overseas schedule K Historic race car that has its overseas logbook and paperwork and that has been raced overseas since the early 70's because the cage doesn't fit current MSNZ standards, but thats another story.

Dale(im about to get shot down forsure)Mathers

[John McKechnie]

I am having trouble understanding something here -if you do the cage as per regulations in the MSNZ book, why will it not be homologated?

[Rod Grimwood]

John before backing the favorite horse. don't know if you read the story behind this. A quick point - Your cage would have to pass as you only built it a couple of weeks ago, (to present regs I hope) so you know what is expected now. The one in conversation was built to regs over a period of rebuild and when apply for cert. told sorry that changed a "week" ago. After an extensive build of a classic, a week comes into the equation. Also a engineer has backed it, and what qualifications does the person in Wellington have, if like most beaurocrats down there, little but maybe can read.
Classic I would have thought was for previous hard driving, competitve, crazy, hard case drivers along with club drivers, Sunday skidders and gentlemen racers to all get together and enjoy a skid around and look at and discuss each others cars (as they were and are)

This has been discussed on an other thread and maybe we need a new one and get back to shellsport.
Back to Shellsport
As I said before, I parked and walked from sport back in 90 because of official poo, and if it looks like the same will happen, the door stays down and diesel not petrol goes on the card.

[markec]

Ray,You have been sent a personal message via me from Dave Silcock.

[ERC]

I'll start a new thread....

[bob homewood]

I'll start a new thread....

Steve I think to keep things tidy ,you should move the roll cage posts and discusiion over to the new thread and leave this thread as the pure Shellsport thread

[markec]

Does anyone realise what the ramifications of scenario really are, on the one hand you have a roll cage that has been assessed by a registered engineer to be 25% stronger than that model recomended by MSNZ. This roll cage is deemed by MSNZ to be inadaquat so is not accepted.
The way I see it is that all MSNZ recomended roll cages that have passed as being suitable, are in fact going to fail, as they are 25% weaker than one that MSNZ will not pass as it does not fit the model that MSNZ are recomending.
I hope MSNZ have a very good insurance policy, as any resulting serious injuries or deaths will be looked at rather severely by the Labour Department, with all sorts of liabilities aimed at those who have signed and rubber stamped these cages off.
Your thoughts will make interesting reading.

[Rod Grimwood]

Go to new thread please guy's. (Roll Cages) and if you can shift these Steves be good, Ta.

[Steve Holmes]

Guys, all discussion regarding roll cages, please go to the new thread. Unfortunately I can't move the posts on here to the new thread because they're older than the thread itself, but anything you guys think is important, just copy and paste into that thread.

[markec]

15419
15420
15421
The two Findlay cars together
15422

[crunch]

15419
15420
15421
The two Findlay cars together
15422

In the bottom photo, I know the Findlays Bakeries car is still around, but is the other?
Where did the Rod Collingwood Datsun end up, is it the same car that Tony Marsh used?
Very interesting stuff

[Carlo]

The ex Reg Cook Sanyo Sunny will be seen in action this weekend at Levels.

[markec]

15870

[Growler]

Hi Guys.
Sorry to bring up an old thread but found this site recently by chance. Reading some of the posts in this forum gets me excited – especially with the prospect of getting these cars racing again under an historic banner of sorts.
The Black and White Avenger used to belong to my Uncle. This was raced in Shell Sport quite regularly…however the car is no more.
In the late 90’s we decided to build another car (Talbot Sunbeam – Non Lotus) for the new SS2000 class and we used all of the running gear from the Avenger (As the front half of a Lotus Sunbeam is Avenger!) The old shell was very tired and we decided to cut it up and scrap it (Which I reluctantly did). Once the new car was built I raced it in SS2000 and Auckland Car Club events for around 6 years.
I stopped racing when I got divorced (It’s difficult when your household income drops by half!). I still have the car locked away in the garage. At this stage I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it. I know there are some people who want to get the old cars back out again. If it takes off it might motivate me to get the car out there again.17692

[Steve Holmes]

Great looking Avenger! Of course you weren't to know that one day there would be an interest in resurrecting old ShellSport cars. Back then they were just old race cars. Many of them ended up in SS2000 in the early years, and many were cut up to keep pace.

Looks like at least one other ex-ShellSport car on the grid there too?

[Growler]

Great looking Avenger! Of course you weren't to know that one day there would be an interest in resurrecting old ShellSport cars. Back then they were just old race cars. Many of them ended up in SS2000 in the early years, and many were cut up to keep pace.

Looks like at least one other ex-ShellSport car on the grid there too?
I believe the original SS2000 rules were based on the Shell Sport rules so cars built for that series should also be elegible?

[Steve Holmes]

Yes you're right, although I know they were very keen to introduce newer model cars.

[worsel]

Well, well, well, look who was at Highlands Park Opening Weekend, the two best cars IMO, I'm not biased!

[crunch]

Dont they look the business!

[worsel]

Hell yea!

[Steve Holmes]

Oh wow, really cool! Was the Aitken Datsun an ex-Cook car?

[Fandatstick]

Well, well, well, look who was at Highlands Park Opening Weekend, the two best cars IMO, I'm not biased!
What's the deal with the big front bumper bar on the 120Y coupe?

[Steve Holmes]

Good question, its MASSIVE! Maybe the rules stated the front spoiler couldn't extend beyond the front bumper, so they just made a larger front bumper?

[Carlo]

USA Bumper with the end pieces removed and new end plates, there used to be a bit of contact in Shellsport

[Growler]

Not too sure of this has been posted elsewhere...but there is some good footage of the Shell Sport cars.
http://beeoneoneoh.com/2011/10/30/shell-sport-nz/

[CobraV8]

Has anyone got any photos of Eugene child's red and black mk1 Escort shell Sport car? He was a friend of my dads, and my brother and I used to go to Manfeild and watch / help out when we were kids. Not sure where it ended up either.

[shellsport]

What's the deal with the big front bumper bar on the 120Y coupe?

American style bumper, I guess as a method of getting around the fact of this car using an L series mill , as our models had the A12,s .

[45DCOE]

Found these that may be of interest

[Oldfart]

Found these that may be of interest

??

[GD66]

Not so far...:cool:

[45DCOE]

Trying to convert png to jpeg files !

[crunch]

Has anyone got any photos of Eugene child's red and black mk1 Escort shell Sport car? He was a friend of my dads, and my brother and I used to go to Manfeild and watch / help out when we were kids. Not sure where it ended up either.

It (Eugene) ended up living in Brisbane, but he comes back to NZ every year to work at the APRC Whangarei Rally. This is happening in 4 weeks by chance

[CobraV8]

It (Eugene) ended up living in Brisbane, but he comes back to NZ every year to work at the APRC Whangarei Rally. This is happening in 4 weeks by chance

That would bound to be him. I am pretty sure he sold the car before he left. Say hi from Bernard, Bevan and Justin Wright if you see him.

[Steve Holmes]

Trying to convert png to jpeg files !

Email them to me if you like, I can convert them: theroaringseason@gmail.com

[Chris Read]

15870

You will notice Grant Aitken's sponser - Graeme Dyer Auto- in the photo at post #331. Well, Graeme died this week suddenly in the Gold Coast where he was living age 67. Graeme who ran a successful used car yard in Dunedin was an enthusiastic sponsor. I used to help crew for Grant and Graeme was always along with us having a good time and getting the most out of his sponsorship. Chris Read - Arrowtown.

[Steve Emson]

You will notice Grant Aitken's sponser - Graeme Dyer Auto- in the photo at post #331. Well, Graeme died this week suddenly in the Gold Coast where he was living age 67. Graeme who ran a successful used car yard in Dunedin was an enthusiastic sponsor. I used to help crew for Grant and Graeme was always along with us having a good time and getting the most out of his sponsorship. Chris Read - Arrowtown.
Sad news. All the Shellsport competitors and crews are getting older now! Time waits for no man. I would hate to think how many people I came across in my pretty short racing adventures are no longer with us. Back in the 70's I think we all pretty much thought we were built proof. On the bright side there are many more races to be run. Make the most of them. I had a ball in the 2 seasons I did in Shellsport, and even though I was seriously racing for the championship win, had lots of laughs and fun. Met some amazing people back then. Stuffed up many opportunities also. Regards to all.

[Steve Emson]

17887
Talking about people in the Shellsport era, I wonder if this photo jogs any memories. From the right hand side,
Peter Richardson;
Clever guy and good friend who could make anything out of metal. He even designed and built my Formula Pacific trailer in his spare time.
Neville Bailey;
Fantastic driver in his own right, talented engine man. Also gave me some sound council, and advice on many things. He built the Eastern Tool Co Shellsport car, My GTX B110 coupe, and also my Rally Datsun 1600.
Stewart Coutts:
Very clever guy who designed and built the suspension on my Shellsport car. He completed that work for its 2nd ever meeting at Baypark. New lap record, pole position and the race win. The car never looked back. Stewart also built the Pacific from scratch after my Timaru crash. This was a big feat, as the tub was completely destroyed, as you might expect with the throttles jammed wide open.
Yvonne;
My extremely supportive girlfriend at the time, absolute genius at timing- always exact with official timekeeping and kept my cars clean and polished. The mother of my children, and best wife in the world.
Dad:
Well, everyone who knows Dad will know what a wonderful decent person he is. Widely liked by many people. A very supportive Dad who never really placed any pressure on me, except I think he believed I could win without needing the same equipment of my competitors. Amazing father to have.
John Terry:
My long term sponsor. At times he placed a few demands on me, however his heart and intentions were always correct. He certainly was a big fan of motor racing, and enjoyed the results that we achieved. I think he really enjoyed himself.

Well there you have some of my old team members, there are other important people of course, but are not in the photo that day.

[Grant Sprague]

Steve this is a very cool photo, i knew you were good even in re the GTX days , you ether have it or you dont [U HAD IT ] for some reason things happen & at the end of the day its for the best, I often dream of what could have been , must tell you a little story about that one day ...........Grant

[Rod Grimwood]

Not Shellsport, but another photo of your old Modus not long after rebuild Steve. Couple of young looking fellas there. Spent a little bit of time on it.
2nd is next season with side pods and RT1 wing fitted

[Steve Emson]

Good photos Rod, I quite like it with the Ralt stuff on it.
Just before the crash, we had put a fresh motor in it and found some problems which we sorted out. The meeting before I got 3rd with the balance bar wound to full rears by mistake .( No wonder it wouldn't stop.) At Timaru as soon as I got in it I just knew we were going to be ultra competitive. I remember doing the one lap and it was flying and it suddenly had brakes! I actually said to myself, we are going to kick arse this weekend, when it was all over..............

The really weird thing about that day, was I was so off my face in hospital that night, that I thought I had the BDA engine in bed with me. I was trying to fix it or something, and the nurses we so concerned about me that they stayed up with me all night, as I was having conversations with people who weren't there. that proved to be a long day. The next day when my crew came up to see me, i asked them if the car would be OK for the race! Ha, geez that was wishful thinking! Neville just quietly told me the car was a write off. Amazing what drugs do to you.

[Steve Holmes]

17887
Talking about people in the Shellsport era, I wonder if this photo jogs any memories. From the right hand side,
Peter Richardson;
Clever guy and good friend who could make anything out of metal. He even designed and built my Formula Pacific trailer in his spare time.
Neville Bailey;
Fantastic driver in his own right, talented engine man. Also gave me some sound council, and advice on many things. He built the Eastern Tool Co Shellsport car, My GTX B110 coupe, and also my Rally Datsun 1600.
Stewart Coutts:
Very clever guy who designed and built the suspension on my Shellsport car. He completed that work for its 2nd ever meeting at Baypark. New lap record, pole position and the race win. The car never looked back. Stewart also built the Pacific from scratch after my Timaru crash. This was a big feat, as the tub was completely destroyed, as you might expect with the throttles jammed wide open.
Yvonne;
My extremely supportive girlfriend at the time, absolute genius at timing- always exact with official timekeeping and kept my cars clean and polished. The mother of my children, and best wife in the world.
Dad:
Well, everyone who knows Dad will know what a wonderful decent person he is. Widely liked by many people. A very supportive Dad who never really placed any pressure on me, except I think he believed I could win without needing the same equipment of my competitors. Amazing father to have.
John Terry:
My long term sponsor. At times he placed a few demands on me, however his heart and intentions were always correct. He certainly was a big fan of motor racing, and enjoyed the results that we achieved. I think he really enjoyed himself.

Well there you have some of my old team members, there are other important people of course, but are not in the photo that day.

Steve, this is such a fantastic photo! I didn't realise you ran both the Atlantic car and ShellSport car all in the same season. I assumed you went from one to the other. Must have been a busy season for you!

[Steve Emson]

17976
I think this should be on this thread. it certainly is a great looking logo.

"Steve, this is such a fantastic photo! I didn't realise you ran both the Atlantic car and ShellSport car all in the same season. I assumed you went from one to the other. Must have been a busy season for you!"

Hi Steve, Yes that is correct, I was jumping from one to the other. The year before when the Shellsport car was Blue and white,and I was racing Reg Cook & Robbie Francevic for the championship, I was also racing Dennis Marwood in the GTX series in the other white Datsun 1200 coupe. I started late in that championship and we didn,t have a LSD in the first races.
The Shellsport car had a down left 5 speed close ratio box, and the GTX car had a 4 speed close ratio unit. ( Dennis's had a 5 speed- the bugger)
One had 10inch wide slicks and the other formula ford slicks. The lap time difference was Baypark 1m o3 for the Shellsport, 1m 10 for the GTX, Puke 1m 18.0 with the chicanes, GTX 1m 25, Manfield 1m 17 Shellsport, 1m 25 GTX.
Sometimes I would come in from one race and the other car was on the dummy grid. So there you go racing some of the countries top competitors in two different classes,.....good fun.
The very best exponent of this was Jimmy Richards. I don't think many people can do what he did successfully. I have only really raced Jimmy once in similar cars. It was in a long distance race, and our battle went on and on, in what seemed like forever. I was 16 years old and I was racing the best driver in NZ. Geez he made me work for it. That was the only time I was sweating so hard, my sunglasses slid down my nose!!

[Steve Holmes]

Ahh, the joy of being young! How many seasons did you run the Atlantic and the ShellSport car side by side Steve? Were you getting good sponsorship money to run both cars?

[Grant Sprague]

Steve this was a great read what you got up to in between gaps, might have been short re what you did but you did very well , I often think of those times so much fun & excitement , Thinking of shellsport never went there ,was keen to see Europe etc , [shell sport ]the SI guys I remember about when we did GTX were Allen Farr [Escort ] a good friend he also did GTX in fiat 124 ], Wayne Murdock [Nissan like yours] Grant Aiken [Nissan ] ummmm......who else oh yep Kevin Ryan [escort] I sent him pistons & Rods from UK for his bda,, that's an other story on its own . .You remember your lap times as we do means you still have the fire in yr belly.. .& that is very healthy...........Oh and one more thing you speak highly of yr old team , yr wife & yr Dad........... that says it all you are blessed & have humility .......Talk soon Grant

[Steve Emson]

Ahh, the joy of being young! How many seasons did you run the Atlantic and the ShellSport car side by side Steve? Were you getting good sponsorship money to run both cars?

Steve, only the one year with both the Shellsport and the Pacific. I think , back then in 1976 with the Shellsport car only, I had a contract with Shell Oil NZ for all my fuel, oil etc etc and about $5,000 in sponsorship. I think I had it structured were I only got paid if I placed; so much for 1st, so much for 2nd etc.
I was lucky enough to win both Shellsport championships I competed in back to back, so with the following;

1. Shell contract
2. Sponsorship
3. prize money (Fortunately this did add up nicely)

you only LOST a smaller amount of money! Ha Ha, the joys of motor racing.

With the Pacific in 1977, I think I had about the same, $5,000 from The Eastern Tool Co plus another $2000 from Fletcher Brownbuilt and of course my contract with Shell. Lots of people did things for me for love. Without those people you wouldn't be able to do it. The pacific was a wrong move for lots of reasons and I had everything financed to get into it. It took years to pay everything off after I could not afford to continue.
The physical injuries were not the reason I stopped, it was just money. When i was released from hospital I couldn't walk and had crutches and special inserts in my shoes to control my shattered heels. ( What was the side of my right foot is now the bottom) However the biggest thing was i could not put any pressure on the brake pedal. I was using both feet in the braking area..................was as weak as a kitten and in no state to be driving a Pacific. I was also taking some very big risks out of sheer determination.
It was a good thing to park the car at that time.

Grant, Thanks for your kind words. Dad and me met up with Alan Farr at the Waimate 50 last year. Dad had a big battle with him at Baypark in the 124 coupes for the GTX championship. I think we were wondering what was going to be said, (that old NI vrs SI thing) however everybody was just wonderful as Dad had been especially invited to be reunited with one of his old racing XU1's. He got the royal treatment, including parade laps and television and newspaper interviews. Now that is a great event!

[spinner32]

I have just had a friend ring me and say that John Gobbe passed away yesterday. John was the person behind trying to get Shell Sport restarted. He also owned several old Shell Sport cars. I hope the class continues.

[Rod Grimwood]

I have just had a friend ring me and say that John Gobbe passed away yesterday. John was the person behind trying to get Shell Sport restarted. He also owned several old Shell Sport cars. I hope the class continues.

That is very sad news. Yea he was trying to get Shell Sport back in classics. As you say lets hope it continues to develop.
RIP John

[jamie]

Hi Spinner that is a blow. I new John well and it was only a few months ago that that I was talking to him.
R I P John old mate,
Jamie A

[noiseyrs]

Hope this is on topic..just sharing a trademe find26543...any pics of these being used

[Bryan]

Hi Spinner that is a blow. I new John well and it was only a few months ago that that I was talking to him.
R I P John old mate,
Jamie A

Slideshow of photos from John's funeral https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f1jsS_IXXM

[Oldfart]

PM for you Grimme

[crunch]

Hope this is on topic..just sharing a trademe find26543...any pics of these being used

They used them at Cricket matches as well....think it was the one day comp...for about 5 years. I remember vividly in my youth a nubile young lady draped in nothing but one of these running across the Basin Reserve, with the gentle Wellington breeze not only blowing int behind her like Batmans cape, but also enhancing other areas of anatomy....:rolleyes:

[crunch]

That is very sad news. Yea he was trying to get Shell Sport back in classics. As you say lets hope it continues to develop.
RIP John


Hi All; after the very sad news of John's departure; does anyone have a progress report on the resurrection of the Shellsport class, and where John's collection of cars went?

[Rod Grimwood]

I hope (will be) at HD next weekend and catch up with people on this.

I have had a bit of a shake up over the last 4 months with 2 major modifications 1 major rebuild and have just this day got home from another 3 days in the tune up centre and hopefully this is the last major tune up. I now have to run in the gear slowly and once settled will be back at full rev's.
See you then.

[TonyG]

Take care Rod. Slow run in is best. :)

[Jay]

Hi All! I'm jay and new to the roaring season. I have been given the chance along with Mike Bamber to help keep the Resurection of the shellsport class going after Johns passing. Although you may not hear much from us we would gladly add you too our Email list if you want to be informed of whats happening. send your interests to jaytownshend126@gmail.com
We have just had a really fun weekend at the Enzed Classic in Timaru over the 13th - 15th of feb with a few well known shellsport cars. One off the ex cook/Aitken 120ys, an ex stuart lush 1200 coupe, the ex Cook "big bertha" and Noddys old Avenger. The Avenger actually set the fastest lap of the weekend in the class but had Gearbox issues as half the field did. (Bloody fast Avenger!) We had 12 entrys in total so numbers were up and down all weekend due to the weak gearbox issues. But it was still a heap of fun. I'll leave a link here to a youtube video for a bit of footage taken from the bank by Lyn hattons wife Sharon. This race was set up as a rolling start and run in memory of John Gobbe. A trophy was given to the winning shellsport car and driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3cJtnr9x1s&feature=youtu.be

Although you don't see much off the genuine shellsport cars in this race they are actually a force to be rekond with when theyre going well. Another car that was there for the weekend was the allan farr escort but in this race he had a bent steering arm which he hurridly fixed for the final race....and then beat me :-)

[paul lancaster]

Jay, whats happened to john gobbes stash of cars?

[Jay]

Jay, whats happened to john gobbes stash of cars?

Paul

Most of them were sold prior to him falling off his perch. The ex warren steel bluebird went to Steve Keene in Ashburton who is hoping to have it driving before Christmas this year. The Aitken 120y was sold to Lyn hatton (Ran at timaru in the weekend just been.) The ex Bill Leckie Lancer was probably scrapped unfortunately. It was in a bit of a sad state but some bits were there and it definitely had the number plate. We tried to get in touch with his family regarding these sorts of things and memorabilia but had no joy. The only other car I know of is the escort he was building himself and that is now listed on trade me for a rather large sum of money for not a lot of car. This was to be a replica of the later Rutherford car. It was sold very cheap to a local automotive shop who are now selling it on. The Marina was sold on trade me shortly after he died.

[paul lancaster]

Thanks jay, I spoke with john just after he bought the f5000 katipo that he was getting rebuilt, he said he also had the ex reg cook mini, any one know what happened to both of these cars.
also jay, there was a honda civic that ran in shellsport, I think it ran rexona sponsorship, with possibly a female driver, it was on trademe for sale a few years ago, it had alot of factory gear in it.

[Rod Grimwood]

The Civic Mrs Parnell from Paraparamu (north of Wellington) drove it. Hubby built it etc.

[Rod Grimwood]

Jay you say, "The Avenger actually set the fastest lap of the weekend in the class but had Gearbox issues as half the field did. (Bloody fast Avenger!) We had 12 entrys in total so numbers were up and down all weekend due to the weak gearbox issues."

This is a problem with the old 4 speed gear we all used way back then. I actually went to a Celica 5 speed back in late 80s to stop this when ran in Sports Sedans 2Lt. I would not use this in historic shellsport, but would like to use a Sierra box as this saves changing diffs for different tracks and last abit longer.
Maybe something to be addressed,

Then we can really start a good old fight and use something found in corner of garage under some other bits. LOL

[Carlo]

Noddy fitted a Rocket box when he built up the Avenger, suspect that it still has the original box and internals as until now I can not recall it ever giving any issues, guess the used by date has finally arrived. Allan Farr's Escort likewise has a Rocket box and aside from the occasional replacement of bearings, syncro cones, detent blocks & springs it lasted until better than 30 years and it was only of recent times that a new gear kit was fitted.

[John McKechnie]

Rod- +1

[Racer Rog]

He did mention that the problem only happened when it was a shared drive, can't remember who the other driver was, but reckon you would know.

Roger

[PETER FRANICEVIC]

The Rod Collingwood coupe is owned by Ian Maskell who has had it for about 25 years and has raced in SS2000,classics etc;
There are some photos earlier in this thread, the old beauty (the coupe not Maskell) has just had a freshen up and will be out there again soon.

[Jay]

Jay you say, "The Avenger actually set the fastest lap of the weekend in the class but had Gearbox issues as half the field did. (Bloody fast Avenger!) We had 12 entrys in total so numbers were up and down all weekend due to the weak gearbox issues."

This is a problem with the old 4 speed gear we all used way back then. I actually went to a Celica 5 speed back in late 80s to stop this when ran in Sports Sedans 2Lt. I would not use this in historic shellsport, but would like to use a Sierra box as this saves changing diffs for different tracks and last abit longer.
Maybe something to be addressed,

Then we can really start a good old fight and use something found in corner of garage under some other bits. LOL

Funny you should mention 5 speed toyota box. We do run these gearboxes in some of these cars mainly because they take the pounding better than the original stuff. We don't feel there is any advantage by running a 5speed t50. The ratios are actually very similar to the ford box. John and the technical committee for the revival, fitted that into the revised rules and regs that we now use.

[Jay]

Thanks jay, I spoke with john just after he bought the f5000 katipo that he was getting rebuilt, he said he also had the ex reg cook mini, any one know what happened to both of these cars.
also jay, there was a honda civic that ran in shellsport, I think it ran rexona sponsorship, with possibly a female driver, it was on trademe for sale a few years ago, it had alot of factory gear in it.

Rod.
Don't know about those cars fella but I know there is an early civic being built for paul goodman (Elevate Bar)here in christchurch. This may be the old civic from back then. Hopefully it will nearing completion before the end of this season.

[Steve Holmes]

Not actually a Shellsport car, I grabbed this photo from the SCCA Trans-Am Facebook page. But a cool looking car, and the similarities between this and the cars contesting the Shellsport series are clear to see.

Pretty cool tow rig too!

30713

[Spgeti]

There was a Datsun 210 Coupe for sale a while back on TM, even with its set back engine etc look good in RED/White & Blue and $9000.

Was a good place to start.

There are a few of these B and C Sedans for sale over in the States....food for thought.

[Hart1598]

yes the yellow one I bought from Roy in 2004, it has been rebuilt as it last ran, same every thing, had to upgrade cage, seat and harness, but that's all.
A couple of shots from Hampton Downs this weekend that may be relevant to the thread... (is the red car a Shellsport car? Be gentle... this stuff is all before my time unfortunately :()

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8443/7987621523_2e9a30ed75_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987621523/)
IMG_6255 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987621523/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/7987862528_1896da6725_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987862528/)
IMG_6278 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987862528/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8179/7987844902_9730e78191_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987844902/)
IMG_6273 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987844902/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7987706373_0be4237b6b_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987706373/)
IMG_6293 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoozinrichy/7987706373/) by SnoozinRichy (http://www.flickr.com/people/snoozinrichy/), on Flickr

[BMCBOY]

35025

35024

35023

35026

[Hart1598]

I have it, Auto Trader car, ran by Roy Harrington, I got it in 2004

[Kevin Hirst]

I have it, Auto Trader car, ran by Roy Harrington, I got it in 2004

If that is you Rex, will we be likely to see it on track soon

[khyndart in CA]

Kevin,
This is my Rex Hart photo, with his back to the camera, talking to my brother before a hill climb at Otorohanga in 1969

35350




(Ken Hyndman photo )

[khyndart in CA]

Here is a photo of the Paul Fahey FVA Escort on the trailer after getting damage to the right front area, at Baypark.
Can someone please fill in what happened and when.
Thanks.
35411

(Ken Hyndman photo )

[John McKechnie]

Baypark at an early outing pre December 1969.
the diff LSD wasnt set up properly and it steered itself into the wooden fence.
No driver error from Paul Fahey.

[khyndart in CA]

Thanks John

[BMCBOY]

35995

35996

[GD66]

Great angle, but it's a surprise you didn't get chased out of there pretty smartly. Were you wearing army camouflage ? :cool:

[BMCBOY]

I can recall that for a few years there were some big tractor tyres on the outside of the track that I could hide behind, but it was always a bit dodgey, so I never stayed too long. Although I don't recall anyone going off at that point - usually before the apex into the earth bank or after the corner on to the inside of the track after spinning. Great spot for a different shot though and not possible today I guess.

36041

[kiwi285]

Can someone name the saloon cars and drivers here. There are some great machines in there.

[GD66]

Well the top one is evidently Cook (in a Datsun before it was a Nissan) and Halliday with Roy Harrington hanging the rear off, and they are also the back 3 in the second pic. From (admittedly-tortured) memory the #77 Fountain Escort is Bryce Platt.

[Milan Fistonic]

Number 65 is Kevin Ryan

[Marty]

#389

Reg Cook Sunny, Kirk Stoneman Escort, Don Halliday Escort, Roy Harrington Escort, Wayne Murdoch Avenger, Grant Aitken 120Y, ( Yellow Escort Possibly Ken Sager?) Warren Burt Starlet



Silver 1200 could be Hoss Waswo, red 1200 at rear could be Stuart Lush.

[Marty]

#389 2ND Photo

Harrington, Stoneman?, Tony Marsh 1200, Warren Steel 1600, Malcolm Webb Starlet.

[seaqnmac27]

The only Datsun 1600 I remember was Greg Lancaster

[Marty]

Yes, I think Gregs car was the ex Warren Steel car built at CMR with Les Laidlaw.

It was blue when Greg had it, I think he stuck it in the side of someone at the Puke hairpin.

[Milan Fistonic]

Here are the entry lists for the Shellsport races in March 1982 and March 1984.


March 1982
36054


March 1984
36055

[Growler]

Posted up on Facebook.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkiDZVwAWkE

[Growler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo36d_9NF4g

[Growler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqRdsiQevCk

[John McKechnie]

Thanks Larry, great viewing.

[Growler]

Cheers. I would love to start a database on what cars raced, what cars survived and where they are now. Even just for my own interest.
I know of 3 - 4 cars still around in the North Island hidden in garages, and some information on other cars, but if anyone has any information on the series or individual cars then let me know.

[John McKechnie]

Larry - as seen on our HSS thread, the ex Wayne Murdoch 2 door Avenger- seen in some of your videos here ,will be up at Manfeild in Nov for the MG meeting.
Current owner Michael Johntson says his is only one of 2 correct ones remaining in the SI.
Strongly suggest you contact him, and I will pm his number to you.
John.

[seaqnmac27]

Larry - as seen on our HSS thread, the ex Wayne Murdoch 2 door Avenger- seen in some of your videos here ,will be up at Manfeild in Nov for the MG meeting.
Current owner Michael Johntson says his is only one of 2 correct ones remaining in the SI.
Strongly suggest you contact him, and I will pm his number to you.
John.

John, the Avenger in these videos is not actually the same one. It is Des Bullas' as is mentioned in the programme as per Milan's post earlierin post #406

[John McKechnie]

Yep, I saw it in the program posted earlier #406-Race 3 car number 48 from 1982 -and confused it with the video.
So where is Des Bullas car now ?

[Steve Holmes]

Awesome videos Growler! Thanks for posting.

[Growler]

Yep, I saw it in the program posted earlier #406-Race 3 car number 48 from 1982 -and confused it with the video.
So where is Des Bullas car now ?

Des Bullas is my Uncle. I remembered the car when I was quite young. Unfortunately the shell is no more because I was the one who cut it up when we built the Sunbeam in the early 1990’s.
The car was cosmetically updated to a Series 8 Avenger (The early 80's version with the large headlights) and painted Black and White and raced in Shell Sport and SS2000 (When it was first started).
We used the running gear from the Avenger to build the Sunbeam (Non Lotus) and because the original Avenger shell had done many miles of racing, we decided to scrap it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

[Jay]

4796347964
Hopefully these photos are visibale on here.

There are two genuine shellsport Datsuns for sale in canterbury at the moment if any one knows someone keen on buying a part of Newzealand shellsport histroy. The 160 J "cook datsun" built and run by Reg in the early days with two championship wins and a lot of history. Also for sale is the first Datsun 120y also built by Reg Cook but for Grant Aitken to run. Both these cars are very competitive and capable cars and are run regularly here in the south island. If these photos don't show up i apologize as this is my first time trying to upload and seems to be a little challenging for a semi literate user. :-)

If there are any genuine inquirys for these cars please feel free to call Jay Townshend on 021 750775.

[markec]

Hi there,first post after having my dad point me to this site tonight over Skype.
Long story short,I am trying to find out what happened to the Raycroft Escort,driven by Dave Waldron.
My father,Garry Williams helped build it years ago and all I can remember of it is seeing it at Wigram in the pits in the early 80s (I'm 33),so would have been 3-4 years old.
I got some help from the forums on the OSCA site,before the forums disappeared from Evan Munt who put me onto Neville Agass in the USA.A few emails and some digging from Neville got me a positive lead that the car is up in Auckland and possibly still racing.He told me to contact Grant Brennan,who Neville was sure would know about it.I tried contacting him through his website,but never got a reply.
That's where the searching has sat for about 3 years,until tonight...When dad told me to have a look here and this is where I found this part of the forum about similar old race cars.
So,is there anyone out there that can help out?
Also dad mentioned the car was ment to be on display at the OSCA revival meeting at Ruapuna.While I was doing some research,I found out someone was going to build a replica,as the car was apparently under a tree in Timaru,still in the Raycroft colours....Which sounded a bit dubious as it hadn't been in those colours since Dave raced it.

Restored by Nick Donaldson and being driven by him.Its back in the Raycroft livery.

[stevek]

Hi all, First time post, but myself and a group of guys here in the South Island are busy re-starting the Shellsport revival series, and we our plan is to start coordinating some races for new and old Shellsport cars for the next season.
Initially in the South Island, but we hope to increase this to inter-island meetings also.

Along with the series , I'm currently building a website which is to be sort of an online repository for everything new and old in relation to Shellsport.
I'm also continuing to grow our database on old cars and owners. And plan to do a number of interviews so I can get the good oil on the cars and drivers for the site, I want the information to be as accurate as possible.
I'm looking for absolutely everything relating to the series, VIDEO's , photo's, programs, results, magazine items, you name it, even if its a picture of a car in a workshop, this may help to complete part of a story in the future.

I hope to be in contact with a number of the contributors on this thread who have posted photos to ask for their permission to be used, but would greatly appreciate any assistance people may have.

Thankyou in advance
Steve Keene
skeene05@gmail.com
021-740-855