Ferrari 250LM results in New Zealand

[Ray Bell]

I've been asked by someone doing a book on Ferraris to provide details of wins this car had in Australia...

He also needs details of wins in New Zealand. I do have the Spencer Martin win at Pukekohe details, but all of Andy Buchanan's wins are outside of my knowledge.

Can anyone help with this? We just need race distance and race time for outright wins.

[Roger Dowding]

I've been asked by someone doing a book on Ferraris to provide details of wins this car had in Australia...

He also needs details of wins in New Zealand. I do have the Spencer Martin win at Pukekohe details, but all of Andy Buchanan's wins are outside of my knowledge.

Can anyone help with this? We just need race distance and race time for outright wins.

Ray don't have any results from NZ, but I know Graham Woods, who writes on the Canterbury Motorsports Facebook page probably will, he has Motorman magazines from the 1960/70's which he has offered to me, and I hope to take up the offer when i return to New Zealand in April later this month. we are currently staying with family on Bribie, but once back in Auckland, can follow this up for, limited Internet use at the moment..

I do have a photo though, from Pukekohe .. Ignore the notation 275LM, I am sure this is the car and was Andy Buchanan's drive at the 1968 NZIGP meeting January 1968

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[Ray Bell]

Roger, if there's any chance of contacting him I'd appreciate it...

The person who wants the information needs to get it to a publisher within a week or so. It's all for a book about Ferrari's first 70 years.

Can you, alternatively, let me have Graham's e.mail address?

[Milan Fistonic]

The Auckland Car Club also received the request for the Ferrari results which I have already provided.

It appears Andy Buchanan only competed in 12 races in 1966/67, winning nine of them. Geoff Mardon in the Stanton beat him at Renwick and in both races at Teretonga. Buchanan finished fourth in a handicap race at Levin behind Rodger Anderson's Sprite. Mardon's Stanton and Boyd's Lycoming.

Spencer Martin won at Pukekohe, Levin, Wigram and Teretonga in 1966.

[Michael Clark]

It was a LM275...Andy had the 6.5-litre Elfin in January 68 - his last season of a short but fairly sensational 'career'

[Ray Bell]

Milan, thank you for that information...

I guess you also gave the Spencer Martin results?

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Michael Clark
It was a LM275...Andy had the 6.5-litre Elfin in January 68 - his last season of a short but fairly sensational 'career'

I have previously been panned for calling it a 275LM, Michael...

But I clearly recall that the original engine was replaced (or enlarged) quite early in the car's life to 3.3 litres and David McKay encouraged all his fellow journalists to call it a 275LM in support of Ferrari's desire to get the larger engine homologated.

An odd thing, however, is that in Jim Palmer's report of the Pukekohe NZ GP meeting of 1966 he gives the results for the sports car race and adds '2953', apparently the engine capacity. I am sure the engine was enlarged before that date.

[Michael Clark]

I'm not going to pan you Ray - it was called a 250LM, even by Enzo - but that doesn't alter what it actually was.

[Ray Bell]

If anyone can help with race distances and times, Manuel would greatly appreciate it. I have given him the distance and time for the 1966 Pukekohe race won by Spencer Martin, but I don't have any of the others.

[Terry S]

Ray it is good to see that you are finally using the correct Ferrari model number rather than 275LM.

This thread on another forum may be useful, although the tread title is incorrect.

http://forums.autosport.com/topic/197454-the-scuderia-veloce-ferrari-275lm/?hl=ferrari 275

The originator of that thread is usually pretty reliable.

[Milan Fistonic]

If anyone can help with race distances and times, Manuel would greatly appreciate it. I have given him the distance and time for the 1966 Pukekohe race won by Spencer Martin, but I don't have any of the others.

I was not asked for the times so you could pass this on Ray. I'll see what I can find for Spencer Martin's results.

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[Milan Fistonic]

Spencer Martin's results in New Zealand 1966.

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Interesting that the Wigram races were for Allcomers and the Ferrari and Brent Hawes' Tojeiro-Jaguar were the only sports cars to feature. They were racing against cars like the Rod Coppins Zephyr-Corvette, Dave Simpson's Lotus Anglia and Kerry Grant's A40.

[Ray Bell]

Sorry, Milan...

Now we need lap distance at Levin, Timaru, Wigram, Teratonga and Renwick. Truth be known, I can calculate it for Wigram, Levin and Teratonga.

We also need that info about the type of race. Would you call those mentioned 'sports and GT' or 'sports and modified touring'?

[GD66]

According to TheRacingLine : Timaru 1.5 miles, Wigram 2.2 miles, Levin 1.18 miles, Teretonga 1.6 miles. Nothing for Renwick yet...

[woody]

Renwick was 1.5 miles.

[khyndart in CA]

Ray,
I see one of your photos in this very interesting primotipo.com article.
I remember watching the car race at Pukekohe and did not realize the history of it at the time.
Andy Buchanan raced it as either number 28 or 128
It certainly looks magnificent today in the Ralph Lauren Collection.
https://primotipo.com/2014/07/03/pete-geoghegan-ferrari-250lm-6321-bathurst-easter-68/

Plus some results at this site that is noted as inaccurate and incomplete !
http://www.barchetta.cc/english/all.ferraris/Detail/6321.250LM.htm


(Ken H)

[Ray Bell]

Ken, the car was less than a year and two months from its first appearance (Sandown Park 1965, my colour photo on the Primotipo page) when Andy Buchanan first drove it. A year and a few days later Bill Brown took over the driving honours as McKay bought the car back.

There's little doubt that the deal between McKay and Buchanan was aimed at saving on import duty.

At the start of 1965 McKay bought a new Brabham-Climax, which Martin spannered on and Graham Hill drove during the Tasman Cup. He also bought the Ferrari, he spent something like £AU50,000 on the cars and obtained a similar amount from Shell Oil Company. Running costs for the cars would come from appearance money and some of the prizemoney, it worked out and McKay owned both cars at the end of the year.

A few months earlier, about November 1964, McKay realised that I had arrived at Surfers Paradise with Mike Kable. Tiring of seeing me around so much and not knowing who I was, he asked Mike, "Who is that young chap? I seem to see him everywhere!"

Mike replied simply, "His name is Ray Bell and the reason you see him everywhere is that he is almost everywhere!"

It was David's open relationship with Mike which led to the revelation about the finances of the team that year. I was, from June 1966, to board with Mike and his wife, Joy. Together with my friend, Bob Levett, the friendship with David firmed (though I didn't like it when he took a dislike to the state of my Morris Minor when I pulled up at their workshop one Wednesday afternoon) and we were to write a letter in his defence to Racing Car News which was published in February 1967.

Bob and I were very much aware of the many people looking at us in the wake of the letter at the ensuing Warwick Farm Tasman Cup meeting. As always, we wandered about the paddock area talking to many competitors prior to going to our flag point to perform our duties.

A while earlier, when Spencer Martin had suddenly departed from Scuderia Veloce, we visited the man we might almost have called our mentor, Geoff Sykes. Geoff always invited us in to his office, as a true gentleman, and was willing to talk about the split.

"Spencer," he began, "is of the Roman Catholic faith." He studied our reactions. "And Bob Atkin is a Seventh Day Adventist." With a shrug of the shoulders he then said, "And David's a Calathumpian or something..."

Then he explained how Bob Atkin wasn't there to prepare the cars on Saturday, Spencer took one of the tow cars every Sunday morning to go to mass and David and Bob would be champing at the bit hoping he'd be back in time with the heavy spectator traffic leading up to the meetings. Ultimately, things came to a head and Spencer left, Shell arranged a deal with Bob Jane for him to increase his team's size to include Spencer.

This was all a part of the string of events that led to me writing for Racing Car News from mid-1970 and working there between mid-1972 and late-1979. I continued writing for them for another four or five years.

Thank you all for the information I can now convey to Manuel about this most exciting car...

[Ray Bell]

Milan, I have passed on the details to Manuel...

But I'm curious about your comment regarding the Wigram races being for 'all comers' - was that just 1966? Or was it 1967 as well?

Were any of the other races similarly for mixed fields?

Also, the Teretonga result for 'Andy Buck'... who beat him?

[Milan Fistonic]

Milan, I have passed on the details to Manuel...

But I'm curious about your comment regarding the Wigram races being for 'all comers' - was that just 1966? Or was it 1967 as well?

Were any of the other races similarly for mixed fields?

Also, the Teretonga result for 'Andy Buck'... who beat him?

The only person to beat Buchanan (Ferrari) in a scratch race was Geoff Mardon in the Stanton Corvette.

The 1967 race was the Motor Racing Club Championship and attracted 35 entries. I don't have the programme but from the reports it appears to have been contested by sports cars and single-seaters as well as a few South Island Specials.

[khyndart in CA]

I would say this was a mixed field !
(A mini owners dream; The huge crowd roared as the Mini Moke passed the Ferrari LM going through the left hander and sped away into the distance ! oh well back to reality )
"Jackie Stewarts Ferrari 250 LM blasts past the Charlie Smith/ Bo Seton Mini Moke, the Fazz did 493 laps to win, the Moke 311…lapped just a few times." (Primotipo.com)

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p.s. Was the Moke spare wheel in place of a spoiler for added downforce ?

(Ken Hyndman..the dreamer )

[Roger Dowding]

I would say this was a mixed field !
(A mini owners dream; The huge crowd roared as the Mini Moke passed the Ferrari LM going through the left hander and sped away into the distance ! oh well back to reality )
"Jackie Stewarts Ferrari 250 LM blasts past the Charlie Smith/ Bo Seton Mini Moke, the Fazz did 493 laps to win, the Moke 311…lapped just a few times." (Primotipo.com)

42968

p.s. Was the Moke spare wheel in place of a spoiler for added downforce ?

(Ken Hyndman..the dreamer )

Absolutely Ken ... the spare looks bigger than the wheels actually holding the car up !!, a 13 inch perhaps and 10's on the front ..