Continental Special -- Gary Mullholland , Tyrrell Turtill

[bry3500]

Extraordinary car powered by a 7.7 litre Continental 180 engine from a Cessna
Both Turtill and Mullholland were killed in a road accident.
I read somewhere the car had survived
Any info ???

[bry3500]

In June 2007 Original Scripts brought a truly unique piece of Theatre to Canterbury. Our Adult class’s 2007 mid year production was an amazing historical piece. It was the story of two young Christchurch men who invented, designed and raced a revolutionary race car in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The car was named the Continental Special and it was designed and built by Garry Mulholland and Tyrell Turtill. The car was revolutionary in so many ways, from the fact that it had a rear mounted 7 litre Continental Special Aero engine (the same sort of engine as used in Cessna planes) through to the design of the suspension and the processes they used in building the parts. They raced the car successfully at various racetracks, including Ruapuna and Wigram, from 1968 until they were both tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident in February 1971. “The Continental Special : The Car that flew” is their story and is written by Garry Mulholland’s Sister – Canterbury Playwright Wendy Steeds. Original Scripts was also been blessed by input from internationally acclaimed singer and comedian Judy Glen, Tyrell’s sister. But the family connections do not end there. Both Garry’s youngest son and Wendy Steeds grandson performed in the play with Wendy's Grandson (Sam Steeds) playing the part of Garry. Both the car, and the story of Garry and Tyrell, are an important and well known part of the history of motor racing in Canterbury. TVNZ’s “Close up” screened a documentary on the story of the car, the tragedy of the boys death and a Sisters love. And how it all lead to the play being performed at the Repertory Theatre from June the 7th to the 9th. The show was a huge success with many people travelling from outside the Christchurch Region to see it.

[bry3500]

should read Tyrell Turtill!!!! not Turtle oops

[Steve Holmes]

I just changed that for you bry.

Yes the car does still exist, was for sale a few years ago. This must be one of the last aero-engined race cars built anywhere in the world?

[bry3500]

thanks Steve,, wow love to see and hear that on track.. I'm guessing it would be low rev/high torque ala the lycoming

[105angria]

I remember hearing this and it didnt change gears

[Kwaussie]

What a great story on the play - I can remember standing beside this car when it was starting up one day. I went and stood about 20 metres away.

[105angria]

He passed in a burning Damler SP250 up behind Papanui with another car guy i think

[bry3500]

The Other guy was his mate and co designer
Garry 'Gus" Mulholland

[Carlo]

If I remember correctly the engine drove through a torque convertor to a two speed transmission. I too have heard of the car being restored but have no idea where.

[David McKinney]

It was with Bill Cowie in Christchurch about ten years ago..

[Shano]

The Continental Special was definitely on tardme a couple of years ago. Classic Car ran something on the car about the same time. It was in good order then. There was something about it on the start line, being very difficult to hold on the brakes. Mesmerising car I thought then - has this kind of raw power look about it - like an explosion going somewhere to happen.

[John Medley]

In the late 1960s, in Sydney, I worked with Tyrell's sister Judy's husband Keith, we partied once or twice, found one another entertaining company, but not as entertaining as her/their stories of Tyrell and this amazing car("now under a house in Timaru" they said back then. "Tyrell had raced an MGTF before that" they also said.). I resolved to track this car down, never did-- perhaps preferring the myth to the reality-- but I have thought of it, and them, and Tyrell frequently since. I only learned of the fatal accident much later. If "The World's Fastest Indian" could do what it did, what about this story? I hope the play did well, and continues to do so.

If anyone is in touch with Judy, please pass on my regards to her and hers

John Medley

[Steve Holmes]

Fantastic first post John!

[bry3500]

Great post John..you can contact Judy here http://judyglen.com.au/contact/

[John Medley]

Thanks, gentlemen

I will make contact

Is it true that Tyrell's previous/ first competition car was an MGTF?

[David McKinney]

I don't know about an MG, but he famously campaigned a two-seater V8 special

[bry3500]

Agatha?

[David McKinney]

Not then, but the next owner would use that name

[bry3500]

Ok ..I received an email from Tyrrells Sister Judy regarding the car
Several years ago the continential special was owned by an enthuisist in Christchurch and was
garaged in a warehouse in the central city - It was taken to Ruapuna Park and put throu it's paces for a TV programnme about the musical play entitled The Continental Special, The Car that Flew
I wouldn't like it's chances of having survived the Earthquakes if it was still there.
I have two contacts that could help - Glenn Sparrow, Garrys Son ph .......... or ph ..........
Or Wendy Steeds nee Mulholland ph...........
I hope they can help you and thank you for your continued interest in the boys incredible invention!
Best wishes Judy Glen nee Turtill

I have Phone numbers for the contacts mentioned above if anyone is interested( send me a personal message)

[fastback]

It was owned by Bill Datlen in Ashburton for many years. He was sadley killed in a flying accident in 2006.

[Glenn.sparrow]

MY name is Glenn Sparrow and I am Garry Mulhollands Youngest son. Thank you all for the kind messages posted here about Garry and Tyrell. It was an honour to be involved with the play that we did and to see the car in action. A great thank you goes out to Bill who currently owns the car ( as of two years ago anyway) I beleive the car survived the earthquake. I havent fully checked but I think the Warehouse it is in is still standing.

To the person who posted about the car never changing gears. It only had one - forward. Literaly. There was no gearstick or clutch etc.

From memory the brake is a hydraulic pump that Tyrell "procured" from an industrial fridge. And the steering column was from a bambina.

When you consider the speeds it can go at those two were truly nuts.

There is a great story about the fact they had to always start at the back of the field in any race as they had to have about 5 people holding the rear wheels off the ground as they couldnt park the car in neutral ( it didnt have one).

Thank you all again for your stories about the boys and their car.

[bry3500]

Great to see you here Glen, thanks for the updated info!
Great also, to know the car probably survived the Quake.
The Continental Special sums up for me every thing that is great about Kiwi ingenuity...You should be very proud of your Dad , he and his mate Tyrrell will go down as legends in my book...

[Oldfart]

I'm not sure about the "back of the grid" story. When I finally get my photos in postable form I will have one of it on the front row at Ruapuna. I thought it had a torque convertor with a dashboard tap?

[bob homewood]

I'm not sure about the "back of the grid" story. When I finally get my photos in postable form I will have one of it on the front row at Ruapuna. I thought it had a torque convertor with a dashboard tap?

From my memory I believe you are right ,I can remember it starting from further up the grid I am sure of it

[bry3500]

Tyrrell Turtle in the 7.7 litre Lycoming aero-engined Continental at Wigram in 1970. Photo Bill Pottinger

[Oldfart]

Bry, as per the post in the other thread, Continental engine.

[seaqnmac27]

In the late 1960s, in Sydney, I worked with Tyrell's sister Judy's husband Keith, we partied once or twice, found one another entertaining company, but not as entertaining as her/their stories of Tyrell and this amazing car("now under a house in Timaru" they said back then. "Tyrell had raced an MGTF before that" they also said.). I resolved to track this car down, never did-- perhaps preferring the myth to the reality-- but I have thought of it, and them, and Tyrell frequently since. I only learned of the fatal accident much later. If "The World's Fastest Indian" could do what it did, what about this story? I hope the play did well, and continues to do so.

If anyone is in touch with Judy, please pass on my regards to her and hers

John Medley


John, away from this in another part of my life I am an actor, and I am about to do a play, with Judy Glen as our Music Director/Vocal Coach.

[Petey]

Hey guys great to see so much interest in my dads old car!

I'm Petey son of Bill Datlen. Dad brought the car off our very close family friend Rita Tutel in 1990 along with a 1922 Cadillac also owned by the Turtels. My father was the first person to race the car again since the car was put in storage in the early 70s after the two young lads were tragically killed.

The car was indeed single speed with only an accelerator and a brake pedal which reportedly did very very little. Dads favourite scary memory was lapping cars down the front straight of Ruapuna while hard on the brakes whilst the other cars were still changing up gears! The car was indeed a rocket but an incredibly scary car to drive. Allegedly you had to make sure you were doing atleast 100mph and pointing the car very straight before putting your foot all the way down on the accelerator if you wanted to avoid lighting the huge rear tyres up! As you can imagine the car weighed very very little yet had an immensely huge amount of torque from the 7.7 litre flat 6 engine! The car had no exhausts with the straight pipes dumping directly onto the ground making it a very loud car indeed (which a couple neighbors a few streets over would always remind us) This was a problem as with the modern day noise restraints the car could not be run at a couple of tracks due to neighbors of race car tracks suddenly realizing that race cars were loud AFTER they had brought there property....however as loud as the car was it was just an amazingly beautiful sound as im sure everyone can appreciate!!

The car is currently owned by Bill Cowley who purchased it off my father. The car was put up for sale in Fazzaz in Christchurch but the car DID NOT get killed in the earthquake thank god! It is currently undergoing a restoration and for the sake of making it legal to race again it is somehow (lord knows how) getting a reverse gear put in! This car will however resurface some time soon and i am sure we will see it back on the track in all its glory in no time!

[CUSTAXIE50]

Last time I saw this car was at Levin,running off the front.

[John McKechnie]

Reading through my mags- autoNews vol 3 number 1 page 29.
Article by Robin Curtis and pic of rolling car less body.
Will scan and post here after racing

[Carlo]

The back of the grid was when the car first appeared prior to the fitment of the torque converter tap arrangement. I do remember it doing rolling starts at Ruapuna way behind the field during the very early days of its life.

[Glenn.sparrow]

Hi Petey,

Its amazing to see that people are still interested in the Continental. Seeing the car at Ruapuna for the filming day we did for the play will remain a high point of my life.

Even better is knowing it survived all the crap we have been through in CHristchurch over the last few years.

I'd love to bring my son along to see it race one day if you ever hear of it going on a track.

i can be contacted via www.blueted.co.nz

Glenn


Hey guys great to see so much interest in my dads old car!

I'm Petey son of Bill Datlen. Dad brought the car off our very close family friend Rita Tutel in 1990 along with a 1922 Cadillac also owned by the Turtels. My father was the first person to race the car again since the car was put in storage in the early 70s after the two young lads were tragically killed.

The car was indeed single speed with only an accelerator and a brake pedal which reportedly did very very little. Dads favourite scary memory was lapping cars down the front straight of Ruapuna while hard on the brakes whilst the other cars were still changing up gears! The car was indeed a rocket but an incredibly scary car to drive. Allegedly you had to make sure you were doing atleast 100mph and pointing the car very straight before putting your foot all the way down on the accelerator if you wanted to avoid lighting the huge rear tyres up! As you can imagine the car weighed very very little yet had an immensely huge amount of torque from the 7.7 litre flat 6 engine! The car had no exhausts with the straight pipes dumping directly onto the ground making it a very loud car indeed (which a couple neighbors a few streets over would always remind us) This was a problem as with the modern day noise restraints the car could not be run at a couple of tracks due to neighbors of race car tracks suddenly realizing that race cars were loud AFTER they had brought there property....however as loud as the car was it was just an amazingly beautiful sound as im sure everyone can appreciate!!

The car is currently owned by Bill Cowley who purchased it off my father. The car was put up for sale in Fazzaz in Christchurch but the car DID NOT get killed in the earthquake thank god! It is currently undergoing a restoration and for the sake of making it legal to race again it is somehow (lord knows how) getting a reverse gear put in! This car will however resurface some time soon and i am sure we will see it back on the track in all its glory in no time!

[Royce]

Hi Petey,

Its amazing to see that people are still interested in the Continental. Seeing the car at Ruapuna for the filming day we did for the play will remain a high point of my life.

Even better is knowing it survived all the crap we have been through in CHristchurch over the last few years.

I'd love to bring my son along to see it race one day if you ever hear of it going on a track.

i can be contacted via www.blueted.co.nz

Glenn

The continental has been purchased by Noel Atley gone to a very good home in the deep south
royce

[alwylie]

I saw the Continental Special doing standing 1/4 mile runs at Ruapuna around 1969-70. It was, at that time, able to remain stationary with the engine running but only just. I remember it tended to push the locked front wheels along while staging and with its single speed, torque converter transmission the engine note remained almost constant throughout the 1/4 mile run.
In one of the photos at the beginning of this thread there is a group of people standing in front of a red and white car. It's a 1955 Pontiac station wagon, a distinctive and rare vehicle I used to see around Christchurch without knowing who owned it. Years after Tyrell Turtill's death, my friend and flatmate, John Britten, told me it had been Tyrell's car. The two had got to know each other when they were both studying engineering at Christchurch Polytechnic. One of the things John liked about Tyrell was that "he was always trying to do the impossible", something which could also be said about John. To illustrate his point, John told me the Pontiac had once broken a half shaft and Tyrell had mended it by Easyfloing (silver soldering) the broken parts together and then doing skids on some gravel to demonstrate the strength of the repair!
Much later, I read in a magazine a sad tale about the Pontiac's ultimate fate. It seems it fell into the hands of someone who wanted its V8 engine for a hot rod. The details elude me now but I think the engine was installed in a rod but then left sitting out in the weather with no air cleaner so water got in and ruined it. The rest of the car was similarly neglected and ended up being scrapped.

[seaqnmac27]

Just a note from Judy Glen, nee Turtill. She was asking after the car as it is soon to be Tyrell and Judy's Mothers 100 birthday. I passed on this thread to her and Judy passed on the comment of the sad irony that the Christchurch earthquake occurred on the anniversary of Tyrell's death

[Rascal]

Extraordinary car powered by a 7.7 litre Continental 180 engine from a Cessna
Both Turtill and Mullholland were killed in a road accident.
I read somewhere the car had survived
Any info ???.

Bill Datlan can be seen in photo#2 , yellow helmet, probably around 1995 at a levels or Ruapuna Vcc sprint event.

Just a point or two, Bill Datlans mother was Tyrrells sister, so Bill being the only nephew of tyrrell , got first option on acquiring both the continental & the Cadillac, as mentioned by a young peter Datlan elsewhere in the discussion.

Bill Datlans major change to the car during his ownership was adding coil ignition for starting which afterwards switched over to the original magnetos. also some finishing off of some bodywork & hardware .
After many years of ownership & some " occasional demonstration only" laps, Bill Datlan sold the car to Bill Cowie,
of Ch Ch, who had intended to maybe race in Vcc or classic events.

But there were some Hurdles & requirements.
As the car had NO reverse gear & only one Disc brake [ for the rear braking] rotor & caliper next to the chain driven rear axle, & after putting it off for years, Bill Cowie , as recently as early last year, 2014; Had the car back in Mid Canterbury having a clutch & flywheel fitted in series to the Torque converter, to enable some nuterallity when idleing , also an extra small , low geared starter motor fitted which engages a ring gear to provide a reverse , something the car has never previously had .

As mentioned, Smaller Parts of the Bodywork & fittings had also never been completely finished off by Tyrrell & Gary M, they were always in a hurry to get to the track or the Pub, but later on Bill Datlan Had these & other things taken care of by yours truly.


Its great news that Noel Atley may now have the car & we may see it driven accordingly.

[bry3500]

found these on FB

[bry3500]

from FB

[Michael Clark]

Still in Riverton

[Steve Holmes]

Great photo Bry.

[bry3500]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N-u8UNxY54

[Roger Dowding]

Chaindrive - is building a model of the car at the moment - no doubt photos will follow - If he doesn't post them I will !! ehh !! Tony

[chaindrive]

Roger, Check Motorsport History in Miniature
Tony

[Roger Dowding]

Roger, Check Motorsport History in Miniature
Tony

Ha Ha , knew you would - have been away from TRS for 10 days and it was a hard punishment for going on holiday with little Internet access .. looking now !! cheers Roger

[Oldfart]

On the FB page there are folks questioning why it was Continental and not called Lycoming, hmmm do you think the builder knew?

[chaindrive]

Lycoming and Continental are 2 separate beings. I believe the special is powered by Continental (Ex Cessna).How Lycoming came to be linked is a mystery??????

[Oldfart]

It was definitely a Continental when I saw it the first day it went to Ruapuna.
I suspect the discussion came about as both of the other well known aero engined cars (Ralph Watson and the RA) had Lycomings. Superficially there are similarities, ie flat engines, light, air cooled ex aircraft, but that's about where it stops.