Elfin 400 and Lola T70 Baypark Raceway 1969

[colinjt]

I recently discovered this picture. I enjoyed watching all of the big banger sports cars from around this time.

[Michael Clark]

Me too! And I would love to see it..

[John McKechnie]

The most important thing on the Elfin 400- it was a big block. The others that were built by Elfin in Aus were not big block.That I believe makes it all the more unique. Graham Harvey also removed the original Elfin body that Buchanan ran it with , and got a GEMCO Special body of Pederson to put on it.

[Rod Grimwood]

Found this in old scrap book

[Steve Holmes]

Would Buchanan in the Elfin be Andy Buchanan? Bloody neat picture Rod!

[GD66]

Yes, Andrew Buchanan was the original owner/pedaller, Steve. Car was a crisp white with one red stripe down the side. Later, under Harv's ownership it was pale blue with orange stripes outlined in black. In either guise, it was one horn machine.

And we're STILL keen to see colinjt's pic from the original post...:confused:

[tweaks]

Even better we would love to see some pictures and see the condition it is in today

Cheers
Lynds

[jamie]

Hay Guy I think that is Puki as I was racing the cooper with the Supercharged 3.8 in it Jamie

[ElCoyote]

Hay Guy I think that is Puki as I was racing the cooper with the Supercharged 3.8 in it Jamie

I think you are correct Jamie, I remember we celebrated your 50th in the pub that night ;-)

[GD66]

As an aside, the Pukekohe esses pic wouldn't be from 1969 either. Harvey would have been in the Elfin by then, and Jim Boyd pedalling the Stanton Corvette. The pic is most likely from the '67/'68 season, and Boyd was probably not far behind in the Lycoming.
Which he'd probably driven to the meeting...:D

[jamie]

If that is the date no I would not have been there Jamie

[GD66]

Must have been away celebrating your 49th then, Jamie...;)

[Steve Holmes]

Yes, Andrew Buchanan was the original owner/pedaller, Steve. Car was a crisp white with one red stripe down the side. Later, under Harv's ownership it was pale blue with orange stripes outlined in black. In either guise, it was one horn machine.

And we're STILL keen to see colinjt's pic from the original post...:confused:

Ahh, wow, thanks. Thats great info. The Ferrari he raced was well documented, but I didn't seem to know about the Elfin. Andy actually lives about 20 mins form me and is good mates with the guy who lives across the road. I keep meaning to organise to meet him.

[GD66]

He popped up in a Brabham, then the Ferrari, then the Elfin, then I gather packed in the racing to go back to being what he was always described as, a "gentleman farmer" from the Masterton area, if I recall. Certainly had some good tackle at his disposal during a short career.

[John McKechnie]

Hi Steve, there is no shortage of documentation on the Elfin out there under Buchanan and Harvey ,maybe a bit hazy with subsequent owners. Harvey change the big block 396 to a 350

[colinjt]

17828

[GD66]

Finally, the picture ! Thanks Colin, worth the wait. But the question is, to what car does exhaust of the third starter on the front row, just visible behind the Elfin, belong ?

[colinjt]

I believe it was the Daimler Heron, a strange looking car and never really up there with the Lola and Elfin.

[Oldfart]

I don't recollect the Heron Daimler with anything other than 8 separate pipes going up.

[John McKechnie]

John Moynahan in the Stanton Corvette , maybe?

[GD66]

Hmmm, now that you mention the Heron, maybe it was Baron Robertson in the Heron with the upswept chrome exhaust. Don't recall the Stanton Corvette having anything othert than twin drainpipe exhausts straight out the back.

[colinjt]

Definitely not. The Heron had all pipes pointing skyward and I am familiar with the Stanton Corvette. There is a thread on Sports cars in NZ from this era and there are a few pics of the Heron there showing those features.

[stubuchanan]

Definitely not. The Heron had all pipes pointing skyward and I am familiar with the Stanton Corvette. There is a thread on Sports cars in NZ from this era and there are a few pics of the Heron there showing those features.

http://s6.postimg.org/m4yspafox/Puk_Dec_67_Heron_Robertson.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

This is the Mk 1 Heron Baron Robertson at the wheel Pukekohe December 1967. At that stage it had a Lotus TwinCam engine.

Stu Buchanan (not related to Andy, well not that Andy)

[stubuchanan]

I think the photo may well be from the Bay Park Gold Star meeting on 16 November 1969.

Front row would be Boyd, Harvey, and a 'clubmans' type car, possibly Bob Hyslop's JRM(?). Lola #44 would be D Wallace.

Stu

[colinjt]

Checked out the thread - Kiwi big banger Sports Cars of late 60s to early 70s in the hope of identifying that particular car but did not have any luck. Hard to tell if the number is 44 or 14. Sadly picture quality makes it hard to be sure (only an Instamatic camera)

[GD66]

I'm sure it's 44, think it's the ex-Ivy Lola. Yep, that's the Heron I meant. Maybe the amazing Milan will appear and help us out...:D

[Oldfart]

My photos (which would not reproduce ) from that meeting don't seem to have the rollbar as it appears on the mystery car, but I would not be positive on that. The rear wheel almost looks an open wheeler one!

[John McKechnie]

My Motorman mag from Bay Park, Oct 4 Gold Star says Baron Robertsons Heron ran third throughout- ie third on grid, third at finish. Bob Hyslop 4th,then Aislabies Cooper Jaguar and Lola Climax of Dave Wallace.
Tom Donovan could not race in the Handicap as he jad no overalls.
Next race meeting at Bay Park was November 16 ,also Gold Star.Third fastest time in practice was Bob Hyslops potent little 1.6 JRM Ford.
That would put him next to the big boys at the front. Dave Wallace was next in the Lola 1.2 ,then the Stanton
Hope this info helps.
Jamie A would remember I am sure

[bob homewood]

The third car in the photo with the upswept exhaust is I believe the Heron of Baron Robertsn ,I had some discussion with Baron about buying the car about the time of that meeting as he was wanting to move onwards and upwards and I think it was on the merit of that meeting that discussion took place ,its strange actually I nearly brought that car of Baron twice over the period of his ownership at different times but he could never quite put the next part of his move in place

[John McKechnie]

Bob-. just been reading an article on you fitting a supercharger to an A40 Farina in 69/70

[Grant Ellwood]

(Tom Donovan could not race in the Handicap as he had no overalls.)

Tom saving weight as usual...

[928]

I have seen a photo of the Heron Daimler V8 at port road sprint in wellington with 4 into 1 pipes on each bank

[bob homewood]

Where was that article ,that was my mates car !

Bob-. just been reading an article on you fitting a supercharger to an A40 Farina in 69/70

[John McKechnie]

Bob-I can scan this and send to you as an email
Motorman April 1969-Improving the breed-case for the Blower, by Graeme Booth.
2 hour job to fit it, longer to fit the pulleys.
Have Larrys D-Type here

[stubuchanan]

My photos (which would not reproduce ) from that meeting don't seem to have the rollbar as it appears on the mystery car, but I would not be positive on that. The rear wheel almost looks an open wheeler one!

See this detail of original photo, slightly enhanced as to colour, contrast, etc. Sorry about size, something not right with usual "Postimage" facility.

[/url]17845

I think you are on the money, Oldfart.

Rear wheel does look like an open wheel. I thought maybe it was rear of clubman car, but car in photo is obviously rear-engined! "Rollbar" you mention is not rollbar, it is the side stringer of a small flight of steps leading from trackside to top of bank.

Car appears to be the Robertson Heron, but without rear section of body(at least). Driver is looking over his left shoulder, maybe saying "where's my tail gone? It was there a minute ago!"

Does this scenario ring any bells for anybody? Did he start without tail due to a practice shunt, or did it come off in the paddock? Don't think they necessarily had warm-up laps then??

Stu

[stubuchanan]

On second thoughts (or 3rd or 4th.....), as it would be a 2-2-2-2- grid, more likely Robertson is looking over his shoulder because he is backing into his grid position, perhaps having been late onto the grid and having to dive in from the side.
Did anyone take a photo? Did he race the car without the tail section and did it affect the aerodynamics? Who knows (or cares?).

Stu

[bob homewood]

The rear body from memory got its first modification when the "big Handle " exhaust was fitted ,later I think wider wheels and tyres went on to it ,with more mods to fit the same ,Jamie A.might remember ,it may well have run with out the reat body at some time,
I will check what further info I have retained from that period

[kiwi285]

I presume that these are the cars the thread was started about.

http://i38.tinypic.com/2uom61w.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/264t0sg.jpg

[jamie]

OH so Cool after all these years Jamie A

[jamie]

Getting back to the front row a B/P it was Baron In the M/k one HERON Jamie A

[AL the Jeepster]

Hi Steve, there is no shortage of documentation on the Elfin out there under Buchanan and Harvey ,maybe a bit hazy with subsequent owners. Harvey change the big block 396 to a 350

Hi all,
I was having a big nostalgia moment today & tripped over this forum...... what a great bit of kit & a lot of the fuzzy memories are flooding back.

Back in the mid 60's my brother (19yrs my senior) worked for Hamlin, Charles & Grant, later Hamlin & Charles(after Kerry's horrific accident) so I was a very lucky kid to sit in & in some cases get a ride in awesome cars.
The best sit'in was Jim Clark's Lotus & the wildest ride'in was Andy's Elfin tho the 250LM was a very close 2nd.
My brother, Graham had maintained both the 250LM & Elfin 400 but was lucky enough to spanner on Andrew Cowen's Rally Clubman GT + did the engine work for Colin Taylor's 1600 & 2lit BDA's.

Graham rebuilt the 396 out of the Elfin before it did a 2yr stint in Spinner Blacks Power Boat.

When I worked for Joseph Lucas Electrical I met & became good friends with Kerry Little when he had purchased the now rebuilt to 427B/B & installed it into his front engined VW beetle hotrod 'King Rat'.

I can see myself spending hour catching up/reading heaps on this site.

Congratulations on this amazing forum & thank everyone for doing a lot to preserve our motor racing history.

Cheers,

AL

[Rod Grimwood]

Al welcome, now straight into the memory banks.
Al was the engine put into 'Turtle'.

[AL the Jeepster]

Thanks Rod, I can't answer that as it had been several years between it reaching Kerry's hands.
My brother, Graham did the final rebuild & at some stage he fitted the huge port Ally heads + he refitted the IDF's.
I remember Graham telling me he pulled 550+ HP @6750 & 600ft/lb with the IDA's but Kerry had trouble keeping it in tune so changed it back to twin 750CFM spread bores & dropped 50HP when we fitted it in the beetle.

I got to ride in the Elfin on a test drive down Port Rd(outside Hamlin & Charles) and was the most amazing experience in a 10yr olds life tho the 250LM ride along with that screaming V12 was a very close 2nd.

Where is the Elfin now???
I remembered how beautiful the car looked without its body on, the tube frame was a work of art but I'm sure I saw the rolling chassis sitting in a Whitianga service station workshop while I was on holidays in the mid 70's......Looked really sad.

[John McKechnie]

Al- A friend of mine Murray has owned the Elfin for 25 plus years. He has it in his garage at his house and its in good hands.One day it will run again.I will see if he will let me take some pics to post here.
Hamlin and Charles did the 350 motor, 550 h.p., that went into Grady Thomsons Monaro in the mid 1970s .Basically same specs as McRaes motor.I now own this car-see Team Cambridge Monaro thread #461
Do you remember this car. It was Bronze at that time?

[Steve Holmes]

Hi all,
I was having a big nostalgia moment today & tripped over this forum...... what a great bit of kit & a lot of the fuzzy memories are flooding back.

Back in the mid 60's my brother (19yrs my senior) worked for Hamlin, Charles & Grant, later Hamlin & Charles(after Kerry's horrific accident) so I was a very lucky kid to sit in & in some cases get a ride in awesome cars.
The best sit'in was Jim Clark's Lotus & the wildest ride'in was Andy's Elfin tho the 250LM was a very close 2nd.
My brother, Graham had maintained both the 250LM & Elfin 400 but was lucky enough to spanner on Andrew Cowen's Rally Clubman GT + did the engine work for Colin Taylor's 1600 & 2lit BDA's.

Graham rebuilt the 396 out of the Elfin before it did a 2yr stint in Spinner Blacks Power Boat.

When I worked for Joseph Lucas Electrical I met & became good friends with Kerry Little when he had purchased the now rebuilt to 427B/B & installed it into his front engined VW beetle hotrod 'King Rat'.

I can see myself spending hour catching up/reading heaps on this site.

Congratulations on this amazing forum & thank everyone for doing a lot to preserve our motor racing history.

Cheers,

AL

Thats a pretty awesome first post Al! Welcome to the site. Andy Buchanan lives not too far from me, and he and I swap emails from time to time.

[AL the Jeepster]

Yeah John, I think I can recall the Monaro...... You have a nice project there.

If you can get some pic's of the Elfin I'd like to see it again.

[AL the Jeepster]

Thats a pretty awesome first post Al! Welcome to the site. Andy Buchanan lives not too far from me, and he and I swap emails from time to time.
Thanks Steve but they were great times to be a young kid & around awesome drivers'n'cars. It was amazing watching Andy Buchanan driving the Ferrari & Elfin around the tight Levin circuit.....he was an awesome peddler.
I'd like to see more pic's from that time in NZ motor sport...... in most cases the cars were built not bought, fantastic engineering going into sport cars, single seaters, sport sedans & club cars. Watching Dr Robbie rubbing 'Color me gone's" tyres down the side of Paul Fayes Mustang at Levin, Rod Coppins driving sideways everywhere in his mk2 327ci Zephyr with 8 exhaust pipes sticking out the bonnet & heaps of Lotus Seven's chasing the V8 sports cars.....

Congrates Steve on the awesome forum.... AL

[Oldfart]

Al, you need to do a lot of research on the forum. The photos you are looking for are here already!

[Perry Holland]

hi Al....spent a lot of time around Hamlin & Charles during this time what was your brothers surname ???