The Morrari recreation

[Greg Stokes]

We are six weeks away from having the Morrari recreation at the last motorsport event at Pukekohe at the end of March. If you looked at the car right now you would be thinking - no way in hell and in some ways you may be right haha.

The headers are done, 80% of the chassis is done with the body mounted etc. Everything has had to be hand made or machined to emulate the Ferrari chassis. The modifications to the chassis to fit the 327 Corvette engine have been done "in the spirit" of the original car.

Other great news is that we have had some color applied to the now one piece front clip.

Theres long days and long nights currently and ahead but the good news is that some serious light is at the end of the tunnel.

[Oldfart]

What an epicc job, I wish I could be there to see it, as I was there for when it first came out.
Congratulations Greg and team

[Greg Stokes]

Thank you - it is great to finally have this project at a point where we are now talking event debut etc! The chassis and fab are all being completed this weekend so we can start painting everything. The end of March is coming around quick. Once its done I look forward to sharing photos of the build. We are also going to do a run of T-shirts too.

[Oldfart]

Please put me down for a T shirt. Thanks to all at the team for taking on this herculean task. You rock.

[bry3500]

Please put me down for a T shirt. Thanks to all at the team for taking on this herculean task. You rock.

....I'll second that. Is there an online link for a tee or two?

[Greg Stokes]

This week's update is that all fabrication is all finished. The body is painted Ferrari red and awaiting hand painted lettering to be done later this week.

The chassis is being painted as I write this.

We are looking at reassembly this coming weekend.

T-shirts are being designed and we hope to have ready by the end of the month.

[Greg Stokes]

Chassis is mostly assembled after paint now...

Body is back on and we are finishing installing the front suspension and general final hook up of everything.

Lettering and signage - all hand painted is being finished today also.

It is great to be this far along with the project

[GregT]

Firmly resisting the temptation to make it look better than the original I trust ?

[Greg Stokes]

Firmly resisting the temptation to make it look better than the original I trust ?

We have accurately tried to recreate the Ferrari GP chassis the best we can from a few photos we had. The body itself was painted in enamel in a two car tin garage. The body was all together with windows and door handles masked off rather than stripped down.

We have also recreated things like the unequal, uneven and non-symetrical headers

BUT we are also trying to do things safe while riding the fine line between self pride and building it as rough as the original

[Greg Stokes]

The Morrari Recreation has been one of my Dad’s dream projects for at least 10 years. It is a recreation of the late Garth Souness Morrari which ran in the sixties in the All Comers class. It was a Morris Minor body draped over an unwanted and outdated 1955 Ferrari Super Squalo Grand Prix chassis. It ran a 327 Corvette engine. The original car no longer exists as the Morrari but has been restored to the original Ferrari Grand Prix car. My Dad has always helped me with all my projects and it was my time to pay it back. Thank you for entrusting me to recreate this historic NZ motor racing vehicle. The research was fun, the recreating of the Ferrari chassis was challenging at times but it is rewarding to get to this point. We rode the fine line to building it as faithful to the original car while being as tidy as possible. Things like the short pipe on the header had to be recreated and so on as thats how the original was. It doesnt run yet and theres still a list of things to do but its an incredibly proud point of time with this father & son project. Theres so many people to thank but for now thank you to my parents and also Tania Foster as well as Tim Philps. Thanks to Terry Bowden, Dave Graham, Gary Edgecumbe, Keith Ellis, Ian & Cath Goodwin, Angus Fogg, Nicolai at HPC, Dean Coley, Brian Bennett, Terry Sims and many many more. A proper thank you to come. Thanks also to guys like Steve Holmes of Roaring Season and also fellow gearheads like Craig Stacey and Duncan Fox to name a few. @gmshotrods_newzealand #gmshotrodsnz #morrari #ferrari #morrisminor #327corvette #garthsouness #allcomersracing #pukekoheraceway #hopuplive #roddersjournal #classiccar

[Roger Dowding]

Greg and Mark, just seen the images on Facebook - looking extremely good..

Will you put the photos on here, ? Please do !!, Brilliant to see it.

PS - saw the Duncan Fox photo too !! - I have saved them all, - so could post them for you.

Cheers, Roger

[Greg Stokes]

Now that is public yes please post the pics as I cant seem to from my phone.

And thanks to guys like you on this forum that have been supportive of the project from the start

[Roger Dowding]

Greg Stokes quote ;
" Now that is public yes please post the pics as I cant seem to from my phone.

And thanks to guys like you on this forum that have been supportive of the project from the start "

Images from Greg Stokes - today.

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Photo by Duncan Fox, body above the chassis with the engine in place.

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The car is certainly much tidier than the original.

Period photo [ Jan 66 on the print ] of the Morrari with Race #172 and those wide[ned] wheels.
Greg Stokes archives.

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Sitting on its trailer in 1966 - my own photo.

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[ERC]

Wow! Great to see. Well done Greg.

I wasn't in NZ for the original, but cars like this are what some aspects of motor racing should be about. More individualism. Less 100% parity.

There's a limit to how many pics it is worth taking, when all cars look the same.

[Roger Dowding]

Mark and Greg Stokes - " borrowed " your photos, and the one posted by Bazza Morland too !!.

Here are your ones.

Some with the Craig Stacey " Recreation / Replica " of the Rod Coppins Zephyr Corvette.

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The Originals together at Pukekohe - 1966 - Terry Marshall Photo.

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The T shirt created by Mark and Greg to commemorate the car.

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[Roger Dowding]

Bazza Morland photo of the " replica " !!.

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1966 at Pukekohe - my own photo.

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Morrari and Zephyr Corvette in 1965/66. Peter Levet photo - archives Milan Fistonic

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The Zephyr Corvette May 1966 .- [ with Ken Bailey I wrote on the photo Programme says Keith McClure,
- after Rod Coppins
Same meeting as the Morrari photo - my own.

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The entry list #49 and #177.

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[Oldfart]

Greg Stokes, I have sent you a message.

[Greg Stokes]

Thank you to all on here and everyone we saw on Saturday at Pukekohe and then Sunday at the Hot Rod Blow Out. The feedback to the car has been very humbling. We look forward to getting the car finished off and then having some fun with it

[Roger Dowding]

The September 2023 NZ Hot Rod Magazine features the " Morrari " aka The Monster.
Article written by Greg Stokes of GMS Hot Rods which is Greg and Mark Stokes business.

The Cover.

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The Car now features in the Issue #390 of NZ Classic Car Magazine - Nov/Dec 2023 written by Steve Holmes - out soon.

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The GMS Hot Rods - cartoon picture of the car.

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Off to the Bookshop next week.

[Roger Dowding]

" Off to the Bookshop next week. " and next month too !!
NZ Hot Rod Magazine in September
NZ Classic Car the November / December 2023 Issue ..
and now the January February 2024 issue of NZ Classic Driver .

That's the Trifecta for the " Monster " articles - NZ HR and NZ CD written by Greg Stokes, NZ CC written by our [ TRS ] Steve Holmes.

[Roger Dowding]

John Larry Lawton has been given the late Terry Baker archive of photos, which he has put on the -
" Old New Zealand Motor Racing "
Facebook group.

John L Lawton notes ;
" In memory of my old mate, the late Terry Baker (AKA Steelo) I would like to start posting heaps of his old photos. Terry passed away in January last year and I would like to thank his stepson Carl for keeping all his photos and shipping them up to me. There are hundreds of them and I am gradually going to scan them and post the NZ ones on this FB page.Terry and I go back go the 1960's when i meet him at the Auckland Car Club rooms. We travelled to Aussie and Europe together. Some of his photos I will be able to add a few details to, some I was standing next to him when he took them and others I have no idea who, where or what. "
Included in the first trio are two of the Morrari - one with the number plate - new issue EW4078 at the GP meeting in 1965.

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There are other photos to come and will probably put them all on the Pukekohe tread -

" http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?1885-Motor-Racing-pics-my-early-years-1964-71-Pukekohe-Racetrack-by-Roger-Dowdingl ".