Bob Jane Racing Heritage - Photo Collection

[Rod Grimwood]

Yes, a fella Briggs i think, have that some where also.

[Steve Holmes]

Is this it? This is John Ziegler, in 1970. The car he raced was painted yellow, so maybe (assuming this is the ex-Beechey car) he repainted it back to yellow after Beechey did it in blue. That would explain why the pics of it sat gutted in a paddock show it with yellow paint.

18618

[John McKechnie]

Heres a link to Peter Briggs and this HK Monaro. Looks like this car didnt make it.
www.motorsportretro.com/2012/10/holden-monaro/‎
Article does not mention this John Ziegler

[Steve Holmes]

Great find John, thats fantastic!

[Rod Grimwood]

Great find John, thats fantastic!


Thats the info I have at home too Steve. Interesting read.

[Ellis]

Is this it? This is John Ziegler, in 1970. The car he raced was painted yellow, so maybe (assuming this is the ex-Beechey car) he repainted it back to yellow after Beechey did it in blue. That would explain why the pics of it sat gutted in a paddock show it with yellow paint.

18618

Different car Steve

[John McKechnie]

Looks like it has Torque Thrusters, same as Beecheys HK and mine. Very popular mag wheel. Probably the only mag available then.

[Ellis]

Symmons Plains

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/falcongtho/Snapshot2011-03-0723-51-03_zpsfc2bebeb.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/falcongtho/media/Snapshot2011-03-0723-51-03_zpsfc2bebeb.jpg.html)

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, what an amazing photo Ellis. The Monaro looks stunning! I assume this wasn't the Symmons Plains ATCC round? That was at the end of the season, by which time it would have been blue. Is it the same event as pictured above where he parked it in the armco?

[Steve Holmes]

Looks like it has Torque Thrusters, same as Beecheys HK and mine. Very popular mag wheel. Probably the only mag available then.

Yes, there wasn't too much choice in Australia. Mawer wheels and Simmons began to appear around this time. Minilites started to gain popularity in 1969, and even in the Trans-Am championship where everyone was using Minilites by 1970, several teams started 1969 on American Racing style wheels, including the Bud Moore and Shelby Mustang teams. Mag wheels were only for the wealthy teams. Most just used widened steel wheels.

[cavvy]

Yes, there wasn't too much choice in Australia. Mawer wheels and Simmons began to appear around this time. Minilites started to gain popularity in 1969, and even in the Trans-Am championship where everyone was using Minilites by 1970, several teams started 1969 on American Racing style wheels, including the Bud Moore and Shelby Mustang teams. Mag wheels were only for the wealthy teams. Most just used widened steel wheels.

Is this correct - didnt the first Geoghegan & Jane Mustangs run mags, hello Miles, what were they American Racing Torque Thrusters? The Beechey HK sure didnt run widened steel wheels, although the Beechey Muzzy did.

[Graham Ruckert]

Pete Geoghegan in the Super Falcon. This car is often referred to as a GTHO, but my understanding is that its not.

12925

Photo by Graham Ruckert Photography, taken at Surfers Paradise, Glyn Scott Memorial Trophy meeting, 27th August 1972.

[Graham Ruckert]

If only this one came with sound! Blast-off at Lakeside, 1970. Beechey lights up the bags as the Monaro squirms, while Geoghegan gets away much more cleanly, if less spectacularly! In behind Geoghegan is Chris Brauer in the ex-Jane Mustang that was destroyed here at Lakeside.

12466

Lakeside at the Australian Touring Car Championship meeting, July 1970. Beechey and Geoghegan lead the pack away from the start of the supporting trophy race. Photo by Graham Ruckert Photography.

[Graham Ruckert]

Brian Foleys beautiful little GTA lifts the inside front waaaaaaayyy in the air!

12609

Photo by Graham Ruckert Photography, taken in Lakeside's Eastern Loop, Australian Touring Car Championship Round 6, July 24th 1971.

[Terry S]

http://www.carpartsandmore.com.au/mustang/improved_production04.htm

and

Ex Niel Allen etc Shelby for sale in USA 2012
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/falcongtho/exNAllencarforsaleinUSA2012_zps7ff41a34.jpg

It is interesting that this Mustang is still for sale over three years later.
See http://www.canepacollection.com/detail-1967-shelby-mustang-trans_am-used-5117120.html
Lots of photos, info etc there

They must want a very pretty price for it......

Also note the bonnet scoop it is wearing which it never had when raced in Australia, so how can it be passed as historically correct?

[Steve Holmes]

I vaguely seem to recall they were asking around US$300K for it Terry, but the site doesn't list prices anymore for some reason. As you know, people wanting to race sedans with period history in the US are all after old 1966 -72 Trans-Am cars so they can run in Historic Trans-Am. Although this Mustang is built to the same spec as many of the Mustangs in HTA, it has no Trans-Am history, and therefore, not eligible. You can pick up a privateer Trans-Am car for much less.

I guess the price tag is one of the reasons it hasn't returned to Aus either.

[Bryan]

Norm and Peter Manton discuss team tactics. Pete Geoghegan tries to look like he isn't listening in.

12340

Always wondered why Minis had bumper over-riders - now I know. ;)

[Terry S]

I vaguely seem to recall they were asking around US$300K for it Terry, but the site doesn't list prices anymore for some reason. As you know, people wanting to race sedans with period history in the US are all after old 1966 -72 Trans-Am cars so they can run in Historic Trans-Am. Although this Mustang is built to the same spec as many of the Mustangs in HTA, it has no Trans-Am history, and therefore, not eligible. You can pick up a privateer Trans-Am car for much less.

I guess the price tag is one of the reasons it hasn't returned to Aus either.

Steve, even at USD 300K it wouldn't be unrealistic to return to Aussie. Although would have been much better when AUD was stronger.

I recall Geoghegan's went to Des Wall for AUD 330K (plus action premium probably 10%)

[Steve Holmes]

Yes I agree Terry, not completely unrealistic, and certainly on a par with other improved production cars.

[Kenz]

I have also never seen a shot of the ZL-1,s engine bay when Cams forced Bob to re-configure the car as a Z-28 but I suspect it would have utilized the LT-1 aluminum valve covers as in the shot of the HQ . The steel covers in the unknown photo appear to be for a 327, unlike the 350 which had a different breather system.
Pete.
Given the Beechey stuff in the BJ collection, there's a famous car that ran the 58mm crossover Weber set up, which no one's picked up on, and that's the Nova. If the rocker covers are 327 style, that could make sense, too. The RF guard showing is a suitable colour to tie it in.
The only stumble is that engine, from memory, was a Traco & you'd expect their rocker covers to have replaced the pressed tin items.
Ken.

[Steve Holmes]

Yes! Good point Ken.

[Slate]

The John Kay Indy Speed Shop Camaro. This car is still around, though much modified and baring little resemblance to how it looks here.

14800
Several of these cars from this rough time period including Moffet's Mustang and the Sidichrome Mustang, among others, are sporting these distinctive mag type wheels. What were they, particularly the ones seen here on the Indy Speed Shop car?
Thanks.


Steve A

[bry3500]

Several of these cars from this rough time period including Moffet's Mustang and the Sidichrome Mustang, among others, are sporting these distinctive mag type wheels. What were they, particularly the ones seen here on the Indy Speed Shop car?
Thanks.


Steve A

I'm no expert here Steve but they look a lot like American Racing Standard Slots
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15X7-American-Racing-STANDARD-Mag-Wheels-Rims-Chevy-Ford-200S-Slot-Torq-Thrust-/181849021225

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by cavvy
Is this correct - didnt the first Geoghegan & Jane Mustangs run mags, hello Miles, what were they American Racing Torque Thrusters? The Beechey HK sure didnt run widened steel wheels, although the Beechey Muzzy did.

Beechey ran steel wheels... but not always...

http://s26.postimg.org/dgdycl9h5/beecheycat.jpg

This pic was taken in August '65 at Catalina Park.

Just to answer a few questions that have come up here, the introduction of alloy wheels to the Australian racing scene could be plumbed by following advertising and race reports.

And at the risk of wasting a lot of my own time, I did a bit of this, traversing RCN page by page from 1965 through 1967. Here are things I found:

Bob Jane was on alloy wheels, probably American Torque Thrusts, from the first outing of his Mustang in April. Peter Manton, and therefore probably also Brian Foley, had Minilites on his Mini by July. The Geoghegan Mustang debut was on August 29 and it was on Torque Thrusts.

Advertising from Hunter and Delbridge in the December, 1965, issue included their own brand of alloy wheels. They sold for £10 each, though by the February, 1966, issue they were up to £12 each. It wasn't general inflation, either, as their ad included disc brake conversions in both issues but their price didn't change.

These wheels were similar in pattern to Brabham wheels, they had rolled steel rims (just like you get on regular steel wheels) and I think these must be one of the type that had some kind of rivet to attach the rims.

The February issue of 1966 has an ad for Robbie Mac's Speed Shop in which alloy wheels are listed among their offerings, the following month Brian Foley Motors lists 'Mag alloy' wheels for Minis. In that same issue there's a classified for the Magnolia Climax sports car which mentions 15" cast electron wheels. This was a South Australian-built car.

Then the April issue sees the beginning of advertising from CC Tyres & Wheels for their Hi-Torque wheels, later called Road Runner Hi-Torque wheels. Like the H & D wheels, these have a regular rolled rim, but they seem to have a flange welded into them and bolts through from front to rear to join the alloy to the steel. They aren't very attractive, but were priced higher at £17.10.0 with a premium of £2 for chromed rims.

Then the surprise of it all... in that same issue there's an ad from Scotties and another from Modern Accessories with simulated alloy wheel trims, already there are fakes before the market is even gaining strength!

The June '66 issue has a picture of the new alloy wheels adopted by the Ford Works cars in England in the European Scene feature. In that issue's classified we see that Andrew Mustard (who had an Elfin WR375) offers Minilites in a wide range of sizes from 10" to 15".

Foley responded in the next issue by including Minilites for a wide range of models other than Minis while Lancaster Motors begins running an ad with a drawing of a Mini fitted with their 'Customag Wheel Trims' complete with 5-stud fitment!

An accessories feature in the August '66 issue sees Foley claiming to be the sole Australian agent for Minilites, Allspeed Performance Centre in Brisbane offering a large range of mag wheels, Dave Evans Racing Equipment (Brisbane) listing mag wheels, H & N Firth offering alloy wheels for Cortinas (POA), Neil Parkinson Performance Centre on the Gold Coast listing the CC Tyres Road Runner wheels and South Coast Wrecking at Southport offering magnesium wheels.

In an ad for the Buckle Monaco conversion in the September issue the photo shows a Brabham-style wheel that's almost certainly a one-piece cast alloy wheel. October's advance is from 'Woodpark Speed Equipment', not yet open and never to advertise again, who claim to be about to make GoCo mag wheels available.

In the November issue we see a pic of Norm Beechey in the Hillman Imp at Collingrove and the wheels look like Minilites to me. Mick Crampton begins advertising in that issue with the wording 'imitation magnesium wheels (actual castings) to suit Mini Minor' in their ad. Whatever that might mean.

By the December issue CC Tyres have their pricing of their Hi-Torque wheels from $32.95, possibly a minor price drop or possibly a smaller rim size or something. Mind you, none of these rims were very wide.

In February '67 there's the beginning of advertising for St George Imported Tyres in which they have mag wheels and 'mag centres for your rims'.

The July 30 meeting report has a photo of Beechey's Nova which appears to show him on alloy wheels, though later and earlier meetings show him on steel wheels. And in September there's a photo of Rusty French in a Chev Impala that also appears to have alloy wheels, but they aren't clear enough to say so with certainty.

Tasman Mags are advertised from the November '67 issue with alloy centres and regular rolled rims starting at $32.95 each, a month later CC Tyres makes a new advance with one-piece cast alloy wheels for Minis at $40 each.

Regarding the spun rims used on Simmons, Dale, Mawer etc wheels, these were around for ages. Ron Hopwood spun them for most makers in both steel and aluminium and even back into the fifties people like Ron Tauranac cast centres to suit.

Tony Simmons came up with his Hustler SC1 during 1968 and this had the first of his 8-spoke lightweight wheels using the Hopwood rims. The very first of these were prone to cracking on the outer part of the spokes and he quickly revised the patterns to put more material into them.

Somewhere along the way Big Dave told me the story about how he came to begin making the wheels that Mawer Engineering grew up on. I've forgotten the detail now, but I'd say it was late '69 at least before he got into the business.

Another variation on the them is the Mario Costa wheels out of Melbourne, these were used on the Cheetahs and their spinnings were made without a well to allow tyre fitting. The rims had to be split for tyre changes, they were alloy and very light.

I hope that gives some idea of how the scene changed from the mid-sixties to 1970 or so, it was certainly evident to all enthusiasts that alloy wheels were arriving even if they weren't on every second car on the road.

[Ray Bell]

A couple of things on reading through this thread...

Kingsley Hibbard - he was an early Holden racer who retired for a few years. His return was in the Phase 3 days and he drove his car (probably that same yellow one) to Melbourne to run in the Sandown race. But he progressively pushed the envelope as he got closer and became the subject of a high speed police chase. He turned off the highway at Broadmeadow and tried to hide among the cars in the Ford car park but it didn't work.

That was as a Series Production car, the following year he turned it out as an Improved car as shown in the pics.

I always thought his body mods to the ex-Geoghegan Falcon were quite lacking in understanding of the stresses, and this is especially so seeing as the car had been given a good going over by John Joyce. So many mods were carried out that it carried a Bowin job number, I think it was the Bowin P7 but couldn't swear to that. It was in that form that it handled so well and it dominated the Oran Park ATCC round totally, with lap times previously unheard of.

But it wasn't only the handling, it was also the testing. Mick Lambert told me they spent a full day (or was it two days) at the circuit trying different things and in particular diff ratios. He couldn't believe it, they changed from one ratio to another, maybe it was 4.1:1 to 4.2:1, just a small change like that, and picked up over a second!

So what went wrong? The engine was cutting out in left hand corners, and there's a few of them at Oran Park. A comment was made that 'we always do a new wiring loom for all of our cars...' implying that something in the wiring loom, which they hadn't replaced, was amiss.

This was also the race where John Harvey really taunted Moffat. As Moffat came up to try to pass him after Jane had faltered, John would pull to the left of the straight and stick his hand out the window and wave him by. As he planted his boot into an engine that had much more grunt that Moffat could muster.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
OK, who is driving the Plymouth?

http://www.theroaringseason.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=17731&d=1366143211

There's a bit of a funny story about this car...

A few years ago I was living near Caboolture, north of Brisbane, and a local bloke had bought a similar car and intended to do a bit of street-dragging. He told me he went to the local motorcycle shop to get a helmet.

"As soon as I pulled up out the front," he told me, "the bike salesman came out and started raving about the car, that he had driven the one like it that Ash Marshall had imported from the wharf to Brookvale without registration."

In the meantime, he related, the various mechanics and so on from the shop came out and started lampooning the salesman. "He's always making up stories like that," they told the Plymouth owner. So he decided to let him keep on talking, he knew Ash Marshall and eventually the bloke would say something that proved either he was being truthful or bunging it on.

In the end he proved himself honest, the Plymouth owner asked him a question that could only come from someone who knew what it was all about and the mechanics etc retreated with their tails between their legs.

Having heard this story and recalling that Bob Levett, my flag-waving companion at Warwick Farm, and I used to always get the latest gen on Marshall and his doings from a workmate, I called Bob and told him about it. "Who was it that we knew who worked for Ash Marshall and kept us informed," I asked him. "That was Bruce's brother..."

So I phoned Bruce and learned that his brother was now on Bribie Island, only about 15kms from where the motorcycle shop. I had ascertained that the salesman had been a kind of hanger-on at Marshall's yard and had just happened to take the trip to the wharf the day the Ramcharger cars had arrived.

Marshall was unwilling to leave the cars on the wharf overnight and that's how he had come to drive the car back to Brookvale. I got the guys together, it was the first time they'd seen each other in forty years.

But getting back to Caelli and the subject Plymouth, he did run it for a few meetings, I think that included a Hume Weir, certainly a Calder and a Sandown, and he also drag raced it. Today the car is in WA and still goes drag racing.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
Impressive Sports Sedan line-up at Adelaide in 1976. This is Round 5 of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship, the first year Sports Sedans were given a national championship by CAMS.

Looking at the first couple of rows, Frank Gardner is on pole with the Chev Corvair, while Allan Moffat is next in his Capri RS3100. Moffat had actually run his DeKon Monza during the first four rounds, winning three races, but with Ford upping its involvement again with Moffat, he parked the Monza and dusted off the Capri, which he already owned. Pete Geoghegan is the third car on the front row, in the Craven Mild Monaro, now fitted with its huge flare kit, and with its nose reverted back to an HQ, after months of battling CAMS to retain the HJ nose.

On the second row is Jim Richards in the Sidchrome Mustang, enjoying another good year in Australia, winning the Marlboro $100,000 series and finishing 4th in the ASSC. Next to him is (I think) Ian Diffen in the ex-Bob Jane Torana, while Vince Gregory, in the ex-Bryan Thomson V8 VW rounds out row 2.

Further back Tony Edmonson can be seen in the ex-John McCormack Repco Charger, while further back Garry Rogers Escort and Frank Ure's V8 Torana (I think) are also visible. Good days!

This was the debut race for the Gardner Corvair. It took pole and won, then won the remaining two ASSC rounds, and finished second to Moffat in the championship, despite only making three starts.

http://www.theroaringseason.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=17659&d=1365553847

I think you'll find that's John Virgo's red Torana...

Frank Ure wasn't there at all.

[Slate]

I'm no expert here Steve but they look a lot like American Racing Standard Slots
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15X7-American-Racing-STANDARD-Mag-Wheels-Rims-Chevy-Ford-200S-Slot-Torq-Thrust-/181849021225

Could well be. They have the same angular holes as opposed to the kidney bean style slots.
I've heard, but don't know, that Moffet's car used ROH? The thing that strikes me, not knowing the average duration of a typical race meet that these cars raced in, is the use of the slot style mags as opposed to either the Torque Thrust style spoked affairs or the Minilite style wheels. That's why I'm so curious about the spun aluminum slot mags and whether it was the ease of fitment, width/backspace options, or if they are in fact strong and withstood the rigors of racing.

If anyone has a line on the exact company/model of slot type wheels these cars used or any contact information for the racers such as Moffet or Jane(or friends/relatives that might be in the know), etc. I'd be most appreciative and interested in finding out more.


Thanks.


Steve

[Ray Bell]

Just to answer your first query...

Most races were about 50kms. Two heats of 50 or maybe even 40, some circuits retained the 80 - 100km single race pattern, however.

[librules]

Not sure re the early wheels on Moff's Mustang, but they may have been ROH 5 slotters when upgraded as the Brut 33 car.

[Slate]

I vaguely seem to recall they were asking around US$300K for it Terry, but the site doesn't list prices anymore for some reason. As you know, people wanting to race sedans with period history in the US are all after old 1966 -72 Trans-Am cars so they can run in Historic Trans-Am. Although this Mustang is built to the same spec as many of the Mustangs in HTA, it has no Trans-Am history, and therefore, not eligible. You can pick up a privateer Trans-Am car for much less.

I guess the price tag is one of the reasons it hasn't returned to Aus either.

Which brings up things into perspective of the individual of average means about venues like HTA and many other historic series in the USA. I was taking pics one time down in Coronado Island near San Diego with an old medium format Koni-Omega range-finder camera. Hilarious in retrospect were the little human nature games I had to play to get decent shots because well-intentioned but not overly "circumstantially aware" folks would come up, blocking my shot of course, and strike up convos. I've learned since to be more "people friendly" and just roll with the interaction with people, various and sundry, whom pop up to reminisce. The shot , I've learned, will still be there!:)
I digress. So, one of the racers, a fellow that raced one of the Camaros, a '67 with history, could have been a Guldstrand car, asked me some questions, I told him I'm an AMC fan and that I have a '70 AMX and a '69 SC/Rambler. He goes on to tell me that I should find an old Javelin, like an ex-'68 Kaplan car and that I could have an engine built affordably by picking a 25 or 30 hour engine...Well even then a "second tier" car like the #33 Bob Tullius or the #55 car would have been over $60,000 and a 30 hour engine build, 10-15 thousand bucks(USD). Now, if one were fortunate to find a pure privateer car built from "customer" bits that was never a "factory" effort perhaps you could step into the game for the equivalent of a cheap mobile home price. I laughed when he told me all this about engines rated in hours of expected run time and said," There's guys like you with the means to afford the purchase price and more important, you can pay the operating expenses. I'll continue to spectate and enjoy the experience second hand."
The best bet for anyone else that likes the look of a period racecar is to build a home-brewed special as close as possible to "day two specs" that fit into whatever affordable club racing that matches your budget.


Steve

[Slate]

It wasn't my intent to derail the retrospective, guess I committed a common noob faux pax and got a little too enthusiastic with my own anecdote, please continue...:o

Steve

[Ray Bell]

Take heart...

It's pretty hard to derail a thread that's almost three years old.

This is much older, of course, and I apologise for the poor quality, a lot of my slides didn't get the best of storage treatment:

http://s26.postimg.org/avhkgjyux/muirjanecatalina.jpg

This is Janey about to hammer in under Brian Muir under brakes and push into the side of his car so the local crowd would be involved in a lot of booing and yelling at the Melbournite. Craven A Corner at Catalina, August '63 IIRC.

And this race has been mentioned earlier and in other threads:

http://s26.postimg.org/cbt2yp1rt/Bathurst1972.jpg

It wasn't to last. But the arguments go on, even today...

[Ray Bell]

Maybe it's time for another story...

Fast that’s Past... Bob Jane’s Camaro.


MYLES JOHNSON has a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in his workshop. It’s been battered and beat, but it’s his intention to return it to original. It’s the car that won two successive Australian Touring Car Championships for its owner, Bob Jane.

But Myles has more reasons to restore it than that. “This car,” he says, “was a milestone. It could be said it started a lot of the local racing industry as we know it.” Miles wants to see it as a living display, a testament to its creators, and those who had any part in its success.

Bob Jane had been a two-time winner of the ATCC long before he boarded the jet with John Harvey to seek out a new car in America. He was then racing his third Mustang, but the emergence of Moffat’s TransAm version had eclipsed everything racing here. It was time for something new, and as a GM-H dealer Bob headed for Chevrolet for the answers.

Ford had stolen the march with the Mustang, but Chevrolet had caught up quickly in the US racing, thanks in no small part to the skills of the Penske organisation and Mark Donohue. Their Camaro had a lot of success.

But, like the success of the Mustang, it wasn’t lightly won. These ‘ponycars’ took some taming, and the Camaro possibly took more than the Mustang. To that end, the deal struck at Chevrolet included full-size drawings from one of the successful American car builders. Bob shipped out two of the base cars.

And base cars they were, indeed. “They were a Belmont version with an alloy 7-litre engine,” Harvey explained. Johnson adds that the lowest level of trim (he calls it a ‘poverty pack’) helped, there being less soundproofing, fewer heavy bits to take off. The ZL1 was a low-volume model made to homologate the alloy engine for drag racing.

Once the cars arrived, the red one was torn down and was to become the first Touring Car ever built in Australia using a surface plate. It’s worth mentioning at this stage that the Bob Jane Racing Team was a big operation. They were running a Mustang, the lithe McLaren, and the Brabham open wheeler.

In charge of construction was John Sawyer, while fabricator John Brookfield was very much in evidence, Bob Kitchen and others contributing along the way. Even with this manpower, the car took many months to put together.

The biggest part of the job was fabricating the ‘rigid bridge’ that was the roll cage, built to the American plans as far as was allowed under local rules. Added in was a Gies 12-bolt rear end with fully-floating axles and disc brakes, while the standard alloy engine and Muncie gearbox got a thorough working over, with good rods, cam etc going into the building.

Among the other features of the build were a drop fuel tank and a Watts linkage on the rear suspension that mounted to the box that carried the fuel cell. It was in the fabrication of parts for this car that Ron Harrop got his start in business.

Sawyer remembers that there was no time to fit the planned fuel injection. “Bob wanted to race at Calder, so we sent him out there with the assurance that it would have plenty of torque,” he says. It had so much that all the car ever carried was a 1200cfm Holley, in fact, it proved many times to have too much.

That February outing started 1971 well enough with a lap record at 47.6 as Bob diced for the lead, but better was to come at Sandown with two wins over Moffat (including a nudge at Dandenong Road) in the International support races and a shared lap record.

Bob’s eye was on the title, however, and these races were shakedowns in readiness for the March meeting at Symmons. Here rain set the scene, and though Bob led from pole position, Moffat took the race. Another good getaway at Calder was spoiled by the flywheel flying apart before the first lap was over.

Sandown brought the first title race win in April, and another record at 1:14.1, with top gear only towards the end of the race. The achilles heel of the car was beginning to show.

The efforts taken to defeat the weakness of the gearbox, taxed thoroughly by all that torque, was a part of the story Myles is trying to preserve. Illegal though it might have been, the team set out to remedy the situation by building an unbreakable box.

Brookfield fabricated the housing (which had an increased centre distance for the shafts) in steel, which was then blasted and sprayed to make it look like an alloy housing, while Peter Holinger built the gearset. Of this effort, Pat Purcell told us: “It was a good thing there were so many in the crew and we could do so much of that in-house, otherwise the word would have got out...”

Calder was Bob’s own track, and it was to be the only place he ran in non title events until the championship was over. May saw him take two wins and lower the record to 47.2 prior to heading to Surfers and second place behind Moffat. Then Mallala brought pole and a win, Lakeside a third behind Moffat and Pete Geoghegan so that the final round at Oran Park was a cliffhanger.

From a third place getaway, Jane and his Camaro powered past Geoghegan and chased Moffat, getting by when the Mustang gearbox jammed in the esses and surviving the return charge from the arch-rival to take the win and the title.

More minor wins at Calder followed, along with another record, then the alloy engine blew itself to bits at Warwick Farm as Jane raced down Hume Straight in practice. Repaired, it had another minor win at Calder and a retirement, then two big wins at the November Warwick Farm, beating Geoghegan in the Super Falcon.

With Geoghegan carless for the December Calder, Jane loaned him the Camaro for two races, one of which saw him carve his way through the field to fourth after not having the engine fire in time for the start.

The final event of 1971 was at Hume Weir, where Jane took a wet win and a dry win ahead of Norm Beechey, then set a new record in a handicap.

For 1972 there was a change in the regulations which outlawed the 7-litre engine. It also put paid to disc rear brakes on the Mustangs, but the Camaro was “the most optioned car ever produced,” according to Myles, and as such it retained the discs. A 350 engine was fitted, but the car didn’t race until March and the start of the title defence. Moffat beat Jane into second place there, but at Calder Jane won from Malcolm Ramsay’s Kingswood after everyone else had problems.

This was the first year of the championship including points for classes, and Michael Stillwell was to be a thorn in Jane’s side as he kept winning the 2-litre division. Bathurst at Easter saw an engine problem which did nothing to help, then second place at Sandown after a spin was small relief.

Adelaide’s first ATCC race saw a win as Moffat struck oil problems, and so the gap to Stillwell’s points lead came down. Warwick Farm in July went to Moffat after a controversial incident on the Causeway, but second helped out again, so that when Surfers came around Jane had Harvey installed in the new Monaro (which he had expected to step into himself, if it was competitive) to help out in his battle with Moffat. The Mustang broke its throttle linkage and it was a Bob Jane 1 – 2.

Once again it was down to an Oran Park finale, with the Warwick Farm issue still unresolved in the appeals process, and Geoghegan was running away with the race in the Super Falcon. Harvey was again in as a spoiler, taunting Moffat as he used its strong 350’s power to prevent him passing in the straight. But Moffat got through and was there to take the win when the Falcon faltered, Jane filling third and scoring enough points to take the series after the judiciary took away Moffat’s Warwick Farm points.

While Jane had not run anything but the title races and Calder in the serious months of 1971, he did venture to Surfers in May of 1972 and to score two seconds and a win from the back of the grid. The Calder meetings had again seen a mixed bag of results, and then Harvey had a drive of the car to score some placings behind the boss as he took the wheel of the Monaro.

The two seasons were then over and the car was partly dismantled. When Frank Gardner came out for the International events the next year he bought the engine and gearbox and took them to England to win the British Championship. Jim Smith bought the car for Sports Sedan racing (the ATCC went over to Series Production cars) and fitted a Weslake-headed engine. Later the car was sold to Tasmania, was repossessed by a finance company and sold at auction to a drag racer, then Michael Tydell dragged it in Melbourne before Jane repurchased it and handed it over to Myles for restoration.

The twin car, which was blue, had gone drag racing much earlier, driven by Joe Parotta. It was ultimately written off in a road accident.

The effort that had gone into the Camaro was not lost altogether with its retirement. Those drawings later went on to Kevin Bartlett to assist him with the preparation of his car. And Myles is doing his utmost to return the car to perfection, largely as a tribute to “those who worked on her, to make her a milestone, and to Bob, who gave me my start in Australia.”

Ray Bell

Illegal?

Some might feel I have dealt lightly with the issue of the gearbox. It’s far too late for anyone to cry now, anyway, but recounting a conversation had late at night in the pits at Lakeside might throw some light on things.

Hearing from another driver that Jane was using a Ford gearbox “because no Chev box would take the grunt,” I said to him that someone should protest. The retort, whether correct or not, was: “They can’t do that, they’re all illegal.”

[Slate]

^ The transmission story is particularly fascinating because much the same shenanigans occured with the TA racers back in the climax period of '69 and '70. By '72 the rules had relaxed somewhat though I'm not sure if that applied to transmissions just yet. First time I heard of a team trying to make an iron case trans look like aluminum. Many was the time that it was aluminum made to look like cast iron...


Steve

[Ray Bell]

Yes, so it seems...

There are items on the Hemi 6 Pack forum relating to an offer of a Barracuda to Chrysler Australia for Pete Geoghegan to drive instead of his Mustang.

At that time the A833 4-speed box was only sold in iron but there were some in the racing sphere which were cast in alloy. It's a very heavy box, it has a large centre distance for strength and big gears for the Hemi 426 engine etc. But for the 'works' supported race teams the alloy boxes were made and, according to this offer to Chrysler Australia, sprayed with iron filings so they'd attract a magnet.

Just how Pete might have gone with a 340-engined ex-Trans-Am '67 Barracuda is too hard for us to judge. Chrysler Australia reckoned they couldn't afford to back it even if they were to be given the car.

[Steve Holmes]

Great story on the Camaro Ray, thanks for posting. I've discovered that there is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm from Australian race fans for Allan Moffats Mustang, Norm Beecheys HT Monaro, and Pete Geoghegans Super Falcon. But my US friends with an interest and involvement in Trans-Am and sedan racing history have a particular fascination with Bob Janes Camaro.

There were only 69 ZL1 Camaros made. Bob bought two of them. His was surely the only one ever circuit raced anywhere in the world. It won two championships, albeit the second with the small block forced upon it. But this is a hugely significant race car. Its surely the only big block car ever to have won the ATCC?

[Steve Holmes]

And this race has been mentioned earlier and in other threads:

http://s26.postimg.org/cbt2yp1rt/Bathurst1972.jpg

It wasn't to last. But the arguments go on, even today...

This is a great photo. Did you take this one Ray?

[Steve Holmes]

And this race has been mentioned earlier and in other threads:

http://s26.postimg.org/cbt2yp1rt/Bathurst1972.jpg



Ray, do you mind if I post this image on The Roaring Season facebook page? I will credit you as the photographer of course, but just wanted to get your permission first.

[Ray Bell]

Yes, I did take it...

It was used in the Chevron 25-years ATCC book.

By all means, provided you credit me it's no problem at all.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Ray, I appreciate that.