Photos: The Gerard Richards Collection - Part 1

[Steve Holmes]

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I'm really pleased to be able to add the fantastic photo collection of Gerard Richards to The Roaring Season. Gerard is a life-long motorsport enthusiast, and one of the most talented motoring writers I've ever known. He has written several exceptional articles on some of New Zealands most celebrated racers, including Red Dawson, John Riley, Garry Pederson, and Jack Nazer, Robbie Francevic, to name just a few. All the photos in this collection were either taken by Gerard himself, by his father Sim, or are part of the many and varied photos he has purchased over the years, by photographers such as Jack Inwood.

Gerard is a collector of all things motorsport, and has also emailed me some scans of old motoring related books he has collected, so I'll include these here also. He is a member of The Roaring Season, so while I'll upload his photos, and add a few brief comments, Gerard will fill in most of the details.

Here is a brief bit of info from Gerard himself about his collection:

"Pukekohe 1970-1975 is the scene for this collection of images taken largely by myself, and a few by my father Sim Richards. Apart from pictures taken at the April 1970 Saloon car championship meeting the second to last time the full circuit was used for a meeting other than the long distance production races, the rest of the pictures were taken at the Grand Prix Meetings in Jan of 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1975. The only rogue picture in the mix is an image of Jackie Stewart, in his B.R.M. V8 in the 1966 Tasman Series, taken by an unknown photographer, who gave us the image.

It was certainly fabulous to get amongst the diverse machinery in the pits during those years and capture some of the flavour. The big saloons and F5000 machinery captivated the mind and soul of this young adolescent and his brother."

[Steve Holmes]

Kicking off here are a couple of fabulous shots of the amazing New Zealand built RS2600 quad-cam Capri of Don Halliday. This car appeared in late 1974, the same year Paul Fahey fitted his own genuine RS2600 Capri with a quad-cam V6. The high-pitched howl of these two cars around New Zealands race tracks over the next two years is something many Kiwi race fans of the 1970s will never forget, particularly around the wide open spaces of Wigram, where their ear-splitting shriek was compared at the time with that of the famous BRM V16.

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[Steve Holmes]

And, speaking of which, the for-mentioned Paul Fahey car, during its two seasons raced by Fahey. Its first appeared at the big Bay Park Xmas meeting in 1973, fitted as supplied and raced in Europe with a push-rod V6 engine. Fahey ran the car that first season with this set-up in the 4.2 championship, before importing a quad-cam motor the following year and gunning for the outright championship. Perhaps the the biggest impact this car had when it first arrived in NZ was its radical box-style flares, the likes of which Kiwis hadn't seen before. These created a lot of interest, from the media, race fans, and Faheys rivals. The following year, the PDL Mustang, Sidchrome Mustang, Jack Nazer Chevy Victor, and several other teams had grafted similar style flares to their cars.

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[Steve Holmes]

The beautiful Red Dawson Chevy Camaro. This car first appeared on the NZ scene in late 1971, after Red took a trip to the US to find a replacement for his elderly Shelby Mustang. He actually wanted a Trans-Am car, possibly a Penske Javelin, but couldn't find anything suitable for sale, so bought this. It was a road car when purchased, and converted into a race car by Red's team back in NZ. He raced it for four seasons, three in the gold of Kensington Carpets, then, finally, in the less attractive white/red of Marlboro cigarettes. It never did give Dawson his second NZ title. While it had plenty of poke, it was quite a heavy car, and suffered somewhat from reliability issues, as Dawson was always searching for more power. But it was certainly a charismatic race car.

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[kiwi285]

The beautiful Red Dawson Chevy Camaro. This car first appeared on the NZ scene in late 1971, after Red took a trip to the US to find a replacement for his elderly Shelby Mustang. He actually wanted a Trans-Am car, possibly a Penske Javelin, but couldn't find anything suitable for sale, so bought this. It was a road car when purchased, and converted into a race car by Red's team back in NZ. He raced it for four seasons, three in the gold of Kensington Carpets, then, finally, in the less attractive white/red of Marlboro cigarettes. It never did give Dawson his second NZ title. While it had plenty of poke, it was quite a heavy car, and suffered somewhat from reliability issues, as Dawson was always searching for more power. But it was certainly a charismatic race car.

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Hell this is going to be a fantastic collection of photos when we get to see them all. It is just as I remember it all - hot weather, great cars, crowds everywhere and everybody in summer clothing (love those mini skirts) trying not to get too burnt.

Thanks for letting us see these Gerard. We must have been standing close to each other at times.

To think that in the near future we will see the Fahey Capri back on track and being drivem the way Paul used to drive it. If only we could get the Dawson Camaro back as well. That would really light up the HMC scene.

[seaqnmac27]

The beautiful Red Dawson Chevy Camaro. This car first appeared on the NZ scene in late 1971, after Red took a trip to the US to find a replacement for his elderly Shelby Mustang. He actually wanted a Trans-Am car, possibly a Penske Javelin, but couldn't find anything suitable for sale, so bought this. It was a road car when purchased, and converted into a race car by Red's team back in NZ. He raced it for four seasons, three in the gold of Kensington Carpets, then, finally, in the less attractive white/red of Marlboro cigarettes. It never did give Dawson his second NZ title. While it had plenty of poke, it was quite a heavy car, and suffered somewhat from reliability issues, as Dawson was always searching for more power. But it was certainly a charismatic race car.

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This seems to be a common complaint about the Camaro Z28 in the ssouthern hemisphere I seem to remember hearing that same complaint about being too heavy when referred to Kevin Bartlett's car in the early 80's when raced in Australia, KB may be able to confirm or deny it, but my understanding is that there were certain homologation issues (brakes??) that made the car less successful than it could have been particularly at Bathurst.
Having said that, I remember seeing the Camaro in Kensington Carpet colours in dads books, particularly the cover of the '72 Sarginson annual, which Rod will get to soon, that really sparked my imagination.
This is the car Lawrence Bruce ended up with in the early 80's wasn't it?

[Steve Holmes]

Yep, it is the Lawrence Bruce car. Don Peddie/Allan Dick bought it off Dawson and got Kevin Haig to race it, and Ken Smith even had a go at one event! Re the weight issue, thats just what I'd been told by a couple of people, not sure how true it is. The car was pretty quick in its first couple of seasons, and Dawson had some big power engines. But I don't know what sort of efforts were made to get weight out of it. A lot of effort went into getting weight out of racing sedans in that era, in fact, more effort went into weight reduction than chassis rigidity, but nobody really knew much about that then. But it was pretty typical to see cars of the era heavily "swiss cheesed", in just about every surface area that wasn't considered of vital importance. So I don't know how its weight compared to the cars it raced against.

Re KBs Group C car, that was a bit different. It was FAST, but CAMS made KB race with drum brakes on the back in 1980, whereas the Falcons and Commodores had discs. They finally relented in 1981, but he only entered 3 races in the '81 ATCC, then had the big coming together with Ron Wanless while lapping him at Bathurst, when chasing Dick Johnson. By 1982, the Camaro wasn't really as competitive in Group C, as the Falcons and Commodores began getting more freedoms.

[kiwi285]

Kicking off here are a couple of fabulous shots of the amazing New Zealand built RS2600 quad-cam Capri of Don Halliday. This car appeared in late 1974, the same year Paul Fahey fitted his own genuine RS2600 Capri with a quad-cam V6. The high-pitched howl of these two cars around New Zealands race tracks over the next two years is something many Kiwi race fans of the 1970s will never forget, particularly around the wide open spaces of Wigram, where their ear-splitting shriek was compared at the time with that of the famous BRM V16.

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It has probably been covered on one of the threads here, but what happened to the Halliday Capri. I presume that it ended up as an OSCA car. That was a mean looking machine. I believe that the family is/was trying to build up another Capri as a tribute car but it has all gone quiet again.

[Steve Holmes]

Mike, yes you're right, it became an OSCA car, but prior to that, Danny (sp?) Lupp (son of Cybil) raced it briefly with a Jaguar V12 motor. John Osborne bought it off Lupp, without the motor, and fitted the small block Chevy from his ex/Spinner Black/Rod Coppins/Bruce Jenner etc etc Camaro. The Capri caught fire and burnt to the ground, and Osborne replaced it with the ex-Fahey Capri, which he bought off Inky Tulloch, which had also been fitted with a Chevy by that stage.

[Steve Holmes]

Further to Mikes post, this is how the Halliday Capri looked when Osborne had it. Too bad about its fate, was a nice car, would have been great if it had survived and been restored back to how Halliday had it.

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[seaqnmac27]

Steve do you know of any picks in Danie Lupps ownership, I have only heard of it referred to not any shots of it.

[Steve Holmes]

I've not seen any photos of it sorry Sean, although it was he who painted it blue/yellow/orange as pictured above. I think he only ran it very briefly, and the thing was pretty troublesome. Mike Hourigan, who raced a Jaguar XJS Group A car in the 80s helped Lupp do the conversion. I did ask Hourigan about it once.................he didn't have fond memories!

[Steve Holmes]

I should also say, the photo of the Halliday Capri is from 1974/75, the first year Halliday ran the car. In my opinion, the Capri looked its best this season, with the very modest flares. The following season they became the larger box flares as was becoming popular with everyone, as seen here:

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[TonyG]

My greatest memory of the Fahey Capri was during what was called his Flying farewell at Pukekohe and somehow the car came off onto the grass over the top of the hill and carried on down the side till it hit the dirt hump in front of the track crossing where it started to fly literally! Thumped back to earth on the otherside and slid to a stop.

[Gerard Richards]

The Orange Lola T332 F5000 car here awaiting the start of the 1975 NZ Grand Prix, is that of Aussie Johnnie Walker. It was slightly unusual as it was the only Lola to run the Repco V8. Walker was very competitive in this last true Tasman Championship and was contesting the outright title when he destroyed the car in a huge accident at Sandown Park, plowing into the horse railings... He was very lucky to survive, emerging only with cuts and abrasions. Also interesting in this picture is the red La Valise Lola T332 in the background of Ken Smith. Standing beside the red car are the diminutive Ken himself with Kiwi hard charging saloon racing legend Red Dawson, who were reputably great mates

[Gerard Richards]

Red Dawson was my boyhood hero in the big grunters brigade and his ultimate phallic race machine was the metallic blue '67 Trans Am Mustang with bold gold number 35 emblazoned on the doors. But by 1971 Red realised that this beast was no longer going to do the business and he replace it with a the gold Kensington Carpets '71 Camaro that he brought back from Stateside and built up into a racer. Its probably fair to say that Red was in many ways his own worst enemy when it came to winning titles. As I learnt from Bruce Newall his long time mechanic and Jack Nazer a major rival, Red tended to push things over the top. As Newell told me Red was always looking for more power and often over stressing his engines with stroker cranks and the like, with reliability suffering. Nazer described Red as a good charger, but often tending to overdrive and punish his machinery. Long time successful rival Paul Fahey, new all about conserving his equipment and winning titles. Red might have won both the 1972-73 title as he was generally faster than Coppins Firebird, who won the title. Also in 1973-74 Red had a string of failures, while being on pretty much even terms with winner Jim Richards. However despite that on its day Red and the Camaro did the business in a pretty impressive fashion

[John McKechnie]

Bruce Newall was the workshop manager at Davie Motors in the 70s.I worked there at the time and never knew his involvement with Red. You learn something new every day

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Gerard, good info. So basically everything was getting bored and stroked to within and enth of self-destruction, and sometimes beyond?

[Steve Holmes]

Heres a couple of former front running heavy-hitters, in the twilight of their racing careers; the Joe Chamberlain/Dennis Marwood Trans-Am Camaro, pictured here when owned by John Riley. And the former T/G Racing Trans-Am Firebird that Rod Coppins won the 1973 NZ Saloon Car Championship with, shown here when owned by Robin Tanner.

The Camaro is looking particularly scruffy by this stage.

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[John McKechnie]

1975 Grand Prix and not just 2 cars in their twilight, actually 3. The car in front of the Firebird is the HK Monaro of George Bunce.It also was in its last season as a race car. Fortunately all these 3 cars survived and will be reunited on a track one day soon.What a photo shoot that will be.

[John McKechnie]

1975 Grand Prix and not just 2 heavy hitters in their twilight, actually 3. The HK Monaro of George Bunce in front of the Firebird was also in its last year. .Fortunately all 3 have survived and will be reunited one day.What a photo shoot that will be.

[kiwi285]

Red Dawson was my boyhood hero in the big grunters brigade and his ultimate phallic race machine was the metallic blue '67 Trans Am Mustang with bold gold number 35 emblazoned on the doors. But by 1971 Red realised that this beast was no longer going to do the business and he replace it with a the gold Kensington Carpets '71 Camaro that he brought back from Stateside and built up into a racer. Its probably fair to say that Red was in many ways his own worst enemy when it came to winning titles. As I learnt from Bruce Newall his long time mechanic and Jack Nazer a major rival, Red tended to push things over the top. As Newell told me Red was always looking for more power and often over stressing his engines with stroker cranks and the like, with reliability suffering. Nazer described Red as a good charger, but often tending to overdrive and punish his machinery. Long time successful rival Paul Fahey, new all about conserving his equipment and winning titles. Red might have won both the 1972-73 title as he was generally faster than Coppins Firebird, who won the title. Also in 1973-74 Red had a string of failures, while being on pretty much even terms with winner Jim Richards. However despite that on its day Red and the Camaro did the business in a pretty impressive fashion

Hi Gerard, I agreee Red was my hero too. He didn't always have success but he was always a real trier and seemed to lack the support that Paul Fahey had. The Mustang with the big gold numbers was just the bees knees to me. Loved it.

[John McKechnie]

Mike, When Frank Ryan had the car, do you think it had charisma when it was plain white (like Bowdens) ?When Red had it this gorgeous metallic blue , it transformed it .Same as when John Riley painted his metallic green, it also looked stunning. When the two were parked side by side at Puke they drew big crowds.Saloon cars came of age, not just boring family cars any more.They were colorful.

[Gerard Richards]

As Steve suggests the John Riley Camaro was looking very second hand by this late stage of its competition era. The main culprit in its demise particularly in the second season that Johnnie raced it, was taking some advice from a so called expert who convinced him he could max out its competitiveness by space framing the front end. However as Tony Antonievich the man responsible for saving it and rebuilding it stated, the attempt at reconstructing the front clip was a total disaster. It was done in a very poorly devised setup and ruined the once magical handling. Also the front guards were no longer supported by frame and flapped about in the wind. A sad end for a once illustrious race car. The salvation being that the ruins were fortunately saved and refurbished to its earlier glory.

[Gerard Richards]

Heres a couple of former front running heavy-hitters, in the twilight of their racing careers; the Joe Chamberlain/Dennis Marwood Trans-Am Camaro, pictured here when owned by John Riley. And the former T/G Racing Trans-Am Firebird that Rod Coppins won the 1973 NZ Saloon Car Championship with, shown here when owned by Robin Tanner.

The Camaro is looking particularly scruffy by this stage.

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The Ron Grable, Rod Coppins, Robin Tanner genuine Trans Am Pontiac Firebird enjoyed a slightly less grim racing retirement than the Marwood/Riley Camaro. Although it ended up as a street hack for a number of years, it was no where near as badly chopped about as the Camaro. I once saw the Camaro, rattling through Mt Wellington in Auckland in the early 80's, trailing a cloud of blue smoke with a crowd of young party groupies on board. It looked like heading to a quick demise at that junction.
The Firebird as pictured here, was in its last season with Robin Tanner aboard. He is pictured here with the long hair standing by his mount at the Jan 1975 NZ Grand Prix Meeting. Tanner I was once told was a bit of a hippie and didn't quite fit the image of a tough, big banger punter of the era. He knew Rod Coppin's quite well and had previously bought a Chevy Coupe with a well prepped 350 V8 Chevy motor from Rod in the early 70's.
Fortunately the Pontiac Firebird which has been owned by Bruce Thompson?, for many years has now also been beautifully restored with the help of Tony Antonievich's great restoration skills.

[Gerard Richards]

Thanks Gerard, good info. So basically everything was getting bored and stroked to within and enth of self-destruction, and sometimes beyond?
Yes apparently Red, couldn't resist trying to eek out the maximum horses wherever possible and often sucumbed to broken cranks and various other mechanical maladies...

[Gerard Richards]

Mike, When Frank Ryan had the car, do you think it had charisma when it was plain white (like Bowdens) ?When Red had it this gorgeous metallic blue , it transformed it .Same as when John Riley painted his metallic green, it also looked stunning. When the two were parked side by side at Puke they drew big crowds.Saloon cars came of age, not just boring family cars any more.They were colorful.
I absolutely know what you mean John. The wild electric green and blue metallic paint on those Mustangs drew crowds like moths to the light in local racing paddocks during the 1969-72 era. They were stunningly beautiful to behold and as you say transformed saloon car racing into an electrifying affair

[hilstwist]

Red was my hero too back in the day.One of my photos is a pit shot of his 1st Mustang,which he really did drive the wheels off!! next to the other car he raced at the same meeting! is/was it a Brabham? Now thats a racing driver

[GD66]

Yep, it was the ex-Frank Matich Brabham BT7-A. In those days Red was doing a grand job in both disciplines.

[Steve Holmes]

A couple of the teenie-boppers. The fantastic little MkI Escorts of Rex Hart and Jim Stone. The Stone car was just 1300cc. Does anyone know what might have happened to these two cars?

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[Bruce302]

Jimmy Stone's car still lives. I think Dennis Thompson (no relation) has it and either it is restored or very close to it. That car could fly.

[rogered]

did that become the Roy harrington AutoTrader car????????????

[seaqnmac27]

I absolutely know what you mean John. The wild electric green and blue metallic paint on those Mustangs drew crowds like moths to the light in local racing paddocks during the 1969-72 era. They were stunningly beautiful to behold and as you say transformed saloon car racing into an electrifying affair

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As mentioned, the Riley Mustang

[Lurker]

did that become the Roy harrington AutoTrader car????????????

It certainly did

[Steve Holmes]

Jimmy Stone's car still lives. I think Dennis Thompson (no relation) has it and either it is restored or very close to it. That car could fly.

Wow, thats interesting. I had no idea! So this is the same car?

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[Steve Holmes]

Couple of Monaros at different stages of their careers. The famous Beechey 1970 ATCC winning car, and the former Spinner Black, Grady Thomson car, owned here by George Bunce. The Beechey Monaro visited NZ in January 1971, so at the time was the reigning Australian Touring Car Champion. Of course, the 1971 ATCC was pretty disastrous for Beechey, winning just a single race, and only actually finishing two races from the seven rounds. He was really stretching the Monaro to keep pace with Bob Janes new Camaro, and Moffats ever-improving Mustang.

The Bunce Monaro was at the opposite end of its career when pictured here during the 1975 season. It arrived in 1969, was raced intermittently by Spinner Black, and, I think, Rod Coppins, before being sold to Grady Thomson. Grady actually raced it with a 350 Chev, so wasn't allowed to compete in NZ Saloon Car Championship races, as they had a 5.5 litre engine limit. So Grady basically just ran it as an Allcomer. It was later sold to Jim Carlyle, who tried to get John Riley to race it, but Riley decided it required too much work to get it competitive, and reverted back to his Mustang. John M, it pains me to post this photo but I know you'll enjoy it!

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[John McKechnie]

Steve, thanks for this photo.You are more than welcome to swing past at any time and have a bonding session with it..With the HK Monaro, I cant find details of Spencer driving .Also Rod did practice at Puke Dec 1969,-Motorman Jan 1970-and did not race the next day.Its racing history really started with Grady at the Mercury 1000, but he did not do all the rounds.After that it became Bronze and seen like this April 1970. Jack Nazer remember the car as fast, loose and wild. Like Red , Grady was very hard on machinery-breaking a gear lever, gearbox, engine overheating, brakes overheating, tyres blowing-but he was fearless.
I will get as many details such as race results from these mags and previous owner and post as this is car is worthy of being remembered. Grady was the most successful driver of this car equalling lap record of 1 min 37.5 on big Puke track April 1970.He won races and hill climbs in it.John Riley definitely was not happy in it with a massive brake lock up at Baypark. Was the first Monaro to race here and ran from 1969 to 1975, and there no other Aussie car in the big bangers till Jim Richards did his Falcon Coupe. Like all race cars, it either became a road car or chopped into OSCA.It was a road car and then sat until it was a stripped body. Fortuately some bog had come off the flare wheel arch and this paint colour and some sign writing was seen.

[John McKechnie]

In relation to the Beechey Monaro at Pukekohe , Paul Fahey was forced to run from the back of the grid, making huge gains in his Mustang till he retired, and Rod Coppins broke a power steering hose (Motorman) .So Beechey was never really pushed.A real anticlimax that race.

[Steve Holmes]

And unfortunately it was the only time the Beechey Monaro and Fahey ran together. Fahey told me once in an interview with him his new Mustang was bottoming out heavily over the Puke bumps in practice, so the team took the car back to the workshop to fit taller front springs. As a result, he didn't post a time, so the officials, in their wisdom, forced Fahey to start from the rear in the Allcomer race, robbing the punters of what should have been a real slug-fest between these two big-bangers. The car had only been completed a few weeks earlier, and this was the first time it'd been run at Pukekohe. He was still running his Escort in the championship races, and the Mustang was an Allcomer car with a bigger motor than the 5.5 litre limit. He did score fastest lap in his pursuit of Beechey, but that was of little consolation.

[John McKechnie]

Yeah Steve, lets demand a rerun, we punters deserve our moneys worth. Let those officials carry the cost-and I bet the track would be packed.

[Steve Holmes]

Ha ha ha, yeah good call, though might be a bit of a mis-match now, given how heavily developed the Fahey Mustang became over the next ten years.

[Steve Holmes]

I've posted this photo twice, first as originally captured by Gerard, then cropped, just so you can see the attitude Beecheys Monaro has going on here. Look how far the inside front wheel is off the deck! The big fella was giving it plenty.

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[Oldfart]

And check out the size of the crowd! As if we need reminding.

[Steve Holmes]

Thats for sure Rhys. And Norm's Monaro being as loud as it was/is, that row of spectators would have been blown backwards another 10 feet!

[Oldfart]

I think I was leaning on that gate, or was I in the flaggie spot at the top of the hill?

[Grant Ellwood]

The Ron Grable, Rod Coppins, Robin Tanner genuine Trans Am Pontiac Firebird enjoyed a slightly less grim racing retirement than the Marwood/Riley Camaro. Although it ended up as a street hack for a number of years, it was no where near as badly chopped about as the Camaro. I once saw the Camaro, rattling through Mt Wellington in Auckland in the early 80's, trailing a cloud of blue smoke with a crowd of young party groupies on board. It looked like heading to a quick demise at that junction.
The Firebird as pictured here, was in its last season with Robin Tanner aboard. He is pictured here with the long hair standing by his mount at the Jan 1975 NZ Grand Prix Meeting. Tanner I was once told was a bit of a hippie and didn't quite fit the image of a tough, big banger punter of the era. He knew Rod Coppin's quite well and had previously bought a Chevy Coupe with a well prepped 350 V8 Chevy motor from Rod in the early 70's.
Fortunately the Pontiac Firebird which has been owned by Bruce Thompson?, for many years has now also been beautifully restored with the help of Tony Antonievich's great restoration skills.

Larry Small, a car dealer from Takanini, aquired the Tanner Firebird circa 1980 and brought it to my place in Mt Maunganui. The intention was to run at one of the Baypark meetings. Larry was quite a character, he neglected to bring any ramps so we backed it up to a sandhill on Marine Parade and drove it off the trailer. My elderly neighbour thought the roar was an earthquake/tsunami and apparently had a "turn". Anyway, to cut a long story short, I checked the car over and it was obviously in poor condition, cracked front discs, rooted tyres etc, I decided I didn't want a repeat of jumping the fence at Baypark so Larry took the car back north,probably sold it to the party guys in Gerard's post.

[Bruce302]

Larry Small, a car dealer from Takanini, aquired the Tanner Firebird circa 1980 and brought it to my place in Mt Maunganui. The intention was to run at one of the Baypark meetings. Larry was quite a character, he neglected to bring any ramps so we backed it up to a sandhill on Marine Parade and drove it off the trailer. My elderly neighbour thought the roar was an earthquake/tsunami and apparently had a "turn". Anyway, to cut a long story short, I checked the car over and it was obviously in poor condition, cracked front discs, rooted tyres etc, I decided I didn't want a repeat of jumping the fence at Baypark so Larry took the car back north,probably sold it to the party guys in Gerard's post.

Grant, I have the ownership papers of the Firebird from just after Robin Tanner had the car, there are several car yards named. What was the name of Larry Small's business ?
Bruce.

[fullnoise68]

Steve, a lot can be learnt from that photo. Firstly, look at how PC motorsport and life in general has become with no armco, no real crowd control ( mind you they didn`t have to deal with some of the morons we have today) people enjoying themselves, real cars racing,etc. Try standing on the roof or bonnet of a modern day shitbox! From a Roaring Season perspective, how many of those people took photos that day, and where are they today? Oldfart: I don`t think you would be leaning on that gate anywhere near as much as Beechey is leaning on the accelerator in the Monaro!

[Steve Holmes]

Yep, you got that right Steve. Those days will never return, all we can do is view them through rose tinted glasses, and try and at least recapture some of the essence of those cars. Its true, we do tend to view history through rose tinted glasses. It wasn't all quite as good as we sometimes think it was, the racing was invariably processional, the cars unreliable, the grids often small, but at the same time, the cars had so much character, they were each unique, they could each draw a crowd in their own right, they were dazzling at any speed, but especially when really being pushed hard, and, best of all, they made the ground shake. There must have been something in it, those big crowds kept turning up every year.

[Steve Holmes]

Larry Small, a car dealer from Takanini, aquired the Tanner Firebird circa 1980 and brought it to my place in Mt Maunganui. The intention was to run at one of the Baypark meetings. Larry was quite a character, he neglected to bring any ramps so we backed it up to a sandhill on Marine Parade and drove it off the trailer. My elderly neighbour thought the roar was an earthquake/tsunami and apparently had a "turn". Anyway, to cut a long story short, I checked the car over and it was obviously in poor condition, cracked front discs, rooted tyres etc, I decided I didn't want a repeat of jumping the fence at Baypark so Larry took the car back north,probably sold it to the party guys in Gerard's post.

Brilliant description Grant! Its fascinating the roller-coaster ride some of these cars take during their lives. They start out as state of the art, all shiny and beautiful, and draw big crowds. As time goes on, and they lose their competitive edge, their values plummet, and eventually they get to a point where they're not much good for anything, and hold very little value. I love Gerards description earlier in this thread of the former Joe Chamberlain/Dennis Marwood/John Riley Camaro when it had hit rock-bottom: "I once saw the Camaro, rattling through Mt Wellington in Auckland in the early 80's, trailing a cloud of blue smoke with a crowd of young party groupies on board. It looked like heading to a quick demise at that junction". And then, eventually, interest in them begins to build again, not because of the duties they can perform on a race track, but because of their historical significance. And their values begin to rise again, they get bought by the right people who restore them and cherish them. And once again they become the centre-piece that draws a crowd.

[Grant Ellwood]

Grant, I have the ownership papers of the Firebird from just after Robin Tanner had the car, there are several car yards named. What was the name of Larry Small's business ?
Bruce.

Bruce, I can't recall the name of his business, if you post the names of the yards you have listed in the OPs I might be able to confirm which one was Larry's. Or you can email me - ellwoodusa@yahoo.com
Cheers, Grant

[Grant Ellwood]

Brilliant description Grant! Its fascinating the roller-coaster ride some of these cars take during their lives. They start out as state of the art, all shiny and beautiful, and draw big crowds. As time goes on, and they lose their competitive edge, their values plummet, and eventually they get to a point where they're not much good for anything, and hold very little value. I love Gerards description earlier in this thread of the former Joe Chamberlain/Dennis Marwood/John Riley Camaro when it had hit rock-bottom: "I once saw the Camaro, rattling through Mt Wellington in Auckland in the early 80's, trailing a cloud of blue smoke with a crowd of young party groupies on board. It looked like heading to a quick demise at that junction". And then, eventually, interest in them begins to build again, not because of the duties they can perform on a race track, but because of their historical significance. And their values begin to rise again, they get bought by the right people who restore them and cherish them. And once again they become the centre-piece that draws a crowd.

Larry was a hard case Aussie with a gravelly voice caused by an over enthusiastic marshall at Oran Park firing an extinguisher down Larrys throat after he had crashed an F2 car. Years later and back in Takanini he asked me to help him repossess a car somewhere in the hills near Clevedon (at night-time). We stopped some distance from the customers house and sneaked up in the dark. I asked Larry why we needed stealth and he said the SOB had threatened to shoot him if he tried the repo (gee thanks mate for that news). Peering through the windows we noticed a family eating dinner and leaning against the wall near the nearest door was a shotgun. Larry calmly wandered in, picked up the gun and said to the owner 'you weren't really going to use this on me were you?"

Lots of Larry stories like that I could share, many unrepeatable on a respectable site like RS though!

[John McKechnie]

The big crowd was there to see the hit up between Norm and our NZ version of Allan Moffat- see Paul Fahey -in a Mustang going head to head. Could an Aussie car with an Aussie driver beat our 2 top tintops? Also 350 vs 327 vs Boss302. Behind Norm is Jack Nazer, Rod Coppins, Paul Fahey any takers for the rest?

[Gerard Richards]

Steve, thanks for this photo.You are more than welcome to swing past at any time and have a bonding session with it..With the HK Monaro, I cant find details of Spencer driving .Also Rod did practice at Puke Dec 1969,-Motorman Jan 1970-and did not race the next day.Its racing history really started with Grady at the Mercury 1000, but he did not do all the rounds.After that it became Bronze and seen like this April 1970. Jack Nazer remember the car as fast, loose and wild. Like Red , Grady was very hard on machinery-breaking a gear lever, gearbox, engine overheating, brakes overheating, tyres blowing-but he was fearless.
I will get as many details such as race results from these mags and previous owner and post as this is car is worthy of being remembered. Grady was the most successful driver of this car equalling lap record of 1 min 37.5 on big Puke track April 1970.He won races and hill climbs in it.John Riley definitely was not happy in it with a massive brake lock up at Baypark. Was the first Monaro to race here and ran from 1969 to 1975, and there no other Aussie car in the big bangers till Jim Richards did his Falcon Coupe. Like all race cars, it either became a road car or chopped into OSCA.It was a road car and then sat until it was a stripped body. Fortuately some bog had come off the flare wheel arch and this paint colour and some sign writing was seen.
The mystery surrounding the Spinner Black/Rod Coppins/Grady Thomspon/George Bunce Monaro also fascinated me over years. In truth probably way more than it deserved in terms of the hard results it did achieve. Apart from seeing it in its twilight season with George Bunce at the helm, who reputably didn't like the car, I was privileged to see it at it Pukekohe on the long circuit at the April 1970 NZ Saloon Championship meeting. As John mentioned, my distant memory of the Grady's performance in the car that day was impressive. He drove with a ragged John Riley, wild tail out oversteering technique, and as young 14 years olds we lapped that up! Over the years I wondered what happened to that car and was happy to hear recently the remnants have been discovered. Along with the classic Beechey 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship winning machine, both these cars remain saloon car racing icons. The Monaro shape is such a beautifully styled and proportioned car and possibly the high point of classic Australian Muscle cars, along with the original Torana XU1. Just a small point you mentioned John, that the Black/Thompson Monaro was the only Aussie modified racer in the NZ Saloon Champs before the Jimmy Richards Falcon Coupe. Not true! The PDL Falcon V8 raced by Clyde Collins between 1969-1971 would be the other and was more successful in terms of results achieved.

[Steve Holmes]

Pretty sure thats Clyde Collins in the PDL Falcon behind Fahey. Re the engine in the Fahey Mustang during this first season, it was my understanding that it had a 302. However, a war of words erupted a few years ago in Classic Driver magazine after a story on Fahey was published, and in which Fahey was quite critical of Lyall Williamson, who was in charge of the PDL Racing team, that Fahey sold the Mustang to after this season. In one of the letters, Lyall suggested Fahey raced the car in the 1971 season (as in the picture above featuring Beechey) with a 6 litre motor, when the maximum engine capacity for the NZ Saloon Car Championship was only 5.5 litres. Fahey then came back and pointed out he never actually raced the car in any NZSCC races that season. Take from that what you will.

[Steve Holmes]

Larry was a hard case Aussie with a gravelly voice caused by an over enthusiastic marshall at Oran Park firing an extinguisher down Larrys throat after he had crashed an F2 car. Years later and back in Takanini he asked me to help him repossess a car somewhere in the hills near Clevedon (at night-time). We stopped some distance from the customers house and sneaked up in the dark. I asked Larry why we needed stealth and he said the SOB had threatened to shoot him if he tried the repo (gee thanks mate for that news). Peering through the windows we noticed a family eating dinner and leaning against the wall near the nearest door was a shotgun. Larry calmly wandered in, picked up the gun and said to the owner 'you weren't really going to use this on me were you?"

Lots of Larry stories like that I could share, many unrepeatable on a respectable site like RS though!

Ha ha ha, brilliant story Grant! As far as this site being respectable is concerned, screw that, start posting more of those stories. Thats what this place was built for!

[Steve Holmes]

The mystery surrounding the Spinner Black/Rod Coppins/Grady Thomspon/George Bunce Monaro also fascinated me over years. In truth probably way more than it deserved in terms of the hard results it did achieve. Apart from seeing it in its twilight season with George Bunce at the helm, who reputably didn't like the car, I was privileged to see it at it Pukekohe on the long circuit at the April 1970 NZ Saloon Championship meeting. As John mentioned, my distant memory of the Grady's performance in the car that day was impressive. He drove with a ragged John Riley, wild tail out oversteering technique, and as young 14 years olds we lapped that up! Over the years I wondered what happened to that car and was happy to hear recently the remnants have been discovered. Along with the classic Beechey 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship winning machine, both these cars remain saloon car racing icons. The Monaro shape is such a beautifully styled and proportioned car and possibly the high point of classic Australian Muscle cars, along with the original Torana XU1. Just a small point you mentioned John, that the Black/Thompson Monaro was the only Aussie modified racer in the NZ Saloon Champs before the Jimmy Richards Falcon Coupe. Not true! The PDL Falcon V8 raced by Clyde Collins between 1969-1971 would be the other and was more successful in terms of results achieved.

Yes, good point Gerard. The Clyde Collins V8 Falcon was a pretty stout car, very quick, and looked fantastic, especially during its second and last season, when fitted with the big Minilites and flared guards. Looked very much like a red XW version of Pete Geoghegans Super Falcon, and not unlike Allan Moffats ill-fated XW/XY Super Falcon.

[Grant Ellwood]

Ha ha ha, brilliant story Grant! As far as this site being respectable is concerned, screw that, start posting more of those stories. Thats what this place was built for!

Thanks Steve! By the way, please spare a thought for Steve Twist, he is right in the cross-hairs of hurricane Sandy in Delaware tonight. The next 12 hours will be pretty scary......

[John McKechnie]

Duh, I feel silly over this oversight.You are right Gerard, I remember Clyde racing it at the time.My only excuse for this senior moment was that I was thinking about Coupes.I have a high opinion of Clyde in any car he drove and my apologies on this oversight.Also there were XU1s being built up with v8s. Ron Sylvester built 2 Monaros , one for him the other for Steve Dymond. Grant tells me one ended up at the dirt track , the other disappeared.My own fascination with the Monaro was that friends and families had them so they were a real family car at the time.Not many Mustangs, Firebirds, Camaros around then.As a teenager you could look at your neighbours road driving Monaro ,dream of Beechey and Thomson, and know there was a Q ship waiting to happen.Gerard ,you are more than welcome to come round the see this car which is actually in quite good condition

[Gerard Richards]

Duh, I feel silly over this oversight.You are right Gerard, I remember Clyde racing it at the time.My only excuse for this senior moment was that I was thinking about Coupes.I have a high opinion of Clyde in any car he drove and my apologies on this oversight.Also there were XU1s being built up with v8s. Ron Sylvester built 2 Monaros , one for him the other for Steve Dymond. Grant tells me one ended up at the dirt track , the other disappeared.My own fascination with the Monaro was that friends and families had them so they were a real family car at the time.Not many Mustangs, Firebirds, Camaros around then.As a teenager you could look at your neighbours road driving Monaro ,dream of Beechey and Thomson, and know there was a Q ship waiting to happen.Gerard ,you are more than welcome to come round the see this car which is actually in quite good condition
No worries an easy oversight. I think the Collins Falcon often gets forgotten, because it was a such utilitarian looking car, though as Steve pointed out it looked much more purposeful in its second season, though was more unreliable with overheating problems. With a Fahey sourced Shelby 289 Ford V8 in 1969-70, it was a reliable and effective trouper, if slightly underpowered compared with the Coppins/Dawson/Fahey brigade. I'm afraid to say I've never been a great fan of the XY Falcon GT shape, just my personal preference though.
The Monaro was much more evocative and certainly in the Grady era, it was a colourful entry into field of '69-'70 NZ Saloon Car Champs as was the Falcon. Thompson was undoubtably a hairy driver and cemented that reputation with his almighty spin at Bombay Bend at Wigram when he lost the Monaro on the "bump" and with sublime luck planted it right between the hangars, instead of into them as several unlucky punters had done in the past...
Prompted by Grant Ellwood's little aside of repossesion in the early posting, reminds me of an aside that Spinner Black told me about the slightly hairy antics of Grady on a parts buying episode to the U.S. around 1969-70. Quoting Spinner from the article I wrote: "Grady was a bit of a crazy dude, impetuous and a little bit chaotic. He was visiting the West Coast of America for the first time. He'd never been overseas before and had a very quick and sobering lesson on how to gravely upset the cops. We were stopped by the Californian Highway Patrol, and the protocol is that you stay in your car, and don't move a muscle until you're told. What did Grady do, he leapt out with his bag, then committed the ultimate sin of reaching into it, for his passport or licence I guess. The cops figured this cowboy was going to pull a piece on them and in a nanosecond Grady was up against the car, a gun pressed at his temple and he was being frog-legged and searched. He was totally freaked and so was I! I thought that was the end of him!"

[TonyG]

And check out the size of the crowd! As if we need reminding.

And V8 Supercars keep saying how they keep breaking crowd records for attendance at a meeting totalled over 3 days. There were more people at Puke in 1 day then than they have ever drawn through the gates over 3.

[John McKechnie]

Tony G-lets hope then that as MANY spectators come along to the Gulf Denny Hulme dual weekend to show our appreciation for Hampton Downs getting resource consent for a larger audience to prove this point about these cars.They have been classics since they were made.

[kiwi285]

Brilliant description Grant! Its fascinating the roller-coaster ride some of these cars take during their lives. They start out as state of the art, all shiny and beautiful, and draw big crowds. As time goes on, and they lose their competitive edge, their values plummet, and eventually they get to a point where they're not much good for anything, and hold very little value. I love Gerards description earlier in this thread of the former Joe Chamberlain/Dennis Marwood/John Riley Camaro when it had hit rock-bottom: "I once saw the Camaro, rattling through Mt Wellington in Auckland in the early 80's, trailing a cloud of blue smoke with a crowd of young party groupies on board. It looked like heading to a quick demise at that junction". And then, eventually, interest in them begins to build again, not because of the duties they can perform on a race track, but because of their historical significance. And their values begin to rise again, they get bought by the right people who restore them and cherish them. And once again they become the centre-piece that draws a crowd.

Yes some of those cars have real interesting lives and it is a wonder that they survived. Having seen what some people start with to rebuild a car all I can say is that they are magicians.

What I believe has helped in a big way with these cars is the interest generated by race goers and circuits owners and clubs putting on races for these vehicles and encouraging owners to exercise the cars in a relatively controlled environment.

[Bruce302]

Bruce, I can't recall the name of his business, if you post the names of the yards you have listed in the OPs I might be able to confirm which one was Larry's. Or you can email me - ellwoodusa@yahoo.com
Cheers, Grant
Years later and back in Takanini he asked me to help him repossess a car somewhere in the hills near Clevedon (at night-time).

Grant, By coincidence the Firebird has the first owner on the papers (Sept '76) as being out in Tironui Station Rd Papakura. Then in Nov '76 it was Safari Motors, Greenlane, Dec '76 Higham Motors Panmure, then straight to John Scott of Otahuhu who raced a Firebird (not this one) at Waikaraka Park.

Bruce.

[Grant Ellwood]

Years later and back in Takanini he asked me to help him repossess a car somewhere in the hills near Clevedon (at night-time).

Grant, By coincidence the Firebird has the first owner on the papers (Sept '76) as being out in Tironui Station Rd Papakura. Then in Nov '76 it was Safari Motors, Greenlane, Dec '76 Higham Motors Panmure, then straight to John Scott of Otahuhu who raced a Firebird (not this one) at Waikaraka Park.

Bruce.

Any other dealers listed for 1978/79, that's when Larry had the Tanner Firebird? Of course, he might have not taken formal ownership, just flipped it on to the next buyer.

[Bruce302]

Grant, If we back Larry's time with the Firebird to right after Robin Tanner ( some time in1976) and he on-sells the car to the first registered owner, in Papakura (Sept 76) then it all fits.

Bruce.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Steve! By the way, please spare a thought for Steve Twist, he is right in the cross-hairs of hurricane Sandy in Delaware tonight. The next 12 hours will be pretty scary......

Thanks Grant, yeah really good point. I hope Steve is OK. I've emailed him this morning, not expecting a response any time soon, but hopefully he'll get back to me with some good news.

[Steve Holmes]

This photo is pretty dark, but really interesting. There don't seem to be too many colour photos around of Kevin Haigs Shelby Mustang. This is the Bob Egan car that raced in the Trans-Am, was later purchased by Bob Kennett, who traded it to Dexter Dunlop. It really didn't achieve much in NZ in its early life, arriving in late 1971, and already quite outdated compared to the top Kiwi cars. It was only when Dunlop sold it to South Islander Kevin Haig, who rebuilt it and raced it in OSCA, that it really rose to prominence.

Haig won the 1974 OSCA championship with the car, and the following season, notched up so many points in the early rounds, he won the championship a second time, before selling the Mustang to Lawrence Bruce part-way through the season. I'm sure I read somewhere that Bruce then finished either second or third that same season, in the same car!

Note here the Mustang is missing the white stripe off its front fender. Haig was a regular visitor to the North Island during the 1974 season. His close battles with John Rileys Camaro got a little too close on several occasions!

12605

[Steve Holmes]

Great shot here of Frank Gardners former-SCA Freight Camaro that visited NZ in late 1972. Gardner had already replaced this car with a 1970 Camaro in the British Saloon Car Championship, so the older '67 model was surplus to requirements. Despite that, Gardner was incredibly fast, and only Allan Moffat could challenge him at the big Bay Park Xmas meeting. Gardners Bay Park event ended with him backing the car into the fence at the hairpin. The primered paint on the left rear quarter is the result of the rapidly applied repairs to make Pukekohe the following week.

Gardner then took the Camaro to Australia, where he raced it against the top Improved Production machines, before heading back to England, leaving the car behind to be sold. It recently found its way back to England, and has since been restored. More info here (http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?785-Frank-Gardners-SCA-Freight-Camaro-Restored)

12606

[John McKechnie]

Actually Dexter Dunlop showed everyone at Baypark that his Mustang had the wider axle option, ideal for keeping competitors behind you.

[Steve Holmes]

Ha ha ha, yep thats right John. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) though, most were already in front of him at the time.

[Steve Holmes]

The beautiful Begg 018.

12611

[Steve Holmes]

Brilliant photo here of Jack Nazers 'Miss Victorious' in its first racing season. An article on Miss Victorious can be found here (http://www.theroaringseason.com/content.php?232-Article-Miss-Victorious)

12612

[Steve Holmes]

The PDL Mustang, during the 1972/73 season. The car wore the same paint scheme, more or less, as it did the previous season, but it looked slightly different in that its wheel openings had been further radiused to clear ever-larger wheels. Paul Fahey was still the cars driver when this photo was taken. A few weeks later, he and Bob Stewart would have a bust-up in which Fahey was effectively fired. Graham Baker was brought in late in the season as Faheys replacement, and the Mustang reappeared with a magnificent lace green paint job that looked a million bucks.

12613

[stubuchanan]

A great collection, Gerard and Steve! From a time when I didn't get to very many races - taking life too seriously.

Stu

[John McKechnie]

Jack said to me today on the Victor- for the first time in my life I had a real purpose built race car, thanks to Ross and Jimmy. All my other ones had been just road cars made to go fast. That was the difference between me and Fahey in the Escorts-his was a purpose built race car.

[Steve Holmes]

Couple of great shots here from early 1970, at the NZIGP. First the field lines up on the dummy-grid, then on the actual grid. Behind the well known cars on the first few rows, can anyone ID the red Escort and yellow Mini further back?

12682

12681

[John McKechnie]

Lot of Fords here

[ElCoyote]

[QUOTE=Steve Holmes;19760]Couple of great shots here from early 1970, at the NZIGP. First the field lines up on the dummy-grid, then on the actual grid. Behind the well known cars on the first few rows, can anyone ID the red Escort and yellow Mini further back?



Could the Escort be Wayne Huxford with a pushrod motor?

[John McKechnie]

I was there that day, dont recall Wayne Huxford racing. Will look at race description in my mags.Yellow min does not show on the start line though.

[Gerard Richards]

Brilliant photo here of Jack Nazers 'Miss Victorious' in its first racing season. An article on Miss Victorious can be found here (http://www.theroaringseason.com/content.php?232-Article-Miss-Victorious)

12612

Jack Nazer's Victor Chev, pictured here in the pits at the Jan 1975 NZ Grand Prix, was the shape of the future for the big capacity N.Z.Saloon Champs category. The days of the modified road car, were on the way out despite the best efforts of some stalwarts. O.S.C.A. in some ways paved the way for the transition. Hybrids and silouette style racers were the brave new world for the big grunters. The Nazer Victor, while fairly conservative in this initial guise, was to become more radical looking in the years that followed. Initially equiped with ex Neal Doyle Begg FM2 F5000 Chevy engine, this later evolved to a full house McLaren built injected Chevy. This hybrid was professionally built by Jimmy Stone and bore little in common with the many backyard O.S.C.A. specials of the period.

Jack and the Victor were the dominant combo over the last two seasons of the classic years of the Big Banger champs. Apart from the dubiously legal PDL Mustang 2 of Leo Leonard, which may have been marginally faster on its spasmodic appearances and Red Dawson (the Monza was also a "fringe" saloon as well) who was on terms with Nazer at times, the mighty Victor was the class act of the final stand, of the true Tin Top thunder brigade!

[Gerard Richards]

The beautiful Begg 018.

12611
George Begg's Finest Hour? Begg J018 in the Paddock at Pukekohe for the Jan 1975 NZ Grand Prix Tasman Champs race. In a race conducted in changeable weather conditions, Jimmy Murdoch, produced a great drive, staying out of trouble in the wet and brought the the pretty wedge shaped Begg, home in 2nd place. This was George Begg's best Tasman Series finish, one place better than David Oxton's equally good wet weather drive to 3rd place in the Begg FM4 at the Teretonga Tasman race in Jan 1972

[Gerard Richards]

Couple of great shots here from early 1970, at the NZIGP. First the field lines up on the dummy-grid, then on the actual grid. Behind the well known cars on the first few rows, can anyone ID the red Escort and yellow Mini further back?

12682

12681This was start of NZ Saloon Car Championship race at the Pukekohe April 1970 round of the series. The race was won by Coppins after Fahey who had the lead until his brakes locked at the Elbow. This race had extra interest as they using the "long circuit" including the Loop section. Fahey spun the Escort when the brakes locked and was very lucky not to hit the horse railings near the tight entrance to the Elbow corner.

One of the strong memories I have of that meeting was the big V8s, bucking and writhing under extreme breaking for the Elbow corner and the ballistic back firing of the Mustangs of Dawson in particular and Riley as they changed down gears to take the tight bend!

Regarding the red Escort in the dummy grid photo, I have strong hunch, this was the first version of Don Halliday's Twin Cam Escort?

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Gerard, this is great! I assume this is either the opening or early laps of the race as shown in the grid shots above, with Fahey being chased by Coppins.

12730

[Steve Holmes]

The PDL Mustang, a year after the photos posted earlier in this thread. The car here sports its new pink paint scheme, which in itself was a real work of art. I assume it was artist Mike Nidd who created this paint scheme. Mike designed several of the paint schemes for the PDL team, which were applied by Dave Flanagan. Definitely a huge amount of work, which just added to the excitement these cars generated.

12731

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[kiwi285]

And here is one of the car in its green scheme. It has had some great schemes in its time

http://i47.tinypic.com/2q3q1bm.jpg

[kiwi285]

And the Johnny Riley car in its green scheme.

http://i46.tinypic.com/20pd7iu.jpg

And the Gardner Camaro.

http://i47.tinypic.com/141mk2t.jpg

And the Dawson Mustang in that magic blue

http://i50.tinypic.com/2u4q25v.jpg

[John McKechnie]

I have the Autonews coverage of this event in front of me The Remakable Motors Minis had yellow-could this be Peter Riggs or Don Gordon.Clyde Collins was there in a red XW , but dont see him here

[thunder427]

.And the Gardner Camaro.

http://i47.tinypic.com/141mk2t.jpg

....this photo shows the early, narrow, Boot style spoiler that was on the Gardner Camaro that I subjested should be on the Restored Castrol/Gardner Camaro...I was not trying to be Picky,there just aren't to many shots of it from behind !!!!.....MJ:cool:

[Gerard Richards]

Thanks Gerard, this is great! I assume this is either the opening or early laps of the race as shown in the grid shots above, with Fahey being chased by Coppins.

12730
You're right Steve, this was most likely the end of the first lap and Paul Fahey in the Escort F.V.A. looked to have the measure of Rod Coppins in the Chev Camaro. This was also helped by the having two very slow corners on the long circuit with Hairpin at the end of back straight and the Elbow at the end of pit straight. Interesting also that at this junction Jim Richards in Carney Racing Twin Escort is either in third or fourth place (both Riley and Richards cars being white its a bit hard to tell at that distance) ahead of Red Dawson in 5th place. For Red the ascendancy he had in the early rounds of the series was starting to slip at this stage

[Gerard Richards]

And the Jonny Riley car in its green scheme.

http://i46.tinypic.com/20pd7iu.jpg

And the Gardner Camaro.

http://i47.tinypic.com/141mk2t.jpg

And the Dawson Mustang in that magic blue

http://i50.tinypic.com/2u4q25v.jpg
Wonderful paddock images, that really are evocative. Love that shot of the Dawson and Riley cars under the shade tree canopy. Looks like its from the 1970 NZ Grand Prix Meeting as the Riley car is still in white. The other pics are also superb particularly the green PDL colour scheme and the very groovy metallic green of Johnny Riley's wildly driven '66 Shelby. Great to see!

[Kiwiboss]

12732[/QUOTE]

Wheres this one take Steve? a sweeping left hander it could be Bay Park but i know it isn't, must be Teretonga?

Dale M

[seaqnmac27]

No thats Pukekohe the left hander after the hairpin isn't it?

[John McKechnie]

Ye it is.With the reshaping over the years and more crowd control features it can be confusing

[kiwi285]

I also loved this short lived scheme for the Riley Mustang. It obviously had a fair amount of paint as well

http://i46.tinypic.com/2mg11e9.jpg

[TonyG]

Definitely Pukekohe and shot from up on the bank near the horse railing. You can just see a car exiting the hairpin at top left of shot.

12732

Wheres this one take Steve? a sweeping left hander it could be Bay Park but i know it isn't, must be Teretonga?

Dale M[/QUOTE]

[Steve Holmes]

The Sidchrome Mustang. My personal preference for this car was its original 1973/74 guise with the more subtle bubble flares. But Jim and Murray Bunn were no doubt wowed by the amazing box flares on Paul Faheys RS2600 Capri when it arrived in late 1973, as the Sidchrome Mustang, the PDL Mustang and Nazer Victor along with several others cars all had them fitted the following season.

12920

[John McKechnie]

This reminds me of flares on mens pants-once they were fashionable . Next season , they were last old hat. Watch out flares are coming back into fashion.

[Steve Holmes]

Chris Amons Talon MR1, at Pukekohe for the 1975 New Zealand Grand Prix.

13373

[Steve Holmes]

Also from the 1975 NZGP event as above, Johnnie Walkers Lola T332, with ken Smiths similar car in the background. These photos were both taken on the grid prior to the race start.

13376

[Steve Holmes]

More from the 1975 NZGP, Baron Robertsons Elfin MR5. This photo was quite dark, the car being parked beneath a tree, so I've tried, relatively unsuccessfully, to lighten it up without it looking washed out.

13377

[bry3500]

this may be a bit better Steve

[Steve Holmes]

Great stuff Bry, thats heaps better than my effort. Thanks heaps.

[stubuchanan]

I also loved this short lived scheme for the Riley Mustang. It obviously had a fair amount of paint as well

http://i46.tinypic.com/2mg11e9.jpg

Is that the right colour? It seemed to me to be a deeper colour - candy-apple-red - or something similar. That may have been a Riley favourite colour, I remember the V8 Coupe from way back being a deep red, when it wasn't two-tone primrose and lilac! And was the Lotus the same colour when it was a single-seater? See below.

http://s6.postimage.org/gvhhnrlrl/Rural_1969_GP_Scuderia_Riley.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/8d81jff8t/full/)

This slide labelled GP 1969 Pukekohe.

Stu

[David McKinney]

And was the Lotus the same colour when it was a single-seater?

Yes

[Steve Holmes]

I love that photo Stu. Yours and Mikes are the only two colour photos I've ever seen of that Mustang when it was red, so its hard to know the exact shade. I think you might be right about this being a favourite colour for Riley. His Olds V8 Anglia Allcomer car was the same colour. At the time the magazines said the Anglia was candy apple red.

[bob homewood]

The Candy Apple Red colour from memory started off on Ken Smiths car and I think possibly M & K Smith car painters as they were known painted both John's Anglia and the Lotus at that time

[David McKinney]

From memory the Smith Lotus 22 and Riley's Lotus 18/21 appeared in their new colours at about the same time. The Anglia would have been a year or two later

The Riley pic is at Renwick in early November 1964, the Smith one at Levin later the same month

[fullnoise68]

In reference to the John Riley Traco Olds Anglia, this car spent quite a lot of time in my fathers engineering workshop in Takanini at the time John raced it. As for the ex Dennis Marwood Camaro, John had some `so called expert' engineer in Papatoetoe from memory semi space frame the front of the Camaro, ( note the bodgy front wheel arches in the photo)which actually buggered the car and created all sorts of handling problems. Apparently the guy owed John some money and stuffed the Camaro in lieu of paying him!

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Steve, great info! Your comments about the Camaro are just as Gerard wrote about this car when doing a magazine feature on Riley a few years ago. And current owner Tony Antunovich said the first time he drove the car down the road just after buying it the bloody thing damn-near killed him. It was a real mess.

[Steve Holmes]

From memory the Smith Lotus 22 and Riley's Lotus 18/21 appeared in their new colours at about the same time. The Anglia would have been a year or two later

The Riley pic is at Renwick in early November 1964, the Smith one at Levin later the same month

Beautiful photos David, thanks for posting. The colour shot in particular is fantastic, the paint on that car really looks brilliant.

Also looks like the Coppins Zephyr Corvette in the background?

[Steve Holmes]

The Peter Sundberg Escort twin-cam. Bob Homewood emailed me some really great info on this car, and the other two Don McMillen Escorts of the period. Here is what Bob said on this car:

The second Don McMillan car which I will call the "Spears Escort " as the Lotus Twin Cam engines were built and supplied by them for that season ,I was involved in building that car for Don when I returned from living in the South Island mid 1972 ,we built that from a new bodyshell and if you look at photos of it you will see it was one of the later round headlight bodyshells ,it was painted yellow and carried Spears signage.I worked on this car all the 72/73 summer season (at this time I was also building my own Escort the one mentioned before above and preparing and racing various XU1 Holdens ) at the end of that season the car was sold of to some one in Nelson ,(was it Dick Tout ) .I don't know what engine if any went with it,as around 1978 I brought both the motors we had used in the Escort that season from Spears and I still own them albeit they are now in bits in my collection of Lotus Twin Cam racing stuff

13528

[stubuchanan]

The Candy Apple Red colour from memory started off on Ken Smiths car and I think possibly M & K Smith car painters as they were known painted both John's Anglia and the Lotus at that time

From the Auckland Car Club Ardmore 10 December 1960 meeting :

http://s6.postimage.org/pb7ion5kh/Red_Riley_V8.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/6ivnl2965/full/)

Simon Taylor (164) Jaguar followed at a distance by Johnny Riley in a distinctive red Chevrolet in a 3-lap(!) saloon race, rounding College corner ahead of them would be eventual winner Red Dawson in a V8 Ford.

Sorry about poor quality and composition of slide - after 52 years I'm not even sure if I or my brother took photo, but it was my camera.

Stu

[John McKechnie]

is this the same Chev coupe that George Bunce raced in the early 60s-see race program 1963

[David McKinney]

I think Riley still had it in 1963, then Peter Elford in 1964 (though probably not for long)

I thought the Bunce car was an ex-Dixon - Bob Homewood will know

[John McKechnie]

David, was with George the other day and he said he had the ex Riley Coupe.Have sent this to him for comments

[bob homewood]

I think I have this right ,the Riley coupe was ex Dixon ,then went to to Riley,then possibly Peter Elford and then to George Bunce

I think Riley still had it in 1963, then Peter Elford in 1964 (though probably not for long)

I thought the Bunce car was an ex-Dixon - Bob Homewood will know

[Steve Holmes]

From the Auckland Car Club Ardmore 10 December 1960 meeting :

http://s6.postimage.org/pb7ion5kh/Red_Riley_V8.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/6ivnl2965/full/)

Simon Taylor (164) Jaguar followed at a distance by Johnny Riley in a distinctive red Chevrolet in a 3-lap(!) saloon race, rounding College corner ahead of them would be eventual winner Red Dawson in a V8 Ford.

Sorry about poor quality and composition of slide - after 52 years I'm not even sure if I or my brother took photo, but it was my camera.

Stu

Not sure what you're apologising for Stu, thats a beautiful photo! And its in colour. Got any more?

[Steve Holmes]

Tin tops at speed. Moffats Mustang absolutely scrapes the ground here, that car sat so low.

13570

[Steve Holmes]

Paul Fahey and his favourite race car, the Alan Mann Escort.

13571

[David McKinney]

Thanks John and Bob

[Gerard Richards]

The Peter Sundberg Escort twin-cam. Bob Homewood emailed me some really great info on this car, and the other two Don McMillen Escorts of the period. Here is what Bob said on this car:

The second Don McMillan car which I will call the "Spears Escort " as the Lotus Twin Cam engines were built and supplied by them for that season ,I was involved in building that car for Don when I returned from living in the South Island mid 1972 ,we built that from a new bodyshell and if you look at photos of it you will see it was one of the later round headlight bodyshells ,it was painted yellow and carried Spears signage.I worked on this car all the 72/73 summer season (at this time I was also building my own Escort the one mentioned before above and preparing and racing various XU1 Holdens ) at the end of that season the car was sold of to some one in Nelson ,(was it Dick Tout ) .I don't know what engine if any went with it,as around 1978 I brought both the motors we had used in the Escort that season from Spears and I still own them albeit they are now in bits in my collection of Lotus Twin Cam racing stuff

13528

The Peter Sunberg of big bore Twin Cam Escort fame pictured here and Alan Boyle's red "Coke" Viva, were the main competition to Don Halliday's 4.2 litre title winning BDA Escort in the summer of 1972-73

This photo had extra interest for me, as apart from the Allan Woolf? Truimph Vitesse, to the far right is Bill Sample's 1293ccc Cooper S, running in the same class. Bill who I hear you ask:)? Bill was in the army at the time and his younger brother Peter was in my class at Rangitoto College and was also a serious petrol head. Linked to royalty?, not exactly. Bill's Cooper S ran a 5 port Ardun head, sourced from the same Peter Sunberg, that reportedly was not at the sharp edge of health... Another character in my 6th form class Dave? during that era of early 1973 had the huge privledge of riding with Rod Coppin's on a couple of hot laps in his Trans Am Pontiac Firebird, now that was cause for serious envy!

[fullnoise68]

Gerard, because of my fathers involvement with Rod Coppins during that time, I can remember as a 7 year old doing half a dozen laps with Rod around Baypark in the Camaro when it was in the gold Winfield colours. He was a top bloke and a bloody good driver.

[Steve Holmes]

Steve, that would have been awesome! I guess thats why you love 1st gen Camaros now. Its the stuff you experience as a kid that stays with you.

[stubuchanan]

Not sure what you're apologising for Stu, thats a beautiful photo! And its in colour. Got any more?

Riley's 38 Chev at Chamberlain Road Bombay, February 1962, but not in colour.

http://s6.postimage.org/5demiz3sh/Nov_1962_Chamberlain_Road001.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/3llno2kfh/full/)

There's a colour photo in Classic Driver Issue 25 (page 41) sort of pastel shades, like paper table napkins.

Also at Bombay that day was Ivan Cranch's Maserati-Jaguar.

http://s6.postimage.org/ojrtm5ka9/Ivan_Cranch_6_CM_Jag.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

This mid 30's 6CM 1.5 litre Maserati was imported in 1955 by George Zambucka along with the 2 1950 8CLT 3-litre supercharged cars.
None of them were in any way successful and the 6CM ended up in Cranch's hands with a remodelled nose. He inserted a 3.4 Jaguar engine and had a useful club event car for a few years.

http://s6.postimage.org/mkmiizre9/Ivan_Cranch_Muriwai.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

As true club race supporters both Riley and Cranch raced their cars a few weeks later at Muriwai Beach. Riley and George Dixon had a good battle in their Chevy Coupes and there is a photo of the two of them, with Riley hanging the tail out in typical style, in the NZ Classic Car Limited Edition #2 (Classic Kiwi Motorsport) in a story on John Riley (by Gerard Richards).
Riley also ran the Monza Ferrari-Chevrolet at Muriwai - I think I may already have put my photo up on another thread.

Stu

[Oldfart]

Ivan was at the Chelsea hillclimb a week back, he is a man who should be written about as he did a lot of interesting stuff. Sadly had a pretty serious stroke a while back and speech does not come easily. Lovely man

[Steve Holmes]

The Lola T300 was such a radical looking race car when it first appeared. Its wedge shape, pointed nose, and hip-mounted radiators were a complete contrast to the more traditional tube shape F5000 cars, with their round noses containing the radiator. The T300 first appeared in late 1971, initially named the T242, as it was based on the T240 F2 car, but quickly re-named the T300. This is Warwick Browns T300, which Gerard photographed in early 1973.

13708

[stubuchanan]

Ivan was at the Chelsea hillclimb a week back, he is a man who should be written about as he did a lot of interesting stuff. Sadly had a pretty serious stroke a while back and speech does not come easily. Lovely man
http://s6.postimage.org/ebvynwaup/Ivan_Cranch_Bill_Thomasen.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

Ivan was wearing 2 hats on this day in March 1962. He finished second to Bill Thomasen's Cooper after the other serious opposition fell out in the 10-lap race and then, as President, presented the winner's Cup. Bill has had time to light up a cigarette, while Ivan hasn't even taken his driving gloves off.

There is scope for stories to be written on a number of the figures of 1950's to 1970's NZ motor sport, a number have been featured in NZ Classic Car and Classic Driver, a few in actual biographies, but many more haven't been recognised.

Stu

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks for posting that Stu, and for the beautiful photos you posted above. And yes you are right, definitely scope for stories on many of these people. I personally think the personalities are often more interesting than their race results.

[bob homewood]

He missed his chance there Maybe he should have signed up for a cigarete add ,Half a century ago that is now ,I was there with WJ (Bill Thomasen ) that day
http://s6.postimage.org/ebvynwaup/Ivan_Cranch_Bill_Thomasen.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

Ivan was wearing 2 hats on this day in March 1962. He finished second to Bill Thomasen's Cooper after the other serious opposition fell out in the 10-lap race and then, as President, presented the winner's Cup. Bill has had time to light up a cigarette, while Ivan hasn't even taken his driving gloves off.

There is scope for stories to be written on a number of the figures of 1950's to 1970's NZ motor sport, a number have been featured in NZ Classic Car and Classic Driver, a few in actual biographies, but many more haven't been recognised.

Stu

[seaqnmac27]

The Peter Sundberg Escort twin-cam. Bob Homewood emailed me some really great info on this car, and the other two Don McMillen Escorts of the period. Here is what Bob said on this car:

The second Don McMillan car which I will call the "Spears Escort " as the Lotus Twin Cam engines were built and supplied by them for that season ,I was involved in building that car for Don when I returned from living in the South Island mid 1972 ,we built that from a new bodyshell and if you look at photos of it you will see it was one of the later round headlight bodyshells ,it was painted yellow and carried Spears signage.I worked on this car all the 72/73 summer season (at this time I was also building my own Escort the one mentioned before above and preparing and racing various XU1 Holdens ) at the end of that season the car was sold of to some one in Nelson ,(was it Dick Tout ) .I don't know what engine if any went with it,as around 1978 I brought both the motors we had used in the Escort that season from Spears and I still own them albeit they are now in bits in my collection of Lotus Twin Cam racing stuff

13528


I must assume this to be Jan 73. Here are, not clear shots but both Sundberg and Woolf in action

13991
13992

[Rod Grimwood]

The Triumph Herald Coupe is a mad bugger named Peter Hoare, a tuning genius from down in newmarket those days, not Woolfie, his was a Vitesse.

[seaqnmac27]

Thanks Rod, always thought it was Woolf, but can see now the roof line does not support that.

[John McKechnie]

Rod-you are 100% correct I was in the Triumph car club in the early 70s, Peter hillclimbed and club raced a Herald Coupe. He also A-framed it with a Herald Coupe. The spelling of his name was more like Haugh. And I used to think I was an enthusiast till I met him. He redefined this word to mad bugger

[BMCBOY]

14037

[Steve Holmes]

This is very early on, possibly the first lap of the 1975 NZGP, with Amon in the Talon treading gingerly on the damp surface.

14135

[Steve Holmes]

Same place, but a few years earlier, and under sunny skies. McRae leads eventual race winner Neil Allen in the opening laps of the 1971 NZGP.

14136

[GD66]

And Frank Matich looming in the Rothmans M10B. Jeez I must have been right at Gerard's left elbow when he took that, I reckon.

[Steve Holmes]

Its amazing how many times different photos by different people taken on the same day, in the same spot on the track or in the pits have appeared on this site. To think there are several members on here who probably bumped into each other as they were capturing their photos, without ever knowing each other. And this site has brought them back together.

[Shano]

Its amazing how many times different photos by different people taken on the same day, in the same spot on the track or in the pits have appeared on this site. To think there are several members on here who probably bumped into each other as they were capturing their photos, without ever knowing each other. And this site has brought them back together.

Not to mention the outstanding photos of those magnificent cars. This site has dragged them out of boxes and bottom drawers everywhere. Good value.

[Steve Holmes]

John McCormack in the Elfin MR5 leads Graham McRae in the 1973 NZIGP. McCormack went on to win the race.

14281

[Steve Holmes]

From the same event, Dexter Dunlop in McRae GM1.

14282

[Steve Holmes]

Also from the 1973 NZIGP, Garry Pederson in the Begg FM4, on his way to an excellent 5th place.

14283

[Steve Holmes]

McRae and Alan Rollinson, both GM1 equipped, at the '73 NZIGP. Rollinson finished an impressive 2nd behind McCormack, and the only other driver on the lead lap.

14284

[Steve Holmes]

Gerard has also sent me his collection of Jack Inwood photos he has owned for many years. These are stunning! Kicking off here is Brett Hawes in the Begg Sports at the 1968 NZIGP event at Pukekohe.

14285

[Steve Holmes]

Clyde Collins in the PDL Falcon at Pukekohe, 1971. Photo by Jack Inwood.

14303

[Steve Holmes]

This one is just magic! Paul Fahey in the Lotus Anglia at Paritutu, New Plymouth, 1965.

14304

[Steve Holmes]

Can anyone ID this Anglia?

14320

[Steve Holmes]

Terry Allans beautiful big block Camaro at Bay Park.

14321

Both of these photos are by Jack Inwood.

[David McKinney]

Can anyone ID this Anglia?

14320
It's a Wellington registration but the colours don't look familiar

[Milan Fistonic]

Can anyone ID this Anglia?

14320

At the February 27 1965 meeting at Pukekohe there was a 998cc White and Blue Anglia numbered 101 driven by T. Warrington.

[GPBK]

At the February 27 1965 meeting at Pukekohe there was a 998cc White and Blue Anglia numbered 101 driven by T. Warrington.

Barry Phillips pre Lotus Cortina.

[Milan Fistonic]

Barry Phillips pre Lotus Cortina.

What are you saying? That it's Barry Phillips racing under an assumed name.

Barry Phillips had a Blue 1500cc Anglia at the Dec 1965 meeting but it was numbered 167.

[John McKechnie]

This track is definitely Puke, must be practice looking at the empty paddocks.
Every time my cursor touches the pic it comes up Team Molyslip- poss. Tony Lawrence
Reg. plate is good for 64-65

[GeebeeNZ]

At the February 27 1965 meeting at Pukekohe there was a 998cc White and Blue Anglia numbered 101 driven by T. Warrington.

interesting that you should refer to that Milan as I noticed a death notice for a Terry Warrington aged 69 a month ago and wondered if it was the same Terry Warrington I remembered racing a white Anglia so many years ago.

[GPBK]

What are you saying? That it's Barry Phillips racing under an assumed name.

Barry Phillips had a Blue 1500cc Anglia at the Dec 1965 meeting but it was numbered 167.

Sorry I don't follow you. The question was asked "can anyone ID this Anglia". The answer is Barry Phillips.

[David McKinney]

I'd back Milan on Terry Warrington. The Molyslip RT colours haven't aged well, but he was a member of the 1965 team. His car was a 997 and ran in Gp2 spec

[John McKechnie]

GPBK- Milan has showed so much correctness and consistency with his details, that I would back him.He has the race programs to back up what he says.Also David McKinney was a reporter then and also has the credentials for this.Unless Barry happened to do a few laps in this car when the photographer took this pic. Or are you saying that Barry Phillips can ID this car?

[GPBK]

GPBK- Milan has showed so much correctness and consistency with his details, that I would back him.He has the race programs to back up what he says.Also David McKinney was a reporter then and also has the credentials for this.Unless Barry happened to do a few laps in this car when the photographer took this pic. Or are you saying that Barry Phillips can ID this car?

To the best of my knowledge the Moly Slip Team were white with over the roof stripes but did not have side stripes. This Anglia is blue with the side stripe. Clearly Mr Fistonic has an extensive and well regarded library of reference material and Mr McKinney may have impeccable credentials but I'm afraid gentlemen on this one at least you are "backing" the wrong horse.

[Steve Holmes]

Another from Gerards Jack Inwood collection, showing Jack Nazer at Paritutu, New Plymouth. The photo is dated November 1965, but my thoughts are that it would be a year later than this.

14368

[Gerard Richards]

:)
Another from Gerards Jack Inwood collection, showing Jack Nazer at Paritutu, New Plymouth. The photo is dated November 1965, but my thoughts are that it would be a year later than this.

14368I agree with you Steve, this is the logical thought. But when I wrote a story on Jack Nazer's career a few years ago, I remember him telling me that he prepared his fast back Anglia for the 1965-66 season but only ran the Paritutu meeting in Nov 1965. Funds apparently did not allow him to contest any other meetings that season. The car is in almost the same colours and logos as it appeared the following season when he was a major contender for the last Allcomer's title in 1966-67. He finished second to Robbie Francevic's Custaxie and ahead of Paul Fahey's Shelby Mustang in Group 2 spec that season who finished third.

[Rod Grimwood]

To the best of my knowledge the Moly Slip Team were white with over the roof stripes but did not have side stripes. This Anglia is blue with the side stripe. Clearly Mr Fistonic has an extensive and well regarded library of reference material and Mr McKinney may have impeccable credentials but I'm afraid gentlemen on this one at least you are "backing" the wrong horse.

I do not know the answer, but, look at the seating position and stance and it looks very Mr Phillips like.
If Milan has the programme, then that must surely be the answer.

[GPBK]

I do not know the answer, but, look at the seating position and stance and it looks very Mr Phillips like.
If Milan has the programme, then that must surely be the answer.

I think you've hit the nail squarely on the head with "If Milan has the programme". Even if we presume that there has never been a mistake made in the printing of a programme ever, can I suggest that the gentleman has presumed a time frame and found a programme that fits a photo but not necessarily that photo. He may be as much as a year out. That photo of the Anglia is quite likely from early 1966. I might add that I think the picture of Paul Fahey in the Lotus Anglia taken at Paritutu is most likely 1966 which may strengthen the suggestion that the Nazer photo could be 1966 as well but on that I'm not as sure.

[John McKechnie]

GPBK- you are correct when you say programs may be suspect. In April 1970 Rod Coppins was entered as 241, yet pics of that meeting show 141

[Steve Holmes]

:)I agree with you Steve, this is the logical thought. But when I wrote a story on Jack Nazer's career a few years ago, I remember him telling me that he prepared his fast back Anglia for the 1965-66 season but only ran the Paritutu meeting in Nov 1965. Funds apparently did not allow him to contest any other meetings that season. The car is in almost the same colours and logos as it appeared the following season when he was a major contender for the last Allcomer's title in 1966-67. He finished second to Robbie Francevic's Custaxie and ahead of Paul Fahey's Shelby Mustang in Group 2 spec that season who finished third.

Thanks Gerard. Thats potentially a very interesting fact, if this photo is in fact taken in November 1965. Both the Dave Simpson and Paul Fahey Lotus Anglia's appeared at the 1966 NZIGP meeting in January 1966 with fastback roof attachments fitted. Its thought this was the first time such fastback sections appeared on the Anglias and there has been much discussion over how there was such a coincidence that these two rivals suddenly came up with the same idea and actioned it at the same time. If Nazer actually preceded them with the fastback roof, this would explain where they got the idea from!

[bob homewood]

No sorry guys ,Jacks restyled Anglia definitely first appeared Labour weekend 1966 ,the NSCC had their first meeting on the short club circuit that weekend and Jack turned up in it ,I was unlucky enough to destroy my engine that same day ,I had intended to go to Paritutu and race on the Monday of the weekend but that was not possible ,Jack had some misfiring issues and seeing as we were out for the day and the weekend I loaned my fuel pump and distributor to Bill Norrish who used to look after Jacks car for the weekend. The rounded fronts and the fast back were the season before , ( Steve I will email you the race report as I can't post it )

[Powder]

Another from Gerards Jack Inwood collection, showing Jack Nazer at Paritutu, New Plymouth. The photo is dated November 1965, but my thoughts are that it would be a year later than this.


http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?466-Paritutu-Race-Meeting-footage-1965
The footage that bry3500 found from the '65 race meeting shows a sports car carrying no.38 (18sec into the video).
Milan's final post lists all the Anglias drivers in the programme, with no Jack Nazer.

I have a copy of the '66 race programme and again there's no Jack Nazer and car no.38 is Mike Burch - Ecurie Burg Standard Ten.

Jack could have been a late entry at either race meeting, but would they have given him a race number that had already been assigned?

[bob homewood]

Rule one never believe the race programs as being gospel,I know that I am not even in the programs for some meetings that I went to and I was not a late entry ,also they are not always correct ,I have one from a Levin meeting when I raced two different cars on the same day ,my name is spelt two different ways and they have me coming from two different places,yet I sent both the entries in together,then there were the times I drove somebody elses car and no records ever exist of that 40 odd years later

[Powder]

Rule one never believe the race programs as being gospel,

I wasn't really doubting you Bob, after all there's photo to prove he was there in car no.38.

[bob homewood]

No problems Powder I didn't really mean it to sound like that ,just I have been caught out so many times with programs ,I have been I'D ing a lot of photos and I just try to get as many written press references and ask as many people as I can ,programs are a guide but not always right ,none of our memories are that good after all the years

[Rod Grimwood]

Bob, the only reason the minds are slowing a bit, is all thats jammed in to them over the years, just as well we all lead quite lives.

Yep programmes, I think everyone had same over years.

[Oldfart]

As I keep telling my kids, my memory is not slipping. My brain is like a computer, the problem is that the hard drive is full.

[bob homewood]

Paritutu Labour Day 1966 would have been the last appearance of Paul Fahey in his fast back Anglia,it want to Ward and Coppins very soon after that day ,also it was the first National appearance of Jack in the "Yellow Submarine " when he got it sorted later in the day he was considerably quicker than Fahey ,the very first NSCC club circuit meeting I mentioned was on the Saturday ,Paritutu was on Labour day of the same weekend ,its probably remembered better by the Sixties generation as being the weekend of the valiant bid by Radio Hauraki to escape to freedom

[Steve Holmes]

OK, I posted the Anglia photo above to Bob Homewood, as he was closely involved with many of these cars at the time, and I really value his opinion. He managed to find the below photo from a magazine article. He scanned both the article, then the car separately. The text in the article is too small to read, so Bob will have another attempt when he gets the chance, but below is what Bob emailed me about the car.

14430

"Here is the race report for New Plymouth Labour weekend 1966 ,it answers more than a couple of questions ,this would have been Faheys last run in the Anglia as Ward and Coppins owned it very shortly after in fact its possible it changed hands at the end of that weekend. The Anglia in question that we believe is the same one in the photo is being driven by my old mate Graham Park ,yes the same man of later Marina V8 fame the one in the photo there with Barry Phillips in the Lotus Cortina ,I believe that is a couple of months possibly after the photo you sent me as it has the headlight covers and also a front bumper that covers the "A "frame brackets ,now I will have to ask Graham sometime where he got that Anglia from ,there is a possibility that it could have been from Barry Phillips ? ,if so that Anglia went from Ken Richardson ,another of my old mates ,to Barry and the possibly to Graham Park Terry Warringtons car as David McKinney said raced in Group 2 and as such had to have full bumpers etc ,it was a lot tidier car than the one in your photo in addition from memory Terry drove his car to the meetings so it had no "A " frame brackets ,I think that might have been Terry who passed away last week Hope this all makes sense to you ,you can knock it all together in conjunction with the NSCC scan I sent you should put it all in context ,I will try to ask both Barry and Graham at some time if the Anglia did indeed go down the final bit of the path I have suggested"

[GPBK]

Hard to see on that photo but I believe it reads Omokoroa Motors " For Your Shell Service" on the Anglia door. It is indeed the ex Barry Phillips Anglia as pictured earlier or at the very least the same number plate.

[Oldfart]

Hard to see on that photo but I believe it reads Omokoroa Motors " For Your Shell Service" on the Anglia door. It is indeed the ex Barry Phillips Anglia as pictured earlier or at the very least the same number plate.

And without the side flash which you pointed out in the "other" photo

[bob homewood]

Yes that's how I read what I can of the sign writing as well and in both photos the cars I believe have a Shell Sticker on the rear window

[Milan Fistonic]

And the Anglia in the original photo had three central stripes.

The 1965 race that Warrington ran with number 101 was not Group 2 - it was for Modified Production Saloons.

[GPBK]

I have to say this is quite amusing and not at all what I expected when I simply posted what I knew to be correct. When I first answered the question on the Anglia I said it's Barry Phillips pre Lotus Cortina. The photo above later on in 1966 shows the new owner with some cosmetic changes ( as you do ) being passed by the previous owner in his Lotus. No great mystery. I understand I'm the 'new kid on the block' here so by all means feel free to doubt me but Mr Homewood carries a great deal of respect on this forum and I share that respect of him. Keep watching for his posts eventually he will confirm all I have said. I don't know much but on this I'm a 100%.

[John McKechnie]

I still get a thrill when I look at these old programs looking at the list of gladiators and their behemoths.
If there is some inacuracy that is the romance that is history.
These threads can always change what we have understood to be correct .
I am astounded at how much information people have, and want to share.
Any body know how Barry Phillips and his son are getting on with the resto of his Mini?

[Oldfart]

On the thread "Where have all the breadvans..." post #16 by Javman. It says "Paratutu Road races 1965", this is the Nazer car, so is this another person who is "wrong" or is the info being given perhaps erroneous?
GPBK, I don't think that people are treating your input as wrong, just that most people tend to substantiate their opinions whereas you have made a bald statement and we would like to know why you are able to be so certain. (Welcome)

[bob homewood]

No it was definitely !966 I have the written proof from all that I have said from the race reports from that weekend ,plus I was part of the action there actually doing it ,I was there on the spot not too far away from Jack,Barry Phillips etc,and racing against them my memory is not that bad ,old story do you want to listen to someone that was there or believe a whole lot of may have been's sorry folks I have got more to do with my life than be questioned on stuff which I have given proof of,and just for the record GPBK might be a lot closer to one of the issues on here than a lot of the folks on here think,I am a bit disappointed with the way this forum has gone ,I came back here in good faith to support Steve with something he wanted to know and gave him the answer's and the proof to back it up,but I'm out of here ,I will continue to support Steve but how he uses the info will be up to him

[jim short]

No it was definitely !966 I have the written proof from all that I have said from the race reports from that weekend ,plus I was part of the action there actually doing it ,I was there on the spot not too far away from Jack,Barry Phillips etc,and racing against them my memory is not that bad ,old story do you want to listen to someone that was there or believe a whole lot of may have been's sorry folks I have got more to do with my life than be questioned on stuff which I have given proof of,and just for the record GPBK might be a lot closer to one of the issues on here than a lot of the folks on here think,I am a bit disappointed with the way this forum has gone ,I came back here in good faith to support Steve with something he wanted to know and gave him the answer's and the proof to back it up,but I'm out of here ,I will continue to support Steve but how he uses the info will be up to him

I know how you feel Bob. the problem is they have an ans. before they have finished reading

[fullnoise68]

Don`t give up that easily Bob, just because some tool wants to question your knowledge or judgement. You have probably forgotten more about motor racing than some of these clowns have ever done, so your input is a lot more valuable to us than some tossers total ignorance.

Steve Elliott.

[Oldfart]

Calm down guys, I was probably not thoughtful, in the way that I asked the question, however I was really asking why a photographer, apparently at the time (according to the poster) would be a year out, but we do have plenty.
Steve thanks for implying that I am a tosser in total ignorance.
Last from me.

[John McKechnie]

Steve E-this is not good etiquette to call people tools and tossers on these threads.
All of us contribute to this by writing or reading.
The rules are to respect people whether you respect their views or not

[fullnoise68]

John, I find it bloody difficult to tolerate the apathy of people who want to question someone like Bob Homewood, when a) he does know what he is talking about, b) he is of the era that most of the NZ topics on here are about, and finally the whole basis of some of these threads rely on the `older generation' to help resolve some of the more difficult questions asked.
Don`t worry about me, from now on I`m going to be a reader rather than a writer. The ironic thing is that Steve Holmes set up this website for the benefit of ALL its members, and from that people obviously learn more about various subject matter as a thread develops. What some people don`t respect is a persons KNOWLEDGE and that is what gives me the shits.

[GD66]

Just calm down. Is it really so critical to have every idea anatomically-correct when you're dissecting yarns about something that happened nearly 50 years ago ? It's just a discussion, which at times has differing viewpoints, no more and no less. Nothing personal, and certainly no need for the rather high rate of dummy-spitting which has been evident lately. Now can we get back to the guts of things on here, which is the continually-surprising uncovering of more and more gems from the glory years of NZ's motorsport history, from the backs of drawers, cupboards and cardboard storage boxes. Keep 'em coming ! :cool:

[Rod Grimwood]

Come on guys lets all settle a bit. Yes I agree Steve E about all you say about Uncle Bob, and as others have said, maybe things are not worded properly sometimes, so if we all sit back and have a look, think, and sometimes aknowledge that all is not what is wrtten in black and white we can all get back on the horse and do what this is all about, Sharing, enjoying, and if need be directing, correcting what people believe in the right direction. But lets all do it with respect.
Remember our minds are working overtime to remember most of this, some of it is like yesterday, some of it seems a very along time ago.
We are so lucky in that we have some very gifted minds to remind us, as in (most ex) reporters, racers, mechanics, officials, enthusiasts, and most of all the dictionaries of motoring and motorsport world wide, all of who we are lucky to have onboard.

Ok lets resume as normal.

PS I had written this before the previous post had been read.

[fullnoise68]

Oldfart: I apologise for my comments on the basis that I haven`t got the right to bag someone on here. Like Bob Homewood, both my father and my father in law Barry Pointon, have a wealth of knowledge regarding a lot of these topics, but unfortunately they aren`t going to be around forever. If someone says `no, it was this or that' accept what they say, and move on. As GD66 and Rod have stated, this whole forum is for all our enjoyment and benefit, and I for one really enjoy some of the articles on here. Having the ability to look back with like minded people is far more beneficial to everyone than arguing with a select few. Enough said......

[Oldfart]

Full noise PM sent

[hilstwist]

I think the big picture here about this site is that we can revive old memories,discuss and learn things we did not know about "the good old days" I learned that Fahey raced the Anglebox without the "breadvan" effect, at Paritutu. For our technical guys on the site.was that addition to the cars really effective you think?

[John McKechnie]

There is always a reason for drivers to look for an edge.
Back then there were not a lot of fastback cars to really compare data.
Jack Nazer told me his car was absolutely faster with this modification, most noticeable at the top end-another 10 + m.p.h.
I would consider that an effective edge.
Have not asked him who or what influenced him.

Old proverb-ask a man who owns one.

[bob homewood]

14453
I in no way wish to continue or inflame this discussion ,but seeing as Steve asked me for a answer and I have invested a lot of my time in it ,before I move on ,here is the Anglia race number No 101, Rego number CS6872 at Pukekohe a couple of months before it went to Mr Park , being driven by Barry Phillips ,and yes I have had a positive ID of it being Barry in the car ,so the car did go down the time line I suggested

[bob homewood]

14454
Barry Phillips Lotus Cortina Paritutu Labour Day 1966 ,and no he wasn't wearing no 86 the permanent race number system was a little bit down the track

[bob homewood]

14455
Paul Fahey ,Lotus Anglia Paritutu 1966 ,if you look closely you can see the hay bale placement is identical to them in the Barry Phillips photo at the same spot ,no fast back on the car in this photo ,I don't know for sure but perhaps it made for better visibility on this tight circuit ,I did get to drive one of these with the fast back in testing at Levin at a later date and for me anyway I found that visibility was not good

[Rod Grimwood]

Bob, when have you ever looked in the mirror, except when you get out of the shower to do your hair after work before you head of to the water hole.

[GD66]

14453... Barry Phillips ,and yes I have had a positive ID of it being Barry in the car ,so the car did go down the time line I suggested


Indeed, nice work Bob. While you're on a roll, could you help us out by confirming/denying an id in post #56, on page 3 of the Brett Young Collection thread please mate ?

[bob homewood]

Indeed, nice work Bob. While you're on a roll, could you help us out by confirming/denying an id in post #56, on page 3 of the Brett Young Collection thread please mate ?

GD 66 PM me with your exact question

[Steve Holmes]

Sorry I've not been here to smooth this situation out sooner guys. One of our beautiful dogs, our big 8 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback named Oscar, is extremely ill at the moment. The vets found a massive tumour thats grown either from his spleen, or wrapped around it. They will need to open him up to find out if they can operate. Our dogs are a really important part of our family, they live inside the house with us, and because I work from home they're always with me. So its a pretty difficult time, and as a result I've completely taken my eye off the ball with work and this website. So I'm pleased to see you guys have managed to sort things out to some degree.

[jim short]

14455
Paul Fahey ,Lotus Anglia Paritutu 1966 ,if you look closely you can see the hay bale placement is identical to them in the Barry Phillips photo at the same spot ,no fast back on the car in this photo ,I don't know for sure but perhaps it made for better visibility on this tight circuit ,I did get to drive one of these with the fast back in testing at Levin at a later date and for me anyway I found that visibility was not good

Bob about the visibility,I was always impressed how you little folk could drive such fast cars so close to each other without touching

[Rod Grimwood]

Steve, best of luck with Oscar. As you say they are part of the family. And I think the bigger they are the more they attach to you.
Cheers

[Rod Grimwood]

Jim, About visibility, those VW's were pretty hard to see out the back of as well, especially when they had been modified. I never could see through the back window to see what you were up too, so I wouldn't pass in case you had not noticed (again) that some one was quickly catching and following you.

Will give you a call before Xmas (mate)

[Rod Grimwood]

14454
Barry Phillips Lotus Cortina Paritutu Labour Day 1966 ,and no he wasn't wearing no 86 the permanent race number system was a little bit down the track

Photo #195 They raced hard back then, look at the poor young thing, new left front wing and primor on drivers door. And as mentioned No. 77
She looks resplendent in days of retirement old 86. (as we all should)

[bob homewood]

GD 66 PM me with your exact question

GD66 in answer to your question in your PM ,that meeting would be Levin 15th January 1972 and if it is the green Anglia ,I believe that is Bob Neilsen from Petone ,the other Anglia hidden alongside it would possibly be Greg Lancaster,now you can be a good chap and post it in the right thread for me

[Bruce302]

All the best for a speedy recovery for Oscar, Steve. They certainly are mans best friends.

Bruce.

[Steve Holmes]

Another of Gerards Jack Inwood photos, this one of Joe Chamberlain in his Trans-Am Camaro in 1973 at Bay Park.

14568

[Steve Holmes]

And another Jack Inwood photo, of Jim Palmer and John Riley at Renwick. Obviously a lot of respect was shown between drivers on this track. This stretch of road is really a single lane.

14569

[GD66]

Gad ! Not terribly wide ! Presumably that's the Stanton in fourth, who would be the red car in third ? Silver helmet not ringing any bells...

[CUSTAXIE50]

Now i know this is not what you want to talk about boys,this is for steve holmes i think i know how you feel about your dog steve .Last week this little dog the size of a small cat got out, and too very big dogs ran across the road i got there just in time to stop them from taking this little dog a part ,the lady owner of this little dog was and is still very upset over what went down because like you say they are part of the family ,so all the best to you with your dog and hope things work out for you and your family.

[kiwi285]

Steve, I know what its like. We lost the second of our two Lab / Huntaway's earlier this year and it took a bit of getting used to. They certainly make themselves an important part of your life.

[David McKinney]

Presumably that's the Stanton in fourth, who would be the red car in third ? Silver helmet not ringing any bells...
Kerry Grant

[GD66]

Cheers David, I wondered about that but had a mental picture of Kerry having a dark helmet. That's the first Renwick pic I've seen in colour, I think. I'm really enjoying the amount of historical treasure this wonderful forum is unearthing.

[David McKinney]

He used a white hat early in the season, then changed to a dark (black?) one

[Steve Holmes]

This is Paul Fahey and Red Dawson (ex-Segedin) blasting off the line in their Mustangs.

14622

[Steve Holmes]

Now i know this is not what you want to talk about boys,this is for steve holmes i think i know how you feel about your dog steve .Last week this little dog the size of a small cat got out, and too very big dogs ran across the road i got there just in time to stop them from taking this little dog a part ,the lady owner of this little dog was and is still very upset over what went down because like you say they are part of the family ,so all the best to you with your dog and hope things work out for you and your family.

Thanks for that Norm, I appreciate it. Unfortunately he died on Thursday last week. The surgeons opened him up to remove the tumour, and found he was riddled with cancer throughout his body. It amazes me he was so strong and so brave, and never complained once, and never gave any indication of the pain and discomfort he must have been in. What an amazing creature! He is much missed, and much loved.

Sorry to Gerard I steered his amazing thread off topic with this.

[kiwi285]

Real sorry to hear that Steve. They are amazing animals and seldom let you know what they are going through.

[John McKechnie]

Steve- Dogs give themselves completely , love their owners 100%, and never complain.That is a love for you to always hold ,remember and treasure.Oscar may not be with you, but he will never forgotten.

[Gerard Richards]

[QUOTE=Steve Holmes;22131]This is Paul Fahey and Red Dawson (ex-Segedin) blasting off the line in their Mustangs.

14622[/QUOTE Just wanted to accurately credit this photo of Paul Fahey and Red gunning there Mustangs off the line at Pukekohe in late '67. This photo was taken by Thorpe Studio's in Pukekohe. They were responsible for taking quite a number of motor racing images in the Franklin area from the mid 60's to about 1973.Many were printed in their monthly publication Franklin Photo News, which ran between those dates. These regional photo news magazines were published in many regions of New Zealand and most of them carried quite interesting segements on Motor Sport in their respective area's. The Roaring Season has illustrated a number of these pics from different parts of the country in a selection of the threads. These photo news mags are very interesting records of the grass level and international level of motor sport in N.Z. but they are now almost impossible to find.:)

[jim short]

Pleased I saved some now,plus some 1952 Mechanix Illustrated.

[John McKechnie]

Gerard- as you say these photos are special, but in another way. David McKinney has pointed out that in the 60s racing cars were single seaters and that saloon cars were basically just a filler.Around this time, it looks as if saloons were taken a little bit more seriously by the press, and thats why we have these pix.

[Gerard Richards]

Pleased I saved some now,plus some 1952 Mechanix Illustrated.I agree with you. I have a small stash of about 15 Photo News mags from about 1961 to 1973 from various regions of N.Z and they are a wonderful social history of the "simpler times?" of the 60's and early 70's in N.Z. In particular they provide a fascinating pictorical insight into many aspects of motorsport in N.Z. in these regions including, club grass track racing, hillclimbs, early stock car racing, circuit racing, drag racing, motorcycle racing and power boat racing. They are real underated treasures, in the historical side of recording Kiwi's passion for motorsport and automobiles, plus many other aspects of the popular culture at the time.

[Rod Grimwood]

[QUOTE=Steve Holmes;22131]This is Paul Fahey and Red Dawson (ex-Segedin) blasting off the line in their Mustangs.

14622[/QUOTE Just wanted to accurately credit this photo of Paul Fahey and Red gunning there Mustangs off the line at Pukekohe in late '67. This photo was taken by Thorpe Studio's in Pukekohe. They were responsible for taking quite a number of motor racing images in the Franklin area from the mid 60's to about 1973.Many were printed in their monthly publication Franklin Photo News, which ran between those dates. These regional photo news magazines were published in many regions of New Zealand and most of them carried quite interesting segements on Motor Sport in their respective area's. The Roaring Season has illustrated a number of these pics from different parts of the country in a selection of the threads. These photo news mags are very interesting records of the grass level and international level of motor sport in N.Z. but they are now almost impossible to find.:)

Looking at photo to me sums it up, (please don't get this wrong) Paul Fahey the perfectionist, Look at car presentation, fit of helmet ect. "Red" the hard charger, and helmet sits on head, 'she's all good'. I loved watching Red Dawson and his hard charge on attitude, and he and Johnny Riley were favorites, but looking back now Mr Fahey was the pro. and showed the results.
PS have good look. Mr Fahey has shoulder harness, don't see anything over Mr Dawsons shoulders.

[stubuchanan]

Gerard- as you say these photos are special, but in another way. David McKinney has pointed out that in the 60s racing cars were single seaters and that saloon cars were basically just a filler.Around this time, it looks as if saloons were taken a little bit more seriously by the press, and thats why we have these pix.

Until about 1960, racing saloons were mainly "shopping cars" with a few Jaguars thrown in, but then people found that Hillman and Anglia motors could be made to go a lot faster, and in the North anyway, prewar American V8 coupes started to appear following the demise of stock car racing in Auckland. Riley, Dawson, Garth Souness, Bert Jones etc were top stock car men and others like Jack Nazer and Rod Coppins first appeared in V8 coupes. The new breed of drivers put new life into saloons racing and it became more than a supporting act.

Then overseas trends led to Mini-Coopers and Lotus Cortinas and by the mid-1960's Ford Mustangs, and suddenly everything had changed. You could buy and race a Mini-Cooper S or get one with a bit of export-import skullduggery and a trip to Australia and the sport changed quite quickly. You didn't need to be an ace mechanic - there were people you could pay to prepare your car, and motor racing was on the up. New circuits - Pukekohe, Ruapuna, Timaru, BayPark were built. They must also have been good times economically, looking back on it. With McLaren Hulme Amon racing in Europe at the top level there was plenty of publicity for the sport, and saloon car racing was usually competitive and often spectacular. Judging by some of the threads on this forum, it was great fun off the track, too!

Stu

[seaqnmac27]

The Orange Lola T332 F5000 car here awaiting the start of the 1975 NZ Grand Prix, is that of Aussie Johnnie Walker. It was slightly unusual as it was the only Lola to run the Repco V8. Walker was very competitive in this last true Tasman Championship and was contesting the outright title when he destroyed the car in a huge accident at Sandown Park, plowing into the horse railings... He was very lucky to survive, emerging only with cuts and abrasions. Also interesting in this picture is the red La Valise Lola T332 in the background of Ken Smith. Standing beside the red car are the diminutive Ken himself with Kiwi hard charging saloon racing legend Red Dawson, who were reputably great mates


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG9tw1TzIVg&t=188s