Mystery sports car

[faminz]

Can anyone identify this red car and the date/track... I have an idea who and what it is but Ill wait and see if someone can confirm it... lol

[pallmall]

It looks a bit like the Graham McRae built Masserari, but a bit hard to tell from that angle and the colour is the wrong shade, and no yellow nose band.

[Steve Holmes]

Thats what I was thinking too.

[Bruce302]

The Masserari was my first thought, the helmets aren't period, and the number on the side is a lot later than when the car would have run, It does look like an airfield course.

Bruce.

[faminz]

yes I believe you are correct. It is the masserrari most probably at Wigram and Im told that is Graham McRae in the car. But that is from a friend of the photographer who now has the photo and cant confirm it. The colour is redder in the photo but the scanner added a darker shade.

[David McKinney]

Definitely the Masarrari, and if that's Tony Herbert's Ginetta G4 alongside it won't be a period shot

[bob homewood]

Definitely the Masarrari, and if that's Tony Herbert's Ginetta G4 alongside it won't be a period shot

Whenuapai wet Classic meeting ,but I'm scratching my head for the date at the moment

[bob homewood]

Whenuapai wet Classic meeting ,but I'm scratching my head for the date at the moment

January 1997 ?

[Greg Stokes]

I first saw this car when it was at Mike Roberts panel shop in the late ninties when owner Ross Ford was getting some alloy tin work done on it. I was in awe of the construction. Runs a Humber motor doesnt it?
I swa a shot of the car in raw alloy somewhere when McRae was building it.

[rogered]

Gordon Burr?

[stubuchanan]

Background screamed Whenuapai as soon as the picture appeared. 1997 Wings & Wheels programme has it as the 'Maserrari 220S' driven by Ross Ford but with number 59. Can't help thinking I've been through this discussion before. Did he have No. 220 at another Classic meeting a week or two earlier?

Here's something from 1998 when it was dry - looks nice but only a replica.2590

[Shano]

"Only?"

I'd have thought a Graham McRae built replica had a provenance all of its own and second to none.

[pallmall]

The 250F replica had nothing to do with Graham McRae. I think Stu posted the photo in reference to the Whenuapai Classic meeting.

Here is the Maserarrai at the Domain Hill Climb.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/Checraft/References/Maserarri001750x609.jpg

[stubuchanan]

The 250F replica had nothing to do with Graham McRae. I think Stu posted the photo in reference to the Whenuapai Classic meeting.

Here is the Maserarrai at the Domain Hill Climb.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/Checraft/References/Maserarri001750x609.jpg

Yes. "Only" only referred to the 250F replica which may have had some genuine spare parts in it but no genuine original identity.

I don't know all the later history of the Maserrari, but I thought it was a beautiful car from whenever I first saw it (1960ish I guess).
It's very much after the style of mid-1950 Maserati sports-racers and the OSCAs built by the remaining two Maserati brothers.

[Shano]

Sorry I managed to totally misread that.

[David McKinney]

Yes. "Only" only referred to the 250F replica which may have had some genuine spare parts in it but no genuine original identity.

Assuming that's Abba Kogan's car, it was one of the first Cameron Millar cars, so would have been pretty much all Maserati apart from chassis and body


I don't know all the later history of the Maserrari, but I thought it was a beautiful car from whenever I first saw it (1960ish I guess).
It's very much after the style of mid-1950 Maserati sports-racers and the OSCAs built by the remaining two Maserati brothers.
It got its name because, during construction, some of McRae's friends thought it looked like a Maserati, and others like a Ferrari

I really must go through programmes etc from its first appearance (February 1961) to see how it should be spelt. I'm fairly sure I decided back in the day it should be 'Masarrari', but there were numerous other spellings. McRae himself was asked a couple of years ago for a definitive ruling and didn't know...

[pallmall]

15th April 1961 Levin, it is listed as a Maserari 220s.

[David McKinney]

What's your source for that?

The programme's list of entries calls it a Masararri 220S
In the individual races it's listed four times as a Masararri and three times as a Maserarri

When I get a mo' I'll dig out earlier references to it

[pallmall]

The 20 year history of Levin book. I notice other spellings in later listings.

[stubuchanan]

The 20 year history of Levin book. I notice other spellings in later listings.

Tell me more, please. I have never seen or heard of the Levin history.

Stu

[beowulf]

AMCO has my Levin History book at the moment, when he returns it and he will. I am very fussy about who I lend books to having "lost" quite a few in the past I will post the details if no one else does. Amco may if he spots this. It was done by a Carkeek who were an integral part of Levin and is very good.

[AMCO72]

OK, Amco72 here......'The Twenty Year History of the Levin Motor Racing Circuit'........1956-1976. A little circuit with a big history. ISBN 978-0-473-13861-5 First published 2010; Lance Hastie, PO Box 4219 Palmerston Nth. NZ. Mostly spelt Masarrari....various drivers and various engine capacities.....Crawford, Wellington, engine capacities increasing every race meeting!! G. McRae, Wellington, 1494cc. 1962 November. April 61....G McRae...Maserari 220S....2200cc This seems to be the first entry, spelt with an E, and 2200 cc engine. Only time at Levin with that engine size. Last entry seems to be march 1967...G McRae...1475 cc. So work all that out if you can. By the way is a great book....500 pages so is pretty comprehensive. Thanks to beowulf for the loan, and yes I will return it in mint condition!!!!!!!

[pallmall]

Tell me more, please. I have never seen or heard of the Levin history.

Stu

I picked my copy up at the McLaren Trust stand at the Amon Festival.

The Twenty Year History of the Levin Motor Racing Circuit 1956-1976
Published in 2010 by Lance Hastie, PO Box 4219 Palmerston North
ISBN 978-0-473-13861-5
Compiled by Murray Carkeek. (Who was the Levin club secretary, and the very best guy to deal with back in the day.)

List entrants and first three results for all meetings with a brief write up, a bit short on photos, but a valuable addition to a NZ Motor Sport library. 496 pages.

[pallmall]

In the back of the book there is a bit from Graham McRae, says the first meeting for the car was 15th April 1961, blew up in practice, dns. So that may explain the change in engine size on at least one occasion. In that piece the spelling is Masarrari.

[AMCO72]

Well, in the list of competitors it is spelt with an E...Maserari. And if as Mr McRae himself says in the back, it was a combination of Maserati and Ferrari why spelt it with an A.....MASER......ferr... ARI. Any way, the first entry in April 61 is the only way it is spelt with and E.

[woody]

The Levin book is selling for $85.00.

[David McKinney]

It's a compilation of entry-lists and results (usually first three or four) of every Levin meeting. Very little text, and what there is is clearly lifted from contemporary newspaper reports - to the extent of "Joe Bloggs should do well". Very few illustrations. Compiled by period race secretary Murray Carkeek and 'edited' by Lance Hastie

I got my copy from some retailer in Levin - if you put "levin 1956-1976" into google it should bring them up. If you have no luck I'll try and dig out my email to them

[David McKinney]

I really must go through programmes etc from its first appearance (February 1961) to see how it should be spelt. I'm fairly sure I decided back in the day it should be 'Masarrari', but there were numerous other spellings. McRae himself was asked a couple of years ago for a definitive ruling and didn't know...

OK - here we go. First appearance was April 1961, not February

Primary source (ie, contemporary) references to first appearances
(up to end of 1962 only)

What I have always believed to be the correct version highlighted in bold

1/4/61 Palmer Head hillclimb
Evening Post: Austin Special
Dominion: Masararri

8/4/61 Houghton Bay hillcimb
WCC Bulletin: Masarrari (twice)

15/4/61 Levin
Evening Post preview: “Masararri, not to be confused with Masaratti”
Programme: as in previous post
WCC Bulletin: Masarrari

07/04/62 Houghton Bay hillclimb
Evening Post: Maseratti
WCC Bulletin: Masarrari, Massarrari, Maserarri, Maserrarri

27/7/62 WCC Levin sprint
Evening Post: Masarrari
WCC Bulletin: Masarrari

24/11/62 Levin
Programme: Maserati (three times)
Auckland Star Sports: Maserarri
Dominion: Masararri once, Masarrari once
Evening Post: Masarrari

15/12/62 Ohakea
Programme: late entry – not listed
Evening Post: Masarrari

29/12/62 Mount Maunganui
Programme: Masararri (four times)

[beowulf]

I know it keeps all you pedants happy. But does it really matter we all know it is the same car. Must have got out of bed on the wrong side.

[David McKinney]

Well, we've got to call the thing by some name...

[AMCO72]

Beowulf.....who are you accusing of getting out of bed on the wrong side? If Mr McRae himself cant even tell us the correct spelling, why should we be so pedantic about it......its easier to say.....MasA.....than MasER and we are all guilty of lazy speech, well most of us.

[David McKinney]

Perhaps we should revert to calling it what I believe a recent owner did - McRae 220S?

[AMCO72]

What good idea!!!!

[Shano]

+ 1

[AMCO72]

And incidentally, what was the 2200cc engine in the car at that first meeting. Triumph?

[David McKinney]

Supercharged Austin A70!
That was followed by a Lycoming aero engine (run just once, I think) then a Humber 80 that grew from 1500cc to something around 1700 or 1800
When Lance Crawford bought the car from McRae he didn't get the big engine, but ran a 1500 Humber 80

[stubuchanan]

Well, we've got to call the thing by some name...

On the assumption that the car was registered for theoretical road use, as the majority of competition cars were at that time, would anybody know what was given as the "Make" of the Mase(a)r(rr)ari on its registration papers.

Or as a more general query, was there any restriction on what you could use as a registration name for a one-off vehicle in the 1960's.

I have a trailer which I bought(new) around 1990 and it annoyed me somewhat that the the papers had the make as "Home Built" because it was actually professionally built. After some years I queried this with Motor Registrations, and suggested it could be changed to Reeon or Reeon Engineering as they were the builders, but they would only agree to a change to "Factory Built".

[Howard Wood]

It was a requirement for all racing cars to be registered at least during the early '70's, something to do with public liability insurance I believe. At least for single seaters the usual category we used was "E class A" which was the same as a farm tractor, thus avoiding the various WOF requirements. Somewhere there will be a record of all those registrations and the make.

The term "Homebuilt" is a generic term now preferred by LTSA, I run trucks for a living and most of our heavy trailers are registered new as Homebuilt despite being manufactured by reputable trailer builders.

[AMCO72]

Yes, I wonder who the little clerk in the LTSA decided on the 'generic' homebuilt title. Just makes it easy for them. I'm sure Howard does not like his heavy trailers being called 'home built'!!!!!!! Likewise, TSV in Cambridge would object violently if you described their chassis and trailers as home built, knowing the expertise of the design and construction team there. Makes you sick, and we let them get away with it.

[stubuchanan]

To add to the confusion, the registration for a boat trailer which came with a 12 foot tinny I bought some years back gives the make as "Parkercraft". They built the boat, but I doubt that they built the trailer! Probably we should be thankful that is the level of our complaints. Some other countries less than 2000 miles away from NZ have a whole raft of rules and prohibitions on non standard vehicles and ruinous duties on second-hand imports.

[AMCO72]

Isn't lateral thinking a great thing. We started discussing the provenance of a rather sharp looking 'homebuilt' special.....got into a discussion as to how its name was spelt....now were into 12 foot Parkercraft with trailers that aren't homebuilt but never the less the LTSA thinks they are, so it's no wonder that when we try and trace the history of car, the Government Dept that is responsible for all this is no help. I think I'll just go back to my knitting!! The comment on the ruinous duties of our neighbours reminds me of an chap here in Cambridge who had built a rather nice Jaguar D type replica with assistance from the manufacturer in the Sth Island. He wanted to sell the car but there were no takers in NZ but managed to find a buyer in Oz. To avoid all these duties and to get the car into the country, he had to completely dismantle the car and send it to purchaser in pieces. I think he then followed the car over and reassembled it. Sounds crazy to me but I think thats how it goes. Reminds me of a Dick Emery skit where Dick is talking to a friend about a dodgy mate of his who has been 'eliminated'. The friend says' I hope he is resting in peace' Dick replies ' He is resting in PIECES my friend' !!!!! There you go, lateral thinking again.

[AMCO72]

And if youv'e not watched Dick Emery, youv'e not lived.!!!!

[Shano]

Slightly off topic but in the same vein, bike rider John Boote is famed for being a great natural rider - but also for taking his TZ750 Yamaha to race in Daytona. To get it there he stripped it to constituent parts, packed it all into suitcases and took it on his flight as his luggage. Assembled it all at the other end (if my memory serves me, DNFed the first year and got second the following year).

[beowulf]

From memory you had to have the registration plate attached to your race car. It was even checked at scrutineering. Having a farm was a big help as you always had a rego plate for something. To say nothing of rebate petrol. I remember Angus Hyslop having petrol problems in one of his cars due to dirty farm petrol. It was probably worth about 2 bob (shillings for the younger generation, 20 cents for the even younger) a gallon. Some of the trailers now and then are definately "home built". It would be mildy interesting to wander through the trailer park at a race meeting and check the WOF and rego. Incidently since ACC started ripping off motorbike riders the number of bike registration has plummeted. Down 25% according to one source. Taking less income now that they were when the levy was at the old level. Don"t ya love politicians.

[AMCO72]

Yes, a mechanic who works at my local garage where I go for my warrants, rides a new Triumph bike. because of the ACC levy he only registers it for half a year now.....the summer months, and uses his 1961 Morris 1000 van the rest of the time. Of course the Morrie is on the cheapish plus 40 year registration now so is a big saving, and who wants to ride a bike in winter anyway.

[stubuchanan]

And if youv'e not watched Dick Emery, youv'e not lived.!!!!

I wondered if Dick Emery might not be related to Paul and Peter Emery, who (separately) made Emeryson racing cars in the 1950's and 1960's. Paul Emery in particular seemed to have a somewhat eccentric turn of mind, like Dick.

Probably not.

[AMCO72]

In fact at a Taupo test day last year, I did go round having a look at trailers, not to check on WOF's etc, but to get some ideas, as I was about to build a 'homemade'. I was amazed to discover that a good few of them did not have either WOF or Rego and a couple of them had come over from Napier!!!! Beowulf, you will remember that day.

[bob homewood]

Yes the trailer makers name .I think that must have sort of been up to clerk at the office doing it .I had a country garage for a time and we used to make and modify lots of trailers ,from memory they used to put wss as the maker on ours which was the initials of our business.mind you we did it our local Post Office which was just next door

[driftwood]

I wondered if Dick Emery might not be related to Paul and Peter Emery, who (separately) made Emeryson racing cars in the 1950's and 1960's. Paul Emery in particular seemed to have a somewhat eccentric turn of mind, like Dick.

Probably not.Stupid boy PIKE !!:)
As to trailers with WOFs and regos- how ridiculous !!
and as for the sheep fornicators across your " Tasman pond" and its daft import rules a duties they suffer from too many people in government positions akin to people that our grandfathers fought against in WW2:mad:

[woody]

Elin sports cars. Graeme (WOP) Amos built 3. The first two were built at Otematata in Central Otago. The third built at Ocean View near Dunedin. Graeme McKerrow raced the third one for a season. Anyone know where any of them are?

[Grant Ellwood]

Regarding rego plates on race cars, in those days you had to nominate an insurance company on the registration form. In my case I had the ex-Bisman Begg back in the early 70s, jumped the safety bank at Bay Park (well the Begg did) and landed in the trailer park area, unfortunately running over several people on the way. Later on there was some sort of liability kerfuffle with my insurance co (NIMU) after Bay Park put some claims in, NIMU quite rightly not happy that they were unwittingly covering a racing accident.


From memory you had to have the registration plate attached to your race car. It was even checked at scrutineering. Having a farm was a big help as you always had a rego plate for something. To say nothing of rebate petrol. I remember Angus Hyslop having petrol problems in one of his cars due to dirty farm petrol. It was probably worth about 2 bob (shillings for the younger generation, 20 cents for the even younger) a gallon. Some of the trailers now and then are definately "home built". It would be mildy interesting to wander through the trailer park at a race meeting and check the WOF and rego. Incidently since ACC started ripping off motorbike riders the number of bike registration has plummeted. Down 25% according to one source. Taking less income now that they were when the levy was at the old level. Don"t ya love politicians.

[Jac Mac]

Pretty sure Alec McLennan of Riversdale, Southland still has the ex Orton Bros Elin car ( which might also be the ex McKerrow car..). also the JBS & currently restoring another little car, model etc escapes my memory at moment

[Peddler]

My first Mini 7 (ex Gerald Fava) in the early Eighties had a reg plate bolted to the floor. The registration document had been hand altered over the years from Morris Mini 850 up to Cooper S 1000 when it had a brief life as NZ saloon champs entry. Each time I registered it the classification on the paperwork baffled the post office so I told them to treat it as a tractor. Insurance? Nah. Trailer reg and WOF....not often. I toyed with getting an official replacement (lost paperwork?) for the ersatz Cooper registration and faking a Cooper. Too chicken. The thing broke in half eventually anyway.

[Rod Grimwood]

Never owned or lived on a farm, but have had a couple of tractors. (no smart commments about my cars either)