February 8, 1969
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February 8, 1969
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Pete's vintage racer was built in New Zealand in 1949 by John Jacobson & Neil Stuart based on “K8” plans, originally US short dirt track cars that later evolved as sprint cars.
Here are some of it's technical details:
Power: Ford Flathead V8, 286 cubic inch
Transmission: 3-speed Ford
Front and rear end: '39 Ford
Springs: Front '39 Ford; Rear Model T
Brakes: '39 Ford
Frame: cut-down Essex
Steering box: Chrysler 70
Top speed (recorded): 115 MPH
Between 1949 and 1965, it was raced by John Jacobson & Neil Stuart at the Aranui Speedway and several road-type circuit races; Bill Harris Jr. used it in beach racing and Peter & Alec Rattray in road-races.
Pete has owned No.77 since 1965, racing it in road-type circuits, hill climbs, beach racing and later vintage racing events; he won the New Zealand Beach Racing Championship Race 3 times. While he owned the car, it was also raced by Bob (RW) Stewart, Neil Stuart, Brian Hepburn and John Armstrong on occasions. The car was well known as a ''Ford V8 Special'' in the South Island of New Zealand.
....behind the larger photo of Bill Harris,I played 'spot the make' a game I played when I was riding 'Shot Gun',with my Father, ferrying new Singer SM's from Nelson to Christchurch at 30MPH all the way,remember you used to have to 'Run Them In' in those days,I had to name the Manufacturer and Build date along with model ID....
Left to right
Ford Mk2 Zephyr 1957/58..LIP Vauxhall 1948/52..Chevrolet 1939..Ford Prefect 1948/51..Citroen (with 'gear stick' comming out of the centre of the dash!!)..Ford Anglia 1955/6 (3 bar grill was Anglia/Prefect had mesh with 'Chrome' surround!!)..Chevrolet 1955..Austin A90 Atlantic 1955/6?..Bedford Van 1955/6(with sliding front doors!)...David, how am I going so far,long time since I played this game!!!:confused:..................regards thunder427?MJ:p:p:p
..promised Steve I would tell this story!!
My father took a 'Sales' position with the 'Reid Rubber Tyre Company' in Nelson around 1952,selling tyres to the trade throught out the Malborough/Blenham/Nelson and West Coast,I went to the Tahunanui School, when we lived in Greens st/Tahunanui,we would go and 'Roller Skate' at the 'Rink' at Tahunanui Beach Front,great swim beach,also attended Auckland Point School where I had to walk past 'Nelson Transport' Truck Depo,if you asked with a "Please" you would be given 'large' Ball Race wheels for the 'Billy Karts', then they would pretend to chase you out of the place,you school bag banging away on your back,weighting a 'Ton', full of Bounty
The story....1959/we, the family, had towed a 'New' caravan behind a 'Swish',matching paint scheme,1948 Oldsmobile 'Teardrop' Coupe (read 'Fastback') to stay at the Nelson Camping Ground,see some friends, from our 3 year stay in Nelson and take in the Beach races that included the Scramble Bikes which we also enjoyed ,the Mechanic from my Fathers Car Sales in Ferry Road ChCh, was riding that weekend.
Well, there we were, with our flash new/Modern 'Aluminium clad' caravan with an attachment called an 'Awning',that made double your space, my Mum had decided that we should be visiting, Dad and I had had a notion to watch the Beach race Practise, but Mum ruled, well thats what my Father told me, someone had once compared my mother to Elizabeth Taylor, not quite, but if you get the 'Make-up' thing going,you will understand the comparison,it was a major event,well there she was,my Mum,looking radiant standing in the door way of our 'Flash' van.."Oh!! its rather windy,I'll just pop back inside and use a little 'Hairspray'"...she's gone about 2sec's....Swiiiiiiiish....screams comming from inside..." I've sprayed my Hair with Bloody 'FLYSPRAY'....well that was too much for my Father and I,we just rolled around laughing (In the 'Awning')...she refused to come out till my Father agreed to take her and have her hair re-permed....she had reached up to a small shelf that held two cans ,one Hairspray the other flyspray,felt the same,BUT!!.....well as you guessed, I got to go to the Beach and watch the 'practice'......and I,ve been a supporter/user of 'Mortine' ever since......I Know, I am mean!!, It wasn't really funny and I did have a 'Great' Mum !!!, but hey!!!:p I did get to the 'Beach!!!!!.............................regards thunder427/MJ:):):)
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Skope Classic 2011
Woody, The accident Snow had was on the main straight at Levels, Timaru, it happened right in front of me in the practise. His car a red Cooper ended upside down astride the ditch that ran along side the track. I stoped, jumped out of my car, went to see if he was okay and found him lying in the ditch on his back . A few seconds later the crash crew arrived so I left the scene. I have never seen him since and often wonder what happened to him
bry thanks for contacting Peter on his birthday , getting that great pic,nows he is posting, what a great site
Cheers mate ...just got to get him over to Phillip Island now with ol #77..
Reprint - Limited edition of 100 - Numbered and signed by author. Arguably, the motor racing on Nelson's Back Beach set the seal on the region as a summer holiday destination in the post second world war era. It was held as a two day meeting every New Year from the last day of 1949 to the New Year of 1977 and the Nelson Car club can take credit for the enthusiasm of so many officials, drivers and spectators. Held on a natural beach race circuit, which was bounded by the large Tahunanui Beach Camping Ground and the beach sandhills, the meeting attracted drivers from up and down the country year after year. Names including Roper, Farland, Tucker, Logan, Shuter, Lupp, father and son Les and Ronnie Moore and many others were nationally noted drivers of their time and all drove with verve and skill on the Tahunanui Beach circuit to the delight of the paying (and non paying) spectators. This publication traces the history of the races staged by the Nelson Car Club during an era when motor racing attracted the largest number of spectators of any sport in New Zealand.STOCK INFORMATIONGeneral FieldsISBN : 9780473039042PUBLISHER : sandhillsIMPRINT : sandhillsPRODUCT TYPE : booksSpecial FieldsBIND : PaperbackAUTHOR : Mike Stephens
:):):)...bry3500; Fantastic!!!,got to have copy,so where do I send my money, an address of a supplier would be sufficent, would love that on my Book shelf, I had many great Christmas/New Year Growing up at Tahunanui, as stated in another thread,went to Tahunanui school,belonged to the local Tahunanui Cub/Scout group,roller skated at the Tahunanui Beach skate 'open-air' rink,lived in Green Sreet Tahunanui when my Father worked for RiedRubber Tyre Company,the house came with the job from memory,spent a real lot of time at the Nelson Aero club,got to ride/fly in some neat 'little' planes,was there when they had an 'Airshow' and a fully polished Mustang 'commissioned' fighter ,did some stunt stuff and as a kid that just blew me away,the pilot then stood the Mustang on its tail and drove straight up ,'Glinting' in the afternoon sun and gone,....Oh!! Well back to normal....when suddenly about ten minutes later,at about twenty feet off the deck .Vroooooooooooooooooooooom!! and gone,of towards Wellington......Magic moments in one's life................regards thunder427/MJ:):):)
Audrey Hutcheon
The Ian Stevens Dauphine Rebuild
I got Mike Stephens book a few years ago and for someone north of the Bombay Hills found it a good read. I wrote to Halsey Logan many years ago about the Fiat 500 he used to run. It later went to John Wells. Halsey replied with full details of its modifications not long before he passed away.Does anyone know what happened to the motor. When I last heard of it it was sitting under a garage bench somewhere in Nelson. That was a few years ago and I never got any closer than that.
Peter Leversedge
"Along with many other organisations and people, the Nelson Car Club suffered from the heavy rain. It did not have to cancel its meeting, but the beach circuit at Tahuna was little more than a slush field. Windscreen wipers were a necessity and any driver in an open car got soaked each race. Cars, of course, suffered, the unluckiest driver being W. Darrell who had all sorts of troubles to overcome with his machine."
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Love the "mechanic/driver" in white overalls, fag hanging out of the mouth, helmet on and those bloody horrible KayDee sandals as "racing boots" in the second to last photo!
1960
Neil Stuart
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what was the history of Happy Bill's Tipo B ..was this the car that Brian Tracey raced?
Wow how did I miss this thread...I grew up in Nelson and as a kid spent hours rereading through my Nana's collection of Nelson Photo News magazines which is where most of these great photos came from. My Dad was a beach racer and president of Nelson Car Club and I still have his 50's era club grille badge on my car. He has a copy of Mike's book and it's a great read. Back as a hairy arse 16 year old one New Years holiday in the 80's I drove my car around the old beach circuit...and was pulled up by the cops. I explained I was reliving my old mans racing tales and surprisingly the cop lamented the end of the racing and told me to be careful and not to hit anyone !!! I can't imagine that happening now..
Nelson Photo news is now available on line..http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/n...unched-online/. There is lots of great articles from Slot car Racing, go carts, stock cars, rallying etc..When I left Wanganui as an 8 year old we stopped off in Nelson for the Christmas holidays on the way to CHCH..it was my first taste of car racing 'in the flesh" and I was gob smacked and hooked.I can still remember vividly a lot of the cars including John Millers Dauphine Chev ....heady stuff for a little tacker back then
Thanks for the tip...had a look, lots, of pics of my family on there.
Attachment 8631In reply to this and post #28 and #34, like others I cant see how I missed this thread. The photo is the Brian Mabey car which I have owned and raced for 40 yrs. The first car Brian made in the early 50's had an Austin motor and wire wheels (photo #1). This became the No 2 car with the Vauxhall 10 motor and raced around 1955. It went to Southland in the main with various owners and also raced at Wigram (photo #2). This car was modified to a Consul motor and a different front body. This is how it finished its racing (photo#3). I acquired it as a box of bits from Winston ??- (used to work at AutoCourt Dunedin).
'Tweaks' (is that Lynsday Marr ?) did give me the list (photo#4) of components of the #2 car via John Nobles but I did not get the car from 'Tweaks'. The list is interesting. The last car Brian built was the Vauxhall 6 cyl motor and the later 1 3/4 ' triple SU's came off Earnie Spragues Zephyr. This is the car in which Mabey was killed. and car I have had for all these years (photo#5). The family did not want to have much to do with the tragedy even though I tried for may years to make contact.
Finally I visited Brian's daughter with the car and the photo #6 is his grand daughter sitting in the car. I have spoken with Brian's brother and he remembers the cars well but his wife who lives near her daughter in Wellington prefers to leave things as they are. While I respect this,Attachment 8626Attachment 8627Attachment 8628Attachment 8629Attachment 8630 I did say to his daughter that Brian was an influence in NZ motor racing engineering in the 50's that should not be forgotten. Even though she was only a few months old when he died she now appreciates what her father achieved in those few short years and I am glad we made contact some 50 yrs on. Chris Read - Arrowtown.
Heres something I researched for the Peugeot Club magazine last year.
This month it’s the one built and raced for a number of years by Bob Nicoll who was in Nelson at that time. Bob has now moved to New Plymouth and I spent a fascinating hour or more talking with him and about his exploits.
The car turned up in his yard outside the workshop, and sat there for a while until some enthusiasts turned up and told him that 203s were being raced in Europe and he should do the same. Lead a horse to water – it will likely drink, and so life began anew.
The first steps were to strip it out a bit, and then he bought a brand new pair of 175 Strombergs, blended some “chunks” of exhaust tube into the blanking plate side of the engine with “bog” and a steel plate; one stage down! Bob replaced the 2 by 6 volt batteries with a 12 volt in the boot and also bolted a “lump of pig iron” to keep it company, he reckoned this made a big difference. Then he had a modified camshaft made up and “let the race begin”. The car was run in almost anything the Nelson and Canterbury Car Clubs ran from the Tahunanui Beach races to Wigram, Ruapuna, night trials, grass track, hillclimbs, etc, etc.
It ran this way for about 2 years, with various minor changes each event until it was decided that it could be taken a lot further. First step was to “cut off the roof and channel” it. Bob did explain this, but I fail to quite understand how it was done. In the end he had a 203 that was lower than a Mini! The back end was cut off from immediately behind the rear wheel arch and had a flat panel that went up to where the leading edge of the boot would have been. All the window glass was the same as original and there was 6 months of solid work to achieve it. He said it took “lots of weight out”. Looking carefully at photos I believe that the height was taken from below the window line as the wheel arches reach almost to the bottom of the windows RN.
By now it was quicker in almost any event than most minis. It now had 13” wheels and 2” wider than original. A few “discussions” took place with scrutineers over the 3 stud wheels and this, along with gearbox ratios lead to him grafting a Ford gearbox and back axle into the car. It still used the coils (there was no car to support leaf springs), and a set of radius rods on the top of the axle, and an A frame from the bottom running forward, as the torque tube location was now not possible.
Sometime around 1968 the car no longer appears in many results although around this time it had a 504 motor. It was known to be as fast as a very well modified Valiant Group 5 car, and the fantastically quick A40 of Pat Pascoe. Perhaps the “burnt orange” in colour bodywork and a very fine example of the abilities of the South Island special builder’s art did the trick.
The family last knew of the car somewhere near Cust, and would really like to find it for old time’s sake. In a way it lives on, as it appears in the film shown at the WOW museum motorsport section in Nelson.
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These belong with previous post!
Lyndsay Marr (tweaks) is a good old Kaikorai boy from Dunedin. Is Lyndsay on this site Chris?