Ken Holden was out here about 3 years back, he came up and stayed a couple of days with us. I have actually just sent an email to Ken for a catch up. I have not heard from him for a little while, and last i was talking to him he was not 100%. Ken has a colourful background, and is very interesting to chat with over a beer or whisky. I have some photos somewhere of his last visit, i will try and find them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce302
Yes you are right, I missed that they were breifly talking about CSX2287 in that part of the story on CSX2299.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jac Mac
I've never heard that one - which isn't to say it's not correct. Remington was around Californian racing in the very early '50sQuote:
Originally Posted by nick_tassie
My recollection is that Phil Remington was definitely an American; he certainly had a strong American accent. There were other Kiwi expats in the Shelby operation besides John Ohlsen, namely Steele Therkleson, Ron Butler (both still living in California) and Grev Hesketh (back in Rotorua).Quote:
Originally Posted by David McKinney
Phil Remington is defiantly American, im sure he would luv to know we think he has some "Kiwi" blood as he is considered the master fabricator come problem solver in the USA aftermarket auto industry, and for Shelby American and many other companies he worked for. I have meet Phil a few times when i've visited Dan Gurneys workshop in Santa Ana, CA where he still works, he's been with Gurney for many years, believe he's around 90? Offcourse the likes of Olsen, Butler, Therkleson, Hesketh were all Kiwi's working under him so he has a close affection to kiwi's!! In 2003 i wanted to buy some Gurney Westlake cylinder heads so i went to AAR and knocked on there door, didn't say i was a Kiwi but when asked where i was from, WELL, did i get the Red Carpet treatment and even a personal tour of the shop by Dan himself as he was very close to Hulme and McLaren let alone all the kiwi mechanics!! have been back several times and even took a tour there in 05, just luv it!!
In Picture from left!! Steve and Mike Rorison, myself, Nigel MacDonald(Hawera) and Mr Gurney
Dale Mathers
Rod, If you do have a contact for Ken I know Ron Grable would love to catch up with him. Ron lost touch years ago but I know he has been looking.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod Grimwood
many thanks,
Bruce.
Bruce, Kens email. SprintCar711@webtv.net
Ken normally comes out for the speedway season and drops up here for awhile. He has not been out the last couple of years though.
Thanks Rod, much appreciated. Lets see if we can get Ken and Ron back in touch with each other.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod Grimwood
Bruce.
And Arnold Stafford - even though he was UK-born (and is no longer with us)Quote:
Originally Posted by David Manton
I have the information on the Katipo MJ70 F5000 ,is anyone interested?
Yes!
There is only was one Katipo MJ70. Ok, in 1974 I knew these guys, and I saw this F5000 sitting in their workshop, just down the road from me..They told me it was the Katipo. I recognized it from the photos.One of them wanted it for the trans axle. Understand basically the rest was not needed by him and disposed of. He also said that it was originally a sports car from Aus and modified here, but not successfully,in fact according to his standards-and brother he is talented-it was a H.O.S. and thats why he only wanted some parts.He never told me who he got it off and who it went to.He told me a few years ago that the car now resides in Chch.The important part -the trans axle has been kept by him all these years and will never be parted from the vehicle it is in. As he has been a life long friend , I will not give his name, or car it is in, though most have seen it. And he does not want publicity.Just giving enough details to fill the missing gaps.
If youwould like some answers on this question, contact John's Son Paul, at O.D. Automotive Performance in Onehunga.
cheers.
Jean Ohlsen
Hi there, I have info on the katipo.first let me introduce myself, I'm Paul Lancaster from timaru, nz, I remember this car well, I used to sit in it as a kid.yes it was owned by Murray Morrison, and was in the care of his brother David.I researched this car and had a good chat to mark petch about it.it started out as a match chassis which petch got as payment after working for frank.petch took the chassis back to nz and built it up, building the suspension the same as a maclaren m10b.
When I asked petch for info on the matich, he replied,"it's not a effing matich, it's a katipo m70, the only thing of the original chassis left was the roll hoop.
It was run by francevic under petchs watch, and there was a funny story behind the engine in it.
One of petchs business mates that he knew, had imported a camaro or similar from the USA, and had gone overseas on holiday, and had parked it up in petchs garage.so patch decided to borrow the engine out of that and fit it to the katipo.they didn't have much success with it in race trim as it kept overheating, and after 2 or 3 laps, the temp gauge was rising, and being a "borrowed" engine, instructions were to switch it off.
Francevic put it on pole at timaru, and held the lead till he had to switch her off.overheating plagued them all season, until they finally figured out what the fault was, you guessed it, a dodgy temp gauge.
Then as far as I know Robby booth had it, and also Ian algie owned it for a while, transplanting the transaxle out of the katipo, into an alfa alfetta v8 That he drove in sports sedans.
Murray Morrison from southland bought it, drove it in a few club events, then it sat in the shed on Dave's farm at maungati.the chassis was pretty rusty Dave built a new one for in and installed the engine, box , suspension, complete with huge tyres, but it never ran with that chassis.then 2 yrs ago it got sold complete with original chassis, fairings, new chassis to john gobe in chch, who also owns about 12 shellsport cars, and from what I have been told he is a bit of a hoarder of old racers, not many getting the dollars they need thrown at them , so there you go chaps, I'll try andcsendcin the one and only pic I have of it,
I met John Gobbe at Teretonga in Feb - he told me he had the Katipo and we jokingly discussed the merits of restoring a car as a 5000 when the market value would hardly make it viable.
I told John that some years ago Andy Booth had told me his dad had said the Katipo was without doubt the scariest thing he had ever driven. I also mentioned to John that I had recalled it being Ford powered in the Robbie Booth era according to the Vercoe book - but he was surprised - I figured another thing I'd got wrong but pages 366, 367, 368, 370 and 373 all refer to Katipo-Ford
In Auto News May 11 , page 5 there is a full page advertisement from M.J.Racing, C/o Marave Automotive Developments,35 Bledisloe, Street ,Civic Square, AK.
M.J. Racing wishes to advise genuinely interested parties they are able to offer complete cars or rolling chassis to comply with the English formula Ford Regulations, on which NZ Formula C is complying with . The Katipo M.J.70C.
Motor is by Tony Krilitich
So this is the Katipo -Ford.
And in post #54-Wrong brother, wrong car.
Hi john, I presume you don't agree with me on my post.as I said, I rung mark petch and got lots of info from him.what do younmean wrong car, as far as I know, there was only 1 katipo, I could be wrong, but in definitely looks like the same car as is in the pics that have been posted.I have a photo of it which I'll try and upload for you.
Algie boys got the car after Francevic/Booth raced it.
Barry Algie has this transaxle in his Monaro.
Ians Alfetta has different transaxle.
If you look at my earlier post , I also said my research showed there was only one 5000 car. No problem with your pics.
Auto News article just shows what M and J s plan was-to build race cars.
No evidence that they did.
I think they built one FF car
35 Bledisloe St Civic Square was a workshop owned by Mark Petch. I dont know who the J was of MJ racing as the M was probably Mark. Was the J John Ohlsen. Tony Kriletich worked with me in Bledisloe Building. He did amazing things in his spare time including building the real Custaxie with the Urquharts who had the panel beating shop behind Bledisloe Building.
This may throw some light on the MJ - extracted from Companies Office register (in the public domain) certainly the same person with an extra christian name added in later yearsQuote:
Originally Posted by GeebeeNZ
PETCH, Mark James Wayne
V8 SUPERTOURERS LIMITED (3124785) - Director & Shareholder
Director Appointed 16 Sep 2010
Shareholder 17% (Individually Held)
PETCH, Mark James
TOTAL PUMP SOLUTIONS LIMITED (968534)(Struck off) - Director
Director Appointed 14 Jul 1999
Ok cool, yeah, I was unsure of what order the owner history was, nonetheless, good chatting about the old girl, I used to sit in her as a teenager and think how scary it must have been to drive, the pedals were offset to the right hand seating position, and the Waterpump drive and belt was right next to the drivers left.the chassis around the driver was pretty small gauge and would have been disaster in a shunt for sure.one name that stuck in my head that was on the side of it at the time was Lloyd diamenti, not too sure if he drove it , or was crew, or what, someone might be able to shed some light on that.
That's my recollectionQuote:
Originally Posted by GeebeeNZ
Sr3 chassis
It was an sr3 chassis that was hanging up in frank matichs workshop
The original rear wing you can see in the pics has had a good life of it's own, it once was fitted to Dave Morrison's Lyon ff back in the hill climb days when the Lyon reined supreme on the shingle, and now that wing, still owned by Dave, adores Donny mclarens rotary powered escort, still with begg and Allen signage
Was talking to Barry Algie yesterday, he said he actually owned the car on 2 separate occasions . First time in early 70s when I first saw it , then he sold it. He found it again a few years later and bought it a second time after Robbie Booth drove it.
Thats when the gearbox came out. He could use it in the Monaro as the rules said it must come out of a road car.
This explains the extra drivers racing it.
I found these shots taken at Baypark in 1975 - I can just read Denis Phillips name on the body
Not the greatest of photos but still of interest.
Hi Im John Ohlsens son Paul, good to find this thread, I can shed some light on a few things, and I will scan some photos at some stage too.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul lancaster
As to this post, Katipo was the name of the cars that Mark and Dad were building, the F5000 was a Katipo F5000. They also planned to build a bunch of Formula Fords, which were also Katipos, there was only one built and it was owned and driven by Mike Hole, it was christened the "Holesen". I have a stack of photos of this I will dig up and scan if anyone is interested?
Paul- As this site is our motor racing heritage, it would be great to see all the pix preserved here.
Hi Steve, Just happened to come across your question on the roaring season site.
been a while, however Johns son Paul and I [Jean Ohlsen] have a garage in Onehunga [been here 13 years]
we have many photos and stories etc......so if you're still interested? our phone number is (09) 6365-436
Hi Jean and Paul. Please post up a new thread about John(and your) exploits, im sure many here on the TRR would like to read about these and view any pics you have. I’ve been into Mustangs and Shelbys for many years and spent quite sometime in the US going to Shelby conventions and Historic race events, I got to know Steel Thurkelson(RIP) towards the end of his life and have read many articles on Shelby American, it seems quite a few kiwis worked at SA and many come up in pictures in various books and articles!! Speaking with Shelby himself years ago he seem to have a fondness for the ability of most kiwi’s and in recent times I’ve spoken to Pete Brock who speaks very highly of John and his ability with the Daytona Coupe project!! All this Shelby American history is folklore these days and has a big following among those of us too young to be there, especially in America!!
At next Januarys Festival the marque is Ferrari, I help run the Historic Muscle car group and we have past racers, mechanics etc come along, we would like have both or you in January if you’re interested, I can call in next time im in AKL, please E-mail me at dmathers@xtra.co.nz
Dale Mathers
Tauranga
Hi Dale, that sounds good. I will start a new thread at some stage, we've got a lot of stuff and Mum could write a novel.
Anyway, I found this photo of the Katipo,
http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/...0e1a3fabea.jpg
Here's another in the Marave workshop
http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/...scan0002-1.gif
And here is the MJ70c Katipo Formula Ford
http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/...0cb69bb5b3.jpg
http://i1011.photobucket.com/albums/...795bd03542.jpg
Hi Paul great photos, what ever happened to the ff?
No idea sorry, I don't have any history on it from after these photos were taken. Maybe someone else on here might have some clues as to its whereabouts?