oops dont no what happend
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oops dont no what happend
Hey Ged, I know we are all a bit thick on this thread, but you dont have to repeat your tale 10 times!!!!!!! And, listen up fellas.....we may be looking at the THIRD version of the 'Custaxie' here. Apparently at a meeting in Levin in 1967, the brakes on the Custaxie locked up going into the hairpin and the car ploughed into the bank with such force that a... COMPLETE REBUILD WAS NECESSARY!!!!![contemporary race report]
[QUOTE=Oldfart;7555]I
When I saw the new one somthing did not click. It just seemed less intimidating or something.
Sort of like Joe Frazier with a nose job ;)
A bit of journalistic exageration. It was fairly damaged at the front end, so the front probably needed a rebuild. With 1 or 2 meetings to go and the Championship wrapped up I doubt they would have rebuilt the whole car completely considering its history shortly after. I did take photos of the damage at the time, but they are no longer around.
pallmall im flat out turning this thing on
rod who built that jag. some very clever work, fiberglass doors / frames etc
Hi Gwyn, If you want to do the Fairlane I have the ORIGINAL front brake calipers from that car, The Top Loader case went into my Cortinas, might still be in the MKIV. But hey we dont need all that old stuff to build it, just buy a donor F/Lane out of USA & get stuck in. I think I might have suggested doing something along those lines to Jack Ondrack at some point, but he is happy with the TVR & reckons my ideas are too expensive ( tongue firmly in both cheeks:) ), anyone want to build it let me know, I have enough info on those cars to get it very close to right, only trouble will be it wont be as slow as it was!!!:)
What was it called? Well the photo I posted has written underneath in my 16 year old handwriting "Custaxie". This was the GP meeting, and for some reason I have an impression it was almost new at that time. I do know, without doubt, as I have a photo that it did NOT have Colour me gone" on the back the day I took that photo.
I will double check my photos from the first couple of meetings when the car ran at the same meetings as me ,but from memory the car was just plain white in the begining and the number 50 was just roughly hand written,so your photo is possibly from later on at Pukekohe
Ged, Morgan & Oshea. Barry was a great fabricator. Now retired and living in Wanaka. His son builds hot rods in Wanaka. The mighty TNT.
If I remember correctly it was just finished in time for Renwick, or maybe NSCC Pukekohe but unpainted and a rough number. I think it may have been the same at the first Levin meet of the season. The 'Colour me Gone' was a bit after the car was properly painted. There are a few photos in threads on here of the car in its rough state. Initially Motorman called it a Ford 7litre in the results and "an ugly 7-litre Galaxie engined Customline monster" in the race reports.
woody barry and i are very good friends i done the running gear a 292 y block chev pistons converted to fully floating pins. engine came out of starline
.a canadan option. we were only very young men when that car was built. barry still owns it today and has been restored
hi jac I came over to the canam thunder meet at ruapuna a couple of years ago,and there was a tvr tuscon racing. 302ford power very imppessive, is this the car you speak of
re you the one who said, you know where the fairlane is in invercargill.could you tell me where it is, and can we get to it.
Gwyn...If it was white, yep thats the old girl.
Custaxi 50, it is not in Invercargill, I know where it is within about 50 ft horizontally & about 15 ft vertically, current land owners would need to be approached, I know the guy that was driving the dozer, & I know it was absolutely stuffed when it was put there & after 40 years of gravel & corrosion it aint gonna be any better now, it was burnt beyond easy recognition in the fire, even the front calipers took some effort to remove pistons etc due to heat, The Top Loader had been 'Number 8 wired' with bush's replacing the the layshaft needle rollers, really not worth the hassle.
Ged, to my knowledge, Mr McMillan from Metropolitan Cranes owned the car and had Dave Silcock build and run it. When it went to Steve Millen he did a few bits of lightening of some panels and changed colour from blue to maroon (i spent a couple of hours on it during this time). When Steve sold the car I did not see it again for years and that was when Clive Gott appeared in it. It had changed alot in this time. The next time i saw it was years later again when Mike bought it out, and it was great to see. That is why i would love to see any photos or information that anyone has. I noticed a couple of photos in thread "my images" so if anyone has photos/info please send to me. I had a heap of photos but they dissappeared/got lost years ago.
I think the Jag most probably still holds the record for speed and sound from the toll gates on the Auckland harbour bridge to under the Onewa Rd overbridge. This was a popular test in the days. The BM might have been quicker but no noise so doesn't count.
to rod grimwood,the custaxie was on the north shore,-one night it went from the north shore to huntly and back as fast as it would go--and used a gallon of oil-that was a good night could not do that today, someone would be on there cell phone.you say it remand in hot rod circles for a long time .you say you know the owner or someone who does,tell all out here who you think this could be
Rod, the person you need to 'talk' to is of course Jim Short. He will give you chapter and verse on this car.....good and bad!!!!!!!
Not sure whether you can persuade him to write something on here, but would be good if he could.
Custaxie50: I saw it in Wairau Rd. What engine was in it at this stage.
I am trying to contact an ex hot rodder from nth shore to try and find out what he may know about goings on. This was awhile back and not sure were he is now but hope to find out.
Back in those days, alot of cars were on the road legal/illegal at different times, and yes you wouldn't think of it now. Mind you back then a gallon of gas was only couple of bob so times have changed.
I was at a funeral up at Kerikeri on Friday and happened to see 2 brothers who had a bit to do with car in original days. They had a service station and a big boat motor. Under different circumstances I would have had long fact finding conversation, but this will hopefully come at later date.
Urqhart brothers, Coventry Motors. They are still around. I understood they built the engine, and had a flattie called Miss Coventry III, very quick boat. Glenn Urqhart went on to win the class II world offshore powerboat championships in Guernsey with Barry Thompson. Glenn knows a fair bit about the original Custaxie.
Urqhart bros. had a boat Miss Coventry powered by a 427 SOHC. Would like to know where the 427 went?
The last time I saw the Custaxie it was powered by a Flat Head Ford V8, it didn't have the nose on that it raced with, and I think it was running fairly skinny wheels and tyres. I think this would have been in late 1969 or early 1970. It actually looked very rough, like a pile of horse droppings actually.
Attachment 4824
A rather unhealthy Custaxie appeared at the Wiri Drags in Jan 1971 as reported in NZ Hot Rod Mag. I understand that the Custaxie body was later removed and replaced with a Ford Pickup
hi rod, on this friday gone i went to horopito motors just north of ohakune.i went to look at all the customlines that he had there,not one good one left. he had a e type jag there so i had a look at the brakes on it,looking at them i would say not up to racing at all in my eyes.i got there late and had a small look around,will go back for a good look .there have been a number of old race cars that have ended up there,i have to say that i had the feeling that i could have just walked around and there it was.because the place just does that to you,because pipiriki is not to far from horopito and someone said that the custaxie end up there.
Custaxie50: Go have a good look, as you don't know what may pop up in there. Maybe put a day aside, as there is a bit to look at. Maybe some photos of whats there. Best of luck in the hunt.
Geebee NZ: Smoky Thompson ? was that Royden Thompson from "Purple Haze" fame and Thompson Performance in Otahuhu or some one else.
do you know if some parts from the old custaxie went into the new car, allso do you know who were there to build the new custaxie.
Woody, that 427 Cammer engine done the rounds, in the 70's it ended up in the Trevor Gray 68 KR Shelby Mustang dirt track saloon and is now currently running in the Nostalger drag circles in a old front engine rail out of Levin, owners name is Alex Hogg(i think)
I've raced with Paul Urquart, Glen is Pauls Uncle,have spoken with them all on several occasions about there racing exploits, all very interesting and great history, they have North Shore Complicance in Porana rd, Glenfeild these days.
Dale Mathers
May 1971.
Yea sorry was spelling mistake (R/Croydon). I was chatting to him at the funeral up here of the poor guy who died in the fire at Karekare Peninsula. I have known him for a few years. Croydon has a chopper up north. I will catch up a bit and will source some more info. I discussed with him because he made the wheels for Murray Soames that are on my Escort that Murray and a couple of others built.
OK....replying to oldfarts post 169 on 'going even older'. Custaxie50 asks what was used from the original custaxie in the custaxieII rebuild. I have in my possession, a skite board that was used in the South Island to inform the curious public what the custaxie achieved in 1966, and how the custaxieII came into being. I will quote part of what it says..........' The custaxie was sold, and had largely disappeared over the years. When it resurfaced, it had been severely cut up and much was missing, however Robbie Francevic and Peter Talley purchased the vehicle to bring the legend back to life. They began with half a car, the back only, no nose or doors. Rebuilt it to its original racing form, including Borg Warner T10 gearbox, Jaguar disc brakes all round, and the original steel wheels'.......So there you go custaxie50, make of that what you wish.
As reported in New Zealand Classic Car March 2010 Vol. 20 No.3. If you can find read.
When eventually found, the car had been severly cut and much was missing. The owner had many Customlines and expressed an interest in restoring the Custaxie. When Robbie was asked for his help with a possible restoration, he apparrently said only he could do this as only he knew the car well enough to do the job.
Robbie purchased the car and Peter Talley and John Millar talked him into rebuilding it.
as Tony Krilitich could not be contacted, John Millar (Dauphine Chev fame and clever man) took over some design parts in his workshop at Riwaka. They began with only the back body. They found another donor car which was partly restored.
In regard to the front of the car help came from John Dobbie who makes fibreglass kayaks.
The inside alloy panels are held in place by tech screws instead of the pop rivets of old days. (also very much neater) To meet new regs it has a new approved seat and harness and extra bracing in the roll bar and for safety a fuel cell.
to amco72 are you telling me this is a quote from robbie himself about the custaxie,looking at what you have said you dont know at all about the custaxie do you,you are just reading somethink that came out in new zealand classic car in march 2010 that someone has put up at the race meeting.
Yes, custaxie50, all I am doing is reading what has been written on an information board that is in my possession, which is similar to what Rod Grimwood quoted from the Classic Car magazine. I know absolutely ziltch about the car, other than what I have read, and what I have seen. HOWEVER, you apparently DO know something, by all your comments in this and other threads, so why dont you put us all out of our misery and tell us WHAT it is. Please.
At the end of the day Robbie is the one who knows all and until someone can sit down and catch up with him, we can only go by what knowledge has been made available. If you do know more please share as this is a very interesting car and a big part of NZ Motorsport history. It is certainly not everyones baby, but coming from a tin top background is an interest to me. I had a very quick catch up with him when he ran the car at Hampton and again at Teretonga but did not go too much into the car as we were both busy keeping cars mobile. So if you do have info-share please, as we all have the same reasons at heart.
Custaxie 50, I am not going to get into a war of words with you, especially on a subject I know nothing about. As I said elsewhere, your name suggests that you have/had an intimate connection with the car, and as this machine is part of NZ motorsport legend, we would all like to know what that connection is. You seem to be hinting..wink wink,nod nod, that you know something no one else does. For the sake of history, it would be helpful if you could share it with us, then we could all make informed decisions as to whether or not to reply. At the moment, all you are doing on these posts is requesting answers to your questions......'how do you know that'....'can you give proof'....'could you post some pictures'...etc etc etc. It is very difficult for the rest of us to have a meaningful discussion with someone who only asks questions. Dont forget, this forum is about 'give and take'. At the moment it is very one-sided.
i have just heard from a reliable source he sat in the gradstand most of the time