Bob Jane Racing Heritage - Photo Collection

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As outlined earlier in the week, The Roaring Season and the Bob Jane Racing Heritage have joined forces to share photos, and stories, that will benefit visitors to both our websites. Simon Popplewell and Myles Johnson have been busy working their way through the many, many photos that are in Bob Janes photo collection, and scanning each one for posterity.

Many of these photos have never been seen before. A large proportion are of Bob, and Bobs cars, but there are also many more that feature the characters, the legends, and larger-than-life figures that helped make Australian motorsport great, the team principles, the mechanics, the team members, plus the drivers that raced against Bob. Sure, these guys were rivals on the track, but, as you’ll see from some of these photos, they were good mates off it.

The photos aren’t labelled, so we have to figure things out for ourselves with many of them. Some are obvious, others aren’t. But they are all fascinating, and its incredibly exciting to be able to display them here for everyone to enjoy.

And remember, to visit the Bob Jane Racing Heritage website regularly. I can promise you its going to grow into something pretty special.

Kicking things off, Bob has always gone to great lengths to make time for kids. Its something he did when he started out in racing, and something he still does now. Kids are the future, and Bob always took the time to give them special treatment. This fantastic photo shows Bob helping a couple of young race fans into the cockpit of the Elfin-Traco. I bet they became race fans for life after this. No doubt, a moment that would stay with them forever.

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Fierce rivals on the track, good mates off it. Bob and Pete Geoghegan with their two legendary Mustangs.

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This car apparently raced just four times. Norm Beechey, pictured here, is about to unload his beautiful black '68 Camaro off the 'team' transporter. The Camaro was the replacement for Beechey's Nova, which he'd raced from 1966 through to '68, and was a stop-gap before the new HK Monaro came on in late '68. Beechey did manage to beat Geoghegan's all-conquering Mustang once with the Camaro, but at the all important 1968 ATCC race at Warwick Farm, it was an early retirement. Once the Monaro was ready to race, the Camaro just sort of vanished. Its believed to have been converted to a road car, it never raced again, and its whereabouts are unknown.

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The exact details of this engine bay are a bit of a mystery. The photo isn't labelled. It appears to be a Camaro engine bay, and my guess would be that its Bobs famous ZL1 '69 Camaro, when CAMS forced him to run a small block Chevy in 1972. Would anyone like to comment?

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Larrikins! Bob and (I think) Pete Geoghegan share a Shelby T-Shirt! As they'd both visited Shelby in 1965 to buy a Mustang each, the shirt is likely to have been picked up then. Was it Bobs shirts, or Petes? Maybe they each thought he owned it. How much would it be worth now? Plenty, would be my guess.

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I can't comment too much on the motor it self, but the carburettors are impressive. Almost certainly a set of 58mm webers as fitted to 2.5 liter Coventry Climax. Red Dawson had a set of those on his Monza at one stage, if you did it today it would cost you about $24000 and everybody would say way too big!

Thanks Dave, heres one just for you.

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On the grid at Sandown, 1964. At left is Bob in the Jaguar. In the centre is Norm Beechey in the '63 Galaxie that was also raced at various times by Len Lukey and Lex Davison. At right, I think, could be Ern Abbott. Looking at the number plate on the Valiant, its the same car raced by Abbott, but whether this is him here I can't say for sure.

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The '67 Mustang. This is the car written off at Lakeside in 1970, when owned by Chris Brauer.

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Stunning shot of Pete Geoghegan cocking a wheel in the Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 250LM at Bathurst. I think this was 1968.

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Bobs other ZL1. This one was drag raced sporadically, then sold in 1973. The motor from this car was used in the restoration of Bobs more famous 1971/72 ATCC winner. I think the car itself may have been written off some years later. Myles can clarify.

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The first shot is at Lakeside. The second is of the Elfin Repco, not Traco and the shot of big Pete in the 250LM is 1968 as stated. Keep em coming.

Dale.

Thanks Dale.

Of all Bob's race cars, he surely must have raced this amazing HQ Monaro the longest. The car first appeared in late 1972, and Bob raced it until the end of 1978. It was originally built for the Improved Production category, as a replacement for his ZL1 Camaro, and he likely would have taken over the reigns from 1973 after its early development races to defend his ATCC title. Bob's hired gun, John Harvey, debuted the Monaro at the penultimate round of the 1972 ATCC, at Surfers Paradise, on July 22.

But CAMS changed the rules part-way through 1972, effectively scrapping the Improved Production category. Most Improved Production racers ended up in the now nationally recognised Sports Sedan class, which allowed far greater freedoms than did Improved Production. But Sports Sedans weren't given championship status until 1976, so only bragging rights and prize-money were on offer. So the Monaro became a Sports Sedan, and run alongside Bob's Repco V8 Torana. For 1973 the Monaro remained much as it first appeared in '72, but started to sprout spoilers from 1974.

This engine bay photo shows the car in its original Improved Production guise. The fuel-injected Chevy was built by John Sheppard and Pat Purcell, with Sheppard creating the inlet manifold himself. Note the front distributor. What an impressive beast. It would have been fascinating to have seen if Bob could have defended his ATCC title in this car, as it was generally considered a better car than the two-time ATCC winning Camaro.

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Norm Beechey built and raced some fascinating cars throughout the late 1950s and early 60s. His early years followed that of many typical Aussies, battling away in an FX Holden, followed by an EH. But, there were early signs that Beechey, the showman, preferred to cut his own path. In 1958, he briefly raced a Ford Customline. The, in 1962, he opted for this massive Chevy Impala, imported brand new from the US.

The Impala was originally intended for the single-race 1962 ATCC at Longford. Unfortunately, it failed to reach Australia in time, so Beechey fronted up with his FX Holden. The Impala became one of the fastest touring cars in Australia throughout the rest of 1962, and into '63, and was about the only touring car that could take it to the dominant Jaguars. There was much anticipation over the contest between it and Bob Jane's Jaguar at the 1963 ATCC at Mallala, but the duel never happened. The Impala blew its motor just prior to the ATCC, and Norm reverted back to his Holden for the second year running.

This incredible photo shows not just the race car, but also what I can only guess is Norms tow-vehicle, a '61 Impala.

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I never get tired of looking at this photo! What an absolute gem. This is how ya' drive 'em! Smoke the bags!

This is the third of the three Mustangs Bob raced, this being the ex-Shelby 1968 Trans-Am factory car. These 1967/68 model Mustang coupes made such good looking race cars. Judging by the dark helmet, I believe this is Bob driving, as opposed to John Harvery, who also raced this car regularly.

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Wow,these photos are awesome ! could the unknown engine bay be the 68 Beechey Camaro , only a wild guess as I have never seen a photo of it.
Pete.

Pete, Bruce Thompson (Bruce302) also suggested that. I think you guys are both right. I guessed at Bobs Camaro when it ran the 350, but the engine bay and surrounds look a lot darker than orange.

I've never seen an engine bay shot of Bob's Camaro when he ran the small block. Did he run multiple carbs, or a single 4-barrel?

I have also never seen a shot of the ZL-1,s engine bay when Cams forced Bob to re-configure the car as a Z-28 but I suspect it would have utilized the LT-1 aluminum valve covers as in the shot of the HQ . The steel covers in the unknown photo appear to be for a 327, unlike the 350 which had a different breather system.
Pete.

Yeah, I really think you guys are on it, its almost certainly the Beechey Camaro. That car really had some effort go into it. What a shame its career was so short.

Norm Beechey, the showman. The sport today is sadly lacking the characters it once had.

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Norm and Peter Manton discuss team tactics. Pete Geoghegan tries to look like he isn't listening in.

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Originally Posted by Steve Holmes

Norm Beechey, the showman. The sport today is sadly lacking the characters it once had.

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Unfortunately Steve, I think ALL sports have been sanitised to ridiculous levels, I think of the nonsense happening within cricket and the indoctrination that means that you can not even talk to another player for fear of how they may react.
This year an AFL player was suspended for a week and fined by his club for making comments about another players mother.

Your right Steve, I miss the girls.

...Gezzz, Rod I miss them too, What was thier names :confused:!!????..........................MJ:cool:

The lightweight E Type, with hardtop lid fitted. Note how heavily polished the wheels are, this was signature of all Bob's cars. Presentation was as good as it gets.

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The D Type. What more can I say. Just stunning.

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Fascinating collage of the HQ Monaro. The level of detail is amazing. Note the lack of head rest. Bob and John Harvey must have had bloody strong necks! Some padding was added to the rollcage tube directly behind the drivers seat in early races, before a large pad was fitted, then, finally, a high-back race seat. Note also the finned rear drums. And, as per CAMS rules for Improved Production, the HQ is fully carpeted!

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Very early photo of Allan Moffat posing next to his Mustang. This is from 1969, when the car still ran on 8" wide wheels, and before the Boss decals were applied in 1970. Moffat looks incredibly young and unassuming here, and slightly geeky, with his signature thick-rimmed specs. Yet, behind the wheel, he was an absolute tiger, and brought a new level of intensity to Australian touring car racing when he arrived.

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Steve

Do you want other Jane pics in this or would you rather keep it to your Racing Heritage material

Ellis, I just created this thread to display some of the photos from the Bob Jane Racing Heritage, as we're working together with them. But please go ahead and add yours, they're an absolute credit to any thread.

Another Camaro to throw in the mix could be the Ex Terry Allen car when raced by Greame Blanchard in 71-72. He has told me he ran the 350 small block with a quad weber crossover setup. It was stolen off the car just before he sold it to Lakis Manticas. Terry ran quad 58mm webers on the big block, so these may have been those carbs with small block cross over.

I did briefly wonder that too Nick, but there are a series of photos taken of the Beechey Camaro that look like they could have been (or maybe they did end up) taken for a magazine article, including interior and trunk photos, and I wonder if maybe this is part of that photo shoot.

The other Super Falcon. Ford Australia built, at huge expense, two XW Falcons for the Improved Production category that contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, one for Pete Geoghegan, and one for Allan Moffat. The cars were powered by fuel-injected 351s, and contained some quite exotic pieces. This is Moffats car, which was supposed to replace his Mustang. Moffats car first appeared at the final ATCC race in 1970 at Symmons where the motor blew itself to bits.

Both drivers struggled with the cars during the various races they ran them in 1971, often turning up with both their Falcons and Mustangs, practising with both cars, then opting to run the Mustangs. Both cars handled poorly, due mainly to lacking rigidity in an effort to get weight out of them, plus they struggled to put power to the ground. Geoghegan persevered for another year, after pouring a bunch more money into it, but won just a single ATCC race in 1972. Moffat gave up on his, and reverted back to his Mustang. His Falcon was believed to have been stripped of its good parts, which were transferred across to Geoghegans car, and the body eventually dumped.

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Hi Steve,the Moffat XW lightweight would be my all time favourite looking touring car-what a pity it never ran in this configuration for any length of time before it was updated to the XY style,not quite as tough looking in my opinion. I believe the cars were originally built with removable radiator support panels ( to enable quick engine changes in the pits ) and this weakening of the front body structure lead to body twistage causing handling issues.A hell of a great looking car!

Regards Pete.

Interesting engine bay shot of the Moff lightweight showing off the locally made mechanical slide-valve fuel injection.
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Wow, that is some pretty special! Didn't Moffat try running the Falcon motor in his Mustang once or twice?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mid-year

Hi Steve,the Moffat XW lightweight would be my all time favourite looking touring car-what a pity it never ran in this configuration for any length of time before it was updated to the XY style,not quite as tough looking in my opinion. I believe the cars were originally built with removable radiator support panels ( to enable quick engine changes in the pits ) and this weakening of the front body structure lead to body twistage causing handling issues.A hell of a great looking car!

Regards Pete.

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Yeah I'm with you on that one Pete, I thought Moffats looked better as an XW too. Although, curiously, I thought Geoghegans looked better as an XY! Its a shame the cars never performed as hoped, they were pretty dramatic looking machines, and even when first built were incredibly exciting, and created huge interest, and were phenomenally powerful. But even after Geoghegan spent a fortune further developing his for 1972, it still wasn't as good as Moffats Mustang at most tracks.