Photos: The John Judson Collection

[Steve Holmes]

My thanks goes to Mike Feisst for organizing this very neat collection of New Zealand racing photos. Mike met John Judson one day and got to talking about racing history, and John happened to mention he had some old colour slides. John offered to have them converted to digital, and contacted Mike to let him know they were done.

The slides are very cool, and appear to focus mostly on the 1974 and 1975 seasons, and in particular, saloon car racing. They cover Bay Park, Pukekohe, Manfeild and Levin. There are also a handful from the 1980s.

According to Mike, John also has a collection of prints which he is also having converted, but for now, we can enjoy this great little collection of circa 65 images.

I hope you enjoy them.

[Steve Holmes]

This is Paul Fahey's beautiful Capri RS2600, at what is possibly its first New Zealand appearance at Bay Park, December 1973. This is a factory Ford Koln racing car built to contest the 1973 European Touring Car Championship. It was popularly named the 'Cologne Capri', which I guess sounded more exotic than Capri RS2600.

[Steve Holmes]

The Sidchrome Mustang in its original, and in my opinion, more handsome guise, as raced throughout 1973 and 1974, and with which Jim Richards won the 1974 NZ Saloon Car Championship. This looks like Pukekohe.

[Steve Holmes]

I've had something of a fixation with this Escort for a number of years. I think this might be the first colour photo I've seen of it. The Escort was owned and built by Wayne Fuller in circa-1971, and fitted with an ex-Paul Fahey FVA or FVC engine. Fuller was from Greytown in the Wairarapa. He raced the Escort during the 1972 season, mostly in the South Island OSCA series, which required regular Cook Straight Ferry crossings.

After its 1972 season, Fuller then decided to have the car rebuilt, and took it to Graham Berry, of the famed Berry & Chung hot rod duo. Berry rebuilt the Escort to be fitted with a small block Chevy V8, and did all the fabrication work required. The 350 cu.in Chevy was topped with a cross-ram intake manifold and a pair of Holley carbs.

It was completed in time for the 1974 season, and Fuller got a young car salesman from Masterton named Roger Brader to drive it. It was scarily fast in a straight line, but the braking and handling required some development. Trevor Crowe drove the car for the team at Wigram to try and give it some manners, and the team were just getting on top of things by the end of the season. However, Fuller then decided to sell it. Warren Steel purchased it, sans engine, and was going to fit a smaller V8 and run it in the 4.2 class in the NZ championship, but failed his eye test, so sold the car to John Scott. I assume this is the same John Scott who later raced a Pontiac Firebird in speedway in Auckland. A later owner was Ian Taylor. Does it still exist?

[Steve Holmes]

And speaking of Trevor Crowe, here is one of the many wild Specials he built and raced. This was his 327 cu.in Chevy V8 powered Corolla coupe. I spoke at length with Trevor recently about this car and the pair of V8 powered Starlets he built and raced in the 1980s, and it turns out this car was not actually a factory coupe. It was actually a four door sedan that had been barrel-rolled near Christchurch, killing its occupants. Crowe purchased the wreck for almost nothing, and as he worked for Toyota at the time, was able to purchase a coupe roof and rear door panels, and by modifiying the doors, turned it into a coupe.

Crowe had no money at the time, and couldn't afford to buy a real coupe, which were still expensive cars at the time. The motor came from a jet boat which had sunk, the Muncie was from Sydenham Chev Spares, and like the engine, needed a complete rebuild, and the Jaguar diff he picked up for cheap from Archibald Motors, because he knew them well and did a lot of work for them.

The South Island based OSCA series was enjoying steady growth in the early 1970s, and a couple of North Island promoters, including Robbie Lester at Manfeild, got a team of them up to the North Island to strut their stuff.

[Steve Holmes]

Here is another of the visiting South Island OSCA teams from that same tour. I think this is Gary Jenkins' wild Chevy V8 powered Vauxhall Victor. Note the reinforced wheels. This was a popular trick at the time for teams on limited budgets who couldn't afford the latest magnesium or alloy racing wheels.

I'm sure this car appeared before either the Jack Nazer or Greg Lancaster V8 Victors.

[Steve Holmes]

A regular visitor from Australia was Allan Moffat, who always drew a huge crowd. The media didn't like him because he was blunt and didn't want to talk to them, but his presence always made the Kiwi drivers try that little bit harder, and the crowds loved his aggressive driving style, not to mention his beautiful Kar-Kraft Mustang. By my count he raced the Mustang in New Zealand in the 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975 seasons, before returning with the DeKon Monza for the 1976 season.

This is the Mustang in its Sports Sedan guise, when it was forced in this direction by CAMS upheaval of touring car regulations for 1973. Series Production and Improved Production made way for Group C and Sports Sedans. Most of the great Improved Production cars, such as Moffats Mustang, Bob Jane's Monaro, his Camaro, the Norm Beechey Monaro, Pete Geoghegan Super Falcon etc, were all forced to compete in the Sports Sedan ranks. Jane did convert the Camaro to Group C specs and completed one race, but was then turfed out, and the Camaro was sold off.

This is the Moffat Mustang in its Brut 33 guise, as it raced in 1974. Moffat had an epic duel with Jim Richards at Wigram in January 1975; the pair battling throughout before the silver Mustang ousted the similar red Mustang just before the line.

[Oldfart]

The body shell of the Crowe Starlet wound up with Dave Bray, chassis and roll cage builder, who was at the time in Pakuranga, later Howick, and was built into a modified sportsman that ran at Waikaraka with a straight 6 Valiant based motor. Dave is the brother of Frank, who ran sports cars, and father of Daniel, very successful kart racer.

[Steve Holmes]

The body shell of the Crowe Starlet wound up with Dave Bray, chassis and roll cage builder, who was at the time in Pakuranga, later Howick, and was built into a modified sportsman that ran at Waikaraka with a straight 6 Valiant based motor. Dave is the brother of Frank, who ran sports cars, and father of Daniel, very successful kart racer.

Thanks Rhys, I knew it no longer existed, but didn't know its ultimate fate. Crowe sold the car to Palmerston North racer Mike Moore, who initially circuit race it before it was converted to a speedway car.

[Steve Holmes]

This is one of my favourite NZ racing sedans of the early 1970s; Red Dawson's Kensington Carpets Camaro. Dawson purchased the genuine Z28 in 1971 as a replacement for his long-serving Shelby Mustang. He made a trip to the US with the plan to buy a Trans-Am race car, preferably a factory car. But there was nothing suitable available. So he purchased this Camaro, which was a mostly standard road car.

From there, he bought up a bunch of parts to be shipped home with the car so it could be built to Group 5 regulations, as used at the time for the NZ Saloon Car Championship. One of the nicest features of the Camaro are the genuine Fisher Body punched steel flares, which are the very same type used on the Chaparral and Smokey Yunick factory Trans-Am Camaros in 1970.

Dawson raced the Camaro for four seasons. It was painted this beautiful metallic gold colour, which looked a million bucks. Dawson always had great looking race cars. But metallic gold was a brave colour to paint a race car then, as it is now. Paint touch-ups are a nightmare, and Dawson liked to use the bumper. Its fourth season the gold made way for the less attractive red and white colours of Marlboro, which he then carried across to his DeKon Monza the following season.

The Camaro continued its racing career, being owned for a short time by Don Peddie and Allan Dick, who had Kevin Haig drive it to win the South Island OSCA championship. Even Ken Smith had a steer. Lawrence Bruce was another owner, as was Ross Cameron.

Amazingly, even though the OSCA regulations allowed a lot of freedom, the Camaro was never really cut up. It did have the firewall cut out to move the engine back, but that was about it. Even the factory headliner survived.

Its been owned for many years by Kelvin Towns, who restored the firewall and has begun an overall restoration. Its currently for sale, thought its not being advertised as such.

[928]

steve, or anyone else,
did this capri come to nz with the 2600cc cologne engine? if so, when was the cosworth GAA fitted and what happened to the original engine? many thanks

[Steve Holmes]

steve, or anyone else,
did this capri come to nz with the 2600cc cologne engine? if so, when was the cosworth GAA fitted and what happened to the original engine? many thanks

Yep, it arrived in NZ fitted with the Weslake built pushrod Cologne V6, bored to 2900cc and fitted with Kugelfischer fuel-injection as raced in the 1973 ETCC. The Cosworth GAA was based on the Essex engine block, and used for the 1974 ETCC in the Capri RS3100. In racing trim it was out to 3400cc, and featured four camshafts and Lucas fuel-injection.

Fahey purchased one of these engines in late 1974 to replace the Cologne based engine, although there was talk he planned to switch between the two. But he eventually settled on the GAA. Don Halliday also purchased a Cosworth GAA for the Capri he and brother Rob were building as a replica RS3100.

Roger Townshend, who has owned the Fahey Capri since the 1980s, tracked down both the Cologne V6 and the Cosworth GAA, and will use the Cosworth in the car once the restoration is complete.

[kiwi285]

Great to see these photos up on this site. Your explanations are amazing Steve.

[Paul B]

Great to see these photos up on this site. Your explanations are amazing Steve.

Agree too Mike, great pics and great read

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks guys.

[seaqnmac27]

Here is another of the visiting South Island OSCA teams from that same tour. I think this is Gary Jenkins' wild Chevy V8 powered Vauxhall Victor. Note the reinforced wheels. This was a popular trick at the time for teams on limited budgets who couldn't afford the latest magnesium or alloy racing wheels.

I'm sure this car appeared before either the Jack Nazer or Greg Lancaster V8 Victors.

Pretty sure it first appeared 1973 Steve, which definitely predates the other 2, and is still the only one in active circulation, of the course the Lancaster one no longer exists.

[Steve Holmes]

Pretty sure it first appeared 1973 Steve, which definitely predates the other 2, and is still the only one in active circulation, of the course the Lancaster one no longer exists.

Thanks Sean, thats great info.

[Steve Holmes]

Here is another of the visiting South Island OSCA teams from that same tour. I think this is Gary Jenkins' wild Chevy V8 powered Vauxhall Victor. Note the reinforced wheels. This was a popular trick at the time for teams on limited budgets who couldn't afford the latest magnesium or alloy racing wheels.

I'm sure this car appeared before either the Jack Nazer or Greg Lancaster V8 Victors.

I was trying to remember who first raced the Victor. I knew it wasn't Jenkins. It was Alex Dickie. Dickie had been racing the ex-Neil Doyle Anglia Corvette in the OSCA series. Remember, OSCA was created because a group of South Island Allcomer racers were unhappy with MSNZ for culling the Allcomers from the NZ Championship following the 1967 season. So they got together and started Open Saloon Car Association.

But in the early 1970s, OSCA decided to start cleaning up its rules, and getting the cars back to having the correct silhouette, so the old Allcomers were once again without anywhere to race.

So Dickie took all the running gear from the Anglia it put it into a newly built Victory. Tony Mann owns this car now amongst his collection which includes the Sidchrome Imp and the Mike Fitzgerald etc V8 Capri.

[John McKechnie]

Further to that...you can see around the tops of the doors , they are painted green. Tonys Victor now is green all over. Also I am pretty sure it still runs that great SBC...327

[kiwi285]

Here is a photos of the Victor Chev now owned by Tony Mann.

Tony Mann's Victor Chev by Mike Feisst, on Flickr