1961 National Formula/Gold Star Lotus 20

[PaulieG]

For our current project we are undertaking, we are repairing and restoring the ex Tony Shaw/Graham Baker/Dave Mitchell/Bill McCabe Lotus 20 that was raced predominantly in the South Island. Tony Shaw imported the car to NZ through Hank Rossiter via John Sprinzel. Tony registered it as a "Lotus Car" in Oct 65 and has been continually licensed since then, making tracing the NZ history relatively easy. Tracing it back to Europe however has been a problem, with the only glimmer of hope being through Hank Rossiter who knows the car only had one owner from factory and has the name written somewhere. I have written to Hank with a SSAE in the hopes to hear back but to no avail. In addition to the history we are trying to trace photos or memories of the car, as to help us determine the livery for the car to restore it to a particular period and would be thrilled if any of you could help. What we have so far is:
Tony Shaw- Mid Light Pastel Blue to Green with Yellow Nose Band
Graham Baker- Green with Yellow Band to Red with Yellow Stripe?
Dave Mitchell- Red with White stripe?
Bill McCabe- Purple with white stripe.
Again these are just word of mouth except McCabe's as we have his body that was crashed at Teretonga in 1970/1 and subsequently never raced again.
At some stage in NZ the car has been upgraded to have a 22 top link rear suspension set up, but the work was very professional. Will load photo's. Maybe someone on here did the work?! I have one black and white photo of it courtesy of David McKinney taken at Wigram in 1966 but would love to see more, I realise that this car was never a major frontrunner, but the fact that this car is so original due to its short active racing life and has a detailed NZ history is awesome. We have the original body but somewhere along the line someone has purchased a lotus 22 body for it. (orange body in photo) Along with this the car has a lotus 22 oil tank and a 22 seat. Strange parts to add in I would have thought. During Tony Shaw's ownership, a 1.5L motor was installed, then Graham Baker had a dry sumped 1.5L. I would love to hear about any memories or see photos of this car.

[PaulieG]

Any takers on this challenge? Hopefully someone has some photos or at least can remember the car or drivers!

[Chris Read]

I owned the ex Palmer 20B (his second one) for 20 yrs. Have quite a bit of info and the odd part.
Get in touch if I can help in any way. Chris Read, Arrowtown. chrisread8@hotmail.com

[PaulieG]

Hi Chris
Have sent an email through to you.
Thanks for your help.

[Bailey]

Hi PaulieG,

Tony Shaw is my uncle, I saw your post and managed to dig up this photo of the car and assoicated information for you - hope this helps:

Location / Date - Ruapuna Track May 1967

Signage - ‘Shaw Motors’ advertising Tony’s business

Colour scheme – Pale iridescent blue with navy strip around ‘nose’

History –
1965 purchased by Tony from UK and shipped to Auckland for £1000
Sold to Graeme Baker for £1300 (NZ) – then bought BT20/21 Brabham from Roly Lewis

Specifications –
Engine - landed with 1.3L motor which was replaced by 1.5 twin cam
Tyres – Dunlop? with tread (no slicks in those days)

The woman in the car is ‘Sue Cornish’ a friend of Tony’s wife Lynn

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, Bailey, good on you for doing this! Just awesome!

[PaulieG]

[QUOTE=Bailey;12450]Hi PaulieG,

Tony Shaw is my uncle, I saw your post and managed to dig up this photo of the car and assoicated information for you - hope this helps:

Location / Date - Ruapuna Track May 1967

Signage - ‘Shaw Motors’ advertising Tony’s business

Colour scheme – Pale iridescent blue with navy strip around ‘nose’

History –
1965 purchased by Tony from UK and shipped to Auckland for £1000
Sold to Graeme Baker for £1300 (NZ) – then bought BT20/21 Brabham from Roly Lewis

Specifications –
Engine - landed with 1.3L motor which was replaced by 1.5 twin cam
Tyres – Dunlop? with tread (no slicks in those days)
[QUOTE=Bailey;12450]



Thank You so much. We have been searching for photos and information on this car for so long, and this is amazing! It is an exceptional photo. On another note, we have traced the car right back to who the original owner and got the chassis number as this was missing, and also who Tony bought the car off (Keith St John) in Europe. The original owner was Malcolm Templeton in Northern Ireland. The car raced as a Formula Junior and then a Formula 3 car in 1964 before coming to NZ. For those in the Panelbeating trade look out in the upcoming Paneltalk for a write up on this car! I have attached the only other photo I have been sent, kindly by Davis McKinney, of Tony racing the car in 1966 at Wigram. Any other info or photos of the car at any stage would be hugely appreciated by any forum members, especially those who attended south island club events!

[Allan]

That was ten years ago. Is there any more to this story?

[Ray Bell]

I have another question, if that helps?

What's the story with the rear uprights? These have been fitted to enable a top link to be built into the rear suspension.