Lost Race Cars

[Rod Grimwood]

John did race a Statesman with George Bunce it was silver with black vinyl roof. That Statesman was bought by Robin Irving (doc) and at one stage we fitted a sump guard to it and Robin and Rod Millen rallied it in the Maramarua Rally when his Mazda was over at the RAC, It was a bulldozer at speed, first stage it stalled a couple of times going into corners, so Doc would lean over and crank it over with the key and Rod would hang on and all of a sudden there would be lock as it fired. Reset the idle to real fast and they finished in a place up front. Did a couple of trips to Bay Park with Robin in that car, now thats another story. May have some photos.

Yep, you got it. The Windleburns raced a Statesman during the 1982/83 B&H endurance season, but this was the first year of the NZ made SS Commodores which were completely dominant and the Statesman wasn't a contender.

[seaqnmac27]

in reference to this car



As a guess I think it may have been from the 1978 meet for the Peter Stuyvesant series. However i know Neil Day from Grant Day Motors Palmerston North asd thats where i grew up, have been in touch and I am seeking information on it.

[David McKinney]

The Grant Day Escort was driven by Brendon Hartley's father - team Mini also in the picture

[seaqnmac27]

Thanks for that David, I think Steve was enquiring over origins given his interest in the Halliday mk2 and where it ended up.

[Milan Fistonic]

John did race a Statesman with George Bunce it was silver with black vinyl roof. That Statesman was bought by Robin Irving (doc) and at one stage we fitted a sump guard to it and Robin and Rod Millen rallied it in the Maramarua Rally when his Mazda was over at the RAC, It was a bulldozer at speed, first stage it stalled a couple of times going into corners, so Doc would lean over and crank it over with the key and Rod would hang on and all of a sudden there would be lock as it fired. Reset the idle to real fast and they finished in a place up front. Did a couple of trips to Bay Park with Robin in that car, now thats another story. May have some photos.

This is a shot of the Statesman at a very wet Maramarua.

[Milan Fistonic]

Back in the mid-70s, Bill Leckie built a Ford Capri for the ShellSport New Zealand Saloon Car Championship, 4.2 litre category. The Capri was built around McLaren M10 F5000 components, including fuel injected Chevy (which must have been sleeved), wheels, tyres, suspension and brakes. It ran a Ford top loader gearbox and (I think) an Atlas rear, or possibly a Ford 9".

It debuted for the 1975/66 season, painted red/white/blue and had heavily rolled wheelarch flares.

For the 1976/77 it was repainted white, fitted with box flared guards, and sponsored by Sleepyhead beds. This season Leckie ran the full championship, finishing 2nd overall to Jack Nazer and 1st in the 4.2 class. Despite the Capri catching fire at Manfeild, where Leckie suffered severe burns, the car was rebuilt, and raced at Pukekohe a few weeks later driven by Jim Richards, who broke the outright saloon lap record, and beat Nazer to victory.

Following the '77 season, MANZ placed a 2 litre engine limit on the ShellSport championship, and effectively outlawed the V8 machines. Many cars were pushed into sheds, some ended up in the South Island in OSCA, but the Leckie Capri vanished.

I tried to trace its fate a couple of years ago when I phoned Bill Leckie about the car. He told me that because he was a young guy on a budget, and MANZ had just outlawed his race car, he couldn't afford to just park it up, as much as he would have liked to. He had to sell what he could from it to help fund his next project, a Mitsubishi Lancer for the new 2 litre ShellSport series.

All the McLaren F5000 equipment was sold off, and he said he swapped the Capri bodyshell with all the molds for a small block Chevy engine for his Bedford van to a guy out in Papatoetoe (Auckland) who ran a small backyard junkyard. The guy said he planned to rebuild the car for racing using his own running gear, but it seems the car never resurfaced.

Bill can't recall his name, or even where he was based exactly.

Does anyone know the fate of the Bill Leckie V8 Capri?

Here's the Leckie Capri the day Jim Richards drove it at Pukekohe.

[Steve Holmes]

in reference to this car



As a guess I think it may have been from the 1978 meet for the Peter Stuyvesant series. However i know Neil Day from Grant Day Motors Palmerston North asd thats where i grew up, have been in touch and I am seeking information on it.

Anyone got any more info on this car, and what might have happened to it? I assume it was a ShellSport car?

[Steve Holmes]

Here's the Leckie Capri the day Jim Richards drove it at Pukekohe.

Wow, Milan, thats one of the best photos I've seen of the Leckie Capri! Fantastic. I take it the Jim Richards deal wasn't done on the morning of the race, given the Sidchrome sponsorship?

[Rod Grimwood]

Wasn't the Mustang in Australia. And Bill was hurt (burns) couple of weeks before.

[Rod Grimwood]

Thanks for the photo of Statesman Milan, it is neat. That was a different day. No one believed it when they saw a Statesman slipping past.

[Steve Holmes]

Wasn't the Mustang in Australia. And Bill was hurt (burns) couple of weeks before.

Pretty sure you're right on both counts Rod. Bill had definitely not yet recovered from his burns, although I thought for some reason Richards drove the car because his Mustang had broken something. But this was obviously not the case.

[Rod Grimwood]

Don't believe all my rememory Steve .

[bob homewood]

Yes from my memory I think you are right Rod

[bigbanger]

Not 100% sure on this, but think the Chavenger might have been down our way in Invercargill in recent years, a Dave Robertson/Robinson is the name that comes to mind & something to do with a guy on snow skis attached to a roofrack either training/testing for a speed ski record.....

Southlands Dave Robertson had a neat and tidy Hemi 265 engined Avenger running in OSCA 'B' class in the mid eighties. It went well for a budget car, but was never more than a good mid field performer.

Neil Deighton's 'Charvenger' definitely showed its many years of use appearance wise.

[bigbanger]

And while on the subject of Anglo-American racing saloons, what happened to Ralph Mossman's V8 Viva he raced in NZ during the '80s? And does anyone have a photo of this car?

In the NI, I recall Steve James having a very similar looking Viva but with a Hemi 265. Warrick Gray also had one with a 202 Holden and John Thorby also had a Viva with an Olds 215 V8 which he later took to the SI.

[bigbanger]

Graham Park was the Marina man,back in the mid sixties ,I think first he raced a Plymouth coupe or something similar ,then we raced Anglias together 66/67 ,after that I think he went o/seas and worked for Broadspeed ?, he later returned to NZ and built up and raced the Marina V8 around the same time I built the Escort Sports Sedan

A very interesting Marina it was as well. In it's most developed form it had a turbocharged 4.4 litre Leyland V8 'midmounted' behind the driver. From hazy memory, no transaxle was used, the gearbox went straight to the diff with little or no driveshaft in between.

[bigbanger]

I might not have the right car or could there be two Chavengers?,

Barry Robinson had the Black Rally Chevettes [ pretty sure there were two of those, one with a flat raised floorpan- both of these were Bedford/Victor slant four powered, initially with SOHC IIRC then later with DOHC head similar to JH & Lotus variants.

V8 OSCA Chevette was built by a good friend Derek Macrae- SBC/muncie/8'' Ford Diff, last I heard of that was its being restored back to OSCA spec somewhere in Marlborough Sounds

Prior to the Chevette V8, I recall Derek having a yellow LH or LX Torana Chev V8 OSCA car, I think Derek ran mostly in Southland, both the Torana and Chevette were rare appearances at Ruapuna and Levels.

[bigbanger]

Attachment 1273

Gary Hastings V8 powered Fiat 850 at Bay Park ,not sure what happened to that car ,the transmission set up in that car was a bit different,some body will remember what the transmission was ?

The front of that Fiat 850 appears much more Chevette or Monza look alike than anything that came out of Turin.

[nigel watts]

[bigbanger]

Yes, not your typical Fiat 850 nose. Much more Vauxhall Chevette like.