Club Events - Hillclimbs, Sprints, Club Circuit, Grass Track, Trials, Rallycross, etc

[Jac Mac]

I wonder if anyone from Motorsport NZ will look at these and see how healthy club sport events USED to be, before the powers took over and stuffed it.

Our local club still run grass gymkanas & not too long ago ran these events in freezing works car park during off season, by contrast they no longer run standing quarter mile/ mile/ flying mile sprints on closed public roads, some gravel sprints & hillclimbs usually on roads used by local rallys., but entry to these usually requires rally car mods and virtually removes the average road car from events ( part of this appears to be a case of using a permit that only allows rally/competition cars ). Bit like you can race your average road car sans cage in a club members circuit race, but not in a sanctioned series event. We/I must be ever so lucky to still be topside!

[Roger Dowding]

Seeing Rogers photo of his Sprite in a Gymkhana led me to print a few fro a couple of events one of which was held at the St Lukes shopping mall carpark.

Attachment 28861

Attachment 28857

Attachment 28860

Attachment 28858

Attachment 28862

Attachment 28859

Ross BMC BOY, is that a young Chris White with the clipboard, ?? well remember Crombie John [ as we often called him, as how you completed your entry form ] that Mini " GM 799 ", was bought new from Seabrook Fowlds on the Friday and the first weekend John did the NSCC Castrol 1000 Trial, so the car was back at Seabrook's on the Monday for its first service. the said Johnh Crombie taught me a lot about Car Trialling, and we both attended annual conference for MANZ as it was, after being ANZCC, Association of New Zealand Car Clubs, that must have been around 1974 too !!.

[BMCBOY]

Bob White - a great stalwart of the Auckland Car Club. He ended up President for many years, but unfortunately passed away recently.
Chris White is in the Healey Club from Wanganui. Chris still campaigns his Jensen Healey and is still a quick peddler.
That Mini of Crombie's was evidently rarely washed from the day it was purchased - he drove in into the ground. He was a very clever guy and qualified as a Patent Attourney, but he preferred to build fibreglass kayaks and various other fibreglass car body parts. A real demon at Trialling and knew every trick in the book! After competing in so many trials he could usually look at the instructions on the start line, tell where the event was heading and predict where most of the traps were. Very interesting and eccentric guy. I'm sure there are a lot of stories about John around.

[Noo Noo]

Back in the olden days when the Wellington Car Club held gymkhanas they did not put cars into classes so a small car was the thing to have. Lots of young guys would come along with hot Minis etc, charge around like gangbusters, engines screaming, tyres screaching, hard acceleration then stand on the brakes, the full drama.
Then there was this family man who had a habit of turning up in his humble Triumph Herald station wagon. He'd unload mum and the kids and the picnic basket, drive around at a Nana pace and invariably take 1st place. Didn't seem right, somehow.

In 1971 I entered a gymkhana (in an Escort) in the carpark at the Johnsonville mall. A young bloke I'd never seen before was there in an automatic AP6 Valiant, lowered with widened chrome wheels, who caused a real uproar.
One of the excercises (for want of a better word) was an "open and shut the gate". This meant driving up to a traffic cone, stop, get out and shift the cone to one side, move the car forward, get out again and shift the cone back, then into the car again and proceed to the finish line. Quickest time wins.
Valiant man stopped a bit short of the cone , exited the car while it was still in "drive", ran ahead and grabbed the cone, stood aside as his car drove itself past, replaced the cone, ran after the car and jumped in.
Just about every one leapt up and down and howled in protest (but not me of course lol) The officials scratched their heads, tried to think of a rule that had been broken but couldn't and had to allow it. Maybe it was a common ploy at other clubs gymkhanas but it was the only time I ever saw it done at one of ours.
The same bloke entered the same car in the 1972 Heatway Rally. It did seem a bit ambitous - driving flat out over 2000km on mainly gravel roads in a lowered Valiant. One of my mates confidently predicted that even if by some miracle he managed to finish it would in distant last place. In fact, he did finish and well clear of last. I thought he did well.

David Hunter

[Oldfart]

Likewise back in the olden days, when most small towns had an official car club, ours had an annual points championship counting every event. Going into the last event of the season 2 of us were tied on points. At that time I was driving one of the ex Heatway Skodas and it was not great on gymkhanas, specially as the other had a Mini Cooper. Desperation, so I borrowed my Mum's Daihatsu 360 and walked out at the end of the day with the points trophy, and that event too. Proves you can (could) drive any vehicle and enjoy yourself in those days.

[Roger Dowding]

Likewise back in the olden days, when most small towns had an official car club, ours had an annual points championship counting every event. Going into the last event of the season 2 of us were tied on points. At that time I was driving one of the ex Heatway Skodas and it was not great on gymkhanas, specially as the other had a Mini Cooper. Desperation, so I borrowed my Mum's Daihatsu 360 and walked out at the end of the day with the points trophy, and that event too. Proves you can (could) drive any vehicle and enjoy yourself in those days.

Totally agree, this car was my daily driver and weekend racer for several years 1978-1980, Sprints, Gymkhana Hillclimbs Trials and a bit of grass track combined Gymkhana Sprints..

[Kevin Hirst]

Likewise back in the olden days, when most small towns had an official car club, ours had an annual points championship counting every event. Going into the last event of the season 2 of us were tied on points. At that time I was driving one of the ex Heatway Skodas and it was not great on gymkhanas, specially as the other had a Mini Cooper. Desperation, so I borrowed my Mum's Daihatsu 360 and walked out at the end of the day with the points trophy, and that event too. Proves you can (could) drive any vehicle and enjoy yourself in those days.

AAH, so you are the reason we now have to use the same car for all points in the season Rhys, buggered it up for the rest of us you did, cheers.

[Roger Dowding]

Likewise back in the olden days, when most small towns had an official car club, ours had an annual points championship counting every event. Going into the last event of the season 2 of us were tied on points. At that time I was driving one of the ex Heatway Skodas and it was not great on gymkhanas, specially as the other had a Mini Cooper. Desperation, so I borrowed my Mum's Daihatsu 360 and walked out at the end of the day with the points trophy, and that event too. Proves you can (could) drive any vehicle and enjoy yourself in those days.

It was always " Run what you brung " at the club meetings, and in an attempt to impress a new girlfriend, instead of taking my Sprite to an AHCCNZ grass gymkhana / sprint, borrowed a Rover V8 from my Uncle, was a lot of fun but did not handle that well, could have been the driver I guess. This was in 1981, and I told my Uncle Eddie Dowding, who was Club Captain of Northern Sports Car Club, and a founding member, of the use of his car finally last year - he is now 95 and still loves cars.

[Jac Mac]

LHD??

It was always " Run what you brung " at the club meetings, and in an attempt to impress a new girlfriend, instead of taking my Sprite to an AHCCNZ grass gymkhana / sprint, borrowed a Rover V8 from my Uncle, was a lot of fun but did not handle that well, could have been the driver I guess. This was in 1981, and I told my Uncle Eddie Dowding, who was Club Captain of Northern Sports Car Club, and a founding member, of the use of his car finally last year - he is now 95 and still loves cars.

[GeebeeNZ]

http://youtu.be/gd0QB951pJc

For those of you who don't know what a Daihatsu 360 is. 26 Years ago I bought my 16 year old son one. I took him to a Fiat Club Gymkhana and he beat me. Such gratitude

[Roger Dowding]

Jac Mac, Yes Left hand as was bought new in Switzerland had Rostyle Chrome Wheels, and a fitting to put the spare wheel on top of the boot, beautiful tan leather interior and a Blaupunkt stereo with front and rear speakers, quite flash for the time 1970, NZ 3500's had steel wheels and chrome trims. Car was sold and replaced by a Walkinshaw modified Vanden Plas Vitesse SD1, in the late 1980's that had a most unusual fuel injection system, belive both cars are now in Christchurch, if still in one piece

[Roger Dowding]

Article on Cosseys Farm Hillclimb, from memory written in 1967/68 has been posted before on a thread. Interestingly - " The " A Competitor is Rob Williams in his Ford V8 Coupe that featured in the Roycroft meeting, with Rob again at the wheel.

[Roger Dowding]

Bob White - a great stalwart of the Auckland Car Club. He ended up President for many years, but unfortunately passed away recently.
Chris White is in the Healey Club from Wanganui. Chris still campaigns his Jensen Healey and is still a quick peddler.
That Mini of Crombie's was evidently rarely washed from the day it was purchased - he drove in into the ground. He was a very clever guy and qualified as a Patent Attourney, but he preferred to build fibreglass kayaks and various other fibreglass car body parts. A real demon at Trialling and knew every trick in the book! After competing in so many trials he could usually look at the instructions on the start line, tell where the event was heading and predict where most of the traps were. Very interesting and eccentric guy. I'm sure there are a lot of stories about John around.

The Fibreglass Kayaks, Yes remember that called himself " Kayak Moulders " [ from memory ], we had several Austin-Healey CC members with Bugeye Sprites [ me included ] that needed new Front bonnets, [ the whole of the front of the car, as you know ] and approached John to make them, had a fairly good one lent to use as a mould, John gave us a price but needed to make 5 or 6 to make it worthwhile, at around $3-500 each, couldn't get enough takers to make it viable and the car was only worth about $1000, so the project did not proceed.

[BMCBOY]

Here's a few more hillclimb photos I took mainly at Chamberlain Rd

[BMCBOY]

[Roger Dowding]

Here's a few more hillclimb photos I took mainly at Chamberlain Rd

The Allard, I think is again Rob Williams, is K not a J, which had cycle guards, the day I did this grass sprint for NSCC in 1975, Rob in the Allard was in the same class Sports Cars, he won, I spun,

[bry3500]

From the Nelson Photo news May 2nd 1964'''
Cool head and hands and the power from a Gypsy aircraft engine took Motueka racing driver Charlie Bensemann and his Stanton Special up Pig Valley hill climb conducted by the Nelson Car Club in the near record time of 39 sec - just 7 sec off the record he established last year. Neil Stuart, who was given best chance of fastest time, lost this chance when he ran off the shingly surface and plunged down a hill. (Pix by Merv Knowles)

[Roger Dowding]

Motorsport Day 1978 by Northern Sports car Club, was a combined events day that was a lot of fun as had a Gymkhana at the Clubrooms in Otahuhu, then a trial [ part one ] to Pukekohe Raceway, Club Circuit Sprints, then Trial [ part two to Cosseys Farm, for a hillclimb, the event was designed around two person crews, and in my memory a very good days motorsport.
No photo's here but some of the information - still have the Route Book with all the instructions and the results sheets. 28 January 1978.







Guess this fits most of the events the thread covers.

Interestingly Brutus driven by a certain Rob Williams, was his Allard K type that Ross BMC BOY has pictured in this thread again at Cosseys Farm.
A few well known names in the Officials and the Competitors

[Roger Dowding]

Jac Mac, Yes Left hand as was bought new in Switzerland had Rostyle Chrome Wheels, and a fitting to put the spare wheel on top of the boot, beautiful tan leather interior and a Blaupunkt stereo with front and rear speakers, quite flash for the time 1970, NZ 3500's had steel wheels and chrome trims. Car was sold and replaced by a Walkinshaw modified Vanden Plas Vitesse SD1, in the late 1980's that had a most unusual fuel injection system, belive both cars are now in Christchurch, if still in one piece

Attachment 28988

Here is another view of the car showing those Rostyle Wheels and lots of dust

[John B]

Re-post the image Roger - the link isn't working.