Speedway saloons from the late 60's to the mid 70's, any pictures, memories...

[Rod Grimwood]

These 2 were stolen and stripped, Cowan/Black aquired and Ron built for promotion cars for guests.

[John McKechnie]

Great info John, i remember the story way back when I was a kid someone either in Hamilton or Auckland building a dirt track gen1 Camaro around a early Holden(HK/HG) shell that had been either stolen or wrecked and it cause a big kerfuffle. I guess we forget these days how hard it was to obtain, and how expensive cars were back then, just to purchase New was an issue requiring overseas funds, and some of these cars that hit the dirt were barely on the show room floor, quite impressive back then. And if it was American like a Mustang or Camaro well that was just "walking on the moon" stuff.

Thanks Dale, some of this does test the memory....but I was there as a teenager around these guys.
Real hero material...John Scott, Evan Watson, John Hayman, Terry Costello,Barry McConnachie, Rod the Water Tank driver ...list goes on.......My all time favourite car was Barry McCs Mach 1 Mustang
The Camaro you are thinking of was built by the Fabulous Baker Brothers.
Twas a Vauxhall Victor FD 4 door that they shortened to look like a 2 door Camaro . They then got a local GM car salesman to say it was as Camaro.
I remember it racing, knew exactly what it was , but for me it didnt matter as it had a Chev V8 in it and they drove it well.
Would never do it now as its cheaper now to buy a Camaro than a mint Vauxhall FD Ventura 3.3

[Steve Holmes]

John Hayman had the first NZ Monaro at Waikaraka.
It had been stolen, stripped and the body bulldozed flat to hide it when it was buried.
John got the body and jacked it back into shape , but rear window opening was always lower on one side.
The Chev 350 motor from Graeme Harveys Elfin 400 went into it.
Johns one was white, and I see the inside of Alans is white also.
Can anyone confirm this was the same car, though probably Johns was rhd and here Alans is lhd.
Ray Chatfield behind Alan- a very fast pedaller, then Ray Wrecker Wright.
At this point in time it looks like top runners found driving position better on the passenger side, whereas earlier no one was concerned.
Evan Watson built a HQ Monaro up from brand new panels from the GM dealership that I worked for.
It was a space framed , but was told he had to put a normal floor in....project stalled for a while.
Where have all these all cars gone...............? as if we dont know

Thanks John, really fascinating.

Where have they all gone? Good question. Unlike old Stockcars, most of the old Saloons no longer exist. Many old Stockcars were just pushed into paddocks when they were no longer competitive, and their hefty construction meant they often survived the elements for years. But the old Saloons mostly seem to have got crushed or chopped up.

I remember as a kid in the 1980s riding my BMX bike around Palmerston North where I grew up, and it was common to see old speedway Saloons in wreckers yards. There was a Torana XU1 and a couple Minis at a place I did work experience at. Another place had an HQ Monaro coupe sitting on top of a stack of cars. I thought that might have been the old Jim Richards/Bill Dorn car, but turned out not to be the case. I'd guess it was the Monaro raced out of Palmy speedway by Gary McKelvie.

[Rod Grimwood]

Yea John, done a couple laps in the ole water truck back then between replacing wooden planks and painting them white. me and Wally Page together for couple seasons. handy place to spend the days.

[Popey]

I think it was supplied by John Robinson (his sponsor) as a wreck and built into a saloon car by Allen Ford and Dennis Short. The motor was an injected 400 block with 350 crank.

[John McKechnie]

Barry McConnachie- 1969 Mustang Fastback
Does anyone know where it is , what happened to it or can pick up any details of this car after he sold it.

It is hard to believe that this, the Firebird , Monaros , Richard Bennetts XB Coupe and all the V8 Kingswood saloons have all been scrapped....anyone ?

[Steve Holmes]

John, its my understanding the McConnachie brother bought the shell in the US as a write-off?

Many of the cars evolved over the years, and often ended up being space-framed. The body contact in the Saloons division meant the steel bodied cars were hard to maintain.

I know the Castrol GTX HQ Monaro raced by Neville Crighton and that became the Jim Richards speedway car, was later sold to Bill Dorn in the Manawatu, and raced out of Palmerston North. It then went through a couple more owners, and when Streetstock racing was first introduced in PN, it was converted to a Streetstock and eventually wrecked.

The Peter Woods 1965 Mustang fastback survived many years in the South Island, until it was purchased by Bruce Boulton in the late 1990s. He raced it for a few seasons, then transferred all the running gear into a new car, then crushed the '65 and buried it in a paddock on his farm.

There is currently a Sunbeam Tiger racing in Streetstocks in the Hawkes Bay that was built back in the '70s. Not sure who originally raced it, there were a few of them around at the time. I'm pretty certain it didn't start life as a Tiger. Perhaps it was an Alpine, or something else.

[John McKechnie]

I know when trade me was still only a couple of years old -2009?- I remember seeing a dirt track 1969 Mustang Fastback there.
It was in very good condition, but didnt last long enough for me to follow it up.
There was a blue 105 Anglia 283 V8 there which went for under $2K....would have made a great 2K car.......

[seaqnmac27]

John, its my understanding the McConnachie brother bought the shell in the US as a write-off?

Many of the cars evolved over the years, and often ended up being space-framed. The body contact in the Saloons division meant the steel bodied cars were hard to maintain.

I know the Castrol GTX HQ Monaro raced by Neville Crighton and that became the Jim Richards speedway car, was later sold to Bill Dorn in the Manawatu, and raced out of Palmerston North. It then went through a couple more owners, and when Streetstock racing was first introduced in PN, it was converted to a Streetstock and eventually wrecked.

The Peter Woods 1965 Mustang fastback survived many years in the South Island, until it was purchased by Bruce Boulton in the late 1990s. He raced it for a few seasons, then transferred all the running gear into a new car, then crushed the '65 and buried it in a paddock on his farm.

There is currently a Sunbeam Tiger racing in Streetstocks in the Hawkes Bay that was built back in the '70s. Not sure who originally raced it, there were a few of them around at the time. I'm pretty certain it didn't start life as a Tiger. Perhaps it was an Alpine, or something else.

I have a vague recollection that the might be Mike Wemyss' car that he built to replace his Simca Vedette

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

Its a little later but...

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

and a moment from my and probably your youth Steve

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[Go Slideways]

Its amazing so little is known of the Easton car. A high profile driver in what should have been a high profile car, its interesting there is so little known about it.

I have many photo's of Jac Jac's Camaro which I will scan and post here, after I've talked a bit more to him about his car.

In the mean time - USA legend Gene Welch raced in New Zealand during the 70's. He had many very cool cars, I think that this one might be a shortened Camaro on a Sprintcar chassis.
From Jac Jac's collection - a John Sharpe photograph.