The cossack jack Nazer escort

[Jac Mac]

So Pete, did the ex Nazer/Cossack car never have the Cal Fried Chicken paint job on it? I see Kevin Ryan has commented on a FB thread for HMC and mentioned that it won class B a couple of times so the above articles must refer to the AVO car for the Overall OSCA champ.

[spinner32]

So Pete, did the ex Nazer/Cossack car never have the Cal Fried Chicken paint job on it? I see Kevin Ryan has commented on a FB thread for HMC and mentioned that it won class B a couple of times so the above articles must refer to the AVO car for the Overall OSCA champ.

That's right Jac. When I sanded the car back it only had the Cossack paint scheme, with a red/orange over the green. Kevin raced this car before my time in OSCA, and suspect that he only raced it for one year. Perhaps Carlo or Kevin can clarify please.

[Steve Holmes]

Jac Mac, you are partially right. Kevin Ryan did indeed race the Cossack car, with a BDA in it. It was still in the same colour scheme, but the green was changed to a red/orange. I remember it dropping it's clutch on the start line at Ruapuna , and the brooms had to come out to clean up. Kevin sold the car to Kevin Munro and bought the AVO built car (from Rex Hart?) and put the "California Fried Chicken" sign writing on it, and went on to win the OSCA championship.
Kevin Munro put a pushrod 1600 in the car, and changed the car to look like a Zakspeed Escort. (front spoiler, and filled in the bottom of the rear guards and colour scheme). Kevin moved to Fiji to live, putting the car into storage. During one of the Fiji coup's (around 1986), Kevin came home, and announced that he wished to sell the Escort. Luckily the announcement was to me, and knowing the history of the car, I grabbed it as a roller. It was missing the magnesium wheels, but I discovered that Ron Rutherford had bought them for son Mark's Shell Sport Escort, but they didn't fit, so were stored up in the loft.So I was able to purchase them. I stripped the car down, discovering the various colour schemes. I did some restoration, but not very much. I had the car for 10 years, but with other race cars in the garage, and nowhere to race an old Escort, progress was minimal. A guy Abbot from Invercargill approached me to buy it, and the car went south. Where it was restored to Cosack colours.
Hope this fills in some gaps.
Cheers, Pete Blomfield

P.S I have the John Hazard RX3 on the 2nd row in my garage now, and restoration starts in the next couple of weeks.

Hi Pete, I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we'd love for you to run a restoration thread here so we can all see it coming back to life.

[seaqnmac27]

P.S I have the John Hazard RX3 on the 2nd row in my garage now, and restoration starts in the next couple of weeks.

Thast is of course the Haszard/Grindley RX3

[Jac Mac]

Pete, how many OSCA cars have you had/owned over time.. The McCoomb/Hargreaves V8 Mk1 Cortina, Triumph, Nazer Escort, Hazard RX3, Im sure there were/are others.

[John McKechnie]

Jack- The McCoomb/Hargreaves V8 Mk1 Cortina- is this the one that Gerald put on its roof after tripping over Grant Aitkins ?

[Jac Mac]

Jack- The McCoomb/Hargreaves V8 Mk1 Cortina- is this the one that Gerald put on its roof after tripping over Grant Aitkins ?

Yes, I believe so, in the sweeper coming onto main straight at [old] Ruapuna. There is a multi frame pic of the accident elsewhere ( might have been you who posted it?) Pete wrote about the car on another thread some time ago. Gerald had lunch with us at Timaru/Levels a few years ago, was able to recall a few 'stories' from days gone by as we all do.

[spinner32]

Yes Jac, when I add it up I have raced a few cars in OSCA. Back in 1978 I raced the ex Peter Beck Truimph Herald coupe. Vauxhall 2 litre engine to a Ford Twin Cam gearbox to a Datsun 180B LSD. The rear uprights were Morris 1100 giving 4 wheel discs.
My next car was the ex Hargraves/McComb Cortina Cobra. The car was reshelled after the famous roll. Powered by a ex Fahey 289 to a rockcrusher and 9 inch diff with detroit locker and 15inch minilights on the front it was full of good gear.It was sold to Rod McElrea who stripped it out and the body dumped. I moved to Auckland in the early 80's racing a Formiula Ford. I was there when all those fabulous Sports Sedans were racing. Returning to Christchurch I was racing a HB Viva with a 3.3 engine when I was offered the Cossack Escort. After stripping it down and starting a rebuild I was offerd my dream car of the time, the ex Leckie Mitsi Lancer now fitted with a 12a rotary. I had 5 great seasons with the car until I had a tyre blow at Timaru, putting me into the bank and badly damaging the car. I had recently purchased my nemesis car, Jamie Stewart's HB Viva rotary, for my wife to race. I took over the car and finally managed a class win. This car was sold to Evan Munt as his first race car. in 1997 I was able to purchase a ex Brock BMW M3 GpA car, which I raced in Historics for 9 seasons. With so many race cars, and self funded, when a guy from Invercargill approached me to buy the Escort I decided to let it go. His first comment on purchasing was that he intended to reshell the car. I hope that he didn't. Around 2000 a friend was offered the ex Findlay/Haszard/Grindley/Hool RX3 coupe bodyshell in very poor condition. It sat in the corner of my shed until I moved 2 weeks ago. So we have it to his place and started the rebuild, which will be a massive job.
Hope my story isn't too boring. Regards, Pete

[John McKechnie]

Great reading Pete, you certainly had a few cars, and were deeply involved at the time.
Thanks for posting your story, every one of them is important and interesting to us who read these threads to widen our understanding of our motor racing history

[Michael Clark]

Excellent post Pete

[seaqnmac27]

Yes Jac, when I add it up I have raced a few cars in OSCA. Back in 1978 I raced the ex Peter Beck Truimph Herald coupe. Vauxhall 2 litre engine to a Ford Twin Cam gearbox to a Datsun 180B LSD. The rear uprights were Morris 1100 giving 4 wheel discs.
My next car was the ex Hargraves/McComb Cortina Cobra. The car was reshelled after the famous roll. Powered by a ex Fahey 289 to a rockcrusher and 9 inch diff with detroit locker and 15inch minilights on the front it was full of good gear.It was sold to Rod McElrea who stripped it out and the body dumped. I moved to Auckland in the early 80's racing a Formiula Ford. I was there when all those fabulous Sports Sedans were racing. Returning to Christchurch I was racing a HB Viva with a 3.3 engine when I was offered the Cossack Escort. After stripping it down and starting a rebuild I was offerd my dream car of the time, the ex Leckie Mitsi Lancer now fitted with a 12a rotary. I had 5 great seasons with the car until I had a tyre blow at Timaru, putting me into the bank and badly damaging the car. I had recently purchased my nemesis car, Jamie Stewart's HB Viva rotary, for my wife to race. I took over the car and finally managed a class win. This car was sold to Evan Munt as his first race car. in 1997 I was able to purchase a ex Brock BMW M3 GpA car, which I raced in Historics for 9 seasons. With so many race cars, and self funded, when a guy from Invercargill approached me to buy the Escort I decided to let it go. His first comment on purchasing was that he intended to reshell the car. I hope that he didn't. Around 2000 a friend was offered the ex Findlay/Haszard/Grindley/Hool RX3 coupe bodyshell in very poor condition. It sat in the corner of my shed until I moved 2 weeks ago. So we have it to his place and started the rebuild, which will be a massive job.
Hope my story isn't too boring. Regards, Pete

Please, do not consider your story Boring!!

[Steve Holmes]

Yes Jac, when I add it up I have raced a few cars in OSCA. Back in 1978 I raced the ex Peter Beck Truimph Herald coupe. Vauxhall 2 litre engine to a Ford Twin Cam gearbox to a Datsun 180B LSD. The rear uprights were Morris 1100 giving 4 wheel discs.
My next car was the ex Hargraves/McComb Cortina Cobra. The car was reshelled after the famous roll. Powered by a ex Fahey 289 to a rockcrusher and 9 inch diff with detroit locker and 15inch minilights on the front it was full of good gear.It was sold to Rod McElrea who stripped it out and the body dumped. I moved to Auckland in the early 80's racing a Formiula Ford. I was there when all those fabulous Sports Sedans were racing. Returning to Christchurch I was racing a HB Viva with a 3.3 engine when I was offered the Cossack Escort. After stripping it down and starting a rebuild I was offerd my dream car of the time, the ex Leckie Mitsi Lancer now fitted with a 12a rotary. I had 5 great seasons with the car until I had a tyre blow at Timaru, putting me into the bank and badly damaging the car. I had recently purchased my nemesis car, Jamie Stewart's HB Viva rotary, for my wife to race. I took over the car and finally managed a class win. This car was sold to Evan Munt as his first race car. in 1997 I was able to purchase a ex Brock BMW M3 GpA car, which I raced in Historics for 9 seasons. With so many race cars, and self funded, when a guy from Invercargill approached me to buy the Escort I decided to let it go. His first comment on purchasing was that he intended to reshell the car. I hope that he didn't. Around 2000 a friend was offered the ex Findlay/Haszard/Grindley/Hool RX3 coupe bodyshell in very poor condition. It sat in the corner of my shed until I moved 2 weeks ago. So we have it to his place and started the rebuild, which will be a massive job.
Hope my story isn't too boring. Regards, Pete

Pete, out of interest, what happened to the Leckie Mitsubishi after your crash?

Also, the Viva Rotary you mentioned, is this the car Scott Wiseman built with the Repco (I think?) V8? I don't know that he ever got a chance to race it before his motorcycle accident.

[Growler]

If its of interest I did see a comment on Facebook a few months ago showing the Leckie Mitsi shell sitting in a corner of a garage looking pretty sad with a comment that it was going to be rebuilt...

[seaqnmac27]

If its of interest I did see a comment on Facebook a few months ago showing the Leckie Mitsi shell sitting in a corner of a garage looking pretty sad with a comment that it was going to be rebuilt...

These would be those images

[seaqnmac27]

Pete, out of interest, what happened to the Leckie Mitsubishi after your crash?

Also, the Viva Rotary you mentioned, is this the car Scott Wiseman built with the Repco (I think?) V8? I don't know that he ever got a chance to race it before his motorcycle accident.

That is the car Steve, the "Sparkles" Viva. No I do not believe he did drive it, I have a MotorAction somewhere with the ad for its sale, posted by Scott after his accident.

Here it is being driven by Evan.

[Growler]

These would be those images

That's the one. Any further news of it being restored?

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks guys, good to know the Lancer has survived. From what I can tell, Bill's V8 Capri that preceded it is gone. Would hope to see the Lancer restored one day. Neat looking car.

[Steve Holmes]

That is the car Steve, the "Sparkles" Viva. No I do not believe he did drive it, I have a MotorAction somewhere with the ad for its sale, posted by Scott after his accident.

Here it is being driven by Evan.

Thanks Sean. I have an old magazine article from NZ Hot Rod or similar of the Viva just after Scott had built it. It was a good looking car. He had a Thames van painted up in the same colours from memory. I need to try and find the article.

[camaroman slp]

Thanks Sean. I have an old magazine article from NZ Hot Rod or similar of the Viva just after Scott had built it. It was a good looking car. He had a Thames van painted up in the same colours from memory. I need to try and find the article.

Scott Wismans viva was powered by a I think 308 V8 also it had flared bubble type flare gaurds sponserd by sparkles cool car in its day.

Scott Passed away a few years ago being parralized from the unfortunate accident. R.I.P

His son may also tell the story

Peter blomfield may be able to tell some of the story.

[camaroman slp]

Scotts Viva can be found in NZ Hotrod magazine
issue 314
May 1975
Vauxhill Custom Viva 375 bhp
I hope someone can put the article & photos on the roaring season.