Formula Ford

[Grant Ellwood]

Circa 1983 Theseus Desborough asked me to import a Reynard FF, he was planning to move up from Formula Vee. In those days it wasn’t as easy to import racing cars as it is nowadays but I was already importing a variety of gear for my Flamecrusher company in NZ and Theseus knew I was experienced in working with Customs. I called Reynard, secured a deal, paid the deposit and waited for the build to start. Reynard was on the rise in the 80s and there was usually a long backlog of orders, in our case it took six months before the car was ready for delivery, this model being an FF83 complete with Minister engine. Meanwhile Theseus changed his mind so I started looking for another buyer.
About a week later I was off to Australia to meet ex-pat Kiwi David Haydon who was interested in distributing Flamecrusher products in NSW via his company Dalcar Industies. He collected me at Sydney airport and we stopped at a café en route to his factory for a get- to-know-you chat. Somewhere in the conversation he mentioned that he was interested in buying a Formula Ford for Tomas Merzera to drive in the Oz championship. At that stage Tomas was racing an old banger and not getting anywhere despite showing his obvious brilliance and was about to pack his bags and return to Europe to pick up his former career as a ski instructor. Timing is everything as they say and I gave David the clichéd “Boy do I have a deal for you” and he promptly wrote me a cheque for the full price. I called Reynard and had the car shipped directly to Sydney (so I briefly owned a Reynard without ever seeing it in the flesh…).
Tomas finished 5th in the 84 championship before cleaning up the 85 series and Merzera’s professional racing career really took off following this success and all thanks to David Haydon’s gutsy instant decision to buy that car sight unseen from someone he had only just met.

[jonesy55red]

Rob Lester was the next Swift driver after Jeff Pascoe, but John Crawford's name does ring a bell in connection with it. Perhaps the car returned south after its spell in the North Island

Amazing! The first photo of the Swift LM1 shows the original alloy body BUT the Van Diemen nosecone that the Lesters used on the Team Unipart car (eventually mated up with a special fibreglass body which I ran on the car until the end of the 1989/90 season). The other pics of the Swift show the more original (there were several versions) alloy nose section. The car was sold from the Lesters to Keith Sharp who used it as a school car at the NZ Racing Drivers' School at Pukekohe, and subsequently sold to me in 1988. The final shot of Jeff Pascoe is definitely not the Swift LM1, and given the lines of the engine cover, I reckon it's a Lola. Interestingly, included in the bits that came with the Swift LM1 was a Lola engine cover.. the shape of things to come I guess. Given that Jeff, Larry et al won the Championship in 1980/81, I'm guessing these pics come from 1981/82. Thank you for posting them.
Regards, Bruce Smythe (Yes I still have the car)

[jonesy55red]

Tony Garmey ran the ex Tomas Mezera Reynard in Formula Ford here in NZ in the 1989/90 season I believe.

[paul lancaster]

1. Alan Crocker started in the first FF race in NZ (and as an aside still competes today in European historic FF where he runs a number of customer cars and one for himself very successfully) in a Lotus 20. In the newsletter for the 40th anniversary there is a lovely photo of a very youthful Alan standing disconsolately beside his rear wheel-less car at Railway. Perhaps you have more info on that particular car David which would have been an ex National Formula car.

He then built a new Valour FF from a kit which were available from Trevor Larsen either as a fully built car or kitset. Alan sometimes entered the car as an "Allmeown" (geddit?).

For the '74/75 season Alan bought the Ray FF which my brother had run the previous season, a car we had built up from a pile of parts and a "backdoor" chassis obtained (legitimately) from ex Bert Ray employee Don Hutchison.

To complete the Crocker family tree, early 1975 we also sold our original Palliser WDF2 to Alan's brother Kim who rebuilt the chassis in 1978 incorporating the extended gearbox spacer set up we had used on the Cheetahs and renamed the car a Trident Palliser. This car is curently owned and energetically raced by Phil Foulkes and is the car we took to Philip Is for the Aus 40th.

2. I did say JM1 was "probably" the only purpose built Begg FF. However as Wilson Crosby was virtually a neighbour of George Begg, it is entirely possible his car was built new for him. Neil Whittaker was the other Southlander whose name you were looking for. The third member of that Southland trio was Dennis Lyons (spl?), was he also Begg mounted or was the Lyon his creation?

The lyon was dennis's creation, he built 2 ff's, the dl 1, which got destroyed, and the dl 2, which has been owned by dave morrison for the last30 plus years, it won the nz goldstar hillclimb championship in 1988 in the hand on trevor parmenter.the car has just undergone a full chassis up rebuild

[Jac Mac]

Begg FF cars, Keith McFadzien car was an early FF, Neil Kidd, Wilson Crosbie both had a car each, then the Jim Murdoch car, might be more.

[Michael Clark]

Beggs built as FFs:

FM3: 3
JM1: 1

Beggs adapted into FFs:

The '05' Keith McF car was essentially a FF except the category hadn't yet come here when it was racing. It had a 1500cc Cortina motor.

'02', the Rootes powered car, became a FF and indeed still is. It has spent way more time with a Kent in the back than it ever did with a Humber 80.

Not sure if 06 ever did time as a FF - possibly.

[Grant Ellwood]

Beggs built as FFs:

FM3: 3
JM1: 1

Beggs adapted into FFs:

The '05' Keith McF car was essentially a FF except the category hadn't yet come here when it was racing. It had a 1500cc Cortina motor.

'02', the Rootes powered car, became a FF and indeed still is. It has spent way more time with a Kent in the back than it ever did with a Humber 80.

Not sure if 06 ever did time as a FF - possibly.

Michael, while I was in NZ recently I recovered some bits and pieces I had stored since the late '90s. After shipping them back home to USA and sorting through some of the contents I found a logbook for Begg 02, so if anyone knows the current owners address I would be happy to send it to him or her. The logbook is brief, just the one race and wreck (by me) at Baypark in 1973 but I think prior to then it possibly didn't have much documentation. Still, it is part of the car's history so I would like to pass it on.

I also found another couple of logbooks which I must have pocketed while driving some of Richard Lester's Fords in the mid '90s. So if you are reading this post Rich, let me know what to do with them ( but nothing painful please...). The books are for Van Diemans RF90 and RF92.

[Michael Clark]

Grant, the current owners are Ian Bisman and Noel Atley - they purchased it from Allan Woolf. I'll let Noel know.

Best

MC

[Grant Ellwood]

Grant, the current owners are Ian Bisman and Noel Atley - they purchased it from Allan Woolf. I'll let Noel know.

Best

MC

Thanks Michael, didn't Ian Bisman own the car when it had the Humber 80 engine? Great catching up at HD, hope it won't be another ten years before I make it back to the homeland.

[Kwaussie]

I read somewhere that Wally Willmot had the Begg 1600 [02] that Dave Burton drove for George and then sold to Colin Bunce.

[Michael Clark]

Wal raced JM1 back in 2010.

Yes Grant - Ian owned and raced the 02 Humber powered car 'in the day'

[Roger Reed]

I'm pretty sure it was a Valour. An unremarkable car that he bought from Don Elvy. As I recall he put in many hours at Ruapuna testing and developing it and won the FF national championship with it in 84/5

I think youl find Steve Richards won the title in 84/85 in the Titan mk6 that Dave McMillan used and won in ,in I think about 74 ish . I spent 5 years with Steve running the car ,then with Graham Cooks Van Diemen . . . Was great times and great people . . . how they have changed

[paul lancaster]

Currently for sale on trademe

[BMCBOY]

[BMCBOY]

[BMCBOY]

[Howard Wood]

Thanks Ross and to flesh out the labelling Ross has already done:

Post #154, 4th photo down, Brett Riley, Begg JM1 and Grant Walker, Titan Mk6C continue their epic battle for the '74 - '75 championship which went down to the wire at the final round at Manfeild.
5th photo down Brett in his Titan Mk6C chased by yours truly in Palliser WDF2, Pukekohe top chicane "73 - '74 season.

Post #155, 2nd photo, Neville Bailey's modified Palliser WDF3 chased by Norm Smith's Hustler/ Johnson, also Puke chicane '73 - '74 season. 5th photo is Robin? Hoskins in Cheetah, 6th photo one of the Owens bros and I wonder if that is Alan Crocker in the Ray following.

The others I can identify are already as per Ross's label. Anyone else able to fill in the gaps?

[warricklevis]

Pretty sure that the fourth photo in Post 155 has Roger Levis in the #61 which I think is a Titan.