the boy from levin,like to hear some talk on this.
the boy from levin,like to hear some talk on this.
There is a story in the latest NZCC - 40 yrs on from that dark day at Pukekohe
yes i was at pukekohe that day and i said hi to bryan before he went out,I was standing just before the first turn and to see him go through there he had the car up on its toes and dancing ,to this day i have not seen it done the way he did it, i went to his service in levin-sad day ,each time i go to levin i always stop and go in to where he is- on the corner of mako-mako rd and Tiro-tiro rd.this weekend i will be in levin so will look in,i see its getting very hard to read his head stone you can just make it out, I see no one from levin has put something up about bryan,whats up,maybe the car club could--come on something about-THE BOY FROM LEVIN.
Sad, sad memories when I hear that name. He was a favourite of this young fan, driving in that flamboyant tail-out style. So when getting the chance to get a ride to Pukekohe for the first visit I got my harsh reminder of the words on the back of the ticket "Motor Racing is Dangerous...." The pall of smoke from the scene over on the back straight was dark and forboding and with it was a sense of doom. The same sense of dread has always struck me at events when someone has met such a fate, a spiritual sense that life can be fickle and to be appreciated.
I would love to learn more about this guy whose talent at the wheel promised so much, one of my first, close-at-hand racing idols.
race car builder george Begg who is no longer here, asked bryan to drive his f5000 before asking David Oxton to drive,can you see what bryan would have got up too driving a f5000.
I shared an apartment in Levin with Bryan in the mid 60s, introduced him to Anne who he married, sadly she passed away a few years after Bryan died. I was just out of high school and working for Rob Collier at Performance Accessories in the infamous shack in Tyne street (Bob Homewood knows it well!). We prepped Bryan's old Brabham there, completely stripped the chassis to repair various cracks and replaced bent tubes and of course the maintenance on the Climax engine and Colotti box was never ending.
I have enough memories and anecdotes to fill a book but perhaps better to contribute in small doses rather than take up too much space on this post. Hopefully Rob Collier will add his thoughts, the Tyne street workshop hosted many race cars including regulars Frank Gardner, Kev Bartlett and Max Stewart. I also recall working on Digby Taylor's Lotus 27 and his McBegg, which I thought at the time was an M1 McLaren. Cheers, Grant Ellwood
Thats more like it get on this thread,years ago i was on the phone talking to someone in Tauranga he wanted to buy some autonews off me, and we got talking about levin and how it was in the good old days and we talked about Bryan Faloon ,i think he said to me he ended up with the car ,the one that i am clear on is that he had the plans for the stanton porsche ,look at this this way the plans are there and i do know there are some in levin who could build it up maybe someone down the track will .
David Manton in Tauranga had Bryan's Brabham in his collection for a while, think that car is now in Oz. Regarding the Stanton plans, I did have the Rorstan (Climax) chassis plans, originally built by Bobby Brittan (Renmax) and I think he modified the Rorstan to fit the Porshe engine. I haven't read Michael Clark's article about Bryan yet so hopefully there is more info there. Back to the plans, I'll look through my papers here in Virginia but its possible I might have them in storage back in NZ.
Originally Posted by CUSTAXIE50
I thought the Rorstan-Porsche (as it originally was) was a different car from the Rorstan-Climax, though they no doubt had some parts in common. Perhaps MAC's article explains...
The Faloon Brabham went via Australia to the UK around 1994
Grant - I've got the Rorstan plans tucked away. Can't recall whether you gave me the originals or photocopied them. What's this about you introducing Bryan to Anne? you never introduced me to any nice girls.
Grant yes some great memories of Tyne Street and Faloony
Was it really 40 years ago ,Pukekohe 1972
Russ, hope I have the originals in storage but I'll call you if I can't find them.
Regarding nice girls, I tried sending a few your way but they complained the interview line was too long. I think Theseus ended up with them...
Happier days for the nice guy and the nice lady
This one of him in the Escort from the Levin 4 hour race deserves to be in this thread as well
I pulled into levin late on saturday the levin show was on the place was full ,after doing the job i had to do i stopped in at the cemetery as i allways do when i am in levin ,this time the flowering shrubs are starting to take over so i removed some of it so i could see the head stone reading of the head stone this time was very hard to read ,standing back and having a good look around no one has been there for a long time this time i had paper and pencil with me so i put down what i could read off the head stone ,I know this may not read like this but here goes it goes somethink like this ,SOME PEOPLE ARE SO AFRAID OF LOSING THAT THEY NEVER ENTER THE RACE JUST BECAUSE NO ONE CAN GUARANTEE THEIR WINNING, THEY DENY THEMSELVES THE FUN OF TRYING ,THE RACE ISNT ALWAYS TO THE SWIFT NOR THE BATTLE TO THE STRONG OFFEN VICTORY GOES TO THE ADVENTUROUS AND PERSISTENT.
I never had the privilege of meeting Bryan but owned the old #57 Anglia for a fair while. Everyone always spoke very highly of him. I'll see if I can load a picture of him at Cabbage Tree, at this stage he had gone to the 1650 cc engine with a locked diff.
Another pic of Bryan, must be the Brabham?
Yes, if that's 1968 it's his first Brabham (BT4), before he joined the Rorstan team
I have just discovered a folder with newspaper cuttings and headings/story about the accident. Photos of wreckage etc.
I remember cutting these out of 8'oclock, Sunday news and Herald. This accident impacted on me at the time as I and mates had travelled out on train and were over back of straight waiting for train when the accident happened.
I may post photos along with other classics I have found tucked away in 'Scrapbook' forum, not sure, but they are history.
I have the same photos,what do others on the rs think about putting them up.
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