The Roaring Season

and no drifting utes.........

Everybody knew they were like hand grenades but they are still the only class that the whole hill stand at Puke stood for when they came over the top of the hill. It was also the days when you could freely wander around and look at the cars. When a race finished the next heat was already set to come out and NO bloody XXXX girls dancing out of time yay !!!

It was a good catch-phrase allright. Although apparently it never hit 180mph, but that didn't matter.

PDL 1 " Electric blue and 180 mph " was the phrase of the day !

I would also add to the mix Barry Algie in his Monaro , Ian Algies Alfetta, Graeme Addis Charger also. The wish list grows long -best thing is not a Porsche in sight

seaqnmac27- as the thread says 1975,you forgot Grady Thomson/George Bunce Holden Monaro.That can be there as well.-it raced the Aussies at Baypark

Most of thosewere, it must be noted, at Pukekohe at the GP in 77

[quote="John McKechnie"]Yeah yeah na-. nostalgia is not always what it appears.Being youger means morer impressionable.Baypark was definitely a summer, sand, sun , girls time .-dont know if HD can replicate this.Cars then not always the most reliable , tyres and shock technology also not the best.I would say that , noise and names aside , the racing in classics and Historics is better now. I dont feel that you are missing out, all the great V8 saloons from 68-75 are still around.-name the car and you can be told the owner.[/quote]

You know thats a very interesting point John, though I do not agree with it. I think the majority of the newer circuits have become anaemic with more emphasise on safety than passing or viewers. Reliability has improved out of sight, which while it makes for more finishers, takes a fair amount of the lottery out of results, I certainly don't agree re the comment about all the Great V 8 saloons being still around, we certainly can't go and watch them race in anger. Love to see a race with the 2 Cologne Capri's, Bullivants Capri, Leckie's Capri, PDL 1 & 2, the 2 Victors, Coppins Firebird, Dawson in, take your pick of the Camaro or his Monza. Then add some of Australian visitors, raced to there potential that really would a race to watch.

Yeah yeah na-. nostalgia is not always what it appears.Being youger means morer impressionable.Baypark was definitely a summer, sand, sun , girls time .-dont know if HD can replicate this.Cars then not always the most reliable , tyres and shock technology also not the best.I would say that , noise and names aside , the racing in classics and Historics is better now. I dont feel that you are missing out, all the great V8 saloons from 68-75 are still around.-name the car and you can be told the owner.

[quote="seaqnmac27"]Ya no, as I just don't remember these cars, evn though I went to the , 75,76 and 77 GP meets, I was only born in August of 73 so this thread is, like one of many on this site, one that promotes a great sense of jealousy, that people remember the sights AND sounds of it.
I remember as a kid, dad had a sound recording of a meet at Pukekohe, not sure which year, but apparently one clear engine note is that of Jim Palmer in his Porsche.[/quote]

I'm with you on this, I was born in '77 and feel like it was a good 15 years too late to see the stuff that spins my wheels first time around live......I guess all generations feel like they missed out on something pivotal in a previous generation???

Exactly Steve. Still trying to get dad to send me that sound recording, was on reel to reel tape, so I am hoping he still has it and that I can then put onto CD, is there a way to post solely sound if we can arrange it?

Thats the beauty of this place Sean. For those who remember, we're re-igniting the memories. For those who weren't there, we're filling in the blanks.

Ya no, as I just don't remember these cars, evn though I went to the , 75,76 and 77 GP meets, I was only born in August of 73 so this thread is, like one of many on this site, one that promotes a great sense of jealousy, that people remember the sights AND sounds of it.
I remember as a kid, dad had a sound recording of a meet at Pukekohe, not sure which year, but apparently one clear engine note is that of Jim Palmer in his Porsche.

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Really good shot here of Moffats Monza. The car was made to race with 10" wide wheels in Australia, as per ASSC rules, so its two NZ outings were its last races with its original wheels still fitted.

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What a difference a year makes! John McCormack debuted his incredible mid-engined Repco Charger in 1974, and completely moved the goal posts. He ran the car at Wigram in NZ in early 1975 and was comfortably faster than anything else. But, twelve months later, the Charger was struggling to make the top four at Bay Park. Shows the rate at which race car technology was accelerating in the 1970s.

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Yep, you're right there John. And its not just the cars, the people who watched them race back then were hooked for life!

I was there, it was absolutely fantastic. The total love we have for these V8 saloon days at Bay Park is the reason why these cars are still around today

Some more mid-pack action here, these all being cars than were racing in the 4.2 litre class, with Roy Harrington (V8 Torana), leading Bill Leckie (V8 Capri), Rex Hart, and, I think, Bryan Bate in the V8 Torana.

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Harringtons Torana beats a smoky path to the pits. This was the original guise of the Torana, before it was fitted with huge box-flares the following season.

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This photo had me scratching my head. Its clearly one of the rolling starts, possibly for the third and final race, but Nazer is heading the pack. Grid positions for each race were based on finishing positions for the previous race, and Nazer finished 4th and 3rd in the first two races. My guess is he is trying to get into the heads of Leonard and Moffat just before the start, by pushing to the front on the rolling lap, then dropping back to his rightful starting position, just so they know he's there!

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Leonard and Moffat were pretty well this close all day long, and Moffat must have been getting incredibly frustrated. The Mustang really had some straight line speed, and every time Moffat would draw alongside out of the corners, Leonard would just smoke him on the straights.

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Moffats Monza wasn't the only new US arrival, Red Dawson replaced his ageing Z28 Camaro with the beautiful DeKon 1001. But unlike Moffats, Dawsons car ran like a pig all weekend. Unbeknown to Red, it'd had a couple of pretty big shunts in the US, and its handling was pretty evil. He spun from the second race, reversing it backwards into the Hairpin in race 2 at speed, spun again in race 3, whacking a post, then the motor blew!

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Halliday was obviously sick of following Richards, so gave him a helping hand to get out of the way.

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The big Bay Park Xmas meetings always drew big crowds, with lots of people taking their summer holidays in the Bay Of Plenty, Bay Park organisers really made the most of it and always assured a good quality line-up.

Interesting to look at the cars and crowd in the background of those shots.