by Ray Bell » Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:42 pm
Originally posted by Steve Holmes
..... But from what I understand, the fact O'Neil obtained GT40 parts even at the time was considered a pretty big deal.
Laurie was a complete and utter car and motor racing nut. The story was that at the time he had his own GT40, whether the bits came from it, or from spares he had with it, or via contacts he had because of owning it, I don't know.
His history in the sport started when he popped up from a roadside culvert to watch Ossie Cranston take a rapid pass on some outer-Perth road in his 1936 Ford V8. He was obviously publicly-known to be out testing out its top speed that day, possibly in preparation for the South Australian Centenary Grand Prix later in the year at Victor Harbor.
He was closely associated with four Australian Grand Prix winners - Allan Tomlinson, Doug Whiteford, Frank Matich and John Goss. The latter two he supported in their racing, while Whiteford had a drive or two in Laurie's Aston Martin DB4GTZ (as did Pete Geoghegan, incidentally) and Tomlinson remained a lifelong friend.
[quote][i]Originally posted by Steve Holmes[/i]
[b]..... But from what I understand, the fact O'Neil obtained GT40 parts even at the time was considered a pretty big deal.[/b][/quote]
Laurie was a complete and utter car and motor racing nut. The story was that at the time he had his own GT40, whether the bits came from it, or from spares he had with it, or via contacts he had because of owning it, I don't know.
His history in the sport started when he popped up from a roadside culvert to watch Ossie Cranston take a rapid pass on some outer-Perth road in his 1936 Ford V8. He was obviously publicly-known to be out testing out its top speed that day, possibly in preparation for the South Australian Centenary Grand Prix later in the year at Victor Harbor.
He was closely associated with four Australian Grand Prix winners - Allan Tomlinson, Doug Whiteford, Frank Matich and John Goss. The latter two he supported in their racing, while Whiteford had a drive or two in Laurie's Aston Martin DB4GTZ (as did Pete Geoghegan, incidentally) and Tomlinson remained a lifelong friend.