The Bruce Wells Collection - Catalina Park - Part 1

[Steve Holmes]

Catalina Park was a pretty little circuit that wound its way through the Blue Mountains, in Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. Long since closed, Catalina Park once held races for both cars and motorbikes. It does still exist, though in fairly poor shape, and serves better purpose as a walking track.

Bruce Wells was a regular visitor to Catalina Park, and his photo collection includes several events that span from 1963 - 1965. I've split the Catalina collection so it'll appear as two parts, in chronological order.

Bruce has captioned a small number of the photos, and others I'm able to caption myself, but any help filling in any of the details would be appreciated from you guys.

So here goes.

[Steve Holmes]

Kicking off here with a race meeting from January 1963. First up are Lotus propelled Pete Geoghegan (car #1) and Frank Gardner. Bob Jane is in the Jaguar E Type. Next up is Bruce Leer, with Norm Beechey rounding off the post in his Impala.

[Steve Holmes]

Here we've got Beechey again in the Impala, having whacked either another car, or a piece of the Catalina Park armco. Greg Cusack is driving the Lotus 23 in the second photo. Jane appears again, this time in his multiple ATCC winning Jaguar. Last shot has John Evans in the MG.

[Steve Holmes]

Last batch from this event. First up is John Martin in the Lola, followed by a couple of Frank Matich shots, in Elfin and Lotus. Last is a beautiful shot capturing a trio of Holdens. Can anyone ID these cars?

[Steve Holmes]

OK, leaping forward now to August 1964. Only 7 shots from this event. Any help with identifying these pics would be appreciated.

[Steve Holmes]

Is that Frank Matich driving the Brabham?

[Steve Holmes]

The following several photos are from the November 1964 event. Again, help to ID cars and drivers would be appreciated. Now I am pretty sure the #27 Humpy is that of Des West, and I think the #46 machine might be that of John Hall, but any help with the others would be great.

[Steve Holmes]

Now the 3-wheeling Humpy (#119) I believe to be Warren Weldon. The FX giving chase to Weldon is probably the Bo Seton car. The Customline is the Anderson car. The 3-wheeling Morris Cooper is that of Brian Foley, part of the Neptune Racing Team.

[Steve Holmes]

OK, here we have a couple of shots of Pete Geoghegan in his Lotus Cortina, getting the hurry-up from Foley. The first of these is just beautiful! Bob Janes Lotus Cortina also features here, as does Terry Quartleys VW Beetle.

[Steve Holmes]

Warren Weldon and John Hall shown here again in their FX Holdens. The little special with its hood up, I believe, is the Buckle. Kevin Walters is named as the driver here, but there were several people who raced this car. Can anyone ID the little special at the end of this post?

[Ellis]

Great shots of the Humpies and others.
Thanks
Ellis

[Steve Holmes]

Glad you're enjoying them Ellis. OK, continuing, more Humpy shots, and another of the Foley Cooper, 3-wheeling as always.

[Munty]

Hi Steve, I actually raced at what I think was the last ever race meeting at Catalina Park in my uncles 38 Ford special. It was a vintage/historic regularity race meeting. Track was in pretty bad condition but it would have been awesome back in the day especially with all the armco etc lining the track.

[bry3500]

The #91 Special is in fact George Murray's 1928 Austin 7 - Now housed at the Powerhouse Museum. Full history and details can be found here - http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=414365

[Steve Holmes]

Bry, thanks heaps for that. Fantastic!

[Steve Holmes]

Hi Steve, I actually raced at what I think was the last ever race meeting at Catalina Park in my uncles 38 Ford special. It was a vintage/historic regularity race meeting. Track was in pretty bad condition but it would have been awesome back in the day especially with all the armco etc lining the track.

Wow, thats awesome Evan! The track looks a heap of fun. Real nice flowing track with lots of undulation. Can you give more info on your uncles 38 Ford special?

[Steve Holmes]

OK, next batch, as we count down towards the finish. First is is a production sports car race. Not sure if that is the Seifman Healey Sprite in the first shot? But I think that is probably Kevin Bartlett giving chase in the TVR Grantura. Are you able to confirm this KB? I think the pretty little Elan might be the Meyer car, and the white Sprite the MacArthur car.

[Steve Holmes]

[Steve Holmes]

[Steve Holmes]

This is the last of them folks. I'll start a separate thread for the second batch of Catalina Park pics from 1965 at a later date. Thanks again to Bruce Wells for sharing these beautiful photos.