bob homewood wrote:Steve ,yes they were Escort flares that Paul Ingram modified to fit ,he did the panel work,Steve Carter painted it,bit hard to see in the photo but the colours sort of merged into each other ,was a great idea but touch ups after close racing incidents were not easy and there were a few of them along the way that season,was a interesting project as I said I was disapointed not to have had another season with it
Bob, why didn't you get to run another season with it?
Steve Holmes wrote:Bob, why didn't you get to run another season with it?
Steve the Rules changed again,it was the second time in two seasons that had happened to me ,I had enough ,I decided to go off and race in the SCANZ Sports car class ,at least the rules were stable there,also I always had a attraction to the Sports racing cars ,I had nearly gone and done it a couple of times before that season I made the change,I had nearly four seasons in that SCANZ class
Steve Holmes wrote:So about which year were the rules changed Bob?
Steve I have to think about the years there ,from memory I think it was at the end of the 1976 season,when they dropped the 0-1300 class and went with the 0-2000 rules,that class actually did enjoy a longer life span ,but sorry after two changes in two years I didn't want to gamble on the chance of it changing yet once again
Steve, in those days the rules changed more than the weather. Please remember in those days if you had doors you were treated as if "you guy's only fill the programme". Funny 9 race day with 6 races having doors. Oh well it made us all more mature and a couple did go off and race cars without doors and then they got "who is this upstart, he should not be winning, he is new" Bought the best out in some. Was going to say "who is this little upstart" but we know.
Rod Grimwood wrote:The girl in the white shorts looks a little different now, the Berlinetta Boxer was at that time one of 2 in southern hemisphere, it was owned by Ross Tebbs and he only sold it about 2 years ago (reckoned he would never sell it). This car sat in a air conditioned garage with a Phase 3 on one side and a L34 on the other, so it was not lonely. Ross has had some toys. Think I know the capri in back ground as well, nice car but the boot was small for chilly bins. Had a Mk11 hatch later and that was a bit easier to pack in the chilly bins (we ate alot)
Right on both counts Rod. This is Ross Tebbs boxer that he just sold to a bloke that has put it into a museam. Ross has replaced this car with a brand new Aston Martin that was specially painted red for Ross. (they dont do red as any of their colours)....but they did this for Ross as well as flew him to the Monaco F1GP. The Capri was in fact the late Duffys wife's car. Duffy was tragically killed whilst .in the Matamata area. Ross owned an Angia Shellsport car that was driven by Colin Reed. This car had a tilt front and was the quickest Anglia of it time. That particular car was sold to Mr Harold Wooton Senior and he raced it with moderate success at the ripe old age of 84....Harold Snr son Harold Jnr was to go on to be President of the Sports Sedan Association (whilst I was secretary at the same time..) and race a lightweight RX3 Coupe....(ex Rex Findllay??) and it is Harold Jnr son Alister that is currently racing in the Toyota Racing Series and going well. A great racing family with true Kiwi values and respect.....Regards, Tony Rutherford.
thunder427 wrote:..In America the Blue VW special is called a Stirling...In Australia they are called a Purvis Eureka.....Top lifts up and forward for entry,always wondered how you got out when its 'Upside Down' ????????????.................REGADS427/MJ
Purvis Eureka! I witnessed Havard Daniels rally sprint one of these death traps at Riverhead and he in fact rolled it and ended up on his roof. He could do not a thing about getting out of the car. The spectators had to lift it back onto its wheels before he could get out. (cant imagine what the scenerio would have been if fire was involved). This particular Rally sprint was won by a toss of a coin. The Mk 2 BDA Escort that won the event was in fact shared by Jim Richards and the owner Tony Teesdale. Teesdale put up a blistering time and then Jimmy did his bit....except Jimmy took out the timing gear on the finish line and they couldnt determine who won. (Teesdale won the toss......albeit TV coverage a fortnight later showed a frame by frame timing segment and it was Jimmy Richards who won by a bees dick!....Regards, Tony Rutherford.
Heres one of it the first day we tested it in its Shellsport guise ,we changed the rear shock/spring units straight after this photo was taken as the shock people had got the rear shocks completely wrong,so I went back to the ones we used the season before ,this was also before the sign writing went on .That car ended up going to the South Island and I belieive it was finally dumped
Bob, your Corolla looks very much like the one Austin Prattley ran for many years (1980's) in SI OSCA.
Reading about 'Waltzing Matilda' the jet drag- truck, brings to mind an incident at a BayPark race meeting in the late 80's involving a drag truck giving demonstration runs, and also taking 'lucky' passengers for a ride. This machine was coming down the front straight, not going very fast, when the tilt cab...TILTED. Someone had not secured the cab catch properly!!!!! The machine ended up buried in the bank opposite the pits with it's engine revving and drive wheels churning, with the driver and 'lucky' passenger trapped inside. The driver was obviously unable to put the thing out of gear or stop the engine, as he would have been lying horizontal.After about a minute, with everyone watching in a state of shock, some fella from the pits, sprinted across the track ,and at considerable risk to himself, reached into the now exposed engine bay and managed to kill the motor. Eventually the driver and passenger were extracted, and this machine was dragged away. What a balls-up. Now I don't THINK it was 'Waltzing Matilda' but I could be wrong. I remember seeing this machine on display at Paramount tyres in Cambridge, but I'm sure it wasn't jet powered, but the colour was the same. There always seemed to be a bit of a mystery surrounding the Paramount display truck and where it went to after the BayPark 'incident'. All very hush-hush. I'm sure there is someone out there who can refresh my memory.
Was just scrolling through these pictures and note your comment on post 20. The last picture of the waggon and horses is taken from the top of the bank at Mystery Creek rallycross circuit in Hamilton. The Waggon etc belong....belonged to the Clydesdale Museum which is now defunct. Foggie competed very successfully here for a year or two with the first car he built.....a Mini [of course] called 'MINCER' [actually THE Mincer]. This type of circuit was I believe a great training ground for drivers and is a great shame that it does not exist anymore. With 3 or 4 different surfaces to contend with ,and a water splash, was quite tricky, and this is where he developed his 'tail-out' style of driving that he demonstrated at Pukekohe in the TKR Holden in the early part of this century. Not always the fastest way round a corner but got the crowd on it's feet!!!!! He figured if you were not up front with the fast boys, the least you could do for your sponsors was to be grabbing attention at the back. Another car he raced at the Rallycross circuit was one we called the 'Rusty Riley'.....for obvious reasons!! The car, a 1971 Riley 1300, had lived in England for the first 5 years of it's life, then bought to NZ by a proud owner, only to slowly get lighter and lighter as the rust, initiated from the salty roads in the UK, took hold. But hey, what a great way to get a light body on a race car!!!! I'm telling you, that thing went like stink and could more than match hot Datsuns and Escorts in the rough and tumble of that sport, much to the annoyance of their drivers. Have a great photo of it hounding a poor Datsun round the south curve after the water splash, heading for the jump. [Wish I had a scanner] Incidentally the engine from that car, which is almost Cooper 'S' spec. went into a successful race car. We got a lot of use and enjoyment from a $500 bomb.
I knew somebody that bought a Riley 1300 out from the UK with them when they came here to live in the seventies, I wonder if it was the same car. The one I knew was from the North East, but picked up a lot of rust on its journey here as deck cargo.
[quote="AMCO72"]......... Foggie competed very successfully here for a year or two with the first car he built.....a Mini [of course] called
'MINCER' [actually THE Mincer]. This type of circuit was I believe a great training ground for drivers and is a great shame that it does not exist anymore. With 3 or 4 different surfaces to contend with ,and a water splash, was quite tricky, and this is where he developed his 'tail-out' style of driving that he demonstrated at Pukekohe in the TKR Holden in the early part of this century.
Hi Gerald,
The Mincer, i Remember it, Fastest of the 1300 mini's at Rallycross, the were a few guys running 1426cc or bigger.
Not the best photo, but had it already scanned. This is the corner just before the water splash. As you said nice 'tail-out' style.
Pallmall.....this one was a muddy brown colour....original paint. People used to call them 'Kestrals' but the 1300 version was NOT a Kestral. I have never seen such rust on a car, ever. We knew about the engine spec on these. and made sure it had it's original motor installed. Later when we stripped it ready to get it ready for the race car we found that it was still standard crank and conrods with just 10 thou wear on the big ends. Could have almost left it as it was.......the speedo was showing 100,000 MILES.....amazing.
Actually neither of them were Kestrals........but.... KESTRELS... Afraid my spelling is not improving with age. After we had finished having fun with the old girl at rallycross, we removed the engine, and what was left GAVE to Glen Horn, the BMC wrecker that I talked about in Yards and Yarns. He didn't get much out of it. As you know...' Rust never Sleeps'. We were lucky to be able to tow it down to his yard without it collapsing into a pile of dust on the Queens Highway!!!
I can't remember the colour of the one I knew, a few years ago! I do know it was different from what was sold here. I wouldn't have thought too many came here as private imports.
I cannot believe that there isn't some-one out there that remembers either the incident at Baypark or the Drag truck called 'Waltzing Matilda'. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that there was something fishy with the whole enterprise, especially after the Baypark balls-up. Unfortunately there are none of the Paramount tyres boys around now, so I cant ask them. OSH wasn't around in those days either, so they certainly didn't step in as I'm sure they would today. Maybe it was just packed up and sent back home to Australia. I dunno, one of lifes mysteries. Greg, your a bit of a Hot-Rod guru, do you know anything?
