The first race meeting I attended was....

[GD66]

Same as Shoreboy and Allan, the Totara Street circuit at the Mount, and like Allan, the major memory is of Ernie Sprague hurling the green Mk 3 Zephyr around. Also the blatant introduction of (gasp !) advertising on race cars, with two or three cars bearing Team MolySlip stickers... also recall everyone being in awe of the dominance of Frank Matich, smooth and quick in the Repco-Brabham.

[Shoreboy57]

Same as Shoreboy and Allan, the Totara Street circuit at the Mount, and like Allan, the major memory is of Ernie Sprague hurling the green Mk 3 Zephyr around. Also the blatant introduction of (gasp !) advertising on race cars, with two or three cars bearing Team MolySlip stickers... also recall everyone being in awe of the dominance of Frank Matich, smooth and quick in the Repco-Brabham.

By chance does anyone know of the streets (other than Totara) used at the Mount?

[Kwaussie]

First road race was at Ryall Bush 1957, one lap = 5.84km. A real road circuit after all the small grass tracks in Southland at the time.
Highlight in the morning on the drive out was Reg Parnel driving his Ferrari 555 coming up behind us in the 30mph zone and as we passed the derestriction sign he took both hands off the steering wheel to put his goggles up and then roared past and into the distance.
Spent most of the day in the pit paddock collecting autographs. Peter Whitehead, Reg Parnel, Horace Gould, Ron Roycroft, Jack Brabham and many more. Went up to wire fence every now and then to watch the cars go by - but soon lost interest as they were going so fast. There were lots of girls around but as my mum was with me and I was just 12 years of age kept myself busy by looking at all the cars in the paddock area.

[Chris Kitzen]

Without wishing to hijack this thread any further, isnt the Frist car / shell owned by Chris Kitzen? Pretty sure theres a thread on here for it.

Can't be my car as it is RHD with RHD wipers. My car he never had RHD wipers fitted. There are other differences also by that's the most obvious.

[stubuchanan]

By chance does anyone know of the streets (other than Totara) used at the Mount?

The little grey cells are telling me it was Totara, Hewletts Rd, Tasman Quay, Hull Rd and back into Totara. I think Tasman Quay ran parallel to Totara for quite some distance north but seems to have vanished into the port area now. Can't confirm but someone will know out there.

Stu

[Habu]

Can't be my car as it is RHD with RHD wipers. My car he never had RHD wipers fitted. There are other differences also by that's the most obvious.

Apologies - thought it may have been.

Cheers
Habu

[crunch]

Well; I am so much younger than you guys, I remember seeing stuff in colour, not Black & White!!
Motorsport in general was Cemetery Circuit Wanganui (without the H back then) about 1970....and cars was Manfield about 1973or 4 and the F5000's of Lawerence and a Tasmanian dude racing side by side lap after lap. Super exciting as they were passing each other as they went into Dunlop

Wow!...sometimes it is just weird how stuff happens. I was down visiting my parents yesterday. They still live in the house I was born in. So I was walking past my old bedroom and somehow noticed a sticker that as a youngster I had applied to the back of my bedroom door so my mum couldn't see it and tell me off! She did a huge spin-out when I attached a few to the wallpaper before this...so I had learnt my lesson. Anyway; the sticker is a rectangle with a black backround and bold yellow lettering with smaller white lettering giving additional info. I remember as a kid thinking that it was a mite boring to look at but now when I read the 4 simple letters and 4 simple numbers, they evoke a passion and excitement that strangely takes me back to my boyhood.....incredible!

Oh;...the four simple letters and numbers???.....POSB and 5000

[Allan]

As I recall The Mount circuit was two long parallel straights and two short straights which formed the circuit, so four right hand 90 degree turns.

[seaqnmac27]

Mike's Mark2 Escort was a RS2000 and I think that car became the "donor car" for Bob Holmwoods Sports Sedan Escort?

Bobs donor car was definitely the Mark Rutherford Mark 2, here is the link to Bobs build thread which is on here. The Rutherford car was a LHD, I will scan a couple of shots of it over the next day or so.
http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?116-Bob-Homewood-Escort-Sports-Sedan&highlight=homewood