Photos: The Sprague Family Collection

[Steve Emson]

All South Island motorsport people are so naughty.

[Carlo]

All South Island motorsport people are so naughty.

Which is why you enjoyed spending so much time with them

[Grant Sprague]

Which is why you enjoyed spending so much time with them

ha ha Steve I saw that one coming .......Steve probably does not remember him & I & John Wolf met up at the Hib hotel in Timaru .....mid 70s cant really remember much what happened that night lol,
John , I don't remember that pub,s name on the Anglia that Pete K bought off Ernie .... But do know [Bucket ] the owner at that time use to look after the boys with sponsor ship with different cars......... LOL Carl yep I was a bit young for the real hey daz . you being a little older would know some other stories....with the others but when I became teen I caught on very quick re what was going on .......became very street wise .... yep I do remember Ernie, Pumpkin & Leo meeting at the said pub on the odd eve for pool , raffles, & beers.....probably where a lot of planning was held...... plus other things

[Steve Emson]

I might rephrase that.

Main land motorsport nuts are i

[Steve Emson]

I might rephrase that.

Main land motorsport nuts are incredibly naughty people! Conversely us, the remainder, were just babies in the woods. Or is that wet behind the ears.

On another subject
Those secret B & H meetings must have been enlightening.

Question;

How do we make the brakes last longer than anyone else?

Answer;

Ah , grass hopper, catch the fly and all will be revealed.

Maybe they had the cone of silence from Maxwell Smart.

Whatever they came up with certainly worked. Timaru is certainly the Area 51 secret skunk works of motorsport.

Us mere mortals never had a chance!

Example:
While in Waimate with Carl not so long ago;

Carl; So you would have turned the pistons around in the Datsuns like we were all doing?

Dad & Me; Huh? Geez...............(You know nothing John Snow!)

[Grant Sprague]

He . He Love it .... I do recall though .... my big brother saying ..the North Islanders think we are a bit behind the times compared to the big smoke .. but yep the south island did produce some clever things , eg the Beggs , Briton bike etc .. As for brakes I do know one thing for sure , we did have the quickest brake pad change ... I witnessed the tools being made to do just that , or was it [Grass hopper ... Be gentle on the pedal] I should re phrase last this was a pub where lots of talent hung around not so much other things was a good place for that for teenage boys ?? to do a bit of u know what ....... back to B&H while most were using G clamps etc & pump up jacks ........all were a matter of choice for the teams ....... Steve , winter has set in bloody cold 11 deg in Tga that means probably 1 in Timaru for Carl lol, Gold Coast min 6 high 21......Think Steve is in the correct place ..

[seaqnmac27]

Grant was 4 degrees here at Yandina on the Sunshine Coast at 8am, still 14 at 11.50.

[Steve Emson]

[quote="Grant Sprague"]He . He Love it .... I do recall though .... my big brother saying ..the North Islanders think we are a bit behind the times compared to the big smoke .. but yep the south island did produce some clever things

Yes, the NI competitors all thought you were an inbred bunch of toothless cousins, ....no wait a minute, that is the bros in the swamp in Florida.

Mainlanders,..............Ah yes, a bunch of very clever, talented individuals. The striking thing was how well we were treated when we came down to visit. Always helpful and very friendly. Lots of funny stories from our visits, and certainly many good times were had.

Grant, for the record I do remember drinking with you and John Woolf and also Grant Whittaker and another friend of theirs, Mark.
We were all camping together in Alan Woolf's camper trailer towed by the mighty Triumph Vitesse.
That was a great holiday, camping, racing and most everything together.

You may not remember what we talked about, but I do,...................................Ha Ha. Put $10,000 in a brown paper bag and leave it were I know were it is, and I will not tell!

A couple of things i remember from that trip. As you know i drove my 128 down to the SI especially to race you and find out how quick you were. Just before the meeting in Timaru (i think) i went through a police radar with all the boys on board. They told me not to stop as I would be put in goal. I didn't. At practice and then the race meeting i was sure they would come for me. Every time they mentioned my name over the loud speaker system I thought they would be tapping me on the back any second.
The other funny thing was on the way home. we got off the boat in Wellington very late. We were driving down the motorway when we got pulled over by the Police for not having tail lights working on the Vitesse and trailer.
They told us to not go any further. They said you will have to stay the night. We said where?
They pointed to the grass verge next to the motorway.
So next morning there was 2 fully sign written race cars and a pop up camper fully set up, as the commuters all went by on their way to work. We ate our breakfast and watched them all go by...........................
Quite funny.

You probably already know that John & Grant went on to do rallying. I think i had already started rallying before them. I remember then driving down to Baypark were I was racing to show me their new toy. An ex Rod Millen RX3 Mazda. I had to go out to the car park to view it, as they were so excited by it.
As it turned out that car broke my windscreen in a Marlboro rally in the SI later. John had caught the car in front and I had caught them both. It was a long 5th gear straight and we would have been doing 110mph maybe, and I was determined to pass my mad mates.(Bragging rights) I tried to pass them, but they were throwing huge rocks all over my car. Then the windscreen broke and we were blinded until we smashed it out.
John & Grant went on to become big players in NZ rallying. All i ever heard from them was, Steve, get a Mazda, get a Mazda!
Then of course they went to the USA and were doing exceptionally well.
The last time i saw them was at John's wedding to Carol. Carol knew my wife, as they went to school together. At the wedding they came over to my table and we spend hours talking about rallying. They wanted me to come over to the USA and stay with them. They thought that Rod (Millen), them and I could really kick some American butt.
Of course I got a phone call from my Mum one afternoon, that changed everything.....forever.
They were fantastic guys, always laughing and having fun. I drove with John on 2 occasions in the B & H races.

So, some of the memories of the SI good times involve people who are no longer with us. Of course we all know what that is like.

lets hope we have many more good times to come!

[Grant Sprague]

Thank you Steve...... I meet John once or twice a really nice guy ...we are going back 40 years [shit are we that old ha ha lol ] though so not sure about a lot , re the 128,s I recall Ernie saying , drive the car to NI & when you get to the Ferry explain you have no money [& I did not true story....] tyres came from wrecking yards or left overs [one caught me out ] I met two really good chaps that worked on the boats Nick Nicholson & Alex McKenzie...... still remember their names oddly enough .. any way I turned the key off & said I can not start it they pushed me to the side & said .... WAIT THERE..[Littleton] or [Picton] ... I waited & waited some how we got the car on board with out paying ...... pushing on... cant really remember lol.... Soooo they said please come down for a drink to our mess lol , I THOUGHT ??what!!!!! any way down I went to the worker,s bar [crews] or what ever it was I had a quick scan ....nup all old girls ....... had a beer & went .....the rest is history . You know Steve I do hope we meet up one day .... I see a few mates in Gold Coast from time to time one day we will connect perhaps a swim in the surf, a cold beer , or burn some rubber ..but time moving quick ....Kind regards always .. Grant [this could have been a road trip story lol ]

[Carlo]

Pity we don't have long distance races like we used too. Easiest way to get brakes to last Steve was not to use them until you have to........

Reverting to rallying, when I came back south and was running the Group One RX3 and Barry Robinson was running his Viva GT both had very small brakes that overheated very quickly, Barry being Barry used the theory that a locked wheel never generated heat and that he was wearing his tyres out anyway. Both cars had about 6 good stops in an event before the brakes went so you had to make them count.

John & Grant, still think of them quite often, they were good buggers, we were pretty close to going over there around that time too and their accident saw a lot of pressure come on from two sets of Grandparents for us to remain in NZ

[Grant Sprague]

Pity we don't have long distance races like we used too. Easiest way to get brakes to last Steve was not to use them until you have to........

Reverting to rallying, when I came back south and was running the Group One RX3 and Barry Robinson was running his Viva GT both had very small brakes that overheated very quickly, Barry being Barry used the theory that a locked wheel never generated heat and that he was wearing his tyres out anyway. Both cars had about 6 good stops in an event before the brakes went so you had to make them count.

John & Grant, still think of them quite often, they were good buggers, we were pretty close to going over there around that time too and their accident saw a lot of pressure come on from two sets of Grandparents for us to remain in NZ

Carl Re G clamps ...these were not to stop the brake pressure to front worn out brake pads & destroying discs....after 4 or 5 hrs racing ......the G clamp some people used were to SLOWLY push the piston back in the caliper [calipers]. and fit new brake pads .... they... most of used that .....Ernie used the impact gun with a clutch thrust bearing to do that in a few seconds.......quick pit stop ....do that two or three times in 6 hrs give perhaps 2 laps lead.......... lol nothing has changed .......

[seaqnmac27]

Gary at Levin

[seaqnmac27]

Same attack chasing Roger Anderson

[kiwi285]

Grant has given me a stack of photos from his photo albums so I am going to put them up and he can add further information to explain the what and when of each one.

Ernie inspecting an MER sports car


The family tent on the embankment at Baypark


Grant and Alby getting prepared for a Wellington street race


Grant holding aloft the spoils of victory

[kiwi285]

Here are some more to look over

Ernie in the Alfa P3


Ernie in the Maserati 4 CLT


Ernie on the front row at Teretonga


Ernie with his replica Mk III Zephyr

[minihaha]

Took these photos of an M.E.R at the McLaren festival, Hampton Downes. Not sure if it is the same car.

[Grant Sprague]

Re MER this I owned for about 20 years sold it to a chap up north .. I fitted a 1340 split webber engine from a mini that I use to hill climb & do club events.. this was taken inside a shed from a car yard I use to work out of at rear of property on Cameron Rd Tga , one of Dad,s visits up north you can see he is interested... I bought this off local racer & friend Murray Nicholson

[Oldfart]

There is only one of the MER like that, and still owned by the "guy up north" that Grant sold it to. Rarely used, and it's not me

[Grant Sprague]

Old Fart....... Angus wanted to buy this off me but I think he realised he had too much on his plate ....... I will add to other piks later

[Grant Sprague]

Tent pik is the famous embankment ...... Alby Collier ..[-.great mate] always had the tent we would put it up on practice day .....provided we were not racing .. you can see Ernie there me with cap with one of the local girls great times .. our tent was always full of motor racing nuts lol..... ... The two of us standing at Wellington Street circuit [team mates ] was again Alby & I, using the glass of his ute to use as a mirror putting on sun screen before our practice or first race , this was an other north v south gathering of pre 65 cars was a great weekend until I knocked the kill switch while leading ...s....t happens. ifs buts lol all good fun