Ross nova one

[Dave Silcock]

Graham Hallen I think Rhys. methinks I saw him entered some where recently in a Mustang or similar

[Ross nova one]

Does anyone have photos or contacts who might have photos of the ex Beechy Nova from the period 1969 - 1971 when raced by Tony Bowden and John Kay?
It was raced several times at Mallala between 69 and 71 and also at Calder in 1971.

[Steve Holmes]

Thats right Steve, Beechey actually raced the Nova in NZ on at least two occasions, once when it was black, in late 1967, then in its ''68 colour scheme, as seen here.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10772[/ATTACH]

I posted this photo on The Roaring Season Facebook page, and queried Beecheys decision to retro-fit the steel wheels the car raced on when first built in 1966, and since replaced by 5-spoke wheels. Allan Dick posted that Beechey was actually trying to sell the car in NZ. That would explain why the steel wheels found their way back on. Keep the good 5-spoke wheels, and sell it with the old steel ones. Unfortunately for Norm, it didn't find a buyer in NZ.

[Steve Holmes]

A couple of beautiful Terry Marshall photos here, showing Beechey during two of his three Bay Park appearances. The first is from the Xmas 1967 meeting, being chased by Fahey and Dawson. The second, with the big Nova suffering severe understeer, is from the Xmas 1968 meeting.

[rogered]

Graham Hallen I think Rhys. methinks I saw him entered some where recently in a Mustang or similar

groundsky photos
http://www.groundsky.co.nz/index.php?Action=SRC

[rogered]

type in grahams name and you will see he is very active

[Oldfart]

Pretty sure this is not the person I was referring to.

[kiwi285]

Ross Nova One - Is this the car you were looking for photos of ??

[rogered]

Pretty sure this is not the person I was referring to.

He is the same gent that owned the HWM

[Oldfart]

So do you know where Peter Haskett fits in?

[David McKinney]

If you're referring to the HWM, OF, Haskett was the first owner after the Avery brothers, and ran it with the 8-litre Continental aero engine. Then John Donnelly (4.6, later 5.4 Ford), Graeme Hallen (5.7 Chevrolet), John Monehan briefly before it joined Ron Roycroft’s private collection in 1970

[Dave Silcock]

Now with Gavin Bain, saw it at Auto Restorations last month. It has a Cadillac motor and Jaguar gear box fitted and is getting a full restoration.

[Steve Holmes]

There is an interesting and happy conclusion to this story. The reason Ross was trying to gather photos of the Norm Beechey Nova, was that he was gathering information on the car to present to CAMS, in order to have the 1967/67 Nova make/model added to the list of eligible vehicles to compete under CAMS Historic Group Nc rules for cars dating from 1965 through 1972. Previously, Ross had been racing an earlier model Nova/Chevy II in Historic Group Nb.

There were some complications involved, aside from simply proving that a 1966/67 shaped Nova raced in Australia in period. Obviously, the Beechey car was pretty famous, and a very high-profile vehicle, so providing proof of that fact was easy. The complications arose when Ross wanted to run the car fitted with front disc brakes.

Norm Beechey built his Nova in 1966, at which time, this model was only available with 4-wheel drum brakes. And this is exactly how Beechey raced the car. However, Chevrolet offered the Nova with front disc brakes in 1967. But for whatever reason, Beechey decided to retain his car with drum brakes.

Ross and I had been emailing each other quite regularly, as I tried to provide him with period photos of the Beechey car as it raced during the later part of the 1967 season. It was during this time Beechey aesthetically upgraded the car by fitting it with a 1967 grill. In doing so, this helped Ross' cause when working with CAMS to get not only the 1966 Nova accepted as a Group Nc car, but also the 1967 model, as the Beechey car represented both during its different guises. CAMS accepted not only the 1966 model, but also the 1967 model, and, more importantly, even though Beechey chose to retain four wheel disc brakes on his car, CAMS have allowed anyone wanting to build a 1967 Nova, to do so with disc brakes on the front. Result!

So, in conclusion, the photos our various Roaring Season members have unearthed over the years, showing, most importantly, the Beechey Nova as it raced in New Zealand in late 1967, proved that this car raced under the guise of a '67 model, which helped Ross in his plight to get the model accepted under Group Nc rules. The absolutely beautiful Chevy Nova pictured below, which Ross recently completed building, is the result. Great work Roaring Season members! And well done Ross for all your work, getting this model accepted, and for building such a beautiful race car!

[Noo Noo]

I posted this photo on The Roaring Season Facebook page, and queried Beecheys decision to retro-fit the steel wheels the car raced on when first built in 1966, and since replaced by 5-spoke wheels. Allan Dick posted that Beechey was actually trying to sell the car in NZ. That would explain why the steel wheels found their way back on. Keep the good 5-spoke wheels, and sell it with the old steel ones. Unfortunately for Norm, it didn't find a buyer in NZ.

I checked it out one afternoon when it was sitting on a trailer at Manthel Motors ( Wellington's Holden and Chev dealers ) used car yard in Taranaki Street. It was late in the day and there were no salesmen around - probably in the public bar of the Panama Hotel, next door - so I never learnt what it was doing there. Perhaps someone in the Capital was a potential buyer.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Dave, thats interesting. The Nova ran a couple of events at Bay Park in late 1968, from memory the Labour Weekend event, then the Christmas event. There was a big gap in between, but he was racing a Camaro in Australia by this stage, and was building an HK Monaro for the 1969 season, so the Nova wasn't required.

So perhaps it was sent down to Wellington to be stored? You'd think it'd just stay up in the BOP area? Or maybe it was trucked around a bit for promotional purposes.

[Rod Grimwood]

Steve it was stored at Rorisons next to Baypark.