Motor Racing pics - my early years, 1964-71 ; Pukekohe Racetrack ;by - Roger Dowdingl

[hilstwist]

The victor might be frank Hamlin from Wellington.I seem to recall him racing one at Levin:blue colour I think

[Roger Dowding]

The fourth car in the line up is my Daimler SP250, which finished in third place overall heading the Mustang into fourth place. My partner driver was my friend the sadly now late Bill Kelly. Our participation was a shoestring affair and the SP250 served as daily personal, business and family transport and certainly did not arrive on a trailer. We won the 1,601 - 3,000 cc class.

I vividly recall my very amateur pit crew, brandishing a “slow down” signal with shaken fists during the final laps, with them having in mind the class win. However I was thinking about the the extra money for third place and pressed on accordingly and got past the Mustang. LOL

Just re-reading your comment Trevor, the Bill Kelly, was that W R Kelly who owned the Service Station in Mt Albert,?? I used to go to him to get MANZ permits, for Gymkhana's and Trials in the mid / late 1970's for both Northern Sports Car Club and Austin Healey Club,
at one stage they split the responsibility and Bill did Speed and another MANZ steward in Epsom did the Trials ones..
cheers

Roger

[Grant Sprague]

Damn great photos, thank you for sharing guys

[Roger Dowding]

Photos from Chris Burles [ first 3 ** ] and Kevin Gerbic
** The photos of the Zephyr Corvette and the group of cars, photos 1** 2 and 3 are from Jack Inwood " MR PIX " archives and Nigel Watts has copies of both photo's 2 and 3 as well as others that he bought from Jack Inwood back in 1967 - see comment on Nigel's thread " Images From My Past - Nigel Watts Collection "
** Correction The Zephyr Corvette being hounded by the Mini - first pic - Terry Marshall advises that it is his photo .. Chris Burles was the one who posted so attributed to his archives - in error

This is not Pukekohe, the Zephyr has sprouted pipes, still in Team Molyslip colours ..

can anyone identify the Chev's . at the Elbow .. ?? one looks like it took to the haybales ..

[Trevor Sheffield]

Just re-reading your comment Trevor, the Bill Kelly, was that W R Kelly who owned the Service Station in Mt Albert,?? I used to go to him to get MANZ permits, for Gymkhana's and Trials in the mid / late 1970's for both Northern Sports Car Club and Austin Healey Club,
at one stage they split the responsibility and Bill did Speed and another MANZ steward in Epsom did the Trials ones..
cheers

Roger

Bill Kelly was a long standing friend and I was always very much aware of his driving ability. After becoming married he was "confined" to trials and the like and did no actual racing. He kept his reaction times honed competing with slot cars and was a champion. Others within the sports car circle at the time, were rather skeptical of my choice of partner and I withheld a sly smile of wisdom. Bill devoted a great deal of time towards the sport at grass roots level but sadly is not all that well remembered. He held positions of impotence, was well versed in rules and regulations and contributed accordingly.

Kelly's Mount Albert Garage was of the old school and my son Paul started there as an apprentice. "Old Man" Kelly was a wise veteran. After his death John Kelly ran the workshop. Like Bill, John was far from being inclined to boast of his mechanical ability, but I had obserevd and was impressed. I did all my own detailed work but john rebuilt the Daimler SP250 engine which had no modifications, together with a 1275 CC cooper S engine. The latter was improved significantly and although John never claimed credentials as a racing mechanic, he was up with the play and his diligence was beyond doubt.

Salts of the earth, both of them and worthy of a few words in print. Sincerely, Trevor.

[Roger Dowding]

Bill Kelly was a long standing friend and I was always very much aware of his driving ability. After becoming married he was "confined" to trials and the like and did no actual racing. He kept his reaction times honed competing with slot cars and was a champion. Others within the sports car circle at the time, were rather skeptical of my choice of partner and I withheld a sly smile of wisdom. Bill devoted a great deal of time towards the sport at grass roots level but sadly is not all that well remembered. He held positions of impotence, was well versed in rules and regulations and contributed accordingly.

Kelly's Mount Albert Garage was of the old school and my son Paul started there as an apprentice. "Old Man" Kelly was a wise veteran. After his death John Kelly ran the workshop. Like Bill, John was far from being inclined to boast of his mechanical ability, but I had obserevd and was impressed. I did all my own detailed work but john rebuilt the Daimler SP250 engine which had no modifications, together with a 1275 CC cooper S engine. The latter was improved significantly and although John never claimed credentials as a racing mechanic, he was up with the play and his diligence was beyond doubt.

Salts of the earth, both of them and worthy of a few words in print. Sincerely, Trevor.

Trevor, thank you for your comments, and yes Bill was great to go to with my permits etc.. sometimes suggesting that we reduce the average speeds in some trials sections as he knew the entrants would drive faster anyway !! ..

cheers, Roger

[Greg Stokes]

The Allcomers field heading for the grid

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Johnny Riley heading for the grid
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Humber Jaguar T Boyle
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Zephyr Corvette K [ Ken ] Bailey
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The Morrari,
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Thanks to Milan for the race list from the programme - helped with some driver details.

Great pictures of the Morrari thanks!

[Rod Grimwood]

Roger the 'mate' is Glen "Jigger" Jones

At Pukekohe .. borrowed pic, just hold the cursor over it !!
early as running those Borrani Wire Wheels ..
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another borrowed picture ..
Zephyr Corvette, when Rod Coppins had it ..
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A mate Rod and wife to be beside the car
Kevin Hirst, any other pics of the Vanguard ... " Guardsvan " ??, would make a good story - part of the cars owned thread perhaps !!

[stubuchanan]

can anyone identify the Chev's . at the Elbow .. ?? one looks like it took to the haybales ..
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Found this picture in an old Motorman mag(June 1963). Looks like the same incident from the other side of the track. Car 70 is Frank Stephen, and the program identifies car 72 as Trevor Horncy. Stephen must have got going again quickly to finish a few places behind Stephen. A few other more familiar names were racing Ford or Chevy V8's around this time - Jack Nazer, Gary Pedersen(with "rookie" stripes which was the fashion at the time) Harvey and Souness. Which of the 3 damp spectators took the above photo?

Stu

[Roger Dowding]

can anyone identify the Chev's . at the Elbow .. ?? one looks like it took to the haybales ..
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Found this picture in an old Motorman mag(June 1963). Looks like the same incident from the other side of the track. Car 70 is Frank Stephen, and the program identifies car 72 as Trevor Horncy. Stephen must have got going again quickly to finish a few places behind Stephen. A few other more familiar names were racing Ford or Chevy V8's around this time - Jack Nazer, Gary Pedersen(with "rookie" stripes which was the fashion at the time) Harvey and Souness. Which of the 3 damp spectators took the above photo?

Stu[/QUOTE]

Stu, thanks, I knew a Frank Stephen or Stephens, ran a garage / workshop in Newton and a Few Chev Coupes would be there Glen Jones was working there too 1968-70 ish. Frank known as Sonny later got out of the Automotive field and ran the Potters Wheel Tavern in New Lynn, for the Waitakere licensing trust, a bit away from racing cars ..

[Roger Dowding]

Steve, yes there are about 70 - 100 or so, some that I had found earlier, have been going through them as the print numbers on the back are helping me group them together.
There will be some duplication as have posted some before but this time trying to get them in a Timeline ;
from 1965 through the 70's.
the 1965 shots are colour from the Benson and Hedges, they need some work as have stuck together and need to be gently cleaned, so have started with the B & W's from April '66

corrected the year 1965 B and H

[Roger Dowding]

Reposting these photo as are a couple favourites and to bring the thread to the front page.
A couple of Trailer Queens,No !!!

and Yes I know it is a Fairlane not a Galaxie, but did have the 7 litre that was available in both series of the Fords..

[Roger Dowding]

Milan thanks for the entry lists, once again, helps with the details.
Have a photo of the Jim Boyd Volvo a P1800 sports coupe, will post that in the next group of photos.
here is that photo ;
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Heron Daimler - built by Ross Baker and Ken Richardson according to Graham Vercoe's book.
unsure what meeting this was but would be 1966 or 1967. The Daimler 2.5 V8 with stack exhausts.
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Some interesting cars in the paddock area.

Rob Williams Ford V8 coupe, at Pukekohe in 1968, which he still runs
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a Custom Anglia
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The Heron Daimler has come up on Swannie's Thread .. here is the photo again ..

[Roger Dowding]

Posted by Graham Woods on Fb " Old New Zealand Motor Racing " page - extracts from the 1968 B and H meeting, the entrants to the big race and also the Group 5, small saloons.

The B and H race - large capacity classes 1601 and up

The up to 1600 classes

Group 5 support race

Would have been there !! gave the programme away in 2008 .. damnit !! or is that dam nit !!

[John McKechnie]

Cooper S is interesting- they were 970, 1070, 1275.
Here two are 970 rest 998, 999

[Roger Dowding]

Cooper S is interesting- they were 970, 1070, 1275.
Here two are 970 rest 998, 999

John, they used to take the 970's out to 999 for Formula Junior, now doubt a few boys had oversize pistons, and it is Group 5.
997 and 998 were Cooper [not S ] engines, the early long stroke 997 [ narrow bore ] and the more square 998 followed it

[Spgeti]

Cooper S is interesting- they were 970, 1070, 1275.
Here two are 970 rest 998, 999

1070 is actually 1071

[khyndart in CA]

John are you suggesting that some of those Mini owners were not being honest at keeping their engines under 1000 cc ?
That would have kept the scrutineers busy !
Roger, I was there that day also. (Remember that tall handsome guy with a babe on each arm. That was not me. )
It was a great line-up of present and future stars. Some of those lads would have been busy competing in both races.
I remember Bryan Innes and Dennis Marwood testing their Datsun 1600s before the big race in 1968 at night around the roads at Tatuanui and Ngarua while we were trying to practice for our next rugby game and our coach getting so annoyed when we all stopped and went to the fence to watch Dennis and Bryan go by. We could hear them coming from a mile away.
(Another fond memory.)

Ken H.

[John McKechnie]

Nope, I was just commenting on that there were-
10 Mini Cooper S cars -under 1 litre
4 Mini Cooper cars -under 1 litre
Sales of the Mini Cooper were as follows: 64,000 Mark I Coopers with 997 cc or 998 cc engines; 19,000 Mark I Cooper S with 970 cc, 1,071 cc or 1,275 cc engines; 16,000 Mark II Coopers with 998 cc engines; 6,300 Mark II Cooper S with 1,275 cc engines. There were no Mark III Coopers and just 1,570 Mark III Cooper S.-Wikkipedia

[Roger Dowding]

A couple of Pukekohe photos
first from Bob Homewood - March 1973 meeting, there was a question,who are they ??

and another Mustang - Red Dawson over Rothmans nose up - 1968-69 photo Jack Inwood taken from Old New Zealand Motor Racing Facebook page - post by Gerard Richards ..