The Roaring Season

Spgeti wrote:I owned one of the B&H Avenger TC's Dale. I wonder if it is still where I left it ?

That's the idea Bruce, to have people find these old saloons that have great NZ race history, as now they'll have somewhere to race in correct format rather than at club/all-comer type events that think they're classic meetings.

Generally these cars don't go away, they're still out there somewhere but most owners have given up and parked them not wanting to race with modernized old cars of similar look, the current situation we have in NZ.

Dale M

Kiwiboss wrote:That's the idea Bruce, to have people find these old saloons that have great NZ race history, as now they'll have somewhere to race in correct format rather than at club/all-comer type events that think they're classic meetings.

Generally these cars don't go away, they're still out there somewhere but most owners have given up and parked them not wanting to race with modernized old cars of similar look, the current situation we have in NZ.

Dale M

Dale, check with Mike Courtney, his avenger is or was for sale, ex targa car, cheers.

Kiwiboss wrote:... but most owners have given up and parked them not wanting to race with modernized old cars of similar look, the current situation we have in NZ.
Dale M

Really? I think you'll find that there are a dozen other reasons Dale. There are several classes for road cars that seem to attract both older and slightly newer cars, but the big gap up until recently, was no opportunity for slick shod, or ex-race cars, running without interior trim, other than pre-65s.

We have been pushing for years for a class for classic ex-race saloons. But we have only recently seen any moves to cater for them. So far, most of the emphasis has been on the larger engined stuff, so race Avengers and other 1600cc cars for example haven't really been welcomed, other than as road cars. I'd venture to suggest that some have stayed in sheds because they are totally outclassed by the big bangers. But let's hear from the owners themselves, otherwise we are just guessing.

Kevin Hirst wrote:Dale, check with Mike Courtney, his avenger is or was for sale, ex targa car, cheers.

Is that the same Mike Courtney, who ran Austin Seven sports - 1930 type seven, and also owned for a while a rear engined single seater with a Standard Vanguard / TR2 motor, think was called the RA Vanguard. have a photo of the engine somewhere but not the whole car. Mike lives / lived in Oratia / Glen Eden area in the late 1980's on some acreage and a big shed for cars, with a 1920 Villa brought from Mt Eden placed on it.

Roger Dowding wrote:Is that the same Mike Courtney, who ran Austin Seven sports - 1930 type seven, and also owned for a while a rear engined single seater with a Standard Vanguard / TR2 motor, think was called the RA Vanguard. have a photo of the engine somewhere but not the whole car. Mike lives / lived in Oratia / Glen Eden area in the late 1980's on some acreage and a big shed for cars, with a 1920 Villa brought from Mt Eden placed on it.

Yes, that's him, saw him at the rotorua swap meet a couple of month's ago, had avenger & austin special's for sale. He had been in Kerikeri for a few years but has moved back to somewhere in Auckland.

Kevin Hirst wrote:Yes, that's him, saw him at the rotorua swap meet a couple of month's ago, had avenger & austin special's for sale. He had been in Kerikeri for a few years but has moved back to somewhere in Auckland.

Kevin, if you see him again, mention my name. I was his Bank Manager at ANZ New Lynn in the late 1980's early 90's and as we both enjoyed cars had a lot to talk about - He had the vege shop in Lynmall at the time.

The Vanguard engine circa 1990.



Will put this and some others in Yards and Yarns thread - as doesn't really belong here.

He is now in West Auckland again, more than 1 car for sale on Trade Me (as is always normal for him )

Oldfart wrote:He is now in West Auckland again, more than 1 car for sale on Trade Me (as is always normal for him )

Oldfart same applies ; " if you see him again, mention my name. I was his Bank Manager at ANZ New Lynn in the late 1980's early 90's and as we both enjoyed cars had a lot to talk about - He had the vege shop in Lynmall at the time. "

Mike is a trader, last time I saw him was at a Telecom Motorfest in Frankton, Hamilton in the mid 1990's [ 94 I think ]. he was there with one of his Austin Sevens.

Crunch, I know were there is a Avenger Alpine body shell in pretty good shape along with a few other bits. You will get at right price.
1976 Model.
Just rang guy and he thinks its still there in yard.

If you interested

Give me a call 027 275 2264

or if you coming up for rally of the north you can have a look

Some photos from an awesome weekend at the 2015 Muscle Car Masters, where 4 Kiwi HMCs joined Australian Trans-Am for the event.

Aussie Mike Collins was involved in a nasty shunt entering Eastern Creek's Turn 1 due to a gearbox drama, he walked away, was cleared of any injuries by the medical centre and the car will be repaired.


Dale Mathers being guided around the Eastern Creek circuit by Charlie O'Brien early on in private practice. Unfortunately a broken axle put Dale's weekend to an end on Friday, with a spare axle unable to be found of the right length.


John English debuted a stunning Pontiac Firebird on the weekend.


Great turnout by the Allingham crew, the track commentators noted the great representation of kiwi supporters here for the event.


One of the most popular cars at the event, an ex-NASCAR Grand National '66 Pontiac GTO originally built by Bobby Allison joined the Trans-Am field for the weekend, and Royston Evans really turned it on for the fans!


A surprise to many to see Russell Wright debuting his '67 Mustang fastback and landing it on pole, almost two-tenths quicker than Charlie O'Brien.

Race 2 start at Sydney Motorsport Park.


A great weekend for Kevin Gimblett, putting the car back in the truck without a scratch. The Earnhardt tribute livery drew a crowd behind the pits between races.


The best of the Kiwis over the weekend was Murray Brown, recording consistent top 10 finishes with a best of 7th.


Murray battling here with Ian Palmer. Palmer was kept busy over the weekend, fielding a car in both Trans-Am & the Touring Car Masters.

Outstanding images and info Dewi, thanks heaps. That Mustang of Russell Wright did really well first time out of the box. The race results listed it as only having a 5 litre motor. Surely that can't be right?

Steve Holmes wrote:Outstanding images and info Dewi, thanks heaps. That Mustang of Russell Wright did really well first time out of the box. The race results listed it as only having a 5 litre motor. Surely that can't be right?

You're absolutely right there Steve, it is a 5 Litre! It was his Group N engine fit to Trans-Am specs (with the right heads etc) which was actually down on power to his proper Trans-Am engine that failed during a shakedown the week leading into the event.

Wow! Thats really impressive Dewi, I'm amazed by that.

[color="#0000FF"]Perhaps its a timely sign that all the big bore / stroker boys need to think about going back to the 5000cc size as well, save some pennies in the process as well as the odd axle or two![/color]

Roger Dowding wrote:Oldfart same applies ; " if you see him again, mention my name. I was his Bank Manager at ANZ New Lynn in the late 1980's early 90's and as we both enjoyed cars had a lot to talk about - He had the vege shop in Lynmall at the time. "

Mike is a trader, last time I saw him was at a Telecom Motorfest in Frankton, Hamilton in the mid 1990's [ 94 I think ]. he was there with one of his Austin Sevens.

The Motorfest was 1994, as have just relocated [ as in found ] the photos I took, they are going on a new thread soon, some have been posted already.

Here is a mustang from the 1994 Motorfest..

Jac Mac wrote:Perhaps its a timely sign that all the big bore / stroker boys need to think about going back to the 5000cc size as well, save some pennies in the process as well as the odd axle or two!

Its way too late for that Jac, the Hemi Cuda is a big block 465ci. To be fair, reliability has been pretty good among the HMC cars. The drivelines are pretty strong. Despite suggestions the top cars have 800hp, this is greatly exaggerated. The HMC rules stipulate a standard bonnet, which means the big high-rise manifolds won't fit. Other than the big block Cuda, which has just over 700hp, the top small block powered cars have about 640 - 650hp. Thats only a little more than Pete Geoghegan had in the Super Falcon, back in 1972. That car had 620hp.

The drivelines in the HMC cars use a lot of the same parts as the Central Muscle Cars have, and the top CMC cars, with their Nascar motors, are getting up close to 900hp, which even at that, are pretty reliable.

But I'm really impressed by that 5 litre Aussie Trans-Am car, and would love to see a few more people in HMC go this route. Also, the high-revving 5 litre cars sound fantastic! But it just goes to show how important it is to get a car handling and stopping well.

A few pics of our boys at the Muscle Car Masters.

These two Melbourne based Aussies ran with ATA for the first time, new to our group they were so impressed with our HMC "Cars are the Stars" attitude that they now want to come to NZ to race. HMC is now giving the Australian based muscle car racers somewhere to across the ditch to race, this is only just the start.