The Roaring Season

Another before it came back

Thanks for the photo Rod.Im pretty sure it didn't have the fuel cap on the boot when Dawson raced it,not in my photos anyway.It totally amazes me how these cars get totally restored after getting so chopped up later in their racing careers!! Would make a good story. perhaps Steve H could put it on his to do list? I think all the Mustangs racing in NZ/AUST in the 60s/70s are all accounted for now?

Steve, I don't think the Dawson car was really modified at all after he raced it, unlike the Kennett/Dunlop/Haig car, which kept racing well into the 1980s in OSCA, and kept getting upgraded to stay competitive. The Dawson car was sold to a South Island racer, who possibly did one season in OSCA, then I think it ended up as a drag car. But I don't think the bodywork was hacked about much, if at all.

I am sure Lawrence Bruce needs to be given credit,as he owned and raced the mustang after (kevin Haig) and painted it blue then sold to Chris Morris a PDL motors car salesman it was painted beautifully in flame red with robin officer flared guards as on the PDL mustang 1 then vanished for some time and went to Bob slade painted white and then Rob Kennard white with blue stipes then went to Australia and restored to an original car.

TonyG wrote:Would this be the same car or another;

1982 NZGP meet

Timaru 1974

Yes I believe it is. This is when Rob Kennard owned and raced it in this picture. It was Kennards first race car to gain experience in osca saloons. Bob Slade raced and owned it before him. He is now living in USA building race engines. Kennard then probably stripped the Mustang of its engine and possibly gearbox. The engine had gurney Westlake heads on it and probably fuel injection. Rob Kennard then built his Cortina putting the motor out of the Mustang in it. I hope some one can shed some light on this and confirm. Cheers ex pat kiwi, Alistair (Christchurch)

Fantastic photo need more of these to keep the thread going thanks. An Osca Fan

You have your facts right camaroman.
I last saw the '67 as a rolling shell after Rob Kennard had sold to a guy in Amberley, North Canterbury.
From there is went to Palmerston North or thereabouts.
It would be great to see more pictures from the Haig, Christy Morris, Bob Slade etc era.
I remember it running a Boss 302 on Webers initially, then the Gurney Weslake.
Any 'under the hood' pictures out there?

2 shots by Kevin Thomson at Teretonga 1973

[ATTACH]21712[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]21713[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]21714[/ATTACH]

Thanks for bringing these pics of Kevin's into this thread Sean. That last shot is superb.

Really fantastic photo Woody. I've not the car in this colour before. Thanks heaps for posting.

Borrowed from this page Early O.S.C.A saloons, 1971-75 era, any pics out there b/w or colour? from this site, Brude driving said car.

Amazing rebuild im a great fan of this car as it has so much history in the south island in Osca we would love to see some photos when it was owned by car sales man (Christy Morris) it looked its best in Bright Red painted by a clever craftsman spray painter Wazza who has such a great history on all Osca cars.

owned by PDL car sales man Christy Morris as it looked so nice Red painted by a clever car painter Wazza who loves cars.

camaroman slp wrote:Yes I believe it is. This is when Rob Kennard owned and raced it in this picture. It was Kennards first race car to gain experience in osca saloons. Bob Slade raced and owned it before him. He is now living in USA building race engines. Kennard then probably stripped the Mustang of its engine and possibly gearbox. The engine had gurney Westlake heads on it and probably fuel injection. Rob Kennard then built his Cortina putting the motor out of the Mustang in it. I hope some one can shed some light on this and confirm. Cheers ex pat kiwi, Alistair (Christchurch)

The original engine in Rob Kennard's Cortina was a 366 cu in Ford Cleveland with the GW heads. This was later replaced by a 347 cu in Ford SVO Windsor block (low deck 302 block with 3.4" crank) engine which had serious horsepower despite giving away cubic capacity to other competitors.

AFAIK, Rob never used fuel injection, induction was 4 x 48IDA Weber's on the Cleveland and at different times both a 4bbl Holley and the IDA's on the SVO motor.

I sometimes ran into Rob Kennard at car shows and swaps in LA over the years, bit of a character!! I just heard recently he’s the Sheriff of some small town up in the high desert above Los Angeles!!

Dale M

Yep thats right Dale, there was an article about him in NZ Hot Rod mag a few years ago. He is a long time hot rodder. I can't recall the town he is Sheriff of, though according to the article its pretty laid back with little crime.

Steve Holmes wrote:Yep thats right Dale, there was an article about him in NZ Hot Rod mag a few years ago. He is a long time hot rodder. I can't recall the town he is Sheriff of, though according to the article its pretty laid back with little crime.

Now theres a new 'Tui" billboard

Amazing rebuild im a great fan of this car being an early Osca entry. It has so much history in the south island we would love to see some photos when it was owned by PDL car sales man (Christie Morris) I think it looked its best in Bright Red painted by a clever christchurch craftsman spray painter (Wazza) who also painted the mustang white with blue stripes for Bob Slade.I am sure some people must have photos of it being bright red ????????????????????????