The Roaring Season

Steve Holmes wrote:Can someone tell me about car #14 in Post 12? Its a fantastic looking car, and I love the green screen.

Graeme Lawrence McLaren M4A, possibly as it first arrived in NZ. Green screens were a McLaren thing.


Once again, fantastic photographs. What a treat.

I think that M4A arrived in "a version" of McLaren orange with green screen, but the paint job depicted there is the traditional Air New Zealand colour scheme, which adorned a number of cars and motorcycles raced by kiwis in Indonesia and Malaysia in the late 60s and early 70s. If I recall, Graeme raced one in Europe for a season, then built that car up in the UK before returning to NZ.

As has been pointed out elsewhere in the forum, the car is on show at the Claudelands showground at the same show as the breadvan Anglia in post #10.

Car #41 in post #8 is also one of the lovely little M4As, that one was pedalled by Jim Palmer, and was many kiwi spectators' introduction to the aural delights of the howling Ford Cosworth FVA powerplant...

Thanks for the info guys, I could just about make out the Air NZ signage on the front. What a fantastic little car. Does anyone know where it is now?

Maybe Mike needs to chime in here and tell us if these indoor car show shots were all taken at the same time, as the Pat Hoare Ferrari appears to be at the same show.

Is this the Anglia that Cyril Hyde had a big shunt in on top of the hill at Puke, if so I can remember the bang very well. (Dam another story), I am not sure as I think Cyrils car was lite blue maybe.

I echo all the sentiments above

I still find it amazing that I can't see myself in the background of any of them. You must have deliberately waited till I was out of shot

Rod Grimwood wrote:Is this the Anglia that Cyril Hyde had a big shunt in on top of the hill at Puke, if so I can remember the bang very well. (Dam another story), I am not sure as I think Cyrils car was lite blue maybe.

I was in the hill stand when Cyril had his prang coming over the hill - from memory he went into the bank and bounced back into the middle of the track - it was a blue Anglia. When he got out of the car I thought he looked too old to be driving a race car - he was probably in his 40s - but I was only about 12 at the time so most drivers looked old!!

Hi Steve, That is Graeme Lawrences McLaren M4 at an exhibition at the Claudelands Centre in Hamilton. I think it was soon after he brought the car back from Europe.

Yes all of those photos were taken at the same time in the same building.

David, I didn't deliberately wait until you were out of shot, only until I could see the cars well enough. I know what you mean though, as I have looked at some of the other shots to see if I might have been in them.

Sorry that the photos are so mixed up but I removed them from the other slides in each box and then sent them away to be scanned and that how they ended up.

In post #4 (the Gemco sports car) is that Mary Carney's Mini in the back ground (white with red stripes aling the sides).

Cheers Mike

At the Amon Festival I was talking to Alan Boyle about the Viva and I mentioned that I had a photo of his Mini in the 'Cambridge' colours (fabulous colour scheme - still looks great). He asked if I had any of his purple Mini and I had to admit that I couldn't even remember such a colour scheme.

Looking through the photos in this post I see a purple Mini (Car # 28) and now wonder if it might be Alan's. Post # 1 photo # 1 the PDL Mustang. In the back ground is a purple Mini. Post # 6, third photo, the Formula Pacific is beside the purple Mini again.

Can anyone help me here ?

Mike, when did he race the Mini? That shot with the PDL Mustang would have been early 1973, as it was only in this colour scheme for a short amount of time after Fahey had parted company with PDL.

I'm snookered. The mini in the BayPark pits with the Rapt Tuning sticker was driven by a blonde bloke from Mt Maunganui, can't say I can spot a purple min in the background. The mini in post #6 beside the pacific is definitely not Alan Boyle. I think his mini was purple in 1967, before his Coke sponsorship.
The only purple mini I can spot is in the Puke startline shot, post #8, pic 5. The 51 car on row 3 was driven by Ron Brown. That may be Alan Boyle on the outside of the front row, you've also got #96 Rodger Anderson on pole, #103 Graham Watson on row 2, and #69 the Harrington Imp. And a Riley Elf #61 !
Yes, that's Mary Donald/Carney's mini, #101 with Radio Hauraki 1480 written down the red side stripe.

The Cambridge mini #86 was driven by Barry Phillips : I don't recall Boyle driving in Cambridge colours. But then I don't recall Jim Boyd driving a single-seater in Cambridge colours, either : clearly, he did. Is that the Thomason Brabham ?

I don't recall Boyle racing in Cambridge colours either. Cambridge only appeared for 2 seasons, the '70 season and the '71 season. Do you know when he had Cambridge backing Mike?

I got that one round my neck - it was Barry Phillips of course.

GD66 wrote:...I don't recall Jim Boyd driving a single-seater in Cambridge colours, either: clearly, he did. Is that the Thomason Brabham?

No, Vince Anderson's
A couple of years earlier Boyd had raced Syd Jensen's older model (the car later raced by Bryan Faloon)

Yep, I remember that one, ordinary metallic blue paint job and rusty brake discs. But in Faloon's hands, very quick ! I understand Vince Anderson has kept his one, it was always rather nice.

GD66 wrote:Yep, I remember that one, ordinary metallic blue paint job and rusty brake discs. But in Faloon's hands, very quick ! I understand Vince Anderson has kept his one, it was always rather nice.

I think Vince's has gone to Australia earlier this year.

GD66 wrote:Yep, I remember that one, ordinary metallic blue paint job and rusty brake discs

But red when Boyd raced it

RogerH wrote:I was in the hill stand when Cyril had his prang coming over the hill - from memory he went into the bank and bounced back into the middle of the track - it was a blue Anglia. When he got out of the car I thought he looked too old to be driving a race car - he was probably in his 40s - but I was only about 12 at the time so most drivers looked old!!

Poor old Cyril unfortunately demolished more than one of them,pity he was a neat old guy and a gentleman,from memory he was over 70 at that time ,he was reputed to have raced in the UK before the war,he was a customer at the tuning business where I was working in the early seventies ,I used to keep a eye on his car at the events at that time where we both competing,if I ever helped him out on the week end he would always repay my kindness as he called it with some little gift.He also had a Vauxhall VX4/90 that he used to use for the odd sprint etc

I got to know Cyril after that accident, as i helped load his car up after accident and he got intouch with me later and thanked me or help and I kept in touch with him as he got over it. He lived in a beautiful old style country type place in Greenlane and in later times went to Bay Park and other meetings with him in the Vauxhall I remember because it had twin carbs and went pretty well. He was a gentleman and as you say Bob not young then. I think I was in late teens when he hit the bank.

is it Graeme Lawrence's Brabham BT29?

Rod Grimwood wrote:I got to know Cyril after that accident, as i helped load his car up after accident and he got intouch with me later and thanked me or help and I kept in touch with him as he got over it. He lived in a beautiful old style country type place in Greenlane and in later times went to Bay Park and other meetings with him in the Vauxhall I remember because it had twin carbs and went pretty well. He was a gentleman and as you say Bob not young then. I think I was in late teens when he hit the bank.

Yes probably worth reflecting on the VX4/90 for a moment ,Frank Hamlin raced one as well for a short time ,I did some engine work on one years ago,the Alloy head wasn't too bad for that period of time and from memory the Inlet ports were of a half decent shape for modifying ,pity the rest of the car was so heavy