The Roaring Season

That is interesting Ken ......Jim is a down to earth hard case guy only met him a couple of times but a genuine good bloke ....amazing history in this short read , the other guys I meet from that era were few mainly due to the age gap[ from single seaters ]....but got to know Roly very well ..due to living in same city & same interests re golf & cars [& his beautiful daughters] & cool sons not to mention helping me win a few pre 65 championships in a mustang , hey re Rod [Grimmie] Grimwood I had a text saying he was off to help with fellow kiwi F5000 up yr way, an other top bugga we go back a few yrs hope you catch up with him but don't expect a coffee just good beer ....lol would be good to catch up again, to be honest since you were here I have been running around in overalls cleaning & fixing .........but managed to take family away on a good holiday in between that ..take care Grant

nigel watts wrote:[ATTACH=CONFIG]29746[/ATTACH]

Ken, thanks for all your Posts, Nigel Wow, even older stuff,
I gave all mine away Programs [ Pukekohe 1965 to around 1983/4 and several from Baypark mid 70's ] to Rhys Jones, the Motorcycle Racer and Author of the book, " On Track - A history of Motor Racing at Pukekohe " published in 2008, I have an Autographed copy from Rhys.
After writing the book I gave him the programs and he advised " wished he had them before he wrote it .

Keep it coming Guys ..

khyndart in CA wrote:Well folks it is time for me to sign off as I have run out of old programmes and photos. This has been a fun project bringing back many memories and very interesting inputs. Perhaps some of you can carry on with programmes into the 1970s and beyond. I have taken up too much space and now I am moving aside.
Thanks,
Ken Hyndman.

( In 1969 I could have gone off to relax with a "Lexington" filtered cigarette. I just may not have lived long enough to write this ! )

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29744[/ATTACH]

(1969 NZGP programme )

In reference to Lexington's "after action, satisfaction", Graham Hill was quoted as saying "personally, I get my satisfaction from the action".
I was just a young man with a sheltered upbringing at the time, so of course I didn't understand what he was alluding to.

As for Lexingtons, they had toasted tobacco and were a great smoke. Several of my friends and I puffed away on them with much enthusiasm and were disappointed when they disappeared off the market after a very short lifespan. I had to go back to Peter Stuyvesants (The International passport to smoking pleasure) and I don't know what Graham Hill had to say about them.

David Hunter

Nigel. You will have noticed that the 1956 programme you posted does not have a list of competitors for the NZ Grand Prix. That's because it was printed on a separate sheet that was included with the programme. Unfortunately most of the programmes one sees these days do not have the entry list.

If I can find my copy I'll post it here.

nigel watts wrote:[ATTACH=CONFIG]29754[/ATTACH]

Gordon Brown, is that the same man who built the GB Special, Ford 10 based with sportscar body, Hillman Gearbox and a 2 speed back axle ??. It is featured in the " NSCC the early years " post

John McKechnie,
I hope next time we can meet up and we will have time to go out in the Monaro.
I wish I had kept the 1968 photo I took of Spinner unloading his yellow Camaro at a house in Morrinsville with Terry Scott and his wife holding baby Kayne. The Camaro came off a pretty sorry looking trailer considering the load it was carrying. I think it was the same trailer as shown in these photos. I just remember laughing at the antics and comments of these guys. Like I mentioned a year ago, growing up in the Morrinsville area at the time was really special. Our rugby club (Kereone ) had 4 All Blacks on it at one time.(Don & Ian Clarke, Ponty Reid and Ron Hemi.) Plus all the motor racing connections in the Morrinsville area .e.g. Spencer (Spinner ) Black went to Kiwitahi school with my sister, Bryan Innes's family brought property from my grandfather, Dennis Marwood married the sister of a neighboring farmer, a relative owned the Motordrome Service Station in Te Rapa, Terry Marshall was at Morrinsville College when I was there, John Paton (Paton & Black ) engines was a friend,Terry Scott, Ross Greenville had a really sweet niece etc. etc. ( We were like a big family )
Plus we had Nigel Watts father as our family doctor. Life was good but I think I just took it for granted but I am grateful for those times now when I look back.

Again you can see the standard of trailer Spinner used to move this fine machine around ! "she'll be right mate, no worries "




(Camaro parked outside Spinner Black's home in Morrinsville. Freshly painted in Cambridge colours for Terry Scott to drive. )

Thanks again John,
Also Nigel thanks for carrying this site on. (I never realized how young Bruce McLaren looked until I saw .that 1956 programme !)
(Ken Hyndman )

Roger Dowding wrote:Gordon Brown, is that the same man who built the GB Special, Ford 10 based with sportscar body, Hillman Gearbox and a 2 speed back axle ??. It is featured in the " NSCC the early years " post

Yes the same Gordon Brown. As I understand it still living in Herne Bay.

Ken- AB said he same thing about the same trailer- it was always working hard, especially in the South Island.
Lifes wheel will certainly have turned the full circle for you when you can use the Monaro radiator panel as a bar table again.
Warren said he would like to catch up for a drink at the same bar.....and it looks like from the views here, it will be crowded bar.

These could be small, A huge Pontiac amongst the small stuff, Mini's etc and the Lycoming 1966/67 not sure .. from my " Box Brownie " type camera days Ken ..

In #305- the Veteran Grand Prix field looks amazing, does anyone have anymore info or pix on this, or has it been covered in another thread?
The White Steamer for example, does that still live on?
Hardy Motor Wreckers certainly look well represented, have they had any mention previously?
How long did it take for the 1907 Cadillac to travel the 10 miles?
Twombly and Zedel are very rare names, were they genuine race cars?

John McKechnie wrote:In #305- the Veteran Grand Prix field looks amazing, does anyone have anymore info or pix on this, or has it been covered in another thread?
The White Steamer for example, does that still live on?
Hardy Motor Wreckers certainly look well represented, have they had any mention previously?
How long did it take for the 1907 Cadillac to travel the 10 miles?
Twombly and Zedel are very rare names, were they genuine race cars?

Google tells me the Zedel was a real car Company and they did make a racer or two..



The Zedel Motor Company, or otherwise known as Automobiles Zedel, was first an outfit that built engines for bikes, motorcycles and three wheelers around the turn of the 20th century. They were located in St Aubin, Switzerland on the southwestern end of Neuchatel Lake.

In 1902 they moved their headquarters due west over the boarder into Pontarlier, France. This was done in an effort to limit import duties since the majority of their customers were french companies. It wasn’t until 1906 that they started building their first motorcars.

Zedel cars were small and, in the beginning, had room for only two people. The first engines were 4-cylinder powerplants with 1128 cc. Later on those numbers would grow to 3563 cc by 1912. Automobiles Zedel was a well-known make for the time. Leading up to World War I they were averaging more than a vehicle a day in production. It was’nt quite the assembly line production made famous by Henry Ford.

In 1908 Zedel came out with a four-seater and then in 1912 they introduced a vehicle that was a little more upscale.

John McKechnie wrote:In #305- the Veteran Grand Prix field looks amazing, does anyone have anymore info or pix on this, or has it been covered in another thread?
The White Steamer for example, does that still live on?
Hardy Motor Wreckers certainly look well represented, have they had any mention previously?
How long did it take for the 1907 Cadillac to travel the 10 miles?
Twombly and Zedel are very rare names, were they genuine race cars?

Hardy Motor Wreckers.--- Merv. Hardy was a wonderful old long term enthusiast, a gentleman and quite special. I have been trying to attach a document of interest, but three pages of A4 will not be accepted.

Just reading Merv Hardy won the first Midget race , Newmarket Park at the bottom of Sarawia St in 1949. I assume its the same man?

Reference here is-http://www.historicspeedway.co.nz/Olympic%20Park-Newmarket.htm