The Roaring Season

Graeme Park wrote:Hi Jim Great to here from you. You are right about the year and and your car in the gully such a long time ago one tends to forget. Jim i would like to catch up with you soom time i will be raceing down at taupo on the 26 & 27th of jan & then hampton downs in early feb not shore of the dates yet. My Porsche is a 944 s2 what a fantastic car to race the motor is still standerd but have fully worked the suspension & brakes over. The car handels great and putting up some good times. Have you still got your Porsche and compete?. I wish you a merry xmas & a happy new year & hope to catch up with you soon. Cheers Graeme Park.

Hi Graeme yes still have 911 no Geof rebuilt it ,not allowed to touch it!!! new body ex usa new everything as well.I almost bought 944 some yrs back,good car.Carol Bay Park Sec.{pretty blond} one of Tonys dream girls, she and Garry brought one over a few months back red convert. real nice car.will catch up shortly Regards Jim

GD66 wrote:Graham's still having the odd gallop in a Porsche 944 S2 and still goes hard.

Hi Glen. Great to hear From you .Yes it would be good to catch up and reminisce on old times. June the 16th sounds good, no i didnt work for Broadspeed but worked for Brabhams in early 1967 and then worked for John Cooper raceing till 1969 then got maried and came home.Any how it will be great to catch up soon Cheers G.P.

jim short wrote:Hi Graeme I think the car on grass is Shack Manon green Escort, Bruce and I were on the gully side,1984???

Not Shack Manon Jim....Shack is Bruce's dad. He was a very good racer in his own right with a very very fast Mini that went off on the same corner. The green Escort is Sheree Wong's dad Dave and it seems like they all enjoyed a coming off on "Chinamans Hill". (with respect of course) I do remember a clash you and I had at the same spot although we never touched guards you took off to the infield...shit I was worried about you there Jim. You were fast Jim...but not fast enough to shut down the Green Blurr that was always in front of you..........loved our racing at close quarters and knowing you wouldnt pull a punch and have us both off....catch up soon mate at Hulme Fest.....PLEASE!!

Hi Graeme....bloody nora you probably have driven past me a dozen times of late. (the only time you were able to as well as that pesky VW special of Jim's) ....I will look out for you mate. I will be driving SC at Hampton and Puke etc so come over and catch up.....all the old team eventually call by. We need a re union....(Rod thats your call mate.....at HD Hulme Fest??). Looking Ford to seeing you soon Graeme for a refresh....Bobs never far away.... Great aye...Neat memories in the best years of NZ Motorsport..70's/90's. kind regards Tony rutherford. Merry Christmas you lot.

Jizim wrote:Not Shack Manon Jim....Shack is Bruce's dad. He was a very good racer in his own right with a very very fast Mini that went off on the same corner. The green Escort is Sheree Wong's dad Dave and it seems like they all enjoyed a coming off on "Chinamans Hill". (with respect of course) I do remember a clash you and I had at the same spot although we never touched guards you took off to the infield...shit I was worried about you there Jim. You were fast Jim...but not fast enough to shut down the Green Blurr that was always in front of you..........loved our racing at close quarters and knowing you wouldnt pull a punch and have us both off....catch up soon mate at Hulme Fest.....PLEASE!!

Tony I knew it was a mate,cousie of Bruce ,you be right ,The only time I went off in the infield was to check up on Bruce and warn him about not giving way to cars on his right,then again was along side into the lefthander and getting on the marbels? 1st time back as you will remember sending me into the wooden fence,no one to blame but me trying and about to pass that twin turbo rocket.Can you believe John Win. saying he knew it was going to hapen.I look at it on tape now and again ,never seen a car turn sideways as quick as that day.Yes Rod can get a party together be great, more and more on RS ,not bad for 30 yrs ago

Aye, the old 'Chinamans Hill' was famous back then, Shack in his Mini into creek, a few years later Bruce into bank on outside and being told by then new wife, ' you race no more'. 2 months later a new Escort appears down Barrys Point Rd, (think wife thought Bruce was away working alot on weekends) Then it visited the then new wooden fence along the outside. Then the one you have mentioned when a handful went off inside and the rest went off outside after what i thought was a dabble of oil was deposited. Remember a dark line starting out of hairpin and then going off coming around the left hander and spinning across grass and parking backwards at bottom of grass bank, Empty pants, grab a gear and slip and slide back onto track and head off up toward 'Rothmans' (top of hill) and seeing flags and cars parked all over the place.
Short race that one. (no pun intended Jim)

ERC. Yes it was a quick Mazda and Tony drove it very well and a favorite at club curcuit, and also admired at other tracks. It was quick for a road registered car.

Grant Ellwood wrote:Graeme, compliments of the season to you. Years ago when I lived in Tauranga, I visited your place and had a good look at the Marina, think we discussed some alterations for the rear suspension. Sorry, can't remember the details, my memory is pretty dodgy these days!
Good luck with your Porsche racing, glad to see you are keeping your hand in.

Hi Grant . I have lost your last message you sent me so hope this gets you . My amail is agpark @ xtra. co .nz
We are changing to vodafone sometime in January. Our new email address will be mailto:?subject=&body=
Andree being a modern woman, retained her surname (McGibbon).

I lost Anne with cancer 3yrs ago . I got married 8 mths ago and we had our honeymoon in England & Europe visiting a few race traks that i had been at in the late 60s.

Interesting that you are doing an Anglia up in the States. I raced one of those in the mid 60s . Bought the car off Barry Phillips and John Murphy sold me a lot of parts off his Anglia which made it a very quick car. So much so that Barry bought it back off me before i went to England. He was racing a Lotus Cortina at the time and I was giving him a run for his money. By the way, John Murphy who is well into his 70s, is still racing and goes like a bat out of hell, he's an incredible driver. Any how I wish you well in the new year. Please tell us more about your Anglia. Cheers G.P.

Graeme, the Murphy you are talking about, did he live in Belmont/Devonport on the North Shore of Auck way back then.

Rod Grimwood wrote:Graeme, the Murphy you are talking about, did he live in Belmont/Devonport on the North Shore of Auck way back then.

Hi Rod No John has always lived in Waihi on his farms .The Anglia he used to race was black and his nick name was farmer Murphy.In later years he raced formula Fords and a number of other cars. He now does mainly hillclimbes in his Evo 4s and Saburu WRXs. Rod would you have John Learmouth contact numbar. Any how i wish you a happy new year catch up soon. Cheers G.P.

Graeme Park wrote:Hi Grant . I have lost your last message you sent me so hope this gets you . My amail is agpark @ xtra. co .nz
We are changing to vodafone sometime in January. Our new email address will be mailto:?subject=&body=
Andree being a modern woman, retained her surname (McGibbon).

I lost Anne with cancer 3yrs ago . I got married 8 mths ago and we had our honeymoon in England & Europe visiting a few race traks that i had been at in the late 60s.

Interesting that you are doing an Anglia up in the States. I raced one of those in the mid 60s . Bought the car off Barry Phillips and John Murphy sold me a lot of parts off his Anglia which made it a very quick car. So much so that Barry bought it back off me before i went to England. He was racing a Lotus Cortina at the time and I was giving him a run for his money. By the way, John Murphy who is well into his 70s, is still racing and goes like a bat out of hell, he's an incredible driver. Any how I wish you well in the new year. Please tell us more about your Anglia. Cheers G.P.

Hi Graeme
I'll email you some pics of my Anglia in its current state, haven't done much work on the rebuild yet but have collected some goodies.
I also have a Mk1 Cortina GT which needs a rebuild,I'll probably fix that up as a road car. In the interim might borrow the 1500 engine and front struts for the Anglebox. The series I would run in is Sportscar Vintage Racing Association which recently changed ownership. The previous organisation which ran vintage racing on the east coast tracks handy to me approved the Cortina engine on the basis that we ran those specs in NZ back in the day. However waiting to hear from the new guys whether that still stands otherwise might have to run a 1200 (and front drum brakes instead of the Cortina discs).
Thanks for the email addresses! Grant

Grant Ellwood wrote:Hi Graeme
I'll email you some pics of my Anglia in its current state, haven't done much work on the rebuild yet but have collected some goodies.
I also have a Mk1 Cortina GT which needs a rebuild,I'll probably fix that up as a road car. In the interim might borrow the 1500 engine and front struts for the Anglebox. The series I would run in is Sportscar Vintage Racing Association which recently changed ownership. The previous organisation which ran vintage racing on the east coast tracks handy to me approved the Cortina engine on the basis that we ran those specs in NZ back in the day. However waiting to hear from the new guys whether that still stands otherwise might have to run a 1200 (and front drum brakes instead of the Cortina discs).
Thanks for the email addresses! Grant

Grant ,
Anglia Supers ran Disc brakes ,bugger ,I had a set of Anglia Super Homoligation papers up until recently ,but gave them away , you should be able to get another set .don't forget they ran the 5 bearing engines and discs in the UK and Australia as well and the Allardette was sold in this form I believe ? I'll catch you on email after the New Year ,All the best ,Bob

bob homewood wrote:Grant ,
Anglia Supers ran Disc brakes ,bugger ,I had a set of Anglia Super Homoligation papers up until recently ,but gave them away , you should be able to get another set .don't forget they ran the 5 bearing engines and discs in the UK and Australia as well and the Allardette was sold in this form I believe ? I'll catch you on email after the New Year ,All the best ,Bob

Hey Bob, thanks for that info. I read somewhere that the north American Anglia Supers ran disc brakes too but the several I know about have all got drums. The Ford info lists the 112E engine but I've only seen 109Es, mine included. But if there are Hom papers available that will be a clincher. Thanks again for that great news and cheers for New Year! Grant

Grant Ellwood wrote:Hey Bob, thanks for that info. I read somewhere that the north American Anglia Supers ran disc brakes too but the several I know about have all got drums. The Ford info lists the 112E engine but I've only seen 109Es, mine included. But if there are Hom papers available that will be a clincher. Thanks again for that great news and cheers for New Year! Grant

Yes try and get yourself a set of the papers ,the papers I had listed the Discs ,4 speed all syncro close ratio geabox.LSD and all the options on bits for the engine,5.5 rims etc

Graeme Park wrote:Hi Jim and Rod, some photos of the Marina

Easter 1984 Baypark - Jim Short and myself

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Christmas 1984 - Baypark - Warwick Grey and myself

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Pukekohe Grand Prix 1986 Ian Algie and myself (Jim your car come off in the grass just behind us)

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Baypark with Harold Wooten and myself

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Christmas Baypark Start

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The Marina wheel base was extended by 4 inches, the motor, gear box and diff were all as one unit and had Jag independent rear suspension with splined half shafts with a top wish bone added. Front suspension had Jag XJ6 suspension which I made up top rocker arms with inboard mounted adjustable shocks. The Motor was a P76 turbo charged.

Does anyone know where this car is now?

Cheers,

Graeme (Black Park)

Hi there Graeme, its awesome to see you on here. Welcome to the site. Thanks for posting these pics of the Marina. I'd also love to know where it got to. When did you last race it and when did you sell it?

The Roaring Season has become a real hot spot for 70s and 80s sports sedan pilots!

bob homewood wrote:Grant ,
Anglia Supers ran Disc brakes ,bugger ,I had a set of Anglia Super Homoligation papers up until recently ,but gave them away , you should be able to get another set .don't forget they ran the 5 bearing engines and discs in the UK and Australia as well and the Allardette was sold in this form I believe ? I'll catch you on email after the New Year ,All the best ,Bob

Hello Bob .Compliments of the season to you.It would be great to catch up with you .Do you still take that fabulous Escort of yours out for a race. That was a great car that you built Bob way ahead of it times in the 80s. See you soon Cheers Graeme Park.

Jizim wrote:Hi Graeme....bloody nora you probably have driven past me a dozen times of late. (the only time you were able to as well as that pesky VW special of Jim's) ....I will look out for you mate. I will be driving SC at Hampton and Puke etc so come over and catch up.....all the old team eventually call by. We need a re union....(Rod thats your call mate.....at HD Hulme Fest??). Looking Ford to seeing you soon Graeme for a refresh....Bobs never far away.... Great aye...Neat memories in the best years of NZ Motorsport..70's/90's. kind regards Tony rutherford. Merry Christmas you lot.

Gidday Tony. If i had known you where driving the S.C. I would have come over and given you some cheek. Its going to be good to catch up with Tony. See you soon mate. We now tow my car number 34 with our motorhome. Drop by next time and join us for coffee. Cheers G.P.

Steve Holmes wrote:Hi there Graeme, its awesome to see you on here. Welcome to the site. Thanks for posting these pics of the Marina. I'd also love to know where it got to. When did you last race it and when did you sell it?

The Roaring Season has become a real hot spot for 70s and 80s sports sedan pilots!

Hi There Steve .Yes its great to be able to catch up with you lot. I was told about this site by Sid Davis, he has a porsche the same as mine, and pedals it bloody hard . Sid and his son Roger have helped me a lot in setting my car up, great guys. The class we race in is clasic trials, a great bunch. A lot of us are golden oldies, I think our average age would be about 60. Graeme Hallen has helped me a lot. Used to race with him back in the 60s. He raced a HWM sports car, He now races a Mustang and a Toyota M5. Anyhow back to the Marina. I think I last raced it at Bay Park during Easter 86 and sold it not long after to John Coulton of Hastings. He managed to blow the motor up not long after and put a chevy in it which I think stuffed the handlig up beause it was a much heavier motor. It's great catching up you. Happy new year.Cheers, G.P.

Nearly right. The Marina is still with John but the spelling is Caulton, not Coulton. I will not give you his phone no. but he lives a few hundred metres from me here in Havelock North at 5 Te Puna Place Havelock North and he is in the phone book.

John ran in the North vSouth {five carsvfivecars}in 1987 Teratonga,,Ruapuna, back down to Levels!! then Manfield and Bay Park the South just won by about a thousand points!!!

Rod Grimwood wrote:Graeme, the Murphy you are talking about, did he live in Belmont/Devonport on the North Shore of Auck way back then.

Hi Rod I have made a mistake with the dates i am racing . It is taupo 12&13th and then H.D. on 26 & 27th . Hopeing to catch up with you all somewhere along the line. Cheers G.P.