Old Programmes, movies and memories from the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies.

[Oldfart]

The "Mini Special" looks very MER like to me, could also be Les Reisterer? He had the first one of several built by Matamata Engineering.

[Roger Dowding]

The "Mini Special" looks very MER like to me, could also be Les Reisterer? He had the first one of several built by Matamata Engineering.

Oldfart and Ike - thanks for the details - I will use that and repost the photos, with your comments Gentlemen !! .
Oldfart yes think the MER was mentioned elsewhere when the posted - I must have had two cameras that day as some photos are square, my Brownie Starlet and some rectanguar, some one must have used that camera too as I appear in one of the photos- before the Selfie was invented !!

[Roger Dowding]

Quote from IKE regarding the posts back in August 2015 - the details with the photos added

" This is in reply to the post on ...PAGE 17 .... 30.08.2015 by Roger Dowling & 31.08.2015 By Milan Fistonic

The Meeting is from 1968
Pukekohe Club Circuit .....Sept 1st 1968 Northern Sports Car Club

Photo # 1 (top working down)
My old album, has part of a program listing
#61 as Brian Pellow--- Brabham
#4 is Graeme Morley----ex McRae U2
# ? Could be M Mc Donald ----Mini Minus Special or R Duirs MER
# 3 is Rob Allen .Spencer Allen Motors- Manurewa / Begg & Allen Manuewa ---- Almen Formula Vee
# 6 is Ivan Berry, No Number on the nose --- Ike Formula Vee

Photo #1

Photo # 2
# 6 is Ivan Berry's Ike Vee ----This Vee was the 2nd in the country after Barry Munro. The Ike Vee was built in Australia in 1966
by the owner Ivan Berry. The car was a copy of an Elfin space frame chassis, The body was an a altered Elfin body also built by the owner. The car was raced in Victoria at various tracks before
being shipped to N.Z. mid 1967.
# 3 is Rob Alens Almen Vee.

Photo #2 - That is me looking at the engine knelling down and another Roger [ Rog Allport ] and another Mate Ron Lucka - standing by the car - photo probably taken by Richard or Steve Fowler - we probably all went in the Blue Beast - Rog A's 1960 Vauxhall PA ..

Photo # 4 answer by Milan Fistonic
The photo of the advertisment "FORMULA V DEVELOPMENT" The photo used by Ken McQueen Motors in the Add was
taken by Jack Inwood for "Motorman Magazine" at a track test for an article published in the January 1968 issue of
Motorman... The photos used in the add is being driven by the Editor of Motorman Don Anderson.
Ken McQeen motors sponsored the "Ike Vee" for the 1967/68/69 season and used the chassis design as the basis for the subsequent
McQueen Vee. Ivan Berry was supplying the bodies, seats and windscreens for the McQueen Cars.

Some other memories.......

Peter Bruin ...Bright yellow Cooper Vincent was always competing ..... Dark Blue overalls - Red Helmet!

Ken Flashman... Went on to drive a Formula Vee for Lynn Motors in a "Rebel Vee"...... Ken was unfortunate to damage his hand badly in the intake fan of the VW motor. "

Re ; Ken Flashman - built the Mini-Max, which both he and later Ross Hollings raced and Hill Climbed - there is a photo of Ross in the car at Cosseys Farm, Drury on the Northern Sports Car Club thread.

IKE, as the event was an NSCC event - am posting the details there too.
Thanks so much for the information

[Milan Fistonic]

Re ; Ken Flashman - built the Mini-Max, which both he and later Ross Hollings raced and Hill Climbed - there is a photo of Ross in the car at Cosseys Farm, Drury on the Northern Sports Car Club thread.


The Mini Max was built by Max Rutherford in 1965. I don't recall Ken Flashman ever racing the car

[Roger Dowding]

Re ; Ken Flashman - built the Mini-Max, which both he and later Ross Hollings raced and Hill Climbed - there is a photo of Ross in the car at Cosseys Farm, Drury on the Northern Sports Car Club thread.


The Mini Max was built by Max Rutherford in 1965. I don't recall Ken Flashman ever racing the car

Thanks Milan.. I know Ross had it,may have got a bit Maxed up ..

[John McKechnie]

Roger....my neighbour in the late 70s, early 80s was Merv McDonald who had the Mini Minus...later known as the Beast.It is on other threads here...hillclimbs . Used to be a Cooper and that looks like his body, though dont remember nose being so open It did however run a VW motor in hillclimbs with him and later Steve Browne- Ross H will know. Dont think Merv ran it as early as 1968....but happy to be enlightened

[Milan Fistonic]

Roger....my neighbour in the late 70s, early 80s was Merv McDonald who had the Mini Minus...later known as the Beast.It is on other threads here...hillclimbs . Used to be a Cooper and that looks like his body, though dont remember nose being so open It did however run a VW motor in hillclimbs with him and later Steve Browne- Ross H will know. Dont think Merv ran it as early as 1968....but happy to be enlightened

This is Steve Browne with The Beast at Anderson's Farm Hillclimb in December 1977. It was running a 1500cc VW engine at that time.

[John McKechnie]

Thanks Milan, Merv is now departed, but he was a close friend and its great to see the pix again

[Ike]

The "Beast" at this time looks like an altered Vee.....The body and windscreen are ex-vee, with a VW motor, the gearbox would be VW as the rear wheels and rear brake drums are all VW.....The front end is from something else

[Kevin Hirst]

The "Beast" at this time looks like an altered Vee.....The body and windscreen are ex-vee, with a VW motor, the gearbox would be VW as the rear wheels and rear brake drums are all VW.....The front end is from something else

Look's very cooper cross spring to me, would think not legal for " V "

[Roger Dowding]

Just reading Ken H's introduction to this thread ;
" I found another box of "stuff" that I had dragged back from Kiwitahi to California and although some of it has been presented before I feel one can never get too much of the racing history from the 50s and 60s etc. Some of the old Ardmore programmes give a wonderful insight to who,what and where some of the drivers and cars came from.
I used to cut out pictures from the NZ Herald and Weekly News and put them in scrapbooks and I wanted to share some of that also and encourage anyone else to share what they may have "tucked away" from this era. "

My growing up [ haven't stopped yet !! according to ' her indoors' ] must have been similar, cutting out articles and acquiring motoring " stuff " which is now considered memorabilia.
I have an "Accounts Ledger " that my father put together in the late 1940's - cuttings from UK magazines and NZ papers of various Car Road Tests stuck into the Ledger - it must have rubbed off.

As mentioned on " Old Tracks " a wet day here, so have been editing photos that I took recently of some of my " memorabilia " while going through my Archives - Two large boxes of stuff,plus a bookshelf that all live in the Garage along with around 300 of my Scale Models and few metal signs.

A couple of Books with the NZ connection .. and my part of a set of Le Mans books by Brooklands ;

Thanks to Spgeti for the " Waimate " Book..

Le Mans ;
1947 to 1965

1966 to 1982