The Roaring Season

BMCBOY wrote:Bryce Platt - I believe Rod Grimwood now owns this car.

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That is being investigated, as differing stories of 2 cars. but will get to bottom of it as every photo shows another similarity. The wheels may be another thing.
Cage same, front suspension pick up points for bars etc same. interesting.
Murray Soames involved in a couple of Escorts at time so still digging.

Would be really interesting to know Rod, keep us posted.

I'd like to say thanks to Jim Short for allowing me to post the following pics on here. Most of the pics appear to have been taken at the same Bay Park event, probably around 1986/87.

On the grid just prior to the start, just check both the size of the grid and the size of the crowd. And man, what a line-up of cars! Certainly one of the best fields of combined North Island Sports Sedan and South Island OSCA cars of the era. The pics are actually photos taken of photos, so are a bit grainy, but thats OK, its still awesome to see these cars.

From the pits, the Trevor Crowe Oldsmobile V8 powered Starlet. This is his second V8 Starlet. He only raced this car one season, then sold it to Rodger Freeth.

Another South Island OSCA racer, John Osborne in the Chevy V8 powered RX7. This car met its eventual demise at Pukekohe a few years later. Was a great looking car. My understanding is the car does still survive though?

Bob Homewoods beautiful BDG (I think?) powered Escort Sports Sedan. This lightweight car was an absolute rocket ship. Note the position of the exhaust out the side of the bodywork. This car sat VERY low! Bob still owns it, and given enough spare time, will eventually get it back out on the track.

Ralph Mossmans awesome little (Chevy?) V8 powered Viva. I think this car was 5 litre powered, against the 6 litre opposition, so a little down on power, but it was a great handling car. I believe it was destroyed in a crash?

Former hot rodder turned racer Rob Kennard, another of the leading South Island OSCA racers, in his V8 powered MkIV (with MkV grill) Cortina. This car was actually Ford powered, a bit rare back then, against mostly Chevy powered cars. My understanding is that Rob is now Sheriff of a small California town. The Cortina later went to Kim Buckley, and I believe Steve Ross might have it now? Damn thats a bright paint scheme!

I think John may have the Mazda back and doing rebuild, heard some rumblings when down Ruapuna while back.

Also think Ralphs little Viva (body) is around back of workshop.

The amazing Ian Algie Alfetta, with alloy centre mounted Milodin V8. One of the most radical race cars seen in New Zealand, and very quick. It ran 13" diameter Minilite wheels, which were actually wider in the rear than they were tall. Algie himself sat in the area where the back seat used to be, while the motor sat squarely in the middle of the cockpit. Gordon Burr now owns this car, and takes it out for demonstration laps at historic racing events.

Rod Grimwood wrote:I think John may have the Mazda back and doing rebuild, heard some rumblings when down Ruapuna while back.

Also think Ralphs little Viva (body) is around back of workshop.

Thanks for the update Rod. I remember speaking with Osborne about the RX7 several years ago, and I thought he said at the time Russell Due in Taihape owned it, and John really wanted to see it back out on the track. I guess he decided to just do it himself. Great news also about the Viva. I thought that car was gone, so its good to know it may have survived.

Wayne Huxfords V8 Capri. This car first appeared in 1979, and raced competitively through until about 1996, by which time the landscape had changed completely, and Huxford was up against US space-frame Trans-Am cars. The Capri started life looking quite similar to how its pictured here, though without the large rear wing, and with a smaller front spoiler. Initially it was powered by the Morrand Chevy motor out of the David Oxton Begg FM5, and I think thats still the power unit shown here. Over time, to keep pace, the Capri was modified further and further, repowered, to eventually bare little resemblance to the car in the picture. To the best of my knowledge Huxford still owns it.

One of the best looking cars of the era, Brett Willis' stunning Chevy V8 powered Commodore. The workmanship of this car was incredible. Lots of beautiful hand fabricated wonder to enjoy. Note the reward position of the motor, right at the forward point of the windscreen, next to where Brett sat. This car raced for a few seasons, always at the pointy end, before Brett built a Chevy V8 powered Maxda MS6. I personally preferred the Commodore. It seems to have disappeared after he sold it, I believe Brett is trying to hunt it back down.

Another Chevy V8 Commodore, this time a South Island car, of OSCA racer Steve Vigurs. This is the car originally run by Clyde Collins for his buddy Avon Hyde in PDL colours in OSCA in the early 1980s. But I believe Clyde actually bought it as a project that had already received a lot of work before he got it? This car went through several hands, in both the South and North Islands, including Glen Jones, Grant Taylor, and, I think (?) Michael Johnson? It was eventually written off in a South Island event.

Prior to this car, Vigurs had raced another former Clyde Collins car, his old MkIII Cortina V8. He also went on to build a Chevy V8 powered Mitsubishi Celeste for OSCA. Does anyone know what happened to that car?

Long time OSCA racer Ian Munt, in his beloved Chevy V8 Capri. This car was built in Australia by Bruce Carey, and raced in early Aussie Sports Sedan events in NSW, mostly at Oran Park, in Grace Bros colours, as part of a team which also included Pete Geoghegans Super Falcon and Porsche 911. Munt bought the Capri off Carey while living in Aus, and eventually shipped it back home to Christchurch with him when he returned. The car started out fitted with quite modest wheel arch flares, but over time Munt continued its evolution, fitting box flares and trying a few different engine combos, including fuel-injection. The big rear wing sprouted up in the mid-80s. The colour scheme also changed on a regular basis, from white/orange, to silver/black, green/black as pictured here for sponsor Waterbed World, white/charcoal, and eventually back to white/orange once more. The one main-stay of the car though were the Mawer wheels, which were one of the first sets of Mawer wheels made, as Carey was good friends Dave Mawer.

Ian Munt eventually built up a very nice looking VL Commodore which featured a sort of modified TWR bodykit, but retained the Capri, and it was still in his ownership when he passed away. His son Evan raced the Capri for several more seasons, on a shoe-string budget, but eventually had to sell it, and its now owned by Keith Tunnicliffe.

Barry Algia, brother of Ian, raced this radical HT Monaro in North Island Sports Sedan events. The Monaro ran a full front sub-frame, as pictured, and a fuel-injected small block Chevy, with McLaren wheels. Barry rarely ventured beyond Pukekohe and Bay Park to race the Monaro. He still owns it to this day. Another of the Algie brothers built a Chevy Monza, which I have never seen, but would love it if someone had photos of it they could post?

Probably one of the widest cars ever to race in New Zealand, Peter Meadows' wild Chev Corvette. I believe this was a space-frame car, and this is possibly the first season Meadows raced it. It was later repainted red and black, for his sponsor at the time whom I can't recall, but for the 1989 season, was repainted white/red/blue. Meadows suffered a big shunt in the car during that 1989 season at Pukekohe, and the body was severely damaged, and I seem to recall another body was flown out from the US for the next round at Manfeild. That season ex-pat Kiwi Steve Dymand shipped an IMSA Corvette out from the US to race as part of the NZ Sports Sedan championship, albeit for no points, in preparation for an assault on the IMSA championship that year. So Kiwi's were treated to the sight of two Corvette's that season.

Meadows doesn't appear to have raced the Corvette again after that 1989 season, and in fact the car itself appears to have vanished completely. Anyone have any clues?

Last one! Here is Jim Short, who supplied these pics, pictured with his little Porsche 911, which added a touch of European class to the rugged Kiwi big banger sedan fields in the 1980s. The Porsche was a normally aspirated example, so down on power to the V8s, but handled superbly, and Jim always enjoyed himself. Here he is seen with fellow racers Ralph Mossman and Brett Willis.

What a great set of pics - thanks Steve and Jim. More than a few cars that you would like to see running again

Russell Due mentioned in #407 above apparently finally succumbed to cancer late last year. He had moved from Taihape a few years ago and was living a few hundred metres from the Manfield circuit. He had imported a Trans Am car-don't know about the RX7. Neil Deighton (the mayor of Mangaweka) would be the one to ask.