Modified 70s and 80s Saloons - Picture Thread

[Rod Grimwood]

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.

Don't know if Viva 'survived' but bits might of

[Rod Grimwood]

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.

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Grant Brennan in back ground on right in driving suit talking to Tony Rutherford I think

Gee what a bunch of young looking rascals.

[John McKechnie]

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?

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Steve- Barry absolutely want to run this again, and will be at Georges first meeting in September.
Another detail is the transaxle was taken from the Katipo MJ-70
I will ask him tomorrow about pics of the Monza

[Steve Holmes]

Don't know if Viva 'survived' but bits might of

But did the body survive Rod? Or parts of it?

[Rod Grimwood]

Ok lets have ago !
Front left Trevor Crowe Starlet V8, behind him Bruce Manon Escort 2ltr Turbo, Behind him John Osborne RX7/V8, to right of him Jim Short Porsche, right of him Rob Kennard Cortina MkV1 V8, right of him Ian Algie Alfetta V8, behind him Steve Vigurs Commodore V8,to left of him Brett Willis Commodore V8, left of him Tony Rutherford Mazda RX2 Turbo, behind and to right of him don't know, to very right Peter Meadows Corvette, behind him Bob Homewood Escort BDG, behind him Dave Smythe Escort 2ltr, to left of Smythe Me Escort 2ltr, to left of me and behind Vern Smith Commodore, to very left black car is Craig Pulman Falcon Coupe GT and at very back is George Shewiery in Mustang
Can not work out the rest

Just worked out that behind Willis and beside Meadows is Ralph Mossman Viva


And inside of fence from left to right, not mine, mine, not mine, and Definately not mine.

[bob homewood]

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.

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Yes I still have it ,it only had the BDG in it for the last couple of meetings right at the tailend of the time I raced it when it was painted orange and white ,all the early races when the car was plain white as the photo here it ran a 1850cc Lotus Twin Cam with a Hart 416B head and Lucas injection ,the season when the car was Blue and White it actually ran a 1600cc Short stroke Paul England Lotus Twin Cam engine with the Lucas injection

[Grant Sprague]

Hey Bob , I remember the first time I saw yr car at B/P [the escort] it was a rocket ship in its day & well done , ......... as years went by we ended up meeting at Ramarama motel at the dinner table this is where I first met you , at start of pre 65 , we have had lots of laughs & fun , love to Delwyn & boys ........ Grant & Kylie

[GD66]

Nice to hear from you, Bob. Tell us...what did it weigh ?
Looks pretty light...

[Oldfart]

Ok lets have ago !

And inside of fence from left to right, not mine, mine, not mine, and Definately not mine.

Thought you might have said "definitely not mine, mine, not mine etc!"

[Grant Sprague]

yep not sure who the pole dancer is but looks familiar

[Rod Grimwood]

yep not sure who the pole dancer is but looks familiar

Been a few years Grant, but a couple of years before with my little Angle box sitting on the left side of trailer at BP my then girl friend, (note the flash hair) and in picture a couple of years later climbing pole my then and still wife. Gee don't they change (the cars I mean)

[Oldfart]

Sponsors fine products in hand!

[Grant Sprague]

Been a few years Grant, but a couple of years before with my little Angle box sitting on the left side of trailer at BP my then girl friend, (note the flash hair) and in picture a couple of years later climbing pole my then and still wife. Gee don't they change (the cars I mean)

Ha hahahah Roddy yep , they should get faster [the cars] yep that's you love the pik, did not even know you had raced an Anglia , we ended up getting ours to 1,7 at b/P with lots of work, & I believe a couple yrs ago Andrew Stevenson got his down to 1.10 puke , but using Nissan crank now allowable , but still the old block &head , we tried doing a down port was a marked improvement but didn't hold to gether long enough to get the best out of it .... I don't think you ever meet Kylie [my wife] mate she still looks fantastic , lovely lady & 20 yrs younger , heheheheheh

[Milan Fistonic]

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?

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This was the colour scheme in 1988 when the sponsor was Selectrix

Tony Marsh was running this Datsun Sunny in 1988.

[Steve Holmes]

Oh wow, fantastic Milan! Doesn't that Corvette look sinister! I'd love to know what happened to this car.

[Steve Holmes]

Some more pics from Jim Short. These days Bruce Manon does a lot of racing in his white and blue MkII Ford Escort classic race car, but back in the 1980s he had this very fast turbocharged MkII Escort Sports Sedan. Compared to some of the wild looking machinery of the period, the Escort looked quite tame, but could really hold its own.

[Steve Holmes]

Here is the Steve Webling Alfa. Is this the same Alfa that was the Coppertone car?

[Steve Holmes]

The quick little Glen Jones Datsun 1200, before Glen purchased the white and red Chevy V8 Commodore pictured above with Steve Vigurs.

[Steve Holmes]

Another of the OSCA boys, John Fisher in the Chevy V8 powered Capri. This is the car formerly raced by Avon Hyde and owned/run by Clyde Collins. But well before that it was raced by Frank Ryan, back in the mid-70s. Pretty sure Ryan ran it with a Ford motor too. Its had a lot of owners over the years, and been pretty knocked around. It appears now at historic events, but its been fitted with a different body kit, because the kit fitted here was in pretty bad shape.

[Steve Holmes]

And here is a car I'd only ever heard about, but never actually seen. This is the Chevy Monza, raced by another of the Algie brothers. Rod, which Algie was this? Its a good looking car, but rarely seen. Looking closely, it actually appears as if it might be a road going Monza modified into a race car, rather than a tube-frame fitted with a Monza body, as most Monza race cars were. But either way, I'd love to know more about it. Where is it now?