Ian "Red" Dawson

[John McKechnie]

I dont have earlier Motorman mags than his last season in singles seaters..I have not seen any other information on his earlier days on these threads until your 60 post.Thanks to you Stu ,we have more info on this period.

[Bruce302]

Here is a very rare mint condition Red Dawson racing decal. This is from the Steve Elliott collection.

[Bruce302]

and here is a pic of the iconic Camaro that features on the decal.

[Bruce302]

Prior to the Marlboro livery, Red's Camaro was painted in the gold Kensington Carpets colours. Always a good looking car.
This is also from the Steve Elliott collection as with the above pic. Photographers unknown.

[Kiwiboss]

Great two pictures Bruce, which begs the next question!! were is this car these days? did it survive? or has it bitten the OSCAR/All Comers dust like many did back in the mid to late 70's once there group II Saloon car duties where over!!

Im sure someone on here will know

Dale M

[Rod Grimwood]

Think it still down south Dale

[Rod Grimwood]

Results 65 Red in car 66

[Rod Grimwood]

66

[fullnoise68]

Great two pictures Bruce, which begs the next question!! were is this car these days? did it survive? or has it bitten the OSCAR/All Comers dust like many did back in the mid to late 70's once there group II Saloon car duties where over!!

Im sure someone on here will know

Dale M

Kelvin Towns in Dunedin still has the car I believe. The ironic thing about this Camaro, is that Red actually went to the US with the intention of buying one of Penskes Javelin Trans Am cars, and when that didn`t happen, he sat down and wrote out a `shopping list'. One Camaro, two Bartz 302 race engines, wheels, tyres, etc and NZ here we come. Also on this trip he thought he may as well get a good tow car, so he bought a Chev Impala Super Sport, from yes, a little old lady from Pasadena!! No shit! As I said in an earlier post, if Red wanted something, he just paid the money.

[Jac Mac]

[color="#0000FF"] In its first season in "gold Kensington' colour that car had some trick Firestone? cantilever tyres[ might have been rear only].. rim width was only 8 or 10 inch wide for regs, but tyres had huge sidewall bulge out to a treadwidth about 4"/5" wider, these rules did not apply in NZ so the next season saw some wider rear rims fitted along with a change of tyre.[/color]

[Kiwiboss]

[color="#0000FF"] In its first season in "gold Kensington' colour that car had some trick Firestone? cantilever tyres[ might have been rear only].. rim width was only 8 or 10 inch wide for regs, but tyres had huge sidewall bulge out to a treadwidth about 4"/5" wider, these rules did not apply in NZ so the next season saw some wider rear rims fitted along with a change of tyre.[/color]

That's how the American Trans Am cars raced Jac Mac, SCCA had 8" max rim width rule so Goodyear and Firestone made a special "cantilever" tyres to gain that extra tread on the ground, i guess this design made the cars move around a bit when cornering and gave a spectacular on-track look when racing, was no doubt for its time "state of the art" in tyre technology i presume and a real tyre war started between the two companies. So to have a set of these down here in NZ would have been quite something!!(until they wore out that is)

PS: I believe thats how Goodyear started there advertising campaign of the "Lifesave TA Radial" and then in later years just known as the "BF Goodrich TA radial" i had several sets on my road going mustangs over the years not even knowing that TA part stood for Trans Am, must have been good for business for them to last that long.

Dale M

[Rod Grimwood]

Liked the car in this colour, it looked big and mean (it was)

Note the then mark from USA of advertising decals all over front guard and front of door.

She sure transfered weight, compare back tyre on ground in 2nd and 3rd photo.

[Kwaussie]

Must be Kerry Grant in The Southwood Cortina following Red!

Was this car the first fake Lotus Cortina in the world!

[Steve Holmes]

Kelvin Towns in Dunedin still has the car I believe. The ironic thing about this Camaro, is that Red actually went to the US with the intention of buying one of Penskes Javelin Trans Am cars, and when that didn`t happen, he sat down and wrote out a `shopping list'. One Camaro, two Bartz 302 race engines, wheels, tyres, etc and NZ here we come. Also on this trip he thought he may as well get a good tow car, so he bought a Chev Impala Super Sport, from yes, a little old lady from Pasadena!! No shit! As I said in an earlier post, if Red wanted something, he just paid the money.

Yeah thats right Steve, Kelvin has owned it for years and years. Amazingly this car didn't really get cut up, despite having raced in OSCA through to the early 1980s. It did have an engine set back, doing the old trick of cutting the firewall and bringing the motor back into the cockpit slightly, but this was really it. The car still has its original flares that were built for it when Red first converted it for racing, and everything else is basically as it was when Red first built it. It still even has its original headlining! Its a pretty original car.

[Bruce302]

That's Right Dale, BF Goodrich contracted T/G Racing after Jerry Titus died, they were paid around $ 0.50 per lap for tire testing. One of the remaining T/G Firebirds was branded as the Tirebird, and it raced on T/A Radials and I believe after some development work, they won the first series race on a street tire. Later engine (Pontiac 303) reliability issues saw the Firebird changed into a Camaro, but still branded Tirebird. It had more chance of winning, and did, with the Chev power.

Later Ron Grable was involved in the John Greenwood/BF Goodrich Corvettes. They even took on Le Mans but a late night run by a team member left the car unable to start the race. I understand the incident came from someone trying to impress a young lady.

PS: I believe thats how Goodyear started there advertising campaign of the "Lifesave TA Radial" and then in later years just known as the "BF Goodrich TA radial" i had several sets on my road going mustangs over the years not even knowing that TA part stood for Trans Am, must have been good for business for them to last that long.

I will put some pics up later.
Bruce.

Dale M[/QUOTE]

[fullnoise68]

Bruce, without getting away from Reds thread, the original Titus Camaro/Firebird, prior to the factory Firebirds, which ended up in Mexico, was tracked down and bought by Jerrys` son Rick, who had Bill Elliott Racing restore it, is now for sale in California for $350,000 USD. I`m still keen at 60K if you want to cash up Rods Firebird!!!!

[fullnoise68]

Yeah thats right Steve, Kelvin has owned it for years and years. Amazingly this car didn't really get cut up, despite having raced in OSCA through to the early 1980s. It did have an engine set back, doing the old trick of cutting the firewall and bringing the motor back into the cockpit slightly, but this was really it. The car still has its original flares that were built for it when Red first converted it for racing, and everything else is basically as it was when Red first built it. It still even has its original headlining! Its a pretty original car.

Steve, has anyone got any recent photos of Reds` Camaro in its current state?

[Steve Holmes]

I'm sure some people have seen it Steve, but I've not personally seen any photos. I spoke to Kelvin about it several years ago, and he explained its condition, and I was amazed by how original it was. He told me at the time he was slowly restoring it, as time and money allowed.

[Spgeti]

I last saw the Camaro at the 82 Granprix meeting at Puke. engine bay was cut back quite a bit and the car was still fairly original but tired. During my membership in the Camaro Club, Red wrote to us offering to sell his spares off the Camaro as he was retiring.
I shot round there and purchased the Camaro bits I wanted for $100.00, mainly interior trim so that I could finish the resto on the Tulloch Camaro. The dash and consol in my car was ex Reds camaro. For years I had the original grill surround and front roll bars off Red's car and now regret leaving them behind in Whangarei. He would not sell me the yankie number plates off the car. He was a very nice guy.

[John McKechnie]

I have always loved this word " tired" to describe an item -whether it be a house or car.