The Roaring Season

I would have though that in NZ in the 60s,with her close ties to the UK,farmers ect that a few Humbers or Jaguar saloons would have been in a photo like that.

Either way very cool pik, I remember visiting there about t hat era in a 105 Anglia fitted with a 1200 cc Cortina engine [But yep prb about mid 60,s], it was my mums car , my 2nd car up rated from my E93 a pop , paid $150 for that one lol [the ford pop] from lawn mowing money & serving gas after school , it had a burnt out valve & needed painting , but had green leather upholstery, no hand outs in the Sprague family lol

I can see a couple of hot looking Ford's in there Grant, the red Anglia looks like its had the wheels widened, while further back is a beige coloured MkII Zephyr with blue stripe running across the top. These were the boy racer cars of their day!

A couple of quite historic Anglia's here, in the ex-Dave Simpson and ex-Paul Fahey machines, which battled like this for the 1966 NZ Saloon Car Championship. Kerry Kocis is in the ex-Simpson car, who is driving the former Fahey car? The photo is marked 'Kocis and Rutherford Anglias'. Wouldn't be Ron Rutherford would it?

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Talking of 1966 and Anglias , I have been sent this gem -
Anglia with widened steels, there were probably more anglias with widened wheels than stock in southland at that time!! and as for events we did them all for the most part with the same car, raced them, hillclimbs, bent sprints, club days, gravel sprints, grass track races, snow, mud, seal, standing & flying 1/4 miles, monthly car trials that bordered on rallies ( if we had only known what a rally was in 1965?), gymkanas.

Superb shot here, with Dawson leading Fahey, Riley, and Collins. Fahey is pushing hard, the inside wheel is well off the deck.

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This next batch are all from Wigram, 1970, kicking off here with Fahey, Dawson, and Coppins drag racing off the line.

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And here are the same trio, battling for the lead with Dawson in front. By the end, though, it would be the Escort driver who beat all the V8s.

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And further back, the battle for the minor places, with Brian Crosbie leading John Riley, Grady Thomson, and Clyde Collins.

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Steve Holmes wrote:A couple of quite historic Anglia's here, in the ex-Dave Simpson and ex-Paul Fahey machines, which battled like this for the 1966 NZ Saloon Car Championship. Kerry Kocis is in the ex-Simpson car, who is driving the former Fahey car? The photo is marked 'Kocis and Rutherford Anglias'. Wouldn't be Ron Rutherford would it?

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Kevin Rout ???

John Riley in the Mustang gets harassed by the twin-cam Escorts of Brian Crosbie and Gary Sprague. Crosbie locks a brake in his efforts to keep the pressure on Riley. The Mustang (ex-Fahey) is now in the Bowden Collection in Queensland. Where are these two very quick little Escorts now?

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Spragues ended up with Stan Baird in the L&P team.
Just had this posted to me by an impeccable source-
Ex Crosbie escort went first to Henry Hammond ( Winton, north of Invercargill) as OSCA car ( Although Crosbie did a Silver Fern Rally in it on race tires ), then on to David Sharp Gore as a Rally Car with 1300cc pushrod, dont know where it went from there

John McKechnie wrote:....
Although Crosbie did a Silver Fern Rally in it on race tires

Well not quite, it blew the engine near the end of the first stage (northern part of the Summit Road above Christchurch) of the 1970 Shell Silver Fern and wasn't seen again on the rally. Those with the magazines refer to the September 28th 1970 issue of Autonews and the November 1970 issue of Motorman.

Whats the history of the John Riley mustang?

I think there may be a thread on that- Geoghegan 1965 Mustang

OK would explain its nice flat cornering.

John McKechnie wrote:I think there may be a thread on that- Geoghegan 1965 Mustang

No, the Geoghegan Mustang went to Rod Coppins, then Riley, but this isn't it in the photo. The Mustang in the photo is the ex-Paul Fahey Shelby built Mustang, which Riley raced after his brief time with the ex-Geoghegan/Coppins car.

That would still explain the flat cornering stance, Robert, as the Fahey car was a great handler.
More on Mustang ownership here :
http://www.nzmustang.com/Images/History/Racecars/NZRacecars.htm

Thought the same,nice set of sway bars/springs and Koni's re-valved.

Robert Bailey wrote:Thought the same,nice set of sway bars/springs and Koni's re-valved.

I believe re-located suspension pick ups may have had a bit to do with it too??