The Roaring Season

I am looking for a photo I have seen in a few places.
It is either Ardmore or Ohakea, about 3 rows from front to back, and about 15 wide. This is NOT the one with a lot of single seaters and sports cars, but saloons. From memory it includes a VW, Hillman Husky a couple of Coupes, a Riley...
Cheers Rhys

Hi Rhys,
I know exactly the one you are talking of. Think from memory Tom Clark is on pole with his Mk5 (or Mk7) Jag which was his tow car for his Ferrari. Allan Woolf is in there somewhere in a Ford 8. There is a big mural of this photo at the entrance to the Manawatu Car Club rooms at Manfeild. The single seater/sports car photo you refer to is on the opposite side of the entrance doors.

Hi Rhys,
Try contacting Terry Rush at the Manawatu Car Club. His contact details would be available from one of the guy's on the committee. He is their archivist and also has a museum of history re the Manawatu Car Club. I am sure Terry could help you. Cheers Bruce

Hi Rhys,
The photo appears in Eoin Young's "Classic Racers" between pages 128-129, but it is quite a small copy, about 115 by 75 mm. This book was made up largely from articles Eoin wrote for NZ Classic Car, probably around 2000-2002 or earlier, and there may have been a bigger version in the magazine. Caption says Ohakea 1952, but I wouldn't be sure if that was correct.

Stu

PS Did you try Google Images? Stranger things have happened!

That photo is from 1956. I'll post the entry list when I get time to scan it.

rf84 wrote:Hi Rhys,
I know exactly the one you are talking of. Think from memory Tom Clark is on pole with his Mk5 (or Mk7) Jag which was his tow car for his Ferrari. Allan Woolf is in there somewhere in a Ford 8. There is a big mural of this photo at the entrance to the Manawatu Car Club rooms at Manfeild. The single seater/sports car photo you refer to is on the opposite side of the entrance doors.

Have spent a number of visits with beer in hand and in the company of good people studying those two photos.

This is the entry list for the scratch race but as it is obviously not a Le Mans start, the photo must show the handicap race.

stubuchanan wrote:Hi Rhys,

PS Did you try Google Images? Stranger things have happened!

Yes I did, but with more detail from all you guys I will have another look
Thanks to all. Obviously this relates to the pre 61 saloon events we are trying to promote.
I don't think it would be handicap as the faster cars are all on the front row, but certainly not a Le Mans start either. Interesting "no special camshafts allowed" but no mention of other mods Perhaps they had more than the Le Mans start, and handicap?

There were only the two saloon car races.

In those days handicap races were started from a grid start with the handicaps added to the finishing times to give the final result.

The result of the handicap race was

1. 17 G.D. Morris Riley 1.5
2. 25 E.S. Withers Standard Vanguard
3. 4 J.M. Windelburn Morris Minor
4. 36 T.E. Clark Jaguar Mk 7

Hello Rhys,
I have made contact with Terry Rush this morning and he is willing to help you. He does have some small photos but is prepared to get the photo from the club rooms and copy it for you. I will PM his contact details to you.
Cheers

Guys I am so thankful. I have just had a long chat with Terry, all is now underway. Again, many thanks. TRS succeeds again.

The layout of these Ohakea photos suggests that they might have been taken with a Plate Camera (like they used for team and school photos - with a 4 x 5 inch negative). Is it possible that there might be a whole lot more of them tucked away somewhere in the Manawatu, or even in the National Archive. I recall that the late Dave McKinney laboriously went through the archive a few years back looking for anything with a possible motor racing theme - not sure he found very much.The labelling wasn't helpful, and something innocently labelled Pukekohe Racetrack 5.1.1963 turned out to be an aerial shot of the 1963 Grand Prix circuit.

Stu

Now I have the photo scanned by the Rush family. Definitely "run what you brung" and way more entries than a current National championship, almost more than one of ERC Arrow/AES grids
Very cool.

Glad Terry was able to help.....look forward to seeing your grid and your poster. Cheers, Bruce D

So here it is for those who were wondering. This would be so cool to have a semblance of for Roycroft! Run what you brung, not race cars in disguise but take out the tools, picnic basket and spare wheel, slap on some numbers, white nugget if you can and have a thrash.

Take out the tools, picnic basket and spare wheel? Hell Rhys Tom Clark's Mk7 Jag was the car he used to tow his Maserati 8CLT to the same meeting!

rf84 wrote:Take out the tools, picnic basket and spare wheel? Hell Rhys Tom Clark's Mk7 Jag was the car he used to tow his Maserati 8CLT to the same meeting!

So take off the towbar too! The Lawrences used their Peugeot 203 to tow the Lola sports and raced both too after fitting the rear bumper in place of the towbar. End of the day reverse the process and go home. It would be interesting to see how many others we could add to that

Jim Boyd towed his Brabham with the Lycoming.

There must be more photos taken from this vantage point as the end papers of Vercoe's book has some very similar.

How times have changed !
I can remember riding with my parents near Cathedral Square in 1961 and coming towards us driving their Coopers on the streets, after a very wet Lady Wigram race were both Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren laughing and enjoying themselves in the rain !
(Wish I had had a camera that day !)

Also here in Santa Barbara in the 1950s-1960s many drivers would come up from Los Angeles etc. on the open roads, put some numbers on their cars and go out to the airport and race. eg; " Phil Hill would drive his Ferrari up from Los Angeles, race and party at the "Biltmore Hotel" then drive home! "

(Ken Hyndman)