The John Lacko Collection.

[khyndart in CA]

I had seen photos taken at Santa Barbara Airport during the Sixties by Michigan based, professional photographer, John Lacko, so I contacted him and I asked if he would mind sharing some of his photos on The Roaring Season site. He has kindly agreed and we will present them as I reduce them to the format to fit.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and a special big thanks to John.


(Ken H)

[khyndart in CA]

The first selection is of photos John took at the 1966 USGP at Watkins Glen.
Before F1 cars grew wings and things. I think there were eight main teams plus some private entrants and eight different engine manufacturers; BRM, including their complex H-16 version and the V-8, Repco-Brabham, Ferrari, Honda, Ford, Eagle- Weslake, Climax and Maserati, all adjusting to the new 3-liter engine formula in 1966 with Jack Brabham coming out on top for the season in his Repco powered BT 19. But his Repco engine failed during this race.

Oct. 2, 1966. Jim Clark in a Team Lotus 43/BRM 3.0 H16 # 1. Started second and went on to win the 1966 U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

Finishing in 5th place over 3 laps behind the winner was Bruce McLaren in his McLaren M2B / Ford 3.0 V8 # 17.
Not exactly the best looking car on the track with that Ford V-8 hanging out the back !

( John Lacko photos )

[khyndart in CA]

Peter Arundel in his Team Lotus 33 Climax V-8 # 2 started 19th and finished 6th.
Along the way he had this incident during the race.
"John Surtees tried to get around Arundell on the pit straight, and again in The Esses, but as he pulled alongside, the cars touched and both slid across the grass, then headed for the pits. Surtees actually pulled in to the Lotus pit to confront Arundell and had to be restrained by Lotus mechanics. Having wasted several minutes there, he rejoined in thirteenth position, two and a half laps behind."

Imagine that happening today where a driver stops and wants to fight in the pits and then carries on in the race !
John Surtees was a determined man as was seen when Jody Scheckter wiped out his team at the 1973 British Grand Prix and John went after Jody and fortunately they did not meet up on that occasion !

(John Lacko photo )




Ken H..

[Roger Dowding]

Good stuff Ken H,
55 years ago, I had just started my working life aged 18 [ late starter - kept failing at school and going back to eat my lunch !! ]
Good Kiwi connections in those days in F1, and that Aussie Jack B wasn't half bad either.

Your reply will be post # 3000 !! Go Ken.

[khyndart in CA]

1966 USGP.
Jochen Rindt in his Cooper-Maserati T 81 # 8. Started 9th and came in second as the car coasted over the finish line out of fuel !

(John Lacko photo )


Lorenzo Bandini in his Ferrari 312-66 3.0 V-12. # 9. Started from 3rd and was leading the race until his V-12 engine blew on lap 34 of the 108 lap race.

( John Lacko photo. )





(Ken H)

[khyndart in CA]

Mike Spence drove a Reg Parnell Team Lotus # 18 at the 1966 USGP, that started life as a Lotus 25 then it was upgraded to Lotus 33 specs as chassis R13.
Parnell had a 2 liter BRM P60 V-8 installed and Spence drove it during 1966 but without any success.
A year later it came out to NZ and was driven in the 1967-68 NZ and Tasman Series by Peter Yock, again without any success.

(John Lacko photos )

The same car at the start of the 1968 NZGP at Pukekohe.
Peter Yock in his Lotus 33 / BRM V8 2.0 # 10

(Ken H..)

[Allan]

And later in the hands of Peter Hughes with a Daimler V8 and then a Ford twin cam fitted.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Allan
And later in the hands of Peter Hughes with a Daimler V8 and then a Ford twin cam fitted.

Later still acquired by John Dawson-Damer and restored to original condition, with the exception of the gearbox because he couldn't find the right ZF unit. I think (I'm not at home so can't check Marc's book) it went back to Classic Team Lotus, but I'm not sure.

Whoever owns it now, however, has seen it win at Monaco Historic, the only Lotus 25 or 33 ever to win at Monaco as at the time of Marc's book - 2012.

[khyndart in CA]

Another team that did not have much success in 1966, was the Honda Team with their new RA 273 F1 car.
They now had a 3 liter V-12 engine that was loud, heavy and unreliable, but did do better at the higher altitude at Mexico City
The two F1 team drivers were Americans, Richie Ginther and Ronnie Bucknum.
Things improved for the team after John Surtees joined the team in 1967 and arranged to link a Honda engine to a Lola chassis.(RA 301)
After a disastrous 1968 F1 season Honda retired from Formula One competition until they began supplying F1 engines beginning in 1983.

1966 USGP. Watkins Glen. October 2nd 1966

Ronnie Bucknum in Honda RA 273 # 14

Richie Ginther in his Honda RA 273 # 12

(John Lacko photos..)


(Comment; That Honda exhaust system design department must have been busy back in 1966 !

The Honda engine department must have developed the right stuff, as the first 8 cars in the 2021
Indy car race at Nashville Tn. yesterday, were all powered by Honda engines. )



(Ken H)

[khyndart in CA]

Two more John Lacko photos from the 1966 USGP at Watkins Glen.

Taken at Turn 8 as the cars head back toward the start / finish line.

There was not much / no protection for the "flaggies" or photographers.
Note how some spectators used the poles !

Jackie Stewart in his Owen Racing Organization BRM P83 H16 3.0 Liter # 4

Dan Gurney in his Eagle Weslake V-12 3.0 liter # 15.
(Many consider this Eagle was one of the best looking F1 cars ever built but it had few results to show after two years in F1.)

That goes to show Roger, that good looks don't always get the best results !



(Ken H..)

[khyndart in CA]

At the start / finish line . 1966.

Jo Siffert turning onto the start area in his Rob Walker Racing Cooper T 81 Maserati 3.0 V-12. # 19

John's photo from the back, just after the start.

( John Lacko photos..)

Lining up for the start in this Alvis Upitis photo.

The start of the 1966 USGP.
Jack Brabham on the left Lorenzo Bandini in the centre and Jim Clark on the right.

[video=youtube;OlgviVH77PE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlgviVH77PE[/video]



(Ken H..)

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, beautiful Ken! These are just stunning.

[khyndart in CA]

In April 1967 John Lacko had moved West and was a photographer for the US Air Force and space programme based at the Vandenberg Air Force Base (About 30 miles from Los Olivos.) John went to Riverside Raceway to photograph the 1967 USRRC event there.
He has kindly shared some of his fine photos here.

Here is a listing of entrants in that 1967 event.

#7 Jerry Entin McLaren Elva Mark II Chevrolet Entin Bros. Racing

Jerry Entin battling Jerry Grant who drove a Lola T70 MK 2 # 78 as they go through turn # 6 at Riverside.

(John Lacko photos )




(Ken H)

[khyndart in CA]

April 1967.
George Follmer in a Lola T71 # 16 going through Turn 5 at the old Riverside course.

Five years later in 1972 George would be the Can Am champion driving a Roger Penske Team 917/10 TC.

Masten Gregory in a McLaren Elva Mk 3 built by Trojan Works # 26.
Masten was an American driver replaced at the Cooper Car Company by a young Bruce McLaren in 1960.

(Ken H...)

[Steve Holmes]

Superb images Ken. Early Group 7 cars are just so pretty, particularly the Lola T70s.

[khyndart in CA]

A John Lacko photo of a rare sports car at Riverside
An English built Piper powered by a Buick 215 V-8 prepared by Traco and taken out to 4500 cc. (A common race engine in the 1960s)
This car did not have much success even when driven here by Jerry Titus. # 5 ran out of fuel on the last lap.

(John Lacko photo.)

An artist rendition from the cover of July 1967 Sports Car Graphic magazine of the # 5 Piper Buick.

Some sites on the Piper sports cars.
https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/4134/Piper-GTR.html

https://sites.google.com/site/thepiperclub/History/piper-car-history

http://www.piperracingcars.co.uk/1.html

From the Speedway Museum some Buick engine info.
" The 215 cubic-inch aluminum V8 was originally announced in 1960 as a lightweight economy engine for General Motors new line of compact cars; Buick Skylark, Olds Cutlass and Pontiac Tempest. The “215” first in the appeared in the 1961, with production ending in 1963 after ¾ million engines produced. There were two (2) versions available: Buick’s model and the Olds, which featured different heads, valve train and valve covers. Pontiac used the Olds version.

The reason that production ended so soon was a high rejection rate during the casting process, as GM used a pressure casting of the Reynolds 356 aluminum alloy around steel sleeves. A 2nd method was then tried by heat treating to T-6 condition, but the heat treating caused the steel sleeves to shift and rejection of the blocks continued.

GM cured the casting, but the advent of new thin wall iron casting soon rendered the aluminum motor too expensive and led to the cancellation of the “215” after the 1963 model year.

Rights to these engines were purchased by the British Rover Company and used in the 1967 Rover P5B that replaced the 3L straight six. Throughout the years, the Rover Co., which became part of British Leyland in 1968, continued improvement on the engine making it much stronger and reliable. The Rover V8 engine remained in production use for more than another 39 years. GM tried to buy it back later on, but Rover declined.
​
The 215 was also used in the Italian-American Gran Turismo Apollo in 1962-1963 as well as in the Asardo 3500 GM-S show car."


(Ken H..)

[Roger Dowding]

" The 215 was also used in the Italian-American Gran Turismo Apollo in 1962-1963 ".

Remember reading about the car back in 1963 in the November issue of " Road and Track ", which I still have.
They give the engine size in metric 3524 cc and real measurement for the Americans cu in 215.5.

Have seen a recent photo of them in the USA would be quite collectible. There were a pair of them
[ Didn't note the photographer or the place posted ]

[khyndart in CA]

Lola T70 Mk.1 #SL70/7 # 3 driven by Pierre Phillips.

John Lacko photo.
Pierre was a popular driver who came to NZ and competed at the first Formula A / 5000 meet at Baypark Dec. 1968 in a 1968 Lola T 140.
Later he helped many drivers begin their careers and deal with race car purchasing at Portland, Oregon.
"Phillips Motorsports, Inc. was a year-round professional motorsports organization based in Portland, Oregon. The team's rich history in North American racing includes fielding cars for such notable drivers as Bobby Rahal, Patrick Carpentier, Anthony Lazzaro, Geoff Brabham and Felipe Giaffone, to name just a few."
Pierre passed away at age 87 in 2018

( Ken H )

[Ray Bell]

Both Jerry Entin and Pierre Phillips made me feel most welcome when I visited the US in 2012...

Pierre's career covered a wide range of cars, I recall talking to him about his Lola T140 and he had a Begg FM2, while smaller cars like a Brabham BT21 (run in Formula B) and a Lotus 27 (Formula Junior) were in his past. I'm pretty sure there was a picture of a smaller Surtees on the wall as well.

Jerry became a good friend, he and Carmen insisting that we spend at least one night with them at their Spring Lake, Michigan, home. He also introduced me to that intrepid collector of all things interesting, Bill Wiswedel. For many years Jerry posted some interesting stuff on The Nostalgia Forum as supplied by Willem Oosthoek, who had upset the management somehow and wasn't allowed to post any more.

[khyndart in CA]

Jerry Grant in Lola #78 at Riverside April 1967.

Mark Donohue in his Lola T70 Mk3 SL71/47 # 6 during practice at Riverside.
Rear bodywork changes were made for the race.
(Note how close the Emergency vehicle is to the track and the cool guy blowing bubble gum as Mark flashes by !)

Some details of the Penske Lola T70s in the 1960s at this site.
http://www.lolaheritage.co.uk/2018/scrapbook/035/scrapbook.html

USRRC race winner at Riverside, Mark Donohue, in his Lola Mk 3 # 6

(John Lacko photos..)

Ken H