The Roaring Season

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Time for another addition of photos from Steve Twists excellent and very enjoyable collection.

All the photos in this installment are from Levin, and all appear to have been taken during the 1967/68 season. This was the first year in which New Zealand had introduced its international FIA Group 5 regulations for saloon car racing, which brought about a raft of new machinery to NZ shores.

Steve is obviously a tin-top enthusiast, as saloon racing dominates this portion of photos.

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More to follow.....

OK, here we go.

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I love seeing the small capacity images, as these cars often get overlooked.

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Briliant stuff, brings back so many memories.

This is the final batch for this part. Part 6 will be posted soon, and includes some great looking production car photos from Pukekohe, which I'm really looking forward to sharing. Thanks again to Steve Twist for these wonderful photos.

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Both Steve's, thanks so much. What classic photos. Oh how has the geometry of suspension etc changed. Also the style of clothing and love the home grandstand on the roof. Imagine that today.

Isn't that the truth Rod! Someone must have told Red Dawson that Mustangs handle better with the nose pointing skywards, because that thing of his is really jacked up. Even parked in the pits it looks like its about to be shot into space. The thing I love about these photos are the crowds. They're so close to the action, and they're really packed in tight.

That first Red Dawson Mustang was the ex Sedgiden car. Wasn't that basically a mildly modified road car, always looked exciting, but once the Shelby car of Fahey and the ex Geoghagan Shelby car of Coppins came along it took all of Red's skills and bravery to keep up. Things came right for Red when he got the proper TA car from Frank Barry/Bryan.
The racing was certainly great in those days with cars that had more grunt than grip.

Yes, the ex Segedin car Gavin. It was built from a road car, unlike the others around it. I think the motor had some good bits in it though, although it did have a tendancy to break. But all those Mustangs were quite different to each other. The Fahey and Barry/Bryan cars were the best. John Riley commented on this once in an interview as he owned both the Geoghegan/Coppins car, and the Fahey car. He said the difference between the Geoghegan and Fahey Mustangs were huge. And the Geoghegan car was a lot better than the Segedin car. So the fact Dawson is up there battling these cars in his converted road car says a lot about his abilities as a driver.