The Mc Begg

[Wal Will]

I'l start this thread in the here and now, and as I become accustomed to posting photos I will build on it with what I have.
I am hoping some of you out there can help with some dates and a bit of the story on the car after it left Southland.
Photo's would be wonderful as there not a lot to be found.
I have several conflicting views on the colour of the car. The last thing I want to present is an 'orange' car, and yet in some of the photo's I have it appears that way.
Barry Keen (the first driver of this and many of Georges cars) recalls that it was painted in the 'Begg Machinery Yellow' - a colour that was always in the factory spray gun - and that the colour that Grant Clearwater came up with for the first Twin cam Begg was as close as he has seen to that colour. Others disagree and say that it was away more orange. By the time it comes to final painting I hope 'we' have resolved that.

Time line on the Mc Begg.
Components
Chassis
1966 M1B 13” wheel experimental car.
April 8th - Snetterton (Bruce) - 13” wheels all around.
May 14th - Silverstone (Chris) - 13” front 15” rear
May 29th St Joviet (Chris) 15” wheels all round
June 4th Mosport Players 200 (Chris) 15” wheels all round
Then the chassis was discarded to the scrap pile after all the bits were taken off it to go onto a new chassis.

Body
Came off the Denny Hulme M6 1967 Can Am car, raced as #5, then modified in 1968 to become a prototype/test body for the M8 program, then discarded to the scrap pile. (Georges shopping spot).

Mc Begg
1968
December 23rd? Container arrived at Drummond from England containing assorted parts
1969
January - Teretonga DNF timing chain Barry Keen #44
Timaru - Barry Keen 2nd to Graham Harvey in an Elfin. Barry’s last race. #44
March Pukekohe Geoff Mardon DNF/accident with Denis Marwood (in a single seater) #45

May 24th land speed record – Laurence Brownlie #45
May 25th Timaru broke a harmonic damper - only practiced, never raced
June - Small meetings at Teretonga and Ruapuna - Geoff Mardon
1970/73 Digby Taylor
Brian Middlemiss
Neville Brumby
Tony Roberts
Currently being resurrected by Wal Willmott

I hope that will get this thread off and running.

Wal.

[David McKinney]

I can confirm that Digby Taylor (Wellington) raced it 1970-73 but don't recall the colour - I have a vague feeling it was in a darler colour than the works yellow. I believe it was then sold to someone in Christchurch. This was when the regs limited engine-size to 2 litres, so if it raced at all it would have been with a smaller engine of some sort. (The next name on your list, Brian Middlemass, was Dunedin-based)

[Wal Will]

David, in George's book (The Engine Roars) he talks of the car going to the North Island to be cut up, and its components used to make a saloon car. I have spoken to Neville Brumby (Gore) and he said that the chassis (when he owned it) had been cut in two, but not otherwise molested.
Neville sold it (the remains) to Tony Roberts/Duncan Fox, who only wanted to get the chassis - which they saw as being the makings of an M1B that had been driven by Bruce and Chris. As I understand it the chassis (which was the only bit I didn't get) has been sold to a U.K. buyer quite recently.

[Wal Will]

Here is just a bit fuller version of the 'parts' story.

Parts:-
Chassis McLaren M1B (1966)
Second ‘B’ chassis works built. Designed to take 13” wheels all round, it was only raced once in this configuration, driven by Bruce in April of that year only just being finished in time for Snetterton. Its second outing was at Silverstone where Chris Amon drove it. At this race it was fitted with 13” front and 15” rear wheels in an attempt to overcome handling problems encountered at Snetterton. It was again raced in Canada by Chris at St Joviet and Mosport only by then it had 15” wheels all round.
Later that year the car was dismantled and most of the parts were fitted to a new chassis, to become one of a pair raced in the Canam series. The chassis was discarded into a corner of the factory, where it lay until George bought it and shipped it to N.Z. to for the basis of the McBegg

Body McLaren M6 (1967, lowered as prototype for M8 1968)
To test some design ideas for the soon to be built M8 cars Bruce decided that Denny’s M6 car (raced as #5) should be cut up and used. The chassis had the section behind the rear of the cockpit was removed and the new 7 liter Chevrolet engine became a ‘stressed member’ bearing most of the loads, and was supported/braced by tubes going back to the rear cross member.
The bodywork was lowered in the front section by simply taking a 2” slice out of it along each side and across the front. Fitted to the modified chassis it did many laps of Goodwood while tests were done.
Having served its purpose, it was discarded into the same corner as the chassis until George came along.

Gearbox Hewland LG

Motor Chevrolet 5.9 litre

Suspension
Front uprights strengthened (by gusseting) Standard Triumph (ex McLaren)
Front wishbones M1B McLaren
Rear uprights M1B McLaren
Bottom rear wishbones M6 McLaren

Wheels
Front M1B McLaren
Rears (were) M6 McLaren race wheels, from the end of the 67 Can am season. The team had been having trouble with these wider wheels cracking and as a stop gap measure they had braced one set of wheels with external steel plates. The wheels had been run at Laguna Seca and then Las Vegas before being discarded to the scrap bin. (Georges shopping spot)

Parts arrived in Invercargill Christmas 1968

[Oldfart]

Welcome Wally. I am guessing it will be to your usual (very high standard). I have only one memory of the car at Puke, when the scrutineers were very unimpressed by Georges'' Southland cable ties (baling twine) being used in a good number of places! Memory being equally vague I thought the paler Begg machinery colour.

[Wal Will]

Problem with taking on a project like this is that one tempted to 'improve'.
George was not noted for his finess - but he did build 18 cars.
I have a couple of photos of the car at that first meeting at Teretonga and the 'baling twine' approach is clearly evident.
Where safety and modern regulations conflict with the original I have had to make changes - but with every attempt to do it 'in period'. For example the aluminium fuel tank (evident in a couple of photo's) I have replaced with a fuel cell from an M1B mould.

[Wal Will]

Hopefully here is a pic of the car as it appeared at that first meeting

[Wal Will]

Barry Keen at the helm whilst other peer. Petty sure that is George on the far side wearing the cap.

[bob homewood]

[quote="Wal Will"]David, in George's book (The Engine Roars) he talks of the car going to the North Island to be cut up, and its components used to make a saloon car.

When I was involved in the early seventies with trying to get OSCA going up North here ,I am sure that in one of the monthly newsletters it said Dick Cook in Wellington had brought it and he was going to use it as the basis for a OSCA car ,Victor or Viva rings a bell ??
Wally I know somewhere I am sure I have some photos of it in Digby Taylors time ,if I do have I will make sure you get them

[Paul Wilkinson]

Without getting into a debate on the accuracy of 'Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand' Graham Vercoe laments the McBegg having being sacrificed to make an OSCA car. From memory Viva sounds right....

[Jac Mac]

[color="#0000CD"]Bryan Taylor in the grey overalls.[/color]

[Michael Clark]

I can see, in my mind's eye, Digby Taylor chasing the GEMCO and Elfin at Bay Park in a dark colour. I would have said a royal blue if pressed.

[Kwaussie]

[color="#0000CD"]Bryan Taylor in the grey overalls.[/color]

Bryan Nicoll with the hat next to B Taylor

[Wal Will]

First of these 3 is of Barry driving the car for the first time at Georges test track (the roads of Drummond).

The second shows the car back at drummond after the accident at Pukekohe - the M6 rear wheels clearly evident, as are the Mk2 exhaust pipes with the major change being the last pipe on each bank doing a tuck under and coming to the collector on the inside. I assume by the heat shielding on the early photo at Teretonga that there was a fairly serious heat issue with the tires while using the Mk1 pipes.

The third photo shows Geoff on the grid at Pukekohe before his 'coming together' with Denis Marwood.

[minihaha]

I do know that Dick Cook Is still in Wellington and loves his cars. His son Aaron has done well in NZ rallying over recent years. He would be worth looking up for info. He still runs a garage in Martin Square in the CBD.

Dick Cook Motors Ltd
Business Listing
63 Martin Square Te Aro City, Wellington
Tel (04) 3854770

Hope this helps.

[Wal Will]

This photo is a coming together of the elements.
The photo was taken by George Begg at Goodwood whilst the testing of the M8 prototype was under way.
Starting from the left we have Denny, Gary Knutson (our engine man), Teddy Mayer, Phil Kerr, myself,and Bruce.
It can be seen how the body was cut including the slice off the door that cut Denny's name. Also you can see that 'slab sides' have been pop rivited onto the M6 tub in order to test the effect of having a larger flat under floor area. Bruce also thought that these sides would help if/when the car started to get sideways attitude by preventing air being forced under the tub.
George did this to the Mc Begg and the 'works' cars were all built with this profile, but the production chassis made by Elva/Trojan never changed from the M6 rounded sides.
This of course is the body that George later bought.

[Wal Will]

Teething problems during practice meant that Barry had to start from the back of the grid, and it is testament to his abilities that he carved his way through the field and into the lead before there was a problem with the cam chain. This was in an untried car that he had only done a few laps in before the race.

[woody]

Great photo Wal Will, has to be Teretonga.

[bob homewood]

Yes and a narrow strip between the track and the disaster of contact with the green Ford ,was it really that important that the guy had to be that close to his lunch box ,surely he could have walked a bit further to it

[Wal Will]

I just love these early Teretonga photo's.
The first is Barry during the few laps of practice he got. It looks like the spring rates where a bit out, George might have put the fronts on the rear. Nobody seperated by only a few straw bales seems the slightest bit interested.

The second is once again back with our Consul. The fact that Barry is now in the lead only distracts from the spectator seating arrangements.