Early NZ Rallies

[Carlo]

I just had this program dropped on us, an interesting list of names in amongst the entries and the briefing on how an event is conducted is still true today

[Carlo]

and the final pages

[Howard Wood]

Carl,

That entry list contains a remarkable number of University Motor Club(UMC) members from Canterbury Uni, myself included.

[Carlo]

Howard
Sure is a number from Engineering or Lincoln amongst them and i am pleased to say that I remain friends with a number to this day.

I was working in Greymouth at the time and the Westland Car Club and UMC used to get along together very well at after matches following interclub activity, probably because we were the only two groups that knew where the keg was hiding.

I cannot recall anyone from the UMC group that has not gone on to be successful in whatever activity they pursued. There are some real movers and shakers in that group.

[Oldfart]

I just spoke with Paul Adams to ask about the Alpine entry (as you would being an Alpine A110 owner). He told me he has no idea where the Auto World Alpine comes from! His thought was that he drove a BMW owned by Doc Langley!
Does anyone know anything about the Goodmanson Husky? I had sold my very quick Husky not over long before this and lost track of it.

[Carlo]

Paul drove a BMW Alpine with sponsorship from Auto World

[Oldfart]

Paul drove a BMW Alpine with sponsorship from Auto World

In his own words "there was probably only one Alpina in NZ. Alpina (note not Alpine) was tuning company from whom you could buy bits, several of the cars I drove had Alpina bits, but Roger Andersons was the only one I knew about that built a car for him in Germany".
To re-iterate, he could not remember any connection with Auto World. Not saying it's wrong, just what he told me.

[conrod]

quite possibly this car, a 2002 Alpina now owned by Grant Clegg, and seen racing earlier this year at the HD BMW Festival:

[Carlo]

This might be a question for the old Chch guys, was there an accessory shop called Auto World in Chch and did they sell Alpine sound systems?

Obviously the organiser had found some form of support for most NI entries as can be shown by the description of their cars with a sponsors name worked into it. This was ground breaking terretory as sponsorship wasn't like today and you had find a way to work their name into what you were doing.

UMC, which provided much of the organisatiopn of the event was not as conservative as the other Canterbury car clubs and pushed the envelope quite a bit further than some thought was appropriate. Fortunately they had some allies amongst RATEC and the Canterbury Car Club who rather enjoyed their antics around the car trial scene and they were on the organising committee too

[Milan Fistonic]

This is the result as published in Motorman.

1. Mike Marshall/Arthur McWatt - Escort RS - 165.99

2. Jim Richards/ Richard Halls - Escort RS - 166.83

3. Paul Adams/Sue Wolf - BMW Alpina - 174.76

4. Leo Leonard/N. Cruikshank - Datsun 1200 SSS

5. Neil Johns/Rowan McLean - Mazda Savahna GT

6. Blair Robson/Doug Benefield - Escort RS

7. George Kuttle/T. Fitzpatrick - Escort RS

[seaqnmac27]

Dads pic of Paul Adams from the 73 Heatway

[HD TR]

Seaqnmac27, would appreciate as high a res copy of the photo, as you might have? I will PM you.

That car is one of two BMW's that Paul Adams used in the Heatway/Silver Ferns, and has been in our possession for about 10 years, having purchased it from Warren Good from Dunedin. The other car, as I understand it, Paul now owns again.

Another BMW fanatic in the far north is doing a painstaking restoration of Rodger's car.

Ours (just cos I don't drive it much, Conrad, it's still ours, not his....) has at various times been in its original BNZ Livery, but as it has been used for Targa's, other tarmac rallying, Classic racing and the BMW Open Class, most of it has been removed more recently.

We received a big stack of memorabilia along with the car, so I will see if that program is amongst it.

The Alpina is just about to start being pulled apart for a major (long overdue) tidy-up. It will be nice to have her in one shade of red again, and we may put her back into the BNZ Livery for the Denny Hulme Festival.

[Oldfart]

Pauls' closed eys and body language looks like he is having a bit of an "Oh golly gosh" moment, given his inclination to be non blasphemous!

[stubuchanan]

Pauls' closed eys and body language looks like he is having a bit of an "Oh golly gosh" moment, given his inclination to be non blasphemous!

Was he always such an upright citizen? I seem to recall a story of him putting his Wolseley 4/44 a considerable distance into the mangroves off the Harbour Bridge Motorway near Tank Farm about the mid-1960's. Takapuna locals regarded him as a bit of a cowboy, I think. Or maybe it was just another Urban Legend.

Stu

[Kwaussie]

There were two guys in there at that time we were chasing for much money on their 'developments'
One paid, the other claimed hardship which maybe was directed to his partners wife!
Great times in Christchurch!

[tonttu]

Ah the Shell Triple Hundred, the first and only time I have marshalled on a rally. It was so cold and wet that day that Brent decided he'd enter and drive from then on (which he is still doing today) and so our first event was the 1974 Hire Services Canta Rally the year later. However the Triple Hundred. Our trials team made up a finish control crew for several stages. Unfortunately something went wrong with the cable between the finishing beam and the clock at the stage finish control. I got the short straw and so stood at the finish line in the wind and rain and advise the finish tent by field telephone (!!) when a car was coming and then when it crossed the finish line I shouted "now' or something to that effect. The minute had already been written down on the time sheet and as the clock watcher heard me in his head phone shouting "now" he called out the seconds to the recorder. Worked a treat!! I've got some photos of the event which I'll scan and post. One of the great things in those days was the variation in cars as you can see from the entry list.

The Hire Services Canta Rally was an interesting event, starting about midnight Saturday with a blat around Ruapuna before heading into "proper" stages finishing with a stage around the stockcar track at Belfast. Apart from starting at an odd time this event banned service crews so all spares if you wanted any, were carried in the rally car (yea right!). I seem to recall being "amazed" at the amount of wheels, exhausts and other automotive bits that were just happened to be lying on the side of the road in odd places just waiting to be used and the thoughtful public who would pick it all up after the cars had gone past but then dump in some other gateway. And yes I managed to stuff up counting the laps at the stock car track which dropped us out of a class podium.

[Carlo]

Was he always such an upright citizen? .

Stu

He is a changed man

[shellsport]

Would T Kirby , Imp be Trevor of CH CH ?

[Rod Grimwood]

Found a old (very) scrapbook at mummy's. It has alot of cuttings etc from way back.
A couple of early rally photos. How good is your memory.
Well known South Island gentleman having close look at Moonshine Valley scenery (Nth Island)
Other Escort is first Heatway for soon to be NZ rally champion (few times). Little 1600 pushrod.
And another of the quite boy's from North Shore

[Carlo]

Looks like Graeme Robertson aka Robbo climbing down the bank in the top photo