MotorSport Legend Issue 9

MotorSport Legends T H E M A G A Z I N E T H AT B R I N G S Y O U R M O T O R S P O R T M E M O R I E S B A C K T O L I F E www.motorsportlegends.com.au

AUD $6.95 NZ $8.50

We profile Kiwi great Denny Hulme’s feats in F1 and tin-tops

Lowndes’ secret crash that nearly cost a dream

THE FOX

Celebrating 40 years of Formula Ford in Australia Quarterly magazine ISSN 1835-5544

The story of Harry Firth, the man behind the success of the Holden Dealer Team Feb/Apr 2010 $6.95 Volume #3 Issue #9

T H E M A G A Z I N E T H AT B R I N G S Y O U R M O T O R S P O R T M E M O R I E S B A C K T O L I F E

Contents Editorial When does an original race car become a replica?

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News Who did what on the historic and nostalgia motorsport scene.

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Bruce McPhee tribute Respected journalist Brian Reed pays homage to one of Australian motorsport’s pioneers.

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Harry Firth profile 10-15 The story of the man behind the success that became the legend of the Holden Dealer Team.

The Denny Hulme story 16-21 We remember a Kiwi racing great.

Historic Racer 23-30 Welcome to the third edition of our historic racing section, which includes coverage of the Sandown Historics and the Goodwood Revival.

Morgan Factory 32-33 We visit one of the UK’s great car manufacturers as it prepares for its centenary celebrations.

The crazy Kid 36-41 Craig Lowndes on that overtaking move at Bathurst in 1994 and on winning his maiden 1000 in 1996.

Tassie delights 44-46 We take a trip down memory lane at the home of the Apple Isle’s motorsport history.

Bowe to a Legend Remembering a favourite – the Elfin MR9 Formula 5000.

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Contributors in this issue Glenis Lindley Enthusiasts from around the country will already be familiar with Glenis’ photography, but we uncover her hidden talent as a writer and she has plenty of great stories to tell, including her first Legends’ instalment on Harry Firth.

Grant Nicholas As a regular writer for NZbased motoring magazines, Grant has a special place in his heart for Kiwis and one of his favourites was 1967 Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme. Find out why in his insightful profile on The Bear.

Briar Gunther Our staff journalist reveals some secrets from the lead-up to Craig Lowndes’ maiden Bathurst win. The Kid, as he was nicknamed, wasn’t keen to talk back then, but was happy to finally spill the beans to Legends readers in this issue.

T H E M A G A Z I N E T H AT B R I N G S Y O U R M O T O R S P O R T M E M O R I E S B A C K T O L I F E

Managing Editor Allan Edwards Pole Position Productions Address: PO Box 225 Keilor, Victoria, 3036 Phone: (03) 9331 2608 Fax: (03) 8080 6473 Email: admin@motorsportlegends.com.au Website: www.motorsportlegends.com.au Staff Journalist Briar Gunther Artist/Design House Natalie Delarey Raamen Pty Ltd (03) 9873 8282 Contributors John Bowe, Glenis Lindley, Grant Nicholas, Brian Reed, Chris Soulidis, Barry Oliver and Mick Webb.

Photographers Autopics.com.au, Terry Marshall, Darren House and John Doig.

Advertising Manager Jennifer Gamble Phone: 0431 451470 Email: advertising@ motorsportlegends.com.au Material in Motorsport Legends is protected by copyright laws and may not be reporoduced in any format.

Motorsport Legends will consider unsolicited articles and pictures; however, no responsibility will be taken for their return. While all efforts are taken to verify information in Motorsport Legends is factual, no responsibility will be taken for any material which is later found to be false or misleading.

The opinions of the contributors are not always those of the publishers.

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CLASSIC

Lines Welcome to issue nine of Motorsport Legends magazine.

Motorsport Legends includes motor racing nostalgia and historic motorsport events.

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he 2010 Phillip Island Festival of Motorsport is just around the corner, with the action kicking off on the weekend of March 19-21, and this year’s event is shaping up as the best yet.

Touring car and openwheeler legend Kevin Bartlett – pictured above with yours truly – has accepted an invitation to be the patron of the event, which is perhaps fitting considering that organisers are expecting the biggest contingent of Formula 5000s ever to compete in one place on Australian soil with cars from New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom invited to take part in the meeting.

For the tin-top fan, full grids of historic touring cars, Group A and Group C, will also compete at the Island.

And if, like me, you love Formula 5000s, then make sure you mark this event in your diary as it’s going to be well worth the admission price.

The history of the cars racing at events like the Festival of Motorsport is always something that fascinates me, but the arguments about just what makes a car an original seems to divide enthusiasts.

Is a car still an original if the engine has been replaced? What if it has been re-skinned? Racing cars are often crashed and rebuilt during their lives, and sometimes crashed chassis are 4

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There will be plenty on offer for tin-top fans at the 2010 Phillip Island Festival of Motorsport.

discarded and later rediscovered and re-birthed, meaning that there are two vehicles with owners claiming they are the same Bathurst-winning car, for example.

It’s certainly a contentious issue amongst historic racing afficionados and it’s a trap for new players who are looking to purchase a piece of Australian motor racing history.

The answer is to make sure that you do your research and when you have done your homework ensure that you are comfortable with what you are buying.

Remember what you are being told by the seller may not be the whole truth.

Always ask if all of the components are original and if the answer is no, make sure you know what is not and if there is any likelihood of another car being touted as having the same history as the car you are buying.

Unfortunately there are also unscrupulous people out there who will tout histories that are simply not true.

It’s imperative to do your homework, and it’s a case of buyer beware!

Then of course there are replicas, and there is nothing wrong with a replica so long as the sellers clearly let any potential buyers know that the car is indeed a ‘copy’ of the original.

As I said earlier, the arguments can rage on forever about what makes a car original and it’s certainly not something that can be solved in a single column.

Just if you are trying to purchase a piece of Australian motor racing history, make it your business to be aware of exactly what you are looking at.

On another matter, a few of you have commented that the promised article on Tim Schenken’s years at Rondel Racing driving a Brabham BT36 went missing from last issue. Those of you in the know will be aware that this car is now in Australia and is owned by enthusiast Andrew Fellowes. We have decided to hold Schenken’s memories from this era until we do a full feature on that car in a future issue.

Until next time drive safely on the race track and on the road.

Cheers, – Allan Edwards, Managing Editor

HISTORIC NEWS

STORY BY BRIAR GUNTHER

A TOURING CAR MASTER as well as we have, I’m very happy,” he said.

“I especially need to thank Tony Black for all the work that he’s done preparing the race car - it’s been absolutely faultless all season.

“I’ve had some great battles all the way through this season; it’s a fantastic bunch of guys that make up the category and I’ve had a great time racing against them all year.”

Trevor Talbot driving a 1972 Holden XU-1 Torana wrapped up his maiden Group 2 Championship win at the Historic Sandown season finale.

Trevor Talbot and Gavin Bullas.

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onsidering Gavin Bullas dominated the Biante Touring Car Masters this year, it was no surprise that he finished

with the Group 1 trophy in his hand.

Bullas, who drove a 1969 Ford Boss Mustang in the series, wrapped up his second consecutive title by

winning the first race and taking the overall round victory at the grand finale held at Historic Sandown.

“We’ve had a really good season this year. To dominate

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HISTORIC NEWS

BOWE MAKES HALL OF FAME

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wo-time Bathurst champ John Bowe was inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame at the 2009 Gala Awards Dinner on December 7.

Bowe, who also won the 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship and holds the record for the most touring car/V8 starts with 225, joins the likes of Peter Brock, Jim Richards, Dick Johnson and Larry Perkins in the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame.

“I have never been a glory seeker, but to be acknowledged like this is

just great,” he said.

“I love motor racing and I love V8 Supercars, they have been my life and I am blessed to be able to still be involved.

“The work (V8 Executive Chairman) Tony Cochrane has done over the years to grow V8 Supercars is nothing short of miraculous, and to have been a part of that has been life defining for me.

“I have been involved with and helped by so many special people during my racing life - every racing driver needs the right tools - I feel very lucky and ML honoured.”

John Bowe holds his trophy, albeit upside down.

STORY BY BRIAR GUNTHER

CLASSIC ADELAIDE MARRED BY DEATHS

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lassic Adelaide winners Kevin Weeks and Bec Crunkhorn have described their third consecutive victory as “difficult” due to the deaths of their friends on the first day of the event.

Gary Tierney and David Carra were killed after their Porsche hit a tree at Forreston in the Adelaide Hills on November 19.

A prayer and minute’s silence was held for them before the start of day two and all cars carried a stripe of black tape on the left headlight as a mark of respect.

Weeks, who drove a 1974 Porsche 911R with Crunkhorn finishing almost 1min40sec ahead of the competition, said they were really pleased to win.

“Bec and I discussed whether we wanted to continue after Thursday but we knew they (Tierney and Carra) would want that,” he said.

“They were really good guys and we’d done a lot of racing them and they were friends. It was very difficult.”

Classic (1948-1971) category winner and Melbourne resident Rob Devenish described his result as the best in 38

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years of competition.

“I’ve won rallies before, but none was as good as this,” said Devenish, who teamed up with Lyn Carr in a 1971 Datsun 240Z to win the category.

“We’ve had 43 degree heat, we’ve had rain and we’ve mastered it,” he said.

John and Andrew Lawson in a 1936 Delage Le Mans took out the Historic (1900-1947) category ahead of John Rowe and Jock Osborne in a 1932 Alvis Speed 20.

The 14th Classic Adelaide takes place next year and organisers are already anticipating a large contingent of Aston ML Martin owners from overseas.

Weeks and Crunkhorn made it a threepeat at this year’s Classic Adelaide.

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STORY BY BRIAN REED PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUTOPICS.COM.AU

VALE: BRUCE ALEXANDER MCPHEE (FEBRUARY 11, 1927 SEPTEMBER 22, 2009) One of the greatest unsung heroes of Mount Panorama.

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f Brock, Johnson and Moffat are household names associated with Mt Panorama, Bathurst, then one of the greatest unsung heroes was surely the late Bruce McPhee.

Few drivers in the history of the Great Race can lay claim to the deeds of the man from Wyong in country New South Wales.

During the 1960s the relentless McPhee learnt his craft at circuits such as Warwick Farm, flinging around his lime green FE Holden at a time when the favoured car was the 48-215 (or FX). He dared to be different, not because the FE was lighter or more powerful, but because it was able to run 13” wheels, and this meant he had better acceleration.

His battles with ace drivers such as Brian Muir are legendary. These outstanding achievements didn’t go unnoticed, and top engine builder Merv Waggott provided a high performance engine that made McPhee even harder to beat.

One outstanding result in the FE was winning the inaugural Sandown Holden Trophy Race with long-time friend and combatant Max Stahl chasing him home in second place.

Many race wins and lap records came his way in short sprint races, but McPhee’s real love was the long distance endurance events.

In 1964 he co-drove a Volvo 122S with Grahame Ward in the Lowood Four-Hour race, finishing fourth outright and third in class. That same year he had Ward alongside in the navigator’s seat contesting

the gruelling Ampol Trial.

Ward described McPhee as “a thinker and a planner who worked things out in advance. A most wonderful person.”

Motoring writer and broadcaster Will Hagon said “McPhee was a clever thinker who knew more about tyre technology than most back in the ‘60s.”

It was the wily one from Wyong who amazed everyone by buffing his Michelin X tyres before a long-distance race at a time when the most tread possible was thought to be the go.

In this respect he preempted the introduction of slicks into racing. “Not only did he have talent, but he was a lateral thinker as well,” said Hagon.

Stahl presented a moving In a 350 GTS Monaro at Bathurst, April 1971.

eulogy at McPhee’s funeral and reminded the congregation of Bruce’s theory that buffed tyres put more rubber on the track and lasted longer.

No better was this illustrated than in 1968 when he raced his Holden Monaro at Sandown, drove the car home to Wyong, then raced and won the Bathurst classic a few weeks later – admittedly with wires sticking out dangerously from the tortured tyres over the final laps!

Of all his racing successes, his most outstanding achievements were at the Bathurst endurance races where there seemed to be a reserved spot for him on the podium – third in 1963, second in 1965, third in 1966, second in 1969, and

second in 1970. But greatest of all was his amazing win in the 1968 classic where, once again, lateral thinking came into play. The regulations said two drivers had to be employed in the race, but they didn’t specify how long each driver was to be behind the wheel. McPhee was quick to exploit this shortcoming and drove all but one lap of the 5OOmiler – just enough time for him to make a quick toilet break – before taking over from his co-driver/mechanic Barry Mulholland. Not only did his lucky No. 13 Monaro GTS 327 win but he also scored pole position – a first for Holden.

Bruce McPhee left school when he was 12, and learned by doing. Not only was he receptive to learning, but he questioned things and sought better ways of achieving results, both on and off the tracks.

He became a successful dealer in war surplus goods from engines and parts to tanks and personnel carriers.

Many of his creations were used successfully in oil ML exploration ventures.

McPhee and Mulholland won Bathurst in 1968.

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Firth cutting a ‘special’ tyre tread at Bathurst 1977.

Firth quit school to work in the auto industry.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY GLENIS LINDLEY

HAPPY AS HARRY

For those of you old enough (or are still able) to remember, the name Harry Firth undoubtedly conjures up all sorts of mixed memories and thoughts. Motorsport Legends magazine’s Glenis Lindley recently caught up with The Fox to talk about his achievements.

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ost motor racing fans associate the name Firth with the late, great legend, Peter Brock, and the Marlboro Holden Dealer Team, while the more dedicated enthusiast will also associate Firth with Ford, some Armstrong 500, Gallagher 500 and Bathurst victories in his own right, his renowned rally achievements, plus later Historic Racing escapades in his beloved MGTC. As an astute almost 92-year-old, Harry (or just plain ‘H’ to some of his friends, and ‘The Fox’ to others) has been around long enough to have seen, or experienced, just about everything there is when it comes to motor racing, particularly at Mount Panorama.

It was said on many occasions that next to Sir Jack Brabham, Firth in those days was the best-known motor racing identity in Australia.

‘Harry’, born Henry Leslie Firth, at Orbost (near the Snowy River) engaged in the normal “mischievous boyhood activities” before quitting school early to work in local garages servicing cars, helping to support his family. His preferred teenage transport was an assortment of motorcycles, which became progressively faster as the budding young mechanic learned how to ‘tweak’ them up. Then came the WWII disruption, where he worked as a fitter in vehicle repairs, and as dispatch rider for AIF Dispatch Rider Section 1st Australian Corp Signals in the Middle East, then New Guinea. There he engaged in “mischievous wartime activities”

while dodging enemy bullets and unco-operative officers.

“It was here that I learned to improvise, to survive,” stated Firth.

“I also learned to beg, borrow or steal: to stay one step ahead, while mastering all the devious tricks of the trade.”

Some years later he carried these lessons into his world of motor racing and to Firth Motors, which he established with his younger brother Norm in 1962, as a base for the Ford works team, then eventual home of the Holden Dealer Team.

I won’t steal Harry’s thunder by divulging any more of his early life history and secrets, as all is revealed in his book Early Days and Wartime - now ready to hit the shelves. I’ve been privileged to have several sneak peaks at rough draughts over the past 10 years or so, and they make for fascinating reading.

After the war, this former self-taught bush mechanic, with no official qualifications, had matured into a more cunning, calculating, wiser, and massively talented individual. His philosophy was based along the lines of “always go by your instincts and have the courage of your convictions” which undoubtedly helped take him to the top of his chosen career - working within the motor racing industry.

When it came time for this restless, ambitious country-boy to shift to the big smoke, he loaded his beloved MG and trailer full of tools and motorcycles and headed to a totally new lifestyle in Melbourne.

“I decided that motorcycle racing was highly dangerous, ❯ so chose the safer option - cars,” declared Harry. At first MotorSportLegends

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Firth (far left) on the grid with the Marlboro HDT girls at Bathurst in 1976.

Firth in a Lane Special with his P Type in the background.

he worked from home in Glen Iris, preparing and repairing competitor and customer cars while he also pursued his own career on the race track, in rallies and at hillclimbs. Having raced everything from MGs to Minis to Mercedes-Benz, it would be fair to say that he became a brilliant and versatile engineer, as well as an extremely accomplished driver.

After some ‘disagreements’ with the council and irate neighbours who objected to the noise of revving motors at all hours of the night, the inevitable decision was made to buy his own garage and workshop away from residential areas.

Some years later came an upgrade to bigger premises, namely Firth Motors at 35 Queens Avenue, Auburn.

While the business side of Firth’s life was being successfully established, so too was his interest in fine-tuning his acquired skills in race car development. His motor racing career began in 1945, ironically, the same year that his protégé, Peter Brock, was born. Along the way he teamed up with some famous names of that era ranging from the likes of 1948 AGP winner Frank Pratt and Tony Gaze to Bob Jane and Allan Moffat (with dozens in between and after).

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Firth won the inaugural Southern Cross Rally with Graham Hoinville in 1966.

Firth’s early successes included wins in hillclimbs, the Ampol Around Australia Trial, Australian Rally Championship and Southern Cross Rally, plus five Alpine Rally victories.

“I used to ride my motorbikes flat out on those alpine roads, so driving on them was easy,” explained Harry with a sly grin.

As a master of ingenuity and innovation, not surprisingly, Firth began to stamp his mark on the racing scene and before long he’d attracted the attention of some of the Ford hierarchy.

“There really wasn’t much I couldn’t do with cars,” explained H with a degree of modesty, “but I always wanted to do it my way.”

Never afraid to speak his mind, he was also known to express those sentiments on occasions in more forceful terms, namely: “Trust no bastard, do it all yourself!”

In 1961 Firth officially began as Ford Competition Manager where he built special prototype Falcons, designing and modifying others to race-winning specifications. Then he turned his attention to the humble Cortina.

Having won at Phillip Island in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE

HARRY FIRTH

In deep discussion with Colin Bond.

Not such smooth sailing at Bathurst in 1976.

“There really wasn’t much I couldn’t do with cars but I always wanted to do it my way” At Amaroo Park in 1979.

with Bob Jane in 1961, they teamed together for another victory in a Falcon XL in 1962 before switching to the giant-killing Cortina GT the following year for a hat-trick of triumphs, this time at Bathurst. Firth was joined by Fred Gibson in 1967 in an XR Falcon GT for his fourth win, while 1968 was the start of a different era - the LondonSydney Marathon. Somewhat unfortunately, the three Firth-prepared works XT Falcons entered by Ford Motor Co. (Australia) didn’t win the 10,000-mile course, but they all finished (3rd, 6th and 8th) - clinching the team prize.

Firth (with navigator Graham Hoinville) also won the inaugural Australian Rally Championship in 1968 in a Lotus Cortina, as a follow on to their 1966 International Southern Cross Rally victory in the Cortina GT 500 MkII. Then came Ford’s bombshell. Ford decided to send an American, Al Turner, to oversee the Australian operation, as suggestions were made that Firth was “approaching his use-by date”. That of course didn’t please Harry at all so he promptly defected to Holden and the legendary Holden Dealer Team was formed.

That deal was sealed only by a handshake with sales director, John Bagshaw, affectionately known as ‘Bags’, and Firth set about demoralising the Ford camp by performing his magic on the new Monaro GTS 350.

“I intended to make them eat their words,” stated a determined Firth.

The Fox recruited young gun, rally ace Colin Bond, with Peter Brock also targeted. “Peter was slightly uncouth - a bit of a larrikin and headstrong. He had a beard, long black hair, plenty of charm but he could drive.

“He hasn’t got my way of thinking at the moment, but I can work on him,” was Harry’s impression at the time.

When Brock was offered the job, at first he thought it was a joke. Only when he went to Firth Motors and watched his name being painted on the car did the reality sink in.

“I couldn’t believe it was true. I had to be sure,” exclaimed the elated, promising new team member.

In HDT’s first outing at Bathurst in 1969, young Bond and Tony Roberts claimed victory – Brock’s Monaro finished ❯ third. So Harry was happy.

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HARRY FIRTH

Even as an older gent, Firth is still a favourite with the ladies.

“I never cheated. All I ever did was use their rules to the utmost advantage”

Getting grilled at Bathurst, 1977.

With Charlie O’Brien at Bathurst, 1976.

Chatting with V8 Supercar driver Paul Dumbrell.

Firth groomed Brock to become the lead driver, having recognised his future potential, and eventually they reached their goals with Brock’s long list of victories remaining part of motor racing history. While there may have been stubborn clashes between these two headstrong personalities, with Brock temporarily leaving HDT, the pair remained firm friends and Peter attended his mentor’s 80th birthday celebrations.

Some of Harry’s amazing string of achievements can be attributed to his determination to beat the establishment, his interpretation and manipulation of the rules, his sheer craftiness, innovative ideas and belief in doing things differently.

“I never cheated,” insisted H. “All I ever did was use their rules to the utmost advantage.”

It was around the latter part of his stint at Marlboro HDT that I began as team photographer, a position I cherished and was so privileged to hold. I learned this much about Harry, that once he accepted you as a friend, loyalty played a big part, but he expected the same in return.

I also observed that as team manager, he suffered fools (and some journalists) lightly, and it wasn’t unusual to see them 14

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being forcibly evicted from his garage or pits. But that was Harry!

After Monaros came the David and Goliath HDT Torana era (or Harry’s Dirty Toranas) also known as toy cars, with Firth’s resourceful technology coming to the fore once again, and Brock, in a Torana GTR XU-1 in 1972, notching up the first of his nine Bathurst wins. Firth, a stickler for individuality, also played a big part in the development of the L34 and A9X. Having been allowed to drive Harry’s personal black ‘prototype’ A9X around Bathurst, I knew his pride and joy was a real ‘goer’.

During Harry’s HDT reign, his stand-out drivers were Brock and Bond, with the likes of Charlie O’Brien, former speedway star John Harvey, Ron Harrop and Wayne Negus joining towards the end of Firth’s era which ended after 1977.

“I was getting too crotchety and cranky with certain aspects of company policy (at General Motors Holden),” explained Firth, who then became CAMS National Chief Scrutineer for three years (1979-1981) instilling fear into some teams for obvious reasons.

After his outstanding career, in his ‘retirement’ years, he turned to historic racing with MGTCs, again earning more

Talking tyres at Bathurst in 1976.

Chatting with Allan Moffat’s then wife, Pauline, at Bathurst 1976

accolades in this field. Naturally, his involvement with top level motor racing didn’t cease immediately, and the man with such an amazing memory, was still involved (behind the scenes) with some teams offering advice, his opinion, and some of his endless knowledge.

Behind his sometimes gruff exterior, there’s another side to this remarkable person that only his close friends were invited to share. Being passionate about fishing, he also learned to cook fish to perfection, which he shared with the privileged few.

His ability as a chef (and yes he’s produced his own cookbook) was in part, thanks to a close mate who also raced historic cars, the late Lou Molina, who once owned the Anchor and Hope Hotel in Richmond. Molina also hosted the ‘in’ crowd (car enthusiasts only) for unbelievably good Monday lunches.

Another associate in this remarkable era was Melbourne playboy, ‘Captain’ Peter Janson, best known for racing his Cadbury Schweppes Commodore, helping arrange sponsorship deals, and providing team hospitality at circuits using his London double decker bus. Janson, one of the true characters of motorsport, lived in a penthouse in the Windsor

A taste of the old days with a ride in a Falcon during a display lap at Bathurst, 2007.

Hotel, and listed his occupation as ‘gentleman’.

Bob Jane had some kind words for Harry as a boss. “He was very good. I enjoyed racing with him as he taught me a lot and helped me,” Jane said. Other lasting friendships were formed with Fred Gibson and Ford legend, ‘rival’ Allan Moffat.

With Firth’s life now restricted by arthritis, his days are happily spent producing memorabilia, dabbling in investment property, collecting antiques, appreciating jazz and guest speaking at sporting organisations (eg. Torana and MG Clubs).

In his words: “Life is never dull unless you make it that way.”

He’s also immensely proud of his numerous awards which include an OAM (Order of Australia Medal), Australian Sports Medal, CAMS Membership of Honour, plus he’s been inducted into the Walk of Fame and V8 Supercars Hall of Fame. In short, he’s a true-blue, greatly-respected, sporting legend.

Firth has written and published several other books covering subjects including Ford Cortinas and Toranas and there’s also a DVD covering his life story. ML

STORY BY GRANT NICHOLAS PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUTOPICS.COM.AU AND TERRY MARSHALL

A TRULY UNIQUE W The death of New Zealand motor sporting legend Denny Hulme at Bathurst 18 years ago came as a shock to many on both sides of the Tasman.

Road racing fans around the world were stunned when he became the first Formula One World Champion to die of natural causes.

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enny Hulme started the 1992 Tooheys 1000 at the wheel of a Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution that he shared with Paul Morris and after radioing his crew that he was suffering blurred vision his M3 struck a safety wall alongside Mount Panorama’s famous Conrod Straight – he had died of a massive heart attack.

Fifty-six years earlier Hulme was

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born in Nelson, in the top northwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand, and was named Denis Clive Hulme after his father Clive who was awarded the highest medal of military gallantry, the Victoria Cross Medal for his heroism during World War ll.

After leaving school Hulme worked at the family’s trucking business and took part in a number of hill climbs in his MG TF sportscar before graduating to a sleeker MGA model. Several seasons later he won the sponsored Driver to

Europe Award in a two-litre Cooper open-wheeler before he ventured to Britain to create a motor racing career in a similar fashion to fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren who had won the same scholarship two years earlier. The more established English racers were amused when Hulme told of racing back home with bare feet as he could feel the pedals better.

Little did they know that Hulme would go on to win the 1967 Formula One World Championship

Hulme in a Repco Brabham at Sandown in 1967.

WORLD CHAMPION with Australian Formula One teamowner and 1966 F1 champion Jack Brabham in a Repco Brabham BT24 before becoming a works McLaren Formula One driver. In addition, he was crowned the 1968 and 1970 Can-Am Challenge Cup champion for unrestricted engine sportscars in McLaren.

FORMULA JUNIOR, FORMULA TWO AND FORMULA ONE

In the early sixties he worked as a mechanic at Jack Brabham Motors whilst campaigning a Cooper Formula Junior openwheeler plus gaining occasional drives in either touring cars or sports cars. In 1964 he became a works driver with Brabham Racing

Developments’ Formula Two team alongside Brabham, scoring victories in France and Belgium over future F1 Champions Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt. Such was his versatility, he provided Honda with their first international car victory, taking a Brabham entered Honda S600 road sportscar to a class win at the ’64 Nurburgring 500, finishing 13th overall behind a swag of European factory machines.

The next season he drove a Honda powered Brabham Formula Two before being drafted into the Formula One ranks at the Monaco Grand Prix in a Brabham Climax after a number of non-championships drives. He scored his first F1 championship points at

Clermont-Ferrand circuit in France before graduating to number two driver to Brabham for the 1966 season after US driver Dan Gurney followed Brabham’s example and started his own Anglo American Racing team.

F1 graduated from 1.5-litre engines to three-litre powerplants that season and Brabham was well prepared with a Repco developed alloy Buick V8 unit that allowed him to snare four Grand Prix victories plus his third World Championship crown. Hulme finished fourth in the series point’s tally behind multiple World Grand Prix Motorcycle champion and ‘64 F1 champion John Surtees and Rindt.

The year 1967 saw Hulme snare his first Formula One win at the world ❯ MotorSportLegends

17

DENNY HULME

At the hairpin at Ruapuna in early 1978 in the Yardley McLaren M23.

At Wigram in 1968.

Brabham Cosworth FVA 1600 at the Tasman Series, Warwick Farm, 1968.

Hulme and Peter Fitzgerald were class winners at Bathurst in 1991 driving a BMW M3. They were fourth outright at the Great Race.

famous Monaco Grand Prix then again mid-season at the demanding Nurburgring circuit along with a string of second and third placings against the quicker but less reliable Lotus 49 Ford-Cosworth cars of ’63 and ’65 F1 champion Jim Clark plus ’62 and ’68 F1 titleholder Graham Hill. Hulme clinched the world title a mere three points clear of his team boss Brabham, Clark, Surtees and fellow New Zealander Chris Amon. In addition, he was rookie of the year at the Indianapolis 500 after finishing a fine fourth in a thrilling race won by A J Foyt.

During the off-season the newly crowned World Champion returned back to his native country and was awarded New Zealand Sportsman of the Year plus he raced an ex-Rindt Formula Two Brabham Cosworth 1.6-litre FVA in the annual Tasman 18

MotorSportLegends

Series for up to 2.5-litre open wheelers throughout New Zealand and Australia.

Despite being in an underpowered car he thoroughly enjoyed his trip DownUnder as recently-crowned World Champion finishing eighth overall in the eight round series behind the more powerful V8 or V12 machines of Clark, Amon, Englishman Piers Courage, Frank Gardner, Hill, McLaren and Mexican F1 star Pedro Rodriguez despite not contesting the final round at Longford in Tasmania. He flew back to England and prepared for the forthcoming Formula One season as teammate to fellow Kiwi McLaren.

Hulme quickly adapted to his new team and won the Italian and Canadian championship races that year to finish third in the series with McLaren fifth overall.

Over the next six years with the prestigious McLaren team Hulme was

teammate to McLaren, Peter Revson, ’72 and ’74 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, ’79 World Champion Jody Scheckter, Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman. In ’74 Hulme was one of the first at Revson’s crash, the suspension component on his Shadow Ford broke whilst testing at Kyalami in South Africa. His US friend and former teammate of the previous two years died, and the Kiwi announced he would hang up his helmet at the end of the season.

During a decade of Formula One racing he contested 112 Grands Prix, winning eight and scored one pole position at Kyalami and eight lap records plus the World Championship crown in ’67. He took on the role of heading up the Grand Prix Driver’s Association for a period before retiring to the North Island of New Zealand.

Hulme deep in concentration before a race.

LE MANS AND CAN AM SPORTS CARS

During ‘66 Hulme came close to winning the famous Le Mans 24-Hour Race sharing a seven-litre V8-powered Ford GT-40 MK11 with the company’s US development driver Ken Miles.

At the final pit stop, three GT-40s were leading the prestigious sportscar race, with Hulme and Miles leading and Kiwi racers McLaren and Amon in a sister car also on the same lap.

Twelve laps down in third spot were US Honda Formula One driver Ronnie Bucknum and US NASCAR driver Dick Hutcherson. Ford’s marketing folk decided to stage a dead-heat style finish for the photographers as their three cars approached the finish line together, but McLaren was fractionally behind Miles and it was expected that he and Hulme would be the declared race victors. The ACO, the race’s organisers, declared that the McLaren/

Amon car was the race winner as it had covered more distance during the 24-hour event because it started about eight to nine metres behind the Hulme/Miles machine. Hulme rued Ford’s decision for a photo finish as it cost him and Miles the race win plus Miles missed scoring the triplecrown after winning the Daytona and Sebring races in GT-40s earlier in the year. Amon, on the other hand was delighted after he received an audience with Enzo Ferrari that led to the young Kiwi driving for Scuderia Ferrari for the ensuing three years. Later that year the inaugural Can-Am Challenge Cup was conducted for cars running under FIA Group 7 regulations, basically unrestricted engine power with supercharging and turbocharging permitted, with two races in Canada and four in the United States. Surtees took the series honours in his Lola T70

Mk2 ahead of US hero Mark Donohue and McLaren in his own McLaren Mk1B – Amon was sixth overall in a sister Mk1B. The next season saw the start of a four-year domination

by McLaren and Hulme ‘The Bruce and Denny Show’. McLaren won two series in ‘67 and ’69 while Hulme took the honours in ’68 and ’70. Hulme’s series win in ’70 was under most difficult circumstances after his friend and team boss McLaren was killed testing a new M8D Can Am sports car at Goodwood in England. Hulme galvanised the McLaren Formula One and Can Am teams together and went on to finish fourth in the Formula One championship. The next year saw new signing Revson provide McLaren with a fifth straight Can Am title after he and Hulme dominated the series with eight victories in 10 races – Hulme ❯ finished second a mere 10 points MotorSportLegends

19

DENNY HULME

Hulme at Wigram in 1968 with fellow drivers, including Peter Yock, Frank Gardner, Piers Courage, Bruce McLaren and Pedro Rodriguez.

Hulme shared a Ford Sierra at Bathurst with fellow F1 world champ Alan Jones in 1989.

At Bathurst in 1982 driving a BMW 635 CSi.

McLaren Ford M7A, 1968.

behind the popular young driver. The potent turbocharged Porsche 917/10s of George Follmer and Mark Donohue under the guidance of Roger Penske had arrived on the scene and Hulme won two more races in ’74 taking his Can Am race win tally to 22 before Follmer and Donohue were crowned series champions.

TOURING CARS

After nearly a decade in retirement Hulme was persuaded to sign with Tom Walkinshaw Racing and he contested selected rounds of the 1986 European Touring Car Championship at Missano, Brno, Osterreichring, Spa Francorchamps and Silverstone in a TWR Rover Vitesse. He and British driver Jeff Allam won the celebrated Silverstone Tourist Trophy against a field of factory supported BMW, Ford, 20

MotorSportLegends

Holden, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo teams. Early in ’87 Hulme teamed up with multiple Bathurst 1000 winner and team owner Larry Perkins to win the Mobil Nissan 500 at Pukekohe Raceway at the wheel of the Enzed Team Perkins Holden Commodore by downing the TWR Jaguar XJS of Win Percy and Armin Hahne in front of his home crowd. Later in the year they finished second to the factory turbocharged Nissan Skyline of George Fury and Terry Sheil in the Castrol Sandown 500 endurance race. The next month they qualified eighth for the James Hardie Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama only to suffer a DNF after Perkins and Kiwi racer Neville Crichton had a coming together on the third lap.

The ’88 Enzed Sandown 500 saw a magnificent dice between race winners Allan Moffat and Greg Hansford in

a Ford Sierra RS500 over Hulme and Perkins in a Holden Special Vehicles Commodore – they finished four laps clear of Dick Johnson and John Bowe in a similar Ford Sierra. At Mount Panorama Walkinshaw entered a Commodore built at his TWR race shop in England for Jeff Allam and himself while Hulme and Perkins ran their Sandown 500 car. The rear suspension on Walkinshaw’s car broke in the early stages of the race and he took over the Hulme/Perkins Commodore for the final stint – he retired the car with a broken valve train after 137 laps due to over-revving the engine. At the season ending Australian Formula One Grand Prix meeting in Adelaide Perkins and Hulme dominated the support races and staged a memorable one–two finish before Sunday’s capacity crowd. A month later his 21-year-old son Martin

Hulme in his McLaren Cosworth M23 at Wigram Christchurch, 1978.

died whilst diving at a beach near their home. Hulme was devastated as he and his son were more like mates rather than father and son as they laughed and joked while riding motocross bikes or attending race meetings together.

In 1989 Hulme commenced a fouryear association in the Australian endurance events with Benson & Hedges Racing under the guidance of Frank Gardner, both drivers having a close alliance after working and racing as works Brabham drivers in the ‘60s. That year’s Bathurst 1000 saw ’80 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones and him take a Ford Sierra

RS500 to fifth and in ’91 he and Peter Fitzgerald were fourth overall in a BMW M3 Evolution.

THE BEAR

Hulme was a tall man while the majority of the Formula One drivers were shorter in stature, some almost jockey-sized, and when he moved through a doorway everyone took notice. He talked quietly, provided his race engineers or mechanics with excellent mechanical feedback, had a strong mechanical appreciation and was not hard on equipment. He was shy and didn’t enjoy spending a lot of time signing autographs or talking to

the race fans, and at times he detested members of the media, which earned him the nickname of ‘The Bear’. He loved his motor racing and would spend hours assisting young drivers in their endeavours provided they were genuine in their goals, but on the other side of the coin he would turn into a gruff if a journalist would ask a string of pointless questions. He was a true gentle giant who cherished his motor racing and every thing that surrounded it and dearly loved to discuss the mechanical and technological advances being introduced from the aviation and space ML industries into the sport.

MotorSportLegends

21

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HISTORIC RACER

MotorSport Legends T H E M A G A Z I N E T H AT B R I N G S Y O U R M O T O R S P O R T M E M O R I E S B A C K T O L I F E

TURNING 40 IN STYLE Formula Ford anniversary celebrations at Historic Sandown

All the action from the Goodwood Revival

Our man takes on the Aviva at Britain’s Silverstone

STORY BY BRIAN REED PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHERYL REID PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN DOIG/TORQUE PHOTOS

A motor racing buff’s dream as more than 40 Formula Fords took to the track at Sandown.

FORMULA FORD HONOURED The great cars and drivers from the Australian Formula Ford scene celebrated the 40th anniversary of the category at the recent NationalLube Sandown Historics

A

huge field of more than 40 Formula Fords took to the track to celebrate 40 years of the category in Australia at the Sandown Historics on the weekend of November 6-8.

Cars dating back to the early 1970s competed on the Sandown circuit in a display that could only be described as a nostalgia buff’s dream.

Jonathan Miles took pole in his Reynard 82 ahead of the similar car of Tim Berryman with Andrew McInnes in his Lola 642e rounding out the top three.

These three took out the podium places in all three races with Miles winning the first two and McInnes coming home first in the final event.

A celebration dinner took place on the Saturday night of the meeting where many memories were recalled by those involved in the category over the years.

The Formula Ford category has been the starting place for many Australian stars over the years, including current V8 drivers such as Jamie Whincup, Will Davison, Russell Ingall, Garth Tander, Steve Richards, Jason Bright and Craig Lowndes, who are all former Australian 24

HistoricRacer

The final round of the Biante Series was hotly contested.

It was also the 40th anniversary of the Holden Dealer Team and the Ford Falcon GTHO. Formula Ford Champions. Current Australian Formula One pilot Mark Webber was another to race a Formula Ford in his early days as was six-time Bathurst winner Larry Perkins (1971 Formula Ford Champion).

The Sandown meeting also marked the 40th birthday of some of the greatest nameplates in motorsport.

It was the 40th anniversary of the

Peter Strauss in a Brabham BT6.

SANDOWN HISTORICS

Holden Dealer Team, the Ford Falcon GTHO, the Nissan/Datsun ‘Z’ sports car and the Alfa Romeo Owners club, all of which had special displays.

The Australian Touring Car Championship series also celebrated 40 years, with 1969 marking the first year that the title was decided on points from a series of races, rather than a single winner-takes-all contest.

Following endurance victories at Sandown and Bathurst with the new Monaro GTS 327 in 1968, the Holden Dealer Team was officially formed in 1969, with Harry Firth leaving the Ford team to manage the fledgling operation.

Around 10 original HDT race and rally cars – along with other makes that raced against them in their era – were on display at Sandown, with notable cars leading various races on warm-up laps during the two-day meeting.

Firth – now a regular at historic meetings in Melbourne – was there to share in the celebrations as were many other former stars of the marque.

The Datsun 240Z sports car made its public debut at the Tokyo Motor Show on October 18, 1969, commencing an unbroken line of Z sports cars that has recently culminated in the launch of the latest 370Z. The Alfa Romeo Owners Club was formed in Victoria in 1969 and today is one of the largest single marque clubs in Australia with more than 4000 members nationally and divisions in most states and territories.

Displays honouring both marques were amongst hundreds of special vehicles on show on Sandown’s ‘Red Hill’, which was re-opened as a prime spectator viewing area overlooking the spectacular Dandenong Road Corner.

Other milestones celebrated at this year’s Historic Sandown – which was organised by the Victorian Historic Racing Register – included the Mini and Elfin (both celebrating 50 years) while the Morgan sports car was 100 years old in 2009.

This year’s historic Sandown was also

V8 heaven for enthusiasts, with 16 events during the meeting featuring V8-engined sports, racing or touring cars.

The meeting also featured the final round of the 2009 Biante Touring Car Masters (see report elsewhere in this edition of Motorsport Legends).

Three generations of the Brabham family were also at Sandown for a unique speed comparison, with event patron Sir Jack dropping the flag on his Le Mans 24-Hour race-winning son Geoff in a BMW M3, his grandson and rising Formula Ford star Matthew aged 15 and four times Australian champion John Bowe in a racing GT40 replica.

Jim Richards chases Gavin Bullas.

Three generations of the Brabham family were also at Sandown for a unique speed comparison.

Bowe (right) and his hero, Sir Jack Brabham.

Bryan Sala in the Team Anset Elfin MR8 Formula 5000.

Perry Spiridis in his Group Sc De Tomaso Pantera.

Paul Girt (left) chases Ian Pringle in a Group N race.

Trevor Montgomery in his Alfa Romeo during a Regularity Trial.

Andrew McInnes in his Lola 642e.

HistoricRacer

25

STORY BY BRIAN REED PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHERYL REID STORY BY BRIAN REED PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHERYL REID

On the grid for the Madgwick Cup.

THE WINNING FORMULA More than 130,000 made the annual pilgrimage to Goodwood for the Revival meeting.

I

t was just the right recipe – racing from yesteryear’s best of the best, stunning fashions, music and dancing that fitted the bill and spectacular air displays that entertained the 134,000 eager fans who flocked to the Goodwood Revival on September 18-20, 2009.

It was also a time for special celebrations. Sir Stirling Moss, described

by Lord March as “the greatest living Englishman”, celebrated his 80th birthday at the circuit where he scored some of his most memorable victories.

Amongst these was the 1959 Tourist Trophy race to clinch the World Sports Car Championship for Aston Martin.

Goodwood is also where Moss won his first motor race in a Cooper 500 in 1948 at the inaugural race meeting on the former World War II airbase.

He’s still racing 61 years later. Apart from competing in the Lavant Cup, the evergreen Moss was in fine form as he signed endless autographs, blew out birthday candles and attended a series of functions in his honour. There was a cannon salute as a tribute, and the 26

HistoricRacer

The Goodwood Revival draws all types of characters, including Mr Bean (aka Rowan Atkinson).

crowd joined in the singing of Happy Birthday. He also led parades of 80 cars representing those he had raced over the years, heading the field in the 1950s championship winning Aston Martin DBR1. He led another parade in the Mercedes-Benz W196, the car in which he scored his first Grand Prix victory. Ironically, Goodwood was also the circuit where a near fatal accident in 1962 abruptly ended the racing career of Stirling Moss.

2009 also marks 75 years of one of the most famous British racing cars, the ERA. Like good wine, these great cars are getting better with age, and most examples still survive. Not surprisingly, there was a splendid line-up on hand at the Revival.

Even more significant (in terms of numbers) was the 50th anniversary celebrations of the famous Mini, and to honour this landmark the St Mary’s Cup was devoted entirely to the 1293cc

2009 GOODWOOD REVIVAL

Cooper S cars that raced prior to 1966.

The 30-car grid was a who’s who of names – Derek Bell, Sir John Whitmore, Brian Redman, Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, Monte Carlo Rally winner Rauno Aaltonen, John Fitzpatrick, Alex Poole, Le Mans winner Jackie Oliver, and amongst the more recent stars Andy Rouse and John Cleland – truly a starstudded line up.

The two-part race involved the car owners out first for 25 minutes on Saturday followed by 25 minutes by the ‘hot shoes’ on Sunday. Results were decided on aggregate, and finally it was the team of Oliver Gavin and the appropriately named Nick Swift that took the honours.

There was also a wonderful parade

of Minis including several odd-ball ‘specials’, and Rowan Atkinson (alias Mr Bean) driving regally from his armchair on the top of his Mini.

What a sight seeing him weaving his way down the straight hotly pursued by a black police car with lights flashing and batons waving out the window!

Another program highlight involved Pink Floyd drummer and keen car collector Nick Mason who won the Brooklands Trophy ahead of the unlucky pole sitter Patrick Blakeney-Edwards in

Another highlight was Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason winning the Brooklands Trophy.

his Frazer Nash Super Sport. Overheating put paid to the Frazer Nash challenge, allowing Mason through to an emotional win in the Aston Martin Ulster he first raced 35 years ago.

A splendid collection of closed cockpit GT cars lined up for the two-driver RAC Tourist Trophy race over one hour, and honours went to Bobby Rahal and Red Bull F1 chief engineer Adrian Newey driving a lightweight E-type Jaguar.

Another famous Le Mans winner Richard Attwood scored an exciting win in the Richmond Trophy. Early leader was Barrie Williams in the unorthodox 4WD Ferguson P99, but he spun and later retired. Attwood just made it home in the Ferrari 246 Dino ahead of the ❯ Maserati 250F of Frank Stippler.

The Minis do battle in the St Mary’s trophy.

Those magnificent men and their flying machines.

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2009 GOODWOOD REVIVAL

STORY BY BRIAN REED PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHERYL REID

VIVA THE AVIVA! It’s a brave move to organise a motoring event that clashes with something as iconic as the Goodwood Revival, but that’s what happened this year. The Aviva MSA Classic to Silverstone was held on the same Sunday as the Revival (September 20) out of necessity – it was the only day of the year that the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit was available.

It didn’t seem to affect attendances, with record crowds flocking to Goodwood and 860 pre-1988 collectable cars taking part in the Classic. The oldest car was a 1902 Oldsmobile Curved Dash, and another “oldie” described as “extremely rare” was a 1913 Chalmers Torpedo Tourer, the only one of its kind in the UK. The Humber Snipe that starred alongside Dirk Bogart in the epic war film A Bridge Too Far was another attraction as well as an Aston Martin DB2/4, the road car of John Surtees during his world championship motorcycling years.

The annual MSA Classic dates back to 1986 and peaked in 1997 when more than 1700 participants followed 14 routes through France, Ireland, Wales and England. The outbreak of food and mouth disease in 2001 brought the event to a halt, but the original organising team got together in 2007 to get the wheels turning again.

It’s an interesting concept. This year’s non-competitive, late summer run took in some of England’s best driving roads and most beautiful countryside, and started from nine different locations. My mount was a 1972 Hillman Imp owned and prepared by an ex-Formula Ford and F3 driver, David Heale from Oxfordshire.

Navigation was relatively simple following route chart books, and apart from a couple of glitches along the way, our toughest challenge was finding the starting point at Royal Victoria Park in Bath. Other check points for the Bath participants were the Prescott Hillclimb where we did a couple of runs, Baddersley Clinton (a National Trust historic home and gardens), the BMC Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, and on to the finish at Silverstone.

With the Australian flag flying proudly we received our finisher’s medallions and then completed two spirited laps of the famous Grand Prix circuit. Missing Sunday at Goodwood was disappointing, but taking part in the Aviva MSA Classic more than compensated.

Our man Brian ‘Brique’ Reed (left) collected his finisher’s medallion.

28

HistoricRacer

Stirling Moss acknowledges the Goodwood crowd.

The familiar sight of the BRM being pushed.

The Revival was a resounding success, and organisers were over the moon.

Bike action was at its brilliant best, with two 25-minute two-rider races for 350cc to 500cc motorcycles of the 1962-66 era that featured a rather uncomfortable Le Mans style start for the leather-clad riders.

Australia’s dual World Champion Wayne Gardner is still a class act, very focused and very fast.

Thanks to his stint where he built up a 16sec advantage before his co-rider took over, the Matchless G50 just got home to take yet another Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy for the Australian.

Other Aussies taking part in the Revival meeting were Greg Snape, Vern Schuppan, Roger Ealand, and Laurie Bennett in his role of gopher. Greg Snape was driving the Victoria Morris 1954 Kieft Climax, and Roger Ealand contested the Chichester Cup in his 1960 Gemini Ford for front engined Formula Juniors. Laurie Bennett was

on hand to assist John Bladon with his 1965 McLaren Chev. M13, the ‘big banger’ sports car Laurie later drove at Spa. Schuppan shared a drive in Vincent Gaye’s Ferrari 250GT in the RAC Tourist trophy celebration.

The aerial displays seemed even more spectacular this year with not only the WWII Spitfires and Mustangs and the lumbering Lancaster bomber, but the rather sinister looking Vulcan bomber of a later era, the Gloster Gladiator (the last bi- plane fighter used by the RAF), and the low flying Vickers Vimy bi-plane, the first to fly from London to Australia.

The Revival was a resounding success, and organisers were over the moon with the outcome. And speaking of ‘over the moon’, Buzz Aldrin, NASA astronaut dropped in by military helicopter to be one of the judges of the annual Freddie March Spirit of Aviation concours – a tribute to pre-1966 aircraft.

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WEBB OF

Intrigue Webb recalls his first day at the Holden Dealer Team. Straight away he could see things needed to change if the team was to be a serious contender.

I

changed direction in motorsport in 1985 when Allan Moffat had nothing to do. With the end of Group C he lost his Mazda deal and his sponsors and Ford didn’t want anything to do with him any more.

I was happily building race engines at my Heidelberg workshop and John Harvey used to pop in from time to time. He said. “Come on Webby, what about coming down and giving us a hand with running HDT?” As a Collingwood supporter it was like being asked to barrack for Carlton or Essendon.

Slug wined and dined me about it for a little while so I went down and had a meeting with Brock. I had grown up in Greensborough so I knew Brock from the old days and we had always been friends even though we had been on opposing teams.

Brock said to Harvey, “Whatever he wants pay him, we need him”, which was a feather in my cap, so I was employed by Brock to run the whole motor racing program for him.

The first year I just went to the Spa 24-hour race where I ran the second car. When the second car beat the first car Brock probably thought, ‘Hang on, Webby must have done something different’.

They then offered me a fulltime deal to run both the Australian program and the World Touring Car effort.

We need a bit of a clean out of the witchcraft stuff On my first day I wandered in to the HDT workshop in Bertie Street, Port Melbourne and had a look at all the boys in the workshop. Luckily enough I knew 99 per cent of them. It was an easy transition in that respect because they knew I carry a loud voice and a big stick, which was needed because at that stage Brock’s winning streak had come to an end and the team needed to get back on track.

I can remember walking into the race shop and seeing the start of all the crystals. There were crystals hanging in the dyno room and there were magnets on this and that and I have though, ‘Oh God, this has got to finish’.

So I wandered up to the front office to see Eric Dowker. I had met him overseas in Belgium so I knew what he was like and I said, “Right-o Eric, we have a new boss down in the race shop and he said, “Yes, so I believe”. I said, “Yeah, it’s me. We need a bit of a clean out of the witchcraft stuff”. He chuckled away thinking I was joking and Brock nearly fell off his chair.

I said, “No Eric, when I am running the show there is no more witchcraft.

The car’s carrying too much weight with all these bloody magnets and you can’t walk into the engine room without knocking your head on a great lump of crystal”. So I just put my arm around his shoulder and said, “come with me,” and marched him down to the workshop and we started collecting them.

I remember getting Andrew Coucher and the boys grabbing boxes and saying, “get all this crap out of here”.

I must admit Eric and Peter went along with me. What they were doing behind closed doors with the Energy Polarizers was there business, but there were no more crystals in the race team.

Our first race was at the Wellington Street Circuit in New Zealand and we ran one-two, then we went to Pukekohe and we were very successful there too so we started off on a very good foot.

We came home from NZ and we were building a new VL Commodore for the WTCC. We ran Calder and had a reasonable race there and then Holden pulled their funding so I pulled the pin.

They say it was the rise and fall of Peter Brock and it was rise and fall of Mick Webb with Holden Motorsport.

I still have the last bounced paycheck notice from the Commonwealth Bank on my wall here at my workshop, dated 26th March 1986!

– Mick Webb MotorSportLegends

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STORY BRIAN REED PHOTOS BY CHERYL REID

The British flag hangs proudly over the gleaming Morgan cars.

TON-UP FOR MORGAN Motorsport Legends magazine’s historic expert, Brian ‘Brique’ Reed takes a tour of a lifetime around the factory of an old favourite.

W

hen you take part in a tour of the Morgan Motor Co. Ltd at Malvern Link in Worcester you begin to understand why this small volume manufacturer has managed to survive 100 years – and prosper!

A workforce of just 160 enthusiasts (both young and not-so-young) build 700 cars a year for keen buyers around the world. All cars are pre-sold with 70 per cent destined for overseas customers, so there’s no stockpile to haunt management. And speaking of management, Charles Morgan, grandson of the founder is there to maintain the name and keep everything on the straight and narrow (Charles took over from his own father, Peter, who ran the company for 30 years).

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There’s a nice feeling as visitors mingle with the workers – one member of our party was actually watching his car being built.

“Change for change sake” is not part of the Morgan philosophy. In fact, much of the technology being used harks back to bygone days such as sliding pillar suspension. This system, evolved

by H.F.S. Morgan appeared on his first three-wheel car and was still being used across the entire Morgan range in 1975.

Bonnet louvres are handcrafted by a pair of tradesmen, and woodwork sections are still shaped using the same timber presses of the 1950s. Tin snips and files remain important tools of trade to help shape the body panels. Most of the assembly process is still done by hand and it is the responsibility of one man to progress a car from bare to rolling chassis in one-and-a-half days.

After being rolled from here to another

The Morgan sheds in the Malvern Hills.

About 70 per cent of Morgan cars are exported.

Woodwork sections are still shaped using timber presses from the 1950s.

All cars are presold...

A workforce of just 160 enthusiasts (both young and notso-young) build 700 cars a year for keen buyers around the world.

... and buyers can watch their cars being made.

It takes about a month to get a Morgan car from bare chassis to finished product.

shed where the engine is fitted, it’s then on to the paint shop. The “traditional” cars are then dismantled before their final fitting out and re-assembly. The process takes about four weeks per car from bare chassis to finished product.

The building of the new V8Aero Super Sports is a rather more sophisticated process. Like all its predecessors, the Aero’s powerplant is sourced from another manufacturer. Morgan has never built its own engines – perhaps another reason why Morgan has survived its first century.

In this case the engine used is the 4.8-litre BMW V8. Also sourced from outside (this time Australia) is the rear axle assembly from Holden. Motorsport has played a key role in shaping the history of the Morgan Motor Co. from the halcyon days of the three-wheelers bouncing dangerously around the steep bankings of Brooklands at more

than 100mph (160km/h) to the Plus 8 scoring a class win in the 1962 Le Mans 24-hour race. This tradition continues today as evidenced by the stunning victories of the Auto GT Team’s Aero Super Sports in the FIA GT3 events at Silverstone against the might of Audi, Porsche, Aston Martin and others.

The Morgan Motor Co. has defied the doubters and so-called business buffs, who scoff at the way things are still done in the same old sheds tucked away in the Malvern Hills. Perhaps it was best summed up by the company’s Sales and Marketing Director, Matthew Parkin, when he said: “The reason why we are still in business is not because we haven’t changed, but because we have.”

It may depend on how you define change, but one thing that will remain is the passion – as Parkin added: “We’ll be still building cars while ever we breathe,” - such is the enthusiasm that flows from

May the Morgan name live on for another century.

management to workforce.

A party of 24 Australians attended the centenary celebrations recently in the UK. Two Morgan 4/4s belonging to Warwick Bisley and Eric Sly and the two Plus 8s of Phil McWhirter and Phil Blunden also made the pilgrimage and took part in the many activities to acknowledge the landmark. A highlight was the gathering of 3500 Morgans in the carpark at Cheltenham Racecourse – a sight to behold.

May the Morgan name live on for ML another century.

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STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS SOULIDIS

USA resident Jim Stranberg drove this polished-to-perfection 1936 Delahaye T-135.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE! The festival atmosphere of the Lobethal Revival in Adelaide makes for a perfect day out for the motoring enthusiast who appreciates vintage and classic racing cars.

T

he Adelaide Hills came alive yet again to the tune of the classic cars and motorcycles of yesteryear.

The Australian Grand Prix that took place at Lobethal between 1938 and 1948 was celebrated last year with great success therefore an annual pilgrimage is upon us yet again.

The 2009 event celebrated the 70th anniversary of the 1939 Australian

1935 Kleinig Hudson Special.

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Grand Prix that was won by the event patron Allan Tomlinson in his special supercharged MG TA. The featured marques for Lobethal 2009 were MG and Alfa Romeo.

The most frequently raced cars at Lobethal were MGs with many young up and coming drivers first competing in the famous brand.

Alfa Romeo, another distinguished marque, also had an association at Lobethal. At the 1939 AGP a crowd

1939 Black Bess Ford Special.

of 60,000 were treated to the sights and sounds of John Saywell’s 2.9 Alfa Romeo P3 Grand Prix car, the 2.3-litre Alfa Monza of Alf Barrett and an 8C 2300 ex-Le Mans car run by future AGP winner John Crouch.

In 2009 Peter Giddings brought across his magnificent Alfa P3 chassis #50005.

This was the very same car in which Tazio Nuvolari beat home the powerful German Mercedes and Auto Unions to win the 1935 German Grand Prix at

Bill Prowse drove this 1938 BWA.

A Bugatti Type 35B driven by Rod Quinn.

Richard Townley drove this 1947 MG TC.

Nurburgring. The world’s oldest Alfa, a 1921 Alfa Romeo G1 owned by Alfa Australia Chief Neville Chrichton and driven by David Berthon, was also on display as was the 1923 Alfa Romeo RLTF belonging to Rod Quinn.

Allan Tomlinson made his return to Lobethal at the age of 93. He made a guest appearance in a replica MG TA, especially built by MG enthusiasts John Lackey and Rob Rowe to mark the occasion.

Despite his age Allan recalled the famous race of 1939 as if it were yesterday and all were eager to hear what the former champion had to say, hanging on his every word.

The ex-John Snow Delahaye 135S, which placed fourth at the 1939 Lobethal AGP, was shipped from the USA. Now owned by Peter Mullin of California, Jim Strandberg of Colorado was appointed to drive the famous car around the Lobethal circuit this year.

Morgan celebrated its centenary in 2009. Event director, Tony Parkinson, debuted his beautifully restored 1936 4-4 Morgan to the delight of everyone in attendance.

This was the first four-wheel Morgan to be raced in Australia and was entered at Lobethal in 1938, ‘39 and ‘40 by Victorian driver Jim Broughton.

The car also competed at the Bathurst AGP in 1938 and was the very car to

Edward Farrar drove this 1933 MG J2.

The 2009 event celebrated the 70th anniversary of the 1939 Australian Grand Prix.

beat race leader Tomlinson at Lobethal in 1940.

Another popular inclusion was a group of Bugattis. George Hetrel’s 1927 Type 35C, Rod Quinn’s Type 35B, Kent Patrick and Andrew Cannon’s 37A’s and Roderick Amos’ Type 40 represented the famous manufacturer.

Jim Nilsson’s prototype MG K3 – which was the 1933 Mille Miglia practice car before being driven by Nuvolari in the same year – has been with Jim since 1959. The R-Type of Chris Bucknell, with its blown 746cc engine, was another greatly admired starter this year.

Lobethal’s unique motoring heritage also saw motorcycles from former times grace the street circuit with a thunderous demonstration. A total of 31 bikes and side-cars registered for the event including famous makes synonymous with motor racing such as Norton, Velocette, Vincent, Triumph, AJS, BSA and Matchless.

Jim Scaysbrook rode a 250cc Excelsior owned by Birdwood bike identity Martyn Adams, who in turn rode a very rare and immaculate Rex Acme TT racer. An added bonus was the Norton International of Lobethal legend Bruce Hector.

A welcome inclusion to this year’s event was a package of exotic and saloon cars.

A string of Ferraris, the oldest being a

A 1946 Morgan Supersport, driven by Warren Edwards.

1973 Dino 246 GTS, stood proudly beside a couple of 2009 F430 Scuderis.

The historic touring cars comprised of a BMW 2002Ti, EH Holden, Ford Cortina, Ford Falcon Rallye Sprint, Holden Torana GTR XU-1, Porsche 911S and a Chevrolet Camaro. This selection caused a stir amongst the younger crowd.

How can we forget the flamboyant chequered flag waver from the days of the Adelaide Formula One Grand Prix.

Glen Dix was once again waving the flag at this year’s Lobethal. Some of the greatest drivers have fond memories of watching this motor racing icon go through his routine.

To add to the family event, a bi-plane fly-over turned the crowd’s attention skyward. The markets were in full swing with produce and crafts from the Hills.

The obligatory sampling of products from the local wineries provided a welcome break from the horsepower as spectators took time to sit back with a glass of wine and listen to the strains of live music.

It is obvious the die-hard enthusiast will always embrace this event to make it bigger and better in the coming years with enthusiastic organisers keen to fulfil this wish. But it is the general public who also revels in the spectacle that is the Lobethal Grand Carnival vintage revival. ML

A 1937 MG TA Tomlinson Special Replica.

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STORY BY BRIAR GUNTHER PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUTOPICS.COM.AU

W

henever you see a photo from the 1996 Bathurst 1000, Craig Lowndes – who won that year’s Great Race with Greg Murphy – is always wearing a hat.

His Holden Racing Team had made

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the order and considering this was before the time when the sport became heavily corporatised, this might seem odd.

But what none of his competitors, or any punter watching his victory unfold, realised was that under the hat Lowndesie was sporting a big scar on his head courtesy of a motorbike

accident only 10 days before he arrived at Bathurst.

That year Lowndes crossed the Simpson Desert in a four-wheel-drive, which he still owns to this day but which he had “badly wounded” in the trek and so he was fixing it at a workshop in Melbourne.

“We were having a laugh and a mate

Lowndes and Murphy dominated Bathurst in 1996.

ONE CRAZY KID

One of Craig Lowndes’ nicknames is Crackers and for good reason. After all, would you jump on a dirt bike for a lark only days before heading to compete in the Bathurst 1000? brought around a dirt bike,” Lowndes explained.

“And I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to get on the dirt bike, I’m not going to get on the dirt bike, I’m not going to get on the dirt bike’; I got on the dirt bike, went up and down the courtyard, popped a wheelie, went up over a nature strip and there was a car park

that has a double height gutter.

“So I popped the front wheel up, hit it (the gutter) with the back wheel which catapulted me straight off the bike, of course not wearing a helmet, and I hit my head on the concrete and had to have nine stitches inserted in my head.”

Lowndes had pinched a nerve in his neck paralysing his left arm so he

required physiotherapy and also had to pass a medical check to be given the all clear for Bathurst.

“I did a mind concentration test which is a whole heap of letters and basically the doc said ‘alright pick out all the As and Bs, it doesn’t matter how long you take’ so I did that and five or six days later I got the stitches out and ❯I MotorSportLegends

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CRAIG LOWNDES Lowndes had a hat on in every photo in 1996 to hide the stiches in his head.

With his first championship already under his belt Lowndes was a hot favourite for the Bathurst 1000 in 1996.

Lowndes left for Bathurst the next day hiding what he described as “probably one of the world’s best kept secrets”.

Left and below: John Bowe eventually held on to win the race, but not before The Kid gave him a scare.

had to pass a physical and medical the Monday before Bathurst.

“I went back to the doctor, did the same (mind) test and got 100 per cent.

“The first time I did the letters I don’t think I even got a third of them. As I went through it my concentration just wavered and I missed a heap of letters that I shouldn’t have.”

Lowndes left for Bathurst the next day hiding what he described as “probably one of the world’s best kept secrets”.

“The team instructed me to wear a hat all weekend to cover my scar, and that’s what I did,” he said.

“If there’s any vision of me at Bathurst in ‘96 I always had a hat on.

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“People started to realise something was up later in the week at Bathurst but it wasn’t until after Bathurst that people started to know the truth about what really happened.

“The team wasn’t too impressed, put it that way.”

Back in 1996 the fresh-faced Lowndes sat amongst the ‘old school’ veterans of the category and was dubbed ‘The Kid’.

He might be getting a little too old for that moniker now, but Lowndes can remember how hard it was breaking into the big league.

“I was probably very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time,” he said.

“I was a test driver in ’95 for HRT and I got my first fulltime drive in ’96, but up until then there was never any opportunity for young drivers to get involved in the sport.

“It was the boy’s club basically, the older generation that weren’t really, to be honest, accepting of the younger generation.

“When I came along on the scenes I watched Cameron McConville do it the year before and I thought ‘well this is going to be a pretty hard stepping stone’.

“And it’s a lot easier now than what it was back then because you’ve got the development series and you’ve got more steps in between now; you

Lowndes made a name for himself by nearly stealing victory in the Great Race of 1994.

haven’t got the big leaps.”

But with Lowndes already displaying plenty of ability it was hard for the older players to ignore him.

In his debut at Bathurst in 1994 he finished second with Brad Jones where he ended up in a stoush with John Bowe at the end for the lead.

“It was a mistake by the team but I was in the car at the end of ’94,” Lowndes explained.

“I was a rookie; I was never, ever supposed to be in the car at the end of Bathurst in ’94 and it was just by sheer luck that I just happened to be in the car because Brad Jones had done his hours.”

On lap 148, three laps after a

safety car period, Lowndes made an overtaking move on John Bowe that will forever be part of Australian motorsport folklore.

“I over braked; I reckoned Bowie was going to brake test me so I think it was a bit of a combination but he denies it,” Lowndes smiled.

“On the restart the first two or three laps I was able to hang on and stay behind and put a bit of pressure on Bowie and as far as I understand Bowie was a little annoyed with that with me being a rookie and being able to hang on to the back of him.

“And then we got a great slingshot drive out of turn one, we were going up Mountain Straight and I got a

great slipstream behind JB and he was protecting the line as he should and we’ve gone over the crest and down into The Dipper.

“He had to brake a little bit early obviously being on the dirty side of the track but as he was braking I pulled out of his slipstream and I did overcommit myself into the corner.”

Lowndes admits thoughts of his car ending up in the wall ran through his mind.

“I thought I was either going to get it around the corner and be a hero,” he laughs, “or I was going to go into the wall and be a zero.

“We managed to get around the corner, led the race for at least a lap ❯ MotorSportLegends

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and three quarters, we got baulked by a backmarker coming into the last corner, JB got the slipstream back up past pit straight and he got a gap on me straight away.”

Running dangerously low on fuel, Lowndes had to back off and settle for second place and it wasn’t until afterwards that he discovered Bowe was in exactly the same predicament.

Fast forward to two years later and Lowndes was rearing to take the spoils of a Bathurst 1000 victory.

“We (the drivers) had a lot of expectations on ourselves as well as what the team probably had on us but we were pretty confident we could do a good job as long as we kept our noses 40

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clean and looked after the car,” he said.

“The car from memory was reliable; it was fast and we were running on the Bridgestone tyre back then.”

The 1996 1000 began as a wet race which did not favour the team’s strategy but they stuck with it and that move paid dividends.

“Murph wasn’t overly confident from what I remember in the wet and towards the end of my first stint there was obviously a lot of radio communication going back and forward between the team and myself trying to figure out – because we knew I was coming up to my stop whether we put wets back on or slicks,” Lowndes recalls.

“And because I’d been out there for 25, 30-odd laps, I was saying it was dry enough for slicks.

“We did our stop, put Murph in the car, put slicks on it, and Murph got on the radio straight away and said ‘nah, nah it’s still too wet’ and to his credit he soldiered on and the track dried out pretty quickly and away we went so it was an interesting start to that race, that’s for sure.”

Rain aside, Lowndes described the 1996 1000-kay race as an almost dream run.

“I remember Alan Jones passing me on one of the restarts early in the race when it was wet still,” he said.

“AJ was, I suppose, more confident

CRAIG LOWNDES

The only time he didn’t have a hat on in 1996 was when his helmet was afixed to his head.

This shot was taken in 1997 when the stiches were well healed.

I thought I had the bottle of champagne but I actually had the red so there was red all over everything.

As a rookie, Lowndes was never meant to be in the car at the end of the 1996 race, but Brad Jones had already completed the maximum laps allowed.

in that condition and willing to push the car a lot more in the sense of speed taking a little bit more risk and then the car caught on fire which I made a passing comment about as I went by.

“I said ‘AJ’s on fire’ which was pretty cheeky I suppose to make a comment like that so early in the race and I suppose it came down to confidence.

“We thought we could win the race; we knew we could win the race, so it was just a matter of getting the job done.”

That year Lowndes became only the second driver to win the ‘triple treat’ – Bathurst, the Championship and the Sandown 500.

“1996 was a huge year for me not

Leading AJ in 1996.

only as a race driver; ‘96 set me up as who I am now – but I think it was a huge learning year of understanding the business of the sport, the highs, the lows, what goes on behind the scenes with all the PR side of it,” Lowndes said.

He also proposed to his now-wife Natalie that year at what was then known as the League’s Club only hours after he won the Bathurst 1000.

“We were on such a high and we were all dancing on the dance floor and I asked Nat to marry me,” Lowndes remembered.

“I don’t think she really understood what I’d asked but said yes anyway and of course then all my mates at the time

bought a bottle of red and a bottle of champagne.

“I thought I had the bottle of champagne but I actually had the red so there was red all over everything.

“They got us all up on stage and announced it that night that I got engaged and of course I hadn’t asked Nat’s parents and the next day it was all in the papers.

“I had to ring my mum and dad and Nat’s mum and dad and let them know what had happened.”

Lowndes went on to win another three Bathursts from 2006-2008 although they were not so actionpacked. And he didn’t turn up to any of them with any head injuries, either. ML MotorSportLegends

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BOOK

REVIEW

STORY BRIAR GUNTHER

Skaife for sale

P

ublishing 101 has released an official illustrated history covering the career of Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar legend

Mark Skaife.

Titled Mark Skaife: The Racing Years, the hardcover book features a forward by Craig Lowndes and plenty of photos throughout the five-time Bathurst champ’s illustrious motorsport career.

Author Andrew Clarke has included detailed introductions to the six chapters while Skaife’s motorsport achievements and his retirement speech are both included at the end of

the book.

Skaife officially endorses the book and attended its launch at the 2009 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

“We have spent a lot of time on it and we didn’t try to make it too laborious to read,” Skaife said.

While the book cannot be described as ‘warts and all’ because it is predominantly a picture book, the photos cover both the highs and lows of his career and Skaife should be commended for not sanitizing the efforts of Publishing 101.

Mark Skaife: The Racing Years retails for $65 and is available from all good book shops.

CLASSIC Festival of Motorsport 19th 20th 21st 2010 www.vhrr.com Enqs 03 9877 2317

Ad - Terragrafix - 03 9787 3640 Image courtesy Damian Petrie Philip Island 2008

STORY BY BARRY OLIVER PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM OF TASMANIA

One of just 400 Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione “6” cars.

The first Elfin 400 sports car built by Garrie Cooper.

ACROSS THE AGES A replica of the T Model based cars that raced in paddocks in America in 1916.

This Crowfoot Holden monoposto was built in 1955.

The northern Tasmanian city of Launceston is famous in motorsport terms for Symmons Plains Raceway, but it also houses one of Australia’s best kept motoring secrets, and Motorsport Legends magazine’s Apple Isle correspondent decided it was time to lift the covers off this gem and take us on a walk down memory lane.

T

he National Automobile Museum of Tasmania was relocated to its present location in Cimitiere Street, Launceston in 1996 to be operated as a community project by a non-profit foundation.

The express purpose of the museum is to provide a home, either on a long or short term basis, to showcase Tasmania’s veteran, vintage and classic cars and motorcycles.

There are approximately 45 cars on display at any one time of which 15 are permanent or long term with the balance of the exhibits

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staying for between three to six months.

There is also an eclectic collection of motorcycles from early touring bikes to circuit, beach and grass track racing examples that are bound to dampen the eyes of the tw-wheel afficionados.

The superb display of motorcycles is housed on a separate mezzanine floor above the main body of the museum creating more available space for exhibits.

A feature of the museum is the raised entry area which each three months encompasses a specific theme.

For the October-December quarter the focus was on

Italian cars and part of the display included a superb example of a Lamborghini Uracco on the turnstile surrounded by a pristine example of an early F40 Ferrari, a Group 4 De Tomaso Pantera, a 1923 Alfa Romeo series L Sport plus a Maserati Merak SS. For the upcoming JanuaryMarch quarter the theme will be based on ‘Affordable Dreams’ which is obviously Ford to be followed by the ‘Sizzling Sixties’ to be followed in July-September by ‘The Art of the Coachbuilder’.

Motorsport is not forgotten with a number of significant individual and theme displays

encapsulating Tasmania’s rich motorsport history and the sport in general.

As an example, at the time of writing, there were pristine examples of the iconic XY Falcon GT that won at Bathurst in HO form as well as the E49 Bathurst spec Valiant Charger.

Tucked away in the corner is a red Shell Ford Sierra which brings back memories of the cars raced by Dick Johnson and John Bowe, one of which carried them to a Bathurst victory in 1989.

Johnson started campaigning Sierra’s in 1987 with the late Gregg Hansford as the second driver for what

LAUNCESTON MUSEUM

could best be described as a development year.

With new homologation specs and updates the Shell cars were unbeatable in 1988 winning every race in the championship and leading 442 of the 485 lap series with five top two finishes.

On his way to a fourth Touring Car title Johnson scored pole position seven times and the Shell cars recorded a new lap record in eight of the nine rounds.

Johnson and Bowe finished one-two in the title chase and such was Johnson’s dominance that he claimed almost twice the number of championship points as third placed Colin Bond in his Caltex Sierra.

The following year it was almost a repeat with the Shell cars winning six of the eight rounds and Johnson claiming his fifth title to match the results of the great Pete Geoghegan.

Alongside the Sierra was one of just 400 Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione Martini “6” cars released to celebrate Lancia’s victory in the 1991 World Rally Constructors Championship.

The model was distinguished by special bodywork and the Martini livery with white wheels and the inside featured special Recaro seats with red stitching and red seatbelts.

In addition each car was numbered with a silver plate which was mounted on the transmission tunnel.

Like the Sierra the Lancia bought back memories of the incredible success achieved by the marque in the ultra competitive word of rallying.

During a period of domination that included the awesome Group B cars and the less spectacular Group A cars Lancia scored over 74 victories and 11 championships including six

with the Integrale.

The total number of wins included 46 World Rally Championship rounds and in the final year of Group B in 1986 Lancia won every main event on the calendar.

From 1987 to 1992 the car evolved to be called the Integrale then the Integrale 16V and finally the Integrale Evoluzione.

Over the years there have been some very interesting competition cars displayed at the museum including a number which have very significant racing history.

Former racer and long time driver mentor Don Elliott

raced the car with success in the seventies in Shell colours.

The car lay dormant for many years before being bought by Chas Kelly and undergoing a comprehensive rebuild to its original condition as raced in 1968.

The red Elfin 400 Sports car was number one of only four ever built by Garrie Cooper and was owned by Globe products and raced by Noel Hurd.

In 1967 Hurd was lucky to survive a huge off when the Elfin became airborne and spun off into the shrubbery at more than 200kph on the run from the water tower down to

an FJ steel crankshaft, upgraded conrods, three SU carburetors, forged pistons,14-to-1 compression ratio and running on methanol the engine produced 160 BHP. The car has an MG A gearbox with close ratios, an Austin Healey locked diff and MG front suspension with Austin Healey font brakes.

The first owner and racer was Frank Dynon but the car soon became known as the Crowfoot Holden as Norm Crowfoot raced the car with considerable success before it moved through a succession of owners to the present Tasmanian collector.

The car recently competed at the MG Car Club of Tasmania historic meeting at Baskerville, which means it has now raced at every state in Australia.

The spindly wheel early red Ford special is a replica of the T Model based cars that raced in paddocks in America in 1916.

The four cylinder engine is mated to the standard two speed gearbox which is Former racer Don Elliott imported a new connected up to a Model K Model Mustang in 1966.

A gearbox to provide more ratios.

The car has contested three imported a new K Model the viaduct at Longford.

Targa Tasmania rallies and Mustang in 1966, which was The car began its apart from one year when fitted with a 289ci engine competition life with a 289 the team missed some of the complete with a four-barrel ci Ford engine which was middle stages has finished on carburetor and a high lift later updated by Globe with each occasion. cam, front disc brakes and a special twin cam heads for And to continue the nine-inch diff. more performance. motorsport theme the The car was raced in 1966 The car was bought by the Tasmanian Motor Sport Hall and early ‘67 by then 18present owner more than 30 year-old protege Robin years ago in a very tired state of Fame is housed at the Pare without much success and the chassis was sent back museum with a framed photo display of each inductee and due to reliability issues but to Elfin to be completely a brief citation detailing their advice from Pete Geoghegan rebuilt with a new body career and contribution to the at Longford in 1967 saw fitted. the team source the bits to The green Crowfoot Holden sport.

Despite its small size and improve the car. monoposto was built in 1955 population base Tasmania has During the ‘67-68 season using a chassis designed and produced some outstanding the car recorded seven wins, built by Arthur Risso and motorsport people who one second and a fourth place fitted with a Holden grey have made a significant from 12 starts before being motor built by Frank Dent. ❯ contribution in a wide sold to Robin Bessant who The engine featured MotorSportLegends

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LAUNCESTON MUSEUM

range of fields.

In 1989 a small group of enthusiasts who were concerned that motorsport was being largely overlooked in terms of recognising sporting achievements decided to go it alone and set up a specific Hall of Fame to cover all forms of motorsport.

An Independent Board of Directors was established consisting of motorsport administrators, commentators and journalists who would provide their time voluntarily to accept and consider nominations.

New inductees are advised that they are to be recognised with the official announcement and induction occurring at the CAMS Tasmanian Motor Sport Awards presentation, which is held in February each year.

The Hall Of Fame aims to recognise all facets of the sport and to date the 31 inductees have come from

circuit racing, motorcycle racing, rallying, off-road racing, karting, speedway racing, drag racing and power boat racing as well as administrators and officials.

The first inductee in 1989 was speedway driver Les

interstate and international drivers to win the prestigious South Pacific Sprintcar Classic at Carrick Speedway.

Others that readers would recognise include the late John Youl, John Bowe, Malcolm Campbell,

Dick Johnson and John Bowe dominated Australian touring car racing in Shell Sierras in the late 1980s.

Redpath who initially raced Formula 500 speedcars before becoming almost unbeatable in Sprintcars.

He won seven Tasmanian Sprintcar titles and in 1989 beat a top class field of local,

John McCormack, Tony Edmondson, John Large and Paul “Hawkeye” Hawkins who lived in Tasmania for a time and commenced his racing career in the state.

The museum is open

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every day of the year except Christmas day and opening hours are 9am to 5pm except in the winter months when it’s open from 10am to 4pm.

The fulltime manager is assisted by an enthusiastic group of volunteers who are rostered on to ensure the facility and displays are always pristine but are also available to provide information about the exhibits to members of the public.

The museum has also proved to be a popular starting point for car club events and also hosts the annual Tasmanain Car Club Expo as well as Motorcycle Meet on the last weekend in August as part of Community Awareness weekend.

There is also an extensively stocked gift shop that includes DVDs, books, model cars and caps and while you wander in the background there is always a motorsport ML DVD playing.

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BOWE TO A

Legend Bowie talks about his experience with ground effects racing cars and Garrie Cooper’s engineering of the Elfin MR9 Formula 5000.

T

he ground effects era in openwheeler racing is a period I remember with a lot of affection.

One of my first drives in a ground effects car was the Elfin MR9 Formula 5000 built by my good friend and mentor, Garrie Cooper.

Lotus genius Colin Chapman had developed the ground effects concept with the amazing Lotus 78 Formula One car. The following year there was the Lotus 79 and all of the Formula One teams started building their own ground effects cars.

As it was new, ground-breaking technology, no one really understood what was going on with the cars, but obviously there was a big increase in downforce, so Garrie wanted to apply this phenomenon to Formula 5000.

In 1979, he went across to Long Beach in Southern California to have a look at the Formula One cars competing in the US Grand Prix West.

But it took him 18 months or so to construct the MR9 because he could only build parts when he could afford to do so.

There had been some thoughts of Didier Pironi driving the car on debut in the 1980 Australian Grand Prix at Calder but Garrie didn’t want him in an unsorted, unproven car so he drove an MR8 instead. Garrie himself drove the car in the AGP, which was

He didn’t know whether it was him having dramas with his memories of the crash or if the new car was crook.

held on the low-speed short circuit.

He then raced it a few months later at Sandown.

By that stage I had left Ansett Team Elfin. I had a new sponsor, Chris Leech of Lucky Nuts, who decided that we would run a Ralt RT4 in the new Formula Pacific class, which was the Gold Star category for 1981.

But I was at that Sandown meeting racing Peter Fowler’s Mercedes Sports Sedan, which Brad Jones later became very famous in (I say that very tonguein-cheek!).

Early in the meeting Garrie came over to me and asked if I would have a drive in the MR9. It was a beautiful looking car – it looked like a Formula One car

– and I said, “Of course I will. Why? What’s the problem?” He replied, “It’s spooking me”.

Garrie had his big accident on the back straight at Sandown in the 1978 Australian Grand Prix driving an Elfin MR8 and he didn’t know whether it was him having dramas with his bad memories or if the new car was crook.

This was on the Friday and I drove it in the next practice session and it spooked me too. Every time I applied the brakes the car went left, right, wherever it decided to go. It had no straight-line braking stability at all.

Garrie was relived that the problem wasn’t with him, but he said I could keep driving it for the weekend if I ❯ MotorSportLegends

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BOWE TO A LEGEND

Cooper (climbing out of the car above) struggled to keep the MR9 on the track at Sandown, and so did Bowe when he first jumped into the difficult beast, but he later tamed it.

Cooper decided that the tub was flexing at the front bulkhead and the car ended up with no caster when the brakes were applied.

want to.

Garrie decided that the tub was flexing at the front bulkhead and the car ended up with no caster when the brakes were applied. It didn’t track straight. The loads that were going through the suspension because of the high downforce were more than people had calculated.

Keeping the floor constant with the road became quite important so you had to run such stiff springs in the cars. Everybody fitted stiffer and stiffer springs until they had 5000lb springs in the cars and they had essentially no suspension travel – the tyre was the suspension. They were actually silly really but at that time it was a big advance.

There was no data or anything like that, you just based your setup on what you thought was happening with the 50

MotorSportLegends

I finished second behind Alfie Costanzo who was driving Alan Hamilton’s McLaren M26.

Photographs by Darren House.

car and you had a conversation about what you needed from it. So in true Garrie fashion, he fettled-up some brackets, welded things on and riveted things to things and the next day he fixed it. It was fine.

At another time during the meeting, I don’t remember if it was in practice or a race, the rear rocker broke or bent going over the top of the hill on the back straight at around 260km/h and

the car turned sharp left and it nearly hit the fence. I thought, ‘SHIT! What’s going on with this?’ I thought I had made a ‘blue’. With my heart-rate racing I got back onto the track and the car turned hard left again.

Garrie ended-up having to beef up all the suspension arms using thicker gauge metal. Any calculations that were based on previous cars were useless on ground effects cars.

The failures didn’t worry me at the time. When you are young you don’t even think about that kind of stuff. It’s not like you think, ‘Oh, I’m invincible’, you just don’t think about it. You simply get in the car and stand on the gas and if it is a good car you go well.

It’s only later in life that you become thought-processed about cars and preparation and set-ups and those type of things.

In the race, I finished second behind Alfie Costanzo who was racing Alan Hamilton’s McLaren M26, which they converted from a Formula One car into a 5000 and they made it ground effects at the same time. But Garrie built his own engines while Alfie had VDS engines, which were quite a lot better at the time, so I think Garrie’s car would have been a lot better long-term if it had been developed. The car had enormous potential.

– John Bowe

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V8X 2005