MotorSport Legends Issue 27

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS #27

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ISSUE #27

SCHUPPAN’S MUCH-LOVED ROADIE 1963 AMERICAN FALCON SPRINT

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Contents ISSUE #27

BATHURST LEGENDS

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Who’d have thought a stock 40hp ’62 VW could have won two prestigious rally awards?

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We drive Toyota’s 86.

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John Goss’ belief in the Jaguar XJ-S as a Bathurst winner was vindicated with his against-the-odds victory in 1985.

SUNDAY DRIVER

TRADE FOCUS

Australian superstar Vern Schuppan has driven everything that’s worth driving but still has a soft spot for early Falcons.

WEBB OF INTRIGUE

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A life-long Blue Oval man, Mick Webb is left shattered by his latest (and last) Ford purchase.

SHEPPARD’S PIE

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CAT ATTACK

Some very desirable cars go under the hammer.

What’s new in automotive products.

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THE FOGES FILES

BROCK STAR

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Part 2 of our insight into the life of Australia’s most loved race driver.

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Sheppo remembers when he thwarted an MHDT heist.

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LIFESTYLE – PRODUCTS

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Works racing driver Leo Geoghegan gives the inside story on developing and racing the mighty Charger.

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Hot watches, cool wine and a superb restaurant motor racing fans will love.

LIFESTYLE – TRAVEL

Foges recalls a time when motor racing was dangerous and so was journalism.

CHRYSLER BUILDING

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All you need to know to enjoy a trip to the Bahrain Grand Prix AND keep the spouse happy while you’re there!

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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A Vietnam Vet’s love for a pony car he bought new in the ’60s still burns strong.

BEHIND THE WHEEL AT THE AUCTIONS

MUSTANG LOVE

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THE NEW ULTRA-HIGH PERFORMANCE CATERHAM SEVEN 485 The new Caterham Seven 485 the most powerful Seven ever offered for sale in Australia.

With a zero to 100 km/h acceleration time of under 4 seconds, it’s performance is comparable to some of the fastest road cars available. The Seven 485 2.0 litre normally aspirated engine provides a power output of 177 kW (240 bhp), which combined with its under 700 kg weight, ensures scintillating performance and an involving driving experience.

The nimbleness of a Caterham in corners is something to be experienced, something only its exceptionally light weight and excellent suspension make possible.

The ‘less is more’ philosophy lives on in this latest Seven. Colin Chapman would be proud to see the evolution of the iconic Seven today.

For more information, or regarding the rest of the Australian model range, please contact:

Caterham Cars Australia, Level 1, ZAGAME building, 362 Swan Street, Richmond, VIC 3121 P: 03 9329 0344 E: chris@caterhamcars.com.au

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pole position

DANGEROUS LIAISONS RACE CAR RIDE DAYS IN THE ’80S WERE VERY MUCH A CASE OF “GET IN, SIT DOWN, SHUT UP AND HANG ON!”

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ark Fogarty’s piece in this edition of MSL provides a reminder that motor racing is indeed dangerous – not only for drivers, officials and photographers, but sometimes for journalists as well.

In his column The Foges Files, Mark speaks of the time he nearly electrocuted himself when attempting to file a story while following the grand prix circuit in the pre-digital age.

Other dangerous activities were of the clear and present kind – riding in race cars.

Ride days in the ’80s were very different to those offered

Both racing and ride days were wild in the Group C days – Alan Browne gives Murray Carter a hurry-up at Amaroo Park.

today. The ’80s was a time when people were expected to take responsibility for their own actions – regardless of how foolhardy those action might have been – and ride organisers weren’t constrained by overly cautious insurance companies trying to protect themselves from ambulance-chasing lawyers.

Consequently – if you were lucky – you got to ride in the passenger seat, with no harness. If you were not-solucky, you got to sit on a bare floor-pan, while hanging onto the roll cage for dear life and trying to lift yourself high enough to see over the dashboard.

The rides were also

very rare, so you never complained and never said no – in fact you’d climb out of your deathbed to attend, lest it be the last opportunity you ever got.

My first ride was at Calder Park with David ‘Skippy’ Parsons in one of Alan Browne’s Commodores. Alan was also offering rides in his Porsche 935. Not surprisingly, everyone wanted to ride in the Porsche, prompting Alan to explain that the 935 was the more boring of the two – the car simply did everything too well, whereas the Commodore was a wild, compromising track car.

With a queue of scribblers lining up for the 935, and ‘Skippy’ wondering if he’d forgotten to use the Palmolive Gold, I jumped into the Commodore and put Alan’s claims to the test.

Back then, there was no directive to drive ride laps at no more than 80 per cent of race speed, so David gave it plenty. Dropping a left rear wheel onto the dirt and getting sideways as he booted the V8 Holden out of Repco Corner created a memory that stays with me to this day.

– Darren

EDITOR Darren House EMAIL

darren@motorsportlegends.com.au GRAPHIC DESIGN Craig Fryers WRITERS Mark Fogarty, Glenis Lindley, Mick Webb, Grant Nicholas, John Sheppard, Paul Marinelli, Brian Zana PHOTOGRAPHERS Autopics.com.au, Glenis Lindley, John Doig (Torque Photos), Ian D Smith, Brian Zana PUBLISHER Allan Edwards Pole Position Productions PO Box 225 Keilor Victoria 3036 Phone: (03) 9372 9125 Fax: (03) 8080 6473 EMAIL

admin@motorsportlegends.com.au WEBSITE

www.motorsportlegends.com.au ADVERTISING Jennifer Gamble Advertising Manager Phone: 0431 451 470 EMAIL

jennifer@motorsportlegends.com.au DISTRIBUTOR Network Services 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.

Didn’t get our previous issue? Turn to page 66 for details on how to subscribe or to order a back issue.

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bathurst legends rally Start of the 1996 Bathurst Legends Rally at Melbourne

CHERISHED MEMORIES

FOLLOWING THE PASSING OF HARRY FIRTH, MOTORSPORT LEGENDS READER, JOHN WATT, REMEMBERS THE TIME HE WON THE HARRY FIRTH TROPHY DURING THE 1996 BATHURST LEGENDS RALLY

Words & Photos JOHN WATT

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t a VW Club of NSW monthly meeting in May 1996, details were given about an up-coming rally known as the Bathurst Legends Rally.

After reading the line-up of the Bathurst Legends that were competing, such as Frank Coad, Bob Holden, and others who have since passed on – Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan, Bruce McPhee, George Reynolds and Harry Firth – I thought ‘I’ve gotta give this one a go’. I asked club

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member and long-time friend, John ‘Molly’ Molineux, if he would like to be my co-driver/ navigator. He was so excited and jumped at the chance, but he asked me, “what we were going to enter with?”

I replied, “what else, my 1962 standard 1200cc/40hp Beetle.” He laughed and thought we’ve got no hope if we are up against a ’67 XR Falcon, Big Pete’s Greens Tuff XY GT-HO Falcon, and Bruce McPhee’s 1968 Monaro.

I said, “Molly, I’m sure we

will get a surprise when we get to Melbourne for the start, plus you have to have faith mate, we can win this event because we will be in a Volkswagen Beetle, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve. But if we don’t win, at least we’ll give it a good try. And if you’re not in it, you can’t win it.”

We didn’t have to do any preparation on my Beetle, apart from an oil change, new brake shoes for all four brake drums and adjustment on the hand brake. We then chased

some sponsorship, and once we had a lot of stickers on the car it really looked the part – I reckon it went better with stickers all over it!

The Legends Rally went from Melbourne, starting on September 27 and finished at Bathurst prior to the weekend of the great race on October 5. We left Sydney and putted down the Hume Highway to Melbourne, arriving at Pedder’s Suspension in Hawthorn for scrutineering.

We were greeted by other

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competitors and more Bathurst Legends, such as Brian Reed, Max Stahl, John Wynne and race car collector, David Bowden. Molly looked at our competition and wondered if we were still wasting our time!

Entries included other Falcons, such as the ‘always sideways’ yellow XB of Martin Goff, HQ Holdens, Commodores, Capris, Toranas, an FJ Holden, a Ford Anglia, Minis, Escorts, a Toyota MR2, a Porsche, a Corvette, a Mercedes and a Kombi van that was converted to resemble a Melbourne tram which included a ‘ding ding’ bell, which was fantastic!

Frank Coad was in a Vauxhall Cresta, Bob Holden was in a Ford Escort, George Reynolds was in his (ex London-Sydney Marathon) red Beetle, and Harry was in his ’67 XR Falcon.

After having breakfast that had been put on by the organiser, we started at Melbourne’s City Square, with the first stop at Calder Park Raceway and Thunderdome.

Then it was and off to Bendigo, Mangalore, Winton, Decca at Shepparton, Wangaratta, Sutton at Canberra and Wakefield Park before heading to the finish at Bathurst.

The events we contested were sprints, hill climbs, drags and motorkhanas, along with navigation from town to town and venue to venue thrown in.

During the lunch break at Winton Raceway, after we had all done some laps, Harry gave a talk on the best way to drive around the track, and when Harry talked, you did not interrupt – you listened.

Following Harry’s talk, Bob

Holden spoke to the competitors with little cars, telling us how to drive through corners with momentum. We all did more laps in the afternoon and everyone improved their laps significantly – that talk was very valuable and will stick in my mind forever.

When we all finally made it to the finish after a gruelling but exciting 1,500km journey, we had a parade around the streets of Bathurst, followed by a Show ‘n Shine. On practice day of the big race, in single file, we did a parade lap around the Mt Panorama race track to the cheers of a huge crowd. Our cars were put on show for the public in front of the Bathurst Museum.

A grudge match between event winner Vince Walpole in his V8 Commodore, and Pete Geoghegan in his Falcon provided one of the event’s most humorous moments.

Early Saturday morning, Pete and Vince, who had forgotten that the track was still a

The winning 40hp 1962 VW Beetle of John Watt and John Molineux.

public road with a speed limit of 60km/h in place, headed off to Mountain Straight, overtaking cars, tow trucks, ambulances and so on. At the end of Conrod Straight the pair was greeted by race officials, police, and race secretary, the late Ivan Stibbard – naturally they got an ear full.

The awards up for grabs were first, second and third outright, and first in class.

My little 1962 Standard 1200 VW Beetle won Class A, and very surprisingly, the Harry Firth Trophy.

Winning the Harry Firth Trophy is something I shall cherish for the rest of my life!

R.I.P. HARRY FIRTH.

George and Sophia Reynolds in the ex-LondonSydney Marathon VW. MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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behind the wheel TOYOTA RE-ENTERED THE SPORTS CAR BUSINESS WITH ITS AMAZING ‘86’ – AND AFTER SPENDING A WEEK IN THIS STUNNING LOOKING MACHINE, WE RECKON IT’S A WINNER.

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oyota’s newest sport car, 86, is everything we hoped it would be – well, almost.

With traffic-stopping looks, sensational steering and grip, and starting at just $29,990, the new machine plants massive ticks in the styling, handling and value for money boxes. However, it comes up a little short terms of horsepower.

That’s not to say 86 isn’t fun to drive – it’s just that the performance is spirited rather than exhilarating.

With the 86 being jointly developed by Subaru, the model employs a Subaru-

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derived 2.0-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine. Like its Subaru BRZ twin, the 86 develops 147kW of power and 205Nm of torque. While those figures

don’t set the world on fire, the 86’s performance is boosted by a low kerb weight of 1222kg (GT manual), which gives the car an impressive power-to-weight ratio.

This makes 86 an involving car, as you need to constantly work the gearshift and be prepared to rev it to really get going. Not that too many people will complain about that, as the short-throw gearshift lever is superbly positioned and a delight to use.

When pushed, the boxer engine produces the familiar trademark sound. I thought it nice enough for a factory exhaust system but it’s one area that has brought criticism from others.

The 86 is a small car, much smaller many people first think and while that produces limitations in terms of comfort and practicality,

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TOYOTA 86 GT ENGINE 2.0-litre horizontally-opposed four cylinder POWER 147kW at 7000rpm TORQUE 205Nm at 6600rpm TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic FUEL USE 7.8L/100km (man), 7.1L/100km (auto), 98-octane premium unleaded required CO2 EMISSIONS 181g/km (man), 164g/km (auto) WEIGHT 1222kg PRICE From $29,990 WEBSITE www.toyota.com.au

it contributes greatly to the car’s amazing road manners.

Take it out on to a winding country road and you will quickly discover it’s the type of environment where this car really shines.

The steering is very direct and almost race-car like in its response, allowing the superbly-balanced car to change direction with ease.

It will even forgive you for changing line mid-corner, which is great for the times when you underestimate 86’s superb turn-in ability and pull on too much lock, or for dodging potholes.

The trade-off for this is a suspension that’s a little harsh over our poorly-maintained roads, but it’s bearable.

We loved the brakes, too – excellent stopping ability and a well-weighted pedal.

Inside, the design is purposeful, with body hugging sports seats and a leatherbound steering wheel devoid of any electronic devices.

To keep the centre of gravity weight down, you sit

low in the car, which adds to the sports car feel. Buyers may tire of easing themselves over the high sill upon entry, and it’s all too easy for taller people to rub their shoe on the lower part of the hard plastic door trim, potentially damaging it.

The gauge pod features three gauges positioned in a Porsche-like layout, with a large tachometer in the middle and a smaller speedo offset to the right.

Constructed from plain hard plastic, the dash pad looks cheap both in design and material.

There are two seats in the back but they are next to useless, other than serving as storage space, which is handy as the bootspace is limited, too.

Already popular in club racing, Toyota will create its own racing series in 2016, putting drivers in identical, standard vehicles. The concept is a pro-am – amateur drivers from across Australia competing against selected professionals.

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at the auctions MECUM

ANAHEIM 2006 FORD GT HERITAGE EDITION $375,000 This 2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition is one of just 343 produced, and one of 2011 Ford GTs produced in 2006.

Showing just 5718 miles since new, the car is powered by a supercharged 5.4L/550hp V8 engine.

Inspired by the GT40 that beat Ferrari at Le Mans and won the 24 hour race four years in a row in the 1960s, the car is finished in Heritage Blue paintwork with Orange Le Mans stripes and displays the number 6 in honour of the 1969 GT40 that won at the 24 hours of Le Mans.

The car also features BBS lightweight

forged aluminium wheels and something not available on the original Ford GT40 – a McIntosh stereo. The car also comes with original documentation from Ford when sold new in 2006.

Two other Ford GTs were auctioned – a 2005 Centennial White (with blue

stripes) car, with just seven miles on the clock and featuring a supercharged 5.4L/550hp engine and Ricardo six-speed transmission, pulled $340,000 while a red (with rare stripe delete option) 2005 Ford GT sporting the same driveline sold for $250,000.

United States.

Based on the all-new 2015 Mustang GT fastback with performance package, the 50 Years Limited Edition model is designed to provide customers with outstanding performance and a unique

appearance that will be instantly recognisable.

Ford Motor Company and BarrettJackson have raised more than $6 million at various auctions benefiting local and national charities.

BARRETTJACKSON

LAS VEGAS 2015 MUSTANG 50 YEARS LIMITED EDITION $170,000 The final production unit of the 50 Years Limited Edition Ford Mustang, carrying badge No. 1964, fetched $170,000 at the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas auction. Ford Motor Company auctioned the coveted final production at No Reserve, with proceeds benefiting ‘Get Your Heart Racing’, a fundraising event supporting Henry Ford Health System’s Edith and Benson Ford Heart & Vascular Institute.

After spirited bidding that electrified the auction block, Jack Fairchild purchased the Mustang.

Fairchild is not only the proud owner of one of the rarest of this limited stock, but he has also made an important contribution to improving the health and well-being of individuals across the 10

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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SHANNONS

SYDNEY 1989 PORSCHE ‘WIDE BODY’ SPEEDSTER $175,000 The loudest cheer from the large crowd that packed Shannons St Leonards’ showroom went to the successful floor bidder who won a lengthy battle for a very collectible 1989 Porsche 911 Wide Body Speedster.

In need of some TLC, the car attracted an opening bid of $80,000, rising in $5000 increments. The Porsche surged passed the car’s $105,000 high estimate to eventually stop at $175,000, reflecting the international value of these now rare and sought-after models.

In other news, a right-hand drive 1968

Chevrolet Camaro convertible brought $59,000; a sensitively-upgraded and beautifully-presented 1963 Jaguar 3.8 Mk II manual with overdrive saloon sold for $67,000; a stunning 1954 Austin Healey BN1 four-cylinder roadster updated mechanically with a four-speed BN2 gearbox and a Le Mans engine kit made $72,000, while a 1958 Jaguar XK150 roadster that had covered limited

SHANNONS

GOODING & CO

SYDNEY 1975 HOLDEN TORANA SL/R 5000 $33,000

PEBBLE BEACH 1956 MASERATI 250F $4,620,000

Holdens performed well at Shannons Sydney auction with a ‘barn-find’ 1975 Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 selling for $33,000. The car featured a four-speed manual transmission, grey cloth interior and Globe Spintmaster wheels. A 1977 Torana LX Hatchback in substantially original condition went for $25,500, while the highest priced Holden was a rare 1976 four-wheel-drive HJ Overlander Sandman panel van that brought $36,000.

This factory-raced Maserati 250 – one of only two cars built as Offset models – was driven to victory by Stirling Moss in its only grand prix outing. The car is powered by a 2493cc DOHC inline six-cylinder engine that sported three Weber DCO twin-choke sidedraft carburettors, producing 270hp at 7200rpm.

The transmission is a five-speed manual transaxle with ZF-style, limited-slip differential. Other features include four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes,

miles since its ground-up restoration in the 1980s sold on expectation for $109,000.

Lower in the price spectrum, a 1949 MGTC roadster in wonderful, restored condition went for $37,500 and a stunning 1972 MGB MkII Roadster, comprehensively restored in Sydney during 2003-2004 at a documented cost of around $50,000, sold for $28,000. unequal length double-wishbone and coil-spring front suspension and a De Dion axle with transverse leaf-spring rear suspension.

The auction also featured what Gooding & Company described as the most dominant sports racing prototype in US racing history – a 1992 AAR/

Toyota Eagle Mk III GTP. The car won 14 of 23 races entered – along with the 1992 and 1993 IMSA GTP Championship and the 1992 and 1993 12 Hours of Sebring.

Designed and built by the legendary All American Racers, the car features a 2,100cc turbocharged DOHC inline four-cylinder TRD engine that produced 700hp with 52mm restrictor (1992) and 750hp with 54mm restrictor (1993).

The car sold for $1,045,000.

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trade focus DAVID’S PERFECT DRIVE Dayco racer David Russell knows a thing or two about the perfect drive – whether he is behind the wheel of a Lamborghini at the Spa 24 Hour or at Bathurst in the Nissan Altima V8 Supercar, he knows that it takes precision components from Dayco to ensure the perfect drive.

Check out the great range of Dayco products online at www.dayco.com.au

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Call 1300 726 725 to locate your nearest branch where their dedicated team will assist with your choice of sheetmetal, workshop equipment and machine tools or visit their comprehensive website. www.machineryhouse.com.au

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Classic VHRR Presents

Phillip Island Festival of Motorsport

5-8 March 2015 www.vhrr.com

Images courtesy Chris Carter ~ Poster Design Terragrafix 0419 874 299 PI-2015-poster2.indd 1

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webb of intrigue FORD MAN NO MORE!

MICK WEBB WENT OUT TO BUY A COLLECTIBLE FORD BUT CAME HOME WITH “$58,000 WORTH OF DISAPPOINTMENT”.

I

was excited when I heard of FPV’s new Pursuit ute – so much so, I ordered one.

But after picking up my supposedly very special vehicle, it saddens me to say I couldn’t be more disappointed with it.

Leading up to the car’s release, Ford kept information about it secret, so customers had to flush out details from dealers.

My dealer didn’t know much about the car. He basically said to me, “We don’t know if they are going to be badged GS, or Limited, or Pursuit, but I guess they are going to have plenty or horsepower. They will probably be upgraded from the previous 315kW and it’s going to have Brembo brakes like the previous model. It will have a hard tonneau, I imagine, and it’s going to have unique striping on it, the same as the GT. We have been told little bits and pieces, but that’s all.”

Importantly, I was told it was going to be “super collectible” because it was the

last V8-supercharged ute that Ford Australia would ever make. The price was $58,800 on the road, and everybody paid full tote odds.

I saw some awesome looking pictures of the car on FPV’s website, but I soon discovered my car to be pretty much a standard ute with a supercharged engine, a stripe kit and a $58,000 price tag. I felt dudded. Super collectible my arse!

I believe that the brake package is standard Falcon, but with a supercharged engine, it should have Brembos all around, which

“I SOON DISCOVERED IT’S A NEARSTANDARD UTE WITH A SUPERCHARGED ENGINE, A STRIPE KIT AND A $58,000 PRICE TAG. I FELT DUDDED. SUPER COLLECTIBLE MY ARSE!” 14

the previous model had. The tyres are one of the cheapest Dunlops you can buy for the Pursuit’s wheels. There’s no hard tonneau, which should be standard for a vehicle of this status, and it has what I reckon is a lousy-sounding exhaust system. I also checked the shock absorber part numbers and they match a standard Falcon ute.

There’s no keyless entry, you have to hold the electric window button to raise and lower the glass, and they don’t have the sedan’s rear vision mirror blinkers. There are a million things I could go on about. So much for Ford’s last hoorah, the super collectible ute.

I should have bought a standard ute and put the options I wanted onto that, and paid a lot less than what the Pursuit owes me.

I ‘had a word’ with the dealer, but got nowhere as I’d already paid my money, but I had two friends who tore up $500 deposits by cancelling their orders when they saw my ute.

The dealer referred me to Ford customer service, where I was told, “Well, it’s buyer beware, you know.”

It’s ‘buyer beware’ when you go to a dealership, you look at a vehicle, you pay your money and you drive out with your vehicle, but there were none of these vehicles on the showroom floor, and Ford never supplied a sales brochure.

A lady, who claimed to be the manager, did offer me some compensation – a free service. That was my compensation for a $58,800 nearstandard ute (with stripes). I declined, saying, “I will never

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Mick Webb is a championship-winning, race engineer and engine builder who has worked with Jim Richards, Allan Moffat, Peter Brock, Frank Gardner and the Stillwell Racing Team. He currently works with Jim Richards and Bill Pye in the Touring Car Masters series.

take it to a Ford dealership.”

I am now up-grading the car to what it should have been, plus more. Robbie Herrod from Herrod Motorsport has tuned the engine for me with his SCT Flash Tuner and now it makes some genuine grunt.

I’ve fitted Bilstein shock absorbers, and lowered the

car using King springs, so now it looks like the car I was lead to believe I was buying…

I’ve also upgraded the brakes, with Brembo six-spot calipers on the front and four-spot calipers on the rear, the same as the GT, so now it stops. I am fitting rear vision mirrors with built-in blinkers, which the GT has, and I’m putting on a ‘proper’ sounding exhaust system and some decent tyres.

For 45 years I’ve had Ford tattooed on my arse and I’ve been an advocate for the Ford Motor Company. I’ve spoken very highly of their products over the years to every person who wanted to buy a Ford and I’ve talked Holden people into buying Fords, but never again.

– Webby

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sheppard’s pie

PITLANE TALES

LEGENDARY MECHANIC JOHN SHEPPARD SHARES SOME OF HIS MEMORIES AND OPINIONS REGARDING AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT’S ADMINISTRATIVE BODY…

O

nce upon a time, a handsome prince raced a car that needed to have wider tyres to make it competitive. Under the rules, this would have been illegal, but along came his fairy godmother (read: CAMS) and allowed him to widen the rear wheel tubs about two-inches (50mm) per side. This was approved because the evil manufacturer convinced the fairy godmother that the two-inches was a manufacturing tolerance!

I’VE JUST COME in from mowing the lawn and being as how it’s not a very cerebral task, I found my mind wandering over some of the “Lloyd Bridges” acts that have happened over the years. Probably one of the biggest was a plan to knock the Holden Dealer Team off its perch! As part of this grand plan, a man came down to buy the HDT truck. We wondered why he spent most of his time looking at everything but the truck. We realised later he was checking what security we had in place! The bloke had

form, we found out later, as he cased the Blanchard workshop before they were robbed! The crooks were told to steal a crankshaft (because we had special ones!) a water radiator (because we didn’t have heating problems) a camshaft and anything else they might want for themselves! It didn’t help ’em anyway because our cars were better prepared and better driven (and I’m a modest person!)

IN MY LAST column there was a typo, which made the

question about “columny” pretty much meaningless!

What I was asking was whether Jim was aware of the meaning of the word “calumny.” In his profession, he should be!

WHAT’S WRONG with the CAMS Historic Commission, that caused the CEO to ask Colin Haste (Chair of the AHMRC) to leave their last meeting, remind the members of their Confidentiality Agreement, and then harangue them for an hour?

Some drivers at historic meetings are emulating those of yester-year by crashing instead of preserving the great machines.

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John Sheppard is a former team manager and race engineer who led the Bob Jane Racing Team, Holden Dealer Team and Volvo Dealer Team.

I really don’t have the faintest notion what it was about and I couldn’t be less interested, but I do tend to wonder about “intestinal fortitude”.

If I were still a member, I would have got to my feet, told him to get well and walked out. The members are, after all, unpaid volunteers.

You can bet your testes, (if you are so equipped) that there’ll be a witch hunt to find who “leaked”.

I DECIDED A long time ago that I should stop “bagging” the Confederation and do something positive. After years of service in many areas, (I even received a Service Award) I wonder if it was all a waste of time! One thing I

Above: Fuel regulations have always been a point of contention in motor racing. Below: Sheppo in the day talking to the press about his latest concerns with the fairy godmother.

know for sure is that many of the people at HQ can’t handle “dissenting voices”! Given what I have seen and heard recently, I have decided that if I reckon they need it, I’ll stick it up CAMS just like in the old days!

WHAT ABOUT THE bloke who told a recent meeting of the VHRR that the Historic Commission had consulted the Fuel Regulations Committee before bringing in some new fuel regulations.

When I asked the Chairman of that Committee, he told me that it was a “porkie”. Did you really think I wouldn’t ask, Bill?

BEING NO MORE modest than vain, I was pleased/ proud that one of our past Gold Star Champions told a friend of mine that I was one of motor sport’s unsung heroes. Thanks John.

IN THE OLD days, when I was

recording things in vehicle log books such as modifications etc., I used to use a sort of ‘half-baked’ code so that if anyone was to read them, they wouldn’t know what it was saying. The only problem was that, often when I looked back over them, I used to think, ‘What the HELL does that mean?’

WE OFTEN HEAR people calling for ‘Natural Justice’.

The late Donald Thomson, who was Secretary General of CAMS, used to say that often natural justice was when the strong ate the weak! I like it!

WOULDN’T YOU THINK, hope even, that the Serial Offenders who often make contact with others in Historic racing and whose balls are bigger than their brains (and skill level) would have noticed that good drivers almost never have crashes! Look and learn fellas!

– Sheppo MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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the foges files

THE GOLDEN AGE OF RACING MEDIA

SEASONED SCRIBE MARK FOGARTY RECALLS THE ADVENTURES OF REPORTING FROM THE FIELD IN THE EARLY DAYS OF HIS CAREER

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ypewriter, tape recorder, telephone and telex. Before the internet, and even before personal computers, they were the four Ts of sports reporting.

You wrote stories on a typewriter, recorded interviews on a tape recorder and sent reports by landline telephone or telex. If you have to ask what any of these devices are, you’re too young to be reading this.

But if you were born before the 1980s, you’ll smile – or, more likely, grimace – at the memory of those mechanical devices. In this age of smart phones, tablets, digital recorders and e-mail, not to mention social media, it’s hard to imagine a time when communication wasn’t instantaneous. When I started as a teenage sports reporter in the mid-1970s, sending stories to a newspaper from an event involved dictating them on the phone to a copy taker at head office. More often than not, you were filing off the top of your head. Unless the event had a dedicated press room (rare) equipped with phone lines (expensive) installed by the news organisation, you called the paper reverse charge via an operator. Copy takers were a pool of (almost exclusively) women who typed up your words, correcting and 18

Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve among the media throng after Scheckter claimed the world title at the 1979 Italian GP at Monza. Photo: Mark Fogarty.

suggesting as you dictated from scrawled notes. Sounds laborious and time consuming, but it worked. Just as sending type-written, hardcopy manuscripts to magazines in the post – or, if it was a real rush, by express air freight – also did the job.

Work conditions for journalists at sports events, particularly motor sport meetings, were basic. At circuits, the press were lucky to get a small room with a view of the track.

TVs and phones? Forget it. To call your news outlet, you had to commandeer the phone in the race secretary’s office. You were often vying with competitors and the organisers themselves to use that one line.

Among the rare exceptions was Sandown, which had impressive facilities because of its primary purpose as a

horse racing track. There was a viewing area for the press in the grandstand and we had access to the turf writers’ press room. It had work benches and telephones, and we were served hot drinks, sandwiches, sausage rolls and cakes by a tea lady. Luxury!

Back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, sending reports back to Australia from overseas was a real adventure.

Remember, we’re talking about the days well before even fax machines and early portable computers, which would revolutionise on-theroad reporting in the mid-tolate ’80s.

My first big trip abroad was in the northern summer of 1979, taking in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and the Italian GP at Monza. I don’t remember much about

the press room at Zandvoort, so it can’t have been great.

Monza’s press room was crowded, chaotic and enveloped in a perpetual cloud of cigarette smoke. Ah, the good old days.

By then, I was doing motor sport reports for radio stations like the long-defunct 3XY in Melbourne – a Triple M-style music station that topped the ratings in that era – and sending ‘voicers’ to the newsrooms was a logistical nightmare. Placing an international collect call from Europe in those days was a long and slow process. You’d book the call with an operator and then wait. And wait. And wait. Half an hour, if you were lucky – much longer wasn’t unusual. And that was only if you went to a major central train station or post office, where there were dedicated banks of phone booths for international calls.

To report Alan Jones’ Dutch GP triumph involved driving from Zandvoort, which is by the sea, back into Amsterdam to book calls to Australia. When Jody Scheckter clinched the world championship at Monza, it meant returning to Milan’s city centre to yell down a very poor quality connection. It seems laughable now, but the lack of easy communications was the bane of my existence

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Mark Fogarty is motorsport writer for Fairfax Media and editor-at-large of Auto Action magazine. Foges has been covering racing for more than four decades.

as a reporter in those days.

Mind you, in hindsight, pit lane and paddock facilities for the F1 teams at Zandvoort and Monza in ’79 were also rudimentary. This was before Bernie Ecclestone got all OCD with F1 pit garages and paddocks, and the cars were prepared in tents out the back. No, really. Drivers and team luminaries were at the mercy of fans (who could get into the paddock back then) because there weren’t huge motorhomes or even haulers in which to hide. Some of the superstars could find sanctuary in small caravan-like motorhomes, but most of the drivers were easily accessible.

Speaking of track facilities reminds me of my first visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1981. Gasoline Alley was rows of wooden stable-like garages and, in a sign of the times, there was a notice at the entrance that neither women nor peanuts were allowed.

Women were still banned from Gasoline Alley in the dying days of American motor sport’s sexist stance, but why peanuts were prohibited remains unclear. Perhaps it was an historic hangover from when bags of peanuts cooked in their shells were a popular American snack. The thinking here is that (male) fans might have been shelling peanuts while leaning over the cars to get a good look. As they peered at the motors, bits of peanut shell could fall into the intake system.

Or maybe it was simply because IMS officials didn’t want peanut shells littering the ground in the garage area.

All I know is that the ban on women and peanuts in

Gasoline Alley had been lifted when I returned to the Indy 500 in ’83.

The Speedway’s incredibly cramped press room back then was located across from the public toilets at the back of one of the pit lane grandstands. A quirk of the conveniences was that there were no doors on the cubicles.

There is a story that Graham Hill was in such desperate need of defecating that he ducked into the public loos, only to find that he had to do his business in full view. The pukka Englishman was so appalled that he decided he could wait after

console, which encoded the words as lots of holes on a paper tape. The tape was then run through a reader that transmitted the story to the telex machine at the newspaper, where it was printed out.

It was a lot easier to call radio stations collect from the USA because the privately run system there was way more sophisticated than the then government-owned telcos in Europe. An operator would answer almost immediately and connect you as soon as the call charges were accepted at the other end. But even in the States, sending radio reports involved technical

As recently as 1979 Grand Prix pit facilities, such as the Williams tent at the Dutch GP in Zandvoort, were primitive compared to today’s pitlane garages. Photo: Mark Fogarty.

all. You couldn’t make up the stuff that made on-the-road reporting such an adventure as relatively recently as 30 years ago.

Earlier I mentioned the challenges of sending stories to newspapers and radio networks during the first 15 years of my career. Those early visits to the Indianapolis 500 involved filing to newspapers via telex because the time difference meant it was too early back in Australia to call a copy taker. You handed your type-written pages to an operator who retyped your copy on a cumbersome

gymnastics. Elsewhere, it could even be dangerous.

What started as an adjunct to writing in the late ’70s became a career as a sports broadcaster from the mid-’80s to early ’90s, covering major international events for radio networks in Australia, NZ, UK and USA. It meant lugging around a pair of bulky cassette tape machines to record and edit interviews and voice reports, and then feed them by phone to the stations.

The quality of international phone lines back then wasn’t great and the microphones

in telephone handsets were even worse. So to get the best sound possible for broadcast, you’d tap into the phone’s innards or the wiring behind the wall connection, attaching a lead from the tape machine’s headset jack. At the lead’s other end was a pair of alligator clips, which were clamped to the two contact points that by-passed the microphone and fed the audio straight down the line. I became an expert at dissembling phones or undoing wall plates. There was normally no risk as there’s not enough power in a phone or the line to give you an electric shock.

It would only be hazardous if the phone and power outlets were in close proximity, which for obvious reasons was rare.

But I found such a combination in Spain in 1991. I was staying at a hotel on the Mediterranean coast outside Barcelona for F1’s first race at the, then new, Circuit de Catalunya. Access to the phone line wiring in my room was behind the same covering plate as the power point’s gubbins.

Long story short, I touched with a small screwdriver what I thought was one of the phone line connectors.

Zap! I was thrown across the room by a bolt of electricity that, luckily, was not enough to hurt me. It was powerful enough, though, to burn a hole where the electric charge exited the screwdriver’s shaft.

That was the closest I ever came to real harm as a sports reporter – apart from sitting at traffic lights in Mexico City in the midst of an armed hold-up.

But that’s another story.

– Foges MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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Words DARREN HOUSE Photos AUTOPICS.COM.AU

THE CHRYSLER BUILDING WAS ONCE THE TALLEST STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD AND CONTINUES TO BE A FAMOUS LANDMARK IN THE WORLD’S MOST VIBRANT CITY – NEW YORK. BUT IN A DUSTY, RURAL TOWN HALF A WORLD AWAY, ‘CHRYSLER BUILDING’ HAD A TOTALLY DIFFERENT MEANING…

M

allala, South Australia, is home to a race circuit built on the site of the former RAAF Base Mallala and it was here that Chrysler Australia began weapons testing in preparation for an all-out assault against Holden and Ford in

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local touring car racing.

Leading the Pentastar charge was champion open-wheeler driver, Leo Geoghegan, who was introduced to the company via family friend, Brian Butler.

“Brian knew the family from the days when my father (Tom) raced Jowlett

cars,” said Leo. “Brian was working for the company that imported them and in 1969 he found himself the NSW sales manager for Chrysler. Brian approached me and said Chrysler wants to get into motor racing and he would like me to give them a hand.

“They were looking to change the

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Valiant image, which was staid and conservative. The company wanted to target a younger market so they brought out the Pacer. It had the slant-six motor, and they put some stripes down the side, lowered it a bit and put the gear-change on the floor.

At the time, Leo was committed to open-wheel racing, however he agreed to test the Pacer at Oran Park.

“After driving nice racing cars, I thought, ‘Gees, I could run faster than

this car’ but I was interested because I love cars and I love my motor racing, and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a third manufacturer in motor sport. And while the car was pretty ordinary, Brian said better things are going to happen.

“So I banged around in an old slant-six Pacer during ’69 but it was less than competitive – a good Mini Cooper was faster. In those early days the cars were entered under the Geoghegan Sport Cars banner, and were heavily sponsored by

Castrol, but the cars were owned and prepared by Chrysler.”

In addition to racing the cars, Chrysler wanted a driver who could also assist in their development.

“They needed someone to aim them in the right direction, which I found very challenging but enjoyable,” said Leo. “It was very interesting to work with a big company like Chrysler, and as we were in the car business, it gave us exposure to clients. It also gave our sponsors MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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Above: The Charger effort was supported by Leo’s long-time sponsors, Castrol and Firestone.

exposure as well, so it all fitted in well.

“Another aspect that made the program worthwhile was that I answered to Chrysler Australia General Manager, David Brown. David was a wonderful American and it was great to deal with the boss, instead of having to go to engineering people”, said Leo. “So I signed a contract for ’70 and ’71, which included racing Pacers as well as going to Adelaide for testing. It was then that they told me the Charger was going to happen. Chrysler planned to use the Hemi engine that they were developing for their mass market car because back then, the general public wanted roomy, six cylinder, five or six passenger motor cars but the company was also looking to expand that by having a sporty car aimed at the younger market – the Charger.”

Chrysler didn’t have a proving ground so it used Mallala for development.

With development beginning before Charger body shells became available – and to maintain secrecy – Chrysler used modified Valiant utes (shortened wheelbase and widened track) to simulate the Charger’s specification.

“They didn’t have anything like what the Charger was going to be so the decision to use the utes was practical, and to a degree, for secrecy. It was a very practical way to go about it because they didn’t have much money – our budget wouldn’t have paid General Motors’ public relations’ lunch money.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY A roll over at Amaroo Park, just prior to Bathurst 500, left Leo’s 1972 Great Race plan in turmoil.

“Don Holland, in his Holden, hit me up the arse and the Charger fell over,” remembered Leo. “It was pretty badly damaged in the body so we had to source a car, and the only car we could find was on a dealer’s floor in Sydney and it was painted orange. We just grabbed that car from the dealer – Chrysler would have recompensed him – and we put the mechanicals from the damaged car into the orange car.

“I was pretty cranky (about the shunt) and Chrysler might have been trying to calm me down by getting Sims Metal to crush the bent chassis into a one-metre cube – then they dropped it on my front lawn. But I was still cranky, not with the Chrysler blokes, just that we had all that aggravation caused by a little flea in a Torana, because he used to hit a lot of people.

“I moved the cubed Charger from my lawn and took it into our car yard where it was a bit of a conversation piece because you could still

Sports Car World Editor, Mel Nichols, with the remains of Leo’s rolled Charger.

see little bits of Castrol green paint and Firestone red paint on it. People would ask, ‘What’s that?’ and I would say, ‘Can’t you see? That’s my Charger?’

Eventually we were cleaning up things in the yard and we took it to the tip and threw it away.

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Norm Beechey used to say, ‘You’re not charging enough money’ but I’d reply, ‘Mate, I’m enjoying myself’. They were very generous, they were paying me and that helped subsidise my serious motor racing. And I enjoyed it immensely.

“I would go to Mallala and one day there was this funny, short utility with a six pack engine in it. The ute had nice wheels and tyres, and they said ‘let’s go out and do some testing and make sure nothing falls off’.

“I spent a lot of time in Adelaide – I had my own business (Geoghegans Sporty Cars) to run, along with my own motor racing commitments, but I would fly over there when necessary and bang around and see how we got on. It was fascinating.

“We did reliability testing and the car was bulletproof. We learnt a lot from the

Above: Norm Beechey tries a desperate move on the Falcon GT-HO of Denis O’Brien at Calder Park.

Below: Beechey with Allan Moffat at Sandown Park.

DODGING CONTROVERSY According to Leo, if it were not for Australian motor racing legend, Norm Beechey, our local Charger would have been branded Dodge rather than Valiant.

“Norm was a Chrysler dealer in Melbourne back in that era and Chrysler brought him over to Adelaide one day when I was there, to have a look at the clay model of the Charger,” explained Leo. “Chrysler originally wanted to call the car a Dodge Charger, after the American Dodge Charger but Norm made a very good point, he said, ‘Hey, you guys are selling Valiants, not Dodges, the car should be a Valiant Charger’ and everyone said, ‘Oh shit yeah, we should have thought of that.’ They were wonderful times.”

Breakages discovered through developing and racing Valiant Pacers allowed weaknesses to be engineered out of the Charger.

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Pacer because, towards the end of that program, particularly with the four-barrel carburettor, it was bloody quick but we were breaking things because we were going faster than the components were designed to go. We were breaking wheels, which was embarrassing, and we were breaking axle flanges, so that was all engineered out of the Charger.

“At the end of each day’s testing I would go back into Adelaide and ring David (Brown) and tell him how we got on – what was good, what was bad – it was his enthusiasm that made it all happen.

“Sometimes I would find myself in Adelaide only for a day or two and sometimes I’d stay longer. Often we were out at Mallala at first light and finish quite late in the evening. We would do mods (modifications), fiddle with springs and shocks and things like that to make sure everything was nice with the car.”

As expected, the Charger emerged, a vehicle he said was “a hell of a good car”.

“It had the Hemi motor, which Chrysler Australia had been working on.

It had some American influence, they played around with that engine in the ‘States but it was refined for Australian conditions by Chrysler in Adelaide. The engine man back then was Mike Stacey. It was a lovely engine.

“In sprint racing at Warwick Farm, Oran Park and Amaroo Park the car was quite quick and I enjoyed it but I was told something even better was going to happen to whet my appetite.

“So I continued to bang around with the ute and I knew straight away, from the early days, that we had a brake problem. At Mallala, which is a mile and a half around, 40 laps was 60 miles (100km), and I was wearing out a set of front brakes because Mallala is pretty hard on brakes. They get hot and they stay hot.

“I told Chrysler we need better brakes, which were available overseas – four spot calipers and bigger rotors – I said, ‘That’s the facts, fellas we need bigger brakes.

I am wearing out a set of front pads in 100km at Mallala’, and I was expected

Right top: Chrysler racing manager, John Ellis with the Hemi-powered VG Valiant test utes at Mallala.

Right bottom: The first Charger Leo drove was car #1, seen here during a Mallala test day.

Below: Geoghegan and Ellis discuss the development progress of the Charger’s wonderful six pack Hemi engine.

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DEBUNKING THE V8 CHARGER MYTH Against popular opinion, Leo Geoghegan says Chrysler was never going to build a V8 Charger.

“I’ll put the V8 myth to bed, even though people find it difficult to believe,” Leo said emphatically. “The company always planned to use the six-cylinder Hemi engine they were developing for their mass market car for want of seeing what would happen, they put a V8 into a test utes.

“The ute was tested when in late ’69 when I was in England so Chrysler had my brother Pete drive it. Pete said it went like a shit off a shovel but it didn’t steer and it didn’t stop,” Leo laughed.

“The short wheelbase Charger, with a big V8 in the engine bay, would not have worked so we weren’t going that way; it was never going to happen. The car was nose heavy (so) it was an under-steering car and under-braked, and with a V8 the car would have under-steered even more.

“And besides, Chrysler had run out of dough, not necessarily in Australia, but Chrysler was in crisis in America. I ran the last half of 1972 on sponsorship money because the Chrysler money had dried up. So Chrysler was done, they were not going any further.

Internet conspiracy theorists claim John Ellis (racing manager) was unaware of what David Brown (general manager) and Walt McPherson (chief engineer) Walt McPherson were up to when Walt ordered 200 340 V8s engines but it seems inconceivable that Chrysler’s GM – to whom Leo answered directly – would have kept him in the dark about plans to race a new chassis and engine combination that had proved uncompetitive during testing.

“I wasn’t privy to boardroom discussions but I was there to tell them what was going on, and the V8 program was abandoned in 1970. It wasn’t the right engine for that car. In any case, horsepower wasn’t the problem. I would have loved more squirt, but I didn’t need it, I needed better brakes. If the brakes weren’t up to the performance of the 265, more squirt from a 340 would have been counter-productive.”

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Leo’s Charger in a typical, wheel-up attitude ahead of Torana driver Don Holland at Warwick Farm.

to make them last for 1000km around Bathurst, which meant I had to nurse the brakes all day. That was frustrating.

“But they wanted the car to be as close to the standard Charger that people buy as possible, and I said you can’t win Bathurst with a car that you are going to sell to the public. I told them, ‘Guys I admire what you are doing but I can’t win Bathurst for you’, and of course, we didn’t. Ford and General Motors dodged around that bullet – let me tell you, the Charger was the most legal car that ever sat on the starting grid at Bathurst.”

“Chrysler thought I had been abusing the brakes, so at one stage they sent their brake people out to Mallala to have a look at what I was doing. After 40 laps I would normally come in to the pits to change pads and on this day, at around lap 38, the pedal felt a bit funny so I thought I would pop into the pits a couple of laps early to see what was going on.

“They pulled off the left hand front wheel and a piece of the rotor, shaped in a triangle, like a piece of sponge cake, fell onto the ground. I can still see, in my mind’s eye, the eyeballs of these two blokes looking at it.

“There was no point thinking about air scoops because we had too much temperature to get rid of – cold air wouldn’t have helped, plus it wouldn’t have been practical to put on a car that had to be sold to the public.

“That car could have won Bathurst with better brakes because I could lap quickly in practice but I had to drive five seconds under the car’s capability to make the

brakes live. We won lots of sprint races in the Charger because the brakes were very efficient over the short term but the brakes of those days would wear in a taper because the calipers flex and that is what happens on all (racing) production cars. One part of the pad you could almost shave on and the other end would be hardly worn. It’s not a problem under road usage because they don’t get to race temperatures.

“It was a great shame but that was their chosen path. (But) everyone played the same game. Ford and GM were trying to go as fast as they could with what they had. The rest of the car was wonderful.

We never lost an engine, we never had a gearbox problem and we never had an axle problem. We didn’t break anything at all.”

In addition to his development duties, Leo found it interesting to witness the Charger’s ‘birth’.

“The first ‘Charger’ I saw was made of clay, and the first car I drove was built by hand. That car is still alive and well somewhere in Adelaide – car #1.

“We never got the Charger going as quickly as the utes, for two reasons.

Firstly, I spent more time in the utes but secondly, the utes had big ballast tanks in the back to simulate the Charger’s weight. The tanks were laid horizontally on the floor but in hindsight, we should have stood them upright because the configuration we tested created a lower body mass than that of the Charger. I only thought of that years later,” Leo said laughing. “They were paying me money

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to tell them things (but) I suppose I was that busy telling them to get me better brakes that I didn’t think about that.

“So when I finally got to drive the Charger we had to make some changes to the rear suspension to compensate for the extra rear body mass that was high off the ground.”

Completing seemingly endless testing miles would drive many people mad, however Leo welcomed the track time.

“The reassuring thing was I knew nothing was going to fall off while we were racing, like they had with the Pacers.

I was always concerned about racing any production car at Bathurst because of the loads that banging around there all day was going to impose on a motor car.

“We would drive around with tin wheels and skinny tyres, and dropping down The Esses into The Dipper – for instance – for a few tenths of a second, the entire weight of the car is on the right-hand front wheel, tyre and suspension. Each time I drove through The Dipper and I emerged safely, I though that’s one less time I have to do it.

“The only chassis tuning we could do in those days was with shocks, and that worked pretty well. When I drove the Charger (in testing) and we were having trouble with body roll, we put an anti-sway bar on the back and it was good – it was considerably quicker – but it would not have been a good thing for the road because if your car is a bit stiff in the back, and you turn into a corner a bit quickly, the rear is likely to break away, which is not good for the average driver, particularly in a car that is doing 120mph (192km/h).

“But we were trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, that is what Bathurst was all about.

While the first of the racing Chargersthe E38 – was quipped with a three-speed gearbox, Leo didn’t see this as a handicap.

“It was only problem for Chrysler’s marketing, because while it was excellent for the road, the purists thought a sporty sedan had to have four gears. But with the torque characteristics of the Hemi engine – it had enormous low down power – the three-speed ’box is excellent.

TORANA THE NOT-SO-GREAT At the end of 1972 Leo Geoghegan retired from motor racing but it wasn’t long before he was back on the track, busier than ever.

“I stopped racing at the end of ’72, I had finished with my (CAMS) Gold Star type racing and I was sick of the hurley burley of series production racing, where ‘Fred Flange’ seized his chance of becoming a hero by passing Leo Geoghegan or Allan Moffat or Colin Bond and they would drive into their bloody door. It was a bit like the speedway. It was perfectly safe up the front with Moff and John French and Bondy and Brocky – that was no hassle – but there were blokes who were trying to get up the front and they were a bit out of their depth, so I retired at Lakeside at the end of ‘72.”

After a brief holiday, Leo’s phone began to ring.

“People wanted me to drive cars for them and so I unretired fairly quickly,” said Leo. After Reg Mort asked Leo to steer his ex-Brian Foley Porsche 911 in sports sedan events, and Biranna designer, Tony Alcock, wanted him to drive a factory entry in the Australian Formula 2 Championship (he won the title), Leo was busier than ever.

“In 1973 I raced on 48 weekends out of 52, and sometimes driving both cars at the same meeting – so much for retirement,” he said.

Long-time sponsor, Castrol, also wanted him to contest the Bathurst 1000, though a return to Mount Panorama wasn’t part of Leo’s plan.

“I didn’t want to go to Bathurst in ‘73 but Castrol asked me to share the (HDT Torana) with Brocky and I said ‘of course’. When we got to Bathurst they said I had to share with Bondy and I said no problem – he was every bit as quick as Brocky. By ‘73 the cars were modified (to Group

C rules). Brocky’s car had Weber carburettors, and our car had SUs and it wouldn’t go up the hill. It was a slow car but that’s the way it went.

I didn’t like the car, it was pretty ordinary.

“You needed to be a Torana driver to go quickly because you had to be accustomed to them to get any sort of speed out of it. I spoke to Brocky’s co-driver and fellow ex-Charger driver, Doug Chivas about it – you had to get the car up on three wheels, but to be really quick you had to get them up on two wheels.

“But we’d been recruited to be ‘second’ drivers, just to give Bondy and Brocky a lunchtime break and neither of us knew how far was too far on two wheels (I’d only driven a Torana once before Bathurst and that was just bedding in brakes at Calder late one evening. Doug didn’t get into the car at all until Bathurst), so we had to drive conservatively because we would have had egg on our face if we had fallen over during our stint at the wheel.

“In contrast, the Charger was a much more drivable car – in fact, Doug and I were probably spoilt by the Charger because it was a very driveable car.

“Brocky and Bondy were used to the Toranas so they were quicker, but even Bondy, in our SU-equipped car, just didn’t have enough squirt.

We came third, but only because of attrition. The thing just went round and round all day, and a few other cars failed to finish, but our car was off the pace.”

A handful of privately-entered Chargers contested the ‘73 Bathurst 1000, the best performing of those being the sixth placed E49 of Ray Kaleda and Peter Granger. The event was won Allan Moffat and Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan in a factory-entered XA Ford Falcon hardtop.

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2/12/14 5:16:42 PM

At Bathurst it was not a problem at all – okay, the cars were slow off the line, but you only left the line once, but out on the track you only used second and top, and with the engine’s flexibility, that was fine.

“There was a downside in sprint racing – the car was ultra-competitive in 10 to 15-lap events where brakes weren’t an issue and I could put the car on pole but because it was slow off the grid, a Torana, or perhaps a Torana and a couple of HOs would get me off the line, and then I would have the problem of passing them.

“But once the car was running, the ratios were fine – they suited Bathurst particularly well. When we finally got the (E49) four-speed (gearbox) in ’72, it was a good gearbox (but not a close-ratio box like Holden and Ford had), but it gave me two gears to get off the line in sprint racing. There was a gap between second and third, so at Bathurst I still only used third and fourth gears. Even coming out of The Cutting it was better staying in third and using the engine’s torque rather

than going back to second and revving the buggery out of it.

Along with the four-speed gearbox, Leo said the E49 was “a better car, full stop.

“They extracted a bit more horsepower from it – that was the main difference, together with the gearbox. If we had that car a little bit earlier it would have been good but we were still butting our heads up against the wall with brakes. If we’d have spent money on bigger discs and

better calipers on the front we would have had a winning car.

“At Bathurst we lost by a lap over a day’s racing while having to drive three seconds under the car’s capability to make the brakes live. But after every Bathurst there is one bloke who wins and ten more who might have…

Mid-1972 marked the beginning of the end for the racing program, with Chrysler ending it’s team funding.

“From mid-year up until Bathurst, the race program and funding was taken over by the Chrysler Dealer Team, which was just a group of dealers that were tipping in to pay my expenses, which weren’t very high by then – we only did half a dozen races.”

By year’s end, it was all over for Leo. “Chrysler was very kind, they gave me the Charger and one of the utes as a tow car – it was a ripper tow car – and we just put them in the car yard and sold them because we had no further use for them.

It was the end of an era.

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MSL27 p20-28 Leo.indd 28

26/06/2013 1:50:44 PM

28/11/14 6:54:29 PM

O F F I C I A L 5 0 T H A N N I V E R S A RY E D I T I O N

HOLDEN EH C E L E B R AT I O N C L O C K

•

INTRICATELY ATELY TELY SCULPTED TED AND PAINTED INTED BY H HA HAND ND

•

MEASURE AN MEASURES IMPRESSIVE MPRESSIVE 40C 40CM TALL LL

•

PRECISION ION QUARTZ QUARTZ QU MOVEMENT MENT MENT

IT MOVES! The EH pulls out of the servo on the hour

))

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™ General Motors LLC

AUTHENTIC PERIOD DETAIL DETA ET IL SET ETA SETS S THE SCENE

Requires 2 AA batteries (not included). Sound may be turned off.

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MSL27 p29 ad Bradford Exchange.indd 29

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24/11/14 11:22:36 AM

PO# 228389 | sent 20/10/14

RESTORATION TOOLS SHRINKER STRETCHERS SHST-1.2H

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(S2262)

$

• 1.6mm mild steel capacity • 1 x set of shrinking dies • 1 x set of stretching dies • 205mm throat depth

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275

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EWM-75

• 711mm throat capacity • 1.6mm mild steel capacity • 2mm Copper & aluminium cap.

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242

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715

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264

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121 (S2232)

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198 (H886)

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$

88 (H885)

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TPD-3 STEEL TAPERED DOLLY SET

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99 (S2231)

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BDL-1 STEEL BOWL DOLLY

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132 (S2237)

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DS-880 STAND (S2238)

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165

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METAL PANEL RESTORATION DOLLIES

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27.50 (W114)

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495

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Pack of 4 • Adjustable thickness clamp: 0-7mm • Ideal for automotive applications & effective for positioning body panels prior to welding

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649

$

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24/11/14 11:14:34 AM

Words & Photos BRIAN ZANA

WHEN A VIETNAM VETERAN FIRST LAID EYES ON A MUSTANG IN 1964 IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A LIFE-LONG LOVE AFFAIR.

I

have been fortunate to attend many great automotive events and this past April was no exception. I found myself at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 50th anniversary celebration of the iconic Ford Mustang.

In attendance were die-hard owners and fanatics of the beloved Mustang and one of those owners and his story peaked my interest.

As I was walking around the event I had the chance to speak to more Mustang owners than I ever imagined were on this planet. Many of these owners were from a Mustang club in Oregon, the Mustang

Wranglers of Oregon.

They told me about their own car and then each one would mention their buddy Jack and his ’64 Mustang. After speaking with a few of his friends, I realised that Jack was the original owner of his ‘64 coupe, and was given a parking spot right at the main entrance to the event.

After taking in the event for a few hours, I found myself back at the entrance of the speedway, looking to find Jack and his sunlight yellow Mustang.

Well it didn’t take long before I was shaking Jack’s hand and introducing

myself. We took a walk around his car and he began to tell me about how he came to purchase it.

Jack Blakeley was in the US armed forces and returned from Vietnam in August of 1964. One of the first things he did was go out with some friends and enjoy a few drinks, but the next morning he knew he needed to buy a car. You see, when servicemen returned from combat duty they were given a bonus of sorts and this is what Jack had to fund his car purchase.

I asked Jack if he remembered how much his cheque was for, and he replied

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p31-33 Mustang.indd 31

31

28/11/14 6:04:02 PM

Jack’s Mustang has been repainted many times but the engine has only been rebuilt once in 430,000 miles.

that he thought it was around $2200.

Well, when Jack went looking for a car that day he found himself at the local Ford dealer, staring at the first Mustang he had ever laid eyes on.

He asked the salesman how much it was and was told $2500, plus $90 for the air-conditioning package. Jack told the salesman, “I only have $2200” and the salesman was ready to walk away until Jack told him it was a cash deal.

That sealed the deal and Jack became the proud owner of a 1964 Mustang coupe.

After hearing such a great story we settled down to discuss some of the car’s history. Jack told me the car had been repainted the original colour numerous times, due to it being a daily driver with 430,000 miles (692,000km)

on the odometer.

I paused for a moment and asked him to repeat the mileage, as I was shocked to hear such a large number. Jack confirmed that I wasn’t hearing things, adding that the car’s drivetrain had only been rebuilt twice during this time frame.

I asked Jack if there were any modifications done to the car or if it was all stock.

“The car still has the manual steering and brakes but I did upgrade the suspension a little,” he replied. “I also added a Monte Carlo bar and sub-frame connectors, as the suspension started to wear out over the years. I’ve lost track of how many sets of shocks, brake shoes, oil changes, air filters and other wear parts the car has gone through.”

The Mustang still has the original

“...THE SALESMAN WAS READY TO WALK AWAY UNTIL JACK TOLD HIM IT WAS A CASH DEAL. THAT SEALED THE DEAL AND JACK BECAME THE PROUD OWNER OF A 1964 MUSTANG COUPE.” 32

owner’s manual in the glove box and sports a dash plaque from Ford confirming that Jack is the original owner.

During our interview, some of his fellow Mustang Wrangler Club members gathered to hear what Jack had to say about his car. They confirmed Jack has been with the club many years and been a member of the Mustang Club of America for more than 20 years. You could tell they all respected him and admired how he has kept such an amazing car on the road all these years.

I asked Jack who he had to kill for such a prime parking spot at the event and he laughed and replied, “I was shocked when the car was given the spot right out front!”

He told me that his car was going to be on the boardwalk in front of the New York New York Hotel and Casino that night for the official Mustang anniversary event. I told him I would be in attendance and would be looking for it.

It was no surprise that such a rare and special car would receive two great

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p31-33 Mustang.indd 32

28/11/14 6:04:06 PM

display spots this event.

As we started to wrap up our discussion, I joked with Jack about how he probably had some grandchildren that were eager to inherit the car. Jack laughed and stated, “There are a few but I know who is going to get it”. I told him I wouldn’t pry so as to leave it a surprise for the next lucky owner.

We said our goodbyes, and as I started to walk away, I took one more picture of Jack’s one owner beauty.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p31-33 Mustang.indd 33

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28/11/14 6:04:11 PM

Words GLENIS LINDLEY Photos www.autopics.com.au

IN 1980 FORMER FORD STALWART, JOHN GOSS, EMBARKED ON A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP JAGUAR’S XJ-S INTO A RACE WINNER. BOUNCING BACK FROM DISASTER IN 1984, GOSS TOOK HIS BIG CAT TO MOUNT PANORAMA…

F

ollowing Sir Jack Brabham’s funeral earlier this year, we were standing around chatting as John Goss approached our group. “Gossy hasn’t aged much has he?” someone commented.

While the reason for his youthful looks may remain a secret, Goss’

34

achievements are well known, and this talented and versatile open-wheel and touring car legend can look back on a highly successful motor racing career that spanned around three decades.

Melbourne-born, Tasmanian-raised, and now a Sydney resident, Goss is proud of his historic achievement of winning

both the Bathurst 1000 and the 41st Australian Grand Prix.

Having initially established himself as a highly regarded Ford man in the ‘60s and ‘70s, his switch to Jaguar in 1980 was surprising to his followers.

“I don’t like the word ‘switch’: it was more a matter of working with a

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p34-40 Goss Jaguar.indd 34

29/11/14 6:30:20 PM

manufacturer that offered more potential down the track”, explained Goss.

His years spent developing and racing Jaguars attracted considerable attention, with his second (nerve-wracking, but thrilling) Bathurst victory with German international, s Armin Hahne, coming eleven years after his Ford triumph at Mount Panorama, in 1974.

After researching Jaguar’s potential for motor racing within Australia, Goss, an acclaimed automotive engineer and race-car developer, commenced a

five-year program in conjunction with Jaguar Rover Australia, and with direct support from Jaguar Cars (UK) and Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR).

“During the 1950s, Jaguar had established racing history in Europe and Australia. Later, around 1978, they were considering a renewed effort, initially with touring cars”, stated the former Ford identity with renewed enthusiasm for this new challenge.

“I had always enjoyed driving Jaguars. They had strong engines, good

suspension design and were beautifully balanced”, Goss declared.

“I considered that these sound engineering features would resonate in development of the XJ-S for racing. Of course we planned to conform to Group C regulations, but there was some scope to do it my way”, he added.

Part of his agreement with Jaguar was to help promote the marque. As photographer on one occasion, I will always remember a Jaguar Day at Surfers Paradise International Raceway. After the MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p34-40 Goss Jaguar.indd 35

35

29/11/14 6:30:22 PM

John Goss and crew pose with Goss’ Group C car prior to the start of the Bathurst 1000.

day finished, John asked me if I enjoyed driving fast. No second invitation was needed, and we were soon squealing through the esses at the back of the circuit. His phenomenal car control left me in awe of his expertise behind the wheel – and what tremendous fun it was!

In 1980, Goss entered his nearstandard Group C Jaguar, (chassis 101) for the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 (with co-driver Ron Gillard). He qualified mid-field, but his race lasted only a few laps following terminal gearbox problems. From then on, things could only improve, with the Goss/Jaguar era developing after that unfortunate shakedown.

The next year Goss recruited co-driver Barry ‘Bo’ Seton, while Bob Tullius, an acclaimed American circuit racer, was his partner in 1982. By 1984 Goss was ready to share his Bathurst effort with TWR owner, Tom Walkinshaw. The Scotsman brought with him considerable technical resources direct from the European Touring Car Championship, where he’d claimed this important title for Jaguar.

“Problems adapting Euro-spec tyres to the car here hindered our efforts, although the car in Group C aero-trim was very fast, reaching 183mph on Conrod Straight”, Goss recalled.

36

On race day however, the Goss outfit suffered a cruel blow when the Scot failed to get the big cat to spring off the line.

With a slipping clutch, Walkinshaw was left sitting on the grid, arm out the window, franticly waving to the following field. But the inevitable happened – chaos erupted as he was slammed from behind, immobilizing the Wang Jaguar, and bringing the race to a standstill. The event was subsequently re-started; a first in Bathurst history, but it was a disaster for Goss and his international star, who withdrew.

“I felt disappointed and frustrated.

I had a lot at stake and wondered how I would recover financially given the investment in the program, the event, and my relationship with TWR”, Goss remembers clearly.

The following year’s Great Race, run under Group A regulations, turned out to be a particularly exciting and memorable event. Returning with three works ‘Tomcats’, Walkinshaw was anxious to make amends for the previous disappointment, given the car’s great potential.

The cars were factory prepared in the UK, and considering Jaguar’s success overseas, it was considered unnecessary to compete at Sandown which was regarded locally as the traditional Bathurst curtain-raiser; TWR went straight to the mountain. This operation involved significant staff, and tonnes of spares and equipment.

Walkinshaw shared his car with regular co-driver Win Percy (#8); another Englishman, Jeff Allam teamed with local

“THIS WAS BAD NEWS, I KNEW I NEEDED TO LAP FASTER, BUT WAS EFFECTIVELY UNRESTRAINED AT THE WHEEL  A DANGEROUS SITUATION. THE BACKREST, NOW COMPLETELY SEVERED BUT RESTRAINED AT THE TOP WITH CABLE TIES, WAS PUSHING MY HELMET FORWARD COVERING MY EYES, SO I HAD TO KEEP LIFTING IT TO CLEAR MY VISION.”

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p34-40 Goss Jaguar.indd 36

29/11/14 6:30:24 PM

Ron Dickson (#9); while Goss partnered Armin Hahne (#10).

From early practice it was obvious that the V12 Group A Jaguars, with their distinctive howl, would be the cars to beat – all three foreign invaders made the cut for the Hardies Heroes qualifying shoot-out, topping the time sheet. On Friday afternoon, Goss thrilled his fans, recording a time of 2min 19.7sec, taking provisional pole.

“Looking back, these TWR Jags seemed the ultimate Bathurst car. The V-12 pulled relentlessly up the mountain; they were electrifying along the top, and were nudging 170mph along Conrod.

“Having tested these cars at Donington and Silverstone, and then having practiced at Bathurst, I confided with Armin that, not withstanding our team role, if we could avoid an unscheduled stop, we would win this race in chassis 004”, declared Goss.

In the top ten Shootout, an error relegated the Goss/ Hahne Jaguar to sixth on the grid. With little experience on these particular qualifying tyres, Goss received conflicting advice from Walkinshaw and Percy – which didn’t help! One said to warm them up gradually, the other suggested going hard immediately – but there was another

1980

1982

1984

1986

problem, too.

“As I crested Skyline and dropped into the esses, I changed down, but the gearbox went up to fourth, sending the car into a slide. Somehow, I managed to save it! I abandoned the lap, but as I arrived back at the pits Tom came over and thanked me for saving #004, adding that my recovery was some of the best car control he had seen”, recalled Goss.

With Walkinshaw taking pole, and Allam/Dixon alongside on the front row, TWR expectations were high.

“The start was delayed and I became concerned with high coolant temperatures, resulting in my decision to stabilize the engine before pushing hard in the early laps”, explained Goss, who eventually slotted into second on lap 12, behind Walkinshaw, but then the dramas began.

“Around lap 15, the seat started to move on its mount, causing difficulties as the race progressed. I began to sense this movement and radioed Blue (senior mechanic, Ian ‘Blue’ Dorward). Understandably, they didn’t want to bring the car in immediately, as we were lapping consistently at the front. It was agreed that I stay out and it would be checked at the first stop”, said Goss.

“The seat was a composite Recaro

capsule. Later, I learned that this particular seat was previously fitted to another team car involved in a heavy crash”, he added. “I suggested retrieving the seat from the retired #9 but was overruled by the mechanics.”

As Armin continued into the second stint, he voiced renewed concerns about the seat.

“Back in the pit, I talked again with Grant O’Neil [crew chief] and the mechanics about a repair scheme, as a contingency plan. We considered the seat remain bolted to the chassis, but it had fractured through the lower back, providing no lateral support when cornering at high speed – this made it difficult to feel the car,” stated Goss.

Goss ‘took some therapy’ from the TWR masseuse and prepared for the lunchtime stint, hoping his mechanics would be able to stabilize the seat problem before he re-joined the fray.

“As I left the pit I confirmed brakes, and checked the radio. Driving on, I could occasionally see Tom in the distance. 004 felt good mechanically and I settled into a good rhythm.

“However, as the laps reeled off, the seat again became unstable. This had the effect of loosening the harness, which was a concern, as I could not fully sense MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p34-40 Goss Jaguar.indd 37

37

29/11/14 6:30:26 PM

the car’s balance in high-speed corners, and I was suffering muscle fatigue by the time I made it to the third stop.

“During this scheduled stop, the mechanics fitted a supplementary strut, which Grant had fabricated earlier, to support the seat, but in an anxious effort to strap Armin in, the boys failed to connect his radio plug”, Goss recalled.

Hahne continued in the race, initially setting adequate times, but unable to communicate with the pit. Then, unexpectedly, there was concern when Walkinshaw made an unscheduled stop with a punctured oil radiator, to take on oil.

After debriefing, still feeling sore, Goss paid a second visit to the team masseuse, rested, and then returned early to take the final stint.

“This was a flurry of activity as the team once again descended on the seat in an urgent attempt to prevent it

38

Top: Following its 1985 Bathurst win, Group A XJ-S was taken to Jaguar Australia’s head office in Moorebank for a dealer presentation. Minor damage, such as bonnet, bumper and guard dings (above), were repaired prior to the function. Photos: Jaguar Magazine. Below: John Goss in the pits during the 1985 Bathurst 1000. Note the pitboard on the left of photo.

from failing. The boys strapped me in. I shouted, ‘Don’t forget the radio’, slid out of the pit, checked my brakes and hurried down pit lane.

“As I turned left to accelerate up Mountain Straight, the seat yielded to

the right. I called Blue and reported this, thinking, ‘I’m on my own now, this is going to be a hell of a ride’.”

With 33 laps remaining, Goss struggled to come to grips with his predicament, although the car itself remained mechanically strong.

“Continuing with the race, I was advised that we were still in the lead, but that Peter [Brock] was 45 seconds behind, and closing.

“This was bad news, I knew I needed to lap faster, but was effectively unrestrained at the wheel – a dangerous situation.

“With 12 laps to go I was in a distressed state and decided not to read the lap board again, but focus all my concentration on staying on the road in the fast-handling sections.

“I turned [my attention] back to my Jaguar, increased peak rpm to 7200 up the mountain, and on the straights, pushed deeper on braking limits, and activated cooling pumps for brakes, gearbox and rear axle. This technique improved my times and Blue was able to confirm the gap back to Peter had stabilised at 22 seconds, which was some relief!

“At this time, all lateral seat support had gone, and I supported myself by hooking my left foot under the clutch pedal and alternately, propping my right elbow on the door, to minimise cramp.

“The backrest, now completely severed but restrained at the top with cable ties, was pushing my helmet forward covering my eyes, so I had to keep lifting it to clear my vision.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

MSL27 p34-40 Goss Jaguar.indd 38

2/12/14 11:35 PM

Goss recruited American driver, Bob Tullius, to co-drive his Group C XJ-S in 1982.

“I pushed on, receiving encouragement from the team, and eventually chanced a look at the board, showing three to go”, Goss clearly remembered.

“It was only then that I thought I could make it to the end. Soon after, I sighted the ‘final lap’ flag, signalling one to go.

“Along the top, I eased slightly and scanned the mirrors for Tom’s car. As I ran down Conrod, I saw him coming up fast behind, with lights blazing, as he crested the first hump.

“After we crossed the line, I signalled Tom to stay tight, disregarded the ‘turn-in’ (to the paddock) sign on Mountain Straight, and continued on for one more celebratory lap.”

Johnny Cecotto/ Roberto Ravaglia finished second in their BMW 635Csi on the same lap, and unknown to Goss, Brock had already retired with engine failure.

“Over the top, we nudged forward in first gear, as thousands of happy fans parted to allow us passage,” he recalled,

as this popular win was acknowledged.

“Back at the finish, we rolled to a stop, nose-to-tail, and as I tumbled out into a throng of officials and fans, Tom ran forward to embrace me. Our helmets bumped, stunning us, but that didn’t matter, Jaguar had won Bathurst, finishing first and third.

“Pushing our way through the cheering crowd to the podium, I heard a single

voice call out – ‘Don’t worry Gossy, Balmain boys don’t cry,” he remembered with a hint of emotion at the memory.

On the podium, Tom and Win hoisted Goss up on their shoulders, hitting his head on the concrete above.

“Once again I nearly got knocked out, but it didn’t matter, as I’d managed to avoid serious injury in getting the car to the finish,” continued Goss.

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MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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“I was completely elated. It was the culmination of my five-year plan, and vindication for the effort that went into the Jaguar project, especially after the disappointment of 1984.

“It was unfinished business. Who knows how we would have ended up had Tom been able to start that race, but now – one year later – I was able to celebrate and make a point.

“Closing the book on Bathurst like that is a happy memory, but so too was pole in 1973 and my first win in 1974,” declared Goss, the man who did it his way – but always with limited resources.

In 1986, Walkinshaw asked Goss to return to Bathurst with TWR, but the plan was later dropped. So, that year, Goss entered his original car (chassis #101) independently, as the Citibank Jaguar, with Bob Muir co-driver. Goss Racing had previously reconstructed this car to TWR Group A specs and it remained a spare for the ’85 effort.

“In 1986, we ran well late into the race until Bob stopped on Mountain Straight with a flat battery. He eventually returned to the pits and I took over and drove to finish eighth overall,” Goss concluded.

Top: Current owner of the Bathurst-winning XJ-S, Mike Roddy, said his first drive in the car was an emotional experience.

Photo: Peter Ellenbogen. Above: Tom Walkinshaw and Win Percy hoist Goss onto their shoulders, while winning co-driver Armin Hahne watches on. Below: Goss crosses the line to win the 1985 Bathurst 1000, vindicating his belief that the big cat could win on The Mount. Behind Goss is the third place XJ-S of Tom Walkinshaw and Win Percy.

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MIKE’S MOUNTAIN TAMER

Interview & Photos DARREN HOUSE

IT’S ONLY FITTING THAT A JAGUAR XJ-S FAMOUS FOR TAMING MOUNT PANORAMA IN 1985 SHOULD RETURN TO AUSTRALIA AND BE CARED FOR BY ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S FOREMOST JAGUAR SPECIALISTS, MIKE RODDY…

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DH: The car is best known for winning Bathurst but it has had considerable success elsewhere.

Mike Roddy: The car was built in January, 1984 for the European Touring Car Championship. It won the SPA 24 hour race and a few other races during the ETCC. Later, the car was sent to Macau, finishing second in the Macau Grand Prix. It was presented in black and gold JPS colours for this one race and then back to England. The Jaguar was rebuilt in 1985 for Bathurst by the talented Ian ‘Blue’ Dorward of New Zealand, who was Tom Walkinshaw’s crew chief on the Group A team by this stage (he had a lot to do with setting up HRT after the Jaguar program).

After Bathurst ’85, it returned to England where it was lightened and rebuilt – one of the improvements was a change from a brass radiator to an aluminium item, an improved airbox system and oil coolers and further lightening and more power. The team prepared the car for Bathurst ’86 but that campaign didn’t come off, so it went to race at Mt Fuji in Japan, and also in New Zealand, where it raced in early ‘87 at the Wellington street race. The car recorded

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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the fastest lap but DNF after blowing a tyre and crashing into the guard rail. That was its last race.

So the car has raced in New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Macau, Austria, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, UK and Belgium. It’s got around a lot and it has had a huge list of drivers, too.

Was it the ‘third car’ in Walkinshaw’s ’85 Bathurst campaign?

Tom’s car had all the money spent on it, which is the car that finished third, his car travelled in the transporter while ours arrived at Bathurst on a tandem trailer.

Tom’s car had the works, but this one delivered every time it went out, it was just one of those cars. Just a bit of a freak really.

How did you come to acquire the xjs?

I wanted to buy a Jaguar with a race history – I had been working on Jags all my life from when I was 15 (I am 57 now).

I built a few Jag race cars and I’ve got a car I used very successfully to race in marque sports and we have also got a sports sedan with a Group C specification TWR V12. I thought I would like to get a Jaguar with history so I started looking at some group C cars in Europe and it just started getting a bit too expensive. Then I started looking at Group A cars and I put in a bid on another XJ-S and just missed that – Jag bought that one and put it into their museum. Then this one came up and 12-18 months later and I bought it without knowing that it had (Bathurstwinning) history. When we found out, it was a bit of a thunderbolt for us.

Owning the car is a very special privilege and driving it is quite an experience. It was such a big player internationally, it did everything it was meant to do and then some. Every time it had a sniff of a racetrack it would win and for me to be sitting in it and starting the engine up at Winton for the first time was a very emotional time for me. And it has a sound like no other car – if the howl of it coming down Conrod Straight at Bathurst doesn’t get you, there’s something wrong with you.

“I WANTED A JAGUAR WITH HISTORY … THIS ONE CAME UP AND I BOUGHT IT WITHOUT KNOWING THAT IT HAD BATHURSTWINNING HISTORY. WHEN WE FOUND OUT, IT WAS A BIT OF A THUNDERBOLT FOR US.” Have you restored it to the ’85 spec?

I didn’t have to restore it; the car has never been restored. This car is in its original tune, it has the original paint, wiring, engine, trans, diff and shockers.

I am driving a piece of history. What I did was put the Bathurst signage back onto it. In saying that, the car may have been restored when Tom sold it, in 1989 – I have that receipt at home – but it certainly hasn’t had a restoration since then. It still has the original motor, gearbox, diff, the original lightweight glass and all of the features that it had in the beginning. It’s got a lot of little signs of use on it, a lot of little chips and patina all over it. I count myself very lucky to have it, that’s for sure.

I’ve got a photo of it coming down the production line, which I got from Paul Davis; he was the crew chief back in 1984 for Tom Walkinshaw. It shows him walking the car down the line (they were lightweight shells with some subtle modifications) and it’s got ‘Special One’

written on the back quarter panel, and no paint, of course!

I have collected photos of the car from most of the people that worked on it. I went to visit people in England, NSW and New Zealand and I met up with Graham Hodgson – who was a TWR mechanic in the UK and worked on the car in period – and Grant O’Neil, who was Goss’ fabricator, and they helped confirmed the car’s providence to me along with many other former TWR employees, including Gossy himself.

They all seemed to have quite an attachment with this car and the period in which it raced, as most people do.

You race the car. are you not worried about damaging it?

I race it alright, though I don’t go all out in terms of going all out for the win. I have seen videos of people driving them in Europe and they just belt them so hard, I would never do that to this. The car is certainly something you have to MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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Above left: The XJ-S is unrestored so everything about the car is just as it was in the day, apart from the broken Bathurst seat.

Above right: Roddy has a huge Jaguar memorabilia collection, including a Tom Walkinshaw helmet and a brand new TWR Jaguar jacket. Right: The well-equipped boot houses some tell-tale repairs that proved the car’s idenity.

Left: TWR Speedline wheels are unobtainable today.

respect and take good care of, because it’s a piece of history. I think most of the competitors in the historic group are like that with their cars, there are not too many people who don’t realise that they are driving a bit of history, though I think I am probably the only guy racing a Bathurst winner.

A lot enthusiasts have an emotional connection with this car because of what it’s achieved so I have to be careful of it or I’ll be in big strife!

Most cars of this stature are away in museums, but I see that as a bit criminal in a way because the cars were built to use in the first place. And attending historic events is such a great thrill, it’s just incredible to get on the grid, with all those beautiful cars.

We did have a period where the car and 44

I were getting used to one another, but I’m pretty careful with the car. I don’t over rev it. It’s been really good, quite reliable and it still has the original engine in it. We have had a look at it, but it’s ticking over like a dream. It’s obviously built to go 24 hours flat out; I have no doubt about that. You can just run it for hour after hour and none of the gauges move, it’s very strong. It could probably do with a little bit of a freshen-up now.

We have a little team that’s essentially my son Jordan, who helps me prepare the car, and the guys from work (Mike Roddy Motors). We are just a little team and close knit team.

What’s it like to drive other than being reliable?

I have changed it a little bit from the way

(TWR) set it up. It was set up to slide a bit at the time but I’ve got a bit more respect for the car. We changed the suspension, shockers and springs a little bit and it’s easier to drive now, but it’s still not for the faint hearted – you have to know how to drive it, but it’s lovely to drive once you understand it. The car doesn’t have power steering but it has a lot of power and ripper brakes, so it’s still very competitive. The wheels are 11-inch wide on the front and 12-inch on the rear, and it’s got 12-inch rubber all around.

I’ve had a few wins. I won the Winton Festival of Speed a few years ago, beating one of the factory (RWD) Skylines. Even though Winton is a twisty track, that doesn’t faze the car at all – it goes extra well at Winton.

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Words DARREN HOUSE Photos JOHN LEMM

THESE DAYS 1983 LE MANS WINNER AND EX-FORMULA ONE DRIVER, VERN SCHUPPAN, SPENDS HIS WEEKENDS DRIVING SOME VERY DIFFERENT MACHINERY, SUCH AS A PAIR OF MUCH-LOVED 1963 AMERICAN FORD FALCON SPRINTS…

V

ern Schuppan has raced some of the world’s most exotic machinery, and he’s owned some very nice road cars, including a Gull Wing Mercedes,

46

a Porsche 959 and Steve McQueens’s 275-GTB/4 Ferrari, so you might wonder why he is so passionate about a pair of 1963 Ford Falcon Sprints.

But like most of us, the South-

Australian-based international motor racing star maintains a passion for the type of vehicles he fell in love with in his youth.

“For me, it’s about aesthetics – a

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particular design and shape – and I was an apprentice spray painter and panel beater at the time those Falcons were released, not that the little V8 came to Australia – I still recall the impact those cars had on me.

“A friend of mine, when I went to England – Murray Rainey – had a red coupe, not the Sprint V8. I went to work with him and travelled around quite a bit in that car, so I just had a bit of a soft spot

for them.”

Despite his attraction to early Falcon’s, other cars also grabbed the young Schuppan’s imagination.

“There was a Twin Cam (MGA) in town (Whyalla) and I thought, “Oh God, look at that thing.” That was owned by a local taxi company operator Max Challenger – and it was a colour called Glacier Blue, which was a greeny-blue colour.

Whenever they needed to rush somebody to Adelaide or blood to the Adelaide Hospital they’d use this MGA Twin Cam. There were also a red Austin Healy 100 and a (Triumph) TR2 in town, so I thought those cars and the guys who had them were really cool (laughs).

“I’ve had a TR2 and I’ve currently got a Twin Cam, which I’ve had fully restored, that car is the same colour, so the chances MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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The Falcon Sprint wasn’t sold new in Australia but Vern has plenty of experience with right-hand gear sticks...

are I bought the Whyalla car. I’ve never had the time to research it properly but there weren’t many of them around.”

Already possessing a love of early Falcons, Vern was drawn to the Sprint variant because of its 260V8 engine.

“I’ve always loved V8s,” he said. “That engine doesn’t have a great deal of horsepower but it is still a V8 and it is a very

Vern has always loved V8s and while this 260 is no powerhouse, it still makes a delightful V8 rumble.

48

cool little car. I wouldn’t mind dropping a slightly larger V8 in but I never will, but fitting a four-speed gearbox will make it a bit more fun. Those old automatic transmissions aren’t much chop.

“There are not that many Sprints around and although the later Sprints are a bit more edgy looking, I have always liked that rounded shape with the round

tail lights”.

Vern owns two Sprints – a pale blue car that he assembled from a pile of parts, along with a black version; a more recent acquisition that was, at one time, owned by the president of the US Sprint club.

“I bought my blue Falcon from Phil Hart – he used to bring container loads of American cars into South Australia and he was into the Sprints – I’d said to him ‘one day if you get a nice ’63 Sprint I’d like to buy one.’ I was in the UK seven or eight years ago and I got a call from Phil, he said, ‘I’ve found you a Sprint, so you better send me a couple of grand and I’ll hold it for you until you get home’.

“When I got back it was this white Sprint, there were no seats in it, all the interior was red rust and it had what looked like bullet holes down one quarter panel – they were actually the result of panel beating. I said, ‘Sorry mate, that’s not for me,’ Phil then said, ‘I’ve got another one in the shed, it’s a car I’ve had for nine years and it’s a California car. I was going to do it up for myself.’

“That car was all pulled apart as well, but it was straight and there was no rust.

Phil said he’d sell that car to me because he’d just bought a black Sprint.

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Resplendent in black with bnright red interior, the Falcon is a headturner wherever it goes.

“When I saw that car I admired it and could understand (why) Phil was so keen to have it. It was only on Phil’s passing that his wife contacted a fellow who was a family friend, and he called me to ask whether I would be interested in buying it. At the time, the other car was being fully restored, however I had in mind maybe I would rather have this black Sprint, and when the blue car is finished I would have a choice.

“I have spent a lot more money on my blue car because it was a full restoration and I will probably keep that car, but the black one is nicer to drive and the engine feels nicer. It’s a hard call!”

Vern said the black car was a little dinged here and there but nothing serious, just the normal dents that find their way into the doors and the tops of the front guards, so they were repaired and the body carefully resprayed in a period finish.

“Gerard Miller of Marque Restoration & Motor Repair in Adelaide, who does my cars, went over the paint with toothpaste so when you look at it, it’s certainly not a glitzy thing that’s had a coat of clear sprayed over it and put in the used car lot. Somebody would look at it and say

the paint is still really good. The rest was just a tidy up here and there.

A qualified panel beater and spray painter, Vern didn’t work on the Falcon, though he still occasionally picks up his old tools of trade.

“When my Gullwing was being restored

by Gerard Miller at Marque Restorations, he’d lost his painter so I thought I’ll start

preparing it – I finished up doing the whole paint job. It was a fantastically fulfilling thing to do because I loved being a painter and doing panel beating, and I took pride in my work. I was quite proud of it when it was finished. People would complement the job.”

Despite a racing career that led Vern down a very different path, he told

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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“MY WIFE AND I WILL GO OUT FOR DINNER AND I’LL TAKE THE FALCON, AND AS I’M DRIVING ALONG I’LL SAY TO HER, ‘ISN’T THIS GREAT?’ SHE JUST LOOKS AT ME AND SAYS, ‘COMPARED TO WHAT?’” Motorsport Legends he had no trouble remembering the techniques he had been taught decades before.

“You learn things as a kid and you never forget. Even jumping back into a go kart. Recently I was invited to open a track in a town on the River Murray and it was a dirt track, and when I started out it was on the dirt. They wanted me to race and I said ‘no way’, so they said you have to at least have a drive.

“I used to drive twin-engined karts in the 200cc class, and this was a twin. I did just one lap and it all came back to me – full opposite lock on all of the corners and wide-open throttle.

“Even when I race a car now – let’s say I jump into a (Porsche) 956 somewhere going around Le Mans – a circuit I know almost blindfolded – I can almost hit the braking points immediately; certainly I am into it within two or three laps and doing the lap times.”

Despite Vern’s love of V8s, he’s quick to 50

concede his Sprints are no rocket ships.

“It’s an original spec 260 V8 so it’s not exciting to drive,” he laughed. “I can’t put my finger on why I quite enjoy some of these cars; it’s certainly not horsepower. But it’s also that people love seeing those cars. I’ll stop at the traffic lights and get the old thumbs-up, or I’ll be putting petrol in it and someone will

say, ‘Wow, I like your car’, which is nice.

“I have always loved the look of old cars – it’s just that not many of them drive that well, but so many classic cars still look great. That is a big part of it.

My wife (Jennifer) and I will go up to a friend’s place for dinner and I’ll take the Falcon, and as I’m driving along I’ll say to her, ‘Isn’t this great ?’ and she just looks at me and says, ‘Compared to what?’. She doesn’t like them at all!

“You get used to driving modern cars but when you get back into an old car they really are pretty agricultural and you have to put yourself into a back-inthe-day state of mind.

“In the last 10 years, when I started to do a few races at Goodwood and then Classic Le Mans, I went from thinking, Vern built this Sprint from a pile of parts before being offered the black Falcon. Now’s he’s deciding which one to keep.

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I’VE GOT ONE TOO ‘These are really horrible’ to quite liking them, which is a bit scary. My wife is not very pleased that I said driving them was really good fun. She hated the thought of me driving again.

“My first classic car a 3.4 Jag, which I bought while we were living in America, racing Formula 5000s for Dan Gurney.

John Surtees got me to do four or five F1 races, so I was going backwards and forwards from the States to Europe and I thought ‘I’ll buy a cheap car and keep it over there’ – I bought the 3.4 Jag. It looked great, nice dark green, and then because it was automatic – which is a horrible transmission – it was not much different to the Falcon, in a way. I can remember thinking – this car, which I’d drooled over when I was a school kid after seeing pictures of Mike Hawthorn, Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill cars drifting through (Silverstone’s) Woodcote (corner), was just so disappointing in the way it drove,” he laughed.

“Behind the Falcon’s V8 is a C4 three-speed automatic and the suspension remains standard, though the car currently wears 14-inch Shelby wheels.

“I have the original wheels, they came with the car but I have always liked those particular wheels, and 14-inch wheels suit the car.”

As we went to press Vern was still undecided about which car he’d keep, though the black Sprint had just come under offer. As much as his wife would like to see one of the cars go, we wouldn’t mind betting that Vern hopes the sale falls through.

$125

BLACK CHASER. 15x7”,15x8”,15x9” FORD-HQ/CHEV STUD. CAP EXTRA

JIM AYLWARD’S 1963 FORD FALCON CONVERTIBLE Like Vern Schuppan, Jim Aylward developed a passion for early Falcons, an interest that was fuelled even further by his brother’s policespec 289 V8 XR Falcon. So it was only natural that a time would come where he wanted a V8 Falcon of his own.

Wanting something instantly recognisable but something different, Jim asked All Classic Imports in Melbourne to track him down a 1963 Falcon convertible from the United States.

“I love early Falcons and I love convertibles but there was no way I wanted to have a local chop-top coupe,” said Jim. This car is a genuine convertible, complete with power roof.

It’s not a V8 but as the model came with a 260 V8 option, it’s easy to do a legal swap.”

Fully restored cars pull decent money in the States but as Jim was planning some subtle modifications, he decided against buying a pristine example.

“This car has had some mild customisation – the chrome-work – including the door handles, have been removed but it’s all there (though the fixtures require re-chroming) and

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the fuel filler has been moved inside the boot, but Jim says returning the car to original condition is a relatively easy task.

The car is powered by a 144 CID (2.4 L) straight-six engine, while the transmission is a three-speed manual, although Jim believes the car was originally an automatic.

“The previous owner in Arizona fitted a floor shift to the transmission and seemingly lost interest half way through so I’ve been sorting that out, but I haven’t worried too much about it because I decided to fit a top-loader with the V8 engine swap.”

Unfortunately, following a lifetime of playing with and collecting cars, Jim’s wife Gillian has put her foot down and decided the couple will become grey nomads while they still have the health to travel. The bad news for Jim is that the car is now for sale but that’s good news for anyone looking for a genuine ’63 Falcon convertible.

The sale is being handled by All Classic Imports – contact: peter@allclassicimports. com www.allclassicimports.com or call Peter on 0434 554 450.

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BLOWING OFF THE DOORS AT LE MANS

AT LE MANS 1983, VERN SCHUPPAN WAS DRIVING ALONG THE MULSANNE STRAIGHT AT WARP SPEED WHEN THE DOOR BLEW OFF HIS WORKS PORSCHE 956...

I

was bombing along at 220mph (354km/h) and suddenly there was this massive explosion and a gaping hole in the side of the car.

It was a bit like blowing a tyre at high speed, which also happened at Le Mans. It was in 1981 during qualifying at 236mph (380km/h) and the right rear tyre blew.

You’re certainly not expecting it.

When that happens you are in the lap of the gods whether you can keep the car off the Armco – you just know something has broken, or in this case, the tyre has exploded. When the door blew off it was a similar feeling.

It didn’t destabilise the car and no air came rushing into the cockpit, but I was quite surprised and all sorts of thoughts went through my mind. My biggest concern was that with no door, air might get underneath the tail and lift it off the car. That would have been a serious situation, so I was trying to recall how the tail fits to the car.

We were running in second place for about 19 hours when the door came off

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and my next biggest concern was that a replacement door wasn’t something the crew would have sitting in the pits ready to fit. They would have to get a new door organised, so I decided to keep running until I was black flagged, in the hope that would give the crew time to get another door ready to put on.

When fitting the replacement door, the crew pop-riveted a metal strap over it to hold it closed however as I left the pits the Clerk of the Course came to the team and said our car was now illegal because the driver must be able to operate the door. Consequently, the crew devised a scheme of punching a hole in the roof and putting a leather strap and buckle through the hole, and they brought me back into the pits to fit it. The officials agreed that measure constituted a latch that would enable the driver to open the door.

As we had a two lap lead when the door blew off and were still leading when we rejoined, these stops allowed our Porsche team-mates (Jackie) Ickx and (Derek) Bell – to join us on the lead lap. But then

our engine started overheating because the replacement door didn’t fit very well, and it redirected the airflow up and over the intercooler. The car literally seized up going over finishing line, and we won by just 50 seconds.

In the closing moments I was standing up on the control tower watching co-driver Al Holbert on the TV screen, with smoke coming out of the car and I thought, ‘ Leading for so long, it looked like victory might be snatched from us in the last 10 minutes. ‘ The previous year I finished second after the clutch master cylinder failed and we lost a couple of laps, so I know a single unscheduled pit stop can be the difference between winning and losing Le Mans.

To win is a just a fantastic feeling. I have had a couple of second place finishes and then to finally knock one off. Even just finishing is an amazing experience.

When you are driving at the race’s end and you see the marshals out on the track with their flags waving, it is a very emotional feeling.

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Words GLENIS LINDLEY Photos AUTOPICS.COM.AU

SUE 26 PART 2: CONTINUED FROM IS

IN PART TWO OF OUR PETER BROCK FEATURE, GLENIS LINDLEY PONDERS THE CHALLENGES OF BROCK’S NOT-SOPERFECT LIFE OFF THE TRACK.

B

rock, the driver, was highly respected by his peers and the general racing fraternity, with scarcely a hint of criticism ever leveled at his on-track ability or race ethics. This was a far cry from his private life, which was largely ignored or overlooked by those in the know.

Towards the latter part of his career, however, doubts and finger-pointing crept into relationships with sponsors and some media members (stemming from the polarizer repercussions), but track-wise – fan-wise, he remained – ‘Peter Perfect’.

This much-loved, huge personality was a motor sport phenomenon and idol, and arguably the most talented, naturally gifted Aussie to ever jump behind

54

the wheel of a touring car – although Whincup now shows similar tendencies as a driver.

In drawing comparisons between the two, however, there are vast differences.

As a driver, Whincup is far more focused on winning. His private life is squeaky clean with no skeletons in his cupboard:

at one stage even deciding against having a girlfriend as she’d ‘be a distraction.’

Brock on the other hand, always had an eye for the ladies.

Firth told the story – “At one race there was blonde ‘bird’ hanging over the fence.

Every time Peter went past she waved everything at him enthusiastically. At the next pitstop, Peter had one of his trusted crew go check her out and ask if she’d meet (Brock) that night. Date arranged, Peter then put on his ‘race face’, and returned his mind to driving.”

The 1986 King of Moomba was near-faultless in the public eye, always prepared to stop and sign autographs, pose for photos, or have a chat – much to the despair of those responsible for getting him to specific places on time.

With his easy-going nature, another truly amazing aspect was his ability to make everyone he spoke with feel special – like a very important person, or close friend.

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“HE WASN’T THE SORT OF PERSON TO DELIBERATELY KNOCK YOU OFF THE TRACK… IF HE COULDN’T WIN FAIR AND SQUARE, HE DIDN’T WANT TO WIN.”

Colin Bond with HDT boss Harry Firth.

As ‘Bevo’ (Peter’s special name for his partner) said, “ He thoroughly deserved the adoration of his fans.”

On track, Brock commanded respect.

As Ford hero Dick Johnson stated, “He wasn’t the sort of person to deliberately knock you off the track… if he couldn’t win fair and square, he didn’t want to win.”

There was one race in particular – Lakeside (Queensland) during the 1981 ATCC final, with only one point separating the Holden and Ford stars. The pair raced neck and neck, with Johnson edging ahead on the last lap. It would have been so easy to have turfed his popular rival into the weeds, but no, Brock raced fairly, finished second, and Dick claimed the championship. “Brocky was the first to congratulate me,” said Johnson.

The previous Ford superstar, Allan Moffat, also has a Bathurst story to tell.

In 1972, after putting his GTHO Phase Brock’s career began in a Holden-powered Austin A30.

Brock with teammate Colin Bond.

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Brock leads old foe Allan Moffat through turn one at Sandown Park.

III on pole for the third consecutive year, Moffat was on track for another demoralising victory until, in horrendously wet conditions, he hit a puddle at McPhillamy Park, and slid off.

“I thought Peter, in his nimble little XU1 Torana, who was following hot on my bumper, would skid off too.

“But no, he was such a cheeky devil, he drove right up the dirt embankment, avoided me, and won the race,” explained Moffat.

Bob Morris, one of Brock’s early co-drivers, turned Torana rival said, “As a driver he was as hard as nails, but always fair.”

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Unquestionably, Brock earned his reputation as an extraordinary driver, but how did it all begin?

IN THE BEGINNING

One of four brothers, Peter was born into a family where motor racing was a fact of life, so after watching his first Bathurst race in 1963, this ambitious youngster wanted to be on the other side of the fence. His first cars, roughly assembled in a disused farm chook shed, were a stripped down Austin 7 paddock jalopy, before graduating to an unlikely, ungainly Austin A30 race car with a

Holden engine squeezed up front.

His uncanny capability of winning races and succeeding in inferior machinery quickly filtered through, so in 1969, this ‘bearded boy from Diamond Creek’, was offered a job at the Holden Dealer Team, by Harry Firth. “I could see he had amazing potential,” explained Firth.

Despite a parting of the ways for three years when the ambitious Brock left HDT (in 1974) driving for Gown-Hindhaugh; establishing Team Brock – with younger brother Phil (‘Splitpin’) and then joining Bill Patterson’s team, Firth liked Peter tremendously and always regarded his young protégé as ”the son I never had”.

“Contrary to some reports, I never sacked him,” declared Firth, “Peter needed to stretch his legs.”

“He was a pretty raw, rogue at first but I took him fishing a few times and he had to listen to me, as there were no other distractions.

“I set him straight on quite a few things – how to deal with people: from his mechanics to the Holden hierarchy, and his hoard of women,” stated Firth.

At first, Bond (Colin) was a better driver than Peter because of his rallying ability, but it was Peter who was prepared to listen and learn.”

This remarkable Brock/Firth relationship established a pathway to stardom for the promising new talent, with Brock rapidly rising through the ranks, settling comfortably at the top.

Brock always maintained a healthy respect for ‘H’, the ‘old Fox’ who also declared, “Peter could be head-strong, even too big for his boots sometimes.”

Brock and ‘Bondy’ got along okay as team-mates, but Bond, at one stage, said with a chuckle, “I think he (Peter) was just lucky.”

Later Brock formed a business venture building modified road cars, engaging friend, John ‘Slug’ Harvey in a managerial position until the well-documented split with Holden.

Although Brock’s first Bathurst triumph was a solo drive in 1972, his most convincing victory (but totally demoralising for other teams), came

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in 1979 – then under the control of Motorsport Legends’ columnist, John Sheppard.

Not only did he and Richards blitz the field in their HDT Torana A9X, Brock’s legendary last-lap record created a place in history. Starting from pole, (being

almost two seconds faster than Morris’ Torana A9X time) the HDT pair finished six laps ahead of the second-placed , knocked minutes off the race record, and led the entire race.

Becoming a high-profile racing car superstar was easy compared to

mastering personal relationships. After an earlier failed two-year marriage to Heather Russell, his marriage to former Miss Australia winner, Michelle Downes, ended in divorce after just one year.

According to Firth, “Peter’s problem was that he tried to be Mr Australia. It was never going to work.”

Certainly, he was one of the best in the business when it came to racing cars, but as an individual, Brock was one of the most complex characters imaginable.

Bev says he found it tremendously difficult merging his private and public lives, however, she almost managed to ‘tame’ him for 28 years! Once a man who loved junk food and hamburgers with a passion, after his association with chiropractor/natural health ‘guru’, Dr Eric Dowker, he became a vegetarian and gave up smoking and alcohol.

Flat out in the RepcoHolden powered Torana XU-1 sports sedan through Calder Raceway’s Tin Shed corner.

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Pictured here locking a wheel through Bathurst’s Murrays Corner, Brock drove on the limit, and then some.

Dowker, referred to in some circles, as the ‘witch-doctor’ or ‘Dr Feel-good’, was perceived as having had an adverse influence on Brock’s life in general – enter the world of crystals; the controversial Energy Polarizer; tumultuous times surrounding his enterprise – HDT Special Vehicles; and the Golden Boy’s highly publicised fall from grace at Holden.

While the name Brock was – and still is – synonymous with Holden, he also raced a variety of cars including – in no particular order, Ford, Vauxhall, Porsche, BMW, Volvo, and Chevrolet. Through his Special Vehicles operation, Brock even lent his name to Russian-manufactured Ladas, but this wasn’t an overwhelming success…

As avid Collingwood Football Club supporter, Brock was also a keen artist.

While he lived life in the fast lane – spending so much time racing at breakneck speed – he could switch off and relax with a brush, or enjoy the solitude of fishing. Farm life and bird breeding were other passions of this down-to-earth public personality – far removed from his superstar status.

Along with the Peter Brock Foundation, other undertakings close to his heart were road safety, including driver education in schools, anti drink-driving campaigns, and community involvement, 58

while he proudly accepted the role of ambassador (athletic liaison officer) for the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games.

Among the multitude of other racing activities were the Australian Safari, Targa Tasmania, Goodwood (in a Holden 48-215), not forgetting several earlier overseas events like Macau, the Le Mans 24 Hour, Spa 24-Hour and Silverstone 1000, with co-drivers such as Larry Perkins and Brian Muir.

Despite his success at home, Brock

never recorded an overseas victory, while two of his former co-drivers, Harvey and Moffat (in a Group A Commodore SS), won the Monza round of the World Touring Car Championship.

Yes, motor racing has survived without Peter, but it’s not quite the same.

CORRECTION: An error crept into part one of Glenis Lindley’s Peter Brock feature during the production stage stating that Craig Lowndes had won 1997 races. The figure should have been 97. We apologise to Glenis and our readers for the error.

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FROM BEHIND THE ARMCO

LEGENDARY ILLUSTRATOR, STONIE, DECODES ONE HIS MOST FAMOUS BROCK CARTOONS… ‘Pedro’ had been to the UK to race with Gerry Marshall in a Vauxhall at Spa. When he left, he said to brother Phillip, “You can race the car (Torana L34) at Calder while I’m away”.

Splitpin (Pete’s name for Phil) was over the moon and tells how they got to qualifying late and rushed the race car off the truck. Phil jumped in and roared off out of the pit lane down to Repco Corner and the car spun a 360. ‘Pin roared around to Tin Shed Corner and spun a 360 again, with yet another spin at Gloweave Corner.

He roared back into pit lane and Garnett Bateson and the boys swarmed over the car to see what was wrong. Someone opened the boot and found they had left the ‘big’ trolley jack in the there.

The chick yelling S’Pin was Phil’s girlfriend at the time, while the photogragher

on the right is Michael Jacobson.

The ‘Team Brock’ on the windscreen caused a fight with CAMS because you weren’t allowed sponsors or promo material on the sunvisor. Peter Janson

changed his name to ‘NGK Janson’ so that he could put his sponsor up there, so when CAMS pointed to ‘Team Brock’, Phil said, “Nah mate that’s Peter’s nickname... we always call him ‘Team’ for short!” The

stewards thought about it for about 10 seconds…

The names on there are all the Brock family and the girlfriends... note ‘BevO’ (Bev Brock) was around then...

Hmmm… Funny days!

– John Stoneham

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lifestyle Words & Photos PAUL MARINELLI

VISIT THE NEW MOTOR

RACING MECCA

T

he dream of hosting a Formula One Grand Prix in the Middle East became a reality when the Kingdom of Bahrain signed on the dotted line to bring Formula One to the Middle East for the first time in the sport’s history in September 2002.

This was a bold step by the Gulf nation, given that their circuit had not yet been constructed and it was going to be one of the world’s most advanced, spawning a whole new generation of motor racing facilities around the world.

Bahrain overcame fierce competition from elsewhere in the Gulf region to stage a grand prix at the time of signing. Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates all made bids to introduce a new

round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The Bahrain International Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke, is located in the town of Sakir, 25km to the north of the capital Manama. It was cut into solid rock formations to create an undulating, high speed layout in the middle of the desert.

The design included six layouts, including an oval test track and a drag strip.

Nothing was spared to make the circuit one of the world’s best. The track surface was made from 1,200 tonnes of Graywacke Aggregate, all shipped to Bahrain from England’s Bayston Hill Quarry. The total investment to build the 5.5km circuit and its state-of-the-art-pits, medical facility, corporate hospitality, entertainment

and organisational facilities was more than US$150 million.

Jenson Button’s campaign for the 2009 World Championship title with Brawn GP was bolstered by his superb victory of that season’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

In 2010 the race employed the 6.3km Endurance Circuit used to celebrate Formula One’s Diamond Jubilee.

Alonso became the first triple Bahrain winner, taking Scuderia Ferrari to the top step of the Middle Eastern podium in a market that is highly important (and extremely profitable).

Rising civil unrest forced the decision to cancel the 2011 race following public concerns made by a number of major Formula One identities. The 2012 Bahrain

Grand Prix went ahead as planned and despite some wildly exaggerated media reporting of war-zone like conditions, the race weekend went ahead without incident.

The event was won by former Red Bull Racing superstar Vettel.

To mark the tenth staging of the Bahrain Grand Prix, organisers made a multimillion dollar investment to transform their event into F1’s second ever night race. This required the construction of 495 light poles containing 5,000 lamps with more than 500km of cabling, to make this a reality.

In yet another display of the high levels of professionalism that have become synonymous with the Bahrain International Circuit, this massive infrastructure

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lifestyle project commenced in February 2013 and took 180 days to complete.

More than half of the system was ready for Bahrain’s first World Endurance Championship event held in November 2013 and the entire system was ready well ahead of Formula One pre-season testing in February, 2013.

After a 57-lap race that has been widely recognised as one of the most exciting of the past decade, MercedesAMG Petronas driver, Lewis Hamilton, raced to his first Bahrain victory, ahead of his constantly challenging teammate, Nico Rosberg.

The night race was a resounding success, with more than 80,000 spectators in attendance across the three days, by far the Kingdom’s highest result. The broadcast time also generated higher television audiences across all key European markets.

Below: Turn one at the Bahrain International Circuit was permanently renamed Michael Schumacher Corner ahead of this year’s staging of the 10th Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix.

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Aside from hosting rounds of the F1 World Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, the circuit has also hosted foreign categories, such as V8 Supercars (three events from 2006 to 2008).

The establishment of this circuit has also created a number of Middle East based motor racing categories, the most successful of which is the now five season strong Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. This series enjoys strong fields, close racing and achieves the goal of providing an ascension path to other international Sportscar categories and endurance racing events for

BAHRAIN’S BEST In 10 editions of the Bahrain GP, no driver has managed to secure three pole positons.

Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg have all gained two each. Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Jarno Trulli have all secured one Bahrain GP pole position each since 2004.

As for victors, there have been seven different winners over the past ten events. Alonso is the most successful driver with three victories (2005, 2006 and 2010) while Massa (2007 and 2008) and Vettel (2012 and 2013) were both double winners. Schumacher (2004) and Jenson Button (2009) scored one win each.

PLACES TO VISIT IN BAHRAIN

The Grand Mosque is a magnificent building and one of the largest houses of worship in the region. The doors are open for all visitors regardless of religious denomination and the building’s ornate design makes it a must see when visiting Bahrain. The Bahrain National Museum was the first ever to be established in the Gulf region and offers a detailed walk through 600 decades of history. The Arad Fort and Qal’at Al Bahrain provide a glimpse into Bahrain’s rich history as a key trade centre between the Gulf region and Europe. Aquatic fans can dive for pearls and view some 30 types of coral and more than 200 species of fish in crystal clear water at Al Dar Island, the nearest Island getaway to Bahrain.

A visit to the Manama Souq (market) is a must, while close by you will find the Bahrain Gold Souq, which offers an incredible array of outstanding gold jewellery. There are also modern shopping malls featuring a vast array of designer stores. The Lost Paradise of Dilmun Water Park is an fun family venue complete with massive water slides, wave beach, countless pools and water rides all located in the middle of the desert!

Racing fans also should not miss a drive on the Bahrain International Karting Circuit, located adjacent to the Bahrain International Circuit and featuring an exact replica 14 corner, 1.4 kilometre Grand Prix circuit.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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PAUL MARINELLI travelled to Bahrain in the outstanding comfort of Etihad Airways Pearl Business Class. Etihad Airways offers daily non-stop services from Australia to its conveniently located Middle Eastern hub of Abu Dhabi with swift connections to Gulf region countries, European business centres and beyond. Voted the World Travel Awards’ coveted World’s Leading Airline accolade for the past five consecutive years, Etihad Airways reflects the best of Arabian hospitality. Visit www.etihad.com for more info.

VISIT BAHRAIN

aspiring young Middle East based drivers.

The milestone of reaching a decade of F1 racing in Bahrain has seen the island nation build a genuine motorsports culture across the entire Gulf region.

This also led the way for outstanding new venues,

such as the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, to follow the successful model set by the Bahrain International Circuit and the Bahrain Motor Federation.

It wasn’t that long ago that many thought it appropriate to preach to the Bahraini’s, telling them how things

needed to be done to stage a successful F1 Grand Prix. A decade down the track, they now come to Bahrain to ask them how they do things – a very satisfying and rewarding outcome for BIC CEO Sheik Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa and his enthusiastic management and staff.

The success of Bahrain’s involvement in international motorsport over the past decade has had a definite knock-on effect in attracting visitors to the tiny kingdom from every corner of the world.

It is one of the most culturepreserved Gulf region countries, with Bahrain’s history dating back an amazing 6000 years.

Bahrain presents a liberal and highly welcoming atmosphere for people from all walks of life.

The fact that most Bahraini’s are fluent in English is also a major advantage for tourists.

Visitors should not be surprised if they are invited to share some tea or “Qahwa” (Arabic coffee) while shopping or walking the streets by the locals. The Kingdom of Bahrain is extremely safe in the day or night for walking.

The city combines classic and ornate Arabic architecture with ultra-modern skyscrapers and impressive shopping malls.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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