MotorSport Legends Issue 29

BROTHER IN ARMS

Phil Brock’s multifarious career

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS #29

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R A P O M

Greg Crick’s super quick V8 Charger

E L C S MU MUSTANG MUSING

ISSUE #29

Ford’s wild Mustang designs that never carried the galloping pony badge

TORTURE TEST FORD’S CRAZY FALCON MARATHON THAT TESTED MAN AND MACHINE MSL29 p01 Cover.indd 1

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SUPERSEVENS! For those who enjoy a pure driving experience, the new Caterham Seven 275 now offers the ultimate ‘value to fun’ ratio.

A worthy stable mate to the ultra-high performance Seven 485, the new Seven 275 is based on the same product philosophy, which has provided race car handing in a road legal performance car.

For more information, please contact us: Overseas left hand drive model shown. Please see website for Australian specifications.

THE ORIGINAL AND STILL THE BEST 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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Contents ISSUE #29

30 38

NEWS 6 BEHIND THE WHEEL

12

Holden honours a motorsport legend.

WEBB OF INTRIGUE

14

Mick Webb throws some new rubber – and some more mud – at his Pursuit ute.

SHEPPARD’S PIE

46

16

Sheppo shares more insights of working with the country’s best drivers.

THE FOGES FILES

18

Mark Fogarty recalls how he went from a precocious prodigy to an established scribe.

FROM BEHIND THE ARMCO

21

Stonie reveals how Ian Geoghegan came to be known as ‘Pete’.

ALVIN RIDES AGAIN!

22

Greg Crick’s Valiant Charger is proving a hit on and off the racetrack.

52

THE DAY HENRY FORD II JUST SHOOK HIS HEAD...

30 Ford’s “act of corporate stupidity” turned the Falcon into an Aussie favourite.

MR VERSATILE – PART 2

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In the second of our three part series, this American legend tells how he designed the iconic Daytona Coupe.

THE BENTLEY BOYS ARE BACK 46 Bentley Motors is back in racing and thrilling Aussie fans at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

SPLIT PIN

52

While overshadowed by his brother Peter, Phil Brock managed to achieve much during his own racing career and played an important role within HDT Special Vehicles.

FORD MUSTANGS THAT NEVER WERE 58 Some of the wild designs Ford considered to capitalise on the Mustang’s success.

THE GOOD LIFE

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A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES

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Who wouldn’t love a driving tour through Europe, especially when you can sample the Nurburgring!

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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WINTON FESTIVAL OF

SPEED TRP VHR0031

HISTORIC LONG TRACK RACING & CAR SHOW August 8-9, 2015

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.VHRR.COM

Entries available from May 2015 Photographs courtesy of Peter Ellenbogen

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pole position

ADELAIDE ALIVE! REMEMBERING A TIME WHEN THE CITY OF CHURCHES REJOICED TO THE SOUND AND SMELL OF GRAND PRIX RACING

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remember the Marlboro parties, you weren’t there…

As someone who attended the first event (and all but one thereafter) it was wonderful to see current and future world champions such as Michael Schumacher, Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Keke Rosberg, not to mention a talented young bloke named Ayrton Senna. And while I’d seen Niki Lauda at Bob Jane’s AGPs at Calder, Adelaide allowed me to see this motorsport legend steering an F1 car – but only just, the 1985 event was his last GP. As a photographer at those events, I remember standing at the end of Jones Straight watching the turbo cars approach me head on during qualifying, the high boost evident by a big change in exhaust note, massive amounts of black exhaust gasses rising upwards and the cars weaving under power on

the straight piece of road.

It was also surreal walking down Brabham Straight, just metres away from cars travelling at speeds in excess of 322 km/h (200 mph).

There were some very memorable races, none more so than the 1989 AGP. Usually hot at GP time, Adelaide turned on a monsoon, prompting Prost, Piquet, Gerhard Berger, Thierry Boutsen, Riccardo Patrese and Alessandro Nannini to ask that the race be postponed until the rain eased. Officials denied the drivers’ request and Prost subsequently withdrew from the event.

A number of spins and crashes ensued, the most notable being Ayrton Senna’s spectacular shunt.

While holding a massive lead, the Brazilian ran into the back of Martin Brundle while lapping him and Piquet, an incident recorded by a rear mounted camera on Brundle’s Brabham, and which television commentator Murray Walker described as the McLaren “bearing down on him like Jaws”.

Being the last race of the season also meant the title could be decided in Adelaide, as was the case in 1994 when Schumacher took his first crown after a controversial collision with Hill.

It was a truly wonderful time, one I’m planning to relive at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival in October.

– Darren

EMAIL

darren@motorsportlegends.com.au GRAPHIC DESIGN Neville Wilkinson 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.

FALCON FEVER John Goss’ Ford years MOTORSPORT LEGENDS #28

n the following pages you’ll see an article relating to the Adelaide Motoring Festival, an event that will prompt happy memories for thousands of fans who attended the AGP events held in Adelaide from 1985 to 1995.

For those who didn’t have the opportunity to attend, it’s a chance to get a feel of just how special those GPs were.

The atmosphere was electric, not only around the track but also in the nearby Rundle Mall, where almost every shop was decorated with GP paraphernalia and restaurants and bars overflowed with patrons.

Adelaide became party town, and for members of the press, nowhere was this more evident than at the Fosters and Marlboro parties, where booze flowed like water passing over Niagara Falls. Just like the ’60s, if you

EDITOR Darren House

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BOB’S

Lives BEAST Again!

AMERICAN ICON

ISSUE #28

Meet the man behind the ’63 Corvette

THUNDER ROAD PETER BROCK! 50 F5000s ROCK THE SHAKY ISLES MSL28 p01 Cover Monaro-CDF.indd 1

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Didn’t get our previous issue? Go to www. motorsportlegends.com.au for details on how to subscribe or to order a back issue.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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news 1986 BMW Benneton, raced by Gerhard Berger in Adelaide. The most powerful F1 car ever made with 1400hp in qualifying trim

ADELAIDE GP CARS SET TO STAR T

he cars and career of Gerhard Berger will be honored this October 17-18 at the second Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

Three very special cars driven by the likeable Austrian will appear – his second placed Ferrari 412 V12 of 1994, race winning Ferrari F1-87 from 1987, and arguably the world’s most powerful F1 car – the 1400hp Benetton BMW B186.

Not only was he a double winner, Berger earned more championship points than any of his contemporaries.

Billed as the world’s largest ’80s and ’90s Grand Prix festival, this year it will also celebrate the thirtieth

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anniversary of the inaugural Formula 1 race in 1985.

The South Australian street circuit saw many great battles between 1985 and 1995 – considered by many to be the high water mark of the modern era. Who could forget the epic duals between the likes of Senna, Piquet and Prost, or Hill, Mansel and Schumacher?

Entries are now open to eligible F1 cars, and as we go to press, half a grid have already committed to the gentleman’s sprint, to be run on a shortened version of the inner city circuit.

Other entries include an Adrian Newey designed Leyton House CG901 from NZ, Alan Jones’ turbo-

charged Beatrice Lola, along with a restored BMW Arrows Megatron driven in Adelaide by Eddie Arrows and Brabham F1s from the Adelaide era.

In addition to the headline F1 category, a full program of historic and modern fields will participate over the two-day festival.

Friday night will also be something to savor, as all F1 cars will drive into the city centre for a huge street party in their honor, before being fired back up for the return journey later in the night.

Touring cars will also be prominent, with motorsport legend Jim Richards jumping behind the wheel of Peter Sturgeons’ Group C BMW.

Now in its second year, the Adelaide Motorsport Festival will kick off with the Classic Adelaide Rally on days one and two, whilst days two and three will feature Grand Prix cars from the 1930s to the 1990s as the main focus of the Victoria Park Sprint.

After a six-year hiatus, the Classic Adelaide Rally returns as a major component of the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, recreating the iconic and world renowned tarmac rally of South Australia that was held between 1996 and 2009.

The nostalgic nature and world class quality of the rally is fitting with the concept of the Adelaide

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Motorsport Festival, and maintains the authenticity of the original Classic Adelaide Rally theme.

The main field of competition is for cars pre 1986, with sub-categories for both Early Classic (pre 1972), Late Classic (pre 1986) and a new speed limited category of Thoroughbred Trophy (pre 1986). For competitors with more modern vehicles (1986-current), a speed limited, Sports Touring class will be offered with a unique points system.

Similarly a TSD Trophy class will be offered that is also speed limited to 130km/h. Competitors within this class will be required to meet a set average speed on each stage, posing a mathematical challenge for both driver and co-driver.

There is also a large touring component on offer for vehicles of all ages. These cars will traverse the entire route as part of a tour packet with a tour leader setting the pace.

Scrutineering will take place at Victoria Park on Thursday October 16, with the cars heading out to the Fleurieu on Friday morning for day one of competition.

On Saturday the rally takes to the Adelaide Hills before returning to Victoria Park at approximately 4:45pm for the podium presentation.

Over the course of the rally, competitors will cover more than 550 touring kilometers, which includes approximately 187 competitive closed road kilometers.

The Sprint will also host a diverse field of historic touring cars, sports cars and

classic motorcycles, as well as displays from some of the greatest classic cars from across the years.

Adelaide Motorsport Festival competitors and spectators are encouraged to dress up in period-costume on Sunday October 18. This will not only help portray an accurate re-creation of motorsport of the past, you might even win a prize for best dressed on the day!

Event details at www. adelaidemotorsportfestival. com.au

The Classic Adelaide Rally is now a major component of the Festival.

Photo: Frank Kutsche.

This ex-Alan Jones Williams was a star of the inaugural Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

The much loved Adelaide GPs gave Aussie fans a chance to witness the brilliance of Ayrton Senna.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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news

FRANK BY NAME...

Frank Matich was hailed as one of Australia’s finest drivers and race car developers. During his career Frank formed a strong relationship with Repco engineer, Don Halpin. With Frank’s recent passing, Don shared some memories of working with Team Matich.

Frank was more professional than anyone else in motor sport during that era by the way he prepared and presented his cars. He would go testing at various circuits and all of the cars settings and changes made during the tests would be logged.

His wife, Joan, would attend the race meetings and do all of the lap timing, plus write down any feedback and changes made during practice, qualifying and post races.

At the New Zealand rounds of the Tasman Cup series, Frank would look at the other F5000s and note any changes that had been made to them. Frank Gardner’s Lola may have been fitted with an extended bell 8

housing or slightly different radius rods that altered the suspension setup.

Frank would immediately telephone Sydney and get Bob Riley to design the required bits and pieces, and then the fabricators would work through the night and fly them across to be fitted to the car.

In some instances he would go slower rather than stay with the package that he had already developed, (sometimes) blaming the performance of the Repco engines (for the reduced speed).

Peter Maybey, Matich’s all-time chief mechanic, and I shared a hotel room in Christchurch. Upon returning from the track I noticed he was upset after a telephone conversation with his newly wed wife and he said that he needed to go home due to personal reasons.

The next morning he was not in our room so I went down to

breakfast and when Frank asked of Peter’s whereabouts, nobody said a word.

Highly respected journalist and team owner, David McKay, mentioned that Peter had flown back to Sydney, and that caused some panic for Frank. After that trip Frank always collected his crew members’ passports and handed them back at the airport on departure.

Norm Wilson, one of the engineers from Repco’s automotive braking company, PBR, was attending to the braking system on the race car at Warwick Farm and a short time later mentioned that he accidently bumped the car’s chassis while it was being setup

and suspension adjustments were being made.

As the car was due to be on the track he didn’t say anything and just walked away. Frank was fanatical about setting up cars and always was utilising his suspension and measuring equipment changing camber, castor, etc as he searched for premium handling and tyre performance. At the completion of the track session Frank returned to the pits and announced that the car was handling better, without knowing that the suspension geometry had been accidently altered – there were smiles all-round by those in the know – Don Halpin.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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news

VALE – LORRAINE COOPER (1938 – 2015) “It’s either me or your racing cars” – a futile ultimatum delivered by a young Lorraine Chynoweth from Broken Hill to an equally young racer from Adelaide. Garrie Cooper was already involved in motor sport, and on their honeymoon they digressed to Phillip Island so Garrie could race. Afterwards, his mates towed the car home while Garrie and Lorraine resumed their travels.

In her own quiet way, Lorraine was a great support for the founder of Elfin Sports Cars. If sandwiches and cups of tea were required late at

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night while work went on at the factory, Lorraine would come to the rescue.

In later years she looked after the bookkeeping and typing at Elfin Sports Cars as the business grew, while caring for two young children and their home in Glengowrie.

Yet under this quiet demeanor was a steely resolve.

When Garrie proposed shifting Elfin Sports Cars to Mallala she wouldn’t agree – even the offer of a swimming pool couldn’t dissuade her from leaving Adelaide. The result? Elfin stayed at Edwardstown.

With two youngsters in the house her patience must have been sorely tested –

working around Garrie’s drawing board and lengths of cotton stretched through legs of chairs and other lounge room furniture as her husband designed some new suspension or component for a future race car. Yet life went on calmly.

Garrie Cooper died suddenly in 1982, leaving Lorraine a widow at only 43 years of age. Lorraine then undertook community service work in addition to caring for her aged mother, Garrie’s 101-year old father and her own brother when he was gravely ill.

In addition, she maintained her links with motor sport and the racing fraternity, and at the time of her death was

a popular patron of the Elfin Owners and Drivers Club.

Under considerable difficulty, an eloquent message from Lorraine was filmed and shown to members and guests at the annual Elfin Grand Prix barbeque – a truly moving moment.

Her eulogy concluded thus: “When her health eventually declined, Lorraine accepted her challenges as she had faced all challenges during her life – with positivity, grace and dignity. Her love of family, power of friendship and genuine caring for all those around her will be a lasting legacy”.

RIP Lorraine.

- Brian Reed

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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when reliability is everything

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behind the wheel

HOLDEN HERO

WITH A RACETRACK-INSPIRED SPECIFICATION, HOLDEN’S SPECIAL EDITION CRAIG LOWNDES SS V COMMODORE IS A FITTING TRIBUTE TO THE FIVE-TIME BATHURST 1000 WINNER. Words DARREN HOUSE

H

olden released its Craig Lowndes SS V Special Edition Commodore late last year to celebrate Lowndes’ twentieth anniversary in V8 Supercars, so it was only fitting that we would drive our test car to the place where Lowndes has tasted so much success – Mount Panorama.

Unlike the cars produced by Holden’s previous favourite son, Peter Brock, under the name of HDT Special Vehicles, the Lowndes Commodore was handfinished and individually numbered by technicians at the Holden Enhancement Centre, located at Holden’s Adelaide vehicle plant.

While Holden says the Lowndes car’s specification

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is racetrack inspired, the modifications are more show than go, compared to the highly upgraded Brock-built machines.

Just 233 Lowndes Commodores will be built with more than 50 percent sold before launch.

Based on Holden’s SS V

Redline Commodore, the unique specification boasts Brembo four-piston brakes front and rear, 20in staggered wheels (8.5in front and 9in rear) wrapped in 245/275 Bridgestone Potenza tyres, and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Engine modifications are

limited to a Red Hot engine cover, although with 530Nm on tap, the standard engine’s specification is no real disappointment. Buyers have a choice of six-speed manual transmission, or six-speed auto with paddle shifters.

Available in Red Hot or Heron White, the car also features unique body side decals, hood decal and chrome finished boot badge.

The unique styling treatments also include a black V8 power hood decal, black roof, black grille surrounds and fender vents – front upper in Red (black on white vehicles) and black window surrounds.

There’s also a rear spoiler, along with graphic sill plates and boot badge.

Interior enhancements include a distinctive embroi-

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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CRAIG LOWNDES SS V COMMODORE ANCAP HHHHH ENGINE 6.0 litre V8 POWER 270kW @ 5600 TORQUE 530Nm @ 4400rpm TRANSMISSION Six-speed manual DRIVE Front engine, RWD CONSUMPTION 9.3L/100km BODY Four-door sedan PRICE From $57,990 WEBSITE www.holden.com.au

dered Craig Lowndes signature on the dash pad.

There’s also Holden’s MyLink Infotainment System with eight-inch colour touchscreen display and embedded apps including Pandora, Stitcher SmartRadio, along with a colour head-up display and Siri eyes free mode.

Safety items include rear

view camera, lane change assist, blind spot monitoring, forward collision alert and rear parking sensors.

There’s no doubting the Lowndes Commodore is a head turner, even more than we would have expected, with our car creating an amazing amount of interest as we drove though the country

towns between Melbourne and Bathurst. In fact the car emptied the pub at Junee, as enthusiastic fans swarmed all over it and took the obligatory social media ‘selfies.’

Performance of course was on par with the SSV Commodore we drove in edition #26 of MSL, so we were familiar with the feel of

Holden’s 270kW V8. Mated to the manual gearbox, it’s a delight to drive on winding country roads, especially when teamed to the car’s superb turning and roadholding characteristics.

It’s a car that will have you searching for backroads rather than taking the quick way home via the freeway.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Lowndes Commodore isn’t the first Holden to be named in honour of a champion racing driver.

In the early ’70s, ‘The General’ joined forces with Sir Jack Brabham to create the Braham Torana. The HB model Torana was based on the English Vauxhall Viva, so naturally, given Sir Jack’s international fame, a Brabham Viva was available in the UK. Billed as “The sportiest Holden yet”, the Brabham Torana failed to live up to expectations given its leisurely performance, and was quickly forgotten. Today, it is a rare beast and an example in good condition would probably pull a hefty price.

Originally fitted with a 56hp (42kW) 1159cc four cylinder engine, the HB Torana gained a Series 70 engine option in early 1968. With a higher compression ratio, a higher lift camshaft, and a single CD Zenith-Stromberg carburettor, power was increased to 69hp (51kW). Power assisted front disc brakes were standard equipment when the Series 70 engine was ordered.

Based on the Series 70, the Brabham Torana’s engine was

fitted with twin CD ZenithStromberg carburettors, sports air cleaners, and a low restriction exhaust system that increased power to 79hp (59kW). The car was said to have a top speed of 85mph (137km/h).

The Brabham Torana, which was available only in two-door form, also featured a four-speed manual transmission, wider wheels, red-wall tyres, special badging and black body accents.

In September 1968, the ‘1969 Torana’ was released, with the Brabham Torana gaining a sports steering wheel and sports instrumentation that was later to appear on the LC Torana GTR and GTR-XU-1).

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webb of intrigue MICK GETS A GRIP

THE SVO TRANSFORMATION OF MICK’S PURSUIT UTE TAKES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD AS HE CALLS ON AN OLD MATE TO SOLVE THE CAR’S TYRE PROBLEMS.

I

have had a few decades of experience with race preparation, so I know how important tyres are in the game. Allan Moffat’s favourite saying was, “I have got four lifelines and they are four black and round things”. Moffat was sponsored by Goodyear and all the tyres he had were different to the tyres that everyone else could get - he knew that without good tyres, and the ability to look after them, you are nowhere.

Tyres are very important on road cars too, which is why I was so shocked by the tyres on my FPV Pursuit.

When you put your foot on the brake you want the tyre to extract any water out through the tread and have the rubber stop the car. Secondly, when you come around a corner and start feeding the throttle on, you want genuine grip from the tyres.

The Pursuit’s original tyres were spooky – when I accelerated in a straight line and then jumped off the throttle, the car would wobble from side to side – it was weird. In the wet, the tyres aquaplaned if I had to jump on the brake.

So while there was plenty of tread left on the original tyres, I had no choice but to

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“WE WON THE SANDOWN 400, THOUGH THEY HAD GOODYEAR STENCILLED ON THE SIDE BECAUSE MOFFAT WAS STILL UNDER CONTRACT”

change to a safer tyre.

I contacted Russell Stuckey, from Stuckey Tyres in Brunswick, and asked what he recommended for this car. There are lots of people who claim to be tyre experts but as far as I am concerned, Russell is the man. Big Russ has been in the tyre business for more than four decades – I don’t want to play up how old he is but his hair is a lot greyer than mine!

Russell’s motor racing experience is second to none.

In the Mazda days with Moffat we ran Goodyear, but then Dunlop brought out a

better tyre with a different wall construction. Russell recommended this tyre to us and Allan tried it. We won the Sandown 400, though they had Goodyear stencilled on the side because Moffat was still under contract.

Russell recommended the new Dunlop Sport Z1 for the Pursuit. They look more like grooved slicks, which I thought would be fantastic in the dry but to my amazement, they’ve been absolutely phenomenal in the

wet as well.

The day after I put them on, I drove to Echuca. It rained like buggery all the way and around some of the sweepers up there the car felt like it was on rails.

I zapped passed a Kenworth and pulled up at a service station 15 minutes later. The Kenworth pulled in behind me and driver told me that there were two rooster tails of water coming out of both sides of my car and dry tyre tracks on the road. I told

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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.

him about these new tyres and he was just amazed.

I have spoken to Jim Richards and he’s used them on tarmac rally cars and he says that they are just phenomenal.

My mate has put them on his previous model GT and he got more than 40,000km out of them so they are also good wearing – my thinking has always been, the better

the tyre, the quicker they wear. This guy uses his car as a daily driver, so he’s got lots of miles up and he’s an ex-speedway sprint car driver, so he does drive it hard – he’s not a blouse in that respect.

I can’t be more positive about these tyres – Russell has definitely picked the best tyre that I have ever driven on.

– Webby

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26/06/2013 1:50:44 PM 15 MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

18/06/2015 10:32 am

sheppard’s pie

PITLANE TALES

JOHN SHEPPARD SHARES MORE INSIGHTS INTO AUSTRALIA’S BEST DRIVERS AND HAS SOME QUESTIONS FOR MOTORSPORT’S CONTROLLING BODY…

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s always happens when you make a list of things, my list of drivers failed to mention John Pollard. I will have more to say about him when I get further down the alphabet!

Many, many years ago, Max Stahl set up the ‘Great Debate’, the subject of which was ‘who has the most important part – the driver or the mechanic?’

Unfortunately, neither side wanted to ‘bag’ the other, so it just degenerated into a farce with soda syphons, confetti, etc. Had the drivers spoken for the mechanics and vice versa, it may have been more interesting!

I have yet to find someone (who’s not on the ‘Gravy Train’) who is more happy than not with the way our sport is being administered!

‘F’rinstance – why did they go to Nepal? Training the locals to run the Mt Everest GP, perhaps? In the meantime, we have a potentially dangerous situation with flag points, which are so far back from the racing surface that they are out of drivers’ vision. What about the department manager who reckons ‘Free’ in the regulations doesn’t mean there are no restrictions! Or the ‘tenant’

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Leo and Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan with the Lotus 39 at Warwick Farm in 1967.

who’s keen to stay in his ‘job’ ad nauseum’! Or... need I go on? It seems to me that there are many staff who have been promoted to their level of incompetence! Fortunately there are many volunteers who make things happen and I salute them – one and all!

It was when I started with the Geoghegans that I became a full time mechanic for wellknown drivers.

Leo and Pete were different in their approach. Leo was ‘world quality’ in his favourite open wheeler category and had he chosen to, he could have made it overseas in F1.

Pete on the other hand seemed to like touring and sports cars better. I used to love it when he would go out in ‘practice’ as it was called then, do three laps, set a demon time on the second, cool it down on the third and put it away! I was continually amazed how he did it – his dad, Tom, used to say “It’s not a trotter bud, you don’t have to train it!” and I reckon Pete had the same idea. He was a dumb driver who never knew when he was beaten!

After the Geoghegans, I worked ‘on the dirt’ with Johnny Stewart who was

a really skilled driver who I reckoned wouldn’t have passed the .05 test very often; he used to tell me how “we drank a couple of bottles of Bourbon” on the Saturday night before a Sunday race meeting.

It occurs to me that this is looking more about me than the drivers, but some of these snippets tell you about them as normal people.

I have been very, very lucky over the years to have worked with the top drivers and I was asked by Evan Green in an interview after Bathurst (on

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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.

Always the showman, Norm Beechey pushes his Holden Monaro hard at Lakeside during 1970.

TV commentator Evan Green was also a dab hand behind the wheel, shown here driving a Mini Clubman during the 1971 Southern Cross Rally.

Bob Jane, Peter Brock, Larry Perkins and Max Stahl in Sydney before leaving for Le Mans 1984.

TV I might add) if Peter Brock was the best I had worked with. I looked down the table and Pete Geoghegan was looking at me and I thought how can I answer that – talk about a Catch 22, so I said “in terms of wins, Pete was probably more successful,”

which may have been true, but didn’t do a lot for my relationship with Brock!

Before I took over the MHDT, I managed Bob Jane Racing for a couple of years and the editor asked me “was it difficult

working for Bob Jane?” I always felt I worked with Bob and I’m sure he felt the same!

I was pretty much left to do my job and I really enjoyed my time there (until the end that is!). Bob decided to abuse me one day over a misunderstanding, so I explained to him where he could stick his job.

However, I still look back at that time with pride and fond memories.

I managed to work with Norm Beechey for about six months but I think we had different ideas about success! Norm was primarily a ‘showman’ and there is no doubt he was extremely good at that. Conversely, when he put his mind to it, he was an extremely good driver too!

He beat Pete at ‘The Farm’ on one occasion and that was a ‘driver’s track’.

What I would like to have seen, would be a race between Pete, Bob, Norm and Brock at their peak. Throw in Jim Richards, John Bowe and Robbie (not).

There are obviously others, but these are the ones I have worked with and if I have left anyone out, my apologies!

On the subject of flag points, there is a multitude of ways to send messages to drivers – especially in categories where two way radio coms are a ‘no no’! Trackside lights, on board flashing lights, one way radio coms from Race Control etc.

Apart from earning ‘brownie points’ from FIA, is there any reason that CAMS mandate roll bar padding when, according to Laurie Bennet, virtually nobody overseas runs it?

I had better put my pen away now, my blood pressure is on the rise.

Just before I do, a piece of advice for you ‘Webby’, stop talking about solicitors – the only ones who get any money out of the courts is them!

– Sheppo MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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the foges files

THE HITCHHIKER’S

GUIDE TO JOURNALISM

H

itching rides to racetracks. Hiding motorcycles at a house down the street. Pestering people on the phone. Writing about almost anything with wheels. Riding illegally to races. Soliciting support and advice from the good and the great. Acting with more confidence, and pretending to be older than a callow teenager.

More than 40 years ago, I did all that – and more – to become a motoring and motor sport journalist. I was 15-16 years old, cocksure, resourceful, ambitious, obsessed, tall for my age and with just enough latent ability to pull off the charade that I was a budding reporter.

When I look back, it still surprises me that I got as far in this game as I have.

To think that a long career in motoring journalism and sports writing and broadcasting started with only a little talent, and a lot of persistence, makes me realise how fortunate I’ve been.

If it weren’t for a combination of naivety, self-belief, youthful arrogance, enthusiasm and dedication, I wouldn’t have survived and improved as a journalist.

Knowing what I wanted and learning how to achieve it, without the encumbrance of 18

SEASONED SCRIBE MARK FOGARTY RECALLS HOW HE WENT FROM A PRECOCIOUS PRODIGY TO AN ESTABLISHED SCRIBE BY GOING HIS OWN WAY AND NEVER BEING AFRAID TO CHALLENGE AUTHORITY

Foges samples a replica of the 1928 AGP-winning supercharged Austin 7.

experience, were the foundations of turning a schoolboy fixation into a profession.

Every so often I’m asked by an aspiring youngster how to get into motor sport journalism. While it’s flattering that my international career is an inspiration, and I can understand why it appears to be a glamourous life, the reality is that there’s no proven path.

Certainly, there’s no easy way into the business and, for the most part, it’s demanding work, no matter how exotic covering F1 or any other major overseas series seems.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great job at almost any level – and, like I always say, it beats working for a living!

But, seriously, it takes a lot of hard graft and no little amount of luck to establish yourself and make a living as a motor sport writer.

Gaining an international reputation is another step again.

Being able to write for the media – or the capacity to learn the difference between academic English and journalese – is obviously a pre-requisite.

That includes, fundamentally, being able to recognise what is and isn’t a story.

You need to be able to spot opportunities and have the confidence and talent to take advantage of them. Being in the right place at the right time is where the luck comes in.

Writing, while in my last few years at high school, meant I had to be resourceful.

Without a driving licence, I had to cadge lifts to and from race meetings. Among those who gave me rides to the races was noted photographer, Ian Smith, of Autopix fame.

Smith opened my eyes to oversteer. He was a handy amateur rally driver and he drove a lightly modded Datsun 1600. It was French blue and had Globe alloy wheels and rally style spot lamps.

On the back road to what was then known as Calder Raceway, there was a long downhill stretch to an acute left-hander over a spindly bridge. Imagine my surprise – and thrill – the first time he approached the crossing, at what seemed like unabated speed, flicked the Datto right and then left, followed by an

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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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.

armful of opposite lock as he powered sideways over the crossing.

The experience left an indelible impression and I looked forward to accompanying Smith to Calder, grinning like a loon on the way there and back as he slid the 1600 onto and off the bridge.

A few years later, I was throwing my own car across the causeway, although with less exuberance and skill. Still, in an HD Holden Premier equipped with Swedish steel belted radials on the front and tired Goodrich crossplies on the back, it was always exciting.

Such behaviour, of course, was just as irresponsible then as it would be now, but somehow it didn’t seem so.

But lurid driving on back roads was nothing compared with riding motorcycles on the road without a licence.

In my final two years at school, I was borrowing press test road bikes and writing road tests for motorcycle mags. None of the editors ever asked if I was old enough to hold a licence and the bike distributors never asked either – even when I turned up to collect a machine in my school uniform.

I was tall for my age – already more than six feet (183 cm) tall – and nobody raised an eyebrow. I wasn’t even old enough for a learner’s permit. But apart from the fear of being pulled over by the cops, it didn’t worry me that I was riding illegally.

Memorably, I borrowed a couple of 350cc road bikes for a schoolmate and I to ride to Albury for the Queen’s Birthday motorcycle race meeting at the old Hume

Weir track. Now, that was an adventure – including nearly freezing to death on the way home because we hadn’t thought about needing cold weather riding gear at night in the middle of winter. Doh! And then there was the Holden engineer and noted part-time hot rod writer who aided and abetted my illicit riding by letting me leave test bikes at his place, which was down the road from my parents’ home. They would have grounded me if they knew I was illegally riding on the road, so I successfully stashed the bikes within walking distance and the folks were never the wiser.

Years later, when I finally revealed the deceit to my mother, she was appalled that this fellow condoned my dishonesty. She expressed less surprise that I had engaged in the subterfuge…

Fellow scribbler, Phil Branagan, who was a year behind me at our alma mater, still shakes his head when he recalls that I not only rode a BMW test bike to school, but parked it in the recreational yard. After lunch, I wagged the rest of the school day, jumping on the café racerlook R90 S – a superbike in its day – to test it on the twisting Black Spur road in the ranges outside Melbourne.

Again, it didn’t seem so bad at the time and certainly, the legal consequences weren’t as great as they would be now.

It was just an exaggerated example of the anti-authoritarian attitude that prevailed among young blokes back then.

Honestly, how I survived those rebellious teen years, much less went on to journalistic respectability (well,

debatably), I’ll never know.

They were less restrictive times and while I wouldn’t recommend such a wilful approach now, my advice to aspiring journalists would boil down to the same basic principles. Want it more than anything else. Learn everything you can about your chosen passion and always ask questions. Never stop asking questions and never give up because persistence pays. Above all, be different. Stand out.

McLaren boss, Ron Dennis, once observed that my insistence on swimming against the tide prejudiced my prospects. Financially, he was probably right. But as far as satisfaction and professional freedom are concerned, I wouldn’t do it any other way.

– Foges

Some professional drivers may have enjoyed writing about Foges’ racetrack efforts.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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18/06/2015 9:52 am

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17/06/2015 4:55 PM pm 4/02/14 1:29

from behind the armco

PIRATE PETE

THE LATE FIVE TIME AUSTRALIAN TOURING CAR CHAMPION, IAN GEOGHEGAN, WAS THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF GOLD STAR CHAMPION, LEO, WHO PASSED AWAY THIS YEAR

F

rom a healthy motor racing family, both Leo and Ian raced anything with wheels and were regular competitors at Bathurst in both GT Falcons and Valiant Chargers.

Ian was always a big boy and as the touring car and sports car titles mounted up over the years, Ian also got bigger. ‘Fatty’ Geoghegan was a common nickname, but now forty years later, some of our newbees mistakenly refer to the huge champion as Peter.

The nickname Pete was given to Ian for wearing a distinctive black driving suit early in his career. ‘Pirate Pete’ was followed by ‘Black Pete’, which became just plain Pete Geoghegan.

After feats of magic in a Mustang, and with brother Leo in GT Falcons at Bathurst, Ian showed up in 1975 at the Calder Park $100,000 Sports Sedan Championship in the massive new Craven Mild 350 Monaro.

The 1975 cartoon from Chequered Flag magazine, depicts Calder Park owner, Bob Jane, threatening to evict Big Pete. ‘Uncle Bob’ thought he had the $100,000 prize money in the bag until Geoghegan’s Monaro arrived

on the scene.

It was a great privilege to have spent time with Pete, and Allan Grice, in the Craven Mild camp in the mid-’70s and enjoy his rye sense of humour.

What was not generally known, was that Ian had a debilitating stammer and was never interviewed or asked to speak in respect of his speaking difficulty.

However, at the most odd times he would blurt out a quip with no hint of his speech impediment.

Watching ‘Gricey’ leading a race from the top of the Craven Mild truck he smoothly said, “Gricey will be harder to pass than a nine

dollar bill!”

Another quote he made in the pits after the Monaro had stopped on the back straight of Sandown, “Electrical problem, a conrod came through the block and smashed the alternator!”

The best ‘Fatty’ yarn is his practise day at Phillip Island in 1976, driving Laurie O’Neil’s Lurex Porsche. All Pete had to do was finish in the top ten and his third Sports Car title

was notched up.

The weather was fine in the pits but rain had started to fall on the other side at Lukey corner.

Pete strolled out to the miniscule Porsche and squeezed his mammoth frame into the tiny racecar. He roared out onto the circuit, thrashing the thing down and around turn 1-2-3 out to Siberia. Swooping around out from Lukey, the blue and yellow Porsche flashed back down into pit lane.

A mechanic strolled out of the pit garage to the left side window of the throbbing Porsche. “What’s wrong Pete?”

“THERE’S NO F-F-F-F *****G Wa-Wa-WaWINDSCREEN WIPER ON THE CAR!” He shouted.

“Yeah… we took it off to save weight!,” replied the mechanic.

“HAVE YOU HAD A F-F-FF-*****G L-L-LOOK AT ME LATELY???????”

– Stonie John Stoneham (pen-name ‘Stonie’) was editorial cartoonist with Chequered Flag and Auto Action magazines for four decades, Political cartoonist with Adelaide’s paily newspaper, The News 19841991. He is currently Unique Cars’ resident cartoonist. He was discovered by Mark Fogarty in 1974.

MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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N I V L AIDES R IN A G A

Words DARREN HOUSE Photos PETER NORTON, DIRK KLYNSMITH / ENZED TOURING CAR MASTERS

TASMANIAN STAR, GREG CRICK, IS FLYING THE CHRYSLER FLAG HIGH ON AUSTRALIAN RACETRACKS - HIS VALIANT CHARGER DELIGHTING MOPAR FANS ALL OVER THE NATION.

M

ost of us lusted after particular cars in our youth, and Greg Crick is no exception. So when it came to choosing a car for the Tasmanian star’s Touring Car Masters’ challenge, a Valiant Charger was a no brainer.

A mechanic by trade, Greg began his automotive career apprenticed to the Launceston Chrysler dealer, though he admits there was no immediate love affair with Valiants. But all that changed when Chrysler’s stunning two-door fastback Valiant was released in the early ’70s.

22

“When the Chargers fitted with Webers came out we were beside ourselves,” said Greg. “They were just sensational, if you could keep them on the road. When I was 21 I bought a crashed one from a wrecking yard, an E38 – I think it was a big tank model. It cost me $500; I chopped it up and built a speedway car out of it.”

Choosing a Charger also made good business sense, as at the time of purchase, Greg was racing a Dodge Viper in the Australian GT Championship with support from Chrysler’s performance arm, Mopar. The timing was also right, as rising costs were soon to force him out of

GT racing.

“The tyre bill alone was $10,000 a meeting, so I started to look at other things and found the TCM fitted the budget that we had to race with and provided the level of competition that I like. Jim (Richards) was in there and ‘Bowey’ (John Bowe) and some other good drivers where you could match yourself with them. It looked like fun.

“Bowey and I have always been pretty good mates and he was always telling me to come and have a crack at it, it’s nice to hang around some people your own age.

It’s a nostalgia thing driving the old cars, even though mechanically, the specifica-

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tions are pretty modern compared to old cars.

“TCM is a great fit with the Mopar fans. They are so passionate, they love the car. We have got a huge following on social media with the Charger, and the car has grown its own personality.

When we first got it Les Small came up with the idea of calling it Alvin, after the Alvin Purple movies (see breakout). The Charger is black so we’re calling it Alvin Black, and everyone knows it as Alvin now. It’s a popular car.”

There’s also a throw-back to the more social days of old time racing, though Greg says sometimes there’s a noticeable

absence of comradeship.

“Sometimes camaraderie is there, sometimes not. It’s surprising how serious some people get with it. We like to do well, but I also like to be pretty relaxed with it, that’s what makes it enjoyable. I think most people in the category have a pretty good time and do it because they want to do it and because they enjoy it, not because they are going to win a sheep station.”

As Greg mentioned, the TCM cars are

far more modern than their model and year designation suggests, however that counts for nothing when he’s competing in both the Charger and the Jamec-Pem Australian GT Audi R8 at the same meeting.

“Transferring from one car to the other, as I did in Adelaide, is unbelievably difficult – you mess up both”, explained Greg. “And I think as you get older it becomes more difficult to transfer from one car to the other. When I get in the MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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Charger I tend to over drive it and I get in the Audi and under drive it. All you can do is have a memory system that tells you, ‘Right, I’m in the Charger now – I’ve got to change how I drive’, and cope with it like that.

“The Charger has 600hp, little Hoosier tyres and no aero. You put your foot on the brakes and they sort of work for the first 30 or 40 metres of the stop and then you can feel them going over temperature, and the harder you push the less they stop.

“Then you get into the Audi, where the whole performance of the car is based on the aero performance, and you become used to the car performing to 100 percent for the whole distance. Drive a GT car in the Bathurst 12 Hour and you can smash the brake pedal going into The Chase as hard on the last lap as you do on the first lap.

“GT cars are really made for young blokes that have spent time in open wheelers because they rely on their aerodynamic performance to go fast – they are all about getting on the brakes as hard as you can and back on full throttle as quickly as you can. And in that regard, the Audi also has ABS and traction control.

“You have to coax a TCM car – looking after the brakes, squeezing the power on and being gentle. It’s a completely different discipline to driving a GT car.

24

TCM cars may be old but they incorporate plenty of modern technology. One nod to the past is the requirement to run a carburettor rather than modern fuel injection but Crick’s 340 V8 (below) produces in excess of 600hp.

The Audi also has a paddle shift, and I have a crow bar for a gear shift in the Charger, it’s like five feet long! They are just worlds apart. It’s a pretty interesting experience. Hopefully I don’t have to do that again.

“But the Charger is still so much fun to drive. You’re sliding, you’re over curbs, and you have to manage how much you use the brakes, because if you don’t manage your brakes properly, you can just run out of them – simple!”

Greg’s Charger was originally built by Mark Barbour in Melbourne for his son, Elliot, but has since been totally rebuilt.

“I think they only ran it once then parked it. We bought it and a lot of work

down the track, we’ve now got a pretty good car,” said Greg.

“It’s been stripped and rebuilt headto-toe; we have done a hell of a lot of suspension work and a lot of engine work just to tidy things up, and it’s made it into a really nice package. I think it’s probably as good as you can make a Charger.

“They were never designed to be a race car – compared to Trans Am Mustangs and Camaros, they have got a lot more weight up front – the engine is further forward, they have a higher centre of gravity and a higher frontal area, so even though we have changed it into a pretty good car, it still has a few limitations.

“Initially it was more overweight

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than what it is now, we spent a lot of time trying to get weight out of it and I think we have got as much out of it as we can. We made some changes to the roll cage, but nothing major.

“We got the lightest passenger seat we possibly could and for the driver’s seat I’ve got one of the New Zealand-made ones that come standard in the Viper GT3, they are a ripper seat manufactured

by Racetech. We also have a rear seat, which is really just for the purpose of making the interior look standard, along with a Momo steering wheel and the normal analogue gauges – it’s all simple, as it was in the day.”

The Charger is powered by a 340 V8, and while Greg likes to keep the detailed specifications to himself, he was willing to share the basics.

A Richard Petty Motorsport R3 NASCAR block and crankshaft form the bottom end, while the top end features a pair of Indy W 2 cylinder heads which are fed by a Holley carburettor, Victor Junior manifold, Isky cam, a hand-built exhaust and MSD Ignition.

The engine produces about 605hp

and 456lbs of torque – figures that Greg said puts the Chrysler coupe at a disadvantage on some circuits with slow corners, such as Tasmania’s Symmons Plains Raceway.

“The bigger engines, the 351s and those with the longer stroke, have far superior torque to what we have. At places like Bathurst I don’t think it affects us too much because you get a flow going and once the car is up and singing, she goes as good as anything in a straight line. It’s just off some of the slow corners where they get a bit of a jump on us.”

Behind the V8 is a NASCAR Jerico gearbox, linked to a Ford nine-inch rear end. A choice of two gearboxes with different ratios are available to match the various diff ratios that are employed, depending on the circuit.

The barely adequate brakes are from Brembo, which are only four spot on the front.

“We are only allowed a certain size caliper and we have a 305mm disc, which is pretty small for this type of car. For example, up the back straight at Sandown, we are about 5km/h slower than V8

“THE CHARGER HAS 600HP, LITTLE HOOSIER TYRES AND NO AERO. YOU PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKES AND THEY SORT OF WORK FOR THE FIRST 30 OR 40 METRES OF THE STOP AND THEN YOU CAN FEEL THEM GOING OVER TEMPERATURE, AND THE HARDER YOU PUSH THE LESS THEY STOP” MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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THE COLOUR PURPLE

A

lvin the Charger gets its name from the Charger-driving character in Australian comedy movies, Alvin Purple (1973) and Alvin Rides Again (1974).

Written by Alan Hopgood, directed

by Tim Burstall, and featuring a score by Brian Cadd, Alvin Purple was controversial at the time and remains a household name for many reasons, not the least being that it introduced full-frontal nudity to a mainstream audience.

Alvin Purple was a major hit with Australian audiences despite negative reviews from local film critics. The film became Australia’s most commercially successful Australian film released to that time, breaking the record set by the comedy They’re a Weird Mob (1966).

Alvin was a naïve young man who became the centre of every woman’s attention, affection and desire. The character was played by Graham Blundell, who reportedly was paid $500 a week for the role. The movie also featured Abigail, Jacki Weaver, Lynette Curran and Penne Hackforth-Jones.

26

With the success of Alvin Purple, the sequel Alvin Rides Again was released the following year. Directed by David Bilcock and Robin Copping, the film toned-down the sex scenes and nudity, and it did not perform as well

financially as its predecessor.

The film featured Blundell in the role of Alvin and a look-a-like American gangster by the name of Balls McGee, along with Abigail, Kris McQuade, Alan Finney, Noel Ferrier, Frank Thring, Frank Wilson, Candy Raymond and Chantal Contouri.

Two years later, Blundell again starred as Alvin in the ABC television situational comedy series Alvin Purple and the 1984 movie Melvin, Son of Alvin.

Both Alvin Purple and Alvin Rides Again are available on DVD through Umbrella Entertainment.

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AT PLACES LIKE PHILLIP ISLAND AND BATHURST, IN FAST CORNERS IT’S JUST SENSATIONAL. IT’S VERY, VERY GOOD.” Supercars and we weigh almost 1600kgs at the end of a race. My car’s 1570 roughly when we come in, we are allowed to be 1550 but it’s a bit overweight. If you compare the size of the brakes on a V8 Supercar to ours, and the speed and the weight, you can see why we struggle with brakes a little. We use Project-Mu brake pads and fortunately they ensure the brakes perform at their optimum.”

Despite the braking issues, Greg said he’s happy to run the current control specification.

“I think it’s part of the charm of the category, even though it costs a lot of money keeping brakes up to them. And if we went to bigger brakes we’d have to go to bigger wheels (currently 15x8 Performance Superlites fitted with Hoosier control tyres).”

What the Charger lacks in low-speed engine performance it more than makes up in cornering, thanks to a set of Supashocks, made in Adelaide by former Castrol Perkins Racing, K-Mart Racing, Gibson Motorsport and Team Dynamic engineer, Oscar Fiorinotto.

“One of the major improvements we

did to the car when we got it was to put the Supashock shocks in it. I did the same in the Viper and we got a huge benefit from the Supashock, so, obviously when I built the Charger, I put the same shocks in it.

“We made huge gains again and we got a big improvement in our tyre life as well.

Most of our work has been in sorting the chassis out and I think we’ve got that

very good. At places like Phillip Island and Bathurst, in fast corners it’s just sensational. It’s very, very good.”

Speaking of Bathurst, Greg made an emotional return to the Mount Panorama circuit last October for the Bathurst 1000 TCM round after suffering serious health issues in the Bathurst 12-Hour race; the occasion made even sweeter after the gritty MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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17/06/2015 4:07 pm

“TCM IS A GREAT FIT WITH THE MOPAR FANS. THEY ARE SO PASSIONATE, THEY LOVE THE CAR. WE HAVE GOT A HUGE FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITH THE CHARGER” Tasmanian took victory in race three, and won the round on points.

“It’s nice to win at Bathurst on Sunday morning after what had happened (in the 2014 Bathurst 12-Hour),” said Greg.

“I have spent a year getting better and

that was our fourth race back. We went to Eastern Creek, Sydney Motorsport Park, Sandown and Bathurst and I think we got on the podium at every race.

“At Bathurst last October I was getting better but I still wasn’t that well, so it

was very emotional and satisfying to have a win up there. I am very lucky to be back doing what I’m doing, driving the Charger and driving Audis, it’s just bloody awesome after they told me that I would never race again.”

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MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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THE DAY HENRY F FORD II JUST SHOOK HIS HEAD...

NINETEEN-SIXTY-FIVE WAS A LANDMARK YEAR. DECIMAL CURRENCY HAD ARRIVED, AUSTRALIA RE-INTRODUCED CONSCRIPTION, AND FORD AUSTRALIA CAME UP WITH A HAIR-BRAINED IDEA TO PROMOTE ITS XP FALCON. Words BRIAN REED Photos FORD MOTOR COMPANY

or years Ford had played second fiddle to its great rival, General Motors, in the local sales battle, and its cause wasn’t enhanced when the XK Falcon landed here, basically in its USA guise, during 1960. Put simply, the American car couldn’t cope with Australia’s extreme conditions. Its successor, the Falcon XM, wasn’t much better.

What was needed was a tougher, more hairy chested Falcon that could better withstand local challenges, and at the same time bring buyers back to the Blue Oval. Enter the XP. Prototypes of the new model went through almost 800,000 punishing kilometres of testing around Eyre Peninsula from mid-1964 to early 1965, but something bold was required to ‘sell’

Henry Ford II arrived by helicopter on the last Sunday, declared everyone mad and flew home to the USA.

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the new model to the public when it was released in March ’65. It was Ford’s marketing guru, Bill Bourke, who came up with what motoring journalist, Bill Tuckey, described as “An act of corporate stupidity”.

Bourke made the dangerous announcement in advance to the public that a team of five XP Falcons in standard trim would cover 70,000 miles (112,630kms) over eight-and-ahalf days at an average speed of 70mph

(112km/h). The venue was to be the Ford Proving Ground, a secret location on the outskirts of Geelong.

All five cars would have to achieve around 22,400km in this time – the equivalent distance the average motorist would cover in 15 months of normal driving – except this was to happen at high speed.

Ace racer and tweaker, Harry Firth, played a key role in preparing the cars for the punishment ahead, and CAMS

The tyres ran at 50psi and were destroyed at an alarming rate. Dunlop’s entire Australian production was re-directed to the You Yangs – even the new Falcons awaiting delivery at Ford were raided for their rubber.

scrutineers ensured they conformed to stock standard specifications.

Three of the XPs were manuals fitted with Pursuit 170 engines, and there was a sedan and a hardtop with Super Pursuit engines and three-speed automatic transmissions.

A team of race and rally drivers “selected from throughout the Commonwealth” took part, and everyone believed the “stupidity” would take place on an oval track. Far from it! The Falcon-Mobil

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70,000 Mile Durability Run was conducted on Ford’s punishing 3.6km test track in the craggy, windswept You Yangs.

The course was narrow and abrasive, flanked by great granite boulders and unfriendly gum trees waiting for the unwary. Throw in some off-camber corners, sharp hairpin bends, no straights longer than 400 metres and a one-in-four gradient that disappeared into the heavens – welcome to the You Yangs!

Ford Competition Manager, Les Powell, had the mammoth task of overseeing the event, which got underway soon after 8am on Saturday, April 24, 1965.

For the drivers, there was no practice. Just a case of get through security with a special pass, look for your name and time on the blackboard in tent city, and be ready to take over from someone who had been through the wringer for the past three hours when the car came in for a pit stop.

Top rally exponent, Gil Davis, came in after his first night stint complaining about one section of the track he found in terrible condition. Rather embarrassing when he discovered he had somehow worked his way to the wrong side of a row of witches hats and was actually rattling over a section of ripple strips designed to loosen fillings and destroy suspensions!

He could be forgiven, as the entire track was in darkness, apart from floodlights over the start/finish line.

The cars also suffered, with many ‘offs’ 32

A team of race and rally drivers were selected from throughout the Commonwealth though no one suspected the run would be conducted on Ford’s punishing 3.6km test track in the craggy, windswept You Yangs. The torturous assignment was way too much for the original 12 drivers and others took over as they succumbed to the pressure.

as drivers battled to maintain the high speed demands. Most treacherous track times were sunset, before sunrise and during the night, with cars following and all lights blazing.

Crashes were frequent, and all but one rolled, the most spectacular being ‘Bo’

Seton who broke a stub axle and went over five times before coming to rest somewhere off the track in a cloud of dust.

There was no electricity or running water at the site, and generators ran night and day to provide power.

Mechanics worked around the clock, and power tools worked overtime to straighten panels and replace parts resulting from driver error.

Mobil was the chosen fuel supplier and initially the cars were refuelled from 4-gallon drums. As the run progressed, an overhead gravity fed tank helped reduce the work load. The rules allowed for one spare car to be thrown into the fray while repairs were carried out, and

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“THE ASSIGNMENT WAS WAY TOO MUCH FOR THE ORIGINAL TWELVE DRIVERS, AND A CALL FOR REINFORCEMENTS WENT OUT. ANYONE WITH A CAMS COMPETITION LICENCE WAS INVITED TO REPORT WITH CRASH HELMET TO THE YOU YANGS” it, too, came in for its share of buffeting.

Thankfully, there was an endless supply of stamina, ingenuity and race tape.

Also required was an endless supply of tyres. Dunlop had been contracted to provide its newly released SP41 radials for the attempt, and once again it was a case of grossly miscalculating the level of tyre wear.

The SP41s ran at 50psi and were

destroyed at an alarming rate, (less than 12 laps by “the heroes” instead of 20 plus as scheduled), and I recall seeing tip truck loads of tyres being delivered trackside just a couple of days after the carnage started.

Dunlop’s entire Australian production was directed to the You Yangs – even the new XP Falcons awaiting delivery at Ford were raided for their rubber.

According to motoring writer, Chris de Fraga, there was “a huge row” between Ford’s head of Sales and Marketing, Keith

Horner and Ford boss, Wally Booth over the number of tyres being destroyed. In the end, Booth prevailed and gave orders for the run to continue.

The top Armstrong 500 combination of Harry Firth and John Reaburn tested all five cars in the days leading up to the run.

They set a cracking pace in the quickest of the Falcons and shared the car for the first 24 hours, covering around 3,000km and setting a number of endurance records along the way. (Reaburn claims he and Firth drove four-hour shifts for 48 hours until they were forced to relinquish the number one car through sheer fatigue).Their places were taken by police driving instructors and Bathurst, tearaways, Fred Sutherland and Alan Mottram. Others took over as they, too, were unable to sustain the pressure – a pattern repeated with all five cars.

Clearly, the assignment was way too

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much for the original 12 drivers, and a message was placed on the notice board of the Light Car Club of Australia in Melbourne calling for reinforcements. In fact, anyone with a CAMS competition licence was invited to report with crash helmet to the You Yangs. Another 10 drivers were recruited, and stints behind the wheel were reduced from three to two hours in order to reduce the strain.

Media coverage was extensive, with daily news bulletins, hourly radio coverage, and television reports to keep the world informed of progress. Security was tight and the public wasn’t permitted to the location, although car loads of spectators lined the boundary fences

to catch a glimpse of the Falcons as they sped past. There was an exception.

Henry Ford II flew by helicopter on the last Sunday to see what all the fuss was about. He surveyed the scene expecting to see an oval track, shook his head, declared everyone mad and flew off to catch his plane to the USA. There was one other exception reported by Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan. In the wee small hours he came across a fire burning on the edge of the track, and when he completed another lap he saw it was a family enjoying a barbeque. How they managed to find their way into the well hidden location remains a mystery.

Finally, at 1:42 on Monday morning,

May 3, 1965, Les Powell flagged car number four across the finish line to bring this amazing endurance run to a successful conclusion. Behind the wheel was ‘Wild Bill’ McLachlan who was chaired off in triumph by his fellow team members. Les relaxed for the first time since the run began – as someone reported, he had “ridden every bump”.

Forty nine endurance records were established but were eventually disallowed by CAMS. Apparently there were insufficient observers to oversee the event, and CAMS required the cars to carry the spare parts needed for repairs – a tall ask. Records or no records, this amazing feat achieved its purpose and the XP Falcon went on to enjoy an amazing run of success, at the same time placing Ford firmly at the top of the sales table after years in the doldrums.

At a gathering to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Falcon-Mobil 70,000 Mile Durability Run in March, 1995,

The course was narrow and abrasive, flanked by great granite boulders and unfriendly gum trees waiting for the unwary.

There were also off-camber corners and sharp hairpin bends.

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Ford Public Relations Manager Adrian Ryan declared it “The most ambitious PR exercise by any motoring company anywhere in the world”.

The reunion gathered together the 1965 team for a return visit to that memorable venue in the You Yangs and to be reunited with some trusty XP Falcons. The drivers were taken on a bus trip around the circuit and in turn were invited to report where they had “off track moments” back in 1965.

Leaving the Ford Proving Ground,

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the party moved to Lou Molina’s “Anchor and Hope” Hotel in Melbourne, a mecca for motor sport enthusiasts for lunch and continuation of the tall tales from the past. As the afternoon wore on, lap times tumbled as hero status was achieved by all.

On a more sobering note – what would have been the outcome had the Falcon-Mobil 70,000 Mile Durability Run failed? Most likely the Falcon would have disappeared in disgrace off the local scene to be replaced by either the

Crashes were frequent and mechanics worked around the clock to straighten panels and replace parts. Below: Triumphant team members celebrate the endurance run’s conclusion.

Ford Granada or the Zephyr. Instead, the run was an overwhelming success and the Falcon put Ford back at the top of the sales battle for the first time in decades.

The XP Falcon was also awarded 1965 Wheels Car of the Year and established a 50-year legacy for the legendary Falcon.

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Mr.

VERSATILErt 2

FOLLOWING HIS RESIGNATION FROM THE GM DESIGN DEPARTMENT, PETER BROCK HEADED TO CALIFORNIA TO RESUME HIS RACING CAREER. HE QUICKLY TEAMED UP WITH CARROLL SHELBY AND SOON FOUND HIMSELF DESIGNING ANOTHER CAR – THE ICONIC SHELBY COBRA-BASED DAYTONA COUPE.

Pa

Peter Brock with the 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Racer at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in Florida, USA.

Interview Darren

House Photos Peter Brock Collection, Ford Motor Company

W

hen I turned 21 I returned to California from GM Styling in late ’59 to complete the restoration and start racing my old, ex-Le Mans, works-team, Manx-tail Cooper (you had to be 21 to get a racing license in those days). Since it was powered with a Coventry Climax 100cc engine it was in an SCCA class called ‘G Modified’ for small sports racers.

The Cooper was a great car because it was a very simple construction so I could

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do all of the work on it myself - and I learned a lot during the years I owned it. All of the guys I was racing against back then were at least 10 years older than I and much more experienced, but all were very helpful. I learned so much from those guys on the practicalities of building and racing a car.

It was a great education, so when the opportunity came up to run Shelby’s driving school, I had acquired enough experience to teach from a beginner’s point of view.

THE SCHOOL WENT ON TO GREAT THINGS When I started running the school for Shelby the great English driver, Ken Miles, came into Shelby American as our lead engineering/development driver and took over the development of the Cobra. I would often ride alongside Miles at Riverside (Raceway), we did hundreds of miles of testing. Everything I ever learned about racing I learned from Ken Miles. I basically used all of his instruction techniques and put them into the Shelby School of High Performance

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Below: The prototype Shelby Daytona Coupe during its first test at Riverside Raceway, California in 1964. Bottom: Following a bad crash in Europe, Bob Bondurant retired from serious competition, and worked as Brock’s assistant at the Shelby driving school. Bob took over the operation and developed the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving into the largest driving school in the world.

Driving… we should have called it the Ken Miles school!

We expanded the school and later, when Bob Bondurant retired from serious competition, after his bad crash in Europe, he came to work for me as my assistant. When Shelby closed the school down as the Cobra project took priority, Bob took over and it became the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. He developed it even further and it became the largest driving school in the country, and now the world.

THE SHELBY OPERATION UNLEASHED SOME AMAZINGLY TALENTED PEOPLE The Shelby American operation opened up opportunities for a lot of great talent.

The best guy we had in there was Phil Remington, who was our lead engineer/ fabricator. He seemed capable of doing anything from designing to actually hand fabricating anything on a day’s notice. He was invaluable to Shelby’s success. But we also had another half-dozen guys who were almost as good.

It was an amazing place to learn how to build cars. A little bit of everything rubs off and I finally got to use many of those skills and ideas on my own cars.

We had some really great talent driving for us – Dan Gurney, Bob Bondurant, Jerry Grant, Bob Holbert and Davey McDonald were some of our top American drivers with Ken Miles, Jo Schlesser and Innes Ireland helping to make us a more ‘international’ team when we went to Europe to race against Enzo. Dan Gurney was one the best of that era and Dave McDonald certainly could have been, had he not been killed at Indianapolis. It was a great group of guys to be around.

YOU MUST HAVE WANTED YOUR NAME ADDED TO THAT LIST It was very difficult for me at that time because I’d done all of the initial testing on the Cobra roadsters so I was very comfortable in the car. When I went out to test against Billy Krause, for the first seat on the Cobra team, I was a couple

of tenths faster than he was, but Shelby chose Billy to drive the car at the Cobra’s debut in October of ’62. Looking back Shelby made the right decision, but I sure didn’t think so at the time! Billy had been running sprint cars and midgets for two or three years before he ever got into a Cobra and he was very good. He instantly went fast in it. He was so good in that first race, where we raced against the new Sting Rays, that Mickey Thompson (GM works team) hired him to race MOTORSPORT LEGENDS

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the Corvettes! Then GM cancelled that program so he was out of a ride. Shelby then hired Dave MacDonald (who was driving for Corvette) who became one of our best.

If I’d had that opportunity I could have done as well as Krause, I think, but (looking back) if I had been Shelby, I would have made the same decision. It’s just something you learn with age - he made the right decision for the future of the team. I would much rather have had a career driving for Shelby than designing cars, but that’s the way it worked out.

HOW DID YOU GO FROM GM DESIGN TO DESIGNING THE DAYTONA COUPE WITH NO RESOURCES? If I hadn’t had my design school background from the Art Center College of Design, and the experience at GM Styling working with the best of everything, for some of the giants in the business, I couldn’t have done it because we didn’t have any budget at Shelby’s at all. I had to take all that experience and condense it into the simplest form possible. I’d never told Carroll that I had design experience, as I only wanted him

“JO SCHLESSER SET A NEW GT LAP IN THE DAYTONA COUPE AT LE MANS, IN THE RAIN NO LESS. BUT GOD, IF WE HAD, HAD THE KIND OF DEVELOPMENT MONEY THAT FORD HAD SPENT ON THE GT40S AND SOME SERIOUS DEVELOPMENT TIME WE WOULD HAVE BEEN UNBEATABLE” to think of me as a race driver! Naturally I didn’t have any drawing equipment there and there wasn’t enough space in our tiny operation for a big drawing board. With not enough room to draw the Daytona’s body in full size I laid it all out in one-quarter scale. I did that on the accounting office floor as it was the cleanest spot in the shop! With no proper engineering drawings available from AC Cars in the UK I had to strip the body off a crashed Cobra and reverse engineer the chassis drawings.

When I was finished designing the body in four views in one-quarter scale I then took my 35mm camera and photographed each of the body’s cross-sections and centreline-profile and then blew the images (from the transparencies) up on the wall in full size and copied each on

a large piece of butcher paper - as we couldn’t afford a roll of vellum I got a roll of butcher paper down at the local market. I stapled those sections to some large sheets of plywood, cut them out with a jig saw and we built the wooden buck from those. Hardly super accurate, but I could true up the lines using a long thin piece of steel rod by trimming the sections to match where they didn’t align. I knew that we could always ‘adjust’ the aluminium panels during final construction so I wasn’t too concerned with absolute accuracy. We did the whole car that way… by eye. And we did it all in a matter of a couple of weeks.

Consequently, there were several

LeMans, France, 1967. The Foyt/Gurney Ford MKIII on its way to victory lane. Foyt drives while Gurney sits on hood.

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compromises, like the flat side windows, which should have been nicely curved, but there was no time to make patterns and tooling or windows that retracted.

Even the windscreen was very simple. It would have been ideal to have made it with a compound curve that faired into the roof but since it was the component with the longest lead time I actually had to design the windscreen before the full size body lines were drawn! We just didn’t have the time or money to do another windscreen. It had to be right the first time we laid it on the buck. It would have been far more elegant (and efficient) with compound curves!

There was no time to figure out exactly how the doors were going to open and close and then draw those up so the guys in the shop could make them. All I did was the outside skin and our fabricators used all of their practical experience in figuring out how we were going to hinge the doors and how to were going to open and close the hood and how to make the latches and all that tedious detail that could have taken weeks… they just did it!

We would make patterns out of cardboard and trial fit them, and if they worked they made the part out of a piece out of steel. It had to be right the first time because there was no time to do it over. Crude but beautifully fabricated.

These guys were artists! With the lack of precise drawings most shops would have been lost, but everybody came through and got it done; in the end the car was really fast, so that was really satisfying… for all of us!

LeMans, France, 1967.

Bruce McLaren.

IT WAS SENSATIONAL IN TESTING AT LE MANS The difficult part was not being able to go to Le Mans on Test Day a few weeks before the 24 Hours. I wanted to be there to watch the Daytona test because Ford had just brought in their new GT40s!

They had spent millions on them and they were supposed to be the ultimate track weapon. By contrast we’d built our effort for practically nothing. Ford had not yet decided to back Shelby for a European effort, so the money came from Goodyear, who was just getting into the racing tyre business.

I’d only seen the first publicity pictures of the GT40s and was rather dubious of their shape, especially around the nose, but I didn’t say much, as there was no point in expressing my opinion in

California without really seeing the cars up close in France. The first GT40, with Jo Schlesser aboard, crashed on the first day of practice. Aerodynamic instability.

Roy Salvadori crashed the second one on the next day… same problem. After his crash Jo Schlesser asked if he might drive the Daytona Coupe. He climbed in and within a couple of laps set a new GT lap record with it! In the rain no less. But God, if we had, had the kind of development money that Ford had spent on the GT40s and some serious development time we would have been unbeatable. As it was Schlesser said he could have gone even faster but it wasn’t worth the risk in the rain and we already had the record. Jo was just a couple of seconds off the best time set by the Ferrari prototypes!

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Ferrari wouldn’t have had a chance against us in ’64 because I already had a moveable wing design for the back of the Daytona. But we didn’t even get to build it because it was going to take up too much time to fabricate so we tested at Riverside without it. It was so fast without the wing everyone in the race shop agreed we didn’t need it! “But”, I said, “Yes, we’re fast in spite of not having it…. we could go even faster and eventually we are going to need it.”

As it turned out the next race was at Spa in Belgium. Phil Hill was driving. He felt the car was aerodynamically unstable over the very fast rising and falling terrain where the chassis tended to unload. So we ended up using a sheet of bare aluminium to fashion a rudimentary spoiler on the back of the coupe and it transformed the car! Phil immediately broke the lap record and put the Daytona on the front row against the two fastest works Ferraris.

Had we been prepared with the adjustable wing, it would have been much faster. There were just so many design compromises. Today everybody says, “Oh what a neat car”. All I see is the

compromises that were made. I still love the car, I think it’s a great car, but it could have been a lot better. But that is always the way. With everything you do, there are always compromises.

SOME PEOPLE WERE OPPOSED TO THE CAR EARLY ON Initially there was tremendous resistance to even build the car. As soon as Ken Miles, John Ohlsen and myself got the car about 90 per cent built, went out and tested it, and Ken broke the lap record at Riverside by 3.5 seconds, attitudes changed.

Everybody began to support it. With all our shop talent behind it, very quickly it was developed into quite a good racer. But

there is always resistance to change… it’s just human nature. At first everybody laughed at the design because it looked so strange. Our shop “experts” said, “Nah, that’s not what we should do, let’s do something else,” something that looked like a copy of what had been fast in the previous seasons. Then, as soon as the car proved itself, everybody dived in on it.

The Ford GT40 design had actually begun much earlier in the UK than our Daytona project. Eric Broadley had built the prototype, which was then called the MK6 Lola. After the Ford deal to buy Ferrari fell apart, Ford went to Broadley and bought his design, which was really a smart move. It was a state of the art design with lots of potential. What it didn’t have was development time, whereas our ‘antique’ Cobra roadsters were all pretty well sorted by ’64. That’s what gave us such good reliability.

Ford put millions into the GT40 program but it was a pretty ambitious and very sophisticated design so it took more time to develop than expected.

They also ran into a major political confrontational problem by trying to bring Ford corporate engineering into Broadley’s tight little operation, which was just a small group of guys who really knew what they were doing.

Roy Lund of Ford UK was brought in as

The Ken Miles/John Morton Shelby Cobra 427 Prototype at Sebring.

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The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe at Daytona, 1964. The car helped Shelby win the International Manufacturers GT Championship the following year.

the chief designer for Ford and immediately began changing things to what he thought was the right corporate method of doing things; a large corporate concept that Broadley knew wasn’t to work; so

after 90 days or so, Broadley quit, saying it was an impossible situation.

HOW WAS THE PROJECT RESCUED? The Ford guys spent two years stumbling

around trying to make their changes work and finally realised that the guys who really knew how to build racing cars were at Shelby’s. So Ford management said “Okay, we’re going to remove the program from the UK and give the whole GT40 program to Shelby and let him finish the development,” and it very quickly became pretty successful.

Our team (Shelby) made some very obvious but complicated solutions, like making the whole braking system into something that was completely changeable in minutes because one of the biggest problems with a really fast car at Le Mans is brakes. They wear out several times in 24 hours. Phil Remington figured out how to change the discs and the calipers with quick disconnects. That simple savings in time enabled the car to win overall – it was fast but it would have been out of brakes (and time) if they had to stop and laboriously change brakes the way everybody had been doing it before. So again, it was the engineering

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Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby in the winning Shelby Ford GT40 during the Daytona Continental 2,000km Race, 1965.

The Daytona Coupe during a Land Speed Record run in 1965.

Brock in his Cooper Climax at Pomona.

technology that Phil Remington came up with that enabled the car to win.

And then the typical American solution was, if it doesn’t work this way (with the 289 engine) we’ll put a bigger engine in it!

So, they went from 5-litres to 7-litres. Ford had done all of their 7-litre development with their NASCAR program so the motor was already available. All they did

“THE SURVIVAL OF THE RACE WAS DEPENDENT UPON KEEPING IT ‘INTERESTING’ TO THE FANS” 44

(major engineering) was figure out how to redesign the tub and put that big NASCAR engine in there; no small deal but they did it. Then the guys at Kar Kraft in Detroit had to come up with a transaxle strong enough to take the torque of the bigger engine. The Colotti and ZF gearboxes they had been using with the 289s couldn’t handle the increase in power and torque, so Ford had to develop its own transaxle to be able to take the grunt that came out of that big 7-litre motor. Interestingly, much of the gearbox internals were standard Ford parts. Brilliant.

They then ran that motor and transaxle combination on computer controlled dynos for 48 hours at a time until they wouldn’t break. They

simulated the Le Mans circuit on tape and just kept breaking it and fixing it, breaking it and fixing it, until finally it stayed together and they took it over to Le Mans and there was nothing that could touch them.

So, of course, the Auto Club de l’Ouest (Le Mans organizers) and the FIA came in (because of pressure from Ferrari) and they banned all the big motors! From that point on everybody was required to run 3-litre motors because that was all the foreign teams had to work with in Europe. Otherwise, the Americans would have won everything all of the time if the rules had been left wide-open. The survival of the race was dependent upon keeping it “interesting” to the fans.

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THE BENTLEY BOYS ARE BACK FIVE TIME LE MANS WINNER BENTLEY MOTORS HAS RETURNED TO RACING IN INTERNATIONAL GT3 COMPETITION, THE MUCH REVERED BRAND OPENING ITS 2015 SEASON AT MOUNT PANORAMA, BATHURST. 46

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he howl of a menacing V8 engine reverberated throughout the Bathurst countryside, and the starstruck crowd listened in awe as the car it propelled negotiated the unforgiving concrete canyon that is the Mount Panorama race circuit.

It may seem a common occurrence but this was February, the engine wasn’t your usual overhead valve V8, and the car was most certainly not a locally produced taxicab.

The subject of the crowds’ undivided attention was a big, beautiful Bentley Continental GT3, the car which marked Bentley’s return to racing after more than 10 years.

Three Continental GT3s competed in the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour event, two factory entries and another car from Australia’s Flying B Racing, driven by Peter Edwards, John Bowe and David Brabham. All were built by UK-based M-Sport.

Better known for its rally activities, M-Sport also developed and built the Ford Focus RS that won the 2006 and 2007 WRC Manufacturers Championships.

While the two companies may seem strange bedfellows, Brian Gush, Bentley’s director of motorsport, said the partnership made a lot of sense.

“What we were looking for was a team that shares our quality values and attention to detail,” said Brian. “We believe we have quality that is in-line with Bentley brand values.

“We wanted to do a lightweight but strong and safe car, and who better to do that than a rally team? They have won the World Championship twice so they know what they are doing. We also wanted to do it in our own way and in our own style. They were absolutely open to that, so we have had a really great collaboration with them.

“And there are more design cross overs than one would think – lightweight,

“WHILE WE ARE PROUD OF FINISHING IN THE TOP FIVE, WE ALSO KNOW IT SHOULD’VE BEEN MORE. IT’S VERY TOUGH TO SEE THEIR EFFORTS UNDONE ON THE CLOSING LAP BY WHAT APPEARED TO BE UNSPORTSMANLIKE DRIVING.” low centre of gravity. We listened a lot to the rally philosophy of making sure the components bend and don’t break so you can get the car back to the pits to repair it – rally is all about getting to the end of the stage so that the service crew can get on it. We see it with this car, the ability to get it back to the pits and then the preparedness of the crew to tackle anything and repair it.”

At 4950mm long, 2030mm wide and 1350mm high, the Bentley Continental GT3 looks somewhat out of place on the track against the super low Ferraris, Audis and McLarens, though looks can be deceiving.

“The FIA gives you windows of aero, weight and power, so we had to get down to under 1300kg, which was not a big issue. We have a state-of-the-art, high tensile strength steel monocoque, which is quite lightweight,” explained Brian.

“The weight in the road car comes from the luxury and the safety that is built

into it, so once you strip that away we are competitive. The minute we got down to the weight they ballasted us up again, but in doing that you obviously aim for low centre of gravity and (optimum) weight distribution.”

The racer is more than 1000kg lighter than the road-going Continental, thanks in part to the absence of a 4WD set-up.

Luxury items like electric leather seats and wood veneer are also missing, and the window glass has been replaced with lightweight polycarbonate. The car also features carbon-fibre doors, bootlid, bonnet, front splitter, rocker extensions, rear wing, tailshaft and driver’s seat.

An almost ideal weight distribution (52/48) is achieved by moving the FIA regulated 600hp (447kW) twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine backwards and downwards in the engine bay, and by utilising a six-speed rear Xtrac transaxle.

“When people look at the car it looks heavy so they assume it is going to be

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BUILDING A BETTER BENTLEY If the joy of owning a new Bentley isn’t enough to satisfy you, the company is now trialling new technology that allows limitless choice in personalisation.

The system offers customers a quick and efficient method of appraising the 1.2 million colour combinations on offer, and assists them to develop a specification that best reflects their personality.

“The issue all of our customers face is we have a bewildering choice – more than 120 colours, 17 hides,

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more than 10 veneers, and trims that include carbon fibre and aluminium.

When you add in colour splits and feature choices, a customer can be bewildered,” said Robin Peel, Head of Marketing and Communications – Asia MEAI/Asia Pacific.

The process starts with the customer working through a one-on-one digital experience with a Bentley designer to select a series of images that appeal to them. Once the image choices are locked in, a pattern emerges about the personal preferences and tendencies of that customer, the Bentley model that would suit them, and a suggested colour palette.

The customer and the Bentley designer will then discuss materials and colours, based on the results of the survey of their lifestyle matrix and the colour trends researched.

When they are satisfied with the choices, Bentley’s online configurator will bring those choices to life.

If you are still not satisfied then head for Bentley’s bespoke division, Mulliner, which allows for truly personal creations.

“There are always customers

who want to go a little further and do something different,” explained Kate Latham, Head of Mulliner Commercial Operations.

These can range from simple requests such as monogrammed upholstery to tailored body modifications.

Mulliner also allows customers to colour-match hides and paints to items such as a favourite nail polish or item of clothing.

“A customer brought us in a powder blue food blender and she asked us to match the paint colour to that blue. No problem, we can find the Pantone colour for that shade, then create a paint colour and have the car painted at Crewe,” said Kaye.

Creations have included inlaid jewels and the use of unique materials: one customer wanted their Flying B Mascot plated in gold.

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a heavy car, but it is lighter than some notable brands on the grid,” said driver, Matt Bell. “It feels very agile and nimble, even though people don’t expect it. A lot of people are asking if it is easy to drive – David Brabham has done a handful of laps this (Bathurst) weekend and gone quick. He didn’t even do a test, he only drove our car up the hill at Goodwood.

It’s great to see the Flying B Bentley going well, they have been fast all week.”

The Bathurst 12 Hour was the first race in a busy 2015 schedule for Bentley Motorsport. Three works-supported teams will race the Continental GT3 in five series around the world, while the factory team will compete in the Blancpain Endurance Series, along with selected premier endurance races – Bathurst, the Nurburgring 24 Hour and Abu Dhabi.

“GT3 has grown in prominence since 2006 and has probably got a footprint second only to Formula 1. The racing is extremely popular and at the moment we are pretty satisfied with where we are with GT3,” said Gush.

“We have got GT Asia with (Team) Absolute and two customers, that (series) has just got going so it doesn’t have much momentum (but) we are very strongly represented in Europe with HTP, doing GT Masters, some DLM races and some sprint races.

“We have customer cars in the US and IMSA has assured us GT3 will be eligible as homologated in Daytona. If any customer wanted to enter we would welcome it, but

Above: The 1930 Le Mans winning Bentley Speed Six of Capt Woolf Barnato and Commdr Glenn Kidston. Left: Sir Henry Ralph Stanley ‘Tim’ Birkin, one of the ‘Bentley Boys’ of the 1920s. Below: Taking on Germany’s finest at Silverstone.

we (factory team) have our hands full with what we have taken on.”

Despite that comment, the team would make the additional effort to race in the greatest endurance race of them all.

“We’d be at Le Mans like a shot if the regulations allowed it. I think we have a car that can do well there.”

Gush said his strategy for selecting customer teams has been one of quality over quantity.

“We chose experienced teams that can represent the brand well. This year we would hope more people come on board (but) we are very selective. We are not

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looking for big numbers - if we do 30 cars we are happy. We would like to see more interest here. Australia is a V8 country and we think the car should really appeal, and after Bathurst there should be more interest.”

Gush said the Bathurst 12 Hour is becoming one of the great endurance races of the world, attracting much attention in Europe, adding that Mount Panorama was a daunting challenge.

“It’s a mixture of Nurbugring and, given the closeness of the walls, Macau. The feedback from the drivers is that the (early) lack of grip was very much like Macau.”

Steve Kane added: “We did our homework but we are all quite shocked by the elevation change, where the car goes light, which you don’t get the feeling of in the simulator or watching it on YouTube.

And also, how narrow the circuit is at turns three and four. It’s a circuit that keeps your attention and it’s very unforgiving, if you hit something you will hit it pretty hard. We’re also on a different tyre here so it is a big learning curve.”

A crash in practise allowed the team to experience how hard Bathurst can bite, and gave them a chance to put their rally repair experience to good use.

“I’ve never seen a group of guys working that hard before,” said Gush “With chassis damage like that, in the past we would have downed tools and said that’s weekend over, but they were 50

working until 5 o’clock in the morning putting it all back together. We had the help of some local guys too, which was great.”

One team driver, who shall remain nameless, suggested it was all in a day’s work for the team, saying, “You’ve got to bear in mind these guys have had a year of Robert Kubica, so…”

Come race day few people expected a Bentley to cross the Bathurst finish line in first place.

The team members stated they wanted to be competitive during their first time at The Mount but Gush admitted they don’t go anywhere without wanting to win.

The #10 car of Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell started the race from position 10 and took the lead in the final hour, only to be defeated in the final two laps by the #35 Nissan GT-R. Bell managed to hold second place until the last corner, when a fight for third place between the #15 Audi and #97 Aston Martin resulted in him being forced off line and almost in to a spin, ultimately finishing fourth.

In car #11, drivers Andy Soucek, Maximilian Buhk and Harold Primat endured a tough race. Starting from grid 21, the team made progress in the opening hours of the race to climb into the top 10 but a series of drive-through

penalties cost time, dropping the car down the order. A failure in the closing hour caused by rear-end contact left the car without drive.

Overall, Gush said he was satisfied with the team’s performance but couldn’t hide his disappointment over the treatment experienced by Bell in the final corner.

“We came to Bathurst to show the pace of the Continental GT3 over one of the toughest endurance races in the world.

While we’ll leave here knowing we’ve succeeded in that mission, and proud of finishing in the top five, we also know it could’ve and should’ve been more. The Bentley Boys drove an outstanding race and it’s very tough to see their efforts undone on the closing lap by what appeared to be unsportsmanlike driving.”

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“THE CROWD DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS ME, THEY THOUGHT IT WAS PETER, BUT THEY STARTED CHANTING ‘GO BROCKY’. I TELL YOU WHAT, THAT PUMPS YOU UP A BIT”

N I P T I L SP Words: David Dowsey Photos: www.autopics.com.au, Ian D Smith

FOR THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF ‘PETER PERFECT’, HAVING THE SURNAME ‘BROCK’ HAS PROVEN A PRETTY TOUGH BURDEN TO BEAR OVER THE YEARS

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rowing up on the family property in Hurstbridge, 35km outside Melbourne, with brothers Neil, Peter and Lewis, you’d think Phil Brock would have had motor oil coursing through his veins as a kid. But he didn’t.

“The interest in speed was not with me from a young age,” said Phil.

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“I saw (older brother) Peter do it and I just followed him. It wasn’t a burning ambition for me as it was for him.”

By his own admission, Phil was a pretty good sportsman as a youngster; swimming and tennis amongst his talents.

“But I was a pretty average cricketer and (Australian Rules) footballer, which

was the one sport I really wanted to play well more than any of the others.”

Neither was young Brock fascinated with the mechanical workings of the various machines that could be found littering Geoff and Ruth Brock’s family property.

“When Peter was building the (Austin) A30 I was there and helped a bit but I was

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Phil co-drove with Peter in the Team Brock Torana L34 at Bathurst in 1976.

pretty young at the time,” he said.

“I have a good knowledge of how (cars) work but I’m not very good at fixing things. I wait for the bolt to snap and then I back off half a turn; not too flash.”

Phil’s first car was an FE Holden, which came into his hands at 19 years of age. It was a road car but it also saw duty as his first racing car at Sandown in 1969.

“I used to drive that car to the track, take the muffler off and race it, put the muffler back on and drive home.”

A photo captures the moment when it appears Phil is out in front of Peter on the main Sandown straight.

“I used to tell people that I was passing Peter but it was him coming around to

lap me,” he said laughing.

Phil only competed in about four meetings in the FE before the front-left wheel took an excursion into a creek at Hume Weir and the resulting damage left the old Holden unusable.

His next car was an EH Holden, which

started out as a race car. The 21-year old put a four-speed gearbox in it and an HR front end. After a meeting at Winton however, the car was stolen and that was the end of that.

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leased from Bob Jane in 1974/75. From there things moved up a gear quickly – but not quite as Phil expected.

“Peter asked me to drive with him in 1976. Peter had left Holden. We had the L34 (Torana) and we thought ‘why don’t we put the fuel tank underneath the car?’

But it was about five litres down on its capacity so between Sandown, which Pete won, and Bathurst, we panel beated out the aluminium tank so that it would hold more fuel and we inadvertently bent the pick-up part.

“When we went to Bathurst we made the fatal mistake of not testing the car to see how long it would go before it ran out of fuel. It was about five laps short, but it was alright the first time it happened, Pete just came into the pits.

“The next time he pulled up on Conrod (Straight), which was pretty stupid because everybody knows that once you get to McPhillamy Park you can roll all the way down into the pits. But Peter that day thought he would pull up and

see what was wrong with the car. The only way he got back to the pits was on the starter motor. So that took care of that.”

A Bathurst victory was denied. Unfortunately, the bad luck stories continued for Phil at The Mountain.

“I was quick enough for Peter to ask me back in 1977 but in those days I was

only doing a few races a year and I wasn’t getting quick enough until the end of each meeting. Then I wouldn’t race for a long time and at the next meeting I would have to start again.”

Rear tyres created problems for the Brock brothers that year but not before one of Phil’s magic moments had occurred. “I passed Moffat on the outside

Peter Brock piloting the car Phil should have driven to victory in the ‘83 Bathurst 1000.

Peter leads Phil at Calder Raceway in the Bill Patterson Racing Torana L34s.

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“I’M LOOKING FOR A ROCK BECAUSE NEXT TIME HE COMES PAST HERE IT IS GOING STRAIGHT THROUGH HIS WINDSCREEN” of Reid Park, Moffat had a brake problem but I didn’t know that. I just thought ‘he’s the enemy; I’m going to get this bloke’.

“The crowd didn’t know it was me, they thought it was Peter, but they started chanting ‘Go Brocky’. I could hear it quite clearly in the car.

I tell you what, that pumps you up a bit. That was a bloody fast motor car but we lost a heap of time because of the tyres that year.”

Peter was back at Holden in 1978, leaving Phil without his driving partner. The younger Brock was asked by Peter Janson to steer at Bathurst but by his own admission, Phil

was down on seat time come the big race.

“During practice on the Saturday I was coming up over the top of the mountain in this pristine new car. Frank Radisich kept moving over to the left and there wasn’t much road left. I had a bit of a history of being a smasher so I thought ‘don’t hit him’. I got hard onto the brakes just as I was going into Reid Park, locked up the back wheels, got sideways and I went straight over the side and barrel rolled it through a couple of trees.

“When the people came to get me I was walking around and they asked me what I was doing and I said, ‘I’m looking Bathurst 1981, sharing an Isuzu Gemini ZZ with Gary Scott.

Visit our website www.daviescraig.com.au TM

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“PETER WAS EXTREMELY HIGH PROFILE. I WASN’T AS FAST AS HIM BUT NO OTHER BASTARD WAS EITHER”

Above: Gumboots were often essential when negotiating the old Sandown pits. So too was enjoying a can of Coke and a quick smoke while waiting for the car to be repaired!

Left: Deep in thought with Peter during another Sandown race meeting.

for a rock because next time he comes past here it is going straight through his windscreen’. It was a big crash; the car was a write off. That was the only crash I had at Bathurst but it was the end of my career for some time.”

By this time Phil had moved into stunt driving and regular racing was looking rather distant. He is extremely and justifiably proud of his work on films like Mad Max and Mission Impossible and the early serial TV shows: Cop Shop, Division 4, Matlock Police and just about everything for Crawford Productions at the time.

Further Bathurst drives came along in 1981 and 1983. But in his last Bathurst drive he was wrenched out of the seat and John Harvey, Peter and Larry Perkins went down in the history books as the three winners.

“That really hurt,” he confessed.

“Missing out on a Bathurst victory would have been pretty good on the CV.” 56

Unfortunately the bad times were only beginning.

“I did a stunt on the The Don Lane Show. I crashed on the way home after that and I was over the alcoholic limit.

That was purely self-induced and I was pretty crook. I was taken to hospital and I was pretty lucky. It took about two or three years before I could drive fast again but I was too scared to tell anyone what was happening.”

The political ramifications of drink driving with the name Brock meant his time at HDT was up.

“I was immensely proud of what I did at HDT Special Vehicles as Manager,” said Phil.

“John Harvey and I were the first two there. I knew I had done the wrong thing (drink driving) but I think the loyalty was pretty poor.

“I thought that I wanted to get out of there so I went to Queensland. It was a bit gutless, I have to admit.”

It was through his stunt work that Phil met his second wife in Darwin when he was doing some driving on Neighbours. But with the TV world getting increasingly political, he lost

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interest and moved to the Northern Territory, where he ran an auto electrical business.

But driving fast was never far from his mind. He ran HQ Holdens at the Hidden Valley circuit in NT for a few years. He was always keen to get a steer at historical meets and performed well in a VS in the Commodore Cup from time to time.

“I know it sounds crazy but I think I am driving better now than ever,” said Phil.

“At Bathurst at Easter (2007); that’s probably the best I’ve ever driven.

“I was always a bit of a larrikin and I didn’t really have people around me that I could relate to and use for guidance – but that’s probably my own doing,” Phil admitted. “I tried to talk to Mum and Dad about it. I wasn’t Peter Brock, I didn’t have his talent on the racetrack; I didn’t have his talent for publicity. Peter was extremely high profile. I wasn’t as fast as him but no

other bastard was either.

“Getting sacked (from HDT) by Peter was pretty bad. Some people had convinced him that I was a threat so he sacked me.”

The rift lasted until 2006.

“At the Philip Island (historic races) in February (2006) he asked me to stay a couple of days with him after the meeting,” he said.

“That’s when I rediscovered my brother. Thank Christ for that!”

In the 1973 Bathurst 1000 Phil co-drove a Valiant Charger E49 with Tony Allen.

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FORD MUSTANGS

T

THAT NEVER WERE

he process of designing and developing new cars is time consuming and costly.

Manufacturers don’t want to commit to investing hundreds of millions of dollars without seriously considering a lot of alternatives. Over the past five decades, Ford designers and engineers have drawn, built and tested countless cars that might have carried the Mustang galloping pony badge - only a fraction of those have ever made it to production. While there’s some wild Mustang concepts pictured here, we think Ford got it right when it only released the iconic models that it did.

As Avventura moved from sketch to physical design model, the hatch was replaced with a trunk and the rear seat was switched from rear-facing to a conventional forward-facing orientation. Originally shown internally as Avanti, the name was eventually changed to Allegro, likely because Studebaker had introduced its own production Avanti coupe around the same time.

The Mach 1, as it was shown at the 1967 Detroit Auto Show. The design features a ‘face’ closer to production Mustangs of the time, however the low-cut roofline and racing-type fuel cap never made it to production, but the hatchback did eventually arrive on the 1974 Mustang II.

Early in the gestation of the original Mustang, Ford designers also considered a number of two-seater studies. These were seen as a more affordable return to the roots of Thunderbird, which by this time had grown into a much larger four-seater. The idea of a two-seat Mustang was something designers returned to frequently in the period between the original Mustang 1 concept and the 1992 Mach III. Aside from some track-oriented Mustangs that had the rear seats removed to save weight, there has never been a strictly two-seat production Mustang.

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Clockwise from top: In 1962, the design team, led by Gene Bordinat, worked on several iterations of another design called Allegro. While the production 1965 Mustang was a very different car in almost every visual detail from Allegro, the design study established the basic proportions that would define most Mustangs for the next five decades. The notchback coupe had the same long-hood, short-deck layout with a compact greenhouse that would roll out of the Rouge factory two years later.

In 1967, Ford designers decided to reprise one of the original Mustang design concepts from 1962 with a new form and repurposed name. Starting with the Avanti/ Allegro fastback coupe, the greenhouse was removed and replaced with a low-cut speedster-style windshield, rollbar, flying buttresses on the rear deck and a new rear end. The reworked concept was dubbed Allegro II.

As the first-generation Mustang transitioned from a pony car to a larger and heavier big-block muscle car, the Mach 1 concept was created as a preview of the 1968 model. The original nose of the concept drew inspiration from the 1963 Mustang II concept.

Main: Another Mustang based two-seat coupe proposal that made it as far as a clay model before being rejected.

When you have a product as enormously successful as Mustang, Ford had to consider how to capitalize on the idea. While Mustang used the platform of the compact Falcon as its starting point, the four-door Mustang could have brought the idea full circle by adding two doors to the pony car. Fortunately for Mustang fans, cooler heads prevailed.

Although it was probably never seriously considered for production as a Mustang, this hard-top variation of the Mustang 1 concept from 1962 provided some inspiration for the GT40 MK I that would race at Le Mans and elsewhere beginning in 1964.

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With the Mustang having already set sales records following its launch in 1964, Ford design chief Gene Bordinat and the Special Vehicles Group decided to try rearranging the pieces for the Mach II concept. The 289 Hi-Po V8 was shifted from the front to behind the two seats to evaluate the layout as a possible successor to the Shelby Cobra. Despite its midengine layout, the Mach II retained the long-hood, shortdeck proportions of a Mustang. Unfortunately, the Mach II never went much beyond the auto show circuit.

The Mach III provided the first public hints of the new design direction that was coming for the fourthgeneration Mustang. While classic elements like the grille pony badge, side scoops and tri-bar taillamps were included on the 1994 Mustang, the two-seater layout and the low-cut speedster windshield have never been part of a regular production Mustang.

In the mid-1960s, Ford designers considered a couple of different concepts Created at the Italian Ghia design studio, the RSX was for a Mustang station wagon, with at conceived as a rally special based on the new Fox-body least one running prototype built, based third-generation Mustang that debuted for the 1979 on a 1966 coupe. All of the known model year. With a one-in wider track and 5.6-in shorter Mustang wagons were three-door designs wheelbase than the road-going Mustang, the RSX had extra that were closer to a European ‘shooting ride height that would be needed for dealing with the offbrake’ than a traditional American family tarmac stages of European rallies. station wagon.

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the good life KEEPING IT COOL The importance of cool air when chasing power cannot be emphasized enough. BOI Performance has recently developed a range of Air Boxes for single, twin and triple Weber carburettors, but also suitable for multiple SUs, etc.

Custom Air Boxes to suit unusual applications are a regular activity at BOI Performance. www.boiperformance. com.au

LOOK LIKE LEWIS

A SAV BLANC THAT’S WAY TOO EASY TO DRINK

A new range of official Mercedes Motorsport lifestyle and fan-wear products has been released. In addition to Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team merchandise, the range also includes a new DTM cap and polo shirt. The 2015 Motorsports Selection can be purchased online at www. shop.mercedesbenz.com or from authorised Mercedes-Benz dealers.

Stoneleigh Vineyard is situated in the heart of the Rapaura area on the northern side of the Wairau Valley in Marlborough, New Zealand.

Within two kilometres of the Wairau River and the Richmond Ranges, their home lies within an area known locally as the Golden Mile of vineyards.

Stoneleigh Latitude Sauvignon Blanc 2014 displays a beautiful clear light straw colour, and citrus aromas wafted up as I was pouring. The first sip just bounced off my tongue and I was hooked from then on. This is not a regular Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough and I mean that in a good way. I find almost all Sauvignon Blanc from the region to be great, but this one was just a little different – just as good, if not better. It was not heavy on citrus and fruit like many others, but still very full of flavour – it was just way too easy to drink. www.stoneleigh.co.nz

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John Anthony is Prodijee Magazine Men’s Lifestyle editor www.prodijee.com

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the good life

A LIFETIME OF

MEMORIES T

SPECTACULAR SCENERY AND STUNNING ROADS, TOGETHER WITH EXTRAORDINARY CULINARY DELIGHTS, MAKE EUROPE THE IDEAL DESTINATION FOR A DRIVING HOLIDAY. o most Australians, Europe represents something familiar, yet exotic. We think of culture, history, style and adventure without the risk of travelling to a third world country. Safe, but stimulating anyway.

Europe is also easy to get around. Think London, Paris, Rome, plus wine regions, plus gourmet food, plus magnificent landscapes in a much smaller area than Australia.

If you’ve decided to travel to Europe and it’s your first time, it’s highly recommended that you take a tour as your tour company can show you the ‘lay of the land’ before you venture out on your own.

The next question is: Do you go on a coach tour, a river cruise, or a driving tour? Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Coach tours and river cruises require little organisation on your part.

You pay your money and just go with the flow. Coach tours are lower cost with generally a lower standard of accommodation (usually 3 star). River cruises can be expensive, especially in summer, but your accommodation and meals are all provided (some operators will include airfares).

The main disadvantage of

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both is the lack of flexibility –you can’t go far from a river.Your coach tours are also tightly scheduled and you might be stuck on a bus with 48 other people you may come to dislike.

Organising it yourself can save a few coins, but it requires endless hours of research and think of the stress if it all goes wrong. This can give you more flexibility as the transportation options may be better, but you can’t see much out of the windows of a TGV train travelling at 300km/h, and their timetables are as rigid as the coach tours.

For those who are a bit

more adventurous and like to see things outside of the major cities, and also like the flexibility of having your own vehicle, then a driving tour is for you. Driving tours are a new innovation in touring.

You get a professionally designed itinerary, on-road

support and the flexibility and freedom of creating your own experiences. You travel at your own speed, and the sociability of a small group to catch up with each evening to share the tales of the day.

Tour de Europe is the first and only company to offer

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organised driving tours in Europe. The tours have small (up to 20) groups, with cars provided, centrally located four and five star accommodation and a support car. Navigation is done by pre-programmed Garmin GPS and a detailed guide book is supplied. Each day’s route is chosen to be scenic and interesting with a number of attractions along the way.

The Autobahns and Autoroutes are avoided where possible. Picturesque towns and villages feature a lot on Tour de Europe as well as magnificent landscapes and historic attractions.

Tour de Europe even has a celebrity host – singer/ songwriter and radio host, Mike Brady. Mike travels in the tour support vehicle and loves nothing better than to catch up with everyone in the bar during the evening.

A typical day on Tour de Europe involves a hearty breakfast, followed by loading your luggage into your car, which is conveniently parked at the hotel, turning on the GPS, selecting the appropriate day (i.e. Day 2 etc) and following it through the day to the hotel at the next overnight stop. You decide which attractions to visit and

where to get lunch, which could be anything from a village trattoria to Mickey D’s.

Each days driving takes three-to-five hours, leaving plenty of time for sightseeing, souvenir shopping, exploring or even a roadside picnic.

Some overnight stops also include ‘laydays’, where you are free to look around and do your own thing. Cars are supplied from a choice of the French car companies and can be upgraded to larger models.

Next year’s Tour de Europe is going to be extra special.

It starts in Paris and takes 18 days to find its way to Cannes on the Riviera.

The tour commences with a pre-departure show and welcome dinner at one of Paris’ finest establishments – Moulin Rouge. On day 1 the tour will depart Paris and head eastward into champagne country and a lunch stop at Rheims, home to such champagne houses as Taitinger. The afternoon will take the tour through the famous Ardenne forest (the main German invasion route into France in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII) to Luxembourg where the you will rest for a layday.

On day 3, the tour has a few places to stop. The first is the Nurburgring which, is a public road when it’s not used for racing or testing. A quick €20 at the gate will get you a lap of the 20km NordSchlieffe.

If you prefer something more sedate, there’s a tour bus, or for something faster there are BMW’s ‘Ring taxi’ – an M5 driven by an accredited

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racing driver.

Then it’s a relaxing time driving through the Rhineland, amidst the wineries growing Moselle and Riesling grapes, to the overnight stay at a German castle and a second layday.

Just outside Frankfurt, is the Schlosshotel Kronberg; it was built around 1850 for the Crown Prince and his wife (a daughter of England’s Queen Victoria) and is now a five star hotel with a golf course.

On day 5 the tour takes you to one of Germany’s well known attractions – the Romantic Road. The road ends at Neuschwanstein, which is the location of Prince Ludwig’s castle, which was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle.

Along the road there are scores of castles and the medieval towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Dinkelstuhl. These towns are virtually untouched since the Middle Ages. A day off in Neuschwanstein allows you to explore Prince Ludwig’s fantasy castle.

Day 7 takes the tour into Switzerland and some magnificent scenery on the Klausennstrasse pass, as well as 66

William Tell’s home in Linthal before heading to Montreux.

The tour will spend three nights here and take in the Montreux Jazz Festival. The festival celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2016 with a large selection of music.

Headliners such as Van Morrison and Santana usually grace the stages.

Montreux has a lot to offer, such as the Rochers de-Naye rack railway and boat rides on Lake Geneva.

Days 10, 11 and 12, explore the countryside and gorges of the Massif Centrale in central France.

There is some beautiful scenic driving as well as crossing the Milau Viaduct,

the world’s tallest bridge.

Day 12 finds the tour in Barcelona, staying at La Rambla, the tourist centre of Barca. The next day is another layday, allowing you to see tourist highlights while chilling out in the

evening with flamenco entertainment.

On day 14 the tour returns to France through the Pyrenees, ending in Avignon, home to the Popes of the Middle Ages. Along the way the tour will check out the Pont Du Gard, a massive aqueduct built by the Romans to supply water to Avignon. A layday allows you to have a look around Avignon or take a short ride out to ChateauNeuf du Pape, a world famous winery.

Day 16 takes you eastward, driving through lavender fields and the scenic Gorges du Verdon, before finishing at Cannes.

You will then have another layday, which coincides with Bastille Day, when you can expect a party atmosphere and heaps of fireworks.

If we’ve piqued your interest, check out the website at www. tourdeeurope.com.au. For Melbourne customers, tour representatives are happy to visit your home or business to talk to you about Tour de Europe. For other customers, call 0418 348 085. Remember there are limited places.

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Tour de Europe Tour de Europe Paris to Cannes across 5 countries!

to Cannes across countries!

18Paris days Tour

by Car • 27th June –514th July 2016 18 days Tour by Car • 27th June – 14th July 2016

Tour de Europe Paris to Cannes across 5 countries!

18 days Tour by Car • 27th June – 14th July 2016

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS - MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL MAJOR & HIGHLIGHTS - MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL BASTILLE DAY ON THE RIVIERA & BASTILLE DAY ON THE&RIVIERA Exclusive to Tour de Europe: Mike Brady Unplugged other attractions Exclusive to Tour de Europe: Mike Brady Unplugged & other attractions MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS - MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL ITINERARY: Paris (Fr.) - Luxembourg (Lx.) - Kronberg (Ge.) & (Fr.) BASTILLE DAY ON THE RIVIERA Neuschwanstein (Sw.)(Lx.) - Valence ITINERARY: Paris(Ge.) (Fr.)--Montreux Luxembourg - Kronberg (Ge.) Exclusive to Tour de Europe: Mike Brady Unplugged & other attractions Millau (Fr.) - Barcelona - Avignon - Cannes (Fr.) Neuschwanstein (Ge.) (Sp.) - Montreux (Sw.)(Fr.) - Valence (Fr.) Millau (Fr.) - Barcelona (Sp.) - Avignon (Fr.) - Cannes (Fr.) HOSTED

BY MIKE BRADY! Mike is a Europe ‘Tragic’. Any excuse to get him out of the studio and onto HOSTED BY MIKE BRADY! a plane. Now the writer of chart-topping anthem ‘Up There Cazaly’ wants

ITINERARY: Paris (Fr.) - Luxembourg (Lx.) - Kronberg (Ge.) Neuschwanstein (Ge.) - Montreux (Sw.) - Valence (Fr.) Millau (Fr.) - Barcelona (Sp.) - Avignon (Fr.) - Cannes (Fr.)

Mike is ahis Europe ‘Tragic’.

Any excuse to get June him out of the studio andwillonto to share love of Europe with you. From 27th, 2016, Mike a plane.

Now the writer of chart-topping anthem ‘Up There Cazaly’ wants host a small group on a fabulous 18Mike dayis atour starting Paris totodiscover Europe ‘Tragic’.inAny excuse get him out of the studio and onto to share his love of Europe with you.

From June 27th, 2016, Mike will plane.popular Now the writer of chart-topping Europe’s hidden delights in 5 of its amost countries before anthem ‘Up There Cazaly’ wants host a small groupalloninathe fabulous day tour starting in with Paris toFrom discover toofshare his accommodation love of Europe you.

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