Old School Touring car Driver's

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Peter B - CV8

^^^ Tony Edmondson from memory

on the money I reckon.
Some of his Alfas were mad, won heaps.

Tell you who else had those odd ones done up.....
Bryan Thomson, that Chev powered VeeDub fastback !

[Rob 351]

Here is Tony’s Alfa.
https://www.my105.com/mobi/ListingDe...ondson/id/2069

How about Richo’s Pye sponsored XC Falcon Coupe Sports Sedan. That was pretty cool also

[Dr Terry]

My favourites were the Moffat Trans-Am Mustang & a few years later, the McCormack Charger & I'm a Holden man !!

Having said that, I do have a soft spot for the Beechey HT Monaro.

One of the best races of the era that I saw live was the Beechey vs Moffat vs Geoghegan 20 lapper at Bathurst in Easter 1970

Dr Terry

[Raptor]

Originally Posted by slowsnake

First time I went to Oran Park, maybe 1970 or 71? My Aussie mate and twin cam escort owner Wazza, asked me what I was barracking for, I said the Yellow Jag of course!...he said that's so and so driving it?
Can anyone tell me who was driving the Jag?...


Cheers Billy.

Bob Jane raced pale yellow Jags, but that was in the early to mid 60’s. By the early 70’s he’d moved on to Mustang and Camaro muscle cars. Just how old are you Billy, could it have been in the early 60’s that you were at Oran Park? If so I was probably one of the kids rolling down the grass hill in the spectator area on the corner into the straight

[Tonz]

look at the standard tyres on that Jag, wire wheels now thats street racing at its finest.

[GT450]

Anyone here remember the Sports sedan race at Sandown where Janeys monaro collided with another monaro of Tino Leo on the penultimate lap and Moffat drove the Capris straight down the middle to pass as the final lap started to win. Great win!

[hawke]

If you old blokes like reminiscing these old drivers and old cars, you need to get along to some of the Historic meetings - when they are allowed to run again!!.

Some of the cars you mention are still running today - even better prepared, and faster - than they were in the day. And even some of those drivers are still driving - maybe not as fast, but still quick.

Along with touring cars, you'll get to see some real F1 cars, F5000 and CanAm cars.

[HIPO]

Yeah loved Clem Smith & his Sports Sedan Charger.... chatted with him several times at Mallala & he showed me a few cars from his collection... a well liked LEGEND! If there was ever a car i wished i could buy it was his Charger...

[GT450]

Was a huge fan of Cn-Am and f5000 with McCormack ,Bartlett, Goss, Stewart, Cooper and others screaming around Phillip Island and Sandown.Also loved the Sports sedans of the day with Moffat, McKeown, Richards, Edmondson (who was badly burnt in his Alfa ) Geoghan Beechey and Jane who hated paying out prize money at Calder and i recall him diddling Jim McKeown for the series prize and Moffat not taking his Falcons there thus skipping around of the ATCC because of a spat with the dear departed Rodney who was atough racer and a hrd man to like.

[FTE217]

your right hawke.
Should pull me finger out to see the historics, I wish, time is the big anvil and the Mrs's
I do the SCars circuit pretty much due to a couple good customers involved, then also involved in the newly formed Motorcross series then family and sports.
The wife would divorce me ? is the grass greener ???LOL I don't see it is many times.

Though I will keep my eye out for never know things could fall into place unexpected.

I saved a couple of treasures whilst seraching yesterday.....
and you guys talking F5000's etc, yer great stuff.
Oran was epic hosting that in the day, Gold Star Series right ?
Didn't Warwick Brown cream em alot me think.
Sports Sedans were some of the best looking cars you'd see, yes that Richo Charger was a rocket, recall Pete G's HJ Monaro ? how nice was that.

GT450, Moff's Capri was gorgeous - the Brutt days and the coupe.

I went around in this Triumph GT6 at Oran way way back then.
https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-yv47...345585.jpg?c=2
Shat my pants - good ol BP Bend, how many mirrors/doors went on that wall.
Night racing a 1st at Oran those days.

Another early highlight but 2wheels we used to see the Castrol 6hr at Amaroo.
https://amcn.com.au/editorial/win-on...trol-six-hour/
Great article.
I recall being there when the new first model of the Kwaka 900.....
They had a parade lap of some 10-20 of them, varied paint jobs on them etc, they were the biggest road bike of the times then.
Talking safety ???? lol how mad those guys were around there.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by hawke

If you old blokes like reminiscing these old drivers and old cars, you need to get along to some of the Historic meetings - when they are allowed to run again!!.

Some of the cars you mention are still running today - even better prepared, and faster - than they were in the day. And even some of those drivers are still driving - maybe not as fast, but still quick.

Along with touring cars, you'll get to see some real F1 cars, F5000 and CanAm cars.

Festival of speed at Winton is a beauty to see some of the classics race, last one I saw had the Supertrucks on as an extra bonus.

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by Raptor

Bob Jane raced pale yellow Jags, but that was in the early to mid 60’s. By the early 70’s he’d moved on to Mustang and Camaro muscle cars. Just how old are you Billy, could it have been in the early 60’s that you were at Oran Park? If so I was probably one of the kids rolling down the grass hill in the spectator area on the corner into the straight

image

Thanks for the reply, I moved to Sydney from UK 1968, and it could of been a bit later 73 or 74, the car was like a Daytona Yellow and I remember as it flew around the corner you mention we were sitting on a slope on the grass.
Geez it's a long time back now to remember, I'm 68 years old now, and looking at the Jag in the picture,this seemed more "boxy" at the front, there weren't any Rovers racing were there?
If not then Daytona Yellow Jag, and I worked next door to Beechy Mechanical workshop at Lansvale, Cabramatta at the time.

Cheers Billy.

[EBSXR6]

F5000 was awesome my favourite open wheeler category.
The V8s making such a beautiful noise.
I was at Sandown as a youngster with my Father, at the end of the back straight a F5000 became airborne, the Marshalls making a mad dash luckily the car landed on the track and kept racing.

[EBSXR6]

Originally Posted by Rob 351

Here is Tony’s Alfa.
https://www.my105.com/mobi/ListingDe...ondson/id/2069

How about Richo’s Pye sponsored XC Falcon Coupe Sports Sedan. That was pretty cool also

Great Cars.

[mick taylor]

Originally Posted by Rob 351

You sit back and watch some of those old video’s and the way they used to throw the car around like Geoghean, Beechey, Jane did back in the 60’s and then Moffat, Brock, Johnson and Grice in the 70’s and 80’s and you wonder how many of the current drivers could handle that type of driving. Even DJ in the Sierra back in the 80’s! How many of today’s drivers could handle that beast?
Loved some of the old clips at places like Warwick Farm with the HO’s racing the Morris Coopers, David v Goliath, just great racing by legendary drivers in legendary cars...

Well as the Bathurst back in the days one had to know how to finish the race without destroying the engine gearbox and diff, I have driven with P Brock and that was a big issue with him, he was not abusing the car. well he had to be that way driving a LH-X Torana with that small banjo diff and if such some only had a m21 box with that power.
I am surprised that any L34 Torana survived the race with a banjo diff but they were not stock banjo diffs at all and had the magic wand treatment done to them so as to hope such to last.


The new age cars you can flog the hell out of them because they were not street cars at all, nothing was in any regards to what you drove on the road at all.

Many people believe you are abusing a car because you are driving it flat out, but that is not the case at all. they may think you are revving it to hard and it's going to blow up, no it wont blow up at all if it's revved within it's limits, the abuse kicks in when one is being a fool and going beyond practical limits without regards to the practical subject at hand that any well informed driver knows is a no no.
you do not drop back gears from 1000rpm and pop the clutch out and the engine etc are hammered directly to 6000rpm, you rev it before hand and then change down.
I played that 1000rpm trick with P Brock as he was standing inside the track watching us and I seen his head snap up directly towards me. haha he did not forget that.

[mick taylor]

Originally Posted by Mulva

If the book was "The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock", I loved some of the stories about Perkins in there. Him taking a HDT test mule on a detour via a 'disco' in his old home town; and doing a runner from cops on the Tullamarine freeway in HDT VK (road car) then shaving his moustache to try to avoid being ID'ed (but still being ID'ed and losing his license). Think the cops first went after PB as car was rego'ed in his name but he had solid alibi of being out of country at the time.

Re the different era of racing and safety aspects, I love some of the stories about how they would finish Bathurst with bruise on their right hip from continually hitting the driver's door armrest (standard seatbelts not holding them in place and Bathurst being anti-clockwise direction); Moph hydrating on cans of coke; and was it Garry Rogers that rolled it on top of mountain and had cut-up oranges flying around the cabin after escaping his centre consol?

Had it been clockwise driving our cars that's steering from the right, back in the early days you had nothing to bolster yourself with. the bucket seat in a XT-W-Y would have you slipping over to the passenger side.

I have to take my hat off to A Moffat for driving that XY for 500 miles and winning, no one has toped that off yet and no one will.

[FTE217]

good point mt. (mate you'd have some good stories to tell)
Driving Bathurst anti clock wise with bench seats would have been a god send for yer, imagine clock wise then lol.....
Depending your vintage, my first car (sadly) was a HG Kingswood, you'd cement your left foot on the hump like a footrest rounding up corners.
Between shifting gears 3 on the tree.

[Late braker]

Always liked Johnson and Grice. Johnson a self-made man who in the early 80s built his Falcons in his GARAGE at home. Himself. With just a few helping him. Just imagine that… and the competition was the HDT and Moffat’s Mazda with the tobacco mega monies.
Grice… hardcore racer/ the OG Enforcer. Strong, technically good at sorting cars, uncompromising and just fast.

[HIPO]

Yeah Johnson always called it like he saw it too, which i like.
Remember seeing how over whelmed he was, by the support & donations after the rock incident.
Saw him live at Adelaide International Raceway back in the day, driving a Sierra if i remember correctly.... had bit of a chuckle at how large & cartoonish he looked in that little thing.
Also remember the "block of flats" term of his, in relation to trying to overtake the Volvo...

[mick taylor]

A Grice was the best man of all to speak to overall for me and a real Aussie battler.

Dicky Boy was a joker type and would bight back in a nice way funny as.

Brock was no nonsense type overall but I was beside him when he had a real good laugh hands on his knees bursting out laughing at C McConville cutting loose through a corner full on sideways and smoke just p ing out the back of it, what a shot for a photo, I still can remember it, a full on class act. my idiot mat was beside McConville saying into it into it and MC was saying, I am I am and mates said no ! f ing into it ! haha ! not to mention my mate had got in hot water with Brock as well, as to his driving style. so my idiot mate has got that privilege as well under his belt to boast about, how many people have had P Brock fire up at them and say, not you again.

[bathurst77]

Originally Posted by Dr Terry

One of the best races of the era that I saw live was the Beechey vs Moffat vs Geoghegan 20 lapper at Bathurst in Easter 1970

Of the ten thousand spectators trackside that day, there are only 20,000 left alive today

[bathurst77]

i was a short and skinny 14 year old kid in 1980 - real runt who looked about 10, i was at mt pan for saturday and sunday. I remember it was a baking hot saturday, and i spent the afternoon standing beside moffs transporter watching Mick and crew working on his yellow falcon. After hours I spotted my hero and got his autograph.. I was thrilled.
I spent the rest of the day wandering the paddock, getting as many autographs as i could

Up the back in the "cheap seats" were two blokes sitting in deckchairs, chilling next to blue xd - DJ and frenchy. I politely told DJ that iloved his car and thought he should have won the crc300.

DJ pulled out another deckchair, told me to sit down, handed me a coke from his esky, and the two of them just chatted to me as if i was family friend. cracking jokes etc for about 30 minutes. Dead set lovely guys, made a nobody little boy feel part of it... i was gutted when he hit the rock

I went back in 81, but he now had fancy set up all roped off with people 10 deep crowding round so i didnt get to say hello again. But as far as im concerned DJ is a good bloke. He could have ignored a nobody kid, or scribbled an autograph and send me away, but he gave me one of my best childhood memories.

[bathurst77]

"watching Mick and crew working on his yellow falcon"
should have said Peter (Molloy). i dont think mick molloy was that great with a torque wrench.