The Camaro raced at Glenvale, belonging to Spencer Black, was a big block-so what happened to it?
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The Camaro raced at Glenvale, belonging to Spencer Black, was a big block-so what happened to it?
Thanks Steve, I always wondered why Rods Camaro appeared with the squared out front wheel arches. Never knew why this was done, I always assumed the car had taken a hit and this was the easiest way of repairing it. Thanks for clearing this up for me. It was actually done partway through the 1970/71 season when still in Cambridge colours. You can see it on the grid here in this Terry Marshall photo. Earlier in the season the guard openings were round.Quote:
Originally Posted by fullnoise68
Thanks also for explaining the Glenvale car. There is a good photo of this car in one of the old magazines also.
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I'm pretty sure it is must be before the Huttons went on. There are a few things I can tell from the car that date it to after the PDL Eurocars time. That would be Bay Park and isn't it cornering nice and flat, the tail is down slightly and the power is on.
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Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Much later on (late 70's) I nearly bought a black '68 396 4 speed car that Rod had for sale on his car yard. It was a bit rough, but it went well. 325 hp from memory.
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Originally Posted by John McKechnie
Which Camaro are you talking about John? Which race and what number was the car? My new Kirkey seat could be on this!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by John McKechnie
Rod raced a dark (black?) coloured 67 Camaro at the 1970 Glenvale, finishing third after qualifying fastest. The only photo of the car in the race coverage shows the rego number partially blocked by Jim Palmers Monaro, but it starts off DE5????
That`s right Steve, its rego was DE5124, it was a black `67 Camaro, and according to my source, which is not tomato sauce, the car was not owned by Spinner Black, it had 396 badges on the front guards ( as per my photos which I`ll get Bruce302 to post) but was in fact a 350/4 spd, and the car was bought by Rod in the South Island. The car was rear ended a few months after the Glenvale race, Spinner Black started racing a Camaro no. 7 which was a hidden headlight model, and it was this car that Rod took over after not liking the Monaro Spinner had built for him. The damaged Glenvale Camaro sat in the corner of my fathers workshop in Takanini, with Rod gradually taking bits off it, and here is the real twist, the body shell was sold to the McConnachie brothers, which I hope Rod Grimwood may know something about.
Great news, Thanks Steve. I know we will have a full thread on Rod in no time at all.
catch up soon.
Bruce.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fullnoise68
Steve-I can pick up the story now.The McConnachie bros built this Camaro into a saloon car for Waikaraka Park.Car, painted white, was built in a workshop just past the Breweries coming into Papatoetoe. I used to drop in and see it as I worked at Paine Mts very close by. I am sure it was 1973 .Real hot rodders and car builders.They also built up a 69 Mustang Fastback for the Park .
.An article in Autonews said Rod complained of having to run an old 327 when he had another Camaro that had a 350 in it-that explains that.
He cant complain about Monaros, because he came 3rd in the race , beaten by 2 Monaros .1st was Jim Palmer, second was Grady Thomson.
So the top 3 cars all had 350s, but the Monaros were the better cars on the day-.Man , I loved saying that. Coppins had to make a pit stop because the petrol tank was not as big as the Bathurst Monaro tanks. said the article. All 3 drivers were seasoned campaigners and it was a clean race
The Glenvale 100 was run in August 1970-and Rodney also ran his racing Camaro in the support race.
As a matter of interest the production Camaro took pole 1 min 18.3.The racing Camaro 1 min 5.
Still curious why the mag stated -"owner Black drove the car-in practice-but handed the reins over on race day.."
Also-"pole position Coppins faced with a difficult task of driving an unfamiliar car."
Donn Anderson was not in the habit of making things up, so who did own this car at that moment?
I put in the part of the big block as the picture -page 7- describes Camaro as being 390 -a typo error.
Steve E -looks like you keep your Kirkey seat. So what was this bet about?
Steve, you looked so innocent back then.Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwi285
Re the Camaro:
The McConnachie boys did build the Camaro into a Waikaraka car and it went to Porirua Wreckers and raced at Te Marua. The Mustang caused a bit of action when the promoters at Waikaraka recieved a load of bills for it.
John, a lot of it is `Journalistic Licence' as in they write what they want themselves and the readers to believe. Maybe Spinner wanted to try Rods car as a comparison to the other Camaro, who knows. Some of the crap that I read about myself in the Truck Racing at the time:
`Elliott slammed into the back of Robin Porters Kenworth.........it was Rodney Crick in the sister M.A.N.
`Elliott had the big M.A.N. V8 humming around Ruapuna.......it was a 6 cylinder.
I`ve always learnt there is a valid reason why we are given two ears and only one mouth... so you can listen twice as much as you can talk!!!
Not forgetting of course that the ownership of cars as well as drivers reputations is always up for interpretation.
history in motor racing is always-his story.
With a rap sheet like you have been quoting Steve, you will have gaps opening for you and hands waving you through.
Amazing! So would this be what the Glenvale car became? Must have taken a real hard hit up the arse for them to consider it too far gone to repair. These cars were worth pretty big money then. Note that its been converted to rhd.Quote:
Originally Posted by fullnoise68
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Here is a really early photo of the Spinner Black/Rod Coppins Camaro in 1968. It ran like this just very briefly before being repainted white/red for Lexington.
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Thats it Steve, Mr Taylor was just about unbeatable in it. He lived north of Wellington, remember stopping and having a refreshment with him on way to Wellington (Te Marua) in 76 with yanks Tony Valente and Tom Corbin and the Monza (Starfire).
The top photo was not long after he got it and it was white with lime green top.
Thanks Rod. I always wondered how this car came to end up on the speedway, its great to finally fill in the blanks. There were several US cars that ended up in NZ speedway, and they really stood out, as it was rare enough seeing a Camaro or Mustang on the road, much less charging around a dirt bullring oval. I know the McConnachie Mustang was a road car that had been rolled, and I think the same was true for several of the others. Do you know why it was converetd to rhd?
So is this the same car or a different one?
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Is that the Bakers Camaro that wasn't one? R indicates a Rotorua car.
Correct, R is Rotorua, looks a little HoldenishQuote:
Originally Posted by Oldfart
Rhys, can you tell me more? I don't know anything about the car, just had the photo in a folder for years, but to me it looks a bit weird, like its got a Camaro (ish) grill, but the rest of the car has been modified from something else to look like a Camaro.
Rod, it`s funny you mention Tony Valente, I often call in and see Warren Black, and only a couple of months ago he reckons he still has `visions' of Tony Valentes` wife. She must have been a stunner......
Second hand and therefore subject to...Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Ross and Tony Baker wanted to run a bigger car, but could not find a Camaro. From vague memory they got a Victor and messed around to make it look Camaro and then went racing. They fell foul of other competitors and/or officialdom and they car was banned. This does look rather narrow for a Camaro so it was just a stab in the dusk.
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Originally Posted by Rod Grimwood
Quite right Rod, Ian Taylor may be lurking on this site somewhere. Last time I saw him his sons were racing Karts.
Rod- Rhys is correct, it is Vauxhall Victor FD,same as Nazer and Lancaster., they built it,and they even took it to the local GM dealer to confirm it to shut the critics up.-This is from the Bakers website
I will, of course, be aware that there are normally at least 2 sides to most stories, and Ross' is only one. Having said that I still love the Herons, especially the first which I regret not having bought when I had the chance. But that's another story, and one of many "I wish I had bought...", that could be a cool thread!Quote:
Originally Posted by John McKechnie
Sorry Steve I can not remember,remember, remember.Quote:
Originally Posted by fullnoise68
Nothing wrong with Warrens memory aye.
I have not seen him for years, but a nice guy to meet and chat with, remember when we left his place that Friday night for Upper Hutt after a couple of social drinks and a chat, the USA boys were very impressed with his hospitality, and on Saturday night also full of admiration for the way he raced.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCoyote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Meanwhile..... That's me snookered, I thought it was Bob H but I pm'd Bob and he thinks the nearside Anglia may well be Petone driver Bob Neilson, and that the obscured Anglia behind him could possibly be Greg Lancaster.
GD66-I suggest that you ask Milan with his programs.. This should be an easy race meeting to research
Apologies for late reply on this, been out of contact for a bit.. I built the car for myself, used all the mechanical Boss 302 bits from the previous MKII cortina. Flares were built from scratch (3/16 rod/mesh/panel steel & bog, then a female glass mold taken to produce those fitted to car-LF also fitted RR & vice-versa) car is now in ownership & being restored by Anthony Prendergast ( Ashburton) who also has the restored MKII I built. Think he is going to rebuild the MKIV with the chev in it though, more is the pity:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Done a nice job on this.
Thanks for that Jac. Evan Munt actually put me in touch with Anthony so I could find out how the restoration was going. To my mind the flares on this car were just some of the nicest of the era, an absolute triumph. When did it switch to Chev power?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jac Mac
This is Pete Geoghegan in the Laurie O'Neil owned Porsche, at Manfeild during the 1974/75 season. Does anyone know how big Pete fared against the NZ teams? Geoghegan should have actually been racing the big-dollar Craven Mild Monaro sports sedan by this stage, but build delays with that car meant it didn't turn a wheel in anger for a few more months after these photos were taken.
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Another Aussie visitor, again at Manfeild. This is Ron Harrop in his self-built EH Holden with Repco V8 power. This would probably be at the same event that Frank Gardner raced the Chev Corvair, and at which Red Dawson rolled the Chevy Monza.
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Wayne Mahnken (ex Tassie in Vic) got this car from Harrop
He fitted red Holden Turbo powered engine/s
Very high HP but not noted for reliability.
It was painted Black during Waynes ownership.
He onsold the car which still exists but is not being used.
Mank still has the last Holden engine from it in his workshop
When Rod first purchased the MKIV car he fitted the Boss 302 that he had used in the ex Fahey Shelby Mustang, I think this was either an ex Kevin Haig or or one of the five PDL (Falconer&Dunn) imports ( I see #5 of those advertised on T/Me recently). Not sure how many meetings he did before swapping the Chev in, but probably only two or three at most.
Thanks for that Jac. I don't think I ever got to see you race it unfortunately.
It was a pretty exciting car when Rod had it. I recall at a Manfeild event, the announcer said it was fitted with a drag race motor. I don't know if there was any truth to that or if the announcer was just trying to hype up the race.
Also Jac, in this Terry Marshall photo, it looks like its fitted with Mawer wheels?
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What a stunner! Frank Hamlins beautiful little streamlined Mini. Does this car still exist?
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That would be quite likely as Murray Baker & Ron Collet at Engine Rebuilds? were doing most of Rods engine work at that time I think ( & I dont think Ron would have tolerated a Ford in the shop :):) ), Pretty sure Rod already had the Mawers from the mustang, car had 15x10 magnums on front & 15 x 12 'jac mac' steels on the rear when Rod began the purchase process:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes