North Island Shellsport cars - where are they?

Having been to both Skope and Speedfest in the past month or so, some of the best racing came from the small to medium sized saloons. At Ruapuna there was a super-quick navy blue Sud battling away with Howard's 2002, a Datsun Sunny and with Escort TCs and other sub 2-litre cars there or thereabouts.

It made for some great 'races within races' but at Teretonga these guys had their own races. The ex (?) Shellsport Starlets were generally the quickest but there was again some great scraps. I was reminded of this while watching footage a real 'ding-dong' between a Honda and perhaps a Toyota in a support race from Adelaide the weekend before last - small to mid sized saloons can often race very closely and it is always better if it is for the lead.

It occurred to me that there must be a heap of cars around the North Island that we're not seeing all that often. Clearly some have come out of the woodwork in the South Island but a grid of up to 2.0 or 2.5 or 3.0 saloons (Shellsports or otherwise) on a regular basis would be great to see. Is there some reason why they don't turn up or am I just not looking in the right places?

Michael- ever since I started Historic Sports Sedans, I have had an invitation to any Shellsport cars to run with us.
Peter Hooper built up a replica of the Toyota Starlet that he was involved with in Shellsport days, and he has always been with us right from the beginning .
This car is light and quick
Shellsports actually ran with the Sports Sedans at that time.
Rod Grimwood still has his Shellsport Escort and he knows there is a place for his car with us.
Some early racing Escorts became Shellsport, then lately converted back to Historic Saloons.
So,I will say it again here- if anyone has a Shellsport car and they want to run with us at Legends in a fortnight , and Taupo early April then please contact me.

Hi Michael, the Historic Saloon Car group (HSC) run with Historic Muscle Cars and caters for pre 78 small saloons. We currently have over 30 interested owners with cars including 5 historic Escorts in our group. We prefer to combine our grid due to the wish of promoters for numbers. David Thompson's lovely Autotrader Escort runs with us as well. We will be at the Legends meeting as well.

Cheers
Bruce

Slight correction Michael, the ShellSport cars ran within a wider under 2 litre grid at Teretonga. However they were at the pointy end of that grid apart from a few outliers and were an absolute delight to race with.

As the meeting was a round of their championship, those of us who were amongst them were (I think) respectful of not interfering with that. I felt the class was a far better fit for Historic Saloon Cars type cars than running with the HMC cars as the speed/ performance differential was much closer.

Interestingly, within that combined group was a huge contingent of Minis including some with considerable period history. These cars have all but disappeared from the North which is a pity.

Hi Howard, you are correct re the Mini's. There was a good selection at Timaru but my understanding even more down at Teretonga including historic cars.
Like to catch up with you at Legends if you are there.

Regards
Bruce

I believe there are still a lot of Shell Sport cars locked up in garages.
Most of them ran in SS2000 when that kicked off but died over the years. (The introduction of 13b rotaries, turbos, 4WD, convertibles etc helped kill that off).
I do know where a few of the older SS2000 cars are in the North Island but typically most of the guys are too busy with life. Some of the cars have been scrapped, and some have been sold and race elsewhere.
There was a photo register created when SS2000 first started. Who knows where this would be now (Maybe an admin from the current SS2000 group might be able to answer that?).
But totally agree It would be great to get some of these cars out again…

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Originally Posted by Spgeti

Hi Michael, the Historic Saloon Car group (HSC) run with Historic Muscle Cars and caters for pre 78 small saloons. We currently have over 30 interested owners with cars including 5 historic Escorts in our group. We prefer to combine our grid due to the wish of promoters for numbers. David Thompson's lovely Autotrader Escort runs with us as well. We will be at the Legends meeting as well.

Cheers
Bruce

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Correct Bruce but as the Shell Sport series was from 78 onwards most of these cars run with post 12/77 modifications, effectively an older pre 78 Shell Sport car should need to put back to T&C or K, Group 2, 12/77 rules, but for the sake of seeing these great cars out on the track again, we have allowed the 'correct" historic Shell Sport cars in our group until such times as a proper Class is formed for them up north.

Dale M

Just part of the complexity of advancing years I'm afraid!

With each decade, more cars are theoretically on the one hand, no longer competitive, yet too new for current classes, where some existing competitors, running pre 1977 cars tend to resent sharing the track with what they perceive to be 'moderns'.

Add the disparity in performance of a period 2 litre against the 5 litre plus cars, and there is yet another reason or excuse.

By now, all current series convenors and/or committees are well aware that no matter how many are actually signed up with completed cars, the percentage out there on track at all rounds in the season, even if restricted to the North Island, is probably less than 10%. (That figure has traditionally been accurate for us for at least the last 10 years). Over the course of the season, you may just get 80% who will turn up at least once and at some rounds, the low figures of any existing group can be very embarrassing.

It is an ongoing problem and the pressure on economically viable grids is increasing, as no promoter can afford to run at a loss.

I have said it many times before, but mixed classes are generally inevitable, but they invariably also put some people off. The under 2 or under 3 litre later cars should be allowed to run with the earlier cars, but it isn't rocket science to label them with either coloured roundels or screen strips or a suffix. It is down to someone offering them the opening and/or someone convening the class.

With the current promoters of the Premier Classes hinting that they don't like having a classic meeting on the same weekend, (scared that they are shown up?) we must be vigilant in making sure that the classic fraternity isn't bullied into fewer meetings during the all too short summer months and the inevitable result of empty tracks, which will only serve to increase costs even further.

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Originally Posted by Spgeti

Hi Howard, you are correct re the Mini's. There was a good selection at Timaru but my understanding even more down at Teretonga including historic cars.
Like to catch up with you at Legends if you are there.

Regards
Bruce

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Unfortunately I have another commitment over that weekend Bruce.

The "missing" Minis are, I believe, a victim of the success of HMC and a good, if extreme, example of the disparity of speed/ performance between HSC and HMC cars in the same grid. Reluctantly I am coming to the view that the only way to grow the HSC field with both new and existing cars is to combine with a class with a similar performance profile.

Based on our Teretonga experience it seems that the ShellSport class fitted that criteria very successfully.

I know where there is one, but will not be out this year as planned as a set back and serious lack of $$s is the never ending problem. I have shelved the project for the moment, but hopefully after another problem is sorted, way we go again.
Any one with a fairy godmother and big hand bag that wants to make an ole boy happy, willing to talk terms. PS no marriage etc.

Hi Dale,

The Shellsport series was earlier than that. My little car won the 75/76 and the 76/77 0-1300cc championships. Then they wanted to go 0-2000 at a drivers meeting we all attended. It was voted in for the following year
Regards,
Steve

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Originally Posted by Steve Emson

Hi Dale,

The Shellsport series was earlier than that. My little car won the 75/76 and the 76/77 0-1300cc championships. Then they wanted to go 0-2000 at a drivers meeting we all attended. It was voted in for the following year
Regards,
Steve

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Yes you are right Steve. When we think of the ShellSport series, we think of the post-1977 era as Dale mentioned, where there was a 2 litre maximum engine limit. But ShellSport sponsored the NZ Saloon Car Championship during the 1976 and 1977 seasons, when the V8 big bangers were still racing, before MSNZ outlawed them.

Yes Steve,

There was the 3 classes, 0-1300, 0-4200, 0-6000cc. All cars had to have the Shellsport signage on them and ran in the Shellsport championship events.
Sometimes the OSCA cars were allowed to run with us, (Trevor Crowe against my car in the SI rounds).

Hi Howard , It was good to see some of you guys down here this year as it puts a new set of cars arround the tracks in the south witch is allways a breath of fresh air. It was good to race with you and the others also as you were very competitive but fair to race with. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully David Thompson can make it another time as well as Ian Maskell (allthough he has tried several times with mechanical dilemmas)
We (ShellSport") have managed to attract a series sponser this season with some much needed funds going into the account to help us all support our hobbie and maybe a fund for other things such as fund raising and also travel.

We would like to get up to the North and do at least one or two meetings up there but there would be a fair amount of organizing to do before that could happen.

Which classic meetings up there run in a weekly succession like they do down here?

Jay.

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Originally Posted by Jay

Hi Howard , It was good to see some of you guys down here this year as it puts a new set of cars arround the tracks in the south witch is allways a breath of fresh air. It was good to race with you and the others also as you were very competitive but fair to race with. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully David Thompson can make it another time as well as Ian Maskell (allthough he has tried several times with mechanical dilemmas)
We (ShellSport") have managed to attract a series sponser this season with some much needed funds going into the account to help us all support our hobbie and maybe a fund for other things such as fund raising and also travel.

We would like to get up to the North and do at least one or two meetings up there but there would be a fair amount of organizing to do before that could happen.

Which classic meetings up there run in a weekly succession like they do down here?

Jay.

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Hi Jay,
I have sent you a pm

Cheers
Bruce

Thinking about the ShellSport series, were the grids ever that big? I recall them being in the low or mid teens much of the time from memory.