I believe the first car John was built using a Matich , chassis hense the driver sitting offset, and the second was scratch built with the help from Mark Petch (MJ Racing.)
Would be neat to see them back on the track again.
Robbie Booth owned one in 1975 and was then raced by Russell Greer
I have read in Vercoe's book that in 1981 a M.Morrison owned one and then don't know where it went after that?
Not sure which car this was thou?
Anyone help?
Not just the Katipo cars, how about expanding this to a John Ohlsen thread, a few of you must have known John through the years. I knew him when I was a school boy and John was involved with Hot Rodding with the Ferabends, etc and his involvement with Epsom Stockcars. I probably only saw him a couple of times after his return to NZ in the seventies though.
There must be lots of stories out there.
Would love to get more info on the Katipo F5000. Anyone have any photos of this car?
Hi Steve, post number 6 in the Hillclimb Thread has a picture of Dennis Phillips in the one and a half seater Katipo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Copyright Mike Feisst , cheers Mike
The second Katipo driven by Robbie Francevic at Puke 1971Attachment 2904
# 10 car built on the matich chassis.
Some time ago I did some research on this car when Robbie Booth ran it as the Michigan special,you may have to ask David Mc kindly if he will share some of it with you as it was for his use
There are a few pages on John Ohlsen and his building of the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe in forum member David Manton's new book, Enzo Ferrari's Secret War...
My understanding is that there was only one Katipo
As stated, it was built as an F5000 car on a Matich sportscar base, as in Javman's first Mike Feisst photo
It was then fitted with a Gemco sportscar body and offered for sale as a “McLaren replica”
It returned to the circuits, again as a single-seater, with Robbie Booth in 1975/76, but now called a Matich, as it was when Dennis Phillips and later Russell Greer used it for hillclimbing
What a trick looking car!
Thanks for that David , great to have your input , cheers.Quote:
Originally Posted by David McKinney
Hi David,
Do you know which and what Matich sportscar chassis was used to build the original car?
regards
Craig
No, never figured it out, and Australian Matich experts never seem to mention it
I scratched my head a bit about this one ,somebody told me it was a SR3,some one else said well Bob Britton built the chassis,so possibly it was just a chassis and components that was supplied ,some one else told me it was a Renmax,maybe someone should ask Mark PetchQuote:
Originally Posted by David McKinney
Think you will find that it was a SR4 chassis that may have been built by Bob Britton, seem to remember Robbie running it at Timaru at what may have been its first outing as the Katipo
OK Carl, I never followed it that closely at that stage ,but my informant who obviously could be wrong said it was a Britton built chassis ,the SR4 was built by Henry Nehrybecki ? I'll do a bit more digging over the week end
First race, but not first outing. It had practised at WigramQuote:
Originally Posted by Carlo
Well, while we are waiting for more information on the Katipo (I hope there is lots more to come) here is few photos of John Ohlsen's life before he went off to build the Cobra Daytona Coupe and other things.
This is John's second hot rod, he was part of the Ellerslie/Oranga/Greenlane group of 1950s Hot Rodders many of whom went on to much greater automobile fame.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...e-mailview.jpg
From 1956 to 1958 John raced this stockcar at the famed Epsom track along with some of his Hot Rodding mates and the likes of Johnny Riley, Red Dawson, Garth Souness, Glen Jones and all.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...e-mailview.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...e-mailview.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...e-mailview.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...e-mailview.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...e-mailview.jpg
Well I have checked with Rory a contact of mine in Oz ,who was pretty close to what was going on in the Maitch days and this is what he saysQuote:
Originally Posted by bob homewood
Pretty sure it was an SR4 built base...there was 3 or 4 done off memory...Frank wanted to do a McLaren and sell his cars...there is a SR4 here for sale in the Oily Rag..Historic magazine with a BDA Twin Cam in it...never followed where the built chassis' went but obviously someone threw a BDA in one...Henry went to Europe off memory and Bob B was involved in finishing some bits off (Frank liked Bob and Gary Cooper)..so thats where he fits I think and probably added some Rennmax influences i would say.....all a bit vague but pretty close to the right stuff I think..
Gavin, neat photos. Do you have any more info on the hot rod?Quote:
Originally Posted by pallmall
Not much, I am going to interview an old Stockcar driver in the next few weeks, and copy his photo albums. He was involved in the Ellerslie Hot Rod scene along with Johnny, so I will try and find out some more on those early days and the Hot Rod.
Thanks Gavin, I'll ask Greg Stokes, he may be able to help with this.
John Olhsen is the heading so i will add my ten cents worth,1993 I bought the body and chassis of a ferrari 500 copy special or what ever you like ,the two of us {brother in law}arrived in Nelson at 5AM a cold frosty mrn.having caught an earler crossing.After killing time we got to see the car in the flesh ,I had photos sent to me before.Man it looked far better than we expected.On the long drive home spent a lot time looking in the mirror at this beautiful thing on the trailer..It sat at home for some time as my Mack truck was pretty busy up and down the country,John had told me when he gets some space I can work on it there as there was only him and Paul his son.Strange as life can be at the time I was told to stop driving or be in a wheelchair! John rang bring it over,.For the best part of a year I worked on it as there was only a chassis and body both very very close to a real one ,On more than one occasion John commented this chassis is not homemade??Whenever I was having a problem I would ask him a question about Carrol Shelby,He would drop what he was doing and come over to talk and take over my problem,He was Shelbys biggest fan thats for real ,and Shelby thought the world of him,Thursday lunch he would go out each week and get a curry for the three of us and man there would be steam coming out your nose as you tried to breath ,,no this is only 70percent hot he would say.When he went toUK in the late 50s currys was the cheepest food and as no one had a lot of money curry it was .Another good mem. hot rods John was a hotroder way back one story he told off to Wellington in this open car freezing cold big army coats on ,on the desert road sees another rod heading north as they approach they brake Johns car dives off to the left through the scrub back on the road parks along side Where you going ?,Wellington OK see ya..He was a great man not into all this bullshit what can run andwhat cant no car is ever the same so what???
Re the Katipo that Robby Franicivic raced/practiced at Wigram--- He asked me to set the ign. timing on the Chev engine in it, I said "where would you like it set?" "50 degrees" he said. "What? That's too far advanced" I said. Anyway thats sort of how the conversation went, and we finally compromised and set it a bit over 40 degrees. When he drove it at Wigram it handled incredibly bad due to bouncing off the bump stops and bottoming the shocks. I don't remember how he got on on race day or evan if he raced it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Javman
But the other interesting thing about the car is that I understood it was originally one of the American Formula A cars that came out here to race at Baypark and was purchased and modified into a "sports" car by some guys in AK, but I can't remember who, but Robby had a couple of Dalmation mates who did a lot of work with him so it was probably a joint effort by a few people.
PK.
I could be totally wrong, of course, but that story has been in my memory ever since that time.
Forum readers may have noticed that I have two new rear uprights for sale. MJ - Katipo uprights. Hey! build a car and invent a history - isn't that what it's all about these days?
Yours in cynicism,
Russ Cunningham
ps. Pallmall: Notice my "correct" use of capital letters.
I remember one of the cars with Dave Morrison at Wigram at one of the first "Wings & Wheels".Quote:
Originally Posted by Javman
The Katipo has some resemblence to the Ron Grable Spectre that ran at the first FA/F5000 race at Bay Park. The guy behind the Spectre was American Ken Holden who had stong NZ connections, including living here for a time. So its possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Kirk
Thanks Russ, much more readable and civilised.
Here is a cutting from NZ Hot Rod magazine, late 1970.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e-mailview.jpg
I have been trying to follow up on the possibility that there is actually a connection between the Katipo and the Spectre FA car, somebody must know, lots more people to talk to yet, so maybe one day the answer will be found.
Do you think the Spectre could have become the Katipo? Did Grable sell the car while in NZ? According this this page: http://www.myf5000.com/classifieds.html under Spectre HR1, a Ron Grable 1968 Spectre HR1 was advertised for sale in the Competition Press & Autoweek in California in 1970. But he likely could have had more than one car.
As I understand it the Spectre was built by Ken Holden, who was also crew chief on the Grable McLaren in 1970.
Ken Holden spent some time in NZ, including racing a car at the Drags and bought down an Edmunds style Modified and raced at Western Springs. There was talk back in the day that the Spectre remained in NZ and was being converted into a sports car.
No smoke without fire, so it is worth investigating.
I was talking to Ron Grable yesterday and I asked him about the Spectre. He tells me that it did go back to the States, and he thinks it is being restored "in the South somewhere. He is looking for any recent info he has on the car.
Ken Holden evidently married a Kiwi, but went back to the States after a while, not sure where he is now, but he would be about 80 or say now.
Bruce.
I was in partnership with Mark Petch at the time, Mark and Dave' Marave.' the chassis was bought from Frank Matich and shipped over from Australia by Mark. I was to build a car from it but not a 5000 but a Matich copy. I had one discossion with Frank at Auckland airport about some problems i was having at the drawing board stages with migrant roll centers and he was most helpfull. The partnership with Mark collapsed before much was done and my understanding was that John Olsen built the car as a 5000 as he took my place at Marave.
Cheers Dave
Thanks Bruce302 and Dave, that puts to bed any theory that the Spectre and the Katipo are related.
The knowledge base grows ever stronger on here.
One of the Katipo's resides with John Gobbes who I think lives in Christchurch?
Why "one of the Katipos"?
There was only ever one
John Gobbe does own this car and is in the process of rebuilding it. He is looking for any info on the car and I have directed him to this thread.
Sure is good having you on here Dave.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Silcock
I've been doing some research on the Shelby American racing effort and came across these photos of John Ohlsen. The photo's and the descriptions are from a Web page on the the Second Edition book by Michael L. Shoen The Cobra-Ferrari Wars 1963-1965
http://cobraferrariwars.com/additional-photos.html
Attachment 6425
John Ohlsen working on the number 5 Cobra Daytona Coupe, a car he had helped construct from a bare frame in Modena. A tribute to John who has since passed this earth. Gramiger photo.
Attachment 6424
Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant in the foreground and John Ohlsen cleaning the windscreen. Probably Fred Gamble in the blue Goodyear jacket aft of Ohlsen. Bruce Dowell photo.
Attachment 6428
John Ohlsen, who seemed to be everywhere --a long way from Onehunga, New Zealand. John played a huge role in the sucess of the Daytona Coupes. Jack Hoare, the European campaign Engineman, is still alive and a great guy. People like John and Jack made the Cobras sucessful. Skip Hudson: "The kind of effort that went into those cars, you could have taken anything and put it on Broadway."
Attachment 6426
Phil Hill awaits the start. The cars were sent off in 60 second intervals, otherwise mayhem would occur on this "goat trail" country road through the Sicilian mountains. John Ohlsen has his hand on the roll bar, Bob Bondurant , Innes Ireland, Joe Siffert and his wife Marianne.
Attachment 6427
This is probably Friday practice. The number 6 Daytona Coupe was assigned to Amon/Neerpasch and painted white around the headlights to identify it to the pit crews. Driver to pit radio communication was another 20 years down the road. If you look carefully at the coupe in the right of the photo, you will see John Ohlsen bent over in the engine compartment and, in the background, his wife Jean in a white Cobra t-shirt sitting on his tool box with her back to the camera. Gramiger photo.
Nice one Nick! I bought that book new from Chaters in England back when the first print was released. Cost me 65 pounds, but I see people selling them now for around US$1000! So not a bad investment. Mine was signed during a Chaters book launch by several involved with the car.
Interestingly, John Ohlsen was not only Crew Chief, he was also the first person to ever drive one of the Daytona Coupes. While he, Bob Bondurant, and Sherman Falconer were waiting at Riverside for Ken Miles to show up and test the the first car built, for the first time, still in its bare alloy skin, Ohlsen took it out for a couple of gentle laps around the track to make sure everything worked OK.
Wow $1000 very nice investment indeed..!!
Thats interesting about John Ohlsen giving the Daytona its first run, it would have been extremely rewarding after the time and effort in building the car. There's a fantastic article about CSX2299 the 2nd Daytona Coupe in the Shelby Cars in Detail collector book, this was one of the european bodied Daytona's, it was mistakenly built with the incorrect windscreen height and as a consequence a different roof line, a mistake by Shelby American when they installed the windscreen cowl tube at the wrong height. Coincidentally CSX2299 was also the car John Ohlsen was seriously burnt when a fuel spill ignited under the car during a pit stop to fix an overheating differential.
Am I correct that Carroll Shelby's master fabricator Phil Remington was also an expat New Zealander, I seem to recall reading that somewhere but I could be mistaken.
2287- the 'first' coupe , was the car that caught fire in pits and John Ohlsen was burnt from.