Here's the Norm Beechey Monaro racing at Oran Park
Here's the Norm Beechey Monaro racing at Oran Park
Last edited by nigel watts; 06-23-2011 at 11:19 AM.
These are beautiful photos Leo. I always liked Norm's HK. I'm not sure if its true, but this is apparently what became of this car: http://www.motorsportarchive.com/BeecheyHK0002_web.jpgOriginally Posted by Leo D
Here is a shot of the HK in "Electric Blue".... the same spot in the tent, facing the other direction
I was born and breed less than 10 minutes walk from Norm's workshop in Sydney Road Coburg.... many times after school, I used to wander up the back lane behind the workshop (which was also the workshop for the car yard) and tucked down in the right hand corner were Norm's race cars, sometimes in full view... the HK above.... latter the black Camaro, and also the 1970 ATCC winning Monaro...
Having lived so close to Norm's workshop, you probably have some interesting tales to add to the 'Car Yards And Garages' thread, as Norm was quite a character: http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...rt-Connections
Steve, some more shots of Norm for you and other Monaro fans. Pictures and permission to upload them were given by a friend Ray Sinclair.
The man himself.... Calder Park in the Nova
The first run in the HK at Calder in 1968
Norm and Pete.... Head to Head..... the first ever race for Norm's HK..
Pete Geoghegan leading Norm (the HK now Electric Blue), Bob Jane in the 3rd of his Mustangs (It's first run from memory), Alan Hamilton in the Porsche and Peter Manton in the Mini.... mid 1968 before Norm got the black Camaro..
Last edited by Leo D; 06-24-2011 at 11:37 AM.
Leo, these are beautiful! I especially love the last action shot. Just fantastic. So the blue Bob Jane Mustang above is different to the red one with yellow stripe he raced? This one (the blue one above) is ex-Shelby works team car isn't it?
Do you have any of Bob Jane's HQ and Pete Geoghegan's HJ/Q Monaros? Two of my all-time favourite cars.
Is this car still owned by the Algies.
Is that the one in Post 14? I believe it still is. Anyone got any pics of this car from when it raced? I don't think it travelled much, mostly just raced at Pukekohe and Bay Park.
So does anyone know what actually happened to Beecheys HK Monaro? And for that matter, what happened to his '68 Camaro that he raced just four times in between the Nova and the arrival of the HK Monaro?
Pictures again kindly supplied by Ray Sinclair.
Bob's Monaro in Red and Yellow..... Pete Geoghegan in the Monaro..... all at Calder.
Slightly out of place on this thread, but.... Bob in the Trans Am, when it first arrived painted Blue, and latter in Red... I'm not quite sure on the full storty on that car, but I'm looking into it :-)
This was Bob's 3rd Mustang, replacing the Red one with the yellow stripe. The second Mustang went to Chris Brauer, who wrote it off at the Lakeside ATCC race. The first Mustang of Bob's (White in colour) was written off at Catalina Park.
And just to pad out the post a little more, another shot of mine..... Norm's HK, again Calder Park
Last edited by Leo D; 06-28-2011 at 08:41 AM.
Another shot kindly supplied by Ray Sinclair...... Unfortunately a sad shot of Norm's HK at Bathurst
Thanks Leo, these are really superb. I'm quite certain now I think about it, that Bobs Mustang above was an ex Shelby team car from the '68 Trans-Am season. I'm pretty sure it was sold back to the US a few years ago. I have seen the Lakeside image in which Brauer spears off the track shortly after the start. Pretty sickening image it is too. I'd forgotten that this was Bobs second Mustang.
The Monaro shots are stunning! Thanks to Ray Sinclair for letting us see these. I assume the first Bob Jane HQ shot is from the '74 season? I'm pretty certain the car remained the single '72 colour in '73, and in '75 it sprouted the front and rear spoilers, so this must be '74.
Geoghegans Monaro looked so good that first season as depicted above. It really didn't look as good in my opinion with the box guards as fitted in '76.
So Norms Monaro was yellow first, then blue?
Thanks again Leo, I could look at these photos all day.
The 1969 car was blue, the championship winner in 1970 was yellow. (I hope I have the years correct)
The Chris Brauer incident occured at the Lakeside round of the 1970 ATCC.
Yes, Bob's 3rd Mustang that we are talking about did leave Australia.
As to the exact dates for Bob's Monaro shots, I'm not exactly sure of those at the moment.
As to Norm's colour schemes, they go as follows...... "Neptune Racing Team", Blue with White stripes.... this runs through to the Chevy Nova.... The neptune Team becomes the "Tridents Racing Team", the colour scheme changes to Black with a Yellow and Red stripe combo... we're still with the Nova at this stage.... "Tridents Racing Team" then changes colour scheme to "Electric Blue" retaining the Yellow and Red stripes.... Norm then aquires the HK Monaro, which at first appears in the standard Holden Yellow with the black stripe.... the other Tridents cars in the Electric Blue scheme..... the HK is eventually painted in the same Electirc Blue, Yellow and Red stripe combo.
For 1970, the team changes to the "Shell Racing Team"..... Yellow cars with Red stripes...
Here is another of Rays shots at Calder.... Allan Moffats first run there in the Mustang.... Norm leading from Pete Geoghegan and Allan Moffat... The Moffat Mustang ended up with a large dent in the bonnet after he gave Norm a serve in the first corner of one of the races..
This is the first round of the 1970 ATCC at Calder, which was won by Allan Moffat.... Norm DNF'd
Of course, there are alway the pictures of Norm's Chevy Nova..... my personal favourite of his cars....
Last edited by Leo D; 06-28-2011 at 12:29 PM.
Yes, thats how I remember it Leo, with the HK Monaro being yellow, then blue, and the HT Monaro being yellow throughout its three seasons with Beechey. The only thing that seemed to change externally on the HT was the wheels and the number on the door. And the brake ducts got bigger.
Of the Brauer crash, there is a graphic shot of this in the ATCC book, capturing the incident just as the Mustang is bent like a boomerang. Very nasty.
Was this the Monaro that Grady Thomson and Rick Rimmer, they were a couple of likely lads, won the first international (?) rally with in New Zealand?Grady Thompson, I apologise to the photographer, I don't have those details , but full credit when I find out,
That would be Grady perhaps at Wigram at the Mercury Trophy Series
Pretty sure it wasn't the 1969 Silver Fern winner
Or the Heatway. But I have a nagging feeling the Monaro he started production racing with had a gallop as a rally car....
It was the 1969 Silver Fern the Monaro won
The first Heatway wasn't until 1971
Good-oh, mate. Grady was a breath of fresh air when he went racing I thought, certainly seemed to be having a good time of it.
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