Old Speedway Photos

[John McKechnie]

Luv it.
Warren has a lot of stories, he probably has told me more on the Monaro than Spencer.
LeRoy..-.The King.-
It seemed then as if all USA drivers had exotic names like LeRoy, Ronny, Donny, BillyBob............
Anyway, Im gone, Monaro is calling me till Im finished.

[seaqnmac27]

Some shots my father took at Stratford, would be either 70 or 71 at a guess

[seaqnmac27]

[Oldfart]

Love the old Auntie Rover ute for the lead car.

[Spgeti]

That auntie ute is amazing....

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[GeebeeNZ]

its interesting to see the wide variety of saloons that were raced. Had they not been turned into speedway cars most of them would have been eligible for Olfdarts new Pre 61 class

[Steve Holmes]

Awesome photos Sean, thanks for posting. I love the exhaust system of the Jaguar in post #82!

[Steve Holmes]

Another shot of the former Richards/Millen/Dorn etc Monaro. This is pretty late in its career, and its looking fairly old and tatty here. Its a real shame this car didn't survive. I did some investigation work on it some years ago. When Streetstock racing was first introduced to Palmerston North speedway in the early 1990s, a racer wanting to get involved with the class convinced the person who owned the Monaro to sell it to him so he could Streetstock it. By this time everyone in saloon car racing had gone to space-frame cars with plastic bodies on top, so the old Monaro was really outdated.

I actually remember seeing this car race as a Streetstock at one of the earlier events in Palmy when the class was first introduced. At first I was amazed to see that someone had turned a Monaro into a Streetstock, but then noticed it was left hand drive, and the alloy sheet inside the cockpit was all still intact from its saloon racing days. It was painted matt black and basically got beaten to death. At the time I had no idea of its history.

I grew up in Palmy and remember riding my push bike when I was about 14 in the mid 1980s along behind a wreckers yard with a buddy of mine. On top of a stack of cars at the back of the wreckers was another HQ Monaro speedway saloon that was waiting to be crushed. It was painted cream with an orange stripe, and #13 on the door. When I saw it I assumed it was the ex-Dorn car, but it turns out this was another Monaro again. They made for pretty popular speedway saloons.

[Rod Grimwood]

Actually Steve, I think it looks not too bad in this photo, she got tatty a few times. This is after another rebuild I suspect.

[Steve Holmes]

Yeah you're right Rod, its not too bad, though definitely not as nice as earlier in its career. Looks like its starting to rust in the lower bodywork, though this may just be mud. The number looks like its made from masking tape, and the stars are gone from the paint scheme. Note its fitted with a rear facing cowl hood scoop here, and the tall fuel-injection stacks are gone. I assume this is a different motor, probably topped with a 4-barrel.

[Steve Holmes]

A few guys built and raced these Sunbeam Tigers, with mixed results. They were light, but had very short wheelbase. I spoke with Kevin Gimblett a few months back about the one he raced. He said he did his wrong, in that he put a big motor (351 from memory) in it for more power, when he should have run a lighter 302 or 289. All that weight over the front axle in a short wheelbase car made it difficult to drive.

One of you guys will know who this is. Possibly Kevin Fillingham?

[Rod Grimwood]

As you can see, early on she got knocked around, one of the early times Steve Millen drove and he obviously was ordering a double drink from 'Wrecker Wright'

[seaqnmac27]

Another shot of the former Richards/Millen/Dorn etc Monaro. This is pretty late in its career, and its looking fairly old and tatty here. Its a real shame this car didn't survive. I did some investigation work on it some years ago. When Streetstock racing was first introduced to Palmerston North speedway in the early 1990s, a racer wanting to get involved with the class convinced the person who owned the Monaro to sell it to him so he could Streetstock it. By this time everyone in saloon car racing had gone to space-frame cars with plastic bodies on top, so the old Monaro was really outdated.

I actually remember seeing this car race as a Streetstock at one of the earlier events in Palmy when the class was first introduced. At first I was amazed to see that someone had turned a Monaro into a Streetstock, but then noticed it was left hand drive, and the alloy sheet inside the cockpit was all still intact from its saloon racing days. It was painted matt black and basically got beaten to death. At the time I had no idea of its history.

I grew up in Palmy and remember riding my push bike when I was about 14 in the mid 1980s along behind a wreckers yard with a buddy of mine. On top of a stack of cars at the back of the wreckers was another HQ Monaro speedway saloon that was waiting to be crushed. It was painted cream with an orange stripe, and #13 on the door. When I saw it I assumed it was the ex-Dorn car, but it turns out this was another Monaro again. They made for pretty popular speedway saloons.

Steve we were both in Palmy at the same time, now you posted the pic of Ian Easton in the Monaro, I have a vague recollection that there were 2 Monaros there the first time I went to Palmy Stocks, that would have been early 81. Also with the Tigers, there were 2 in Palmy, one was Kevin Fillingham, car #61, can't for the moment remember who drove the other one, although I was at a meet there when there was a crash at the west end of the circuit and one of them ended up in the catch fencing above the concrete.

That aside didn't Mike Wemyss replace the Vedette with a Tiger?

[Steve Holmes]

I can't even remember when I started going Sean, my father used to take me, but he didn't much care for speedway, so it wasn't as often as I would have liked. But the saloons were my favourites, and all the cars then were built from original road cars, then heavily modified. I was born in '71, so I guess it must have been early 1980s when I first started going. But I think you are right, there were at least two Monaros racing then. After a few years the space-frame cars began appearing. These were mostly Monzas and Toranas.

Here is the Wemyss Tiger. Note its right hand drive.

[Steve Holmes]

1967/68 Mustang fastback. One of you guys will know who this is? Nice looking car. Looks like its from Stratford. Skinny Colson usually raced as #66, but I don't know if he ever raced a Mustang?

[seaqnmac27]

I can't even remember when I started going Sean, my father used to take me, but he didn't much care for speedway, so it wasn't as often as I would have liked. But the saloons were my favourites, and all the cars then were built from original road cars, then heavily modified. I was born in '71, so I guess it must have been early 1980s when I first started going. But I think you are right, there were at least two Monaros racing then. After a few years the space-frame cars began appearing. These were mostly Monzas and Toranas.

Here is the Wemyss Tiger. Note its right hand drive.

Steve I think you will find that this his the Vedette, not a Tiger.