Ken, hell we love this stuff mate, don't stop, we may not always have a reply to you but what you present we can't get enough of, cheers & carry onOriginally Posted by Grant Sprague
Ken, hell we love this stuff mate, don't stop, we may not always have a reply to you but what you present we can't get enough of, cheers & carry on
Keep them coming Ken because that is what this forum is all about.
Now going back to Ardmore in 1958. Grand Prix programme.
This has some interesting items in it.
One of the first races was for Saloon Cars. Here is the entry list and you will note some interesting names, including; P.L. Kerr (Phil Kerr of McLaren Racing) in a D.K.W., John Histed in a Goggomobil, Jim Boyd and a certain Mr. F.E.(Ernie) Sprague in # 20, a Renault Dauphine !
Attachment 27984
It is hard to imagine Ernie howling around Ardmore in a Renault Dauphine at 9.35 am before going out in his Maserati 4 CLT for the Grand Prix heats later in the morning !
Grant, was this the tow car when you all came up from the S.I. ?
Thought you may have all stopped off for some fishing on the way. This looks like Omokoroa perhaps !
( Ken Hyndman )
Last edited by khyndart in CA; 03-12-2015 at 05:28 AM.
Hi Ken , I never knew Dad raced a Renault ....... I did however know he did a rally in one , Dad was a Renault franchise holder as there were not a lot of franchisers to be had in those days so he grabbed it with open arms ,,, I am not sure where you got that photo from ....I do not remember it at all , this could have been a promo photo ??? I see Harold Heasley in the saloon car list , he and Dad were very good mates, I use to stay with Harold when Mum & Dad did their trips to Fiji he lived in Rangiora he sort of adopted me as a son he never had & built wooden garages out of nail boxes for me.. Before he past away he built my daughters a beautiful dolls house , a great man also a bit off track never mind lol
The Fiat Abarth if correct for 1957 was a very early Abarth if it was a 600. Came into production in 1954 but Abarth got his hands on it a little latter. Good stuff Ken.
Sorry Grant, I did not explain but I just got some pictures from Google pics and put them in regarding the Dauphine !
It seems you could enter whatever you had, take the hub caps off, paint a number on the door and go out and have fun. It could not have been much of an entry fee when you see the amount of the prize money ! (Especially the motor cycle riders !)
(Ken )
Last edited by khyndart in CA; 03-11-2015 at 02:20 AM.
Sorry Grant, I did not explain but I just got some pictures from Google pics and put them in regarding the Dauphine !
It seems you could enter whatever you had, take the hub caps off, paint a number on the door and go out and have fun. It could not have been much of an entry fee when you see the amount of the prize money ! (Especially the motor cycle riders !)
Attachment 27985
(Ken )
oops this did not come through in the last post.
Attachment 27986
Last edited by khyndart in CA; 03-11-2015 at 02:28 AM.
Ernie Sprague in his Maserati 4CLT at Wigram in 1958.
Number 32 is the same number he used earlier at Ardmore where he retired after 71 laps with engine problems. Imagine driving this soon after climbing out of a Renault Dauphine !
(Photo thanks to "Classic Racers' book by Eoin Young )
Jan 11th. 1958. Here is a list of entrants for the Fifth New Zealand International Grand Prix.
Thank you Ken ...... once again I have never seen this before .... I might say it is personally very very special ......to me ...
the first race meeting I attended
Note that Bernie Ecclestone is the entrant for the 2 driver Connaught team. Sadly, Stuart Lewis-Evans was to lose his life later in the year at the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix. Bernie almost quit from racing back then but here he is still at it to this day. Is the first instance of Ecclestone and Brabham names together here in this programme ?
(Ken Hyndman )
Last edited by khyndart in CA; 03-12-2015 at 12:09 AM.
Here are some of the types of cars that competed that day in 1958. What great changes would take place in Grand Prix cars over the next few years.
(Ken Hyndman )
Used to go to a few sunday events, but they would not start till 12' oclock or 1 o'clock not sure if this was only in the country though
It was a rough time for the Connaught team and Bernie Ecclestone.
If you go to this web site you will get an idea of what it was like on the Connaught team.
(Imagine 2 race cars for a stamp collection ! )
https://books.google.com/books?id=7F...NAUGHT&f=false
( Ken Hyndman )
At this 1958 Grand Prix at Ardmore it was the first time the highly successful " Driver to Europe Scheme " was awarded.
It was won by Bruce McLaren who narrowly beat out Phil Kerr. What wonderful foresight the organizers had and what a great step it was for Bruce. If you can read this you will see they had made arrangements with the Cooper Car Co. for the winner to go there and be employed by that factory. They must have had a crystal ball in 1957 to know that Cooper would the best team to progress through in the next few years. We will be forever grateful for those organizers for setting these drivers on their way to greatness...well done. (I did not know that Argentina had done a similar scheme for Juan Fangio in 1948 )
( Ken Hyndman ...you will need good eyes to read this but it was the best I can do at this time )
Last edited by khyndart in CA; 03-12-2015 at 05:32 AM.
Amazing Ken , I did not know Phil Kerr even raced a car prior to reading yr info...let alone racing against Bruce etc .... I do know of the close connection though with the then trio..... & some other things that happened later ............By the way I met up with Wally Wilmott in Christchurch [ Ruapuna] a few weeks back, the main man as mechanic for them those many years ago . As you might know Wally was a Timaru boy ....... just an amazing man with so much to say about that time ............
Last edited by Grant Sprague; 03-12-2015 at 07:39 AM.
Yes, Phil Kerr was one of the main reasons that the McLaren Team remained such a strong team after Bruce died.
Here is a brief biography from "Grand Prix .com "
PEOPLE: PHIL KERR
Name: Phil Kerr
Nationality: New Zealand
Born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1934, Phil Kerr first met Bruce McLaren at a hillclimb event in 1951 both were racing Austin Sevens. While racing Kerr also studied accountancy and business management and when he left college he joined the New Zealand Forest Service before moving to work for a small engineering business in Auckland. This handled the sale of Buckler cars in New Zealand and Kerr was soon racing these and at the same time moved up through the ranks to become the secretary of the Auckland Car Club - the biggest automobile club in New Zealand - and a member of the board of the New Zealand International Grand Prix Association. In 1958 he was one of the names put forward to be New Zealand's Driver to Europe but was beaten to the prize by McLaren. In Europe McLaren mentioned to Jack Brabham that Kerr might be the man to run the Australian's businesses and in 1959 Kerr moved to England to help Jack establish a headquarters in Chessington. This consisted of a petrol station and offices but in the years that followed expanded into a big racing car manufacturing business in the earlly 1960s. One of Kerr's major contributions was to bring Denny Hulme to Brabham's attention and he managed Hulme's career until Denny won the World Championship in 1967. The pair then moved to McLaren where Kerr became joint managing-director with McLaren. After McLaren was killed in 1970 Kerr played an important role in holding the team together and he continued to be a major player at McLaren in the early 1970s, although he was edged out of the team to run the semi-works Yardley operation in 1974 after Marlboro came in as the team's chief backer. At the end of that year Yardley withdrew and Hulme retired and Kerr decided to head back to New Zealand, where he established and developed the McLaren Group of companies, initially as a specialist automotive engineering frim but more recently as a business consultancy, project management and IT firm.
Ken I found this very interesting .........not one to read a lot re motor racing history in great detail & volumes as we use to eat & sleep & dream it ... a bit like car sales yards now I never walk onto one you get over it ............but find your stories plus others here very interesting easy reads.. thank you .. grant
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