Haig Citroen Special
a bit of the History
" “ It gave up its front assembly, gearbox diff driveshafts and the 1991 ** typo [ 1911 ] cc 4 cylinder Citroen Motor
With the Traction avant [ front wheel drive ] working behind the driver in reverse.
The little car also contained many lightweight aircraft parts “ GV
“ It was built during 1952 in Timaru. “ GV
Car painted Blue – indications from a 1950 Light 15
Car is a rear engine single seater Racing Car.
History of Ownership and Competition
Doug Haig Race Number 18
1953 Dunedin - the NZ Championship Road Race [ NZ CRR ] placed 6th
Details confirmed in the Vintage Car Club of N Z Otago Branch Book “ Racing Round the Houses “by Scott Thomson – published in 1983
1953 Mairehau - placed 5th
1953 Lady Wigram placed 5th
1953 C W F Hamilton Trophy Race – Handicap placed 1st on Handicap
1954 C W F Hamilton Trophy Race – Handicap placed 1st on Handicap
1956 “ saw the little blue rear-engined special sold to Vic Blackburn from Waipara in 1956.
He painted it green “ GV
1956 South Island Championship Road Race [ SI CRR ] no details --
1957 Wigram placed 2nd
1957 SI CRR no details --
1958 Wigram placed 5th
1959 Waimate “ Specials Race “ placed 1st
No mention of this in the Book “ The Racing Years 1959 – 1966 The History of the Waimate 50 “
1960 The Waimate 50 book mentions lap times for Specials
“ Citreon [ Citroen ] 1 min 21.5 ( Blackburn, ’60 ) “
In all these events engine described as a 1911 cc 4 [1911/4 ] so the Citroen Light 15, later DS and ID 19 Motor.
Graham Vercoe states “ Ralph Smith owned it for a time. He had a spectacular finish at Invermay Hillclimb when the car became airborne on a hump just after the finish line and demolished three fence posts, a few standards and a few metres of number eight “ GV
Car owned /driven by Ralph Smith in 1984
1984 Dunedin Road Race “84 “ car entered by Ralph Smith – painted Green Race number 18
Listed as 1950 model with 2088 cc engine [ a Standard Vanguard or Triumph TR motor ].
***see note below - Car now back with a Citroen Motor..
A photo of the car appears in a Montage of the Competitors from the “Dunedin Weekly News “
1st February 1984
1991 – In his book ” Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand “Graham Vercoe states that “ The bright yellow car is presently owned and raced by Les Marshall. “ GV
Main History – Graham Vercoe Books,
- the car history from “ Historic racing Cars of New Zealand.
- race entry’s –results from that book but mainly “ The Golden Era of New Zealand Motor Racing “
Word in Italics are mine.
Some photos of the car from 1953 to 1984 and more recent
C W F Hamilton Trophy 1953. 1st place on Handicap - Photo Graham Vercoe Book - Christchurch Star
Placing at Waimate - 6th 1959
The car at Dunedin 1984 - from the Montage on the "Dunedin Midweek ".
On the Grid with other Single Seaters [ Racing cars ] and Specials -my own photo Dunedin 1984 [ posted before ].
Another car in the photo at the back is the Wylie Javelin which came to New Zealand in 1954 but did not start at the NZ GP meeting that year - was driven by its creator Brian Wylie .in 1984 driven by Bruce Polain - the recent [ 1980's on ]- owner.
More recent photos of the car
Brian Bonisch recent photo at a South Island meeting - in the paddock.
Car at Ruapuna 2010 [Skope meeting ] with Peter Leversedge in close company- photo John MacDonald.
New comment *** from Ralph Smith " The Citroen did have a vanguard motor for a short period of time while the Citroen motor was being rebuilt and was fitted about six years ago. "
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