So that would mean it was converted after the 77 Rally of NZ? Trueno rather than Torino though.Originally Posted by Carlo
So that would mean it was converted after the 77 Rally of NZ? Trueno rather than Torino though.
It doesn't look like a 120Y to me.
Yes. Even a bit later than 1977 as I seem to recall chasing Allan & Mike down a very slippery firebreak in the Herbert Forest at nightime during the 1978 Nth Otago Pall Mall Rally. Of course had we both managed to make the LH turn after the gateway at the top of the hill then naturally that wouldn't have happened. Can be tricky making your way back up muddy firebreaks that are part overgrown with gorse
Trueno, must get the brain and typing finger co-ordinated one day
[QUOTE=Milan Fistonic;18049]It doesn't look like a 120Y to me.
Nor to me when I put my glasses on
So what became of it? There is a Trueno shell sitting in Wellington that's been partially space framed and the owner was told it could have been the one Paul Radisich drove yonks ago, maybe its this one??
Mind you, you'd have to admit a 2 litre Ford Torino would have been amusing to watch race.
I asked the same question a while back. If you read through this thread the answer and images of both cars have been posted.
that is a B110 Datsun 1200 coupeIt doesn't look like a 120Y to me.
Go back a page !
At the time Barry Phillips was racing his mini it would have been a 1200 coupe. If you look close it even has what looks like to me, Datsun 1200 sign written above the sills in large writing.It also has Petch written on it. That front is the nose Petch used also. I may be wrong, but that is in my opinion, a 1200 coupe. 120y started when......(i don't really know, maybe 1975?? I raced one for Datsun NZ in the B & H) Barry Phillips stopped racing that mini around that time also.
Yep Steve, it looks like a 1200 Coupe, (bet thats not what was uder the bonnet) certainly not a 120y
Good old Escorts ah Mk1 or Mk11, no need for dictionary to work out.
So therefore these 2 pictures show the Datsun 1200 that Reg Cook built in 1975 so is the second one the same car behind the Cherry? or is it another one. If it is a second one where are they both now? I was of the belief that the one in the B & W shot was driven by Grant Aitken, however it would appear that it was Robbie Francevic. This shot is January 77. Is this the car that Tony Marsh drove? There is an XU1 behind Cook in the first pic is that Rex Findlay?
Datsun 1200 1975
Datsun Cherry and 1200 Coupe 1977
The rear end of the XU1 whose is the Sunbeam or Hillman behind the XU1
A better shot of the original 1200
I cannot quite figure out some of the dates mentioned. what I can tell you is this,..............Reg Cook was racing the Schick 1200 coupe and Barry Phillips and people like Rex Hart were in their minis. Reg was the reining champion and held all the lap records in this class.I was racing a white 1200 coupe in Castrol GTX against Dennis Marwood and Bob Homewood.
When Reg found out we were going to build a full on Shellsport Car for the 0-1300 Championship (another 1200 coupe). he approached us and suggested he would build us a car. We thought this was strange, as we were building it to beat him and take the championship from him. We declined his generous offer.
We built our car, and we bought the parts from where ever we could. We bought several things from Mark Petch. I always suspected that he owned that Schick B110. When I started racing our Eastern Tool Co sponsored B110 I was leading the Championship from the second race the car competed in. It also broke all the lap records at every track.
Reg was in my opinion struggling at this time. Then came news of the works Cherry coming out. It was meant to be a world beater and had a truck load of spares and even the Japanese competition manager to oversee its hoped for domination. What Reg did at this point, was put Robbie Francevic into the Schick car and he would race the new car, being the fuel injected Cherry. Robbie was always a quicker driver than Reg in the Schick 1200 coupe.
It is probably best I do not go into the team tactics and other stuff that went down, except to say that both drivers got a dressing down from the powers that be at the end of the season for their behavior.
The Schick car had its motor moved back and other stuff our car did not have. With Robbie Francevic at the wheel it was a real weapon and I happen to rate Robbie as one of the best drivers of his era. Our cars made contact on several occasions, usually when we were driving in a straight line down straights. Neither of us was ever going to back down.
The end of this first season did not end well between the 3 drivers, and was quite controversial, however I was lucky enough to become the Champion.
The Schick 1200 coupe was sold to Graham Crawford, who lived in the same street as me and almost right across the road. He did not race it for long however, and i do not recall who bought it. I raced our car for another year this time in black and Reg kept working on the Cherry and bringing it out every now and then. We won the championship again that year. The car was then sold to Rex Findlay.
It was not until reading something in a thread on here somewhere that there were two cars. One got written off. This will be before my time, as the Schick car that I raced firstly with Reg and then with Robbie driving was always the same car. The thread also reveals just how extensively modified it really was. it was also apparently very light.
After the last season I raced they were to change the rules to 2000 cars.
Last edited by Steve Emson; 09-16-2012 at 06:54 AM.
Ok so following that then, at a guess I would suggest that the one that was written off would have been the first one, the one thats I show as 1975and that has been showed previously as having Cooky needs a Sponsor plastered on the side.
A couple of shots from Hampton Downs this weekend that may be relevant to the thread... (is the red car a Shellsport car? Be gentle... this stuff is all before my time unfortunately)
IMG_6255 by SnoozinRichy, on Flickr
IMG_6278 by SnoozinRichy, on Flickr
IMG_6273 by SnoozinRichy, on Flickr
IMG_6293 by SnoozinRichy, on Flickr
Hi Snoozing,
The red NZ freighters escort was also just before my time, (believe it or not) I think this was a BNSW car, which really became Shellsport. Others may be better on this. Great pictures of some great cars.
SEAQNMAC 27, I think the SUNBEAM/IMP might be Bill Leckie, he had one which originally had a BDA? in rear seat area( front of rear axle ) & was made to shift it to the original type rear mounting later...did not slow him down much if at all either...
Snoozing, Red car was Don Halliday of the infamous Halliday Brothers/racing and ran in BNSW championship and the yellow one was Roy Harrington who won Shellsport i believe. Both cars legends in their time and great to see. Jac Mac think you right with Imp also, remember that thing, it was quick.
As mentioned before Steve that little Datsun of yours was one out of the bag, had a great career.
Roy won it in 82/83 from memory I did not get to see much of that season as we had just moved to Invercargill and everything was still a bit of a mess. so my memories came from my magazine subscription NZ Motoring News?? David McKinney mag.
Thank you Jack, finally an answer, so that would be from 75? predating his Capri which I would have seen race but I was too busy watching Pat Crea's Cortina, which unfortunately lost its bonnet latch as the Francevic Volvo would famously go on to do years later.
That fits in I think, my memory of the Capris first ( might have been its only appearance ) at Teretonga was as under 4200cc? & can remember it with twin pipes that extended right out to rear of car, this was before it got the big box-like flares etc, bloody quick as well...
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