Yes I'd say you're right Ellis, the b/w photo is almost certainly when the car was painted blue. From what I can gather, it was painted blue for 1970 when CAMS allowed the teams to fit 10" wide wheels, so Allan flared the guards to fit his new Minilites. You can see the guards look stretched here, though interestingly it looks like he still has the 8" 5-spokes in this photo.
The Willis crew built most probably the first curcuit spaceframe car in NZ (the Commodore) after building a few speedway versions of Toranas etc, of which Lyndsay was the first to do a very long time ago. They raced this car for awhile before others thought this is the way to go. Brett raced in Sports Sedans NI successfully and did venture down south for FUN trips. Seen photos of the Camaro during rebuild in SI and it was not far off space frame, clever stuff back then.Originally Posted by bigbanger
Anyway lets hope the Allen Camaro can be found, remember it at Bay Park.
Just out of interest here Nick, the Bob Middleton you mentioned, is he the same Bob Middleton who raced trucks for many years and who currently runs a couple of Camaros in the Touring Car Masters series? http://www.touringcarmasters.com.au/...Middleton.html
Yes Steve, one and the same. If you Google search for (Chris Templar Camaro Whiteline Racing) a link to their racing team newsletter comes up and there is a photo of Chris standing beside the Whitline sponsored Ex Middleton/Jarrett/Indy Speed Shop Camaro at his first Sports Sedan race.
I remember Brett's Commodore well, I remember it at Wigram in the one off NZ vs Australia sports sedan challenge.
However I'm sure the PDL Mustang II was the first NZ built spaceframe circuit racing saloon.
Last edited by bigbanger; 08-29-2011 at 09:43 AM. Reason: spelling
Steve thank you for putting together a great lead article on Terry and the Camaro for the home page of Roaring Seasons.
I thought it might be timely to post this later family photo we have of Uncle Terry, some might recognise it as the one my brother Matt sent into Muscle Car Magazine to let them know he recently passed away after their MIA articles. You can see why Bill Thomas Racecars nickname for Terry "Brillo" fits quiet well.
He had a very kind gentle personality but did get a serious race face on when he told us stories of racing the Camaro in Australia and NZ. What stood out very strongly was the fact he was very proud to have been the first person to race on in Australia, he mentioned it on many occasions. He did enjoy a somewhat "playboy life", ringing us up from all parts of the world at times to say hello. The idea of finding the Camaro and getting it back on the race track as a family tribute has been an ambition for as long as I can remember, its just that now with the Internet we have a tool that can help search for leads. I certainly appreciate everyones help with information and photos. Hopefully we will be successful and uncover that critical link some time soon.
Nice photo Nick. Yes, the internet has its pros and cons, but it certainly makes the world a smaller place, which can be really useful when trying to find info about old race cars.
Here is something interesting, AMC Mag have uncovered the advert Graeme Blanchard used for the Camaro in Race Car News Feb 73. It clearly shows Graeme had run the car with the small block 350ci engine, no mention at all of the 396ci engine in the spares list.
It does mention the quad 48mm DOCE Weber carbs Terry used on the 396 and a cross over manifold, although I'm guessing the hand fabricated big block steel manifold that Wayne Mahnken had especially fabricated would not have fitted the small block 350ci.
From the specs of the the car at this stage of development it certainly ended up being a well setup and equipped bit of kit.
Hey thats cool Nick. For 1973 the car would have only been able to race as a Sports Sedan, as CAMS had made big changes to touring car racing beginning that season, dropping Series Production and Improved Production, and replacing them with Group C and Sports Sedans. The SS regs had a 6 litre engine limit so the 396 would have been no use anyway. But as the 6 litre rule had been brought in at the end of 1971, it would have raced in 72 with the small block. You have to assume the big block ended up in a drag car or jet boat or something?
Steve, its interesting you mentioned the big block ending up in a drag car or jet boat, I was talking with Wayne Mahnken this week and he mentioned he thought the fabricated steel crossover manifold for the 396 might have ended up on a jet boat. Interestingly when I asked him about the spare 302ci Trans Am engine that was sent over with the car he couldn't recall ever seeing or hearing about it. So its a further mystery what happened to that engine once the car hit the docks in Syndney. The fact that it was bolted into the passanger side was news and a surprise to him.
That big block manifold was an absolute work of art. I hope it resurfaces some day. Do you have more info on the 302 motor? Was it fitted with a single 4-barrel or multi-carbs? The Trans-Am cars were mostly running a single 4-barrel in '67 I think, but the Aussie rules would have allowed it to be fitted with multi-carbs.
I'll ask Ron Ogilvie about the Trans Am 302 to see what he can remember about it, he clearly said it was a Trans Am spec unit but didn't clarify if it was a complete engine with all the go fast bits.
If anyone thinks they might know where a big block crossover manifold like this one is being used, send in some photo's, Wayne said he could most likely identify it from pictures. Would be cool to find out where it ended up. As described it was a hand made steel manifold (theres a shot of it in the engine bay photo in this thread) designed to run quad 48mm Webers.
If anyone knows the contact numbers for Graeme Blanchard could you let me know, I would like to have a chat to him about his time with the car and what may have happened to the 396ci engine. email: nick.cameron@skillsinstitute.tas.edu.au
My mistake, the engine bay shot isn't yet on the thread, I'll see if I can find what I did with it.
Nick,here is a thought!!!!..If Wayne didn't know about the motor it may have belonged to the person or persons whom assisted Terry in the purchase/shipping of the Camaro and was removed on arrival,pre delivery to Terry , also consider the cost of the overal package,sorta can't see Terry over investing in the start of his racing career...,like the cost of the Camaro plus 'Race prep' would have been a 'Big Ask' in those days, pure speculation!!! but it does offer other reasonable avenue's to pursue....who helped buy the Camaro,who was the intro via to Bill Thomas, who or how was the Camaro shipped etc.....................regards thunder427/MJ
You could well be right, Wayne was certainly involved right from the very start including final race preparation for the car in Australia, although it sounded like he may not have been in Sydney when it was at the docks. The fact of Terry having the spare Trans Am engine was total news to Wayne does suggest it went separate ways pretty quickly, I'm sure a question would have been asked if it was sitting somewhere in Terry's workshop. You would have also thought they would have at least tested with the small block at some stage and Wayne would have been aware of that. I think Steve posted an article previously that indicated Terry was planning to head over to the US in 71 to source a small block power plant, this again suggests he no longer had the 302ci if indeed it was his engine.Nick,here is a thought!!!!..If Wayne didn't know about the motor it may have belonged to the person or persons whom assisted Terry in the purchase/shipping of the Camaro and was removed on arrival,pre delivery to Terry , also consider the cost of the overal package,sorta can't see Terry over investing in the start of his racing career...,like the cost of the Camaro plus 'Race prep' would have been a 'Big Ask' in those days, pure speculation!!! but it does offer other reasonable avenue's to pursue....who helped buy the Camaro,who was the intro via to Bill Thomas, who or how was the Camaro shipped etc.....................regards thunder427/MJ
Ron Ogilvie seems very certain about removing the seat and bolting the engine in its place so I doubt that's something you can question. Maybe he transported the engine for a Bill Thomas customer in Australia?? Your right to question his capacity to acquire the Camaro and fund the Bill Thomas development work, not to mention all the spares that Ron suggested he purchased. It must have been a fair investment in those days. I hadn't considered another investment partner, I'll check that over with Wayne next time I talk to him.
All very interesting, I wish more so now that I had found out more from Uncle Terry before he passed away.
Now I know why I haven't posted this photo, its from the oldracephotos.com site and I haven't yet asked for permission from Lindsay to use it. Here is a link to the photo if you want to check out Wayne Mahnken's handily work, remember this was from 1967, pretty sweet work for a small privateer race team.
If you haven't checked out the oldracephotos.com site its got some great stuff on it.
http://www.oldracephotos.com/shop/pr...2684_k_cama_67
That side-draft 4-Weber set-up is just so nice to look at. A single 4-barrel just doesn't compare.
Nick-
That is a Briar McKay Manifold with 4 Weber carbs. Briar MacKay worked with Traco Engines and Bill Thomas Race Cars were trying this setup on our engine dyno when Terry was at the shop. I did remember him asking about it but the car left Long Beach with a 4 barrel Holley and Weiand manifold. It was available in aluminum or magnesium. MacKay also made water pumps for the bi block in Magnesium. Interesting placement of the brake booster...............
Ron Ogilvie
Ron, its great to see you on here. Very good first post! Thanks for that info.
Hi Ron, nice to hear from you again. I can't recall exactly who Wayne said they got to manufacture the crossover manifold, it certainly could have been Briar McKay as you have suggested. I'll have to check with him next time I'm talking to him. I'm certain he did say that it was a fabricated steel manifold.
Its interesting that Wayne can't recall seeing or hearing about the Trans Am 302 engine that Terry brought over as a potential spare power plant option. Can you recall if this was a complete running engine with all the bolt on's or just a long motor?
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