Does anyone know what happened to the Barry Wearing 67 Z28 SS Camaro, sold in 74-75

[nick_tassie]

Here's another interesting article I found, seems Terry put in an official protest against one Allan Moffat driving the one and only famous Coke Trans-Am Mustang.

It was in the December 1969 Racing Car News

TOURING CARS
Controversy Rages Over Trans-Am
Is it or isn't it a touring car? This is the question CAMS are asking now that an official protest has been lodged by Terry Allan against Allan Moffat's Trans-Am Mustang. It seems that CAMS accepted the homologation papers for the car but the Rule 3(g) states that all wheels must be interchangeable AND the rear wheels on the Mustang will to fit on the front!!! Where do we go from here? As far as I can see most of them are illegal anyway, so why worry!!

One thinks Mr Moffat would not have been amused....!!

It would be interesting to ask Allan Moffat what he can recall about racing against Terry and the Big Block Camaro, Does anyone out there know Allan enough to ask the question?

[Steve Holmes]

Cool. Moffats Mustang did create some controversy when it arrived in Aus. I think there were also issues over it being a fastback. I didn't know about the wheel interchanging issues though. That seems a little over the top. Controversy followed Moffat though. But he'd come from US racing, where it was just normal practice to push the rules to their limits.

[nick_tassie]

Ok here are the photo's of the GT350R 002 out of the Shelby Cars In Detail book by Frank Barrett & Boyd Jaynes. Fantastic book in real life and worth looking at for your home collection.

I couldn't scan them as the book is too big so I have just used the good old iPhone, so best I can with the detail.

The story behind the car will come next.

Enjoy

[nick_tassie]

This is the story behind the Shelby Racing Co Mustang GT350R 002, again taken on the iPhone so best I can do for quality

[Steve Holmes]

Hey Nick, that is sensational. I need to get a copy of that book. That Mustang is an amazing time warp piece. How did it come to be discovered?

[nick_tassie]

Ha here's something interesting sent in be a reader in the new edition of Australian Muscle Car.

A copy of an original Graeme Blanchard Holden Postcard showing Graeme proudly standing next to his newly acquired Ex Terry Allan Big Block Chev Camaro.

Guessing it would have been late 71 by the article on the back that states the Camaro was now running the small block 350ci engine. Graeme has told me that he initially ran the car with the big block 396.

[nick_tassie]

I guess its timely for an update on the search for Terry's lost Camaro, as nice it is to discover all these new photo's and racing articles, the ultimate aim is to discover what happened to his car.

The current lead I've been working on came from a email I received out of the blue from a guy who had known of a restored 67 Camaro in Parramatta that was supposedly once a race car. What made this lead interesting was that he had looked under the rear guards of this car and noticed that there where signs it had been modified for bigger wheels.

Other things that made this lead interesting was that the car was a red small block, now we know Terry's Camaro was originally a standard red 327 small block before it got the Bill Thomas touch and updated to Z28 spec and 396 BB. The car when sold by Barry Wearing in Parramatta in 1974 as a rolling shell would most likely still have had its original build plate fitted, so if it was restored as a road car the most likely thing would have been to go off the ID plate and restore it back as a red small block........?

Anyway a few boxes have been ticked with this lead, first the owner indicated that the car was once a race car, there were indications that the inner guards had been modified for big wheels, it matched the spec of Terry's original 67 327 SB car, the car was restored in Parramatta at about the same time Barry Wearing sold the roller to an unknown person 74-75.............

I've done as much as I can to track down this car to find out more about it, to either rule it out or in. I haven't been able to talk directly with the owner of the car who said it had been a race car much to my annoyance as it would be good to get his full story, and even a contact of the person who had done the restoration. I have spoken to the cars next owner, that's an interesting story in itself how I got onto him, anyway he said he knew nothing about its previous history as a race car, he had looked all over this car at different times and said there was no evidence that it was anything but a standard road car, certainly no major modifications under the car or to the chassis and suspension. He couldn't remember seeing any signs of a roll cage being fitted inside the car either.

Thats not to say it wasn't restored with a full new floor and running gear, it was a highly modified race car by the time Barry Wearing had sold it so any conversion back to a road car would have been major.

This owner had also sold the car long before I had talked to him, its believed to now be in Victoria running as a 350ci RS SS replica. I haven't been able to find it as yet but the feelers are out there seeing if we can, it would be nice to look behind the rear seat for signs of a roll bar or even repair damage to the firewall from that exploding clutch and flywheel in 69. If I can get the chassis number maybe we can trace the cars original sale back to Nickey Chevrolet Chicago where Terry bought his car.

Is it Terry's missing Camaro..........? The Hunt is still on.

[Steve Holmes]

Hey that actually sounds pretty promising! The red 67 in Parramatta that had been restored to a road car does fit in quite well in the time line too, given the car dropped out of site as a race car around this time. Keep us posted, this really sounds quite promising!

hey I like the Graeme Blanchard ad too!

[nick_tassie]

Yeah its an interesting possibility Steve, too many boxes ticked not to ignore or rule it out.

When I think about to possibilities of what might have happened after almost 40 years you tend go crazy thinking about it, but while there's an still an unanswered question and just a slight hope of the next lead being around the corner we will keep trying.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard anyone actively trying to track down the Beechey Camaro, not to say its not happening. Am I correct in saying that car was also believed to have been returned back to a road car. I did read someone thought it was sighted for sale in a Victorian car yard at some point.

On another subject, I've also discovered from talking to the director of the ABC documentary Wide Open Road that the footage of Terry's Camaro came from a GMH Cinema Advert from the late 60's. The footage he specifically used in the 2nd episode was a shortened version used for a Holden TV ad. He suggested I contact Holden archives to see if the original footage is available to see if any more of the Camaro was filmed. I've since done that and they are having a genuine crack at it so lets see what comes out of it.

[thunder427]

[QUOTE=nick_tassie;10761]Yeah its an interesting possibility Steve, too many boxes ticked not to ignore or rule it out.

When I think about to possibilities of what might have happened after almost 40 years you tend go crazy thinking about it, but while there's an still an unanswered question and just a slight hope of the next lead being around the corner we will keep trying.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard anyone actively trying to track down the Beechey Camaro, not to say its not happening. Am I correct in saying that car was also believed to have been returned back to a road car. I did read someone thought it was sighted for sale in a Victorian car yard at some point.

Nick of Tassie!!! I wrote on another Forum that I had negotiated the purchase of this Camaro,but my pay-out on my HK Holden V8 was was to high and I took Chris Farrell with me to check the car over as he was responsible for most of the body fabrication work with Norm/ Moffat/Jane at that time....it was black with the 'white' nose stripe..Norm painted the 'Speedshop'support Panelvan to match at that time...with regards thunder427/MJ

[Steve Holmes]

Yeah thats a good point actually. The Beechey Camaro only raced 4 times, and was an interim car between the Nova and HK Monaro, but was considered by many to be one of his coolest cars.

Myles, what do you think you would have done with the Camaro if you'd been able to buy it? It'd be easy to say you would have kept it all these years, but people get bored with their cars eventually.

[nick_tassie]

Nick of Tassie!!! I wrote on another Forum that I had negotiated the purchase of this Camaro,but my pay-out on my HK Holden V8 was was to high and I took Chris Farrell with me to check the car over as he was responsible for most of the body fabrication work with Norm/ Moffat/Jane at that time....it was black with the 'white' nose stripe..Norm painted the 'Speedshop'support Panelvan to match at that time...with regards thunder427/MJ

Yes I recall you mentioning the HK Holden issue now. So did Chris confirm to you that the car you were looking at was indeed the ex beechey race car. As Steve has said it was a damn nice looking race car, it must be annoying to have gotten so close to securing it at one point. You wouldn't think there would be all that many black 68 Camaro's running around with the white nose....?

[Steve Holmes]

That Beechey Camaro was a quick car out of the box, too. Beechey only raced it four times, the 1968 ATCC being the final race. He'd beaten Geoghegan in it once in the lead up to the ATCC, and at Warwick Farm where the ATCC was being fought, he qualified 2nd to Geoghegan in a quality field, but retired after 12 laps. You'd think there would have been a queue of people wanting to buy the car but there doesn't seem to be any evidence it ever raced again.

[Ellis]

Here's a link to some glimpses of the Terry Allan Camaro I took at Symmons Plains on its first trip to Tassie....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZhOb3BmOAU

[Steve Holmes]

Beautiful! I've just embedded it here Ellis, hope thats OK?

[Ellis]

Thats ok Steve...I couldnt think how to do it
Have to remove something from the address isnt it??

Thats the Elliot/Pare Mustang behind it with silver wheels at start.

[nick_tassie]

Thanks Elis for making this rare footage available, you have gone to a lot of effort transferring it over to digital from film. It's excellent footage, great watching the Camaro running down through the back straight sweeper, I imagine it would have sounded pretty awesome with the big block on full song.

Really enjoyed watching this.

[Kiwiboss]

Thanks Elis for making this rare footage available, you have gone to a lot of effort transferring it over to digital from film. It's excellent footage, great watching the Camaro running down through the back straight sweeper, I imagine it would have sounded pretty awesome with the big block on full song.

Really enjoyed watching this.

You know Tassie Nick, its quite amazing that the race cars that did survive even made it at all, and the effort you are putting into finding your uncles long lost Camaro must be commend, and there's all possibility it just didn't survive!! once you get to that stage, and only you can do that!!! a very well built replica with all the information you have would make for one fantastic recreation of the said Camaro, that's what i myself would like to see!! after all if its long gone, then no one can have it!! a replica from the same family will certainly suffice. Food for thought?

Just my opinion, but keep lookin.

Dale Mathers

[nick_tassie]

Cheers Dale, I think your thoughts mirror both mine and my brothers, we are very keen to one day see a tribute car on a race track if we are unable to find the real deal. Its ironic that you have raised this question actually as only last week I put a wanted add on Gumtree.com for a 67 Camaro project car to see what comes up. My thoughts are that if we build a tribute car now that work (running gear) can go into the real car if it ever surfaces.

Certainly watching Elis's footage of the car running a my home track of Symmons Plains gives me further incentive to starting on the project as soon as possible. Just have to finish off the current project first, that's in the paint shop now so its not that far off..!!

I think we'll keep looking for the car in some manner for a while longer, we both feel a sense of responsibility, if those are the right words. Maybe its the potential emotion and satisfaction if we are successful that keeps us interested, who knows, as I've said before at least we can say we have given it a red hot crack.

So in one way or another hopefully one day you will see the Terry Allan Camaro back out there. The idea of a tribute car that can be driven without worrying about bending it also has some positives.

If anyone has or knows of a 67 Camaro that would be an ideal project car let me know the details and we will see what comes from it. Even a basic shell would be a start.

[thunder427]

.

If anyone has or knows of a 67 Camaro that would be an ideal project car let me know the details and we will see what comes from it. Even a basic shell would be a start.[/QUOTE]

Nick from Tassie,recently viewed a Camaro genuine tagged RS/SS,Has original 'Cowel Hood',NOS quarters to fit, also some other panels, I viewed the 1967 Camaro at owners (Sam!) request, with the view of restoration,very possible, but his view of cost didnt match the reality of the project,thought at the time it would make a great 'Racer' in Dale's NZ series / Classic Transam in Aust........$ 17.500 Buys the project, good quality guy that owns the Camaro in that he listened,might not totally agreewith my view, but is heeding my concern of 'Budget' Blow-out!!!!!........PM if you wish to contact Sam!!!.......regards thunder427/MJ