The Opposite Lock Club was a nightclub in Birmingham, with an owner who liked to race. This is the Porsche 906 of Mefco Racing, driven by John Morris, in the paddock at Oulton Park. He finished P11 in the BRSCC 5000 Guineas Guards Spring Cup Meeting. 12/4/68.
Last edited by Chaswin; 11-25-2021 at 08:29 AM.
Another photo of the second placed car in the 1969 Tourist Trophy race at Oulton Park. David Pipers Lola T70 at Old Hall corner.
Last edited by Chaswin; 12-04-2021 at 09:56 AM.
John Rhodes in his works BMC Mini-Cooper 1293 S, rounding Old Hall corner with a bit of drama. (Is he in Oversteer?) What I find interesting is the crowd watching on. Do many people wear ties to motor races these days?
Only at Goodwood! Essential if you intend going into the paddock. In Dad's day, (pre war Donington) most were wearing hats/caps too. Back in the 1960's, I seem to remember wearing a tie every day, except when wearing a short sleeved summer shirt.Originally Posted by Chaswin
I can remember going to work in the summer on South Africa in the 1970's in a suit and tie. Not the ideal dress mode for 30C plus temperatures.
We also had motorbikes at Kyalami in the early 1970's. This is no less a personage than multiple world champion Giacomo Agostini on his MV Agusta.
Escort giving it beans around Old Hall in the late 1960's.
A Renault R8 Gordini and a more standard R8 during a private track session at Kyalami one Saturday afternoon in 1971.
Being a Renault tragic, the front one isn't a Gordini, more likely an Alconi, the South African one (the lights are wrong for a Gordini which had larger main lights and the inners were closer to the headlights) and the one behind an R8. Gordini Houdini Frans Cronje who races his 8 Gordini in NZ, and originally from South Africa where he raced R8s is going to give us more info.
Last edited by Oldfart; 12-04-2021 at 12:52 PM.
Thanks Oldfart - that's quite amusing as the photo you posted is also one of mine, taken on the same day! I was at Kyalami with my brother in law and a colleague who were shake-down testing an R8 that they had just finished building for the their employer. Here's a couple of photos of that car and also a heavily modified Capri Perana that was also out testing.
Frans has come back, the front car is Jimmy Armitage.
As I didn't know the origin of that photo I didn't attribute. Sorry. Frans passed it on to me.
Not a problem, I would probably have posted it myself at some stage.
A Marcos GT at Oulton Park in 1969 These popular fibreglass sports cars were available with Ford 1600 or 1800 four cylinder motors or a Ford 3 litre V6. Originally they had a plywood chassis, but from 1969 the car came with a proper steel chassis to allow the user of bigger, more powerful engines. This one has been subjected to a few bodywork modifications. (I remember seeing one of the early cars that had hit a tree just behind the drivers seat and had split into two pieces, fortunately without injuring the driver). I have seen at least one car still driving around in Johannesburg.
The 1800cc plywood chassised Marcos 1800's were homologated for racing, but the steel chassis Marcos Volvo 3 litre never was. Pity...
The Plywood chassis was very time consuming to construct, as there were 350 pieces of ply to be cut and glued. The steel chassis was adopted because it was quicker and cheaper to build.
Earlier Ford 3 litre V6's were still used in the plywood chassis.
Last edited by ERC; 12-11-2021 at 10:32 PM.
Careful where you walk!! A rather messy area of the Oulton Park paddock in April 1968. These are the Brabham BT21B F3 cars of P&M Racing Preparations. Number 22 (Broadspeed engine) was driven by Dave Williamson, while number 23 (Ford engine) was driven by Alex Trotter.
Last edited by Chaswin; 12-10-2021 at 08:15 AM.
Also in the April 1968 F3 race was this car, the Chequered Flag/Scalextric McLaren M4A fitted with a Ford MAE engine and driven by Mike Walker. He finished first in the F3 race. Next door is #17, the Brabham BT21/Ford Holbay of Michael Buettler.
Last edited by Chaswin; 12-10-2021 at 04:46 PM.
The Oulton Park paddock - Guards Spring Cup meeting 12/04/1968. The two cars belong to AC Dean (Racing) Ltd. #64 is the Ferrari 206 Dino driven by Peter Gethin, while 82 is the Porsche Carrera 6 of team owner Tony Dean. Both cars were finished in Red. In the top right is #63, the Chevron GT of John Bridges.
Last edited by Chaswin; 12-11-2021 at 07:05 PM.
In post #173 of photos taken during a Saturday afternoon testing session at Kyalami, I included a photo of a Capri Perana that was also being tested. I have just come across a photo of the same car actually racing at Kyalami later in 1971, driven by its owner Laurie Ackers. It has a higher stance and higher profile tyres than the dedicated racing Perana's as, according to the Duncan McDonald the local engineer who helped develop the car, "...the car was his regular registered road car and there were regulation limits. I would have liked to see it a lot lower and on lower profile tyres too. That's why it's straight line performance was as quick as any class A Capri V8, but the handling was not as good." The car was finished in the standard Perana yellow and featured a tuned engine with heat treated crank. The photos of the car and its engine were posted on a local website by Duncan and I'm sure he won't mind me posting them here.
The remaining two!
Paddy Driver in the Team Personality McLaren M10B Ford. I have photos of this car and driver with the number 16 as well.
Willie Ferguson in the Wynn's Surtees TS8 Chev.
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