Dave Silcock Jags

[thunder427]

Hi Thunder, A bit wrong there about the employment .I served my time at Farrier Waimak, a local cartage and road building company under Jack Crowe who was Trevors father. He joined the firm a bit later and then both of us went out the Shell Garage that Jack and a relation had bought at Tempelton. I later worked for WJ Scotts on Mercedes Benz in the building used by the Press at the end New Regent St. The Rootes Group outfit were on the Manchester St corner and a young chap called Paul Kirk worked there so maybe thats where the mixup arose
Cheers Dave

Dave, fistly ,just great to have you on this forum,now, I must apologise for being presumptuous ( had to look that word up!!)regarding your alleged employment with A.R.Mackay,my Father was a 'usedcar salesman' ,both with Mackay and with W.J Scotts,used car div.ran the yard at Papanui,was involved in the early construction of Rahupuna Raceway,were 'famously Farrier Waimak trucks carted clay on one Election weekend (Another Story!!!)he was a member of the Canterbury Car Clup where for a number of years he organised the lap scoring/timming at the 'Lady Wigram' event.......I'm now wondering, as you do at moments like this ..'Was It Your Jag'?????, my recollection was that my father was at work ( A,Rs now maybe Scotts ) one Saturday mourning and came home at lunch time with this wonderful,sleek Jaguar roadster,I had a fixation on Jags which my Father had nurtured (we had a MK5 for a while )it has been my belief that this was your Jaguar,as I believed the owner to be 'Tall' and a Truck mechanic, which fits,I'm thinking this would have to be around 1960,I remember hoping somebody from school would see me in this 'Wow' car when I took the ride back to town that afternoon,alas nobody sprung me at my finest hour !!!!!.........My Fathers name was Lyndsay Johnson,(now deceased) had a yard on Ferry Road called 'Merlyn Motors' with Merv Ellis,later of Blackwalls ,as I said apologise for getting my 'Timeline' fuddled,but there is an answer here somewhere ....with regards thunder427/ Myles Johnson/Melb/ Aust

[AMCO72]

Dave....greetings from the NI. I have been having a 'chat' with a mutual friend of ours and he tells me you have fired up the new MKII, which had a few residents of the street reaching for their ear-plugs!! It sounds a very interesting machine, as it would be, coming from the Silcock stable. Could you perhaps enlighten the Jaguar fans on this thread about this car, and when we can expect to see it dueling with Bert Govan and Co on the racetracks of NZ. We would love to see both you and Bert up here sometime, and I'm sure that you will have no trouble with the hierachy in getting it on the track, in a suitable class. I for one would welcome you, and although the car has no history, yet, the driver/constructor most certainly has. We might even persuade the owner of a certain Coombs modified car to join us, thats if he can convince the MSNZ Doctor that he is fit and able to get behind the wheel of a race-car. I believe he has joined Les Mills to loose a bit of avoidupois!! He may need to partake of a couple of 'cheeky' wines when he reads this to settle his ulcer! Woops, there's the phone; bound to be 'you-know-who' ready to give me an earful !!!!!!!

[jim short]

Great stuff Amco But why or should that be WHY does the new old car that will be driven to and hopfully home on the road need any history or has enthusiast as we use to be ended .With just a few dickheads trying to push there stagnant idears what you can run.look close not one of them was at the sharp end. The sport originated with different cars and idears i.e. why cant this jag run with the muscle cars???Yes I know the ans but not good eneogh .and as to your thery? we all want to win 30yrs ago I remember Dave explanning why he did not drive an escortI just want to race a jaguar!! and by the way I am not having my hot meal at midday yet.!!
Your freind james {I am so upset i cant spell anymore}

[jim short]

Sorry the 30yrs stated above should read 42yrs.

[Dave Silcock]

Hi to all, I have been biting my bottom lip at some of the comments and opinions aired on this forum for some time, but can contain myself no longer. First of all I like to race cars not history, it makes no difference to me who last farted in the seat. It makes no difference to the way the car looks, sounds and more importantly what its like to drive. The second best car I have built after the present Mk2 was a Mk1 BDA Escort for Gray Mathias. We started with a 1300 stripped, sand blasted, replaced sills, front guards, welded on steel flares and fabricated the Watts linkage and trailing arms. Built a weld on front cross member with the rack and bottom arm mounts inside it like the Fahey car. We imported the proper AP alloy 4 piston calipers and 13 '' Minilight wheels and mounted F2 cross ply tyres just like in the day. We built a 1700 BDA with Lucas injection and F1 cams, the bonnet was flat black and it really looked and sounded the part. Now from some of your comments this car should not be allowed to race, at least it left a Ford factory somewhere unlike some of the cars that were built in the day from a body shell supplied new from Ford, no chassis number you know. You talk of almost seeing the ghosts of drivers past well if you do they are probably lost souls. The UK driver of Cooper Bristols that came here in the 80s with copy of the Wharton car had a real one at home but it was too valuable to race so built a copy of that too and left the real one tucked nice and cosy at home. I have it from someone that knows that the practise is common . If you have a multi million dollar race car and you can have an identical one built for multi hundred thousand dollars which one would you race. Google Dunford Jaguar and order up an FIA legal copy! If you saw Masten Gregory lurking round Leuch;s 341 SG Lister he was lost, the car was a total fake which Paul admitted to me whilst he was in his cups, truth serum some would say. I dont think
MSNZ should have any part in authenticating old racing cars, one day they will have the pants sued of them for authenticating a fake. To me a car is only a fake if someone claims it is something it is not. and if it used to sell the then it is fraud and illegal.

[kiwi285]

Hi to all, I have been biting my bottom lip at some of the comments and opinions aired on this forum for some time, but can contain myself no longer. First of all I like to race cars not history, it makes no difference to me who last farted in the seat. It makes no difference to the way the car looks, sounds and more importantly what its like to drive. The second best car I have built after the present Mk2 was a Mk1 BDA Escort for Gray Mathias. We started with a 1300 stripped, sand blasted, replaced sills, front guards, welded on steel flares and fabricated the Watts linkage and trailing arms. Built a weld on front cross member with the rack and bottom arm mounts inside it like the Fahey car. We imported the proper AP alloy 4 piston calipers and 13 '' Minilight wheels and mounted F2 cross ply tyres just like in the day. We built a 1700 BDA with Lucas injection and F1 cams, the bonnet was flat black and it really looked and sounded the part. Now from some of your comments this car should not be allowed to race, at least it left a Ford factory somewhere unlike some of the cars that were built in the day from a body shell supplied new from Ford, no chassis number you know. You talk of almost seeing the ghosts of drivers past well if you do they are probably lost souls. The UK driver of Cooper Bristols that came here in the 80s with copy of the Wharton car had a real one at home but it was too valuable to race so built a copy of that too and left the real one tucked nice and cosy at home. I have it from someone that knows that the practise is common . If you have a multi million dollar race car and you can have an identical one built for multi hundred thousand dollars which one would you race. Google Dunford Jaguar and order up an FIA legal copy! If you saw Masten Gregory lurking round Leuch;s 341 SG Lister he was lost, the car was a total fake which Paul admitted to me whilst he was in his cups, truth serum some would say. I dont think
MSNZ should have any part in authenticating old racing cars, one day they will have the pants sued of them for authenticating a fake. To me a car is only a fake if someone claims it is something it is not. and if it used to sell the then it is fraud and illegal.

Talking about having copies built because of the value of the original, I believe that one of the specialist companies in NZ recently built a copy of the 250 GTO which was worth several million, because the owner of the original, now worth about 20 million, still wanted to race a 250 GTO. In the same vein I have been told just recently that Roger Wills has had a replica March 701 Cosworth built in the UK to race as the original Amon car was too valuable and he wanted it kept in its current state, patina and all.

[AMCO72]

Jim, you of all people should know that I am the best listener in the world. I am just getting a little confused.....so many years, so many cars. Of course the D type was made for SHORT-arsed poms.....no adjustment anywhere. Give me a C type any day. DB4, DB5, they both looked pretty similar to my untrained eye, and I have never been an Aston fan....funny, me that is. No more long telephone calls from you please, I can't take all that you are saying in anymore. Do you think Lofty would have approved of Dave's 430 hp.....200mph down the Mulsanne straight, before those stupid chicanes were installed. Listening to videos of cars going down there in the old days was spine tingling. It sounds as if that obituary that RogerH mentioned, is of the Mr Leuch, if your info on an Austrian hillclimb is correct, which I sincerely hope it is....we dont want another 'OK Corral' episode here.

[jim short]

Gee Amco can you delete that last phone call please?? {bad sport}