Gee Amco can you delete that last phone call please?? {bad sport}
Gee Amco can you delete that last phone call please?? {bad sport}
Hi Roger, yes that was the PD Leuch we learned to know and love. He was born in England ,his father was a German Swiss the poms brought over before the war because he had invented multi coloured copying when previously one could only do blue prints. They realised that they were going to need a lot of maps. His mother was a Duncan from the East coast or the North Island. He was sent to Germany for some of his schooling and was fluent German and had working vocab in some others. Hench his return to Europe when his health began to fade. Now I have got so many threads to reply to I dont know where to go next
Perhaps I could help with the story of the Lister. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a fake, but it wasn't the Masten Gregory Spa winner, as claimed. That was the Ecurie Ecosse car, BL104, reg 341SG, and was written off at the British GP meeting in July 1958
The same year Ecosse ran the 'Monzanapolis' single-seater, BHL109. This was rebuilt as a sportscar, reg RSF301, and run by the team in early 1959 races until May when, what do you know, Gregory wrote it off at Silverstone
As a replacement the team used the undamaged from frame from BHL104 and the undamaged rear of BHL109 to build another sportscar, which was raced for the rest of the year. It was then sold to Phil Scragg, who ran it with modified Monzanapolis body and cycle-type guards, and was unbeatable in the sportscar class of British hillclimbs (reg KTU254)
It then passed through various hands until the 'historic racing' era, when Gordon Chapman restored it to Monzanapolis single-seater form, using a new chassis, and raced it from 1978. This car is currently campaigned by Rod Jolley
The old BHL104/109 chassis was subsequently used by John Pearson to "rebuild" the 1958 Spa winner, 341SG, which is the car Paul Leuch raced. I believe it's now back with the Pearsons in the UK
So here's the next bit, the Mk2 of Metropolitan Cranes. Once again it was built out of an insurance company write off. My 120 FHC was robbed of the 150S straight port head, manifolds and carbs and the CR gear box. Spears made up a set of 10.5 comp pistons and Ken Lawrence on the same premises ground up some hot cams for it. And thats the total engine mods, standard crank rods and valves. As I have said elsewhere it was not my favorite car by any means. After Millen bought it,it was painted maroon after being fitted with MK1 escort flares and wider American racing wheels. He then proceeded to over rev it and tossed a rod and in typical Millen style did not take the trouble to fix it properly and bunged in a stock 8:1 short block. He could not believe how much power that cost him. I don't remember it ever going back to blue, but by that time it was a sad old racer and I had lost interest in it. It passed through a few owners { Classic Driver has a full list} and ended up with Clive Gott who turned it into a sports sedan, moved the engine back, fiber glass one piece front section, you know the sort of thing. By this time anyone still referring to it as the car I raced would have to be in cloud cuckoo land! Now the modern part ,the present owner crushed what was left of it ,had a mate down here purchase a nice clean 2.4 body shell, engaged Mike O' Neil of Wire Wheel Services to do the panel and paint, and myself to do the mechanical work. Clive had retained the motor and gearbox for his Lister project so I sold M John a motor I had built for myself, built new inlet manifolds and a CR Moss box. The brakes were off a 420 saloon with Falcon vented discs. It went to Auckland for Les Parkinson to complete. At this point it was probably a schedule K car, later I was informed by the owner that it had been fitted with a Toyota 5 speed and Willwood calipers and rotors. It is now A T&C car is it not. Which makes it no different from my disgustingly new car or the one I have just built for Mike Laney. Amco you say things have changed, they have not, K is still K and T&C is still T&C. The last time I had a competition licence was in 93 and the regs in that year book are the same as this years. It is not up to MSNZ to decide where my car can run it is a T&C legal car
Hi David interesting thought on the so called 341SG thing. It is my understanding that Paul bought the car from John Harper not John Pearson. It was certainly Harper we visited at his Blockley premises in regard to another dodgy Lister, the Costin bodied one we tried to campaign in Europe. When I repaired the 341 SG thing the only part I could find that could have come from a Lister were some parts of the left front corner which had a different style of welding and BSF bolts while the rest of the car was UNF.
Dave.....I should have known better than to try and tell you what's what in NZ motoracing. Please accept my sincere apologies, and best wishes for a successful debut with the 'new' MKII. I hope I can see and hear it running one day.
Regards Gerald.
Harper and Pearson were in cahoots with a lot of the Listers that "appeared" in the 1970sOriginally Posted by Dave Silcock
I'd forgotten about the Costin car - that too has a Pearson history
Strange coincidence. While pursuing another "nostalgia" interest of mine today, reading a recent book about Otiwhiti Station, up the Turakina Valley in Rangitikei, run by people named Duncan, I came across a picture of a memorial to a Kate Leuch-Duncan - PD's mother. Also wedding photo of her and Werner Leuch on the homestead lawn. One of those annoying books that doesn't have an index so I'll have to read carefully to see if the wayward son rates a mention.
Stu
Continuing the Paul Leuch theme on this, the Dave Silcock Jaguar thread. If you look at page 59, of the october 2011 issue of 'Classic and Sports Car' you will see a full page ad for 'Autoglym', a product that JD Classics obviously use on their cars. Behind the LeMans Jaguar you can catch a glimpse of 341SG....the ex Masten Gregory/Paul Leuch car, or a reconstruction/restoration/replica of that car. Mmmmm....has had a chequered history, thats for sure. Was bloody gorgeous, and I would have it in a flash....to hell with the history, and I wouldn't have any competition from my old mate Jim, because he cant fit into it...LoL....
Im with you on that one Amco, absolutely gorgeous and what a buzz to drive! It was also very fast,
at one stage at the Whittakers Manfield meeting it was the fastest car of the day late Porsches, and whatever not withstanding. I was staying with the Leuchs when the cars were burnt and PD near killed us both on trip to the factory in his Range Rover. He burst into the factory in spite of the brigade warning him not to. The damage was horrific, a DB4 GT cylinder head was also lost, it was fortunate that the body and one wheel were stored elsewhere. Both cars were shipped to me for rebuilding the prioitry being the Lister. We had to make new wheels as Lynx were not making anmore for six months. In the end we rebuilt it in six months but the Connaught was a different beast and the magnesium final drive was no more. It was sold back to Harper for him to repair. Which is why I was left with two sets of Dunlop knock on peg drive wheels. Needless to say they are now on my Mk 2 which I have sent Steve some phots of to post on here as you are so keen to see it I'm flattered.
Thats really interesting Stu, PD always told me that his father in law only bought land with trees on it as he reckoned if it would grow trees it would grow anything. In true pioneering fashion he then cut them down and grew grass. He always refered to his father as Walter prhaps an Anglicised version of Werner. He had tales of he and his mother flying across the Pacific in the flying boats and stopping each night at a smart hotels on thier trips home to NZ.
Dave, when you look at the picture of the remains of the car after the fire, it is surprising that the tappet covers etc survived the heat, though you cant see the other side where the webers would have been to see what was left of them. What do you do with a chassis like that after it has been 'cooked'.
Go and stand in the corner Amco.......CAM covers please!!!!!!!
Hey Stu I just remembered that PD some times paid me from the Mangpapa Land Co account. This farm was still owned by his mother who resided in Switzerland,although PD said he had 2% holding in it. It was accessed from Taihape and must have quite large as at one stage he did not have the use of the EFI truck which could take 2 cars and was an artic as it was carting wool to Wanganui all week!
The heat generated was quite strange, the wheels melted because of the tyres, the Webers did not melt but only one was useable, ended up on my sons Mini Cooper[ Rep of course]. On the Connaught the heat from the spark plug wires melted the cam cover and the front bearing cap. That head is now on M Johns MK2. The Chassis is only mild steel so pretty hard to stuff up as was proved when PD tipped it end for end at the last, or one of the last Bay Park meetings without damage to the structure. I was quite pleased as it landed entirely one one of our new wheels and we could not detect any run out. So then myself and Auto Restorations had to rebuild it allover again.
It's becoming clear that the Lister story quite rightly belongs in this thread....'The Dave Silcock Jaguars', as you seem to have had a hand in it's rebuilding a number of times. I described Paul Leuch's driving style earlier as 'cavalier', not being unkind. He was a bit like a continental playboy with tons of money that he could willy-nilly throw at cars in the event of an 'accident', that happened after some rather over zealous driving. You obviously knew him as well as anyone here in NZ, but he came across to the rest of us as a rather arrogant chap, maybe because of his breeding. You on the other hand says he was the Paul that we grew to know and love, so clearly he was a complex character. I would have killed him for that car!!!!
Hi Dave when can we see a photo of blue thunder???
I'm afraid posting photos on here has defeated me, can anyone over 60 do it?
I'm afraid to say the love bit was sarcasm although he could be very charming. I had two trips to UK and Europe with him. He went first class and I had to pay to up grade myself to business so he did not feel guilty, but I declined the third trip enough was enough.
Sure-as-hell not me mate, and I am over 70. I did manage to get a picture of FF52, the last 3.8 to be imported to NZ, on here but it took about 5 hours one night when I had nothing better to do. I'm afraid us old fellas, bought up with pencils and paper, just seem to get into a panic when asked to do these things, but there are some smart-alecy 'oldish' guys that seem to manage it. Maybe they get their 4 year old grandchildren to help!! Frankly, the computer does NOT talk my language.
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