The Bruce Wells Collection - Catalina Park - Part 1

[Steve Holmes]

Catalina Park was a pretty little circuit that wound its way through the Blue Mountains, in Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. Long since closed, Catalina Park once held races for both cars and motorbikes. It does still exist, though in fairly poor shape, and serves better purpose as a walking track.

Bruce Wells was a regular visitor to Catalina Park, and his photo collection includes several events that span from 1963 - 1965. I've split the Catalina collection so it'll appear as two parts, in chronological order.

Bruce has captioned a small number of the photos, and others I'm able to caption myself, but any help filling in any of the details would be appreciated from you guys.

So here goes.

[Steve Holmes]

Kicking off here with a race meeting from January 1963. First up are Lotus propelled Pete Geoghegan (car #1) and Frank Gardner. Bob Jane is in the Jaguar E Type. Next up is Bruce Leer, with Norm Beechey rounding off the post in his Impala.

[Steve Holmes]

Here we've got Beechey again in the Impala, having whacked either another car, or a piece of the Catalina Park armco. Greg Cusack is driving the Lotus 23 in the second photo. Jane appears again, this time in his multiple ATCC winning Jaguar. Last shot has John Evans in the MG.

[Dale Harvey]

Here we've got Beechey again in the Impala, having whacked either another car, or a piece of the Catalina Park armco. Greg Cusack is driving the Lotus 23 in the second photo. Jane appears again, this time in his multiple ATCC winning Jaguar. Last shot has John Evans in the MG.

The second shot here shows Greg Cusack in an Elfin Mallala not a Lotus 23.
Dale.

[Steve Holmes]

Last batch from this event. First up is John Martin in the Lola, followed by a couple of Frank Matich shots, in Elfin and Lotus. Last is a beautiful shot capturing a trio of Holdens. Can anyone ID these cars?

[Steve Holmes]

Is that Frank Matich driving the Brabham?

[Steve Holmes]

Now the 3-wheeling Humpy (#119) I believe to be Warren Weldon. The FX giving chase to Weldon is probably the Bo Seton car. The Customline is the Anderson car. The 3-wheeling Morris Cooper is that of Brian Foley, part of the Neptune Racing Team.

[Steve Holmes]

Warren Weldon and John Hall shown here again in their FX Holdens. The little special with its hood up, I believe, is the Buckle. Kevin Walters is named as the driver here, but there were several people who raced this car. Can anyone ID the little special at the end of this post?

[Ellis]

Great shots of the Humpies and others.
Thanks
Ellis

[EH S4]

#3 is Barry Seton and the FE #115 is Bruce McPhee.

[Steve Holmes]

OK, leaping forward now to August 1964. Only 7 shots from this event. Any help with identifying these pics would be appreciated.

[EH S4]

Car 33 was entered by Sportscar Spares and would likely be J Evans or N Anderson.
Car 41 is the So Cal Mark 11 driven by F Walters
Car 19 is the I.R.M Holden driven by I Fergusson
car 84 is K Rowe from the Hygrade Service Station

[Steve Holmes]

The following several photos are from the November 1964 event. Again, help to ID cars and drivers would be appreciated. Now I am pretty sure the #27 Humpy is that of Des West, and I think the #46 machine might be that of John Hall, but any help with the others would be great.

[EH S4]

is it possible Car 15 is Les Howard in a Lotus 23 and car 13 the Killara Motor garage Lynx with Bob Holden at the wheel in the 100 Guineas scratch race?
FX Holden car 10 is Midge Bosworth entered by Peter Williamson.
FJ Holden 46 is J Hall.
FX Holden 83 is Graham Ryan with Fred Morgan in FE Holden number 40 looking for a way past. This car was flat towed to Catalina, which was not uncommon in that era. However, it was towed by his S4 which placed second in class and second outright in the 1963 Armstrong 500.

[Steve Holmes]

OK, here we have a couple of shots of Pete Geoghegan in his Lotus Cortina, getting the hurry-up from Foley. The first of these is just beautiful! Bob Janes Lotus Cortina also features here, as does Terry Quartleys VW Beetle.

[Steve Holmes]

Glad you're enjoying them Ellis. OK, continuing, more Humpy shots, and another of the Foley Cooper, 3-wheeling as always.

[Munty]

Hi Steve, I actually raced at what I think was the last ever race meeting at Catalina Park in my uncles 38 Ford special. It was a vintage/historic regularity race meeting. Track was in pretty bad condition but it would have been awesome back in the day especially with all the armco etc lining the track.

[Steve Holmes]

Hi Steve, I actually raced at what I think was the last ever race meeting at Catalina Park in my uncles 38 Ford special. It was a vintage/historic regularity race meeting. Track was in pretty bad condition but it would have been awesome back in the day especially with all the armco etc lining the track.

Wow, thats awesome Evan! The track looks a heap of fun. Real nice flowing track with lots of undulation. Can you give more info on your uncles 38 Ford special?

[Steve Holmes]

[Dale Harvey]

The last two shots here show Leo Geoghegan in the Lotus and Bob Holden (#13) in the Lynx Peugoet S/C. This car was later driven by Colin Bond.
Dale.