The Garry Simkin Collection - Part 1

[Steve Holmes]

We have Mike Feisst (kiwi285) to thank for these photos appearing here. Garry Simkin, like so many keen young race goers, wasn’t a professional photographer. And like many others, Garry figured nobody would want to see his old photos, because he didn’t have the flash gear, and was just an amateur enthusiast. But in fact, the opposite is true. As he told me, "They were mostly taken on an old Voightlander camera and are obviously quite amateur, but may be of interest to others".

These photos are gold, and incredibly enjoyable to see. They tell a story, they capture in time a small slice of history. They capture the rudimentary safety standards of the period, the backgrounds, the grandstands, the flaggies, the sea of spectators lining the edges of the tracks. And fortunately for us, Mike Feisst was able to convince Garry that his old photos would be appreciated by us, which they are.

Garry has joined up as a member on The Roaring Season, so I’m hoping he’ll jump in adding captions to these photos. These days he lives in New South Wales, Australia, and his spare time is eaten up through his love of air-cooled powered racing machines (both cars and bikes), and his involvement with the Loose Fillings newsletter, which he prepares along with Graham Howard and Terry Wright.

You’ll see there are double-ups of many photos. In fact, most of the photos were doubled-up on Garrys cd. Without the luxury of a powerful zoom, many of the cars were some distance away, so he has later come back and cropped them to enlarge the cars. This has improved some of the photos, but others I prefer the originals, as they often tell the story of what is happening in the background, and to me, the background in these old shots can be as interesting as the stars on the track. Sometimes, however, I couldn’t make a decision on which to show, so have just shown both!

The photos are all from New Zealands three North Island tracks; Pukekohe, Bay Park, and Levin, during the period spanning 1969 (ish) - 1972. There are approx 200 in all, so I'll be splitting them over 3 parts.

Anyway, here it is, the Garry Simkin Collection - Part 1. Enjoy.