The Bruce Wells Collection - Catalina Park - Part 2

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
.....Any help to ID the Lotus 7 and Humpy drivers?

Attachment 6842

Attachment 6843

Ian Brown in the Super Seven, I'd forgotten him altogether until I needed to identify who was in the fourth car in the pic I posted previously!

Driving the Elfin Clubman is Ray Cary, brother of the late Bruce Cary.

[Kenz]

P

Dale, just going back through Bruce Wells incredibly great photos and noticed your comment on the Geoghegans Cortinas.
May I beg to differ, but there were actually THREE Cortinas raced by them, and not two.
The third was a four door Cortina GT raced late 1963, early 1964 and mainly driven by Leo.
I don't know what happened to it, it just seemed to disappear. Any clues?

Terry,
The original black 4 door Geoghegan Cortina was written off at Oran Park in testing prior to the Lakeside ATCC. All the bits apparently migrated rather hurriedly into the 2 door ATCC winner.
Re their Lotus Cortina, this car seemed to make a habit of inverting. After George Garth's custody, the car passed to Queenslander Frank Melit, who inverted it twice, firstly over the back at Lowood, then at Lakeside; the latter crash nearly killed him and I don't recall his ever racing again. He's still alive and I have a link to him through his nephew, who's an employee of mine.
Ken.

[Kenz]

Whether or not it's the same Studebaker I don't know, but it is Warren Weldon. In one shot he is holding an early lead over eventual winner Max Volkers in a Cortina GT (Series Production race) while in the other he's falling back into the clutches of David Frazer's Renault Gordini.

And it is Bruce Stewart's car inverted in the Tunnel after blowing a rear tyre.

Ray,
I'll grant it's Max in #13 (the driver's Body English confirms that) but I have doubts that it's a Series Prod GT. Check the Lotus bumperettes and if you blow it up a bit, it looks like a dark colourd infill side flash visible through the Stude's glass.
More likely it's his imp Prod (or J) Lotus that followed on from his white 4 door J GT. Your verdict, please?
Ken.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Kenz
Terry,
The original black 4 door Geoghegan Cortina was written off at Oran Park in testing prior to the Lakeside ATCC. All the bits apparently migrated rather hurriedly into the 2 door ATCC winner.
Re their Lotus Cortina, this car seemed to make a habit of inverting. After George Garth's custody, the car passed to Queenslander Frank Melit, who inverted it twice, firstly over the back at Lowood, then at Lakeside; the latter crash nearly killed him and I don't recall his ever racing again. He's still alive and I have a link to him through his nephew, who's an employee of mine.
Ken.

George bought the GT when the Lotus came on the scene, Frank Melit bought the Lotus Cortina direct from the Geoghegans.

And you're right about it inverting itself, its one notable characteristic!

[Ray Bell]

Kenz, you are so right about that Volkers Lotus Cortina...




.

[Dale Harvey]

To the best of my knowledge George still has the Cortina GT.
Dale.

[Kenz]

Ian Brown in the Super Seven, I'd forgotten him altogether until I needed to identify who was in the fourth car in the pic I posted previously!

Driving the Elfin Clubman is Ray Cary, brother of the late Bruce Cary.

Ray,
The Elfin, from the tape around the nose cone, looks like the ex-Bill Gates (& Frank Matich) car?

[Ray Bell]

To be honest, Kenz, I wasn't close enough to that kind of car at that time to know that much about them...