RA Vanguard

[Nodiff]

Most impressed by the amazing response of period photos of the Morarri. For a car that only ran two seasons there is a wealth of pics of the vehicle. I am hoping that the same can be said for the RA Vanguard, I am on the last legs of a major rebuild and hope to have it back on the track this year (all going well) I did have it on display at Hampton and gained a lot of interesting feedback, however as best I can tell the car never ran in the North Island, so would be keen to hear the memories, anecdotes and see the pics of the "mainlanders" who witnessed its racing from 1950 through to 1961

[Trakshots]

Do you have any piks?

[Nodiff]

I do have some of it when raced by Geoff Mardon and also some of it in its present state, have attached (I hope)
I see only the one from Hampton has come through, I will try to resize some of my others and post

[Nodiff]

Some earlier photos with Les Moore, Geoff Mardon; Bottom photo shows Hec Green & Jack Brewer, date unknown but probably 1958 under Mardons ownership as by now car painted white

[David McKinney]

Did Mardon ever own the car? My understanding was that it was still owned by Jack Brewer when GM raced it. Or perhaps it was for his first drive, then he bought it.

Any thoughts?

[Nodiff]

Thanks David
Interesting, I had never really questioned his ownership, the car certainly changed during the time that he used (owned) it. It appeared with the wire wheels in place of the earlier troublesome steel arrangements, it also change colour about the same time from its original orange (tractor paint obtained free from George Begg according to Jack Brewer) to white. There is a pic of the '58 Dunedin road race in the latest Classic Driver which shows Mardon the car on the track and mention there is made of its white colour. I would certainly be keen to establish the ownership and time lines

[David McKinney]

I'm basing my belief on a report of the June 1957 Southbridge race, which said the car was owned by Grenley Engineering, in which Hec Green had sold his shares, so the company was wholly owned by Brewer

As I said, the ownership could have been transferred at a later date

Wasn't it a collapsed wheel that put Mardon out of that Dunedin race? And something similar that caused Les Moore's fatal accident in 1960?

[Nodiff]

Thanks David
Certainly a front end failure at Dunedin ('59?), the photo I have of the car on the towtruck would indicate a suspension failure rather than a wheel collapse, by now it was on the wire wheels. regarding 1960, Jack told me that Les had the rear suspension on the car altered to better suit his driving style, Jack said that he had advised him to leave it alone but puts that alteration down as the cause of the accident. Of course nobody now will ever know.

[Nodiff]

On reflection I suspect that this pic may be Waimate

[Carlo]

No buildings like that at Saltwater Creek !

[AMCO72]

I suppose everyone at the Roycroft Trophy meeting had a look at the front suspension set up on the car. You would have to do a lot of lateral thinking to come up with that.....bungee cords and all. I see the current owner has put some sort of adjustment for the ride height in place, which I dont think it had before, or maybe it is just to be able to stretch the bungees over the pulleys.

[Nodiff]

Yes an ingenious arrangement, I fitted the adjustable anchor points as needless to say I cant find anyone with experience in this form of suspension and have been unable to locate any information on the stretch rates and characteristics of "rubber bands" in this sort of application.
The adjustments will enable me to set up ride height and rebound rates. Will be interesting to see just how they work once the car is back on the track. And yes stretching the rubber bands over the pulleys would otherwise have been almost impossible.