The Garry Simkin Collection - Part 3

[Steve Holmes]

I didn't know that. When were the gearboxes swapped? Did Riley do this? I think they were both purchased at almost the same time by the Bowdens.

[Steve Holmes]

OK, winding things down, here is the next batch:

[Steve Holmes]

[Steve Holmes]

I'm quite fascinated by the Chevy coupe. Can someone tell me whose this is, and what powers it? Is it still Chevy 6 powered, or was a small block V8 dropped in?

[Steve Holmes]

[Steve Holmes]

[tonttu]

The rally photos I think are:
post #25
1971 Heatway #20 Escort TC Marshall/McWatt 3rd
1971 Heatway #32 1800 "Land Crab" Errol Inward/Morrie Wear
post #27
1972 Heatway #43 Marina Teagle/Harris 52nd (note GC2 was Richards/Jim Carney and GC3 was the Cowan/Scott Clubman that won)
1971 Heatway #5 Triumph 2.5PI Johns/Rowan 9th
post #28
1971 Heatway #4 Lotus Cortina Hodson/Mitchell 1st
1971 Heatway Fiat 124 Dinh/Chappell 11th
1971 Heatway #8 Cooper S Cowan/Johnson
Post 42
1971 Heatway #15 BMW 2002Ti Gauzere/Pommelet 4th
Post 44
1971 Heatway #52 Toyota CorollaTaylor/Foulkes 7th
1973 Heatway #21 Capri 3L Woolf/Woolf
Post 45
1971 Heatway #2 BMZ 2002Ti Hislop/Langley 8th
Post 46
1971 Heatway #15 Datsun 1600 Johnson/Chivas 5th

[david5]

I didn't know that. When were the gearboxes swapped? Did Riley do this? I think they were both purchased at almost the same time by the Bowdens.

In the AMC article on the Total car, Glen Walsmley, the chap who the Bowdens purchased the car from, is quoted as saying that Reilly had swapped the Top loader & T-10 over when he owned both cars & they had stayed that way. As you say Bowdens purchased both cars at around the same time & were able to confirm this & swap them back. No reason was given for the original swap.

[Rod Grimwood]

Steve ,Re post #44. Remember a name Lister i think in a Chev coupe back then but not sure. Sure i saw this car at Nongataha Hillclimb back in early 70s

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Rod, the car looks familiar, I wonder if another photo of it was posted on here at some stage.

[Steve Holmes]

In the AMC article on the Total car, Glen Walsmley, the chap who the Bowdens purchased the car from, is quoted as saying that Reilly had swapped the Top loader & T-10 over when he owned both cars & they had stayed that way. As you say Bowdens purchased both cars at around the same time & were able to confirm this & swap them back. No reason was given for the original swap.

It was probably something really simple, like the one in the Fahey car was broken. Or maybe he just preferred the one in the Geoghegan car. David Bowden also bought the Red Dawson Mustang, although this has since returned to NZ.

[garry simkin]

Driving the Escort whilst Gary rode on the bonnet is Don McIntyre, father of "Johnny Mac''.
Garry Simkin

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Garry, great info!

[Carlo]

Think that you will find that it was Judy Hanbury who drove and Mary Carney was the co-driver

[garry simkin]

The mini # 53 in post 42 and the Chev coupe were at a sprint near Taupo, on the road to Acacia Bay if memory serves me right, in the early 1970s. The red Hillman Imp is driven here by Gary Deakin who later raced the Heron TC sportscar.

[Rascal]

The Green 222 mustang in the near to top pic is the John Riley car. this had Previously been the Paul Fahey car & may have been an X mark Donahue trans am car.
some were built in Spartenburg SC, by Bud Moore enginnering but this one, if i recall was a Shelby or car craft Build.
After Riley, the car was driven by John Armstrong, dunedin , then later changing hands To Rod McElrea ,ashburton.
I Rebuilt the Body work For Rod on a couple of occassions & re-finished the car , Firstly To Duckhams yellow & blue -white colours about 1973-4 .
later , while i was away in Europe ; it was painted Orange by another guy .
then, in about 1976, after returning to NZ, i fitted Cologne style Flares & painted it White with blue stripes over the top.

An offer to me , by Rod ; in about mid 1974, to drive a few laps in the car on a test day at levels was Gratefully accepted and often comes to mind as having been quite an experience for a 19 yr old.

[Rod Grimwood]

Garry, the grass track photos, were they behind the milk plant at Kerepahi on the Hauraki Plains. That was a load of laughs.

[garry simkin]

No Rod, all those pics were taken in the Hawkes Bay area. LF 84 suspects the blue Fiat 124 is Mike Langley and taken at a Dannevirke shingle hill climb.

[bob homewood]

I am not exactly sure of the Mini ,but from memory the Chev Coupe was a chap by the name of G. Brown from Kinleith
The Mini is quite possibly Murray Barrett in a 1299 cc Cooper S ,that was the number he carried at a Bay Park Meeting a few weeks later

The mini # 53 in post 42 and the Chev coupe were at a sprint near Taupo, on the road to Acacia Bay if memory serves me right, in the early 1970s. The red Hillman Imp is driven here by Gary Deakin who later raced the Heron TC sportscar.

[TonyG]

Is this the car you are referring to ?

The Green 222 mustang
After Riley, the car was owned & driven John Armstrong [dunedin] , then later changing hands To Rod McElrea [ashburton].
I Rebuilt the Body work For Rod on several occassions & re-finished the car , Firstly To Duckhams colours about 1974 , later in 1975, while i was away in Europe ; it was painted Orange , then in about 1976, after returning to NZ, we fitted Cologne Flares & painted it White with blue stripes over the top.



I am told The car is now back in " as driven by paul Fahey " livery & part of a Valuable collection " across the Ditch". [Bowdens ??]