Yeah, I had a chat to Geoff about it today and he said it wasn't the Avis avenger. It seems like the original colour was green, so was probably a converted GL model. As far as he remembers, it always rallied in 1600 trim and has a black HM number plate that he remembers from the international rally (has an original picture of it somewhere). He thinks it was mostly grey/silver back then.
The car which Mike Courtney has ran in grey, it was built up here by Phil Ornstein with factory bits being a Rootes dealer, but never a "factory" car. Geoff knows that car well. Is there some confusion?(Not this car). Mikes was HA1565 and did do Internationals, Hellas etc. Phil had another 2 door they crashed early on.
More info to come.
No, different carOriginally Posted by Oldfart
Mike had a car which he used and another which might "one day get restored", it's that car (the 2nd) which Mike C was wondering about, not his active car
Hey guys, I have a new car for you to see if you can dig up any photos or facts about. I have located the ED Ford Falcon Spaceframe and body work raced by Robin MacDonald in the Tranzam series in the early 90's. The spaceframe was built by John Lovelady down here in Christchurch but I would like to find out if there are any moulds for the body panels laying around the country somewhere so I can make some new panel work. Any photos that you could find would be appreciated for reference if I have to start from scratch.
Cheers.
IIRC John Lovelady arranged for the molds/body panels for that car, not 100% on that though, was roof still steel? you can contact Rob @ Discount Tyres, Invercargill. Rob has plenty of pics. That car evolved from the ex Barclay? Timaru car IIRC, original body shell was sourced from Ford Australia & was supposed to have been a factory jig deal or something, interesting story about freight arrangement to NZ
there is a video on u tube of this car, search: wellington road race ashley Stichbury,it's the "Du Pont" car.
Don't agree with the commentator, Robin gave them plenty of road,
As a young fella I went with my father to wellington Street Race. Took this photo and have kept it for 27 years.
The Kieran Wills/Phil Henley Skyline
Is that Tony Marsh?
Yes, deep in thought.
Going threw my scrapbooks i found these two photos,hope they some help.
Robin was really the first guy in NZ to buy a complete Nascar motor for local sedan racing. These days everyone seems to have one, but back then, that was a big deal.
It had to be done, the life expectancy of a cast crank was fairly short, I remember hooking up the MSD on either the Coupe or this car and going to some effort to place the box where he could not access the chip from the drivers seat, next time I saw the car the box was remounted, asked why he shifted it...couldn't reach the chip!!!.... horse, water, drink..
Great story Jac! Is the 311 km/h run the sealed sprint he did where the car got airborne?
Yup, another of those occasions when I think the chip went walkabout,, I think Rob thought it was clutch slip until they saw the black marks....
Awesome photos, thanks very much. Yes the bodywork I am getting with the frame is the black one shown in the bottom photo, very much showing its age and in dire need of a lot of TLC, but seeing as this is going to take me a while to get rebuilt it will get the TLC it needs. As for the 358 Cu.In NASCAR motor, I am reliably informed it is happy and alive in Robins '32 Ford Hot Rod. Goes to show, build it well and it will last forever
Jac know what you mean about chip an boy's that fiddle. Helped a bloke out way back in early 80s with Pacific, no chip but the old 'tell tale' on rev counter, it was always around the classic 8000 bracket, then one day I was around observing a corner when after race I spot driver lean forward then slip back in seat and a few rev's and back to pits. Yep it was around 8000 again. Chat with engine man and next time the button was well taped and it was around 9500, classic.
I only remember Rob's Falcon in its original form, took these pics at one of its first outings
The way I remember it Robin did a deal with a Bronco for Stu/Nigel Barclay XR8, then he sent it to Lovelady race cars but they only ended up using the roof on Rob's new car (as in the pics). Then the ex Barclay bodyshell (possibly a Peter Beehag V8 Supercar shell) was bought by Kevin Morton (ex pre65 guy) who had a panelshop in chch fit another roof to it - what happened to it after that I don't know.
Last edited by rt6pack; 06-11-2014 at 11:08 AM. Reason: photos not workin
There is a write up on Wills / Henley skyline on site,www.v8sleuth.com.au.
It reports the car is still in NZ and is fitted with a small block chev and has been sitting for some 17 years +.
Someone may be able to copy the article onto this page.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
