It is interesting Gerald that it was not listed on the Leadfoot web site as the Custaxie - the entry actually said : "Robert Bartley - 1955 Ford Customline". However, the info board in front of it's pits clearly talked about the Custaxie and I think many of the uninitiated would have believed it was the real thing.
Robert Bartley I went to school with a boy with that name in Waiuku 1954
Probably the same bloke that used to race the TriAng years ago.
Doodling car pics instead of concentrating on the 3R's then Jim! (Like the rest of us...)Originally Posted by jim short
No rugby, girls then Frank Blackburn showed me a photo of a xk120,,, had no real luck with any of them for quite some time.
Amco you are getting there with the, 'original builder bit' and I am sure he did not try to pull wool over any eyes with new build, it has been twisted by other peoples interpretations.
The 'original' guy showed a couple of people up with first blast in an unsorted car at HD when he ran it. I believe if he did not have the bad luck to suffer the health problem, he would have still been showing just how it can go (with improvements of course)
Tribute car may be a good name for it, as the 'original guy' sure needs some tributes for what he has done over the years.
I personally like the look of it and it is out there. Seen worse replicas-tribute cars around.
Whats up with the brakes on cus2, with all the time and money put into new brakes all round etc, you would think it would be good to go. Does any one know whats up with them.
Last edited by CUSTAXIE50; 04-03-2013 at 02:45 AM.
Actually ERC, Jim was right into the 3 R's........rugby, racing and um, r................!
No.......just kidding. He was too dam busy driving bloody great International logging trucks to be into that sort of thing.
GD66......what the heck was the 'Triang'........though it was some sort of pedal car made in England for rich kids.
I believe it was a Triumph powered Anglia Gerald. Didn't Robert Bartley also race a V8 MkIII Cortina in the early '70s? I have a feeling he may have shared the car with speedway racer, and current Palmerston North speedway promoter Bruce Robertson?
IIRC Bartleys MK3 Cortina was 351c powered, saw it at Wigram once.
If I really wanted to know about the current state of the Custaxi Tribute car I would visit or ring Robert Bartley, nothing like info from the source rather than 2nd hand info from spectators.
Well we might have had a chat to him and his crew if they had not been so determined to 'muddy the water' at Leadfoot.
Perhaps Jac Mac you would like to ring him and see what sort of reception you get. However you do say that..... 'IF I was wanting to know anything about the Custaxie'....... you would follow that course, so apparently you don't want to know..
As I said on a previous post, all this bull-shit should never have happened. [post 20]
Last edited by AMCO72; 04-03-2013 at 07:00 AM.
Hi there AMCO72,i did talk to Robert Bartley when he had the car at Manfeild sometime back, as i have said before the only thing up at that time was the diff and getting the front end to work.I have talked to the workshop in the past that has done all this work and did go over to have a look at the car.I look at it this way most on here have done a lot of racing and may still be, my thinking was one of you may know whats up with this car. Sometimes after talking to someone you can get a feeling about them and where they are coming from.
Hi Rod, got to agree with you there. I wasn't one of the fortunate ones to witness the original car doing battle as I was a bit young, but boy did I hear the stories. There needed to be a custaxie 2 and who better to do it than the man himself. Knowing Robbie and his absolute enthusiasim for motorsport I have no doubt that he and his team would have had lengthy discussions on just how close to the original car the replacement could practicably be and when you consider the gear some of his later rides had I think he was in the end pretty reserved with what they produced. I have witnessed Robbie in full song and you cant tell me that he didn't drive the pants off that original car and the brakes and tyres were ok back then after all you cant expect a car of that era to foot it with a tanzam!! The charisma and the value of the Custaxie2 are as it was built by Robbie and it is a mistake of the new owner to change it and I hope he realises that and puts it back to how Robbie and his team built it! After all, the chocolate fish wont taste any different!!!
Bringing this Custaxie thing over from Leadfoot.
Why are you so concerned that the wheels aren't 15" Dale? Its not a Muscle Car contender, I don't think!!!!!!! They were about 15" WIDE if not in diameter. It actually changed the whole LOOK of the car, to give it a much more aggressive stance.
NOW.............
I have in my possession a pit information board that was displayed with the Custaxie 2 when it raced at Teretonga in February 2011, when it was still owned by Robbie. Angus actually drove the car for Robbie for a few races, and the pair of them, plus the mechanics spent much time frigging around with the brakes and front end to try and get it to handle and stop.
At the end of racing for the weekend we were just cleaning up, as you did, when I discovered this board in the rubbish. Being me, I decided that I would take it with me, for no reason at all, except that I liked it and the 'history' of the car displayed. The Custaxie 2 and its crew had long gone so I thought ,well one day I might meet up with the car again and give it back. This hasn't happened and I still have it.
It is headed up.........1966 Custaxie A truly legendary car......
It makes interesting reading and the details were supplied by someone close to the car.
What I would like to do is photogragh it and post it on the roaring season. It might open a few eyes!!!!!!!
Mind you, it might have been put into the rubbish for a reason, as it is inaccurate to say the least........or IS it ???????????????
Would be interesting to compare it with the new board to see if there are any differences!
Am going to have to upgrade my computer skills considerably to do this.........but one day.
Last edited by AMCO72; 04-04-2013 at 12:21 AM.
Why was in put in the rubbish, as you have seen it , do you personally think?.
An alternative would have been to paint over it, change it, make sure it is removed.
Difference is like putting in a fire and putting out for removal.
Still, good souvineer
Last edited by John McKechnie; 04-04-2013 at 03:21 AM.
John, I would have no idea. The car must have been on display somewhere during the 40th Rally of New Zealand, 6-9 May 2010. It has this logo at the top of the board.
Now this whole thing COULD have been written by some media/publicity person for the event, but even so would have got details from someone close to the car. Instead of having another one done, Robbie and Co may have just decided to use this one, for the SFOS, then discarded it at Teretonga when it was all over.
The wheels are 16 inch and 11 inch wide and made in the south island.
My understanding is that when the Custaxie ran in period it had Jaguar E Type disc brakes. When I saw the Custaxie 2 at Leadfoot I'm pretty sure it had Wilwood six pots on the front.
Well he sure should be able to stop now, what with the brakes and those tyres. Thus begins the slow inexorable 'improvement' of the basic car, which turns it into something that it isn't, and indeed wasn't.!!!!!!!! But that is the NZ way. I will guarantee that if Robbie had kept it, there would have been improvements along the way. And who says he cant? It is an NZ special, so anything goes, and it doesn't have to fall in line with the tough HMC rules for example.
As George said, Robbie was pretty conservative with the rebuild to what he COULD have done.
I frankly don't care one way or another. The car is out there, we all know it is not QUITE what it used to be, so what the general unwashed public see and believe is their problem.
Taken from a aussie mag.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote