Last week i was looking at a 1957 holden ute and i was telling the owner ,what dave did with the front lights when the front guards had rust in them , he would cut the guard back maybe 3 inchs and set the lights back into the guards.
Last week i was looking at a 1957 holden ute and i was telling the owner ,what dave did with the front lights when the front guards had rust in them , he would cut the guard back maybe 3 inchs and set the lights back into the guards.
Dave-I remember Phil Joyce had a brother Val who raced in C grade stock cars while Phil was in A grade.
Phil Joyce was up in the Bay of islands last week at Ron Banners funeral, Phil is looking real good and doesn't seem to age. Has a daughter in Kerikeri.
Sorry mate I didn't, thought they had contacted you.
PM me again I will try and pass through Frank again.
I am searching for old Speedway Saloon Cars and related parts to buy, preserve and save. Any condition, anything considered. P.M me please with offers or leads.
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Last edited by fhuket; 05-22-2016 at 07:38 AM.
I am searching for old Speedway Saloon Cars and related parts to buy, preserve and save. Any condition, anything considered. P.M me please with offers or leads.
That's Right Jac.
Jumbo is my Father.
He first raced a 56 Two Door Customline with Peter way back in the 70's and built and raced 5 early shaped Falcon Coupes after that. All Steel Bodies and cool looking. He sold them normally after a season or two to build another and try some new ideas. Had some great lessons from Peter and was awesome growing up in that era. I have some from Riverside and remember some good times at the Gore Motor Camp with all the people back then.
I am searching for old Speedway Saloon Cars and related parts to buy, preserve and save. Any condition, anything considered. P.M me please with offers or leads.
not many of this model Monaro were out there- most had sedans.
Is this John Haymans "Fred" ?
It is Allan Ford John, i may have some more of this car. There was another at Mount Maunganui (Riddell or Kiddell) i think.
Popey- when was this article dated, and in it did it say where the engine came from, also was it carbed or injected ?
Thats awesome Popey! Here is another from our Old Speedway Photos thread posted by 225sloper: http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...peedway-Photos
Out of interest, how did the Monaro end up on the speedway? These were desirable cars back then. They usually only became speedway cars if they got wrecked as road cars, or stolen/recovered etc.
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I think it was supplied by John Robinson (his sponsor) as a wreck and built into a saloon car by Allen Ford and Dennis Short. The motor was an injected 400 block with 350 crank.
John Hayman had the first NZ Monaro at Waikaraka.
It had been stolen, stripped and the body bulldozed flat to hide it when it was buried.
John got the body and jacked it back into shape , but rear window opening was always lower on one side.
The Chev 350 motor from Graeme Harveys Elfin 400 went into it.
Johns one was white, and I see the inside of Alans is white also.
Can anyone confirm this was the same car, though probably Johns was rhd and here Alans is lhd.
Ray Chatfield behind Alan- a very fast pedaller, then Ray Wrecker Wright.
At this point in time it looks like top runners found driving position better on the passenger side, whereas earlier no one was concerned.
Evan Watson built a HQ Monaro up from brand new panels from the GM dealership that I worked for.
It was a space framed , but was told he had to put a normal floor in....project stalled for a while.
Where have all these all cars gone...............? as if we dont know
Last edited by John McKechnie; 12-29-2016 at 11:26 PM.
Great info John, i remember the story way back when I was a kid someone either in Hamilton or Auckland building a dirt track gen1 Camaro around a early Holden(HK/HG) shell that had been either stolen or wrecked and it cause a big kerfuffle. I guess we forget these days how hard it was to obtain, and how expensive cars were back then, just to purchase New was an issue requiring overseas funds, and some of these cars that hit the dirt were barely on the show room floor, quite impressive back then. And if it was American like a Mustang or Camaro well that was just "walking on the moon" stuff.
Thanks Dale, some of this does test the memory....but I was there as a teenager around these guys.
Real hero material...John Scott, Evan Watson, John Hayman, Terry Costello,Barry McConnachie, Rod the Water Tank driver ...list goes on.......My all time favourite car was Barry McCs Mach 1 Mustang
The Camaro you are thinking of was built by the Fabulous Baker Brothers.
Twas a Vauxhall Victor FD 4 door that they shortened to look like a 2 door Camaro . They then got a local GM car salesman to say it was as Camaro.
I remember it racing, knew exactly what it was , but for me it didnt matter as it had a Chev V8 in it and they drove it well.
Would never do it now as its cheaper now to buy a Camaro than a mint Vauxhall FD Ventura 3.3
Last edited by John McKechnie; 12-30-2016 at 04:16 AM.
Thanks John, really fascinating.
Where have they all gone? Good question. Unlike old Stockcars, most of the old Saloons no longer exist. Many old Stockcars were just pushed into paddocks when they were no longer competitive, and their hefty construction meant they often survived the elements for years. But the old Saloons mostly seem to have got crushed or chopped up.
I remember as a kid in the 1980s riding my BMX bike around Palmerston North where I grew up, and it was common to see old speedway Saloons in wreckers yards. There was a Torana XU1 and a couple Minis at a place I did work experience at. Another place had an HQ Monaro coupe sitting on top of a stack of cars. I thought that might have been the old Jim Richards/Bill Dorn car, but turned out not to be the case. I'd guess it was the Monaro raced out of Palmy speedway by Gary McKelvie.
These 2 were stolen and stripped, Cowan/Black aquired and Ron built for promotion cars for guests.