Yeah, thats right Nick, he was quoted as saying the 396 big block produced 520 horses. Does seem a bit of a coincidence doesn't it.
Yeah, thats right Nick, he was quoted as saying the 396 big block produced 520 horses. Does seem a bit of a coincidence doesn't it.
Nick-
You had a question about the 520 horsepower from a 396 and I can tell you that it was very easy to exceed that with just a single Holley and if you used a dual setup you can expect close to 700!
Ron Ogilvie
(watching from the sidelines)
Hi Ron nice to hear from you
They are impressive numbers for the 396, would that be running the L89 spec alloy heads? It would also be interesting to know what compression ratio they were capable of running. I also imagine the drivetrains of the day struggled to handle that kind of output.
Those TRANSAM 302 engines the more I read up on them sound like an absolute weapon, I'm surprised Terry didn't at least try one at some stage, I would have thought they would have suited the Australian race tracks quiet well.
Something else I've wanted to ask you to Ron, was Bill Tomas Race Cars just a performance and fabrication business or did it actually go racing with its own race teams?
To get the higher HP you must use aftermarket (Mondello; Dart; etc) heads that are marched to the camshaft and intake. People spend hours and hours trying new ideas and making sure that all passages are smooth have a perfect transition from intake to head. The Pro stock boys today are getting 1200 HP from 500 cu in engines.Originally Posted by nick_tassie
BTRC was a performance/fabrication shop that also produced the Cheetah race car. When the Nickey deal came along we doubled the size of the shop just to accommodate the parts and performance business that came with the Nickey name. We were also the center for General Motors performance cars that were given to writers so the could do stories on the various different cars before the were available in the dealers. We also prepared the GM cars for the Mobil Gar Economy run and schooled the drivers in how to drive and get the best gas mileage available.I also was part of a team that sawed a 1960 Corvair in half and mounted it on wheels so it could be taken into a courtroom.
But to answer your question we prepped cars for other people. Bill Thomas had his name on only a few cars including the one that Jim Baker & I raced for 2 years.
Ron
Ah the Convair story, I was reading about that recently in the story of the development of the Camaro, it is very interesting how the market of a car that was selling very well crashed so badly after the safety issues, it was related to the rear suspension and vehicle roll overs from memory.
Speaking of the Nickey deal, another question that was raised at one point about Uncle Terrys race car is would it be concidered as a "Nickey Car". Although we now know it wasn't an orginal big block car, it was purchased from Nickey Chevrolet and it did get the Bill Thomas upgrades all be with the 396 and not the 427. Its a question that I would be interested in your thoughts, I imagine there were other examples of customer road cars built by BTRC, are these considered "Nickey Cars".
It would be great to hear more about your racing story as well at some point.
Nick
You would have to ask Stefano Bimbi (aka Nickey Chicago) about that...............He is the only person that can determine if a car was purchased as a Nickey car or from BTRC directly.
Hi Nick,
We were going through the Bob Jane photo 'Vault' and found these photo's of the Terry Allan Camaro.
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Last edited by BJRH; 10-13-2012 at 01:10 AM.
Wow, those are amazing!
Great photo's BJRH, cheers for sharing them. Uncle Terry certainly had the big chev cranked up in the second picture, the left rear looks like its just hanging on. From reading some of the old RCN race articles there was a fair bit of picture 3 going on in the early days (67) when the car was red with the Z28 stripes.
It would be interesting to ask Bob if he can recall racing against Terry and the Camaro
Boy that thing must have been a handful with that big block motor and those skinny wheels he was forced to run the first couple of years. Note the photo in the middle, where he is battling Jim McKeown's Cortina. The Cortina looks like its tyres are as wide as those on the Camaro!
Nick, you have Gerard Richards to thank for this. This is a Jack Inwood photo, from Gerards own personal collection which he has kindly scanned and emailed to me for posting here. Its the first colour photo I've seen of the car in blue. I have to say it looks stunning!
Wow Gerard thank you very much for going to the trouble of doing this, what an outstanding shot..... I was quietly hoping to one day see a colour photo of the car in the blue spec and I agree with you Steve it does look awesome. This has settled my thoughts on how we might do the tribute car.
Am I right in saying this is at Bay Park NZ, the wooden fencing seems familiar, also guessing 69 as the year? The Terry Marshall photo has the big front spoiler fitted and running No 1, the flares are also bigger in that photo.
Steve if you were ever going to do one of your amazing paintings of this car, thats the shot.
Nick, that appears to be from Terrys first NZ visit, at Easter 1970. The Terry Marshall black and white photo shown earlier in this thread is from his second visit, at the big Labour Weekend event in October 1970 when the car had mechanical failure very early in the weekend. And yep, you're correct, its Bay Park, exiting the hairpin, which was the only right hand turn on the track. That was a popular spot for photographers, as the cars would tend get sideways exiting.
My pleasure Nick, I recall reading this thread earlier and hearing that there had been no sighted image of your fathers Camaro, in blue. Just got ascanner recently, so pleased to help. It is great "Jack Inwood" image and I can imagine sighting it, has been the decider for you recreate your replica in the same colours!
Cool shot here from the Bob Jane Racing Heritage of Terry Allan being chased by Jim McKeown's Porsche. Allan would have sold the Camaro not long after this photo was taken.
Nice one Steve, I'm trying to work out where this is, initially I thought it may have been the Touring Car round at Symmons Plains in 71 where the Camaro had starter motor and overheating problems. Thought it might be taken from what is now the the final corner, but the crowd in the background aren't in a normal viewing spot at least that I've ever seen before and seem to be looking the other way (backs to this part of the race track). Ideas anyone?Cool shot here from the Bob Jane Racing Heritage of Terry Allan being chased by Jim McKeown's Porsche. Allan would have sold the Camaro not long after this photo was taken.
Looks like Calder ,Spectators on end of back straight ,cars going into Tin Shed....If so the space behind spectators is now covered in house roof lines ..Thats progress for ya
Cheers
Lynds
Yep, I agree with you Lynds, I'd say Calder. I think its the short straight section just prior to the final corner, before sweeping back on to the front straight. Not sure if this pic is from the same event, but I think this might be from the same section of track, as Bryan Thomson chases Jim McKeown and Brian Foley.
I found this fantastic colour photo of the Camaro in the blue spec on an Adelaide Raceway Facebook page tonight.
Nick- Grady Thomson raced my Monaro with Terrys Camaro at Baypark 1970 , and I was there and remember the car.
I got some excellent pics of it from Bruce McLaren Trust. While going through the folder of pics, I know there were a lot of unpublished pics .There are probably some of Terrys car there. You have to go there , physically go through the folders to find them, then order them.
Jan is very helpfull.
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