The Bruce Wells Collection - Catalina Park - Part 2

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Dennis.

[Terry S]

There were two Cortinas raced by the Geoghehans. The first was a two door GT and then a Lotus. The car that was rolled at Catalina was the Lotus and driven by Pete. The GT was bought by George Garth and raced extensively with plenty of success. The last I heard it was still in his posession.
Dale.

Dale, just going back through Bruce Wells incredibly great photos and noticed your comment on the Geoghegans Cortinas.
May I beg to differ, but there were actually THREE Cortinas raced by them, and not two.
The third was a four door Cortina GT raced late 1963, early 1964 and mainly driven by Leo.
I don't know what happened to it, it just seemed to disappear. Any clues?

[Greg Mackie]

Terry, the 'four door' would have probably been to comply with Appendix J rules [which ended in Dec., 1963]. Any car over 1300cc must have four doors.

[Terry S]

Terry, the 'four door' would have probably been to comply with Appendix J rules [which ended in Dec., 1963]. Any car over 1300cc must have four doors.

Greg I think you will find that the 4 door regulation applied to cars over 1600cc.
For example Jim McKeown was racing his Lotus Cortina before the end of 1963.

[Dale Harvey]

I won't argue about the four door car. My memory is not perfect. I think I do remember seeing a photo of it, maybe at Bathurst. I will have a look when I get back home in a week or so.
Dale.

[Terry S]

I won't argue about the four door car. My memory is not perfect. I think I do remember seeing a photo of it, maybe at Bathurst. I will have a look when I get back home in a week or so.
Dale.

Dale, for interest I have found a photo of the four door car on the Bruce Wells Collection - Oran Park - Part 1, which is on page 19.
Go to post #10.

[Steve Holmes]

Great to see this thread bumped back to the top. The Catalina images were some of my favourite chapters from Bruce's collection. I really need to go through and resize the photos so they're larger, for better viewing.

[Greg Mackie]

Greg I think you will find that the 4 door regulation applied to cars over 1600cc.
For example Jim McKeown was racing his Lotus Cortina before the end of 1963.

Geez Terry, now you've got me doubting my memory [usually pretty good].

Having driven an under 1300cc, 2 door Appendix J car in 1963, I thought that over 1300cc had to be 4 doors....or you raced in GT.

[Greg Mackie]

There appears to have been a race held at this meeting just for Minis, which included some sort of Le Mans start. Its hard to tell if those are the drivers running across to the tracks (without helmets), or if the people running across the track just tag the cars when they get there, at which point, each car, with driver already inside, charges off.

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Steve, that looks similar to the Le Mans start of my 1963 race there. The 'mechanic' would run across the track with the ign. key. He would hand the key to the driver, who was in the car, with the seat belt fastened.

[Dale Harvey]

Dale, for interest I have found a photo of the four door car on the Bruce Wells Collection - Oran Park - Part 1, which is on page 19.
Go to post #10.

Yes, definitely a four door. Looks like big Pete driving.
Dale.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
.....Can anyone ID the E Type? I'm guessing Niel Allen?

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You're right, Niel Allen (despite other opinions having been posted)...

The lean out the window is a giveaway without checking numbers. But it is him, refer RCN February '65 page 23.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
.....I can't get enough of the Humpy Holden shots. These cars have so much character and look fantastic on the swooping Catalina Park circuit. This is the Francel 48/215 diving inside another car thats given something/someone enough of a whack its popped the hood open. Whose is car #25? Could this be Harold Thynne? #46, in the last shot, I believe is the John Hall car. Can anyone help with the others?

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Gary Bergman has the bonnet up... 30 is Bruce Stewart, and yes, 46 is John Hall. Brian Donovan is in the striped car following Stewart, I don't know 81.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
OK, I'll take a punt and say the EH Holden is that of Brian Muir. Can someone help with the FJs?

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By 'FJs' I guess you mean Formula Juniors?

Yes, Brian Muir in the first pic...

Phil West is in the Brabham ANF2 (1100cc) car, this is the car prepared by Kevin Carrad which proved unbeatable and got him the Scuderia Veloce 2.5 Brabham drive a couple of years later.

Glyn Scott in the Lotus 27, which I'm sure was always a 1500 car, perhaps Ian Fergusson in the Elfin (same number as his Bathurst entry and he qualified just ahead of Glyn for this meeting).

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
Thanks Jac. Any clues as to why the Mini was lhd? Last ... from this particular event.....

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The irrepressible Barry Sharp in the Wolseley 6/90...

Tom Anderson in the green '55 Customline he campaigned for so long, Denis Cooke in the red 203 is here pressing him after being caught out by Anderson's great start.

Regarding the LHD/RHD Manton Mini, I don't know how many times he changed it but it certainly wasn't many! It was a simple job for the steering part of the job, I think it was a RHD Sprite rack that switched over to a LHD mini rack.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
OK, next batch. These are from another 1965 meeting, held, I believe, in May. Kicking off here, and I'm at a loss identifying the drivers in this first post, other than the Rowe MG. Any help would be appreciated.

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Des Leonard in the R-Series Valiant...

Probably Barry Thiele in the Major, that was a mid-blue car. 52 could be, but I wouldn't bet on it, Alan Barrow.

The Nota outside of the Kenny Rowe MG, I'm not sure, but 'Lawson' is mentioned.

The Zephyr is Bruce Taylor.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
There appears to have been a race held at this meeting just for Minis, which included some sort of Le Mans start. Its hard to tell if those are the drivers running across to the tracks (without helmets), or if the people running across the track just tag the cars when they get there, at which point, each car, with driver already inside, charges off.

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The Minis-only race wasn't in '65, but I can verify that it's the mechanics running and the cars were shut down until the keys were handed through the window.

The Holden is Warren Weldon, 119 was his usual number.

And it's Paul Meyer, not Peter. Father of Michael Meyer, who went into FFords in the early seventies, Paul had a tuning shop in Woolloomooloo (maybe not enough ls in there). He wasn't real quick, but Doug Macarthur certainly showed speed and thus he's challenging a car which should have been faster than his. Mind you, Meyer's car was a road-going Elan, not a lightweight.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
The Studebaker appears to be the same car raced by Warren Weldon/Bruce Slattery at Bathurst in 1965.

I'm trying to ID who the driver of the inverted FX Holden could be. Perhaps Bruce Stewart?

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Whether or not it's the same Studebaker I don't know, but it is Warren Weldon. In one shot he is holding an early lead over eventual winner Max Volkers in a Cortina GT (Series Production race) while in the other he's falling back into the clutches of David Frazer's Renault Gordini.

And it is Bruce Stewart's car inverted in the Tunnel after blowing a rear tyre.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
Here we have Pete Geoghegan's new Mustang, which raised the bar from the time it arrived in Australia, winning the ATCC at Bathurst in 1966. Here Geoghegan battles with Beechey. Actually, I started this batch of photos stating I thought they were from a May 1965 meeting, but I don't think that can be correct, as the Geoghegan Mustang apparently didn't make its race debut until August 1965.

The 250LM is the beautiful Scuderia Veloce machine, driven here, most likely, by Spencer Martin.

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You're right, these pics are from the November 7 meeting, 1965... the meeting Jane wrote off his Mustang.

Spencer's Ferrari has all that ugly protective foam and tape over the front because it had been to Lowood a few weeks earlier to win the Queensland TT from KB in the Mildren Maserati.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
OK, time for some more additions to this thread. Bruce has marked this folder as "KA 7-65", which to me means July 1965. If anyone ifs able to confirm this, I'd appreciate it. Several cars in this first post as seen previously in this thread, including Fred Gibson in the Lotus Elan, the Ron Thorpe Cobra, and George Murrays Austin 7 Special, but note also Pete Geoghegan in the Lotus 23B, and you also catch a glimpse of the nose on Leo Geoghegans Lotus Elan, chasing the Turner.

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22nd August, 1965... not July, Thorp wasn't there, Jane interfered with the Elans that time too...

Neither time was it Leo in the Elan, though. Remember how Leo only put the car together to show it off because Fred was going too slow and he had been trying to sell the second one for a long time? He sold it after only three meetings.

So it's Niel Allen poking around behind Wal Donnelly (note the spelling) in the Turner.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
Can anyone ID the Lotus 7 pictured here? Rear view of the Lotus is the Geoghegan car again.

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The Elan is Niel Allen...

The Super Seven is driven by Arnold Ahrenfeld. Here he is again, leading Bob Beasley, Jim Quinn and Ian Brown:



This was taken at the August '65 meeting as they came through Bosch Corner.