Also, re the OldRacePhotos image, if you look at the people in the background, you'll see several of them wearing short sleeve tops. The ATCC Symmons race was run in the wet, and photos of the race show the spectators to be well wrapped up with many carrying umbrellas, which makes me think the OldRacePhotos image was possibly taken not on race day. So if the race was on Sunday, perhaps the Camaro expired in practice in Saturday?
Now thats great detective work Watson..!! You could be onto something there Steve. I might check out the Examiner newspaper of the weekend, maybe it has a story on the blowup if that's what it was.Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Here is an article from a Mallala race meeting in September 1969 kindly provided by Lindsay at Oldracephotos.com.
Sounds like the 100mph spin on the straight in the wet would have got Terry's attention.
I'm pretty certain the car has been repainted the metalic blue by now, the white stripes are long gone and it has the small pin stripes along the top edge of the guards and door as seen on the photos from Bay Park NZ
Last edited by nick_tassie; 09-13-2011 at 10:05 AM.
Its a bit hard to read the previous attachment so I've cut the story out and reposted it.
Thanks for posting that Nick, old magazine race reviews are always enjoyable. Yeah I agree with you, I reckon it was blue here too.
A couple of Camaro speedway leads that I'm currently chasing up.
The first #83 was called "The beast" and raced by Brisbane speedway hero Allan Butcher, this one is unlikely as I have read it was a car made froms bits of everything. I hope to talk with Allan this week to rule it out.
The second #7 was raced by Sydney driver Carl Jeffrey, the photo was taken at Granville raceway. I've tracked Carl down to Iowa USA and hope to have an answer from him sometime soon. Carl's son Lynton is successfully racing Sprint Cars at Knoxville. Carl's other son Paul seems to recall this car coming direct from the US so it may also be a dead end.
Don't forget if you have any potential leads where Terry's Camaro may have got to in, circuit, speedway or drag racing to let me know so I can check then out
No luck with the Jeffrey #7 speedway camaro, managed to get in touch with Carl in the US and he responded letting me know his Camaro wasn't Terry's old car.
[I]hey mate ..it was not mine..that was just a body on a 56 cheve frame we brought from over here..most of the rest of the camaros (in fact all of them i believe ) that were raced on speedway came out of my fibreglass shop in sefton ( j c racecars )I]
The search goes on..!!
Thanks again for the updates Nick. Boy, you're really earning your keep on this search. I really hope all your efforts come to fruition and you find the Camaro. Keep at it. It must still be out there somewhere.
Its amazing what you can unearth when asking the right people. I have been sent some fantastic photo's of the Camaro from David Blanch of Autopics.com. In particular a sequence of shots with the right rear wheel parting company with the big Camaro, at what looks like the kink at the end of the back straight of Sandown Raceway. Not the ideal place to lose a rear wheel that's for sure, the spin and tyre smoke indicates it would have got Terry's attention big time but at least he kept it out of the wall. The rigth rear can be seen sailing off towards the infield. Its a bit hard to tell from the sample photos if it was caused by a broken axle or wheel studs, I don't have the copyright approval to post them unfortunately. There are some other shots of him racing against the Norm Beechey in the big Galaxie, Thommo in the 68 big block Camaro, and either Geoghegan or Jane in their Mustangs (numbers are a bit small to read). All pretty cool and will be welcome additions to the ever expanding photo album.
Thats interesting Nick. Its likely there would have been some under body damage from when that wheel fell off. Could be useful as future reference should you find the car and need to ID some of its racing fingerprints.
Hey did any keen eyes who watched the ABC show Wide Open Road Part 2 last night pick out the shot of Uncle Terry's Camaro. About the 42mins into the show.
It was a pretty quick shot but definetely the car in its early days with its red paint and dual white stripes over the boot and roof. I've managed to take some frame by frame shots with my camera phone which came out ok surprisingly. I will post them tomorrow once I resize them at work.
Looks like it shows Wayne Mahnken in white shirt and red hat kneeling beside the right rear setting the tyre pressures.
Oh I can't take credit for spotting it either another keen forum member gave me the heads up, great work it was too..!!
Last edited by nick_tassie; 10-24-2011 at 01:26 PM.
Good to see you back here again Nick. I take it still no luck with your leads? I'd love to see your stills. Do you have a copy of the dvd Classic Australian Touring Car Races Vol 1? I need to double check but I am sure the car appears here too, with Blanchard at the wheel.
Hi Steve, I've been in hiding from you Kiwi's while the World Cup has been on...!!
Seriously now, I have been chasing a pretty good lead for a few months now, as well as, flat out getting my current project ready for the paint shop.
I was sent a message from a forum member who knew a guy in Sydney (Parramatta area) who owned a restored 67 that he said had once been a race car. My contact said the car was fully restored back to an original road car but he did clearly remember seeing some modifications to the inner guards. It was a long shot but considering it was also a red 67 from Paramatta it was worth a look. All he had was a first name of this bloke and the business he worked at at the time (which has closed down), this all happened in the early 80's so you can imagine how hard it has been to track down who he was and where he is now.
I have managed to track him down although not to the point of actually talking to him personally, just through a third party. Although the car, which has been sold through numerous owners by now, is a close match it is probably not Terry's. Its just too neat with what was described to be an unmolested floor pan, I know from talking to Wayne Mahnken that Terry's camaro had some serious under body suspension work done to it. The third party suggested the car was if it was in racing it was just used in minor competions and nothing major. Certainly had no signs of roll cage or body mods.
But its still on my mind to try and contact the guy myself and have a chat about the history of the car.
So still trying hard in the background to find a hot new trail.
Oh I have asked Lindsay Ross of Oldracephotos.com to do some research into articles on Terry and the Camaro, he conducts research into old race cars on request at a very reasonable price. Lindsay has found well over 35 articles which are in the mail as I write so really looking forward to reading what he has found. I'll share anything of interest with the forum once I get my teeth into it.
I certainly will post the photos from the ABC show shortly, and no I haven't watched that race footage as yet but would be really keen to do so, I'm sure Graeme Blanchard would get a kick out of it as well.
Here are the three best shots from off the TV, best I could do with just an Iphone camera. Ellis doesn't think is is Wayne in the red hat.
You can just make out the left exhaust side pipe in front of the rear wheel.
Thanks for those updates Nick. I've got to hand it to you, you're certainly giving this a real shot! I hope your hard work pays off. Those photos are neat. What was the doco (Wide Open Road) about?
Yeah I don't know if Graeme Blanchard will enjoy seeing the Classic Australian Touring Car Races footage. The Camaro wasn't running too happy at all. The race(s) was at Warwick Farm. Graeme got lapped by the leaders, and was clearly struggling with a troublesome race car.
Wide Open Road is a doco on the ABC about Australia's history and love of the motor car, I believe its a 3 part series with part 2 screened this past weekend. Its really well put together with some great historic footage of the start of the motor car era.
Part 1 was mostly about the early days from the first horseless carriages up to the start of the Holden and Ford motor companies in Australia, it also included great stories of the amazing speed trials from Sydney to Melbourne and early motor adventures across Australia.
Part 2 moved into the Ford V Holden battle for top dog both in the showroom and race track, as well as, a fantastic story about the Redex trial, and Sir Jack Brabham's racing career in Formula 1. Talked about how the motor car also became such an important part of family life including the start of cruising the town and drag racing. Also touched on Bathurst and the start of the Aussie supercars.
Its interesting you mentioned Graeme struggling with the big Camaro, when I talked to him about it he said the car scared the blazes out of him at first, he said the power of the big block 396 was awesome when on song but the car was woeful under brakes and cornering and he just could not get a handle on it at all to get a lap time out of it. He said that Norm Beechey told him that he was being to timid with it and to "wring its bloody neck son" which he did and ended up setting the lap record at Warwick Farm, much to his pleasure that lap time stood for quiet a while.
I've just been reading the material that Lindsay Ross has sent to me today, he's found some great stuff which has filled in a lot of gaps and explained some of the mechanical issues Terry faced with the car. Whats interesting is just how much he actually raced it, he also started more ATCC events than I first thought. I'll start posting some of the info over the next few days, hope you enjoy it as I have been.
Thanks for that info Nick. I look forward to seeing what Lindsay has managed to unearth. And any ATCC history is always good.
The first bit of information I've discovered in the Lindsay Ross material is extremely interesting.
It is sourced from a number of articles and adverts from Racing Car News.
The first two are from the Classifieds and Bits & Peices sections of the August 1968 edition. These indicate Terry put the Camaro up for sale only 15 months after bringing it into Australia.
Classified
Terry Allan's 6.5 Camaro
This car has the potential to become Australia's leading touring car and even now at this early stage it is on the threshold of becoming No. 1. Our mechanic Claude Morton has fully blueprinted the present motor and has the car immaculate throughout and ready to Race. It is most unfortunate that this car must be sold as Terry leaves for overseas commitments shortly. On July 16th the Camaro engine tested 510 bhp on Jack Hunnam's dyno. P.O.A. Mr. C. Allan
The C. Allan was Terry's father Cedric.
Bits & Peices
Allan Camaro For Sale
Terry Allan has put his Chev camaro up for sale following his decision to travel overseas and race for a time in England and the U.S. The car, complete with spare 520 bhp engine, can be yours for $12,500 (steady, don't push!) Terry will leave with his father this month and will probably buy a Ford Escort to bring home with him.
Its really interesting that he had decided to abandon his racing in Australia to go overseas after such a huge investment in the Camaro. The first advert almost suggests he had locked in committments to race overseas in 68. He did have what turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt to race in the U.S. Pro-Am with Allan Moffat in a Lotus Cortina before buying the Camaro. He was also seen in the silverstone pits at a touring car race in early 67. Who knows maybe he had a deal in place to run in 68. The suggestion to return with an Escort is interesting as well, maybe suggests he struggled initially with the big banger Camaro and thought the smaller car would be a way forward.
The spare 520 bhp engine is really interesting, I haven't read or heard of him having or using a spare 396ci big block before. I just wonder if this might be reference to that mysterious SPECIAL 302ci Trans-Am small block engine that he brought from Bill Thomas Racecars. It would be interesting to hear from Ron Ogilvie if these engines ever reached that kind of bhp output? Unless it was an overestimate in bhp...!
The next article is from what I can tell a much later Race Car News September edition, not sure the exact year as that missing from the doc.
Tasty Tit-Bits from Steven Chopping
New owner of the ex-Bryan Thompson Camaro, Don Elliott, is reported to have brought a spare 350 cu. in. lightweight V8 from Terry Allan, but is also looking for a US crank to destroke the car's 390 engine back to 366 cubes for next year
Again I wonder if this SPECIAL lightweight engine is the Trans-Am 302ci restroked out to 350ci. Interestingly this sale might have occured after Terry had sold the Camaro to Graeme Blanchard in late 71 and there was no mention of this (spare engine) in the 71 for sale advert, just lots of 396 spares. Although there was a new 350 mag manifold listed.!! Did he build up a restroked lightweight 350 engine from the Trans-Am unit to replace the 396 big block as suggested in NZ in 71..?
Maybe someone can tell us when Don Elliott had the ex-Thompson camaro to put a time line to this engine purchase.
Last edited by nick_tassie; 10-27-2011 at 12:20 AM.
We have some answers to the questions if Terry started in the 1971 Symmons Plains ATCC round on March 1st, the answer is yes he did. In the April 71 Racing Car News feature on the Symmons Plains ATCC event Terry lined up 5th on the grid with a time of 1:02.7, behind pole sitter R. Jane Chev Camaro 1:00.3, A. Moffat TransAm Mustang 1:00.6, I.Geoghegan Mustang 1:02.3 and N. Beechey Monaro 1:02.4
The last of the big banger imports running was Terry Allan's Camaro, which was handling very poorly and Terry took a trip into the Boondocks before getting a best of 64.6 in the first hour................Allan got down to a 62.7 to be close to Geoghegan and Beechey
In the 10 lap Preliminary Race held on the Saturday he had a good run to finish 3rd behind Bob Jane and Ian Geoghegan
He did start the official 1st round of the ATCC on Sunday which was held in wet conditions, however had a day to forget.
Allan found the dry tyres he was forced to use lacking adhesion and spun, rejoining at the rear
Allan moved past Kent on the straight on lap 5, but withdrew soon after with a blown head gasket, caused by running the motor for a full 3 mins after the warm-up laps, rather than risk it not starting with the dickey starter motor.
Now this explains the photo of Terry in the pits with the bonnet up and steam (not smoke) billowing from the engine bay.
Steve another questioned answered with a yes, Terry not only started in the 2nd round of the 1971 ATCC at Calder on March 21st. He also started at Sandown in the "Malboro Southern 60", the 3rd round of the ATCC on April 14th.
Both the 2nd and 3rd rounds are featured in the May 71 Racing Car News, the 2nd round also in the May 71 Australian Auto Sports.
Terry Allan put his Camaro on the back of the grid after working overnight to repair the parts that let go first thing in practice..............Beechey filled second now, ahead of Geoghegan, McKeown, Allan (smoking like a steam locomotive).................Allan slipped past McKeown, but it was obvious that he would not last long as smoke was pouring out the back of the Camaro from a fractured oil line.............on lap six Allan was black flagged in.
The overnight repairs from the practice "let go" are explained in Australian Auto Sports.
After Terry Allan dragged his mechanic from a party on Saturday night to replace a shattered valve insert, his Chev Camaro looked anything but happy with smoke pouring from the back of the car..............Allan still had enough squirt to make things frustrating for McKeown's Porsche, but the Camaro's race was run when it pitted on lap seven
It didn't appear the 3rd round at Sandown was much better for Terry.
Beechey and Allan on the back row after missing practice............already Allan and Beechey were carving through the mid field.............Allan was pushing the Camaro along at a great pace, taking McKeown on lap three.............on lap five, Allan's camaro had started to smoke somewhat and he pulled into the pits on the same lap, after showing great promise
That seems to be the last time Terry raced the Camaro, it was up for sale with all spares in the June 1971 Racing Car News. After three races ended in mechanical failures it seems enough was enough and the Camaro was sold to Graeme Blanchard.
Last edited by nick_tassie; 10-27-2011 at 01:21 PM.
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