Tag Archives: Muir

Frank’s Championship Winner – Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

For 1972 Adrian Chambers Castrol SCA Freight team built a second generation Chevrolet Camaro with Mark Lesueur and Norman Lockwood to replace the ex-Bobby Brown first generation Camaro Z/28 it had been campaigning with Australian Frank Gardner at the wheel.

The car was initially fitted with a 5,736 cc / 350 cui motor and raced in the British Saloon Car Championship while the team saved the first generation Z/28 for selected appearances in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft.

During 1972 Frank won outright and by definition his class at Thruxton, Silverstone, Oulton Park, Mallory Park and no less than 3 times at Oulton Park to secure a class win in the championship but still had to give way in the overall championship to Bill McGovern driving a George Bevan Hillman Imp to a perfect 11 out of 11 class victories.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Frank Gardner, Brands Hatch

Frank is seen driving the car above to victory at the 1972 British Grand Prix meeting at Brands Hatch in this photograph given to me by someone at school in the mid 1970’s.

The following season Frank drove today’s featured car, now fitted with a 7 litre / 427 V8 to six victories from 9 starts to secure his third British Saloon Car Championship and can be seen driving the car round Oulton Park that year in the clip below.

For 1974 the British Saloon car championship mandated a change to less radically modified Group 1 specification cars and Frank drove the SCA Group 2 spec Camaro with Australian compatriot Brian Muir in Europe where the car always qualified in the top six but frequently failed to start and when it did always failed to finish.

Frank retired to Australia at the end of 1974 where he continued racing into the the early 1980’s and running Australian Touring Car programmes with success for BMW.

Today’s featured car was then bought from Adrian Chambers by Stuart Graham with the intention to run it in Super Saloon races alongside his Group 1 Brut 33 Camaro British Saloon Car Championship program but the car proved to heavy to be a competitive super saloon.

Stuart sold the car onto Dutchman Rob Slotemaker who raced the car in Group 5 spec with a 7,443 cc 454 cui V8 up until his death at the wheel of his Group 1 spec 1974 Camaro at Zandvoort in 1979.

Rob bequeathed today’s featured car to current owner Bert Moritz and Bert’s son Patrick recently failed in an attempt to crowd fund an estimated US$200,000 restoration of the car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Frank’s Championship Winner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for FIAT Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Lower Cleaner – Lola Chevrolet T330 #HU4

The 1973 Formula 5000 season which played out in three championships across three continents saw winning cars produced by four different manufacturers namely Chevron, McRae, Trojan and Lola. It was the last named that won most of the races in all three series with their T330 model, a lower and cleaner version of the 1972 T300, like chassis #HU4 featured today which took part in all three series.

Lola T330, Michigan International Speedway

(Photo Copyright Mark Windecker 1973)

According to Old Racing Cars.com chassis #HU4 was first raced at Surfers Paradise in the fourth round of the Tasman Series by Gary Campbell where he retired with an overheating motor. Gary crashed during practice for the next race at Warwick Farm and the car was then bought by Australian Bobby Muir who repaired it and took it to Riverside, where Chuck Jones and Jerry Eisert became co entrants with Bobby for the first round of the US L&M Formula 5000 championship.

Bobby’s best result was a 10th at Riverside after which followed a string of five retirements until Road Atlanta where Bobby crashed in practice and failed to take the start. The photo’s by Mark Windecker show #HU4 and Bobby sitting in it at Michigan International Speedway.

Bob Muir, Lola T330, Michigan International Speedway

(Photo Copyright Mark Windecker 1973)

After missing Pocono #HU4 was entered into the final US race of the season at Seattle by Chuck and Jerry for Clay Regazzoni who was about to transition from BRM to back to the Ferrari formula one Team. As this linked picture show’s the #74 had a new nose with a single full width wing mounted above it, an idea Ferrari had first used at the 1973 Italian Grand Prix three weeks earlier. #HU4 was also fitted with larger radiators requiring deeper ducts at the request of engine builder Ron Armstrong.

Clay Regazzoni, Lola T330, Brands Hatch

(Photo Chuck Jones Collection)

Clay retired in Seattle, but that did not prevent the Jones Eisert team from sending the #HU4 to Brands Hatch for the final race of the Rothmans European Formula 5000 championship where these two photograph’s from Chuck Jones Collection show Clay, who finished 12th, at the wheel.

Clay Regazzoni, Lola T330, Brands Hatch

(Photo Chuck Jones Collection)

In December 1973 AW Brown acquired #HU4 and ran if four Damien Magee in the 1974 European Formula 5000 Championship until the engine blew at Zandvoort and the team was disbanded. Damien scored #HU4’s all time best result a 4th place finish in the series second visit to Brands Hatch. Damien finished the season driving a 1973 Trojan #T101 chassis #T101-105.

#HU4 does not appear to have raced again until it started appearing in Historic Events in 2001. When I finally get around to looking for cars for the GALPOT Museum high on my list of cars to purchase will be #HU4 in it’s funky #74 orange Jones, Eisert and Regazzoni livery which hit the spot when this 14 year old first laid eyes on it in a magazine.

Chuck Jones and Clay Regazzoni would team up again in 1977 when Chuck was involved with the Ensign Formula One team and Clay was chosen as the driver.

My thanks to Jerry Entin for kindly securing permission for me to use Mark Windecker’s photos from Michigan International Speedway and the photo’s from Chuck Jones Collection taken at Brands Hatch.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lower Cleaner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another stylish ISO Rivolta. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Loud Engine Test Bed – Lotus 62

Today’s post comes courtesy of Jon Bawden and his Dad RJ Bawden who took this photograph of the Lotus 62 at the Bank Holiday Monday Guards International run at Brands Hatch in September 1969 when Jon was only 3 !

Lotus 62, BOAC 500, Brands Hatch

For 1969 Lotus produced two prototype racing cars, designed by Martin Waide, that were to replace the Lotus 47 and act as test beds for the 4 cylinder Vauxhall LV220 motors Lotus would develop into the Type 904 motors that would be used in the Lotus Elite, Eclat and Esprit road cars that Lotus introduced between 1974 and 1976.

While the outside shape of the 62 bears a passing resemblance to the Lotus 47 racing cars underneath the fiber glass body a space frame chassis replaced the back bone chassis of the Type 47.

The 220 hp 1992 cc / 121.5 cui Vauxhall LV 220 based motor was modified by Lotus and featured an alloy cylinder block and cylinder head, twin overhead camshafts and Tecalemit – Jackson fuel injection. By all accounts the Lotus 62 was amongst the noisiest motors in prototype racing despite it’s modest size.

John Miles and Brian Muir were the drivers of the car at the BOAC 500, during practice the handling problems became apparent but the car qualified 16th and came in 13th overall, 1st in class. The car was run with a an additional aerodynamic aid above the nose as a temporary remedy to the handling issues as can be seen in this linked photograph.

During the remainder of the season John Miles managed another class win with a fourth place finish in the Trophy of the Dunes held at Zandvoort in The Netherlands and an overall win in the Guards International for cars up to 2 litres / 122 cui.

American Roy Pyke deputising for an other wise indisposed Brian Muir drove the #105, as seen above, to third place behind his team mate in the Guards Trophy. Peter Darley at The Nostalgia Forum has identified those standing behind the Lotus 62 as, left to right, Nigel Bennett (Firestone), Gordon Huckle (Lotus), Mike Brett (Firestone), Bruce Hare (Firestone).

Roy deputising for John Miles won a minor Motoring News GT Championship race at Thruxton in October 1969.

The second of the Lotus 62’s ended up in Portugal where Enesto Neves drove it to at least three victories between 1971 and 1973, while the first one ended up with jazz trombonist Chris Barber’s team who had David Brodie drive it.

My thanks again to RJ and Jon Bawden for their kind permission to use their photograph.

Thanks for joining me on this “Loud Engine Test Bed” edition of “Gettin’ a li’ psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share