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ImageShack.usI have the happiest memories of my Halselec-Climax WPK6, pictured at Kirkistown hairpin in 1963, and 46 years on it continues to amaze me. It enjoys more resurrections than the corniest Hammer horror film, so perhaps we can lay this brave little car to rest for good, except in the memories of those who still have a remarkable affection for it to this day. It's amazing how many people still mention it to me.
I was surprised by Classic & Sports Car's current Letter of the Month in which Bryn Ives of Wolverhampton writes of his Halselec-Climax WPK6, because C&SC's Letter of the Month in January 2001 was my account of three years with this car, culminating in its write-off during the 1965 Leinster Trophy at Dunboyne.
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ImageShack.usI bought the Halselec for £275 from Denis Kinghan in late 1962, and I used it for three years as my road car as well as for racing. Your correspondent Bill Patterson Jr, then aged about 10, will thank me for this pic outside his Belfast home in May 1964, in which he letters Joe Watson's van while I threaten the Halselec. Note the full-width screen which I used for road work, part of the original build, replaced for racing by the single screen and metal tonneau over passenger seat. The car was cosy in both seats even in winter, the airflow going over one's head although having hair was an advantage. Happy days when I could do 120 raucous miles around the Antrim coast for £1 worth of Esso Golden, the Climax exhaust singing back off the cliffs at 7000 rpm, equating to 120 mph ... no limits then, and empty roads.
However, the Halselec chassis was prone to fatigue cracks beside the welds; after the impact there were cracks at most joints. The car was superbly built, but unlike a space frame in which the members are in either tension or compression, the tubes were curved and so subject to bending loads. During practice on the rough Dunboyne circuit several cracks developed around the final drive, which I had to have welded before scrutineering. When I cut up the chassis I found severe internal corrosion to some tubes. At that time, a rebuild was impracticable, so it was the end of the road for WPK6.
For the record, the Climax FWA went to Gerry Kinnane in Belfast, the Bristol gearbox to someone in Bangor, Co. Down, the tyres to Billy Patterson Sr for his Willment-Ford, the WPK6 registration and the log book for £45 to someone in Cheshire, and everything else went to Eastwoods scrapyard in Belfast.
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ImageShack.usBill Patterson Jr took the last photo of the Halselec in the paddock at Dunboyne. A few hours later it was toast. In the background is Billy Patterson Sr's Dormobile 7219EZ, and yes we did camp in the paddock. Billy Sr went on to serve in high office in the Ulster Automobile Club and the 500MRCI. I'm glad to say Billy Sr is still in great form at 80-plus and well remembers that fateful day, even to prescribing a stiff whisky for this somewhat shaken writer.
Mr. Ives appears to have a beautiful replica of the Halselec, and I'd love to see it, but it contains not one splitpin from the original car, of which nothing remains but the steering wheel, which has reposed on my brother's garage wall for the past 46 years, and of course a million happy memories.
Edited by michael43, 13 November 2011 - 12:10.