Harewood nostalgia

Date for diary is third weekend in September- 22/23- when Harewood Hillclimb will be hosting its anniversary meeting. I understand a lot of machinery from 60s on will be present. Special place for me as it's where I first saw live motorsport and over the next decade I was captivated by people like David Hepworth's 4wd monster, George Tatham's Brabham BT 17 (was it - bloody great sort of can am car ). the bonkers Vitamin, Jack Maurice's 275LM , John McCartney's BRM P153 and Maggie Blankstone's GT40 (the driver I have to say was a distraction to the 16 year old me). I marshalled start line for 5 or 6 years( from 69/70 ) - one of many reasons my left ear is now nearly deaf.....Why can I still remember Richard Thwaites setting new record at 38.47in McLaren M10B when I can't remember anything whatsoever the last GP I watched?

Date for diary is third weekend in September- 22/23- when Harewood Hillclimb will be hosting its anniversary meeting. I understand a lot of machinery from 60s on will be present. Special place for me as it's where I first saw live motorsport and over the next decade I was captivated by people like David Hepworth's 4wd monster, George Tatham's Brabham BT 17 (was it - bloody great sort of can am car ). the bonkers Vitamin, Jack Maurice's 275LM , John McCartney's BRM P153 and Maggie Blankstone's GT40 (the driver I have to say was a distraction to the 16 year old me). I marshalled start line for 5 or 6 years( from 69/70 ) - one of many reasons my left ear is now nearly deaf.....Why can I still remember Richard Thwaites setting new record at 38.47in McLaren M10B when I can't remember anything whatsoever the last GP I watched?

I will be giving it a plug in the upcoming edition of Mascot (the magazine of the Midget & Sprite Club). There were quite a few Sprites that participated in the very first event in 1962, including a GT Sprite (which is still alive and well).

Pure nostalgia from the Harewood site. quod vide;
http://www.harewoodh...y/index.asp?c=2
I was fortunate enough to be at the opener and the otrhers until late summer 1965. Halcyon days. Is XWW 2 still with the original owner as I understood it to be? Are the likes of Howard Haxton and Ted Fargus still around? It is reassuring to see Phil Chapman's special in the 60's shots.
Roger Lund

The BARC (Yorkshire) people plan to have the Ferguson P99 there and hope that Peter Westbury will drive it up the hill, if not in competition then at least in a demo. The Hepworth brothers are schedule to have not only the Hepworth 4-w-d but also David's earlier Cooper-Chevrolet on track.

Personally I would like to see George Tatham in his Mclaren Can-Am, maybe David Franklin in the Ensign that Fyrth Crosse currently has charge of and some of the cars I missed at Harewood like the Lanfranchi Elva. There will be at least one driver present who competed in the very first event at Harewood!

It certainly looks like two days of nostalgia - let's hope the weather plays its part!

Hi Roger,

Yes I believe that XWW 2 is still with its original owner. It's green now but I don't know what colour it was back then (probably always been green).
you can see a more recent photo of it here http://frogeye.smugm...e...mp;lb=1&s=A

Gary

Edited by garyfrogeye, 21 August 2012 - 11:31.

Twas dark green when it used to rush past the filling station along what was a good fast stretch of road where I worked as a callow youth at school, as did fellow period Harewood-eer Brian Waddilove in his pale metallic blue E type BRW 26
RL
BTW I had forgotten how loose the original surface was, rose coloured specs, I suppose....... a bit like we used to think Rufforth was quite the business as a race track

The 1949 Cec Booth Frazer Nash which came 2nd at Le Mans will be there!

While perusing Allen Brown's OldRacingCars.com website, I noticed a reference to one of the Chevron B24 F5000 cars running at the Harewood Hillclimb on the 4th of August 1974 "to settle a bet". What was the bet and the drivers involved?

While perusing Allen Brown's OldRacingCars.com website, I noticed a reference to one of the Chevron B24 F5000 cars running at the Harewood Hillclimb on the 4th of August 1974 "to settle a bet". What was the bet and the drivers involved?

The bet was which of two cars would set the best time on the day. The two driver/car combinations were John Lambert (Leda-Chevrolet) and Tony Dean (Chevron-Chevrolet). I was there to witness the 'struggle'.

Am I right in thinking that the bet was for quite a large sum, Steve?

Tony D would have had plenty of loose change at that time I'd guess.....

Am I right in thinking that the bet was for quite a large sum, Steve?

As far as I know it was well into the hundreds. I don't think either of them were short of a bob or two!

I dare say Tony was able to be geneorus with his famous big cigars . On a similar topic I remember a story circulating Harewood at the time that Bill Wood (Cobra driver) had a bet with somebody that he could drive from York to Scarborough in 20 minutes. It was - and still is - 40 miles..Happy days- and although I seeem to recall he won the bet I don't believe it !

I dare say Tony was able to be geneorus with his famous big cigars . On a similar topic I remember a story circulating Harewood at the time that Bill Wood (Cobra driver) had a bet with somebody that he could drive from York to Scarborough in 20 minutes. It was - and still is - 40 miles..Happy days- and although I seeem to recall he won the bet I don't believe it !

There was a bet made between a couple of Porsche drivers in the 1980s about who could get from Barbon Manor to Harewood first. The bet was won by the driver who 'forgot' to switch back to road tyres and left his slicks on!

If anyone has any photos of the Hepworth 4WD or the cooper either from when we had them at Harewood or in period that would be appriciated.

Hepworth Jnr Jnr

If anyone has any photos of the Hepworth 4WD or the cooper either from when we had them at Harewood or in period that would be appriciated.

Hepworth Jnr Jnr

Take a look on this site:

SRW Photos

And if anybody Up North is at a loose end on Sunday can I recommend the Championship Round at Harewood in glorious Wharfedale sunshine? The nostalgia element will be provided by a Sebring Sprite, inter alia, but watching Goulds pull up to 149mph up the top straight will keep this bunny happy

I was chatting to John Lambert this evening over a pint at my local and mentioned this thread.

It certainly raised a chuckle!

He recalled that Mr Dean hadn't ever settled that bet which John had won.

He suggested that a certain Mr C Meek was also owing him some money as well!

John was quite proud of the fact that circuit racers didn't quite cope with the fact that you had to be on it from the lights changing until you crossed the line! None of this winding yourself up to a fast time.....

Funny who you bump into...

I had never heard of the Hepworth-Ferguson 4WD F5000 before, but tonight came across it in a copy of Autosportsman from April of 1969...

 

How did it go?

Edited by Ray Bell, 15 October 2013 - 22:40.

It didn't shine as an F5000 car. It took part in a couple of the early rounds of the 1969 European F5000 Championship driven by Bev Bond and Tony Lanfranchi, best result being a 6th place finish in the hands of Lanfranchi. It was much more successful as a hillclimb car, David Hepworth winning the British Hillclimb Championship in it twice, in 1969 and 1971.

Edited by Tim Murray, 16 October 2013 - 05:52.

Corrected...

 

The caption to the photo also mentions 'Brabham', was it a Brabham frame or inspired by Brabhams?

Les Hinchcliffe was a regular with a Lotus 20 , about 1965 and 1966, I'm trying to find him, can anyone help me please?

The caption to the photo also mentions 'Brabham', was it a Brabham frame or inspired by Brabhams?

My understanding is that the 4WD car which competed in F5000 and won the British Hillclimb Championship was built for Hepworth by Frank Coltman but was strongly influenced by the Brabham BT11. See these earlier threads:

David Hepworth and his racing cars

Where are they now?

especially this post from Allen Brown:
 

Yes, I've read that story too. Whether Hepworth was trying to talk up the history of his old car or whether he just didn't explain it to Quentin well enough, I couldn't say. Hepworth did indeed buy an old BT11 from the factory but the "BT19" was built by Coltman. Well, that's what Hepworth told me and also what Coltman told Ted Walker. This 67/68 car probably debuted at Harewood in Sep 1967.

Not long after this yarn appeared the "BT19" was sold to Tom Wheatcroft. Without going into detail here, as a TNF-er was involved (on the innocent side!), there was some trouble when Wheaty found out that it wasn't the real BT19.

The issue is clouded slightly by the Hepworth 4WD car, which was also built by Coltman to a BT11 pattern (the BT19, BT11A and BT11 being very similar cars) which debuted at Harewood in Sep 1968. One of these two Coltman-built cars was built with a shorter wheelbase and I had always thought that was the first car. However, Coltman couldn't recall building a second car until prompted by his wife (Ted told me this so I hope I'm getting it right). So there remains the possibility that the 1967/68 car was a real Brabham and it is this vague hope that partly explains the way it's presently described in historic racing.

Hepworth also had a third Brabham of similar type, this a BT7-ish machine. That came from the factory too and may have been F1-1-63. It is now in historic racing in the US and is said to be a BT11.

Did anyone say 'can of worms'?

Allen

Some meat to bite into there...

 

History, of course, is only the best you can make of it.

I'm planning to come to Harewood this weekend for the Montague Burton Trophy Hillclimb, first time at the event. Any TNFers there who might want to share some good viewpoints/photography spots?

I'm planning to come to Harewood this weekend for the Montague Burton Trophy Hillclimb, first time at the event. Any TNFers there who might want to share some good viewpoints/photography spots?

 

Tim, the best places to take photos from are (a) inside of Chippys (this allows you take also get head-on shots coming through The Esses), (b) outside of Country Corner on the bank; © Outside of Orchard (you can drive there but you need a vehicle with adequate ground clearance); (d) outside of Farmhouse, and (e) Inside of Quarry.

 

http://www.harewoodh....com/trackmap/