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Silverdale Hillclimb nostalgic visit


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#101 rms

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Posted 16 September 2012 - 11:29

While there was a "wire fence" to keep spectators away from the track, it was not this wire fence and most definately was not 1" plus wire rope.
Have a look at Mick's post #47, the fence is close to the track and has bracing on the track side!

Erol

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#102 275 GTB-4

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 07:12

While there was a "wire fence" to keep spectators away from the track, it was not this wire fence and most definately was not 1" plus wire rope.
Have a look at Mick's post #47, the fence is close to the track and has bracing on the track side!

Erol


Hi Erol,

So when did the heavy duty wire rope get installed? It follows the track so looks purpose built rather than a boundary fence. The old railway line, I Beam, RSJ posts support the weight admirably...

Did the Robson's know someone in the Wiremill at Lysaght's? Maybe it was my Uncle!! (can't ask him...passed away a few years back) ...

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 19 September 2012 - 02:22.


#103 Catalina Park

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 08:47

The wire rope was there in the 1980 when I first visited. The timber planks were on the front face of the barrier and the wire rope was behind the timber.


#104 gouldo

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 10:52

Thank Goodness!

I believe there is renewed interest in my friends F3 Brabham clone that was broken up for parts....Kent engine with a bunch of goodies...(the cynic in me wonders why...there is renewed interest!)

Posted Image


The name Cornell is in my mind regarding this car. I remember as a kid watching it at amaroo & silverdale climbs. It was a very pretty car.

#105 gouldo

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 11:00

Memories of Silverdale....

Coming home in convoy with the Newcastle Mafia....

Murray Bingham, HQ monaro red white black special order from the Holden dealer at newcastle and his Bingham Chev/Porsche, Brian Lear and the Elfin Peugeot, dad and his nota towed by the Valiant Pacer, John Brooks and his Mini Cooper and dragging all the way up the Old Pacific Highway for a 4 hour trip back home on a Sunday night...

Sitting in the Barrie Garner Bowin and steering it into the trailer and thinking I was king of the kids.....

My first and only race there in 1985 and after looking at the posted pics, thinking - surely it wasnt that narrow......

Oh, and the Robsons...Wonderful people. Like the Ballantynes. Just really wonderful people

#106 275 GTB-4

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Posted 19 September 2012 - 02:18

The name Cornell is in my mind regarding this car. I remember as a kid watching it at amaroo & silverdale climbs. It was a very pretty car.


gouldo....Cornell is not the fella pictured....but could have been a previous/future owner :)

#107 baz

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 09:37

A good point very well made David, however, the kid behind the counter in the sticker shop will think I'm speaking Swahili if I ask for "3 n ate-th" :)

Any word on the reprint of silverdale stickers?

#108 GMACKIE

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Posted 29 December 2013 - 03:27

Silverdale, 1962.......Gordon Stewart and Barry Herbert in the background.

 

3f4ff9af-9660-43d5-9bc9-770d03353e01_zps

 

Thanks for the help with the 'Photo thing', Mick. :up:


Edited by GMACKIE, 23 January 2014 - 21:32.


#109 275 GTB-4

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Posted 27 May 2014 - 06:12

Copied from the Orion thread....having a go :up:

PICT0050_zps5d7694c7.jpg


Edited by 275 GTB-4, 08 June 2014 - 00:52.


#110 275 GTB-4

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Posted 08 June 2014 - 00:55

Fully manned (well...its an expression) Start Shed (RCN 10 Aug 1962)

P1020354RCN10Aug62SilverdaleStartShed_zp

Meeting Report (RCN 07 July 1962)

P1020351Silverdale07July1962crop_zpsa635

#111 GMACKIE

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Posted 08 June 2014 - 01:33

Anyone know how Jim Robson is ?.....Has he reached 100 ?



#112 Ray Bell

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Posted 08 June 2014 - 01:38

Max is in regular contact with him...

He must be awfully close to the ton, Paddy died a few years ago, Mark is still with Jim.

#113 Lee Nicolle

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Posted 08 June 2014 - 08:25

Copied from the Orion thread....having a go :up:

PICT0050_zps5d7694c7.jpg

I dont think you want to get those corners wrong!



#114 Dick Willis

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Posted 08 June 2014 - 08:35

Anyone know how Jim Robson is ?.....Has he reached 100 ?

Had a note from him recently, he is 98, had to surrender his driving licence !

 

He also said "Tell Greg I still have the same sort of strides, but not the ones I had in WW2"  

 

Greg, I hope you know what he means by this.



#115 GMACKIE

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Posted 08 June 2014 - 09:15

Had a note from him recently, he is 98, had to surrender his driving licence !

 

He also said "Tell Greg I still have the same sort of strides, but not the ones I had in WW2"  

 

Greg, I hope you know what he means by this.

Sounds like Jim is still sharp as a tack, Dick. :up:

 

The "strides" comment it about my remark, some time back, about Jim always wearing corduroy trousers.

 

Please give Jim my best wishes, next time you contact him.



#116 275 GTB-4

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Posted 24 February 2015 - 21:01

With many references to Jim Robson plus pics,on this thread I regret to report that Jim passed away in Tasmania last Sunday after a short illness. He had recently turned 99, having had a most interesting career as previously detailed.



#117 DanTra2858

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Posted 25 February 2015 - 00:17

RIP Jim, a beliver in " Build it and they will come", many thanks for Silverdale.

#118 Ray Bell

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Posted 25 February 2015 - 01:28

Jim was still sharp as a tack to his final days...

I've had a long conversation with Mark, whose expression, "Most people don't get to choose their parents." has some significant meaning. The sharpness and the wit of Jim shines through in Mark's stories about him and I'm hoping he'll come here to add to our collective knowledge of this grand gentleman who loved motor sport and hillclimbing.

#119 planeimages

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Posted 17 December 2015 - 10:41

Hi Peter Finlay here rather belatedly. Hi Ray, Dick, Greg and others who contribute to this forum.

 

Some points.

 

Bob Forbes initially ran a unique all-red two-door MK I Cortina GT. This was in 1966. I ran a black Mini Cooper 998cc. I won the first round of the 1966 NSW HCC at Amaroo Park. The end result of the championship was 1. Herb Taylor X2 Holden, 2.  me in the Cooper, 3. Bob Forbes in the GT, 4=. Phil Edwards in his  Cooper S who tied with Ted Witherdin in his Alfa TI.

 

The following year, I rented the Forbes' Cortina (Joyce actually owned it and I frightened the poor lass with my dive into the Dipper). Bob borrowed the late Terry Johnson's off-white and maroon Cooper S which ran on road tyres and, later, he bought the Bob Holden Bathurst-winning green Cooper S to which be fitted Dunlop racing tyres.

 

In 1997 I started running my Nota Vee and usually won the class and that division in the NSWHCC over the next couple of years. I set the first "under 40 seconds" Formula Vee time at Silverdale in 39.98 sec.  I think. I'd have to ask Damon Beck who also managed to get under 40 seonds in his Rennmax but it must have been by a fraction as his time wasn't less then mine.

 

I have wonderful memoris of Silverdale. Mum took me there in the early 60s. Yes, the Geoghegans drove there, Max Brunninghausen in his SP250, Pedro Owen in a red and black Austin Healey, The Cooper Vincents were most memorable for their sharp crackle exhaust notes and whiff of Castol R and Methanol. Erol Richardson's Austin Seven and later his Rennmax were beautifully prepared and driven. Ralph Sach in Nota Din and Mini Din. Bob Caddy and his sister Lynette who had a green Spriget with black wire wheels.

 

On one of my first visits, after gaining my driving licence, I had the delightful company of a beautiful young lass from Penrith who was studying Physiotherapy at RPAH. She wore a pretty pink dress and high heel shoes. Can you imagine her climbing up to "Ambulance Corner" in that regalia? She married a vet who later attended my advanced driving school and who went into Formula Vee racing.

 

I departed the hillclimb scene in 1970-1 to pursue a career in single seaters in the UK and Europe. I won three races in England in the first season in 1972 and damn near won the 1973 European Formula Ford Championship. "Missed it by just that much".. one point and finished just behind Hans Binder, the winner. He was given a "works" F3 drive as his prize.

 

In 1992 I re-entered the hillclimbing fray with a Van Diemen RF85 which was one of four cars we ran in our Racing Drivers' School. The decision was made to chase the outright championship in 1993. I chose to use the Mawer Formula Ford, the original iteration of which had been owned and driven by Paul Bernasconi in the 1975 TAA Driver to Europe series. He and I were in the Grace Bros-Levis team and battled furiously for the season with him winning by, you guessed it, one point with Peter Larner just behind.

 

For a while, it looked like I would move into ANF2 with a Bown P6 with the GB-LT (Not that GBLT you at the back) to be purchased by the late Terry O'Neill of GS Motor Bodies. My heart wasn't in it and had a young family and needed a home for us all so I retired from motor sport. Wouldn't even watch the GPs on TV although I was the advertising manager of RCN and instructed at the Peter Wherrett Advanced Driving School.

 

Anyway, back to 1993. John Burrows, Ivan Tighe and several others were the top dogs but I put the cat amongst the pigeons with the Mawer FF, initially running groved slicks and progressively adding wings and a supercharger. I won the round held on part of the Amaroo Park racing circuit.

 

I won the NSW title in 1994,5,and 6 until Peter Gumley developed the Wortmeyer SCV to become virtually invincible. I even imported the "works" Pilbeam MP62 Vauxhall for the AGCC at Bathurst in 1996. I shared the car with former British HC Champ, Alister Douglas Osborn, and Mike Pilbeam came out with him. Pete Gumley took the first of his 10 AHCCs and I followed in second place. Bridesmaid again. Alister was third.

 

Gaye and I went to England for a month in June 1997 where I drove a Pilbeam MP52 Cosworth at the 50th anniversary of the RAC British HCC at Shelsley Walsh then the new "works" Pilbeam MP82 at Loton Park and Prescott after a test day at Curborough. Ferrari aerodynamicist the Australian Willem Toet had a contract to drive the MP82 and I was the second driver. I put the wind up him by beating his previous best tmes at Loton Park on my first practice run. I ended up thrid in class and 13th outright at Loton and Prescott.

 

Later, Darren Baker and I bought the ex-Paul Hamilton 77B March and fitted it with the 2 litre YBM Cosworth which we removed from another 77B from NZ. We fitted a Lysholm screw blower, fuel  injection and Motec and ran on methanol. Noisy by not very fast. It thought I had the AHCC in the bag at Grafton in 2002 after day one but slipped back on the Sunday to finish 3rd behind PG and Garry West. I announced my final retirement and bought a motor boat.  ;)



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#120 planeimages

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Posted 17 December 2015 - 10:51

Just found the time in my scrapbook: 39.93 seconds, so Damon must have recorded something just under 40. In my cuttings I see a mention of Peter Ulbrik (sic) in the Lynx Peugeot. This was Colin Bond's famous car. I am led to believe that this beautiful machine has been left to rot. Can anyone elucidate please?  Is Damon still with us? He has been suffering from a tumour to his brain for many years now and has been in specialised care.



#121 Ray Bell

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Posted 17 December 2015 - 13:23

I visited Damon a few months ago, perhaps July...

He was still mobile and is living in a high-care situation in a nursing home at Castle Hill. He can't be reached by phone because he can't make his hands function to answer the phone. He told me that visits from his family are rare, that hurts him, clearly he hasn't a lot of time left but that wasn't a part of our discussion.

A visit from you would undoubtedly be appreciated, Peter. I can dig up the details if you want.

You are correct, by the way, about the spelling of Peter Ulbrich's name. I have no idea, however, about the car. What a history it had, Colin Bond bought it from Bob Holden, it competed in International events, won a bundle of hillclimbs and carried Bondy from obscurity to the verge of fame.

1967 at Silverdale you did 45.35 in the Cortina, beating Bob's times. I can't find where you ran the Vee there, it might have been at a non-title round, which was one of the other good things about Silverdale. Their timing gear and crew was the same for every event, so records could be set on a club day and stand no matter what.

#122 planeimages

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Posted 26 December 2015 - 23:46

Many thanks Ray. I think I was a bit harder on the GT than Bob. After all, I was renting it from Joyce and you know what they say about rental cars! At Dapto in 1967, Kevin Pascoe's wife, Caroline, cleverly changed the R in the "RF 200" rear number plate top read "PF200" with a piece of black tape. RF & JF weren't particularly amused and JF thought, until many years later, that I had done this heinous thing. 

 

I ran the Vee several times over the years 1997-1970 in NSW State championship events and clubbies. You are absolutely correct about how the Lynx Peugeot set CB on the road to fame. I was with him and his friends on the evening after he returned from his first test drive of the car at OP. That and sitting in the LP in the camping area at Narooma at Xmas 1965 after Col and Bob Riley had run at Hume Weir where I had planned to drive my Mini Cooper but had to drop out due to lack of $$. I'd have to say that CB and the Lynx were inspirational to me and , years later, the concept of fitting a supercharger to the Mawer FF to contest the NSWHCC in 1994 was based on the Lynx.

 

Hopefully, one day, Ulbrich will see sense and drag the Lynx from out of the paddock where I understand he left her "for his children": I also understand that another Lynx owner managed to borrow the Lynx-Peugeot's nose piece for use as a buck for a mould

 

I tried to get Bob to bring one of his toys out for a Silverdale circa 1975. I planned to take the Palliser FF. What a marvelous return to one's roots to run in a car which I had driven in the UK and Europe.

 

I saw a Facebook entry with DB, Jenny and one of his daughters recently. You may have heard that Melody Beck is doing very well with her professional singling. Runs in the family, you will know that Damon was into G&S and Jenny was an accomplished singer.



#123 Ray Bell

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Posted 27 December 2015 - 03:53

Perhaps Jenny has been to see him since I last did...

But he was quite anxious about the way she was neglecting him over several of the last conversations I had. He's always very proud of his daughters and speaks of them a lot, but I didn't know that Melody was into melody, if I can put it that way. Nor did I know about Damon or Jenny singing.

Supercharging a car like a Formula Ford, which is inherently narrower than, say, an F2 or Atlantic, would be a good idea for the confines of the hills. That little supercharged BT14 replica which Britto has at the moment would be a nice bit of kit for that job, I'd think.

#124 Catalina Park

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Posted 27 December 2015 - 05:02

..it might have been at a non-title round, which was one of the other good things about Silverdale. Their timing gear and crew was the same for every event, so records could be set on a club day and stand no matter what.

Not when I was running, only one meeting I went to was a designated "Records Day" where record could be set.

#125 GMACKIE

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Posted 27 December 2015 - 05:38

Spot on, C.P. :up: 

 

I built the timing gear at Silverdale, by the way.



#126 Ray Bell

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Posted 27 December 2015 - 15:22

That's the way Jim explained it to me...

He was at the time justifying the cost of hire of the hill, explaining that it included the timing gear and crew.

#127 SJ Lambert

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Posted 21 February 2016 - 05:34

Whatever became of Bob Forbes?  I have a friend overseas who's interest is Cortinas and is interested in any that Bob ran.



#128 GMACKIE

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Posted 21 February 2016 - 06:21

Bob took up sailing...Catamarans, I think.



#129 Ray Bell

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Posted 21 February 2016 - 10:34

Peter Finlay, who sometimes posts here, probably still keeps in touch with Bob and Joyce...

#130 SJ Lambert

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Posted 22 February 2016 - 07:30

Does he post as "Peter Finlay" ?

 

He's got questions of Bob as to Lotus Cortina(s).



#131 GMACKIE

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Posted 22 February 2016 - 08:04

Peter is on here as 'planeimages'.



#132 planeimages

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Posted 27 February 2016 - 10:10

SJ Lambert. If you send me an email to peterfinlay07atoptusnet.com.au I may be able to pass it on to the person to whom you refer if your request is legitimate.

 

BTW, The person referred to :yawnface: got into catamarans in a big way. Started with a Hobie 16 with CB, raced in long distance, open ocean events in the US, imported Prindle and NACRA boats and set up local manufacturing of the latter. Younger son became multiple world champ and runner up in Olympic Tornadoes.


Edited by planeimages, 28 February 2016 - 06:31.