53 replies to this topic

[Wirra]

For a driver who gets honorable mentions in just about every serious discussion on Australian motor sport I couldn’t find a thread dedicated to KB on TNF - so here we go.

My earliest positive recollection KB is at a very early Oran Park, perhaps even the first, with him driving something other than the Lynx. My brother who was a little older told me car club tales of a young KB terrorising the good folk of Strathfield in his mother’s Morris Minor.

I felt he was often the bridesmaid in terms of equipment and his Gold Stars are testaments to his genuine ability. His duels with Spencer Martin, particularly for the first 100 MPH lap of Bathurst, are my fondest memories. I was so enthralled I forgot to take any photos!

What did he drive before the Lynx – I have a very vague notion of a A/H Sprite or the like?
Did his allegiance to Mildren ultimately help or hinder his career?
I believe he had a tilt at the US scene in F5000… how did that go?
Is it fair to say it all started to go pear-shaped with F5000, or does that apply to all Australian open-wheeler racing?
Am I correct in recalling a huge off at Sandown (Lola or a Brabham F5000 hybrid?) that gave him the Lola Limp?
Any career photo?
Any links to career details?
Just how good was he?







To KB - A long life Sir, and thanks for the memories.

[Lee Nicolle]

I think the Lola limp was from a crash in New Zealand. The Sandown crash did some arm damage. it is in a thread on here about catch fencing.
KB is a sometime contributor here on TNF

[Ray Bell]

http://forums.autosp...a...t&p=1304605

If I need to underline what I've said, just let me know...

[Wirra]

I would support the Kevin Bartlett case too - presuming this K.B. is he? Three years ago I was scaring the life out of my enforced 'navigator' in a Lotus-Cortina plummeting down the reverse slope of Montacute mountain special stage near Adelaide.

Imagine a narrow, patched, winding country road swooping downhill through dense, lush overhanging trees and bushes, with the hillside soaring up to your left and a drop into open paddock on your right. I'm going for gold when there's a Targa-like flicker in the mirror and it's Kev's Gulf-liveried GT40 which had made up a minute on us (on this exceptionally LONG, repeat LONG!!!) stage.

I really want to let him pass but I don't really see a chance to do so, until after a couple of hundred yards with the GT40 grumbling and thundering just under our back bumper we're sweeping round a steeply downhill left-hand curve into a 110-degree right-handed near-hairpin over a little bridge.

I tuck in as tight as I can to the left, brushing my wheels down the verge and wave him by - then almost look down on the 40-inch high roof as the GT40 explodes past us and virtually hand-stands with a flare of brake lights and violet flame flashing from its twin exhaust megaphones, before Kev has it sliding 45-degrees tail-out to the left, nose to the right before the apex of this extremely tight and narrow corner - with a really solid looking wall, bank and trees to the outside.

It's a fantastically dynamic scene, because we're teetering downhill with the wheels just about locking, the roadside bank and bushes are streaming by, the road's a blurr, and there's this dancing GT40...

We're still braking hard on the downslope, so momentarily we're poised above the GT40 - just off its starboard quarter - as it skews into that dished right-hander, and Kev floors the throttle and the pale-blue-and-orange car squats and wags and simply catapults out of sight like an artillery round......

That sight, seared into the memory, 3/4 rear GT40 from slightly above, under full throttle and sliding with just the merest balance of corrective lock, will long be cherished by this Lotus-Cortina crew.

We might be slow, but our hearts are in the right place.

DCN

Now that's the kind of post I was hoping to see. DCN on KB - does reminiscing get much better. Thank you both.

[Lee Nicolle]

Kevin putting the big blue Camaro on pole in the pouring rain was a very spectacular drive too and the worls saw it on TV.

[Ray Bell]

I frankly thought some of my descriptions were pretty helpful...

If you go through the whole thread you'll find them, one or two of them repeated with more or less detail.

[Wirra]

Keep you hat on:

Another driver with incredible car control, who I've seen do some marvellous things, is KB.

I'm sure many others will back me up in this.

When I mentioned KB, two specific instances came to mind...

Reversing at valve bounce in an EH Holden as he dodged between the piers to fling the thing into its parking spot under a motel in Brisbane - Jim and Carmen McGuire shaking their heads as he did so - and pitching his T400 backwards into the wall at Oran Park neatly and precisely when he had the brake line fail.

Peter Wherrett's description of his attack on the Bathurst esses when he set that 100mph lap record is another memorable point in a career studded with great drives.

IIRC Spencer Martin was a car length behind him - "you could throw a blanket over them" - and there was no noticable power/speed difference between the two so I assume Peter would have thought the same about Spencer.

Finally it has come to me... it really should have been one of the first things I thought of...

At Warwick Farm the esses lead to a set of faster esses entered as you cleared the Northern Crossing. That's a fast right, then there's a fast left past the start of the ornamental lake with the black swans in it... that's where I used to wave flags.

as one straightened up from the left hander you were already in the braking area for the Causeway. this was a very tight left hander into a narrow section across the centre of the little lake, with Armco each side, right on the edge of the road, with a slightly less tight left on the exit with a quick rush up to Polo Corner... this exit from the Causeway was directly behind the paddock area.

The car involved was this one... (ed. New photo of the car and the Causeway - Wirra)


This car was recognised as a difficult one, unlike the predecessor, the Mildren 'Yellow Submarine' which Kevin had revelled in with both Alfa 2.5 V8 and Waggott TC4V 2 litre engines. With the lump of Chevy in the back, F5000s were worst under brakes, I guess.

In that era of the M10B, they had taken a chance on this orphan chassis. but at its first outing it was difficult to get it to handle well - and I think it remained so for some time. In practice, Frank Matich had been the class of the field with a 1:23.9, much better than Graeme Lawrence in the ex-Amon 2.5 Ferrari Dino on 1:25.1, though he got down to a 1:24.4 in the last session. Leo Geoghegan with the Waggott TC4V-powered Lotus 59 had a 1:25.2, Niel Allen's M10B a 1:25.5 and Max Stewart's Rennmax with the same power as Geoghegan a 1:25.9, so KB was fifth on the grid with 1:26.1 before he also improved in the last session, getting fourth on the grid with a 1:25.7. David Walker had a 1:26.5 in the Lotus 70.

In the race Matich bolted with Allen passing Lawrence on the first lap as KB followed Geoghegan and Stewart. But the second lap saw KB get by the little cars and then he passed Lawrence to be a threat to Allen.

Manfully he forced this great hulk to perform the deed of staying with the top car in the class, but he was working it hard, and on the sixteenth lap he lost it entering the Causeway. It was a quick 180 degree spin, Lawrence and Geoghegan were right up behind him so he was there facing them as they entered the Causeway...

But KB didn't just spin and come to a stop... no sir! He was almost at rest when he dropped the clutch and powered on... but not going forwards... he had plucked reverse and backed off the Causeway, round the corner and did a quick front end throw to get the car spun around again... and still without coming to a stop had it in a forward gear and was off towards Polo as Geoghegan went by him!

Is that car control or what?

Maybe I diverge from some opinion, but I think 'car control' is only ever really shown in the extroverted manner... as described by Doug in his post about KB...

KB could also be smooth and quick, and anyone who saw him at Warwick Farm in the Mildren-Alfas would have thought so, but to have seen him a little earlier in the GTA, GTZ2 or the Brabham Climax would have been to see him displaying car control in that extroverted manner...

He never lost the flair, but it was subdued when necessary. I can recall just how far he could go in what might appear to be very ordinary circumstances... like towing a race car to the circuit. Behind Peter Owen's EH station wagon, in traffic in Bowen Bridge Road going out of Brisbane to Lakeside, he tired of the woman in, I think, a Morris Major, so when she got out of the way he wanted her to know of his ire as he went by...

He flicked the trailer with the TVR on it to within inches of her driver's door... then that night came that episode I've mentioned before, reversing the Holden between the pylons in the motel carpark at valve bounce... all to the amusement of the McGuires, this aging couple well aware of his capabilities and antics I have no doubt.

The payoff from this kind of ability is diminished in a modern racing car. Precision is called for, not flair. But in F5000 there was some scope, and when things go wrong there's even more... once again, the flicking of the T400 to put it backwards at Oran Park so he wouldn't hurt himself (he already wore plastic hips...) when it lost the rear brakes heading down into BP Bend.

Jenks always mentioned proprioception, the ability to know where one is in space when things get funny. KB's plucking of reverse gear mid-spin on the Causeway (between barriers only 28' apart...) and backing off that Causeway, round the bend off the Causeway in reverse gear, flicked the nose around and picked up second gear to start spinning the wheels in a forward direction as soon as he was nearly pointed in the right direction. To me that showed KB has proprioception...
.....With memories, long held memories, of KB and Johnny Walker side by side in Lolas, sweeping through the corner onto the main staight at Phillip Island.

Roostertails of spray off their rear wheels...

Slick-shod wheels.

Battling for the lead, neither giving up, slithering and skating and feeding in the V8 power, trying to get onto the straight ahead and with more speed.....

If you're referring to my post about KB, Ross, then consider that he raced well into the slick era. That was the major change that required greater precision, that brought more clearly defined limits beyond which there was no hope...

Thanks Ray.

Edited by Wirra, 17 June 2009 - 00:01.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Wirra
.....IIRC Spencer Martin was a car length behind him - "you could throw a blanket over them" - and there was no noticeable power/speed difference between the two so I assume Peter would have thought the same about Spencer.....

I think you'd have to say that KB's arrival in 2.5s created a huge amount of interest, and a lot of personal interest from Wherrett, who knew him well. They had both raced Lynxes at the same time and Peter was to employ KB in his driving school...

So maybe Peter's descriptions were coloured by that fact. But he certainly concentrated on KB's style in breaking that barrier at Bathurst and said little about Spencer except, IIRC, that 'whoever finished the first flying lap in front (or words to that effect...) would have the honour of setting the record.'

In other words, he realised that Spencer was capable of going fast enough to lap at 100mph, even though KB might have done it and might have done it with more flair.

Recall, though, that the previous August KB had made his debut in the car, a well worn thing (IMHO) compared to Spencer's car, at Surfers and troubled Jackie Stewart... who commended him on his driving.

.....Thanks Ray.

Think practically nothing of it...

Edited by Ray Bell, 17 June 2009 - 00:09.

[Direct Drive]

The Mildren is this thing isn't it? Photographed at the Winkelmann factory in UK way back in prehistoric times.

[David Shaw]

I believe that's the M10B.

[aaron]

I believe that's the M10B.

No its the Mildren. Only raced about 5 times. Yellow. KB didn't like it much. A1

[David Shaw]

Sorry, I was thinking of the previous Mildren, the 'Yellow Submarine'.

[cooper997]

Great idea for the KB thread, Wirra.

At the Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek last year, I stood and watched as KB waded through an enthusiast's collection of KB photos. KB giving a running commentary for most of them. Clearly the enthusiast wanted KB to sign them for him. With a little KB wit, he says "You don't want me to ruin them..."


Stephen

[Ray Bell]

Certainly is the Mildren, pre-yellow paint job...

Never seen that view of the car before. What did Winklemann have to do with it? And did the car run a lot of M10 suspension components?

[Wirra]

I get confused over those Lolas... I think this is a T300.


Lousy photo but great memories.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Wirra
I get confused over those Lolas... I think this is a T300.

Spot on, and I think that's Bob Levett standing in the background...

.....Lousy photo but great memories.

Better we see it than we don't...

'69 Bathurst?

[Wirra]

...'69 Bathurst?

Catalina, I think - possibly '68?

[Ray Bell]

You're right...

It couldn't be Bathurst in '69 because KB would have been in the Submarine... not to mention that he wasn't there because he had an adverse reaction to an injection prior to an overseas jaunt and that Leo ran high wings. And it would be unlikely for it to be Bathurst in '68 because Leo crashed in practice... though I don't rule that out. Were you at Bathurst in '68? The 'background' looks more like Bathurst, and the shadows.

If it was Catalina, they were running in this order in these cars at the June 9 meeting, when Leo won and KB had to come through the field.

[David Shaw]

Spot on, and I think that's Bob Levett standing in the background...



Better we see it than we don't...

'69 Bathurst?

Right numbers for Bathurst '68, but SCW states that Geoghegan's accident was on the 2nd lap of practice at McPhillamy. If this was Bathurst, this is the first lap of practice.

Also, there appears to be 1 or 2 sponsor's decals on Bartlett's car, so would this make it after June 1 1968 when advertising was allowed?

[Terry Marshall]

FYI, there are 5 or 6 photographs of KB in the M10, T300, and T400 racing in NZ in my book

LOOKING BACK.The Motor Sport Photography of Terry Marshall, published by HarperCollins.

My favourite is KB in the T400 shot head on into Bomb Bay corner at Wigram 74.


Terry.

Edited by Terry Marshall, 18 June 2009 - 09:41.

[Ray Bell]

None of the Mildren F5000 Terry?

David, that's the key to it. If Wirra was on the ball first lap of practice (though I wouldn't be surprised if the crash was the third lap... ie. before he came around for the third time so that he set a time on only one lap), that really does sit better with me.

I'm nearly certain that pic is taken from the spectator area just below the Shell Tower.

[David Shaw]

None of the Mildren F5000 Terry?

David, that's the key to it. If Wirra was on the ball first lap of practice (though I wouldn't be surprised if the crash was the third lap... ie. before he came around for the third time so that he set a time on only one lap), that really does sit better with me.

I'm nearly certain that pic is taken from the spectator area just below the Shell Tower.

That's where I thought of when I first saw the picture, just over Skyline. One thing that bothers me though, at that point wouldn't they be heading east or even southeast?
The sun appears to be in the wrong position for that, coming over the photographers right shoulder when I would expect it to be in front of him.

[Terry Marshall]

None of the Mildren F5000 Terry?

David, that's the key to it. If Wirra was on the ball first lap of practice (though I wouldn't be surprised if the crash was the third lap... ie. before he came around for the third time so that he set a time on only one lap), that really does sit better with me.

I'm nearly certain that pic is taken from the spectator area just below the Shell Tower.

Not in the book Ray. The easy part was taking the photographs. Editing what to use in the 230 odd pages was a bloody nightmare, especially as most are single or double page spreads. KB, Warwick Brown, Mac, Max,the 2 Frank's, all get some space.
The big saloons from both sides of the Tasman, and the good Pacific years are also included along with a smidgen of early 2.5 Tasman. The book is all in black and white.

Terry.

[David McKinney]

What did Winklemann have to do with it?

The car was designed by Len Bailey for Frank Gardner and built at the Palliser factory with which the Winkelman operation was linked. Palliser cars were at that time sold in the US as Winklemans
The car was originally called the Franklen-Palliser but raced only once (I think) before it was taken to Australia and renamed the Mildren-Chevrolet

[Ray Bell]

And, on its sale to Jack Wortmeyer it became something else again...

There was some kind of rule at that time about cars' names not changing, but Jack prevailed and had it called what he wanted.

[aaron]

And, on its sale to Jack Wortmeyer it became something else again...

There was some kind of rule at that time about cars' names not changing, but Jack prevailed and had it called what he wanted.

Ray, I tried to find that car, or what remained of it but drew a blank. Aaron.

[Wirra]

...I'm nearly certain that pic is taken from the spectator area just below the Shell Tower.

The single ARMCO railing confirms to me it's Catalina - down the dip on the short straight out of the Dunlop Loop, before the right hand kink on the run up to Craven A.

Here is one taken from my usual Bathurst point, ie. just past the first right hand curve out of The Cutting. Note the railway sleeper fencing. I would stand on an awkward rocky outcrop for a good view, it was a bit unsteady and every meeting I would use my amateur civil engineering skills to stabilise it - often wonder if that rock is still there!!!

[David Shaw]

- often wonder if that rock is still there!!!

No, it rolled down onto the track in 1980.

I note that the number is a different style to the other photo, and what appears to be a Goodyear logo beneath the quadrifoglio is absent too.
This last photo cannot be anything but 1968, so the first photo cannot be.

[Ray Bell]

Yes, I can see that location in that pic now, Wirra... thank you...

That this caused you to drag out the pic of KB accelerating up the Mountain is all to the good, of course.

[David Shaw]

Yes, I can see that location in that pic now, Wirra... thank you...

That this caused you to drag out the pic of KB accelerating up the Mountain is all to the good, of course.

It certainly is.
There's unseen twitching of arms and elbows in that frozen moment of time, constant corrections by the hands, not daring to ease the pressure on the right foot.

[Ray Bell]

Until, of course, the rear upright broke...

Got to keep these things in perspective. This is why you have that little pic in your avatar!

[Amaroo Park]

For many years I have read about and heard people talk about KB's pole lap from Bathurst in 1981 in the torrential rain. thanks to the Youtube I finally got to see it, absolutely brilliant one of the best shootout laps I have seen fantastic.

Obviously there is so much more to KB's career as has been mentioned above. Anyone who can drive open wheels as well as he did deserves the highest respect possible.

[Wirra]

...Recall, though, that the previous August KB had made his debut in the car, a well worn thing (IMHO) compared to Spencer's car, at Surfers and troubled Jackie Stewart... who commended him on his driving...

What was the Surfers meeting about? I wasn't aware that Stewart or anyone else came out here other than at Tasman times, or am I misreading something. Can you post some details, particularly the cars, practice time and fastest race laps.

I would still like to see information and photos that are pre-Mildren and/or of the US. Wikipedia information suggest he tried to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1970. Is that right? If so, was that his only venture to the US?

Edited by Wirra, 20 June 2009 - 00:23.

[David Shaw]

Wirra, if you click the link in my signature, The Races, 1966, Round 2.

[Wirra]

Thanks David - wonderful information.

Based of the data both Kevin and Spencer acquitted themselves well against Stewart, KB in particular with regard to qualifying and race lap times. However, it appears that Spencer overshadowed KB in most of the other rounds of that Gold Star.

[Team Result]

While many (including yt) rightly recall Kevin's manhandling of the Camaro in the wet at Bathurst to 'win' the top-ten shootout as a truly memorable feat, a much earlier drive also in the wet remains etched in my mind as KB's greatest win.

I refer to the 1967 Gold Star round at Lakeside. To set the scene of what was my fourth or fifth visit to 'the lake' as a
youthful spectator, decades later it remains possibly the wettest race meeting (OK, Surfers Paradise Tasman round in 1976? was wetter, but it was cancelled after Saturday qualifying!) I have ever attended! Not only was there a river flowing across the track at "Hungry", the area around there had actually turned into a second lake! The rain never stopped all day and by time the last race was run all the cars were running with their headlights on such was the gloominess. It was definitely a Sunday to stay at home!
However my best friend's father was a QMSC member and as such had season passes to the member's only Eastern Loop viewing area and never missed a meeting. So there we stood faces pressed against the cyclone fencing watching for lap after lap as superb a display of car control that I was to see in the ensuing 40 years of my motor sport involvement.
I can't recall if Kevin led from the start in his Brabham Climax or whether he had to fight past Spener Martin. I do remember after 10 or so laps he ripped his fogged-up goggles off and continued leading to the chequered flag. Ray will no doubt have the full RCN report at his fingertips to confirm the details. That particular issue featured a Col Atkinson? rendition of KB full noise and sideways under Shell Bridge on the cover. I can confirm that he used no artistic licence in that painting. As we watched from Hungry that was how KB drove every lap, goggles around his neck, opposite lock on the Brabham and rooster tails off the back tyres, the left one inches from the grass! For anyone unfamiliar with the curve under Shell Bridge, here's a link to the 1989 touring car crash there. It is not a bend for the faint-hearted in the dry!

I would be very interestd to hear from Kevin about this race and where he ranks it amongst his drives.

Ross Burbidge

[ellrosso]

Re KB's US foray, I can recall from the RCN report at the time he only just missed out on qualifying at Indy. Not sure of the quality of the machine he was driving, but I'd imagine if he was with a top team he would have made the cut easily.
Regards, ellrosso

[Ray Bell]

Ross, I'm afraid your recollection of the RCN cover is amiss...



Though KB won the day, it's Greg Cusack whose picture is shown. Unfortunately I missed that meeting too.

There is a pic of KB in the report with his goggles down at his chin and Des mentions that KB scared him coming out of the Karrussell sideways, steering with his left hand and using his right hand to try and wipe his goggles on his chest. KB led from the start with Cusack second ahead of Martin... Harvey closed on Geoghegan, who spun, then got ahead of Martin and was moving up on Cusack when Greg got into a mixup that led to all three of them going off the road. Spencer was 51 seconds behind KB at the end of the race.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Wirra
What was the Surfers meeting about? I wasn't aware that Stewart or anyone else came out here other than at Tasman times, or am I misreading something. Can you post some details, particularly the cars, practice time and fastest race laps.....

Stewart was here to drive the 250LM in the 12-hour... David put him into a Brabham (the one Jim Palmer had driven) for the Gold Star weekend and Jack Brabham was there with his 3-litre F1 car.

There was a short race in which Jack competed, but he didn't go far. Only a lap and a half before a rotor button failed... or so it was said. I don't know, by the way, if that was right or wrong, but at this distance it sounds suspicious.

Stewart and Bartlett made the pace in both races, with KB mostly in front from memory... Stewart drove the (later) Gold Star event without a clutch and blew the engine towards the finish, KB failed earlier than that when his magneto stopped working. Stewart had beaten KB in the shorter race, Kevin had only been driving the 2.5 for a couple of months.

[Team Result]

Ross, I'm afraid your recollection of the RCN cover is amiss...



Though KB won the day, it's Greg Cusack whose picture is shown. Unfortunately I missed that meeting too.

Close, but no cigar (as David might well say). I wish I still had my RCN collection then I wouldn't have to rely on ageing brain cells.

[Lee Nicolle]

While many (including yt) rightly recall Kevin's manhandling of the Camaro in the wet at Bathurst to 'win' the top-ten shootout as a truly memorable feat, a much earlier drive also in the wet remains etched in my mind as KB's greatest win.

I refer to the 1967 Gold Star round at Lakeside. To set the scene of what was my fourth or fifth visit to 'the lake' as a
youthful spectator, decades later it remains possibly the wettest race meeting (OK, Surfers Paradise Tasman round in 1976? was wetter, but it was cancelled after Saturday qualifying!) I have ever attended! Not only was there a river flowing across the track at "Hungry", the area around there had actually turned into a second lake! The rain never stopped all day and by time the last race was run all the cars were running with their headlights on such was the gloominess. It was definitely a Sunday to stay at home!
However my best friend's father was a QMSC member and as such had season passes to the member's only Eastern Loop viewing area and never missed a meeting. So there we stood faces pressed against the cyclone fencing watching for lap after lap as superb a display of car control that I was to see in the ensuing 40 years of my motor sport involvement.
I can't recall if Kevin led from the start in his Brabham Climax or whether he had to fight past Spener Martin. I do remember after 10 or so laps he ripped his fogged-up goggles off and continued leading to the chequered flag. Ray will no doubt have the full RCN report at his fingertips to confirm the details. That particular issue featured a Col Atkinson? rendition of KB full noise and sideways under Shell Bridge on the cover. I can confirm that he used no artistic licence in that painting. As we watched from Hungry that was how KB drove every lap, goggles around his neck, opposite lock on the Brabham and rooster tails off the back tyres, the left one inches from the grass! For anyone unfamiliar with the curve under Shell Bridge, here's a link to the 1989 touring car crash there. It is not a bend for the faint-hearted in the dry!

I would be very interestd to hear from Kevin about this race and where he ranks it amongst his drives.

Ross Burbidge

I looked at that clip and found another excellent clip about Lakeside. 'Lakeside Raceway Special on 7 news flashback' And it shows some footage from that era
I was unaware that Lakeside had reopened, seemed dangerous but also a ballsy, fast place. Dicky Johnson always loved the place.

[Wirra]

Hadn't even thought about researching on Youtube.

Here is great coverage of KB holding off Alan Hamilton and Graham Lawrance for second in the '71 AGP.

1971 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm

Edited by Wirra, 14 August 2009 - 06:57.

[SJ Lambert]

Catalina, I think - possibly '68?

KB must have been as busy as a one legged man back in those days! He even found time to test a little Elfin Sporty in early '67 when Alec Mildren was cogitating on which way, if any, to go with Sports Racers.............

KB Mallala '67

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[gkennedy]

I remember KB at Warwick Farm. I remember him in Pedro Owen's dark silver TVR Grantura. I remember him in the flimsy yellow Alfa GTz, and I remember him in various Alfas with Doug Chivas and others at Sandown and Bathurst. I remember him in the Mildren Maserati sportie Bob Brittain creation (when Ralph Sach wasn't driving), and I remember him of course in Gossie's Macleod Ford Falcon - and the 9 Camaro. I remember KB in the Mildren Waggott, various Brabhams and all sorts of things. I remember him in the big days of Oran Park and the F5000s. Always at or near the front, and always getting more attitude and speed out of the car than most thought possible.

I can't recount dates and details like some on here, but I'm just one of many who admires blokes like KB who can wring the neck of a car, make it go faster than most thought possible, and inspire us to appreciate what some people can get racing cars to do.

I hardly missed a Warwick Farm, Catalina, Amaroo or Oran Park from 1962 until their demise(s), nor a Bathurst (Easter or October) from 1966 until fairly recent times. KB was a big part of a lot of those race meetings, and why blokes like me went to watch.

[SJ Lambert]

This would have been one of the Alfas he used to run back in the sixties in conjnction with open wheelers for the Mildren Team?

Taken at Albert Park GP meet this year.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Ray Bell]

Mildren's use of the GTZ was brief...

The TZ2 replaced it, of course.

[gkennedy]

It was the TZ2 that I remember. Did KB actually race a GTZ? I remember Max Brunninghausen raced a white one for a while, but it's the TZ2 that I remember. IIRC, it was a lightweight version. You could hear body panels rattling as it came over the Northern Crossing (no, not the actual panels that made up the Crossing, the body panels.)

It looked like this: http://www.classicdr...12616/img03.jpg but yellow, of course.

Ray, (or any Elfin experts): Can you recall the Elfin Imp that KB drove?

[BT 35-8]

The Elfin Imp would have been Jim and Carmen McGuire's car , chassis 6318 has
been owned for a long while by Max McPherson of Victoria.

Bryan Miller.

[Wirra]

KB
http://www.autopics....c.html?cache=no

Max Brunninghausen

Slightly different air intake configurations (Max with the 250 GTO tri-scoops)

History = http://www.zagato-ca...en-us/d278.html

Edited by Wirra, 26 July 2010 - 10:02.

[Ray Bell]

I certainly remember the Elfin Imp...

Even ran at a Warwick Farm club meeting on the short circuit, I'm pretty sure.

Jim and Carmen were perfectionists and totally dedicated to the Rootes Group products. Their car was immaculate and because it was so light I think it was relatively easy for KB to toss it around and make it stay with much more powerful cars. It had a later model suspension, as I recall, than the earlier 'Catalina' models, possibly even Mono suspension.