483 replies to this topic

[Lee Nicolle]

Having been a long time Sports Sedan competitor until 2000 it would be interesting to hear other members stories and see their pics of these cars. The class evolved in the late 60s and was at times nearly as popular as Touring Cars. The cars have ranged from true low buck homebuilt cars to professionally built and engineered cars. They can be frighteningly quick and very spectacular.
It is still going though seems to have got a bit fat and stale these days, complete with some US Trams Am cars.
Quite a few people on this forum have owned, raced, built or maintained cars.

[Ray Bell]

Back in the late sixties I was looking at Sport Sedans as a means of entering the sport...

They were cheap, you could use anything, they would necessarily be fun. I planned a Simca Aronde with a Holden 6, but it never happened.

The genesis of Sports Sedans was the end of Appendix J in 1963. There were cars aplenty which were ruled out of the new Improved Touring category because of their modifications, mostly oversize engines (0.040" maximum overbore in Improved Touring). Apart from that, more modern cars were arriving and being used, so older cars like the Holden FJ and so on were no longer able to do so well, apart from the fact that the class for the Holdens now went to 3-litres instead of 2.6. 179s were the order of the day.

So organisers recognised this massive potential entry and created races for them. The cars still complied with all Sports Car regulations... mudguards, headlights etc... so they listed races for 'Sports Racing - Closed (by invitation)' in their supplementary regulations.

It was only a little while before people started to take advantage of the freedoms this offered. They weren't any longer bound by Appendix J rules, so engine swaps and gearbox swaps were in. Disc brakes could be fitted. And so on. A Healey 4 engine in a Peugeot 203... a Holden 179 engine in an FJ... a 4-speed gearbox behind the 179. It was easy, cheap and fast. Gut the car, take out the back seats and door trims, drill holes in the surplus metal of the body, revamp the suspension. It all made them faster. Or some of them, anyway.

Rules for the class weren't written until about 1969 or so, some of them were crazy. 'Engine must come from the same manufacturer as the body," for instance. Keith Law's Holden-engined Mini fell foul of that one.

But it was all good fun till the money started to pour into it...

[Terry Walker]

Typical ultra-low budget sports sedan: my Anglia 105E road car, with second hand GT Cortina engine and gearbox, and Cortina disc front brakes. Lasted 101 laps of the 1970 Six Hour Race at Wanneroo Park before breaking a piston. Actually not bad for an engine that wasn't fully rebuilt, just slotted in more or less as found.

[Amaroo Park]

A couple of prolific posters on here have had a lot to do with Ford Sports Sedans over the years, hopefully they will post some of there stories etc here for you

[Lee Nicolle]

Back in the late sixties I was looking at Sport Sedans as a means of entering the sport...

They were cheap, you could use anything, they would necessarily be fun. I planned a Simca Aronde with a Holden 6, but it never happened.

The genesis of Sports Sedans was the end of Appendix J in 1963. There were cars aplenty which were ruled out of the new Improved Touring category because of their modifications, mostly oversize engines (0.040" maximum overbore in Improved Touring). Apart from that, more modern cars were arriving and being used, so older cars like the Holden FJ and so on were no longer able to do so well, apart from the fact that the class for the Holdens now went to 3-litres instead of 2.6. 179s were the order of the day.

So organisers recognised this massive potential entry and created races for them. The cars still complied with all Sports Car regulations... mudguards, headlights etc... so they listed races for 'Sports Racing - Closed (by invitation)' in their supplementary regulations.

It was only a little while before people started to take advantage of the freedoms this offered. They weren't any longer bound by Appendix J rules, so engine swaps and gearbox swaps were in. Disc brakes could be fitted. And so on. A Healey 4 engine in a Peugeot 203... a Holden 179 engine in an FJ... a 4-speed gearbox behind the 179. It was easy, cheap and fast. Gut the car, take out the back seats and door trims, drill holes in the surplus metal of the body, revamp the suspension. It all made them faster. Or some of them, anyway.

Rules for the class weren't written until about 1969 or so, some of them were crazy. 'Engine must come from the same manufacturer as the body," for instance. Keith Law's Holden-engined Mini fell foul of that one.

But it was all good fun till the money started to pour into it...

There was some pretty wild stuff by the late 60s inc chop top cars, fast back Minis etc and some was pretty dangerous [even for the day]
I guess Brocks A30 was quite advanced for the period and that was about 1970.

A Holden engined Simca would have been a decent thing, light strong car with decent handling. There was a few on the road and it seemed a good swap.

[Ray Bell]

That's right... and we planned a Zephyr Mk I rear end...

It was very narrow, narrow enough to go in the Simca. It also had semi-floating axles and a few ratios available (a 4.1 from a Consul included?) and that led to the thought that maybe a Mk II Zephyr engine would be cheaper than a 179. I've forgotten what gearbox we planned, maybe Peugeot?

You're right, the Buckle Monacos were in there, and the Broadspeed Mini, they might have looked dangerous but I don't think they were significantly more so than other stuff.

Brock's A30 was being planned in 1965, I have to add. He told me about it when I met him in January 1966 and he started work on it about the end of that year. Its first meeting was October 1967, it was racing with some notoriety and success before mid-68 and it got him the Bathurst drive in '69 before the second anniversary of its debut.

During the planning stages it was going to have a straight 179 X2 engine, but clearly the competition was hotting up so his engine became more appropriate to the time. Triple SUs, of course, just like 'Splaw' had!

[Lee Nicolle]

That's right... and we planned a Zephyr Mk I rear end...

It was very narrow, narrow enough to go in the Simca. It also had semi-floating axles and a few ratios available (a 4.1 from a Consul included?) and that led to the thought that maybe a Mk II Zephyr engine would be cheaper than a 179. I've forgotten what gearbox we planned, maybe Peugeot?

You're right, the Buckle Monacos were in there, and the Broadspeed Mini, they might have looked dangerous but I don't think they were significantly more so than other stuff.

Brock's A30 was being planned in 1965, I have to add. He told me about it when I met him in January 1966 and he started work on it about the end of that year. Its first meeting was October 1967, it was racing with some notoriety and success before mid-68 and it got him the Bathurst drive in '69 before the second anniversary of its debut.

During the planning stages it was going to have a straight 179 X2 engine, but clearly the competition was hotting up so his engine became more appropriate to the time. Triple SUs, of course, just like 'Splaw' had!

Just be glad you did not use that Mk 1 Z car diff, they snap axles like carrots !!

[Wirra]

Edited by Wirra, 23 February 2010 - 03:27.

[Lee Nicolle]

Nice pics Wirra.
Since I am too computer challenged to put pics on this site their is a pic of my old Torana Chev on the 'Bob Jane Cars, where are they' thread on P1 as it is now. Apart from the LJ grille and the color scheme it is the same in Rob Solomons hands.

[Terry Walker]

Wanneroo, 1990s I guess, unidentified pic in the WA Sporting Car Club archive. Cos Monterosso from, I think, South Australia. Judging by those back wheels, definitely not a 2 litre four.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Lee Nicolle
Just be glad you did not use that Mk 1 Z car diff, they snap axles like carrots!

You're right, and we knew about the fine splines of the Mk II being stronger, so it must have been the plan to use them with the Mk I Consul ratio.

Wirra...

Like the pic of the Jubilee XP Falcon. Wasn't that built by Ray Morris and then raced by Wayne Rogerson until it mounted the fence at Catalina?

[seldo]

You're right, and we knew about the fine splines of the Mk II being stronger, so it must have been the plan to use them with the Mk I Consul ratio.

Wirra...

Like the pic of the Jubilee XP Falcon. Wasn't that built by Ray Morris and then raced by Wayne Rogerson until it mounted the fence at Catalina?

It was built by Ray Morris initially in only a couple of weeks for the Surfers Paradise 12hr race. It was very mild 289/302 auto and un-developed for a couple of years while Ray raced it and then Bob took over before it was sold on to Wayne Rogerson.

[David Shaw]

Wanneroo, 1990s I guess, unidentified pic in the WA Sporting Car Club archive. Cos Monterosso from, I think, South Australia. Judging by those back wheels, definitely not a 2 litre four.

6 litre Chev from memory, which the RS 6000 decal on the guard hints at.

[fredeuce]

Here are some pics taken at the re-opening of the Mallala circuit in June 1982.
Charger is that of none other than track owner Clem Smith. The Escort is the other Monteroso , Mick. This one sported 2ltr BDA Cosworth. Clem and Mick had some titanic battles with these cars back then.












This one I believe is Peter Whitbread with his Rotary powered Renault.

Edited by fredeuce, 23 February 2010 - 08:14.

[fredeuce]

Here is another bunch same place but about 12 months later. Note that Clem is now running the big 19" wheels. I recollect at one event and this may have been it where Clem and Mick swapped cars. Now Clem could certainly peddle that Charger but Mick really had that car wound up and did it fly. Lee you might be able to help in identifying some of the others here

[Terry Walker]

Dick Ward's incredible Fiat 600 Abarth sports sedan. Began life as a stock LHD Fiat 600, purchased by Dick in Canada to tour Canada and USA in the 60s; converted to Abarth 850 twincam specs from a wrecked racing Abarth when Dick was in UK; raced back in Western Australia as an Abarth until the engine went phut in the late 70s; no spares available any more, so Corolla engine went in; finally a Mazda rotary, along with Hewland Box, and all wishbone racing suspension; raced all over Australia and south east Asia until wrecked at Wanneroo Park; stored until 2008 or so, restored to racing configuration again, and now used in sprints, hillclimbs and like events.

Edited by Terry Walker, 23 February 2010 - 11:37.

[Lee Nicolle]

Wanneroo, 1990s I guess, unidentified pic in the WA Sporting Car Club archive. Cos Monterosso from, I think, South Australia. Judging by those back wheels, definitely not a 2 litre four.

The Escort is a K&A built car that was built for a Chev though originally ran with a BDG. When Cos retired his brother Mick bought the car and was very succesful with it up to about 3 years ago. It has since ben sold and will be fitted with a SR20 Nissan Turbo.

[Lee Nicolle]

Here is another bunch same place but about 12 months later. Note that Clem is now running the big 19" wheels. I recollect at one event and this may have been it where Clem and Mick swapped cars. Now Clem could certainly peddle that Charger but Mick really had that car wound up and did it fly. Lee you might be able to help in identifying some of the others here

Having raced nearly all those early Mallala meetings I can put a name and some history to the cars. Clem still has his Charger, back in Sports Sedan spec instead of the 19" wheel GT spec. He uses it once a year as the Pace Car for the Clem Smith trohy race for Sports Sedans at Mallala. 355 race block mopar power with W2 heads and a 4 speed Can Am Hewland.
Micks Mk1 Escort which was very extensivly rebuilt ex Phil Ward car went to Barney Newbound in Victoria who had a huge crash in it and destroyed it. It was rebuilt, reshelled nominally the same and was still very quick. Last heard of with Kevin Eyles in Vic.
The no25 Datto 1200 is Goerge Carter and it is Irving headed Holden power. I believe Goerge still owns it.
95 FJ is the ex Colin Morris, Rob Smith in Jim Myhills hands and he still owns it.
The no 29 Renault Dauphine is rotary powered and is driven either by Dick Clutterbuck or Peter Whitbread.
The 54 Torana Hatch is driven by John Beasley and had 265 Hemi power, last raced late 90s with a Chev.
The yellow HQ coupe is the Develco car of Peter Finch. Last seen in Perth.
The 23 Escort is Wayne Sutton with 2L Ford turbo
The no 4 Blue Torana is James Rosenberg. That car had a big crash turn 1 at Mallala and was never raced again.I have the drivers door from it which is about the only straight panel left. James bought the ex Bernie Stack Gp C Commodore and raced it as a Sports Sedan

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 02 March 2010 - 03:33.

[Lee Nicolle]

There was around 50 Sports Sedans at the opening Mallala meet which was won by Doug Byrne in a Mini!!

[fredeuce]

Lee,
Thanks for all of the info on these cars. You mentioned Dick Clutterbuck. I recall that he raced an earlier model Renault R4 in hillclimbs. That was in the late 70's.
I used to work with Dick I wonder where he is these days?

[Lee Nicolle]

Lee,
Thanks for all of the info on these cars. You mentioned Dick Clutterbuck. I recall that he raced an earlier model Renault R4 in hillclimbs. That was in the late 70's.
I used to work with Dick I wonder where he is these days?

Dick raced a 750 Renault at Rallycross, and later the Dauphine on circuits but as far as i know that is it for Renaults.
I have not seen him in over 10 years.

[Lee Nicolle]

Dick Ward's incredible Fiat 600 Abarth sports sedan. Began life as a stock LHD Fiat 600, purchased by Dick in Canada to tour Canada and USA in the 60s; converted to Abarth 850 twincam specs from a wrecked racing Abarth when Dick was in UK; raced back in Western Australia as an Abarth until the engine went phut in the late 70s; no spares available any more, so Corolla engine went in; finally a Mazda rotary, along with Hewland Box, and all wishbone racing suspension; raced all over Australia and south east Asia until wrecked at Wanneroo Park; stored until 2008 or so, restored to racing configuration again, and now used in sprints, hillclimbs and like events.

I believe that Dick is playing hillclimbs and Sprints with Rob Solomon in my old Torana.

[Dale Harvey]

It was built by Ray Morris initially in only a couple of weeks for the Surfers Paradise 12hr race. It was very mild 289/302 auto and un-developed for a couple of years while Ray raced it and then Bob took over before it was sold on to Wayne Rogerson.

It was also raced by Brian Lawler and I think that could be him in the shot from Bathurst.

Dale.

[nivola]

Dick slightly bent the "Mighty Mouse" in Albany last year. Spent a night in Hospital so it wasnt a small off. Canned the event for the day actually. So she is in rebuild stage again.

Dick is still punting around the RX7 though




So that torana was yours Lee. Whats some of the history of it? Rob doesn't bring it out much.

[Lee Nicolle]

Dick slightly bent the "Mighty Mouse" in Albany last year. Spent a night in Hospital so it wasnt a small off. Canned the event for the day actually. So she is in rebuild stage again.

Dick is still punting around the RX7 though




So that torana was yours Lee. Whats some of the history of it? Rob doesn't bring it out much.

My Torana was built in 1980 in Perth by a Steve James, it came over here for the Twin State Challenge in about 82 and blew the third engine in 3 meetings [or similar] and he sold it to a local Adelaide racer Kim Rover. Kim raced it for about a year with his own mechanicals then with house moves etc lost interest so I aquired it less motor and gearbox in late 83. I used the mechanicals from my HR Holden ex rallycross then sports sedan. I used all my brakes, engine, gearbox and diff. First time out I crashed [without much damage] it when the steering rack broke and no steering !!
From then on it was a constant development with lightening, suspension work then fitting a mild 350 Chev [I wanted an Irving head engine and could not afford it]
From then on it developed with bigger brakes, more radical suspension,3/4 spaceframe, ever bigger wheels and tyres, more horsepower to be a consistent top 10 runner at national level. While never a top car[ always very small budget] it was usually very reliable and consistent and beat a whole lot of far more expensive cars consistently.
In the end it weighed 1010 kilos with driver and with its small frontal area and with 580 hp was a very interesting exercise. With the previous 530 hp variation of the engine it was a consistent 172 mph into turn 1 at Philip Island, it never got there with the better engine.
I last raced it at Sandown October 2000, after that it only left my property once [GM day] until Rob bought it in 2007.
I raced it at Mallala, AIR, Sandown, Winton, Philip Island, Collingrove in the years I raced it. Costs, rule changes, officialdom was the reason I quit though I still miss it.
I have aquired an Improved Production XE Falcon 351C last year and am doing the occasional hillclimb and sprint and ofcourse it is costing more than I budgeted for though compatitivly very cheap.
And I am still doing the occasional Classic Speedway event in a Supermodified that I bought in 93.

[Lee Nicolle]

I raced against Dick Ward and Rob Solomon a couple of times. With James Rosenberg in James Torana we should have won the 60 lap enduro at AIR in the early 90s but a few laps from the end we let them past thinking they were a lap down. They were not! Team manager [myself] screwed up. James could have upped the pace to keep them out but was in conservation mode.
The Mazda was over here for at least one Mallala meet and the Fiat raced here too a couple of times.

[Wirra]

...Like the pic of the Jubilee XP Falcon. Wasn't that built by Ray Morris and then raced by Wayne Rogerson until it mounted the fence at Catalina?

It was also raced by Brian Lawler and I think that could be him in the shot from Bathurst.
Dale.

RHD - LHD... same car?

[Lee Nicolle]

RHD - LHD... same car?

One is an XM 4 door and one an XP Coupe. Different car same color scheme. Nice pics

[nivola]

My Torana was built in 1980 in Perth by a Steve James, it came over here for the Twin State Challenge in about 82 and blew the third engine in 3 meetings [or similar] and he sold it to a local Adelaide racer Kim Rover. Kim raced it for about a year with his own mechanicals then with house moves etc lost interest so I aquired it less motor and gearbox in late 83. I used the mechanicals from my HR Holden ex rallycross then sports sedan. I used all my brakes, engine, gearbox and diff. First time out I crashed [without much damage] it when the steering rack broke and no steering !!
From then on it was a constant development with lightening, suspension work then fitting a mild 350 Chev [I wanted an Irving head engine and could not afford it]
From then on it developed with bigger brakes, more radical suspension,3/4 spaceframe, ever bigger wheels and tyres, more horsepower to be a consistent top 10 runner at national level. While never a top car[ always very small budget] it was usually very reliable and consistent and beat a whole lot of far more expensive cars consistently.
In the end it weighed 1010 kilos with driver and with its small frontal area and with 580 hp was a very interesting exercise. With the previous 530 hp variation of the engine it was a consistent 172 mph into turn 1 at Philip Island, it never got there with the better engine.
I last raced it at Sandown October 2000, after that it only left my property once [GM day] until Rob bought it in 2007.
I raced it at Mallala, AIR, Sandown, Winton, Philip Island, Collingrove in the years I raced it. Costs, rule changes, officialdom was the reason I quit though I still miss it.
I have aquired an Improved Production XE Falcon 351C last year and am doing the occasional hillclimb and sprint and ofcourse it is costing more than I budgeted for though compatitivly very cheap.
And I am still doing the occasional Classic Speedway event in a Supermodified that I bought in 93.

It is very interesting to here this. The car arrived last year to i think one of the SES hill climbs and a supersprint and then has gone back into hiding! Rod has not raced it as such.

Interesting that is originally was a WA car. I will have to go the the old mans black and whites and slides and see if I can find an image.

Ray

[nivola]

I raced against Dick Ward and Rob Solomon a couple of times. With James Rosenberg in James Torana we should have won the 60 lap enduro at AIR in the early 90s but a few laps from the end we let them past thinking they were a lap down. They were not! Team manager [myself] screwed up. James could have upped the pace to keep them out but was in conservation mode.
The Mazda was over here for at least one Mallala meet and the Fiat raced here too a couple of times.

With the rx7 Wardy is now running I am sure it is the last built one. I think he bought it back from Tommy (Indonesia) a few years back. I think there are still 2 or 3 others around in the state. one is now driven by Cade Bell. I think Kim Ledger might still have the triple rotor and there is a bashed up one somewhere. 9 This may be the Wardy car if he didnt get it back out of Indonesia

Bells Car

[nivola]

If you look here at some of Dads images you will see the Mighty Mouse and the GTA Alfa of Basil's

http://biante12.com/...annerooMay1980/

[Lee Nicolle]

If you look here at some of Dads images you will see the Mighty Mouse and the GTA Alfa of Basil's

http://biante12.com/...annerooMay1980/

More family tradition motorsport with Basil Ricciardelo who runs the mighty Alfa GTV Chev driven by son Tony to several Aussie Championships and by Brian Smith before that.

[nivola]

I was planing on uploading more images on the long weekend but that didnt happen!

There a Sidchrome Pony and a certain Capri.

Ray

[nivola]

Here are 2 more from the West



Ray

[Ray Bell]

That looks a lot like Gordon Mitchell...

Who's beside him in the Holden?

[nivola]

You got the first half correct.

Now you just need to figure out the other one.

If you look in the Red Holden motorsport book ( The sister book is the yellow ford racing book ) you will see a shoot through the left hander. Shell

Ray

[Terry Walker]

No 75: Gordon Stephenson, I think.

[nivola]

Terry is on the ball.

Or was that reading the results pages!!!

Ray

[Lee Nicolle]

No 75: Gordon Stephenson, I think.

In the ex Peter Finch Monaro.

[Terry Walker]

Just memory: Gordon had No 75 for years. First colour photo I've see of that car, I've got several b+w from the WASCC photo archive I'm still sorting out for the Club.

[275 GTB-4]

Alan Grices's weapon...(been looking for these slides for years! Enjoy...)

[Lee Nicolle]

Alan Grices's weapon...(been looking for these slides for years! Enjoy...)

I raced against that car far later in the hands of John Gurney. Who also raced the ex Beasley Hatchback Torana pictured over the page. The crew had to lift the drivers door to close it. While it was fast it was quite unreliable. Cars like that need big dollars to run and maintain.

[Team Result]

...Rules for the class weren't written until about 1969 or so, some of them were crazy. 'Engine must come from the same manufacturer as the body," for instance. Keith Law's Holden-engined Mini fell foul of that one..
...

Not quite right there, Ray. As testified by all the Chev-powered non-GM cars around!

IIRC, Keith Law's car fell foul of the new reg requiring all Sports Sedans to have engine and transmission in the same relativity as the original car's. You may recall another Mini Sports Sedan. Paul Gulson cleverly used a Mazda rotary engine and Hewland transaxle, whereby the engine was mounted in reverse, almost beside the driver, and attached directly to the transaxle driving the front wheels. Most importantly the engine was angled upwards to such a degree that he could prove its centreline was above that of the transaxle and therefore both were in the same relative location as on the original car.

Of course, Frank Gardner's Corvair is the most well-known example of exploiting this regulation to build a winning Sports Sedan

[Ray Bell]

That was the rule, Ross...

I remember some interesting variations in cars built to that rule before it was dropped... and it was dropped, sure, so that there were cars built before it came in and cars built afterwards that didn't comply... and in typical Sports Sedan fashion nobody made anyone do anything about that.

Hence you had Falcon engines in Anglias, Ford V8s in Zephyrs and Chev V8s in FE Holdens. It may be you are right about the Law brothers' Mini, but I rather thought it was a result of the incoming rule about body and engine from the same family rule.

[Lee Nicolle]

Not quite right there, Ray. As testified by all the Chev-powered non-GM cars around!

IIRC, Keith Law's car fell foul of the new reg requiring all Sports Sedans to have engine and transmission in the same relativity as the original car's. You may recall another Mini Sports Sedan. Paul Gulson cleverly used a Mazda rotary engine and Hewland transaxle, whereby the engine was mounted in reverse, almost beside the driver, and attached directly to the transaxle driving the front wheels. Most importantly the engine was angled upwards to such a degree that he could prove its centreline was above that of the transaxle and therefore both were in the same relative location as on the original car.

Of course, Frank Gardner's Corvair is the most well-known example of exploiting this regulation to build a winning Sports Sedan

In the end those cars were banned. Having a mid engined Corvair was not what the ruled really ever meant. They just did not write them properly. Evidently when the rules changed the Corvair was stripped of all the good bits and the rest wes cut up and taken too the dump!!
The Gulson Mini survived but the engine did go up front. The Hume Brothers aquired it. I raced against it and the evolution car a few times. Very twitchy thing in a straight line!! And it could never get any temp into rear tyres. But 300hp and probably weighed 700 kilo.

[tania34]

Lee,
Thanks for all of the info on these cars. You mentioned Dick Clutterbuck. I recall that he raced an earlier model Renault R4 in hillclimbs. That was in the late 70's.
I used to work with Dick I wonder where he is these days?

Alive and well after a heart attack a couple of years ago, and living at Wistow.

[cavvy]

Alan Grices's weapon...(been looking for these slides for years! Enjoy...)

Yes, but which one? Great shots.

Then there was the Ian Grey/Harvey Yap JPS BMW that appeared in WA on a couple of occasions.

Edited by cavvy, 26 January 2011 - 01:30.

[Lee Nicolle]

Dick slightly bent the "Mighty Mouse" in Albany last year. Spent a night in Hospital so it wasnt a small off. Canned the event for the day actually. So she is in rebuild stage again.

Dick is still punting around the RX7 though




So that torana was yours Lee. Whats some of the history of it? Rob doesn't bring it out much.

I just spoke to Rob, I have got him some engine bits. He is hoping to race the car this year. I hope he does as it will be great to se it being used.

[ken devine]

We had some great sports sedan races in WA in the 70s and 80s.Allan Grice Corvier.





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[ken devine]

Jim Richards Falcon.





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