107 replies to this topic

[lyntonh]

I worked as service crew for Brian Lidbury in the Mitsubishi Colt on a couple of rallies in 1971.

The first was the Southern Cross Rally, based at Port Macquarie, NSW.

The camera was out for a look at the Park Ferme at the Travelodge in Port Macquarie on the Saturday,
then for the Saturday night stages, & finally for a special daylight stage.

Firstly some cars in the lock-up...in the running order from the Friday night.

Colin Bond/George Shepheard


Edgar Hermann/Bob Riley


Bruce Collier/Lindsay Adcock


Andrew Cowan/John Bryson


John Taylor/? West


Mal McPherson/John Large


?/?...Norm Bolitho/Andrew Stewart...Bob Inglis/Chris Avery


Bob Inglis/Chris Avery


Tom Barr-Smith/Rob Hunt


Bob Watson/Andy Chapman


Bob Watson/Andy Chapman







 

Edited by lyntonh, 23 September 2016 - 00:53.

[brucemoxon]

[quote name='lyntonh' date='Jan 6 2011, 06:14' post='4778382']
I worked as service crew for Brian Lidbury in the Mitsubishi Colt on a couple of rallies in 1971.

The first was the Southern Cross Rally, based at Port Macquarie, NSW.

The camera was out for a look at the Park Ferme at the Travelodge in Port Macquarie on the Saturday,
then for the Saturday night stages, & finally for a special daylight stage.

Firstly some cars in the lock-up...in the running order from the Friday night.



Bruce Collier/Lindsay Adcock



I'll be seeing a fair chunk of Bruce's family (if not the man himself) next week. I'll tell them poke their noses in here.

Oh, and more, more, more!



Bruce Moxon

[gray chandler]

Worked at Chrysler Service Division at Tonsley Park til the end of 1972.The cars arrived after the Southern Cross rally. From memory there were 3 ,maybe 4 Galants to look after. Nobody was interested except Danny Larsen,Jim[can't recall his surname],David Brand and myself tending to CIF 703.The catch,however was the work[not paid] had to be carried out after workshop hours and you could take the car home.Hence this picture with my now wife. I can't remember how long they stayed at Chrysler.I do recall a ton of spares,which i think found their way to some road cars.Interestingly we also had the Andrew Cowan london to Sydney Hillman Hunter,again with a ton of spares. The Galant was good car.Chrysler/Mitsubishi should have made the performance parts available to the public. As a token of appreciation we were given Chrysler Rally jackets[highly prized in those days].Just being able to drive the car was reward enough.Fond memories never the less.

Edited by gray chandler, 06 January 2011 - 10:01.

[lyntonh]

Worked at Chrysler Service Division at Tonsley Park til the end of 1972.The cars arrived after the Southern Cross rally. From memory there were 3 ,maybe 4 Galants to look after. Nobody was interested except Danny Larsen,Jim[can't recall his surname] and myself tending to CIF 703.The catch,however was the work[not paid] had to be carried out after workshop hours and you could take the car home.Hence this picture with my now wife. I can't remember how long they stayed at Chrysler.I do recall a ton of spares,which i think found their way to some road cars.Interestingly we also had the Andrew Cowan london to Sydney Hillman Hunter,again with a ton of spares. The Galant was good car.Chrysler/Mitsubishi should have made the performance parts available to the public.

Looks like the Edgar Hermann car, by the number plate.

There were four cars at the SCR71, Hermann, Barry Ferguson, Doug Chivas & Doug Stewart.

Stewart went out on the Friday, if I remember it & I have photos from the Sunday daylight stage of the other three.

Also a shot of Hermann's car with a minor ding on the left front guard, taken at service on the Saturday night.

They will follow as I post them in date order.

Cheers

[lyntonh]

I'll be seeing a fair chunk of Bruce's family (if not the man himself) next week. I'll tell them poke their noses in here.

Oh, and more, more, more!



Bruce Moxon
[/quote]

I have 62 shots if you can stand it, including more of BC/LA.

[gray chandler]

I'll be seeing a fair chunk of Bruce's family (if not the man himself) next week. I'll tell them poke their noses in here.

Oh, and more, more, more!



Bruce Moxon


I have 62 shots if you can stand it, including more of BC/LA.

Whatever happened to the cars. I went to New Guinea in Feb, 73. Did they compete in Papua Safari. Drove a couple of Galant 1600cc and 2000cc GTO's in PNG. They could hold their own against the 240z,1600sss etc.

Edited by gray chandler, 06 January 2011 - 07:54.

[brucemoxon]

I'll be seeing a fair chunk of Bruce's family (if not the man himself) next week. I'll tell them poke their noses in here.

Oh, and more, more, more!



Bruce Moxon


I have 62 shots if you can stand it, including more of BC/LA.

No. Problem. At. All.


Bruce Moxon

[GeoffR]

[quote name='lyntonh' date='Jan 6 2011, 17:14' post='4778382']
I worked as service crew for Brian Lidbury in the Mitsubishi Colt on a couple of rallies in 1971.

The first was the Southern Cross Rally, based at Port Macquarie, NSW.

The camera was out for a look at the Park Ferme at the Travelodge in Port Macquarie on the Saturday,
then for the Saturday night stages, & finally for a special daylight stage.

Firstly some cars in the lock-up...in the running order from the Friday night.

Edgar Hermann/Bob Riley


Bob Inglis/Chris Avery


Some unusual lighting setups with these two; Super Oscars BELOW Oscars on the Galant, and Super Oscars inboard of Oscars on the Escort. Super Oscars were the more powerful light and would always take prime place in my experience. If you also had some Oscars as backup they generally took a lesser position, below or inboard of the main lights (Supers). Personal preference always plays a part of course!

[lyntonh]

Updated VW crew....Ron Franks/A(?) Wells

Edited by lyntonh, 23 September 2016 - 01:05.

[Lee Nicolle]

I worked as service crew for Brian Lidbury in the Mitsubishi Colt on a couple of rallies in 1971.

The first was the Southern Cross Rally, based at Port Macquarie, NSW.

The camera was out for a look at the Park Ferme at the Travelodge in Port Macquarie on the Saturday,
then for the Saturday night stages, & finally for a special daylight stage.

Firstly some cars in the lock-up...in the running order from the Friday night.

Colin Bond/George Shepheard


Edgar Hermann/Bob Riley


Bruce Collier/Lindsay Adcock


Andrew Cowan/John Bryson


John Taylor/? West


Mal McPherson/John Large


?/?...Norm Bolitho/Andrew Stewart...Bob Inglis/Chris Avery


Bob Inglis/Chris Avery


Tom Barr-Smith/Rob Hunt


Bob Watson/Andy Chapman


Bob Watson/Andy Chapman

Those Goodyear Ultragrip? tyres on Bondys Xu1 still look impressive to this day! 225x13. Big tyre in those days.

[lyntonh]

Saturday night at the service point.

Colin Bond


Edgar Hermann


Frank Kilfoyle?


Stewart McLeod


?


McLeod


McLeod


Richard Harris


Japanese works team...drove sideways everywhere...including in Control!


Kilfoyle


Barry Ferguson/Garry Connelly


Bruce Wilkinson/Ian Inglis


Bruce Collier/Lindsay Adcock

Edited by lyntonh, 15 February 2012 - 11:31.

[lyntonh]

A minor clarification on post #11 earlier...the first four shots were taken as the cars left the Travelodge car-park on the way out for the night.

As an aside, the story we heard on the Saturday night when we reached the first service point,
was that Peter Jansen had just picked up either his second, or third speeding ticket for the rally on Port Macquarie's main street
as he left town on the first stage for the night.

[gray chandler]

A minor clarification on post #11 earlier...the first four shots were taken as the cars left the Travelodge car-park on the way out for the night.

As an aside, the story we heard on the Saturday night when we reached the first service point,
was that Peter Jansen had just picked up either his second, or third speeding ticket for the rally on Port Macquarie's main street
as he left town on the first stage for the night.

Lynton,well done.Great pictures.

[BRG]

Colin Bond/George Shepheard


John Taylor/? West

As an hignorant Pom, I was interested in these two. Is Bond's Holden a version of the Opel Ascona or a fully Australian model?

And what the hell is car#2? It looks like a mongrel of several blood-lines! Was that the UK's John Taylor, or an Australian driver of the same name?

[Kevan]

And what the hell is car#2? It looks like a mongrel of several blood-lines! Was that the UK's John Taylor, or an Australian driver of the same name?

Austin Kimberley or Tasman? A local variation on the Austin 1800 theme...

[David McKinney]

And the Holden of course is a Torana, which started off as the local version of the Vauxhall Viva (far more than just badge-engineered) then grew up with the 2.6-litre GTR and the 3.3-litre XU-1 and the L34 and on and on and on....

My guess is that the one depicted is a GTR, but I'm prepared to be blown oit of the water on it (and the rest of the above, for tat matter )

[sterling49]

I see that Renaults were quite popular, even the old R8................did they finish well up? Andy Cowan drove the Colt to success I believe.............

[Lee Nicolle]

As an hignorant Pom, I was interested in these two. Is Bond's Holden a version of the Opel Ascona or a fully Australian model?

And what the hell is car#2? It looks like a mongrel of several blood-lines! Was that the UK's John Taylor, or an Australian driver of the same name?

The Bond car is a Holden Torana LC XU1. Based on a HC Viva the whole chassis is bigger and stronger. The front chassis is entirely different. As is the front suspension. brakes and ofcourse the motor trans, rear suspension and diff. The LC XU1 was powered by a 186ci engine with triple CD Strombergs. They started at 160hp and ended up around 190 over the two limited batches of cars made.They were very succesfu in motorsport in boh rellying and circuit racing. As well as drag racing and speedway. Really as a road car a hard riding uncomfortable noisy piece of junk. But command major money as a collectors piece.Many were modified radically. I raced one whith a 6 litre Chev for many years that started off as a modified standard car and ended up with a 3/4 space frame and fully fabricated rear suspension.Actually for sale again currently.
The LC evolved into the LJ which had a 202ci version of the same engine with slightly refined ride and power delivery and in Bathurst spec was 202hp [and in race trim probably 10% more] Brock won Bathurst in one, They won the Australian Rally Championship and were winners in all form of motorsport.And an LJ is demanding astronomical prices these days. The Toana the evolved into a bigger Aussie designed car then and was very succesfull in racing but not so much rallying. Though some L34s were used but getting power down was a real problem.
All the XU1s were based on the 6 cylinder Torana platform which had engins from 138ci to standard single carb 202s [145hp]

Lynton H has some pics of a Torana L34 rallycar on thew 'Personal photos of Australian racing 50s to 70s thread. Page 109

ASs for the Tasman that is a [2.6?] 6 cylinder version of the Landcrab. Leyland were trying to keep up with Holden, Ford and Chrysler with a 6 cylinder car. Not really succesful but not terribly bad either. Did not sell many. Leyland also made a 2.6 litre Marina, had good straight line performance but did not go around corners.A bad car with more power.Then they made the P76. And then went broke!!Though the V8 P76 was a half decent rallycar.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 07 January 2011 - 00:01.

[Ian G]

A minor clarification on post #11 earlier...the first four shots were taken as the cars left the Travelodge car-park on the way out for the night.

As an aside, the story we heard on the Saturday night when we reached the first service point,
was that Peter Jansen had just picked up either his second, or third speeding ticket for the rally on Port Macquarie's main street
as he left town on the first stage for the night.

Interesting shots Lynton,thanks again for taking the time to post,brings back memories as we attended all the SC Rally's from 1971 to 76,James Laing-Peach & John Bryson were members of our club(NSSCC) so we got some great inside stories on the gossip.
Jansen was on a Diplomatic Passport or International Drivers License of some kind and didn't pay his speeding fines which were considerable,esp. in Victoria.How this didn't affect his CAMS CL was a hot topic in the 1970's.

Southern Cross Rally

I see that Renaults were quite popular, even the old R8................did they finish well up? Andy Cowan drove the Colt to success I believe.............

Yeah,the Renaults was going well in Oz around that time esp. in the Forestry sections,they were semi-works Gordini's and had great braking with 4W discs and excellent acceleration out of tight corners.IIRC they won the ARC(Oz Rally Championship) in 1970 and were pipped in 1971.The Southern Cross wasn't part of the ARC thou. They were outclassed by the Galants/Lancers/Datsuns from 1972 on & Renault Aust. encouraged their drivers into Peugeots which also struggled.

Edited by Ian G, 07 January 2011 - 00:09.

[lyntonh]

Interesting shots Lynton,thanks again for taking the time to post etc....

Southern Cross Rally

Thanks for the link...it just gave me the crew in car 44....Peter Lang/Ed O'Cleary

Edited by lyntonh, 15 February 2012 - 11:31.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by lyntonh
Bob Watson/Andy Chapman

I see the name 'Gerry Ball' on the Datsun here...

He ran a tuning service in Canberra, IIRC, probably (see the entry list) drove the car himself.

Say hello to Bruce for me, will you?

And the Austin has a 'Kimberley' badge on the side, so it's the twin carby model. All the R8s shown are Gordinis unless I'm very much mistaken.

[BRG]

The Bond car is a Holden Torana LC XU1. Based on a HC Viva the whole chassis is bigger and stronger.

Thanks, that's informative. I must say, from a European viewpoint, the Torana's styling looks far more Opel than Vauxhall Viva, but within GM who knows what went into the mixing bowl. It sounds like, and looks like, it was a useful bit of kit for the time.

[Lee Nicolle]

The front is Holden, the rest is pure Viva. We had the 4 cyl version of those cars too. Which was just a HC Viva assembled in Oz 1200, 1300 and 1600 and 1760 OHC engines. in motoring terms a bloody awful car but they had a Holden badge so people bought them. Probably sold on the XU1 motorsport success to some degree.

[brucemoxon]

I see the name 'Gerry Ball' on the Datsun here...

He ran a tuning service in Canberra, IIRC, probably (see the entry list) drove the car himself.

Say hello to Bruce for me, will you?

And the Austin has a 'Kimberley' badge on the side, so it's the twin carby model. All the R8s shown are Gordinis unless I'm very much mistaken.

Will do Ray

The Kimberley (and the down-spec Tasman) had 2.2 litre engines, didn't they? One and a half Austin 1800s as an inline six, mounted laterally. I actually saw one on the road a year or two back. As I recall, they went like stink in a straight line. I had a mad neighbour who had one that saw off my RX2.

http://en.wikipedia....ustin_Kimberley I often worry about the accuracy of Wikipedia entries, but this one actually has some cites.

Gerry Ball gave a lot of help in starting the career of one Greg Carr - who went on to be Australian Rally Champion and competed with some distinction in a couple of events in the UK, including the 1979 RAC where he finished tenth.





Bruce Moxon

[lyntonh]

More service area photos....still 1971

Peter Lang


Edgar Hermann...that wheel's been back into the guard


Bob Inglis/Chris Avery


?


Frank Neale/Peter Godden...been upside down?


Neale/Godden


Bond/Shepheard


Stewart McLeod/Adrian Mortimer


Kilfoyle


Iwashita/Ishakawa


Bob Holden/John Dawson-Damer


Robert Wilson/Paul Wilson

Edited by lyntonh, 15 February 2012 - 11:43.

[lyntonh]

Looking more closely...


Perhaps not that particular wheel...but one now in the boot!

Note the careful replacement of all the wheel nuts!!

Edited by lyntonh, 15 February 2012 - 11:43.

[seldo]

.....Jansen was on a Diplomatic Passport or International Drivers License of some kind and didn't pay his speeding fines which were considerable,esp. in Victoria.How this didn't affect his CAMS CL was a hot topic in the 1970's.....

I knew him well at the time and apart from being quite mad, he did somehow have a Diplomatic Passport as Trade Commissioner for Bhutan ( a little country adjacent to Nepal). I used to be driven by him occassionally and he was totally and completely crazy and a trip to the shop to buy a pie was always an excuse to practise his drifting technique...Quite mad.
OT - on another occassion I dropped him home only to find he'd locked himself out, so he banged on a few doors until he found someone home in one of the units above him and borrowed some sheets that he knotted together and shinned down the outside of the block to his balcony, 14 stories from the ground...

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by brucemoxon
.....The Kimberley (and the down-spec Tasman) had 2.2 litre engines, didn't they? One and a half Austin 1800s as an inline six, mounted laterally. I actually saw one on the road a year or two back. As I recall, they went like stink in a straight line. I had a mad neighbour who had one that saw off my RX2.....

Surprised me that the Wiki article said the 2227cc engine was the only one they had, I thought the Kimberleys either had or graduated to the 2623cc version that went on to power the P76 and the Pommie Princess FWD car. Or was that 2.2-litres as well?

Anyway, it wasn't a stretched B-series. That had been done from the 1622cc unit to get 2.4-litres for the Freeway. It was a 1500cc Marina SOHC engine with an extra two cylinders.

One day when you're with Will Hagon, let him extol the virtues of the Kimberley, he had a road test car he flogged at 110mph for a lot of miles.

.....Gerry Ball gave a lot of help in starting the career of one Greg Carr - who went on to be Australian Rally Champion and competed with some distinction in a couple of events in the UK, including the 1979 RAC where he finished tenth.

Yes, I completely forgot about his nurturing of Greg Carr...

[Catalina Park]

The Kimberley and Tasman got the 1500 E-series with two extra cylinders to make it 2227cc (or thereabouts)
The Marina Six and P76 got the 1750 E-series (longer stroke) with two extra cylinders to make 2623cc.

The Mk1 Kimberley had twin carbies but these were changed to a single carby for the Mk2 to reduce insurance costs!

[Lee Nicolle]

The Kimberley and Tasman got the 1500 E-series with two extra cylinders to make it 2227cc (or thereabouts)
The Marina Six and P76 got the 1750 E-series (longer stroke) with two extra cylinders to make 2623cc.

The Mk1 Kimberley had twin carbies but these were changed to a single carby for the Mk2 to reduce insurance costs!

It was all those speed crazed demons in their Landcrabs that caused the insurance hikes eh!!

[lyntonh]

The luckiest crew in the rally....Tom Barr-Smith/Rob Hunt


We were at the second service area on the Pacific Highway south of Port Macquarie,
waiting for our middle of the field cars to arrive.

Several cars had been through, & control was very busy with people everywhere &
cars lined up to start the next stage.

Just after the last car left, we heard a car coming way off & really flying.

As he reached the hill above the check point, we all realised that something wasn't normal
about the way he was driving...his gear changes seemed different somehow.

As he turned the last corner & came towards control, it was obvious that he wasn't going to
be able to stop in time.

Everybody scattered...the roadway through control, full of cars & people only moments before,
was suddenly empty.

He flew downhill through the check point, went the fifty yards to the highway without slowing down,
crossed the road square to the main road, miraculously clear of the semis & other traffic,
which had been running through every minute or two all evening,
ran through the verge & up over the parallel railway embankment,
also without the goods train which went through not twenty minutes later,
& simply disappeared down the other side.

Everybody ran across the highway to see where they were, to find them both out of the car &
looking at the front of the car, obviously cursing the poor endurance of Renault brake pads.

The car was almost totally unscathed.

The photo shows it sitting in the grassy area beyond the train track, with the mob giving advice.

Most discussion was about how he was ever going to get back out, with most of us presuming that a local tractor
in the morning was the most likely answer.

Not Tom...

He got back in the car, started it up, a bunch of blokes pushed the car up along the railway embankment
at a angle which got him some speed, & after three goes, he was up on the edge next to the rails.

After trying to run up over the rails themselves & failing, he got clever & had the guys bouncing the car...(easy for a Renault 16)
& got one wheel over.

Then they all went round the back & lifted him up so that when he went forward & across, the back wheel ran up & over.

After eventually getting to the other side, he ran down the embankment, across the verge & up to the highway.

Then, with the navigator back on board, they drove around behind control to the entry side, so that they didn't
make a wrong direction entry, & clocked in...about ten minutes late.

Then after serving their two minutes control time, they rolled out steadily & went into service & fitted new pads.

To the amazement of most of us watching, they were back in the rally with hardly a blink.

A tribute to the determination of the crew & the height of the Renault above the ground!!

Edited by lyntonh, 15 February 2012 - 11:44.

[cooper997]

And what the hell is car#2? It looks like a mongrel of several blood-lines! Was that the UK's John Taylor, or an Australian driver of the same name?

BRG,

John Taylor would most likely have been from South Australia - one time BMC dealer, Taylor's of Medindi. Ran ex-works Cooper S and London to Sydney Austin 1800. Passed away a few years ago.

Lyntonh,

Another great series of photos and tales. Thanks for sharing.

Stephen

[Lee Nicolle]

BRG,

John Taylor would most likely have been from South Australia - one time BMC dealer, Taylor's of Medindi. Ran ex-works Cooper S and London to Sydney Austin 1800. Passed away a few years ago.

Lyntonh,

Another great series of photos and tales. Thanks for sharing.

Stephen

It was the SA John Taylor.
I still have his companys jingle in my head from about 40 years ago selling Minis. 'When your in you have wheels to spin,,,, from Taylors of Medindie', With some cute young things at the beach.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 09 January 2011 - 10:20.

[Ian G]

Looking more closely...


Perhaps not that particular wheel...but one now in the boot!

Note the careful replacement of all the wheel nuts!!

The same thing use to happen to the Datsun 1600's,the control(?) arm rod that was bolted to the front chassis rail use to rip out of the mount or rip the mount off the rail all together and the whole strut/wheel assembly would move backwards.

I knew him well at the time and apart from being quite mad, he did somehow have a Diplomatic Passport as Trade Commissioner for Bhutan ( a little country adjacent to Nepal). I used to be driven by him occassionally and he was totally and completely crazy and a trip to the shop to buy a pie was always an excuse to practise his drifting technique...Quite mad.
OT - on another occassion I dropped him home only to find he'd locked himself out, so he banged on a few doors until he found someone home in one of the units above him and borrowed some sheets that he knotted together and shinned down the outside of the block to his balcony, 14 stories from the ground...

He was certainly a character,heard some stories over the years of his exploits on public roads that makes Hamiltons burn-out look very tame.

Where did he get the title "Captain" from?

[BRG]

BRG,

John Taylor would most likely have been from South Australia - one time BMC dealer, Taylor's of Medindi. Ran ex-works Cooper S and London to Sydney Austin 1800. Passed away a few years ago.

That makes sense as it was a BLMC car. The British John Taylor was a Ford man now I think of it.

[Morris S]

Andrew Cowan/John Bryson

This car was an Abingdon built works Mini , Cowan destroyed the car in a barrel roll and subsequently rebuilt it into a locally built shell.

http://theminimag2.i...om/Mar0007.html

[GeoffR]

He was certainly a character,heard some stories over the years of his exploits on public roads that makes Hamiltons burn-out look very tame.

Where did he get the title "Captain" from?

Very much OT from the 1971 Southern Cross but there is an old but interesting thread on Captain Janson at 10/10ths:
http://www.ten-tenth...ead.php?t=15533

I remember seeing him at the start of an early 70s Vic Experts Trial in an XU-1 with 2 Super Oscars mounted on the boot lid as reversing lights!!

[lyntonh]

Sunday special daylight stage...

Bond/Shepheard


McLeod/Mortimer


Barry Ferguson/Gary Connelly


Hermann/Riley


Lang/O'Cleary


Iwashita/Ishakawa


Peter Houghton/Mick Nelson


Richard Harris/?


Holden/Dawson-Damer


?/?....safety conscious?


?/?


Bruce Wilkinson/?

Edited by lyntonh, 23 September 2016 - 01:01.

[Ian G]

Very much OT from the 1971 Southern Cross but there is an old but interesting thread on Captain Janson at 10/10ths:
http://www.ten-tenth...ead.php?t=15533

I remember seeing him at the start of an early 70s Vic Experts Trial in an XU-1 with 2 Super Oscars mounted on the boot lid as reversing lights!!

Thanks for the link,haven't been over to 10/10ths for years,i've heard some great stories of his exploits but would prefer someone else to post as sorting fact from fiction is difficult,one thing i'm reasonably sure of is he didn't pay his parking or traffic fines because of his Diplomatic Passport(or some loophole),apparently he had a bag or suitcase full of unpaid fines.

Jansen 1971 SC Rally

more Barry Lloyd

Great Photos Lynton,in Sydney for the next Month or so but when i get back home i'll try and find the 1971 SC entry list.

Edited by Ian G, 10 January 2011 - 22:21.

[Ray Bell]

One story about 'The Captain' that stands out comes from Malcolm Oastler...

Bear in mind, by the way, that I don't like to revere this character. He was always, it seemed to me, an overbearing and crass type who liked to build an image of himself that wasn't real. I respect some of the things he did on the track, but even there his rough edges showed up.

Anyway, Malcolm used to come into the office, he was just a teenager and he brought us in drawings for the magazine. And he travelled a bit with some of the teams and he got hooked up with Janson at one stage in Melbourne.

He told me he was at a party and there were plenty of people in the penthouse apartment, lots of drinking, noise etc. And he noticed a very good looking girl sitting quietly in a corner, all alone, he thought she looked familiar, so he went over and talked to her, finally asking her name as he felt he should know her.

"Olivia Newton-John," she replied.

Edited by Ray Bell, 10 January 2011 - 22:32.

[brucemoxon]

From Graham Wallis (old rally person...)

"Brilliant stuff, a lot of information from people no longer in the sport..
Let them know that John Taylor's navigator was Dr Graham West, he co drove for Stig Blomqvist in the Castrol.
Graham"



Bruce Moxon

[Ray Bell]

Hey, Graham knows how to use forums...

Let him come on here himself!

[brucemoxon]

Hey, Graham knows how to use forums...

Let him come on here himself!

He might figure he belongs to enough of them!



BM

[lyntonh]

The final group of cars.....

Andrew Cowan/John Bryson


Doug Chivas/Peter Meyer


Bob Inglis/Chris Avery


Bruce Collier/Lindsay Adcock


?/?


Doug Coulter/Geoff Downey


Les ?/ Peter Clark


?/?


?/?


?/?


Ron Franks/A Wells


?/?

Edited by lyntonh, 15 February 2012 - 21:30.

[Lee Nicolle]

The same thing use to happen to the Datsun 1600's,the control(?) arm rod that was bolted to the front chassis rail use to rip out of the mount or rip the mount off the rail all together and the whole strut/wheel assembly would move backwards.



He was certainly a character,heard some stories over the years of his exploits on public roads that makes Hamiltons burn-out look very tame.

Where did he get the title "Captain" from?

Reputedly a captain in the Indian Army.

[Lee Nicolle]

Very much OT from the 1971 Southern Cross but there is an old but interesting thread on Captain Janson at 10/10ths:
http://www.ten-tenth...ead.php?t=15533

I remember seeing him at the start of an early 70s Vic Experts Trial in an XU-1 with 2 Super Oscars mounted on the boot lid as reversing lights!!

In those days most rallycars used a spread Super Oscar as a reverse light. 2 is a little greedy though!

[275 GTB-4]

Sunday special daylight stage...

Holden/Dawson-Damer


?/?....safety conscious?

?/?....safety conscious? Yes...Bob Holden would not have been happy wearing 17 whilst they took his beloved 13!!

[BRG]

?/?....safety conscious?

Ah yes, I remember back in those days that there were a lot of cases of the roofs of rally cars blowing away if the co-drivers didn't keep a firm hold on them!

Although I shouldn't joke about the broken arms that this sort of practice led to, especially when co-drivers tried to stop cars rolling with their bare hands.

[cooper997]

I'm guessing that entry #17 Escort of Bob Holden & John Dawson-Damer was D-Ds car.

It was the first Tasman Revival and Bob and I were having a chat, somehow we got talking about John and his unfortunate accident at Goodwood. Anyway Bob started telling me how John had come to him wanting a rally Escort built so he could learn about rallying. Anyway Bob built him a 'little' Escort - 1300cc and then asked John who was going to drive it. 'You are" came the response.

So hence I'm guessing the photo of #17 is that car.

Thanks again Lynton for sharing your archive.

Stephen

[Ian G]

..you may be right,John was a member of our club(NSSCC),although the only time i ever spoke to him was at early 1970 rally's,at one particular Rally in 1971 at Canowindra near Orange/Cowra NSW,John was listed as Navigator for a Escort with a TBN as driver but when we caught the car shortly before a control he was driving.Anyway,point being the Escort looked similar as far as the driving light arrangement goes and IIRC a matt black bonnet.

Edit...Thanks Lee,i notice an "Air India" sticker on his A9X(L34?) in the other thread so i guess its more likely than Sandhurst(?).

Edited by Ian G, 17 January 2011 - 10:48.