17 replies to this topic

[petestenning]

Hi i need help to identify the known names of the following drivers from the meeting described ;-

Formula 1200
no 20 Entrant M.R.Parkes / dvr M.Parkes/ Elva mk1a
no 22 M.R.Willey / Terrier
no 25 T. l Jones / Perigee

Sports Cars
no 37 P.E.Stewart / M G Midget 1148
no 57 Entrant Brian Henton / Dvr J.E Cain / Austin Healey 100/4 2660

Formula Ford

no 126 R.H Thurley Dulon


Special GT

no 105 R.A.Gibson / Chevron [Allen Gibson?]
no 44 Entrant C.H.Blyth / Dvr D.G.R.Wansbrough / TVR 1798


Racing Cars

no 139 R.H.Short / Vixen 4/4



Pete

[bradbury west]

Hi i need help to identify the known names of the following drivers from the meeting described ;-
Special GT
no 44 Entrant C.H.Blyth / Dvr D.G.R.Wansbrough / TVR 1798
Pete

Charles Blyth and David Wansborough.
Roger Lund

[hamsterace]

Pete,

The only one I can definitely confirm is Allen Gibson, as he was a farmer from my home county of Bedfordshire. He was an active club racer in the '60s with (I believe) cars including an XK150, an E Type and the Chevron to which you refer.

His son still farms in the area and drives a car with the personalised number plate RAG...., which confirms his initials.

Sorry not to be more help with the others.

Hamsterace

[Tim Murray]

Formula 1200
no 25 T. l Jones / Perigee

Terry Jones

[petestenning]

Thanks Guys much appreciated .

I was not sure if that was the Allen Gibson i knew well as i often saw his Chevron B 8 [White ] At Snetterton in the early 70's.

Hamsterace i believe you are related to David Ham long time Jaguar racer ? as he was another racer i remember well .

If my memory is correct with a *Flat Iron* Lister ?


And as usual the programme misprint of Wansbrough/Wansborough

Edited by petestenning, 23 October 2012 - 15:30.

[hamsterace]

Hamsterace i believe you are related to David Ham long time Jaguar racer ? as he was another racer i remember well .

If my memory is correct with a *Flat Iron* Lister ?

Correct - he's my father.

You are close with the Lister - not the Flat Iron car but BHL 111, the Ecosse bodied car originally built (but not raced) by Ecurie Ecosse for Alexander Miller. My father has now retired from racing, but we still have the car (it'll be 43 years this year) and I race it now.

[bradbury west]

And as usual the programme misprint of Wansbrough/Wansborough

My error, not theirs, Pete. Wansbrough it is.
RL

[ChrisRiv]

R H Thurley in the FF1600 Dulon is Reg Thurley. Reg was the landlord of my local pub in Wiltshire, The Soho Arms near Calne. He later raced a Titan Formula Ford followed by a historic Triumph Spitfire in Le Mans trim and a Chevron B16 FVA. He emigrated to the States in about 1976/7 I believe. Next door to the pub was a Classic car showroom run by Mike Gue, who later went to the states and set up Essex Racing, and In the workshop behind the showroom you could find engine builder Sam Nelson beavering away on FF1600 and Pinto motors.

[Alfie]

Sports Cars
no 57 Entrant Brian Henton / Dvr J.E Cain / Austin Healey 100/4 2660


Racing Cars

no 139 R.H.Short / Vixen 4/4



Pete

In the uncertainty of knowing precisely what you're looking for I thought I would share with you -

Brian Henton did actually drive the car that day.

And no 139, RH Short's Vixen was a non-starter - according to the annotations on my programme.

Sorry, can't help with any of the others

Alan

Edited by Alfie, 30 October 2012 - 17:51.

[bradbury west]

Next door to the pub was a Classic car showroom run by Mike Gue, who later went to the states and set up Essex Racing, and In the workshop behind the showroom you could find engine builder Sam Nelson beavering away on FF1600 and Pinto motors.

OT a bit, I remember Sam well when he had his 911 turbo. He did some dyno tests on synthetic oil for me in 1983-ish. He and Beverley lived a few houses down the lane from me in a nearby village. He too moved to the US, but a few years later ITRC.. Is there any connection, do you think?
Roger Lund

[petestenning]

Alfie thank you that is helpful information, that Henton raced that day, as not only do i collate the entrants, but Results and Non Starters etc.


I had come across Reg Thurley and wondered if it may be the same person which has now been confirmed, i do remember the Spitfire.


Question for Hamster race did your dad ever race an Aston Martin DBR1 ?



Pete

[David McKinney]

I'm not Simon but yes he did, in the '60s

[Alfie]

Alfie thank you that is helpful information, that Henton raced that day, as not only do i collate the entrants, but Results and Non Starters etc.


Pete

If you need any other data from that meeting, let me know.

[hamsterace]

Question for Hamster race did your dad ever race an Aston Martin DBR1 ?



Pete

Indeed he did Pete. It was DBR1/2, the '59 Le Mans winner, which he (or rather, my grandfather Wilfred Ham) bought off Major Ian Baillie at the end of '62. He ran it for the 63-65 seasons, but sold it after blowing it up at Silverstone in '65. Apparently the cost of the engine rebuild made him cough a bit, even then.

There were two cars for sale at the time - DBR1/2 and DBR1/3, which was the ex-Clark ex-Border Reivers car. My father recalls that the illustrious history of the former was barely considered - the purchase was decided largely on the basis that he didn't like the colour of the other one...

He can't remember the exact amount my grandfather paid for it (but it was around £2,000), but he sold it in a deal with Chris Stewart that involved £1,000 cash and a nearly new Lotus 26R. Apparently it seemed like "deal of the century" at the time. Perhaps not so much with hindsight....Having said that, we at least have the consolation of only paying £1,250 for the Lister....

[Mallory Dan]

I assume thats The Brian Henton? He must have been young in 1968

[Tim Murray]

Born in September 1946, so he'd have been 21.

[Julian Roberts]

Pete,

The only one I can definitely confirm is Allen Gibson, as he was a farmer from my home county of Bedfordshire. He was an active club racer in the '60s with (I believe) cars including an XK150, an E Type and the Chevron to which you refer.

His son still farms in the area and drives a car with the personalised number plate RAG...., which confirms his initials.

Sorry not to be more help with the others.

Hamsterace

Good heavens it's a small world ! I was between jobs in about 1984 and spent a very happy, but extremely arduous, summer working on the farm in Colesdon for R A Gibson (well Mark actually) in their grain store. Allen or the Old Man as we knew him wasn't terribly approachable, but patient enough to watch me bounce up and down making tractor noises in a brand new 4 wheel drive tractor when I thought no one was looking - he was of course !

The first time I met him was a few years earlier when I was working at my father's petrol station in nearby Wyboston; a green Ferrari 512BB (registered ** RAG) pulled onto the forecourt. Expecting a film star at least, I was amazed to see an older gentleman with the very obvious after effects of polio climb out and walk with laboured steps to the 'shop'.

I never knew he raced a Chevron.

[petestenning]

One of my early memories of racing at Snetterton was Allen's White Chevron B8 which was there most meetings in 60's/70's .

I used to attend every car meeting at Snettterton at that time.

Thanks Simon for the info on the Aston which i never saw race , but i did see the Lister a lot when we moved up to Bedfordshire from Kent.