The Weekes Special - 1934 Ford V8 Roadster “The Grey Ford”
(Written by: Graeme Cocks)
A low mileage Ford V8 could be bought for about £200 in Sydney in 1934 and brothers Jack and Frank Weekes decided to buy two near new cars with only about 300 or 400 miles on the odometers.
Their father had died in 1927 leaving the two boys (Jack aged 18 years and Frank 15 years) and their mother at their Point Piper home.
In 1935 they sent one of the Fords to a Sydney coachbuilder with the aim of transforming the car into a sports car in the style of the Invictas and Railtons which were being offered in the UK at the time. A wider pair of front mudguards gave the car a lower sleeker look, spare wheels were mounted behind a 32 gallon slab tank at the rear and a pair of aero screens added to the sporting appearance. The car had 17 inch wheels (changed later to 16 inch wheels). They owned the car jointly and they both competed it in sporting events.
Both cars were fitted with Columbia two-speed rear axles which gave 30 miles per hour per 1000 RPM in “High Top” but special attention was lavished on the sports car, which was painted grey with black wheels and a black chassis.
The sports car which they called the “Grey Ford” was fitted with a Miller camshaft and Scintilla Vertex magneto and the flywheel was lightened to reduce rotating mass.
The car had Hartford shock absorbers fitted all round and hydraulic front brakes from a Renault were fitted to the front. Much later when the Renault brake drums were badly worn they were replaced with Ford ones. These performance enhancements wouldn't surprise a 1950s hot rodder but they were done in 1935!
When his son John Weekes took the car over from his father Jack Weekes, he changed the rear Hartfords shocks to hydraulic because they squeaked and he also fitted Ford hydraulic brakes to the rear.
Both Jack and Frank enjoyed competitive driving so they joined the New South Wales Light Car Club firstly with an Alvis, then later competed with the Ford V8 “Grey Ford” in a variety of events run by the club. In later years, Frank Weekes became a Committeeman and Director of the NSW Light Car Club.
In the Waterfall Hill hill climbing contest in July 1935 Frank Weekes recorded a best time of 45 1/5 seconds coming second to a Terraplane. The brothers came second in the over 3000cc class in the 24 hour trial in August 1935 and also competed in the night trial later in the year. In February 1936 at the New South Wales hillclimb championships Frank Weekes recorded a time of 45 1/10s. In December 1937, Jack and Frank shared the car in the Canberra Speed Trials.
The brothers commissioned the construction of a supercharger and one was made of their own design and later another smaller supercharger was made from the same billet for use in a Ford 10 powered hydroplane,. The supercharger was fitted in the front of the crankshaft ahead of the radiator as done on Bentley’s and MG’s of the day. In 1938, they entered the car for the Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst but they do not appear on the starting lists.
The “Grey Ford” was put on blocks during the war years and Jack’s wife drove the other car occasionally. Flying Officer Frank Watson Weekes was killed in 1942 flying a Mosquito fighter bomber to Germany to bomb the Krupps Works at Essen. Jack survived the war, having also served in the RAAF and was discharged, returned home and was at a loose end. He always had a great interest in engines, but had been a Jackeroo at the Ogilvie’s property in Glen Innes NSW before returning to Sydney when he was 18 on the death of his father.
Shortly after the war, the "Grey Ford" was stolen by American sailors which they crashed in York Street, Sydney and was featured in the Newspaper at the time. Soon afterwards Jack Weekes had it repaired by Hastings Deering who sold and repaired cars in Sydney and was soon put back on the road."
John Weekes said that his father Jack was a good friend of Bill Balgarnie who was a skilled engineer and motor racer in Sydney. In 1935 he was racing midget speedcars at Wentworth Park Speedway, Sydney. In 1936 Bill was riding mechanic for his friend, the noted racer Bill Thompson when he crashed his MG Magnette K3 at the 300 miles Centenary Motor Race at Cowes in Victoria. Bill was working as an engineer for Bill & Bob Chamberlain of Chamberlain Industries who set up a tractor plant in Welshpool, Perth in 1947. Bill made some enquiries on behalf of his friend Jack Weekes and he too was invited to come to Western Australia to help build tractors in Welshpool and staying with the Balgarnies until he found somewhere to live.
“In 1947, Jack drove the “Grey Ford” from Sydney to Perth across the Nullarbor and continued to use the car as a runabout in Perth,” he said.
There is only one record of the car competing in Western Australia which was at the WA Sporting Car Club sprints at Caversham in 1948.
John also remembers taking the car in 1954 or 55 on a long trip from Perth to Kalgoorlie, Esperance, and then to Albany and back to Perth.
In about 1959 or 1960, John received an inheritance of £200 from his grandmother who had died in 1942 and decided to take the “Grey Ford” instead as settlement of her will.
After a few years enjoying the car for his personal use, John bought a Volkswagen Beetle in 1962 and drove it to Sydney to take up a job in the sales department of Qantas returning years later and eventually rising to the position of Duty Manager for Qantas in Perth Airport.
On his frequent visits back to Perth John would drive the “Grey Ford” and the last time he drove it was on a visit home for his sister’s wedding in early 1963. Later that year, the car was laid up at their family home in Nedlands as John had been transferred to New York. John intended to fully restore it back to as new condition but decided to cancel it’s registration in 1967. When the Nedlands house was sold in about 1977, a couple of years after his father Jack’s death, the car was moved to his sister's home in Trigg and stored.
As part of his intention to restore the car, he had the chassis bead blasted and painted. “The chassis was refurbished by a panel beater called Bob Lambkin in East Perth and the bodywork was repaired by a body builder in the Perth hills,” said John.
The engine was deemed serviceable and left – and that was all that was done. It had a pair of new aluminium heads fitted. The car has been stored since 1963, deteriorating very little and waiting for the day when it would be fully restored to its former glory.
Edited by WhiteMouse, 07 April 2014 - 06:38.
