36 replies to this topic

[GMACKIE]

Simmo's photos started me thinking of some of the drivers of early Holdens when I first started driving at Silverdale...around 1962. A few came to mind, such as :-

 

Charlie Tolhurst

Tommy Edwards

Colin Deer

Dennis Deer

Brian Mayman

Kingsley Hibbard

Terry Crew

Alf & Harry Bargwanna [a bit later]

 

Any more ?   

[BUCKLECOUPE]

John Halcrow ran a FX at Silverdale in the early 60s..

[Dick Willis]

You Sydneysiders wouldn't have heard of me running a FX and Fj in 1962/3/4 at Tamworth, Kempsey,Grafton,Coffs Harbour etc.

[GMACKIE]

Be dark before you got home from Silverdale, Dick...those 6v Tilt-tray headlights were no good at speed.

[GMACKIE]

John Halcrow ran a FX at Silverdale in the early 60s..

John's car was a '53, Bob - with the 'wide' rear springs. It ended up painted red.

[DanTra2858]

Add Ron Imisides & I think Ashley Brailey?

[Ray Bell]

Alan Barrow?

I feel sure he must have done at least close to home.

Garry Bruce
Tony Hay
Des West
John Brindley
Peter Lewis-Williams
Norm Gown
Rob Jamieson
Terry Middleton
Max Volkers
John(?) Reilly
Graeme Courtney
Bruce Hindhaugh
M. Price
Warren Weldon
Norm Matthews
G. Carne
?? King

Ted Johnston was another out there in an EH, by the way,, while another S4 was run by L. Palmer in Victoria.

I feel sure that Herb Taylor would have run his early Holden in a hillclimb somewhere, he later used the X2 regularly.

No mention of Dick anywhere I've looked, but I find plenty of reference to a Daniel Tracey running a Mazda 800...



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Edited by Ray Bell, 28 July 2015 - 11:39.

[GMACKIE]

A couple more spring to mind :-

 

Ralph Sach

Warren Weldon

[GMACKIE]

By "early", I meant pre-FE.

Edited by GMACKIE, 28 July 2015 - 09:54.

[Ray Bell]

Yes, I realise that... and I had Warren Weldon in my list too...

More:

Norm Beechey
Tony Niovanni
R. J. Dennis
J. Hallow
A. Henry
Bill Humphreys
M. Dickson
Bob Brown
Ron Griffiths
R. Dickinson
Kevin Dean
Richard(?) Bendle(Bendall?)
John Raeburn
Ken Burge
Ray Eldershaw... that's a surprise!
Reg Price
K. Barry
John Caines
Jim McKeown
V. Smart




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Edited by Ray Bell, 28 July 2015 - 13:27.

[bob433]

I remember a Lex Brailey. Any relation ? He had a hobby shop in Bankstown.

[GMACKIE]

You win, Ray...as usual.

[Ray Bell]

I didn't know it was a contest, Greg...

I just thought I'd browse the reports and put the names up.

[bob433]

Lex Brailey raced an FB or EK Holden.

[seldo]

Lou Walmsley,
Brian Mayman,
Gary Milner
John French
Geoghegans
John Scott
Bruce (?) Wilkinson
Warren Weldon

I must admit, these are just off the top of my head and may not meet the specific criteria of the thread....

Edited by seldo, 28 July 2015 - 11:59.

[Ray Bell]

Andy Selmes
John Wood
S. Gordon
Bob Jane
Peter Marchiori
Alan Dewhurst
M Dickenson
D. Lowe
M. Dyer
Harry Firth
Peter Hassell
Barry Mulholland
Bruce Arrowsmith
John Westling
T. Murphy
Barry Murphy
A. C. Smeaton
Barry Forbes
Kevin Dennis
Keith Pascall
Dave Sullivan (WA)
John Lewis
R. J. Couche
R. Gilchrist
R. Hortin
J. Hicks
Dennis Dix
S. De Luca
I. Holloway



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Edited by Ray Bell, 28 July 2015 - 14:26.

[GMACKIE]

I'm with you, seldo...this is 'memory exercise' for me. The drivers I have mentioned are ones that I know/knew, or saw driving at hillclimbs. No need for 'outside help so far.

 

Second thoughts on Warren Weldon...I can't remember him driving the Holden at hillclimbs, only the V8 Minor.

Edited by GMACKIE, 28 July 2015 - 21:26.

[DanTra2858]

If you are using pre FE as a critera then poor old Clarlie started in the ex Ashley Brailey, black FE, why not make the posts for all Holdens that ran the Grey motor including the EJ model.

[bradbury west]

OT a bit, but I met the Barragwannas and their pal at the Revival the year that Peter Brock came here. Marvellous company.
Roger Lund

Edit, spelling.

Edited by bradbury west, 28 July 2015 - 21:21.

[GMACKIE]

They still are, Roger.

[Ray Bell]

Weldon was definitely there in his Holden, Greg...

There were obviously many more. Some reports mentioned '10 Holdens running' and similar, but few mentioned names beyond the leading three that day. And in some cases only the class-winning driver was mentioned, while many climbs weren't reported.

Until the 1964 mags I found no Queensland reports, there were no WA reports and as Dick has already perceived, the Grafton and other North Coast climbs were unrepresented.

They were all shaded by Cutler, it seems. Do you remember him, Greg? I think you were there the day he blew his auto trans at Silverdale...




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Edited by Ray Bell, 28 July 2015 - 22:14.

[GMACKIE]

If you mean Jim Cutler, I don't recall him driving an early Holden. The 'trans' thing could be a Dodge/Plymouth, or whatever it was he drove [quite well,too...for a big 'tank']?

[275 GTB-4]

If you are using pre FE as a critera then poor old Clarlie started in the ex Ashley Brailey, black FE, why not make the posts for all Holdens that ran the Grey motor including the EJ model.

Why Dan? if this is just a memory enhancing exercise for young Greg, why not include anything that ran around 1962, regardless of engine? any EK/FBs?

It was an interesting time...I often wonder how oil-slicked the courses got in the early day before catch tanks(for example)

Someone mentioned P76, I read that Leyland used Holden engine and drive trains in test mules whilst proving body stiffness integrity etc

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 28 July 2015 - 23:13.

[Lee Nicolle]

Andy Selmes
John Wood
S. Gordon
Bob Jane
Peter Marchiori
Alan Dewhurst
M Dickenson
D. Lowe
M. Dyer
Harry Firth
Peter Hassell
Barry Mulholland
Bruce Arrowsmith
John Westling
T. Murphy
Barry Murphy
A. C. Smeaton
Barry Forbes
Kevin Dennis
Keith Pascall
Dave Sullivan (WA)
John Lewis
R. J. Couche
R. Gilchrist
R. Hortin
J. Hicks
Dennis Dix
S. De Luca
I. Holloway



.

Did Serge DeLuca ever hillclimb an early Holden? Not in my memory. His son did in an EH. In the 90s! Though that started mid 70s. When I ran 60s Holdens! Mind you Serge still is doing it in the Anglia sports Sedan.

Greg started this thread with reference to the pics on the other thread that featured EHs, in the 60s.

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 28 July 2015 - 23:03.

[275 GTB-4]

Weldon was definitely there in his Holden, Greg...

There were obviously many more. Some reports mentioned '10 Holdens running' and similar, but few mentioned names beyond the leading three that day. And in some cases only the class-winning driver was mentioned, while many climbs weren't reported.

Until the 1964 mags I found no Queensland reports, there were no WA reports and as Dick has already perceived, the Grafton and other North Coast climbs were unrepresented.

They were all shaded by Cutler, it seems. Do you remember him, Greg? I think you were there the day he blew his auto trans at Silverdale...
.

Burt Ray, this is Greg's thread on early Holden's Hillclimbing. Why is it that whenever you see the word Silverdale you seem compelled to mention Jim Cutler and Dodges? Am I missing something here?

Obliviously, very confusing  

[rasimmo]

Alan Barrow?

I feel sure he must have done at least close to home.

Garry Bruce
Tony Hay
Des West
John Brindley
Peter Lewis-Williams
Norm Gown
Rob Jamieson
Terry Middleton
Max Volkers
John(?) Reilly
Graeme Courtney
Bruce Hindhaugh
M. Price
Warren Weldon
Norm Matthews
G. Carne
?? King

Ted Johnston was another out there in an EH, by the way,, while another S4 was run by L. Palmer in Victoria.

I feel sure that Herb Taylor would have run his early Holden in a hillclimb somewhere, he later used the X2 regularly.

No mention of Dick anywhere I've looked, but I find plenty of reference to a Daniel Tracey running a Mazda 800...

 

If memory serves, Teddy Johnston used to spanner for Marty Chenery and got the occasional drive in what was one of the fastest EHs about, I think it held the class lap record at the Farm till the Porsches went quicker.

Simmo



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[GMACKIE]

Lee, I thought of starting this thread after Charlie Tolhurst's name came up. I remembered him driving a 'Humpy' Holden, and started to think of some others who drove such cars in hillclimbs in the early '60s. Perhaps I didn't quite spell out my 'thoughts' very well, but it was 'Humpy Holden drivers at Hillclimbs' that was I had in mind.

[ken devine]

Some from WA that ran at Mt Clarence in Albany. George Wakelin,Rod Donovan,Dick Roberts plus others which i can't put names to.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Lee Nicolle
Did Serge DeLuca ever hillclimb an early Holden? Not in my memory. His son did in an EH. In the 90s! Though that started mid 70s. When I ran 60s Holdens!

The event where I've found his name, Lee, was at Collingrove in October 12, 1963...

He was a second and a half slower than Dennis Dix, two seconds slower than Brian Sampson in a 1930cc Morris Major Elite and a quarter of a second slower than Cyril Nancarrow's Austin A90 running as a GT car.

He was also in the under 2600cc class, so it's very unlikely that it was an EH.

Greg, there may well be a couple I've named who were in FEs or FCs, but very unlikely anything newer.

[DanTra2858]

Lee, I thought of starting this thread after Charlie Tolhurst's name came up. I remembered him driving a 'Humpy' Holden, and started to think of some others who drove such cars in hillclimbs in the early '60s. Perhaps I didn't quite spell out my 'thoughts' very well, but it was 'Humpy Holden drivers at Hillclimbs' that was I had in mind.

Greg to the best of my memory Charlie Tolhurst started competing in the ex Ashley Brailey BLACK FE, since Charlie lives south of Wollongong & was a Member of WSCC I would have known if he drove a Humpy but he did not, I have searched news paper clippings & result sheets but nothing indicates other than FE.

On the other hand could you be confused & mixing Charlie up with Teddy Johnson who was driving the Bob Stratten Humpy, Ted never raced his own car but was the drive behind many quick Holdens including the Brailey FE, it was such a shame that he took his own life at such an early age.

[GMACKIE]

My memory of this is of Charlie Tolhurst in a 'Humpy'.

 

[DanTra2858]

What year was this Greg?

[GMACKIE]

Sorry Dan - I thought the date was there. It was June 16, 1962.

[Ray Bell]

Greg, I'm not sure why you posted that report...

Does it in some way show that Tolhurst was in a 'humpy'?

[GMACKIE]

And I'm not sure why I bother to post anything on here.

[Ray Bell]

Okay, Greg, settle down...

Your memory is what matters in that post, right? It looked to me as if you were posting it to show he was in a humpy. I wonder if Daniel thought the same thing?

[DanTra2858]

No I did not think the same thing as I have know Charlie ever since he purchased his first race car which was the ex Brailey FE, it is a case of correcting History as you have well informed in the past. Any info that you have on my exploits in the Mazda 800 would be greatfully accepted, it was the first Mazda to be sold in the Illawarra area & I believe the first on a race track in Australia, the Farm Club Circuit with 50 miles on the clock, 100 at the end of the day, thanks Ray.