11 replies to this topic

[Racer.Demon]

Guys,

You can read my 2001 Revival Meeting report at 8W now. Loads of pictures - not all of them very good but they'll do the job - and hopefully you like the words as well...

[David McKinney]

Nice stuff, RD!
Far enough ago now to be quite a nostaglic presentation!
But if you were close enough to me to get my pciture in the background of the D-types, why didn't you come over and say Hi?!
And the Lister overdoing it is the Sadler, with a rueful Bill Sadler at the wheel. But you knew that, didn't you.

[Racer.Demon]

What? Point yourself out, David!

Felix and I were planning to drop a line on the Forum in an attempt to create some kind of get-together (although we did manage to bump into 10/10ths moderator TimD by accident) but through the September 11 attacks we somehow lost the plot while preparing ourselves for the trip...

Oh, and as I wrote, sportscars just aren't my forte...;)

[David McKinney]

Second from left in the 'sixties sportscars' link. At least it looks as if it could me me - the gear looks right, and the shape.
I did hope to meet up with some of the TNFers over the weekend, but being occupied each day trying to earn a living it was a bit difficult.

[UAtkins]

Thanks so much for the article and photos. I was there too and it was an incredible experience, once in a lifetime. I made it into England with four hours to spare on September 11th and world events cast a giant shadow. The periods of silence each day were amazing, nothing moved and against the sheer volume of noise that was normally present it was eerily still and very moving.

My sister and I met up with my Dad's mechanic Harry Pearce for a magical weekend. We journeyed back in time about 40 years and heard the most amazing stories from a man who was involved in motorcycle and car racing throughout the 50s and 60s. I had not known that when Harry left my Dad in 1964 he went to work for Bruce McLaren and was with McLaren cars until 1980, I know he has some great stories to tell about those times but that will have to be another time. I am already planning another trip in April 2002.

I too met a couple of my Internet penpals, one was Niel Twyman the current owner of my Dad's Cooper and the other was Rod Jolley. They were absolutely delightful to talk to and I was thrilled for Neil that Sir Jack Brabham drove the Cooper in the tribute. I had planned to put something on the forum so I could meet some of you but that too got bypassed in the last minute rush to get ready for the trip. Once I was in England I had no Internet access so that ended those plans.

We also met Doug Nye and found out that he had visited the house next door to mine when I was a child as his Dad worked there! It certainly is a small world, I have recently read his Cooper book amongst others and it was a real joy to speak with him, he was so very friendly and enthused about everything. We also ran into Eoin Young who of course recognized Harry and we were duly introduced. As GRRC members we had paddock passes but Harry and his wife had the magic Cooper Tribute passes which allowed them into places we couldn’t go. Harry was kind enough to go looking for Roy Salvadori in the driver’s mess, they wouldn’t let us in so he brought Roy to the fence whereupon the gatekeepers allowed us into the enclosure and we spent a very pleasant time catching up on life, Roy was as always elegant and gracious, despite being mobbed by the crowd before we moved him back from the fence. Sir Jack Brabham also came out at that time and we spoke to him for a few moments. It was also my first chance to pay my respects at the Bruce McLaren memorial, which I found very moving. Others we ran into included many of the Cooper engineers and also John Coombes, I’m probably forgetting some others, it was strange to meet people that I had read about in books and put to faces to the names. I am ashamed to say that I only got two autographs all weekend, Barry Sheene and Doug Nye, I was too busy to get any others. Harry’s wife did end up with her program autographed by Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jack Brabham, and Roy Salvadori, we were very impressed by that.

The crowning experience of the weekend was when we were invited to join the Cooper Tribute. This meant we were able to stand on the track and watch the band and the interviews first hand. The sight of the US flags at half-mast above the pits, the period of silence and then the playing of the Stars and Stripes were too much for me at that point. I was able to stand on the start/finish line and take a video shot into the first corner. A lovely surprise was that Pat McLaren was there and since she knew Harry well and remembered us as little children we spent a lot of time talking with her. We then were able to get into the March Pavilion to watch the rest of the racing. The best seat in town, I stood by the railing at the Marshall’s station and got some great video of the cars coming out of the chicane. Unfortunately since my camera was digital I had to go back into the stands as the rain hit and missed the best footage of the cars spinning wildly right in front of the stands and the wreck at the chicane! I will never forget the sight of Brooks walking back to the pits with his potted plant in his hand! We too left before the last race and were so emotionally wrought up after the weekend that it took us several days to wind down.

There were four of my Dad’s cars at the meeting. Only two were runners unfortunately but Harry had a great time talking to the mechanics and owners of three of them and they were treated to stories about the cars that I am sure they never thought they would hear. The first car was Neil Twyman’s 1957 Cooper Climax T43, the second was the red and gold 1964 Cobra that belongs to Grahame Bryant, the last two that were non-runners were the 1963 Lightweight E-Type 86 PJ owned by Penny Graham and the 1964 Cooper Monaco-Maserati T61P referred to in the program as the “5-litre ultimate Monaco built for Tommy Atkins”, this was the last car that Harry built for my Dad and is currently in the Rosso Bianco Collection. The E-type was there for the 40 years of the Jaguar E-Type tribute and we were fortunate enough to meet Penny Graham and her husband who had a great time showing the car to us and opening up the bonnet to show Harry that the brazing he did on the sump was still there! They really enjoyed hearing Harry’s stories about the car and although it is sad to think the car hasn’t been driven in over 20 years we can hope that they may finally be able to restore it to driving condition. The Cooper T43 was the same car that Ian Burgess ended his career in at AVUS. I must say that I found the modern “improvements” to the Cobra (HEM6) and the new color scheme rather difficult to like but did enjoy watching it race. Apparently it has a different engine in it now to the one that Gordon Whitehead and Harry put in originally. The got the original body with no engine and transmission and I can’t remember off the top of my head what they put in. I know it was a pig to drive and they had to add wings under the nose to make it handle at all. I think there were probably also a few of the Tasman cars that Harry had worked on for Bruce but we didn’t have time to really check them out.

Well, I am still trying to digest everything that happened and put together photos and video and notes. Thanks for the intelligent report that helped make some sense of what was a total blur of emotional and informational overload for me. Goodwood would have been an incredible experience without Harry, but with him it was everything I could have possibly dreamed it would be. I’m not sure if I will go back but next time I know I will not be allowed to go without my husband Earl who stayed behind and worried about me while I was gone.

Ursula

[Racer.Demon]

That was some weekend you had, Ursula. I can imagine the thrill of the experience!

Being first-timers as well, we were suitably impressed. This won't be a one-off...

BTW, David, I took your comments to heart and fiddled with a few lines. Looking at the results sheets when Sadler was an obvious DNS didn't help but a look in the programme - that I managed to temporarily misplace until I found it last night - would have done the trick!

So to which of those D-types are you attached?

[David McKinney]

Not attached to any (unfortunately!). Just having a look.

[Eric McLoughlin]

Just to add my "tuppence worth", the fourth Revival was every bit at exciting as the first three. I went Saturday and Sunday. I thought the racing on Saturday was a bit dull but Sunday was really good. There were lots of thrills and spills but, luckily, no injuries. I understand Lord March is looking into some of the tactics adopted by some of the drivers, especially the younger ones. I ventured down on both days in my Caterham 7 and was delighted to be waved through to the "Classics" line up in the GRRC car park on the Sunday. I'd brought a friend down on the Sunday who had not been before and he was totally amazed by the whole thing. The silences held for the WTC attrocities were extremely moving. On Saturday a pair pf P-51 Mustang fighters performed two flypasts prior to the band of the Blues and Royals playing The Star Spangled Banner. On Sunday, you could hear a pin drop. Truly moving.

[Racer.Demon]

As a matter of interest, more pictures have been added to the report in a separate section at the bottom of the page. Cars, bikes and even planes...

[David McKinney]

Thanks for drawing our attention to Frank vdV’s photos - very evocative.
I haven’t conned them all yet but offer the following observations:
•It’s not Rob Hall’s Maserati 250F driven by Clive Smith, but Smith’s car with Hall at the wheel
•Barrie Baxter annoyingly enters his car as a Tecnica Meccanica whereas you, I and the rest of the world know it as the Tec-Mec
•David Cooke’s Cooper-Maserati is not ex-Centro Sud
•The Walker-Climax has been racing for at least two full seasons
•That’s Gaham Bryant driving Piper’s Ferrari 365P

[Racer.Demon]

I've done it again! I should read the programme carefully before typing things... Thanks for being so observant and interested, David.

Maybe I should put that Tecnica Meccanica in between apostrophes... I too thought it was all a bit overdone.

What I of course meant was that the Walker didn't race in its epoch.

BTW, the Cooper-Maser was Centro Sud-liveried, wasn't it?

[David McKinney]

Certainly for some of the time the C-S Cooper-Masers were plain red, though they may have developed different-coloured nose-bands later