83 replies to this topic

[zoff2005]

Hi Allen

The 732 (like the Atlantic) was a works car so at the end of the season it went back to the works. Colin never owned any of his race cars. March ran a works car themselves for JP Jarier (who "pissed" the championship in Colin's words) and two works cars were run by Brian Lewis for Colin (part of his deal with March) and for Coulon (who brought money from Elf). Colin thinks his 732 would have been re-sold by the works to a customer (but does not know which).

All the best
Marcus

[Allen Brown]

Thanks Marcus

[kayemod]

Originally posted by zoff2005
Colin thinks his 732 would have been re-sold by the works to a customer (but does not know which).

March could just have resprayed it and sold it on to some unsuspecting customer as a brand new car, maybe slightly updated.

Now, what precedent could possibly have made me think of a dishonest business practice like that?

[zoff2005]

More Magic Merlyn

Selwyn H of Merlyn just phoned to say that the car never belonged to the works after it was sold to Emerson. However as Colin says he never owned it, obviously somebody else must have bought it for him! Trying to sort it all out! And Selwyn does know where it is now.

In the meantime Colin says he looked in his files and saw that he actually made over 7000£ racing the Merlyn (after running costs). That was a lot of money in those days! There were bonuses from STP, Avon, Champion plugs etc plus starting and prize money. As Selwyn puts it, Colin won practically every single race he did in the car except 2 of which one was due to a puncture! His biggest expense was his VW transporter which blew up at one stage. Colin says they gave it quite a hard time, including one memorable race from Ostend to Denmark or Sweden with Tony Dron and somebody else, all driving VW transporters. They were flat out all the way, slipstreaming, using the hard shoulders etc. Tony's transporter was a bit quicker despite having a smaller engine, perhaps lighter than Colin's which carried a spare engine for the race car. At one stage Colin, Denis Rowland and Colin's girlfriend were sitting outside next to the racecar (it was a glorious day) and Colin was banging on the cabin shouting at his mechanic, who was at the wheel, to go faster. They came to a level crossing as the lights were flashing red and Colin stood up and shouted to go through, but the barrier came down on his head and swept all the luggage jerry cans and so on, on to the road. They had to stop and collect it all and as a result Dron got ahead and Colin just missed a ferry to Denmark. It was pulling out as they arrived, with Tony onboard. When Colin & Co finally reached the hotel, Dron was sitting in a sofa pretending to snore! Obviously the FF race they went up there for was an anti climax!

Marcus

[SEdward]

As a Brands Hatch regular in the early 70s, I saw Colin race countless times and was often impressed by him. I especially remember a couple of side-by-side finishes with Bev Bond in the Ensign in 1971 (or maybe 1972). What always miffed me the Colin was that awful bubble visor that he wore. It really looked naff...

Edward

[zoff2005]

More Merlyn stuff:

Colin is adamant he did not buy the car, and is sure Colville did not either - so the mystery remains. Before the Merlyn Colin drove a Lotus 61 which Lotus gave to Bell & Colville who were Lotus dealers. Anyway Colin did a few races with the 61 which was rubbish and he was about to give it all up when Colville did the deal to take over Emerson's Merlyn end 1969 - perhaps it all involved Jim Russell? Perhaps the 61 went to Russell in exchange for the Merlyn - did Emerson actually own the car or was it Russell? Must look in my copy of Flying on the ground.

Colin says there were 4 races he did not win - the puncture one, he was 4th only at Hockenheim, he was 2nd at a hillclimb in Switzerland and he was punted off by Harness in the final race on instruction of Chapman (to give Bourgoignie the championship).
He says there was one car even better than the Merlyn (sorry Selwyn!) - just easier to drive really, not faster - and that was a Crossley 25F.
He came to race that by chance - Colin's engine was completely stripped at Zolder (it was given back to Rowland as a boxful of bits) and there was a race the next day at Castle Combe (Bank Holiday?). Rowland had a spare engine in the workshop but there was no time to take the Merlyn back there, fit the new engine and take it to Combe, so Rowland proposed putting the new engine into a brand new Crossley which he said was sitting in the workshop. Colin won at Combe with the Crossley and said it was amazing.
Colin says Dennis Rowland sold 215 engines that year! (Including one to me - trouble for me was I think the oil system in my Pringett Mistrale was hopeless - I had oil surge the whole time and the engine even blew once and had to be rebuilt). How I wish now I had bought a Merlyn (especially after driving a Mk20 last year - what a delight). I think Colin would like to know what became of Rowland (last heard he was into photography?).

As to the bubble visor I will tell him! Colin is not into vestimentary elegance even now - you should see the old Bell helmet he wears on his scooter, it has bits of lining hanging down from underneath. Naff said!

Marcus

[Giraffe]

The last I heard of Colin Vandervell was his involvment,I seem to remember as a financial advisor to Guy Edwards during his acrimonious divorce.
As this involved an estate valued at £18.5 million at the time, and Guy being no mug when it came to money, I can only assume Colin had some specialist qualifications and experience in this field.

[alansart]

Originally posted by zoff2005
and he was punted off by Harness in the final race on instruction of Chapman (to give Bourgoignie the championship).
He says there was one car even better than the Merlyn (sorry Selwyn!) - just easier to drive really, not faster - and that was a Crossley 25F.
He came to race that by chance - Colin's engine was completely stripped at Zolder (it was given back to Rowland as a boxful of bits) and there was a race the next day at Castle Combe (Bank Holiday?). Rowland had a spare engine in the workshop but there was no time to take the Merlyn back there, fit the new engine and take it to Combe, so Rowland proposed putting the new engine into a brand new Crossley which he said was sitting in the workshop. Colin won at Combe with the Crossley and said it was amazing.

Marcus

The Crossle 25F (no 'y') has an excellent reputation. In the 80's when I did Formula E (for Formula Fords with outboard suspension) the likes of Richard Peacock, the Eccleston's and others shunned the 30 & 40F's and raced the earlier 25F and still won irritatingly regularly!

[zoff2005]

Originally posted by Giraffe
The last I heard of Colin Vandervell was his involvment,I seem to remember as a financial advisor to Guy Edwards during his acrimonious divorce.
As this involved an estate valued at £18.5 million at the time, and Guy being no mug when it came to money, I can only assume Colin had some specialist qualifications and experience in this field.

If you mean was he ever married or divorced the answer is NO!

[Giraffe]

No Marcus! He was reported as acting in a professional capacity in the divorce of Guy Edwards; I thus assumed he must be an accountant or hold some fiscal office of some sort in his post-motorsport career, that's all!

[Alan Cox]

Thanks for relaying to us Colin's recollections of his career - good stuff.

[zoff2005]

Colin says that using a bubble visor was a left over from his karting days, and of course full face helmets were just beginning then.
In 1998 I was involved with sponsorship of a French Formula Ford team - running Anthony Gheza, who finished 2nd overall in the French championship. At the end of the year we rented Pau Arnos for a day and invited sponsors and friends, which included Colin, to drive the team Mygales. Colin was really quick and consistent - I had done the full FF season in 1997 and some races in 1998 and I had great difficulty keeping up with him.

Then another guest, Allard Kalff jumped into the car and just blew us all off - Colin was gutted and decided then and there never to make a comeback!

Marcus

[petestenning]

I remember marshalling at Snetterton when Colin was at his height of success in F/F ,and there was a romour that he would protest the Alexis of Peter Lamplough ? on the grounds of engine.

The reason i heard was that the Alexis was pulling away from Colin on the back Straight at a rate that a legal engine could not possibly do.


Is this true ? does Colin recall the race at all.?


Pete

[Mallory Dan]

Query on the Crossle thing chaps. As I understand it, CV was King of FF in 1970. The 25F didn't come out until mid-1973 did it when he was in F2/FAt? The Crossle Colin may have used in 1970 would have been a 16F or 20F wouldn't it, neither of which, IIRC, has a great reputation. I'm puzzled!

[alansart]

Originally posted by Mallory Dan
Query on the Crossle thing chaps. As I understand it, CV was King of FF in 1970. The 25F didn't come out until mid-1973 did it when he was in F2/FAt? The Crossle Colin may have used in 1970 would have been a 16F or 20F wouldn't it, neither of which, IIRC, has a great reputation. I'm puzzled!

Having sung the praises of the Crossle, I too have had thoughts about the dates involved and agree that the 25F came later.

The 16F was a 69 car and the 20F was run in 1971.

[zoff2005]

Crossle - yes of course a 16F

Peter Lamplough - Colin says he drove a Palliser not an Alexis. In qualifying at Snetterton Colin could not keep up with him on the straight despite sitting in his slipstream. After qualifying he went up to Peter, who he was quite friendly with and said to Peter there was no way his engine could be legal. Colin still qualified on pole but PL was on the outside of the first row. At the start of the race PL pulled away down the long straight (we are talking 20 yards or so) and into the hairpin, and again pulled away coming out of the hairpin, then lifted and let Colin past, so Colin in fact led the first lap officially. That was the only race where he went that way. Colin's theory is that Palliser were trying to promote their new car, and that they put back a legal engine afterwards.

Marcus

[Vicuna]

What an incredibly interesting thread

[taylor86]

Hi

I am desperately trying to get back in touch with Colin Vandervell. He is an old friend of my mums and i haven't seen of heard from him in over 10years as we moved house and lost his address and telephone number. Does anyone on here know him or know anyone that does?
Please help me.

[Tim Murray]

TNF member zoff2005 is in regular contact with Colin. He may be able to help you if you drop him an e-mail or private message (click on the link to do so).

[taylor86]

Tthankyou so much, thats really helpful. Is he on here often do you know?

[Tim Murray]

If you click on the link in my earlier post, you get his profile, which shows that he hasn't posted here for nearly a month. This is why I thought it might be worth sending him a message.

[Cirrus]

He's on pretty often, but he's racing in South Africa at the moment with David Piper's historic series. I think they return middle to end of next week.

[Tony Matthews]

Originally posted by zoff2005
Colin says there were 4 races he did not win - the puncture one, he was 4th only at Hockenheim, he was 2nd at a hillclimb in Switzerland and he was punted off by Harness in the final race on instruction of Chapman (to give Bourgoignie the championship).

Chapman? The rumour at the time was that it was Mo Harness' engine builder who funded it, Denis Rowland was spitting feathers after the race. I could be wrong...

[Gregor Marshall]

I'd like to get in touch with Colin too - him and Dad got on great, especially in '76 and '77, so much so Dad shared his DTV Magnum with Colin in the Spa 600Kms and the TT at Silverstone in '77 (Dad did never like a certain P Brock!! I wonder why Colin didn't get the 24hr race Spa seat??) and then for '78 Dad took over Colin's CC Mk2 Capri for British Group 1, with Colin's Triplex sponsorship and then at the end of the season (I think Colin did single-seaters in '78; F3 maybe??) Colin took back the Capri to race in '79 and Dad had the Dolomite Sprints for him and Rex Greenslade with Triplex sponsorship - I'm not sure if that caused a problem or not though??
Would love to hear from Colin about any of the above.

[marttoombig]

Can Zoff please ask Colin Vandervell to contact Mike McCabe in Jersey.

Got some potential work for colin, if he's still working!

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by zoff2005

... and for Coulon (who brought money from Elf).

Funny but I always associate Coulon with Antar sponsorship, who I think were/are a rival to Elf. Probably my memory playing tricks!

This is a great thread, largely thanks to Marcus being prepared to spend the time conveying Colin's anecdotes and memories.

[john winfield]

Originally posted by Twin Window

Funny but I always associate Coulon with Antar sponsorship, who I think were/are a rival to Elf. Probably my memory playing tricks!

This is a great thread, largely thanks to Marcus being prepared to spend the time conveying Colin's anecdotes and memories.

I'm sure you're right Twinnie, Jacques Coulon and Antar sponsorship conjure up images of the 1973/4 F2 March-BMW. But googling for a few photos, I had forgotten that earlier in his career he had some Bardahl support, and later sponsorship from Motul. Not sure about Elf though!

And, yes, this is another excellent thread so thank you for all the interesting posts.

[zoff2005]

Originally posted by Gregor Marshall
I'd like to get in touch with Colin too - him and Dad got on great, especially in '76 and '77, so much so Dad shared his DTV Magnum with Colin in the Spa 600Kms and the TT at Silverstone in '77 (Dad did never like a certain P Brock!! I wonder why Colin didn't get the 24hr race Spa seat??) and then for '78 Dad took over Colin's CC Mk2 Capri for British Group 1, with Colin's Triplex sponsorship and then at the end of the season (I think Colin did single-seaters in '78; F3 maybe??) Colin took back the Capri to race in '79 and Dad had the Dolomite Sprints for him and Rex Greenslade with Triplex sponsorship - I'm not sure if that caused a problem or not though??
Would love to hear from Colin about any of the above.

Colin says the following:
I believe Gregor has his years muddled. In 1970 I did FF; 1971 & 1972 F3; 1973 F2 and Atlantic; 1974 Ford Mexico; 1975, part of the season in saloon car championship; 1976, saloon car championship; 1977 stopped racing.

Ford agreed Gerry could use works car in 1977 championship with support from Ford for parts. I gave Gerry the Triplex money. No hard feelings at all. ...... (but it gets worse - I think for Gregor's Eyes Only!! - Marcus).

In 1976 Gerry raced a works Vauxhall against me in the works Capri. The Vauxhall and Dolomites were no match for the Capri on fast tracks, but on twisty tracks Gerry and I had some fantastic battles, but the power of the Capri usually won. I have a fantastic picture of Gerry and myself at Brands Hatch in one of those battles. That is why Gerry was keen to race the Capri in 1977 when Vauxhall withdrew.

It is correct, Gerry invited me to join him at the 12 hours Spa race in 1976 with the works Vauxhall, run by Blydenstein. The car was no match for the Capris, but it began to rain at the start of the race and Gerry drove brilliantly to move up to second, but then a piston went after 45 minutes before I could drive the car. I had agreed to do the 24 hour race, but Vauxhall said they had not fixed the piston problem in time. Gerry also asked me to race his Vauxhall at the TT but Ford refused to release me.

All the best
Marcus

[shellsport271]

Colin Vandervell leads an Escort Mexico race at Oulton, 1974

That's an ex-Shellsport Mexico being put to very good use.

I'm curious to know the sequence of events that lead to the car not continuing in Shellsport races in 1974 as mine did.

Also,what happened to the car, (if known)

Thanks

shellsport271

[BT 35-8]

If of interest to people following this thread , Colin Vandervell's Atlantic March 73B is alive and well in Australia
and competing happily in historic racing and has been for about 20 years now after being rescued and rebuilt.
That is the Triplex blue car in the above posts.

Bryan Miller.

[john winfield]

Here's an interesting piece on Colin, written in 2010 by Andy Marriott:

http://www.espn.co.u...story/9325.html

[Tim Murray]

Thanks John - fascinating stuff.

On the back of his 1973 success, I had secured a chance of a test for him with the Cooper Formula One team for 1974 but he wasn't the slightest bit interested.

Obviously not Cooper - I wonder which one it could have been.

[john winfield]

Thanks John - fascinating stuff.


Obviously not Cooper - I wonder which one it could have been.

Given his and Andy Marriott's links, March perhaps?

[ktaylor81]

Does anybody know how I would get into contact with Colin please he's an old family freind?