19 replies to this topic

[island]

Hi!
Why did Alan Hamilton make such an effort
with the conversion of this F1 machine?
F5000 did not look that good in 1981.
Or did he believe in the ARCOGRAPHITE idea?

[Ray Bell]

It really was a strange period... the people in F5000 - some of whom had no money, just a desire to race their cars, others like Hamilton had a bundle of money - just wanted to keep it all going.
They were really facing into the windward direction (probably at a place like Phillip Island, which turns on some good old gales) and unzipping their trousers... there was no realistic prospect for them, despite the efforts of car-builder Garrie Cooper and sponsor Reg Orr.
The Arcographite deal was a sham, put up by a whiz-kid with no sense of reality. Yet the F5000 guys bought it ...
But to answer your question, I suppose, and I don't know, I would only have seen the car once anyway, that Hamilton had committed himself to the course and went on with it. You then see that Hamilton took a difficult course with the Formula Atlantic introduction, too, buying a Tiga and making it a world beater.
Strange how the world moves. At one time I would have given very little for Hamilton's own driving ability, but he came alive in F5000, progressing from stead and fast to challenging for the lead... until he had his big crash, which made him a diabetic apart from breaking some bones. After that he was bent on giving Alfie the best car he could.
Today Porsche Australia, no longer in Hamilton hands, confuses the racing world by putting money into the Porsche Cup, which takes up valuable circuit space...

------------------
Life and love are mixed with pain...

[oldjonesfan]

Long time ago but I thought the story went that Tiga originally started modifying the car for someone (Vern Schuppan?) to run in Can-Am but that fell through and then it was bought by Alan Hamilton and completed as a F5000?

 

Does anyone know what happened to the car?  I seem to recall reading somewhere (RCN or Australian Motor Racing?) that Bob Jane bought it to "encourage" Hamilton to get out of F5000 and into Forumla Pacific with the Tiga?

[oldjonesfan]

Story by Ray here :

 

http://forums.autosp...-the-last-5000/

 

tells where "they" ended up.  "They" as it's interesting that there was another M26 (M26/5 unmodified?) in boxes at PCA for however long!

Edited by oldjonesfan, 05 February 2016 - 16:09.

[RA Historian]

Alfie's McLaren?

 

What's it all about?

 

(sorry)

[Lee Nicolle]

Alfie's McLaren?

 

What's it all about?

 

(sorry)

Alfredo Constanzo, very good  Aussie 5000 driver who drove very good cars for Alan Hamilton here in Oz. The last a modified M26.

Alfie is still driving very early 5000s in historics.

[Tim Murray]

You've never heard this, Lee?

Cilla Black - Alfie

[Lee Nicolle]

Anything to do with Alf has to be done in a strong Italian accent. Nice bloke and a very good open wheel peddler. Did ok too in tin tops, especially Sports Cars.

Alfie was lucky, a very good privateer 5000 runner with a decent sponsor, though that still did not pay all the bills. 

Alan Hamiltons severe accident precluded him from racing so he put Alf in his cars. With a very good budget and equipment and Alfs sponsor they did some very good things together. in both 5000 and later Mondial. 

[Wirra]

Here is Alfie taking a few less talented drivers around the track to show the correct lines. The chap on the right of the photo is carrying Alfie's latest trophy. Two of them seem disinterested and I assume never amounted to much. I'm not certain but I think that is Alfie's manager, Michael Caine, driving. 

 

Edited by Wirra, 07 February 2016 - 12:12.

[Ray Bell]

Not bad for your 1000th post, Peter!

And Pete Geoghegan as shadow.

Regarding his big break, when Alan Hamilton put him into the freshly rebuilt [spare tub built up after the crash] T430, Alan had this to say:
 

Extensive effort and work by the team saw the car ready, but only just, for Sandown. Walter Wolf had sent out two of his very fast Grand Prix cars [and they were] supported by a contingent of local and overseas F5000s. We all watched on anxiously as Alfie took to the circuit motoring around in a somewhat subdued manner. After 10 or 12 laps he pulled into the pits with everyone standing by to meet whatever change he needed.

He took off his helmet and, in his best Italian accent, ordered, "DONNA TOUCHA THE CAR!" The following day he beat the entire field going away from flag to flag...

Later in 1980 the Australian Grand Prix at the 'Mickey Mouse' Calder circuit saw more intense competition:
 

At an earlier Calder meeting [in 1977] Alan Jones, driving the Teddy Yip Theodore Racing Lola T332, had left the outright lap record at a staggering 39.2 seconds.

The F1 cars of Alan Jones and Bruno Giacomelli were now getting into the 37-second bracket, but the lap that brought tears to my eyes, and still does today when I think of the effort, was the lap by Alfie at an unbelievable 37.6 seconds. We needed to prepare for the AGP of the following year which would probably see even more F1 participants.....

Alan then goes on to tell of the purchase and preparation of the M26, but on the subject of Alfie's skills he added:
 

I ordered two Tiga Formula Atlantic cars and a couple of Swindon engines...

...suffice it to say that, even though many people felt that Alfie would not be able to re-adjust to the lower power of the Atlantic, and that team would not have the advantage we enjoyed with the F5000s, Alfie and our team went on to win the Gold Star Championship in '82 and '83.

It's interesting to note that Tiga Atlantic/Pacific/Mondial cars had little success anywhere else but in Australia, and that in the 1982 AGP at Calder, Alfie led the race, extending his lead against a field of local and international drivers driving cars that were theoretically superior to ours until half distance. Then the layshaft in the gearbox broke. A number of the internationals, including Laffite, Prost, Jones and others, went out of their way to acknowledge Alfie's extraordinary drive.

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Edited by Ray Bell, 07 February 2016 - 09:51.

[RA Historian]

You've never heard this, Lee?

Cilla Black - Alfie

Thanks, Tim, at least you and E1pix got my sad attempt at humor!

 

Tom

[Ray Bell]

Many others did too...

It wasn't really necessary to point out anything. But it is important to understand what a hero Alf was to so many in Australia.

He came out of nowhere and made a name for himself, he endeared himself to everyone with a friendly personality and carefree appearance. Everyone was delighted when he scored the Stock 84 sponsorship, especially when it took him into the T332 and even more so when he won a couple of F5000 races.

Among the Italian community in Melbourne he is such a 'favourite son' that he spent years as a kind of PR representative of the leading Italian language newspaper.

[JacnGille]

Thanks, Tim, at least you and E1pix got my sad attempt at humor!

 

Tom

I recognized it too. I just didn't have a similarly witty reply.

[Tim Murray]

I'm puzzled. It would appear that Alfie was around for many years doing a reasonable job in not particularly competitive cars. Then things clicked for him with decent sponsorship and Alan Hamilton's backing. This led to his four consecutive Australian Drivers' Championships, plus the impressive drives against Jones, Moreno, etc that Ray and others have mentioned in various previous threads. Then, apparently, nothing - his career seems to have rapidly petered out with the occasional saloon and sports car drives. Why did no-one apart from Hamilton put him in a decent single-seater? Was he considered too old in 1985/86?

Apologies if I've somehow got the wrong end of the stick here, but my curiosity has been aroused.

[E1pix]

Thanks, Tim, at least you and E1pix got my sad attempt at humor!
 
Tom

Wasn't there a restaurant named "Alfie's" on the north side of Milwaukee, Tom? I always think of that and the song interchangeably...

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Tim Murray
I'm puzzled. It would appear that Alfie was around for many years doing a reasonable job in not particularly competitive cars. Then things clicked for him with decent sponsorship and Alan Hamilton's backing. This led to his four consecutive Australian Drivers' Championships, plus the impressive drives against Jones, Moreno, etc that Ray and others have mentioned in various previous threads. Then, apparently, nothing - his career seems to have rapidly petered out with the occasional saloon and sports car drives. Why did no-one apart from Hamilton put him in a decent single-seater? Was he considered too old in 1985/86?

Apologies if I've somehow got the wrong end of the stick here, but my curiosity has been aroused.

Who was putting money into open-wheelers at the time?

Once the AGP became a World Championship race there was little interest in anything. Formula Atlantic gave way to Formula Holden, very few got sponsored drives.

In fact, Alfie wasn't sponsored by Hamilton, he was substituted as the team's driver because Alan had to face the fact that he could no longer effectively drive himself. His enthusiasm for the sport and his investment in it simply led to Alf being put into the car as he took his Stock 84 money along to help out. The offer by Jane to buy the Lola and thus pave the way for them to get out of F5000 and into Atlantics.

Once Alf was there and bringing the team win after win, there was a level of self-generation of the desire to keep the arrangement going.

Any decent sponsorships about were either drummed up by the drivers who would get into the open-wheelers or being thrown at tin-tops.



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Edited by Ray Bell, 07 February 2016 - 20:54.

[RA Historian]

Wasn't there a restaurant named "Alfie's" on the north side of Milwaukee, Tom? I always think of that and the song interchangeably...

I have a vague recollection. Restaurant and cocktail lounge, trendy at the time, but as is the usual case, after a few years just faded away as the next big thing came along.

[oldjonesfan]

 

Quote

Extensive effort and work by the team saw the car ready, but only just, for Sandown. Walter Wolf had sent out two of his very fast Grand Prix cars [and they were] supported by a contingent of local and overseas F5000s. We all watched on anxiously as Alfie took to the circuit motoring around in a somewhat subdued manner. After 10 or 12 laps he pulled into the pits with everyone standing by to meet whatever change he needed.

He took off his helmet and, in his best Italian accent, ordered, "DONNA TOUCHA THE CAR!" The following day he beat the entire field going away from flag to flag...

Walter Wolf?  The two Wolfs (WR3 and WR4 weren't they?) and the Ensign (N177 wasn't it?) were brought out by Teddy Yip's Theodore Racing.

 

By the way was the actual "official" (or "accepted") designation of the Tiga modified M26 Chevrolet?  Just "McLaren M26 Chevrolet" or "McLaren Tiga M26 Chevrolet" or "Tiga McLaren M26 Chevrolet" or something else (a Tiga number?) ?

[Lee Nicolle]

 

 

Quote

Walter Wolf?  The two Wolfs (WR3 and WR4 weren't they?) and the Ensign (N177 wasn't it?) were brought out by Teddy Yip's Theodore Racing.

 

By the way was the actual "official" (or "accepted") designation of the Tiga modified M26 Chevrolet?  Just "McLaren M26 Chevrolet" or "McLaren Tiga M26 Chevrolet" or "Tiga McLaren M26 Chevrolet" or something else (a Tiga number?) ?

 

My recollection is either Hamiltons or Alfies Mclaren!

[ellrosso]

Couple of shots from Sandown 1981. I first saw Alf at the Symmons Gold Star round 1969 driving Tony Osborne's McLaren M4A and was really impressed by his driving style - very smooth and quick. Great gear changes too! Last time I saw him was Bathurst 1998 driving that very scary Maserati Bi-turbo in the GTP race - what a handful that car was. At the end of the day I saw him drive out of the circuit in an old truck with the car on the back, his sidekick Marino (? brother-in-law from memory) in the passenger seat. I was at that Sandown 1979 race too - top drive.

 

Edited by ellrosso, 10 February 2016 - 18:13.