46 replies to this topic

[eldougo]

This name used to come up in lots of conversation i had doing research into cars over the years and also here on the TNF.
Many famous drivers names and cars came out of this racing stable and Used car lot here in Sydney.
.
Started by George Leaton and Jim Robinson back in 1959 using cars they had purchased and got good drivers to steer the things.
The Lancer was driven by Brian Foley,The Sprit was driven by Doug Chivas and the Jaguar by none other than Frank Matich.


Below is a color photo of one of the first team set up in a professional way to go about racing


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Edited by eldougo, 30 December 2012 - 23:30.

[eldougo]

This ad for them in the same SCW magazine got me thinking were they the 1st to start Stable Team like this in Australia or were their others before them.



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Edited by eldougo, 30 December 2012 - 23:38.

[GMACKIE]

I lived about half a mile from Leaton Motors' Kingsgrove service station, in Stoney Creek Road. It must have been early to mid '50s, as I was still in primary school, but I can still remember going to look at the cars, well before 1959.

Not sure, but perhaps the 'C' Type was once Ross Dalton's?

[eldougo]

I Greg thought it was the ex Frank Gardner car which he rebuilt after a smash not by him?

[John Ellacott]

I lived about half a mile from Leaton Motors' Kingsgrove service station, in Stoney Creek Road. It must have been early to mid '50s, as I was still in primary school, but I can still remember going to look at the cars, well before 1959.

Not sure, but perhaps the 'C' Type was once Ross Dalton's?

I lived half a mile from the Banksia car yard ( still do ) and got to know Frank etc. It was Joe Robinson by the way.
This would be 1958 and they had recently bought the C Type from Frank Gardner and it was painted BRG.
Ross Dalton was the next owner after Leatons bought the D Type from Bill Pitt ( or Mrs. Anderson )
Yes, probably the first team of its type in Australia, although I may be wrong, another car that ran in the colours shown above was the AC Ace.
I went to Longford in March 1960 when Frank drove the D Type in the TT. Shortly after the Lotus 15 arrived for Frank to drive and Doug Chivas took over driving the Jaguar.Joe Hills was the chief mechanic then and Barry Carr followed later.
Great days

[GMACKIE]

Sorry to stray a bit, but did you know Ted Proctor, John? Spoke to Ted a while back, and he seems to be going well.....he's painting landscapes and nudes [sounds good to me]. He's now in Bellingen.

[eldougo]

Thanks for the info John.That would be the AC-Ace Bristol that Doug Chivas drove in 1959 at Bathurst. I also found a H.Kwech ( Unknown )who drove the Sprit at the same meeting , Then a year later Frank Matich drove the Lotus 15 Climax under the Leaton colors.
Do we know what happened to Sprit i see that it gained a Simca motor ,i guess the little Motor could not go any faster.

Edited by eldougo, 31 December 2012 - 02:02.

[seldo]

..... I also found a H.Kwech ( Unknown )who drove the Sprit at the same meeting , .....

That'd be Horst Kwech. http://www.google.co...355534169,d.aGc

[eldougo]

Thanks David ,i do know that name ,however always consider him to be a Yank,Great to learn TNF strikes again.
Like i said in the first post Famous drivers in the Leaton Stable.

[MatthewMagilton]

Yes, probably the first team of its type in Australia, although I may be wrong,

Although there were teams pre-war like the Lanes Motors and Britannia Motors MG teams.

Matthew.

[GMACKIE]

Thanks for the info John.That would be the AC-Ace Bristol that Doug Chivas drove in 1959 at Bathurst. I also found a H.Kwech ( Unknown )who drove the Sprit at the same meeting , Then a year later Frank Matich drove the Lotus 15 Climax under the Leaton colors.
Do we know what happened to Sprit i see that it gained a Simca motor ,i guess the little Motor could not go any faster.

The Simca-engined Sprite [if it's the same car] went to Bill Jamieson,BP Engadine. John Leffler drove it for a while after sorting out engine problems. The Simca engine ended up in an Austin A-30, belonging to a Sutherland lad, who surprised the unwary at the traffic lights.

[275 GTB-4]

Do we know what happened to Sprit i see that it gained a Simca motor ,i guess the little Motor could not go any faster.

and, (supplementary), Do we know what Simca motor?? the Simca four is very similar to a BMC A Series (more go faster bits probably available anyway?)...or was it a 2-4L V8 ex-Vedette...

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 31 December 2012 - 04:42.

[eldougo]

I have been told that it was a 4 cyl motor not to over power the little Bugeye .

Using the TNF MrJohn Medley great Bathurst Book i see that Doug Chivas drove the D type in 1959/60.

Frank Matich went to drive the Lotus 15 for a few years then moved on to greater heights.

Brian Foley seem to stop racing the Lancer and went to drive a Kinsley motors Sprite.Unknown if same car or not.

Foley ended up in a Austin FarinaA40 and competed against Peter Manton in a Lancer an J.Malcolm in another Lancer
I wonder if any of these car were the ex Foley car??? from the Leaton Stable.

Matthew......Thanks for the info i wonder if you could supply any more details re the teams .

Edited by eldougo, 04 January 2013 - 05:57.

[Stinky]

Hullo Doug;
Wasn't the Kinsley Motors Sprite a lightweight that raced in Appendix K?
From memory it was painted BRG with red'white and blue GT stripes over the hardtop.
Another thing that sticks in my mind it had wire wheels.
One thing for sure for what it was it went like stink.
At a very wet Farm meeting it caused quite a stir I think.
Working from memory of course.
Cheers.
Roger.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
.....Do we know what Simca motor?? the Simca four is very similar to a BMC A Series (more go faster bits probably available anyway?)...or was it a 2-4L V8 ex-Vedette...

The Simca Flash motor, which was 1290cc and had a 3-bearing crank...

The only real similarity I can think of with the A-series is that it had four cylinders, four spark plugs and eight valves.

Dissimilar were the following: Bore/stroke ratio way more oversquare; alloy head; designed to be its ultimate capacity, not stretched beyond the limits of the original design.

Of course, anyone who ever saw the engine bay of a Sprite would never contemplate fitting a V8 in there, even the small flathead Ford as fitted to the Vedette in a road race car.

[brucemoxon]

Horst Kwech grew up around the Snowy Mountains and went to live in the USA, where he was a player in Trans-Am racing.

There was a very good story about him a few months ago in Australian Muscle Car magazine.



Bruce Moxon

[275 GTB-4]

The Simca Flash motor, which was 1290cc and had a 3-bearing crank...

The only real similarity I can think of with the A-series is that it had four cylinders, four spark plugs and eight valves.

Dissimilar were the following: Bore/stroke ratio way more oversquare; alloy head; designed to be its ultimate capacity, not stretched beyond the limits of the original design.

Of course anyone who ever saw the engine bay of a Sprite would never contemplate fitting a V8 in there, even the small flathead Ford as fitted to the Vedette in a road race car.

Droll, very droll, go to any engine builder and they will tell you that there are a lot of similarities between Flash and A Series.....

[Ray Bell]

Oh yes, the coupling between the distributor and its drive are similar...

But, seeing as the Simca engine was based on the pre-war Fiat 1100 engine, I fail to see there's much chance of anything else.

In fact, I will say that your statement it totally false. The whole makeup of the BMC engine is dominated by the fact that the camshaft is on the left and the ignition on the right. This places the pushrods in between the ports, creating the well-known need for the siamesing of the ports, while it also means that the distributor drive crosses from one side of the engine to the other.

The Simca is far more conventional in that it has the ignition on the left where it belongs, right on the camshaft. The pushrods go up between the plugs and the other side of the head is left for ports and manifold. Additionally, the Simca has one long side plate over the cam followers while the BMC engine has two smaller plates.

Why do you have to create arguments like this, Mick?

[GMACKIE]

Now, now girls. I would like to see some stories about Leaton Motors, and their very successful team.

[eldougo]

Put the handbags away Girls and Happy New Year.


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Now this famous car was sold on the used car lot of Leaton motors who know what it is.

Edited by eldougo, 31 December 2012 - 23:23.

[eldougo]

More info found.

The C type was the Dr Boorman car imported from UK in 1955 and wrote it off in a creek after going through a guard rail of a bridge near Tamworth NSW.

It was bought as a write-off by Whale beach Jaguar exponent Frank Gardner who rebuilt it and race until he went to Uk in 1958 and Leaton Motors bought to add to the yellow& Black color racing stable.

[wolseley680]

Put the handbags away Girls and Happy New Year.


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Now this famous car was sold on the used car lot of Leaton motors who know what it is.

Is it an early Lotus?

[seldo]

Put the handbags away Girls and Happy New Year.


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Now this famous car was sold on the used car lot of Leaton motors who know what it is.

I'd reckon it's a 49 Fraser Nash Le Mans

[Pat Clarke]

Is that Austin Tauranac's Ralt sportscar Doug?

Pat

[DanTra2858]

I can remember at I believe the 3rd meeting at the Farm there was a Mk 1 Sprite with a Simca motor but if my memory serves me correctly it had a removal fibreglass bonnet but with the headlights in the guards & not in the bonnet as per a standard Sprite.

The Malcom Lancer was more of a Sports Sedan than a road going car as most of the panels were of glass with the whole bonnet / guards being of one piece.

I was lucky enough to live about 1 mile from Leaton Motors at Banksia, at the bottom of our street I remember the C Type passing at more than the legal speed with its racing exhaust system making nothing but sweet music.

It was at Leaton Motors that's I first saw a Berkeley, used to ride my push bike over there to look at the cars, this would have been between 1956/58

[David McKinney]

Not a Lotus, not a Frazer Nash

My guess, looking at the dashboard, would be an MG special

[eldougo]

It is Austin Tauranac's Ralt sportscar .PAT well done it a bad photo i know .

I call it Ralt 2 Built in 1951 by Austin& Ron it was black in color and was powered by a 1172 cc Ford 10 motor and had a Standard 10 gearbox using a underslung chassis ,road rego and he drive it to the tracks,there is a good photo of it in the Bathurst book page 113. Easter meeting.
It was sold when Austin got married and driven around the Sydney area before it ended up on the Used lot at Leaton Motors and went to Queensland where in time it was crashed and written -off. Info found from QTA records KJ-989 was cancelled 1969. Its were about to this day remains a mystery.

Big scrap heap in the sky my guess.

[Paul Newby]

Horst Kwech grew up around the Snowy Mountains and went to live in the USA, where he was a player in Trans-Am racing.

There was a very good story about him a few months ago in Australian Muscle Car magazine.



Bruce Moxon

Thanks for the compliment Bruce...!

According to my interview notes, Horst raced his Austin Healey 100 in the Bathurst October 58 meeting under the Leaton Motors banner and then the Sprite at the October 59 meeting for Leaton Motors. By this time Doug Chivas had graduated to the AC Ace and Frank Matich was in the Jaguar D Type.

Horst was very friendly with the Matichs (maybe that is the reason for the Leaton Motors connection?) and they competed against each other in Healeys at Mt Druitt. According to Horst they met up again in US F5000 where Horst is quoted as saying that he was quicker than Frank! However, according to subsequent research, Horst ran a Lola T300 in the 72 series whilst Frank raced his Matich A51 in the 73 US series only, so I don't believe they competed against each other.

Horst didn't have much to say about how the arrangement came about to race the Leaton Motors Sprite. At that time he was building his Buchanan bodied special the RM Spyder that he debuted at Gnoo Blas in January 1960. Maybe he was hoping to debut his own car at Bathurst and ran out of time? It was certainly a sideways step for him to race the Sprite...

[John Ellacott]

Sorry to stray a bit, but did you know Ted Proctor, John? Spoke to Ted a while back, and he seems to be going well.....he's painting landscapes and nudes [sounds good to me]. He's now in Bellingen.

Greg
Do not know the name. Was he connected to Leaton Motors ?
John

[John Ellacott]

Thanks for the compliment Bruce...!

According to my interview notes, Horst raced his Austin Healey 100 in the Bathurst October 58 meeting under the Leaton Motors banner and then the Sprite at the October 59 meeting for Leaton Motors. By this time Doug Chivas had graduated to the AC Ace and Frank Matich was in the Jaguar D Type.

Horst was very friendly with the Matichs (maybe that is the reason for the Leaton Motors connection?) and they competed against each other in Healeys at Mt Druitt. According to Horst they met up again in US F5000 where Horst is quoted as saying that he was quicker than Frank! However, according to subsequent research, Horst ran a Lola T300 in the 72 series whilst Frank raced his Matich A51 in the 73 US series only, so I don't believe they competed against each other.

Horst didn't have much to say about how the arrangement came about to race the Leaton Motors Sprite. At that time he was building his Buchanan bodied special the RM Spyder that he debuted at Gnoo Blas in January 1960. Maybe he was hoping to debut his own car at Bathurst and ran out of time? It was certainly a sideways step for him to race the Sprite...

Hi Paul
Is your article available to read online ?
I remember Horst Kwech in an Austin Healey at one of the first race meetings at Mt Druitt I attended where he impressed with his speed.
I recall the commentator linking the words Kwech and quick !
John

[GMACKIE]

Greg
Do not know the name. Was he connected to Leaton Motors ?
John

Thought you may have known Ted, as he lived in Hattersley St. He built and raced some interesting cars, including the Manx.

[Paul Newby]

Hi Paul
Is your article available to read online ?
I remember Horst Kwech in an Austin Healey at one of the first race meetings at Mt Druitt I attended where he impressed with his speed.
I recall the commentator linking the words Kwech and quick !
John

Hi John,

Check your PMs.

Cheers, Paul

[eldougo]

Your right Dan the headlights were blended to the front of the body unknown if it was a glass one or they just removed the Popeyes .
This idea they copied from the Frank Gardner Jaguar Streamlining, which helped the little car top the ton on the Gnoo Blas straight with Doug Chivas driving it first time out.


Photo SCW
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Edited by eldougo, 02 January 2013 - 07:57.

[eldougo]

While looking for more info i came across a Bankrupt file dated 1960 listing .

George B Wormleaton and J J Robinson from Leaton Motors.and how said the motor
racing was not expensive ,However they somehow keep going until 1962.

I never heard the name Wormleaton news to me.
_________________________________

On the racing side Team Leaton still ran cars Easter1961 Bathurst Jaguar /Chivas, Lotus 15 /Matich.
down to a 2 car Leaton stable.
Then in 1962 Frank Matich was the only entry still driving the Lotus19 at the Easter meeting Bathurst.

Then i guess it all folded up the money had gone and Frank Matich had Team Total Lotus 19 entered
Easter 1963 ,so i guess that is the end of the Leaton Stable yellow and black cars that brought a Professional
look to Australia motor sport scene if only for a sort term.
___________________________________
Do we know if how long did the used car lot keep going or was it renamed and they trade on until???

Edited by eldougo, 04 January 2013 - 06:29.

[John Elmgreen]

El Dougo:  you found some bankruptcy documents for the Leaton Motors team from 1960 although they kept going into 1962.

I am writing up the history of the Jaguar D Type XKD526 which was owned by Leaton and raced by Frank Matich and Doug Chivas, 1959-1961.

After that, it was in the hands of Barry Topen who I had thought actually purchased the car - until someone said they thought it was still being entered by Leaton for Topen.

If Leaton somehow managed to continue into 1962, maybe Topen did not did buy the car - in any event, he smashed it badly at Sandown in March 1962 after which Keith Russell bought it.

I also thought that it was Russell that repaired it (seemed logical) although again someone suggested that Topen or Leaton had repaired it.

I must say that Topen having the use of the car if owned by the two bankrupts (if that is what they were) would not be allowed in a bankruptcy - so maybe he did buy it after all.

Any feedback on this stuff would be very welcome!

 

 

[cooper997]

A search through period magazines of the era, like SCW will likely have some information. They ran a feature in May 1959 on the new racing team. But that's before the D Type came into their team.

 

As for the March 1962 Sandown, there's at least 3 cars with entries referenced to Leaton.. Here's a couple of events.

 

March 11 & 12 1962 Sandown International Meeting

Event 5 first day Sandown International Cup heat 1 15 laps 2pm p20

40 Leaton Motors/TBN  Lotus 15 Yellow & Black 2492

Event 7 first day Kevin Lott Sports Car Trophy 25 laps Le Mans start 3.30pm p22

2000 and over

3 Team Leaton/B Topen  Jaguar D Type Yellow & Black 3442

1100 and Under

24 Team Leaton/J Martin Lotus Climax Yellow & Black 1100

 

Stephen

[John Elmgreen]

Hi Stephen,  Thanks so much, that is valuable information!

I also did bankruptcy searches of the two guys named in this forum as the proprietors of Leaton Motors (Wormleaton and Robinson) and neither had been made bankrupt - so any suggestion to the contrary should be withdrawn.

Further, there were two companies with "Leaton Motors" as part of their names and neither was shown on superficial searches as having been insolvent.

I think each of them went on for quite some years after the early 1960s.

I also saw a photo of a smart looking showroom for Leatons - whereas I had imagined it was just a workshop at a garage, from pics of Jag racers there in the 1950s on a forecourt.

We wrote about XKD526 back in 1985 and said that the car "passed to" Barry Topen at one stage - which is a non-committal way of saying we didn't know if he bought the car or not, but he certainly drove it!

Love to know more about Leaton, Barry Topen, and Keith Russell.

[Paul Hamilton]

I also saw a photo of a smart looking showroom for Leatons - whereas I had imagined it was just a workshop at a garage, from pics of Jag racers there in the 1950s on a forecourt.

We wrote about XKD526 back in 1985 and said that the car "passed to" Barry Topen at one stage - which is a non-committal way of saying we didn't know if he bought the car or not, but he certainly drove it!

Love to know more about Leaton, Barry Topen, and Keith Russell.

 

In the early '60s I often cycled over to Leaton's Banksia yard to look at the great selection of sports cars.  As I recall it was well laid out and impressively presented although the cheaper MG TCs which were all I could then aspire to were always in the very back row!!

 

I don't think Keith Russell had any connection with Leatons other than his purchase of the D Type.  Keith had a smash repair business on Canterbury Road which traded under the name of Able Industries and which entered both Lyn Brown's very quick Mini and my Turner later in the '60s.  The Able Industries cars, including Keith's D and E types, were all painted in a very eye catching 'Mako shark' style two tone bright blue and white.  

[TerryS]

I think each of them went on for quite some years after the early 1960s.
I also saw a photo of a smart looking showroom for Leatons - whereas I had imagined it was just a workshop at a garage, from pics of Jag racers there in the 1950s on a forecourt.

Here is a 1961 photo of the very attractive Leaton Motors premises on the Princes Highway at Banksia. It was just as the Highway veers slightly.

Went there in 1963 with my father when he was looking to buy a Dodge Phoenix.

Don't know if premises still there as haven't been on that bit of road in over 20 years.

http://www.csec.esrc...htm?CSEC00004,2

[cooper997]

John, this June 1963 SCW Leaton Motors advert should help towards answering a couple of your questions..

 

 

Stephen

[cooper997]

Here's the cover of the May 1959 SCW mentioned earlier. This issue has the Leaton Motors feature written by Doug Blain (now publisher of 'The Automobile')

 

 

The earliest recorded snippet I have on Leaton is their race team formation in the 20 August 1958 Australian Motor News. The same issue has a snippet on Frank Gardner heading to the UK (Leaton's purchased his C Type for Matich to use). Earliest race I have recorded is the October 1958 Bathurst meeting.

 

Stephen

[ellrosso]

Matich at Longford, 1960. Quite a smart colour scheme.

[Wirra]

I drove past Banksia tonight but I couldn't quite place which of 3 or 4 car sales yards was Leaton's old place. 

 

My brother bought a FIAT 1100 from there in the early 60s and Frank was the salesman. I mentioned it to Frank at a Tasman Revival and he was quick to point out the warranty had expired! 

 

As a kid I made myself sick buying Nestle chocolates to complete the cards for this album. IIRC we were told the photo was taken in a back street at Banksia.

 

Edited by Wirra, 25 February 2019 - 10:38.

[Ray Bell]

It seems it's a fancy hotel at that address these days:

[John Elmgreen]

"The World on Wheels" - I reckon I had one of those books, too. Wonder if I can find it?1

[cooper997]

Issue 39 of Absolute Lotus has just arrived in selected Aussie newsagents... it has this unique Paul Samuels ex Leaton Motors Lotus 15 model gracing its models page.

 

 

 

Stephen

[Lola5000]

Issue 39 of Absolute Lotus has just arrived in selected Aussie newsagents... it has this unique Paul Samuels ex Leaton Motors Lotus 15 model gracing its models page.

 

 

 

Stephen

Nice guy Paul ,I sold him my ex Laurie O'Neill Bentley Flying Spur S3 ,which Paul owned up till his passing