637 replies to this topic

[MarkBisset]

 

Always loved the cast-alloy centre Rennmax steering wheel fitted to the Mk2 Vees, BN7 and ? . The half wheel was a bit of a trend in Oz in those pre-quick release steering wheels days, Matich and Birrana were so equipped 

 

Pic Geoff Russell 
 

[Ray Bell]

Yes, it was a very neat solution to the steering wheel 'problem'...

 

A fairly small casting with a piece of aluminium cut with a bandsaw, then bound.

 

There was probably one fitted to the second Ray Hanger sports car and a few of the cars Bob has in his shed have them.

[Wirra]

I should imagine the stress concentrates (cracks) in the spokes are designed to have the rim shear off and then provide sharp edges to lacerate the driver's wrist. It saves the ignominy of being beaten to death by the mechanics.

[Ray Bell]

They weren't a part of the original design...

 

I don't know if any were tested to the limits you describe, Peter.

[Ray Bell]

I phoned Bob this morning to let him know I'd heard from Richard, the son of Nick Grace...

 

We've been talking this week about the Brolgas and Bob's involvement with Nick and his cars. Richard reported in the Brolga thread a couple of years ago...

 

https://forums.autos...9/#entry8690880

 

...that he'd managed to acquire one of the cars for restoration.

 

The chassis was the part which Bob was most interested in, a platform chassis with flat sheets of steel top and bottom of ribs to which it was all spot-welded.

 

 

 

You can see in the lower pic how the seats were sunk into the platform, so did the lower legs and the battery. I'm hoping to get photos of the uprights and adaptor plate Bob made for these cars.

[Ray Bell]

Further clarification from Bob...

 

"This car must have been built before I came on the scene," he told me. "The adaptor looks like one from Lynx and the uprights - I didn't make those. The gearbox hasn't been inverted, either, which makes the engine fit up about 5" higher in relation to the gearbox."

 

I posted this on the Brolga thread as well.

[brucemoxon]

Bob with Barry (Bo) Seton. And that white car looks really nice - is that the Corolla-engined car I wonder?

 

BRM (who wishes he'd been a fly on the wall)

[Ray Bell]

Yes, Bruce, that's the car you expressed your lust for a while back...

 

Stephen Land took Barry to visit Bob on Saturday, he also took that photo. Unfortunately I missed them by about an hour.

[TerryS]

For interest,, video of Bob Britton presentation at HSRCA meeting
 
‘Mr.Rennmax’, Bob Britton's Presentation to the HSRCA, June 2019 - YouTube

[MarkBisset]

Wow, magic.

enjoyed that so much, thanks Terry.

m 

[DogEarred]

For interest,, video of Bob Britton presentation at HSRCA meeting
 
‘Mr.Rennmax’, Bob Britton's Presentation to the HSRCA, June 2019 - YouTube

 

Very informative  Thanks.

[MarkBisset]

 

Bob Britton wields his magic on Adrien Schagen’s Lotus 11 chassis ‘343’, year folks? (Adrien Schagen)

[Ray Bell]

1978 or 1979...

 

That's according to Marc's book. And I guess he should know.

 

It's also a good shot to show Britto's old workshop in the shed at the back of the house in Croydon Park.

[Ray Bell]

There's movement afoot at the Rennmax workshop and 'museum'...

 

This coming Saturday, May 8, will see Bob's regular (and irregular) visitors giving the place a real Spring Clean. And why?

 

The following Saturday will be a real 'Rennmax Day' with a number of present owners of cars turning out with those cars to add to the mix. How I wish I could be there!

[Ray Bell]

Ten cars turned up for the 'Rennmax Day'...

 

Ray Hanger's sports car with the 2-litre BDG was, in my opinion, the prize of the lot, while the ex-Doug Heasman BN7 was there too. Terry Quartly flew down from Queensland to be there alongside the Mk 2 Rennmax Vee he raced in the late seventies.

 

Other cars I can pick from the photos on Facebook (I've asked permission to put them into this thread) are the Peter Wilson/Richard Carter Lotus 23 replica, the BN1 Formula Junior built for Kingsley Hibbard and Wayne Seabrook's BN3. The remaining cars were all other BN1s or BN3s unless the BN2 was there.

 

This means that there was no fewer than 18 Rennmaxes present on the day, with Bob's 'collection' of post-career cars in his 'museum' shed. It's unlikely there's ever been so many of the marque in one place at the one time before.

[Ray Bell]

And here are three pics, with thanks to Bob Williamson...
 

Rennmaxes lined up. Ray Hanger's BN6 is on the right with the Doug Heasman BN7 next to it, then the Mk2 Vee once raced by Terry Quartly. There are two cars in that row obscured and right down the end is the Kingsley Hibbard BN1. The only car really visible in the other row, to the left of the shot, is Wayne Seabrook's BN3, but you can just make out the rear bodywork of Richard Carter's BN5 (Lotus 23 copy) at the other end of that row.
 

The innovative Rennmaxes. The Mk 2 Rennmax Vee introduced some forward thinking to that class, though the big 'ears' each side were found to be wind-catchers and were done away with. The BN7 was the only monocoque open-wheeler Bob built and this one is unique in that the tub goes back alongside the front half of the engine. Access to the oil pump was difficult so subsequent cars had the tub end at the back of the cockpit. The car still has its unique wheels, too. Ray hanger's BN6 is also built around a monocoque central section, while in this pic the Kingsley Hibbard car is on the grass next to the BN6.
 
 

Plenty of Rennmaxes! Six of Bob's latter day cars are visible in the 'museum' shed here, while the Hibbard BN1 is being pushed around, apparently trying to find a comfortable spot in which to sit. The red car I'm not sure of, perhaps it's the BN2 built for Max Stewart and later raced by Clive Millis, if so it's the same as the red car in the 'museum' except for its power unit, while the nose of the BN5/Lotus 23 replica is seen to the left.
 
If more pics turn up I'll get them posted here.

[2F-001]

Wow...!

 

Such a lovely acknowledgement of Bob's skill and inventiveness

[Ray Bell]

Yes, it certainly was...

 

And it was a credit to Kevin Davis, who organised it as a day celebrating '60 Years of Rennmax'.

 

The yellow car which was there, just visible in the on photo, was the spare Mildren chassis, the red one with black stripe (barely visible) was a BN1 while the one with the gold-ish nose and stripe on what looks like dark green was originally the Barrie Garner car. The red car, seen clearly from the rear, was a BN3 and not the BN2.

 

I'm still hoping for more photos...

[Ray Bell]

On Facebook, Kevin Davis has explained...

 

Apologies to everyone who would like to have been there for Rennmax Day. The invite was kept to a mimimum of present Rennmax owners and older ex-owners because Bob is not up to handling huge crowds these days. Some of the ex-owners who went to great difficulty to be there, Ray Hanger, with his BN6, Terry Quartly, from Queensland, John Valentin, Tony Cavanagh, Wayne Newman and Wayne Wilson. All catching up with Bob, old friends & their old cars.

 

The ones who didn't make it will be wishing they'd been there for ages.

[Ray Bell]

One former Rennmax owner who's disappointed that he didn't know the day was on was 90-year-old Bruce Polain, who had a BN1 (the Barrie Garner car) in the late eighties and into the nineties:

 

Off the line at Tamworth. Bruce Polain lines up for the Tamworth hill, the drive to the lookout which is on the North side of the city, in his nicely-prepared Rennmax BN1.

 

The car was there, of course, it's in the background of this pic of the second Rennmax chassis built for Laurie Ellis and now in the care of Kevin Davis, who provided these pictures:

 

 

Two BN1s. Kevin Davis now owns the red and black car while the next car in line is the Garner car, shown above in Bruce Polain's hands.

 

Other cars present...

The 'Gordon Crawford BN3'. Generally recognised as a Brabham BT23, from which the BN3s were copied, this car is a real credit to its present owner while behind it is the BN5, the Lotus 23 replica built for Peter Wilson and now owned by hard-charging Richard Carter.

 

The BN6 and BN7. I couldn't help but post another picture of these cars, innovative and beautifully presented. Ray Hanger's BDG-powered BN6 was the second of these cars he had Bob build for him. After he sold the first to John Fraser - it was BMW powered - he missed it so much he had this one built. The Doug Heasman car has been pretty well covered over the past couple of pages of this thread.

 

Rennmax Palliser. Built from a spare chassis created for Alec Mildren, this BN3 came to life when Don Baker received it in return for work done for Alec. He was a flight steward with Qantas and obtained Palliser components from England during his visits there. It's now built up to represent the Mildren Alfa F2 car raced by Kevin Bartlett and Max Stewart.
 

[lyntonh]

 

Richard Carter at Mallala at the All Historics meeting in April 2022.

[Wirra]

From Bob Williamson's site. No photographer credit provided but it's likely taken by Bob Britton himself.

 

[Ray Bell]

Barry Lake took the photo in 1972 for an article he did in Motoring News (Australia?)...

 

The cars in the photo are the Jedda - at the time owned by David Jones (does anyone know who this might be?) - and the Doug Macarthur Rennmax. Spare body panels on the roof, as always, old chassis strewn around, it was a busy place.

 

The wheeling machine in the middle of the yard was used by Stan Smith, but when Stan stopped being a part of Rennmax Bob couldn't use it. He saw a newspaper ad from a man named Ken McKay, who'd decided to restore a Buick and was doing Tech courses on bodywork including the wheeling machine. He wanted to buy one and Bob was happy to let him take it away.

 

And it probably doesn't surprise you that Ken McKay became a lifelong friend and still periodically turns up at Bob's place.

[Wirra]

A few more from Bob Williamson's Facebook site.

 

Is it still worthwhile posting these on here or does everyone have access to Bob's site?

 

 

 

 

 

(edit) Ray 

Edited by Wirra, 01 August 2022 - 08:57.

[Ray Bell]

Actually, that's the unique Doug Heasman car, Peter...

 

Note that the sides of the tub come up alongside the engine, to the engine mounts basically, which meant access to the oil pump was difficult.

 

As for posting them, yes please!

 

I find it difficult to locate anything on the Bob Williamson facebook page, and if located once, for sure I can never find it again!

[Ray Bell]

This Mark Bishop pic from Hume Weir (via the 'dedication' page) shows the car being forcefully driven:
 

 

One corner later Macrow tried to stare Doug down and found out two things. First, that Doug was a harder man than he thought; second that Costa rims aren't as tough as Britto's.

[GreenMachine]

As for posting them, yes please!

 

[MarkBisset]

Onya Wirra, you beat me to the punch Peter.

 

Just to allow a ‘back to back’ comparison of chassis. BN7 chassis here via Ray Bell.

 

 

 More;

 

 

Article here may be of interest; https://primotipo.co...-gets-the-jump/

 

The rear frame section would be handy if anyone can oblige…

Edited by MarkBisset, 02 August 2022 - 03:54.

[GregThomas]

For a first go at a semi-monocoque center section, Bob wasn't taking many chances was he. The wall thickness at the junction point looks to be at least 5mm.

I suspect that in his shoes I'd have probably been just as conservative.

 

If anyone can confirm the wall thickness of the center section I'd be obliged. 

Edited by GregThomas, 02 August 2022 - 04:13.

[Ray Bell]

I'm pretty sure it was 16g, Greg...

 

It wasn't especially thick.

 

Mark, you can see that's the abbreviated chassis. I do have pics of a bent one...

 

Andrew's early experience. Bob built a whole new chassis (he had the bones of it done) when Andrew Miedecke crashed one morning in testing. The remains of the original are in the rafters of one of Bob's sheds, this is looking up from underneath.

 

Note the point where the engine mounts attach? That's where the original chassis ended.

[Ray Bell]

Something which had Bob pretty pleased when I visited him this week:
 

The Rennmax Quilt. Bob holds the quilt up, the screen-printed larger panels with the Rennmax montage from the poster when he was featured at Eastern Creek being evident.
 
This was the work of a new quilter's group in the Castle Hill area, the link being David Medley's wife, Carole, who's a keen member.
 
It's obvious a lot of thought and work has gone into the quilt and Bob fully appreciates that...

[TerryS]

Attached for interest is an ad for the ex Bob Muir Rennmax BN 2

 

It sure had an interesting range of engines..

 

1969 Renmax BN2 Formula 2 - Australia's Number 1 Motorsport Marketplace - my105.com

[Ray Bell]

Surely it's a BN3?

 

Is this the same car that Barry had with a Renault engine fitted? I feel sure I saw him with a Rennmax with a Renault engine at Leyburn lots of years ago.

[Allen Brown]

I agree it's logically a BN3, but it was always called a BN2 in period.

[MarkBisset]

 

As Terry said, a car fitted with quite a few engines, not as many as the most successful ‘BN3’ of all,  the mainly Max Stewart, Mildren Waggott.

 

Here Bob Muir, his car Waggott 2-litre TC-4V powered, during the 1970 Oran Park Gold Star round (oldracephotos.com/Dick Simpson)

Edited by MarkBisset, 09 September 2022 - 09:13.

[TerryS]

RENNMAX OWNERS UPDATE

 

In correspondence with Allen Brown on Rennmax he has noted:

 

"Only a few Rennmax owners try to keep me up to date with car movements, so that the Rennmax page on the old racing cars site is getting out of date.

 

Can anyone offer any updates?"

 

The site is "https://oldracingcars.com/rennmax/"

 

There are additional pages on the BN2 and BN3 models. Click on the model numbers on left hand side to open them.

 

Allen's email is "allen@oldracingcars.com"

Edited by TerryS, 09 September 2022 - 23:18.

[Wirra]

A couple more from Bob's site and one by Bruce Wells.

 

Mildren Maserati?

(edit) Following up on this I find claims that the 'Mildren' was based on a Lotus 19. From what I can observe the rear at least, looks more Lotus 23?

 

 

 

Edited by Wirra, 12 September 2022 - 08:46.

[Ray Bell]

Definitely a stretched Lotus 23...

 

 Bob had made a jig for the 23 chassis, I think patterned from the Mildren-owned car from a couple of years earlier.

 

And at a guess I'd say that shot of Gardner comes from the Friday before the meeting, maybe even earlier. There's not enough people in the background for it to be practice day and the car only did one lap on race day.

[Wirra]

Three more images of the Mildren Maserati have emerged.

 

 

 

[Ray Bell]

Great additions to the thread, Peter...

 

Thanks for posting these pics.

[Ray Bell]

A visit to Herb Neal's place today, Bob, Ray Eldershaw and myself, saw Bob enjoying conversation with Herb's wife Jan...

 

Bob chats with Jan. Bob's a very good listener and his friendship with Herb and Jan is obviously very long term and strong.

 

...in a workshop with five nice openwheelers in the course of preparation.

 

One of the highlights I enjoyed today was when Bob pointed to a pickup point on the front end of the Delta that was among those cars. It dates back to 1967, but Bob Immediately said, "I remember welding that on there!"

 

Memories return. Bob has a prodigious memory, his recall of small detail really showed up in this moment.

 

He further commented that Jack Brabham was at his workshop in Croydon Park and told him it was a good way to make that part.

 

Bob had a great day out, so did Ray and so did this Ray. We were all very happy as we headed back to Bob's place this afternoon.

[TerryS]

Here is an ad for a Rennmax BN7.

 

1975 Rennmax BN7 - Australia's Number 1 Motorsport Marketplace - my105.com

 

This car was up for auction at Shannon's Autumn 2021 Auction but was passed in. See post #515 above and subsequent.

[MarkBisset]

 

Visited Richard Bendell’s - of Motec and much more, fame - workshops at Dromana on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula today as part of the Peninsula Peninsula Boys today.

 

 

There he makes Daytona sportscars, and soon a Ford Mk4 rep, in addition they race two Sin Chev, Bulgarian built sports-racers. In among all of this is the Rennmax Climax 2.5 FPF, which “probably only needs two solid weeks to finish”.

 

Hopefully we’ll see it on track again soon, but Richard is e very busy boy.

 

 

 

 

[url=https://postimages.org/]

Edited by MarkBisset, 25 October 2022 - 06:34.

[Ray Bell]

Bob tells me he'd started building a Formula Junior...

 

Then Noel Hall crashed the Cooper and Ossie said to him, "Forget about the Junior, boy, build us a replacement for the Cooper!"

 

And so this car came into being. It was a momentous change in Bob's life, he's just remembering as he looks at these photos. "Suddenly people started talking to me," he says, "and instead of people coming along and saying, 'just move aside, kid', they wanted to talk about the car and how it was built. Even Lex Davison came over to have a look at it and appreciated what I'd built."

 

And another Bathurst Noel Hall anecdote from Bob...

 

"We were doing a wheel alignment with string around the car, it must have been out in the open somewhere. Lex Davison came along and said to us, 'Don't forget to allow for the slope of the mountain!'"

 

Mark, thanks for adding these great photos of the only Rennmax without a badge. It's a good job that Ossie had someone do that neat script to put the name on it, and that Richard has reproduced it so well, it really sets the scene.

 

And another memory from Bob about Noel...

 

He was signing the posters at Eastern Creek when the HSRCA had the Tribute to Rennmax day back in 2002...

 

Noel's car featured. A nice poster with artwork by Brian Caldersmith, the first Rennmax featuring at the top.

 

...and he signed one for Charlie Smith. Additionally, as Charlie lived in the same part of the world as Noel, Bob signed another he addressed to Noel. "I asked Charlie some time later if he'd given it to Noel, he said that Noel got all emotional."

[TerryS]

Attached is a current ad for a magnificent Rennmax BN3. It is in fabulous condition.

 

1969 Rennmax BN3 - Brabham BT23 Lotus Twin Cam - Australia's Number 1 Motorsport Marketplace - my105.com

 

One point in the ad that I believe may be incorrect is the sentence in the second paragraph that "Mildren acquired the Denny Hulme F1 Brabham BT23"

 

I did a lot of research on this car and seven years ago noted its story on TRS in post #3 of the attached:

 

RORSTAN TASMAN SERIES RACERS (theroaringseason.com)

 

I believe Mildren only had a copy of the Hulme car but could be wrong

[Ray Bell]

You're not, I'm sure, Terry...

 

It was sent to Bob to repair, as I recall, he built a new chassis and much later someone took the damaged chassis from the roof of his shed.

[Wirra]

A few more images from Bob Williamson's Facebook site.

 

 

 

 

[Ray Bell]

Peter Williamson's supercharged BN1 chassis...

 

The top left tube of the chassis carries the water forward to the radiator in this chassis, unlike the others which had it flow through the right hand side top tube. This was because of the supercharger installation.

[MarkBisset]

bizarre names

 

Bob Muir with his brand new Rennmax Mk1, weren’t his cars immaculate from the start? Warwick Farm, February 1966 (Bob Williamson Collection) 

 

 Not in synch with the colour of his Ferrari tow car mind you

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by MarkBisset, 15 February 2023 - 12:42.

[2Bob]

"Not in synch with the colour of his Ferrari tow car mind you"  

 

Which seems to have morphed into a holden.....

 

Mind you the trailer looks pretty immaculate for the period.