35 replies to this topic

[rod]

A quick question for all the S Africa buffs in the forum: what did the Heron look like?

Elsewhere on atlasf1, (in his review of the 1961 Rand Autumn Trophy), the generally well-informed and highly reliable Don Capps says:-

“…Ernst Pieterse in the Scuderia Alfa Romeo-powered Heron (essentially a copy of the Formula Junior Gemini Mk 2 with a copy of the Mk 3 following later in the year)…”

But, hold on – if my memory serves me correctly, the Mk 2 Gemini was front-engined. Does this mean that the Heron was front-engined too? And a second Heron later in the year??

Hodges (A-Z) includes a photo of the Heron (captioned ‘the first Heron’) – it looks vaguely Cooper-ish, with some similarities to a Gemini Mk 3.

Has Capps just got his Gemini Mk numbers mixed up, or is the ‘Mk 2 copy’ a myth?

Both Mike Lawrence (GP cars 1945-1965) and Sheldon et al. (F1 Record Book) agree that there was only one Heron, and this is obviously the rear-engined car.

Perhaps someone could post some photos of these S African cars to clear up any confusion. (I’ve always wondered what the Assegi, Realpha, Jennings, Neutar, Vic, etc. looked like).

[Don Capps]

WHAT!!?? Moi? In error?

Has Capps just got his Gemini Mk numbers mixed up, or is the ‘Mk 2 copy’ a myth?

In this case, Crunch! Right into the barriers....

One of the few places to find a good picture of the Heron is the Bernard Cowdrey book, The Half-Ton Formula. It also has photos of the others you mention. No scanner, but certainly someone could provide you with the images.

Somehow the Gemini numbers did get mixed up, the Heron being a copy of the Mk. III, not the Mk. II.

My goof.

[Felix Muelas]

Sir!

Scanner in place, Sir.;)



Felix

[Vitesse2]

rod:

Try checking out this site:

www.historicracing.co.za

I found it purely by accident a few weeks back while checking out something else. Lots of good pictures, but a bit slow to load I'm afraid.

[rod]

Thanks for the pic. I'll certainly look out for the 'Half Ton' book - I think it is more within my price-range than 'Sun on the Grid' and the Sheldon book which have been mentioned previously. But, in the meantime, any chance of some more scans, Felix?

By way of thanks, here's an LDS at Goodwood.

[Felix Muelas]

Rod,

Take a look...and then buy the book ;)

Pictures property of Jannie van Aswegen, taken from "The Half-Ton Formula" by Bernard Cowdrey. Reproduced without permission




Felix

[bobbo]

I think the Vic-Alfa is anoher candidate for the "strangest Looking Ccar" thread.

Bobbo

[Vitesse2]

Another amazing South African site:

www.motorpics.co.za

Lots of historic photos - some B&W, mostly colour. Some contemporary, some modern, taken at SA historic meetings. Check out not only classics but also single seaters and sports cars.

Includes some action shots from past SA GPs, early photos of Scheckter, Desiree Wilson(!), SA FJ cars etc. Fully downloadable, fast loading ... free!!!

Also shots of Goodwood etc.

And Bobbo, if you think the Vic is strange, check out the MG Fatman Special, not to mention possibly the ugliest Cooper-Bristol I've ever seen.

Enjoy!

[rod]

Great Felix! Yes, I must buy that book.

Has there been a thread for the most stunningly attractive f1 car ever? Because, the Assegai - wow! (Sadly I must agree with Bobbo about the Vic though)

[ry6]

There is a nice pic of the Heron in the latest Classic Car Africa. There are also pix of the lovely Jennings-Porsche and various LDS models in earlier issues. There is also a story of Gordon henderson and his Scorpions in an earlier issue. If you think the Assegai looked good take a look at the Scorpion Mk 2. I have the Cowdrey book and some pix look a lot like my originals?
Classic Car Africa is obtainable from Isebel at fax 27 31 396 2012 or try benvdw@mweb.co.za

[Felix Muelas]

Originally posted by ry6
Classic Car Africa is obtainable from Isebel at fax 27 31 396 2012 or try benvdw@mweb.co.za

Rob,
I wish it was that simple! I have been trying to obtain a suscription for several months now, and I have the sensation that my emails to Isebel are simply not being read (not no mention answered!).

Felix

[David McKinney]

I'm with Felix on that (except that 'many weeks' would be a fairer term in my case)

[ry6]

Sorry Gentlemen there seems to be a problem with her e-mail.
A subscription to the quarterly Classic Car Africa is R54 per annum plus overseas postage which is usually R36 per copy airmail.
So for 4 copies it will cost you R198.
Back issues are R15 each plus postage R36.
Divide these figures by 11 for pounds sterling or 8 for dollars US.

You can e-mail me at ry6@pixie.co.za with your wants and I will ensure that your subscriptions are sorted out quickly.

The magazine is produced as a hobby by enthusiasts and is in its 5th year. Your support would be appreciated.

Regards
Rob

[Marcor]

As Mike Lawrence pointed out in his South African Specials section in Grand Prix Cars 1945-65: "Motor racing in Southern Africa was particularly rich in the 1960s and there were many other cars which fall outside my brief (e.g. Scorpion-Alfa and C(l)itrun-Climax)..."

In his book Lawrence mispelled Clitrun and mentioned: Alfa Special, Assegain, Cooper-Alfa Romeo, Heron, Jennings, L.D.S., Lotus 7, Lotus 22, Netuar, Quodra and Realpha (or R.E.)

I've just received a copy of the new number of CLASSIC CAR AFRICA (Volume 6 n°3 April 2001) and on page 36 there is a very great picture taken during the national championship Johannesburg Festival Trophy race for 1.5-litre F1 cars held at Kyalami on 10 October 1964.

This picture shows a gaggle of 9 cars speeding along the short straight between Clubhouse bend and the S.

The picture includes: Clive Trundell (Clitrun Climax n°13, an home-built car fitted with a 1498 cc Climax FPF to replace his faithful old Cooper T45), Jackie Pretorius (LDS Climax n°18 with temporarly nose, in fact a Cooper Climax T45 modified by Doug Serrurier), Lionel Wilmot (LDS 6 Alfa n°6 which was blue and yellow, but it's here a b & w picture), Bob Hay (Lotus 20 FJ-876 Ford n°17), Dennis Guscott (Lotus 21 Climax n°3, an ex-Neville Lederle car bought from Syd van der Vyver in 1962 and raced to victory in the South-African drivers' championship in 1963), Jack Holme (in the silver Lotus 18 FJ-720 Climax n°25), Rauten Hartman (Netuar Mk II n°22, a rear-engined initially powered by a Peugeot motor and later by an Alfa unit), Lionel Rowe (Lotus Seven Ford n°20 entered by the Scuderia Scribante) and Alex Blignaut (who recently died) in his ex-Jim Russel Cooper T45 F2-8-58 Climax n°11.

A complete report of the race includes other pictures: Trevor Blokdyk in his Cooper T56, Pretorius in his LDS Climax and the arch-rivals of the 1964 championship, John Love and Peter de Klerk.

The mag is a clear must, that's my opinion !!!!!!!!

For a report of this 1964 championship, you can also look at the Special non-championship 8W-game.

[ry6]

Marcor I am glad you received the mag and enjoyed it.

The Tony Kotze car was called an Assegai (meaning spear in Zulu).
There was a pic of it in restored form in a recent MotorSport. There was some story circulating in the 1960's that Tony, once a driver of an ex Bruce Halford Lotus 16, was going to run a pair of Assegais entered by Bond Cars in the then World Championship!

How true this was I do not know. Pretty fanciful though? Anybody know more?

However it never materialised and the Assegai was notoriously unreliable in local races despite its beauty.

A particularly outstanding local car was Pieter de Klerk's Alfa Special which was the subject of a photo quiz in a well respected web site some time ago!

[Chris Bloom]

Originally posted by ry6
Sorry Gentlemen there seems to be a problem with her e-mail.
A subscription to the quarterly Classic Car Africa is R54 per annum plus overseas postage which is usually R36 per copy airmail.
So for 4 copies it will cost you R198.
Back issues are R15 each plus postage R36.
Divide these figures by 11 for pounds sterling or 8 for dollars US.

You can e-mail me at ry6@pixie.co.za with your wants and I will ensure that your subscriptions are sorted out quickly.

The magazine is produced as a hobby by enthusiasts and is in its 5th year. Your support would be appreciated.

Regards
Rob

I would like to just add that I have also recently subscribed to Classic Car Africa and I am quite stunned by the quality of this publication. The articles are professionally written and the amount of pictures (colour and black and white) is quite amazing.

I would recommend anybody with an interest in Motoring History get hold of this magazine!

Chris

[rod]

Well, I bought the ‘Half-ton formula’ book, and I have to say I am very disappointed.

On the plus side, the book covers the two most often neglected aspects of F1 history – the British “stick a Ford engine in a Formula Junior”, and the S African “stick an Alfa engine in anything” theories. But unfortunately, it covers neither of them well. The author seems to have discovered just one source of S African photos (which, admittedly, is one more than most of us), so if Jannnie van Aswegen’s camera wasn’t pointed at a Realpha or a Clitrun, there is no picture. And thought Cowdrey is clearly a Junior fan, not one of the ‘Ford’ cars is given a period photo – they are all taken at 80’s and 90’s historic events, by which time of course they are back in Junior trim.

But, worst of all, though Cowdrey has given some attention to these two strands of F1, he has almost totally neglected the European involvement – very little on Cegga, no mention of De Sanctis or Elios (has anyone EVER seen a photo of any of these three?), and barely anything on Conrero, de Tomaso or MBM (despite this being still extant, and well photographed elsewhere).

So, Mike Lawrence’s comment that “it’s a pity that no comprehensive history has yet been published on African racing during this period” still applies. Maybe the people at Classic Car Africa could put a book, or better still, a website, together?

[ry6]

1. There are a couple of books on South African racing -
Sun on the Grid and Springbok Grand Prix.
2. Classic Car Africa is compiled by a group of enthusiasts in their spare time and unless a "book" could be "sponsored" it would not be a viable financial proposition.
If you collect all the mags you will learn more.
3. Bernards book is a fine effort. A researcher/author cannot cover everything although I am sure he would have liked too. Some cars/attempts at cars are overlooked because of lack of information or photos. Appropriate photos of the more unsuccessful cars are sometimes hard to come by and Jannie has built up a good collection from a lot of hard work tracking down ex-owners and ex-photographers, for which he deserves credit
4. The reason the South African drivers/constructors "stuck and Alfa into anything" is because the unsponsored amateur drivers could not afford Climax engines and the Alfa was considered a high performance engine of the day. Sometimes a Ford was a cheaper option so that was used too.

[johnwilliamdavies]

Does anyone know the results for the Heron?

In the May 2006 issue of Motor Sport Marcus Pye writing about the restored Heron says "Disillusioned, he sold the chassis to Ernest Pieterse, who fitted a less exotic but easier to service 1.5-litre Alfa Romeo engine and immediately won the Rand Spring Trophy and Rhodesia GP. A few wins later he sold it to Dave Hume. It was then converted into a sportscar."

Is this right?

In his A-Z Grand Prix Cars David Hodges states "In 1961 Ernest Pieterse started four races in the Heron. He finished sixth in the Rand GP and eighth in the Cape GP, albeit laps down on the winning Lotus in each case; Pieterse failed to finish the South African and Natal GPs."

After Pieterse it reappeared in 1964 for David Hume and again in 1966 for Andrew Smuts.
Anyone know its results?



--------------------------------------
Welsh Motor Sport History

[Hieronymus]

It will not be too difficult to look them up. I can email it to you if you wish.

[johnwilliamdavies]

If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd appreciate it.
There's no rush whatsoever, I'd just like to know what the actual race record was.




---------------------------
Welsh Motor Sport History

[macoran]

Originally posted by johnwilliamdavies

In the May 2006 issue of Motor Sport Marcus Pye writing about the restored Heron
--------------------------------------
Welsh Motor Sport History

There was a photo of the Heron with that article wasn't there ?

[David McKinney]

Pieterse's Heron-Alfa record in 1961 races:
4th Rand Autumn Trophy
1st Rhodesian GP
2nd at Laurenço Marques
2nd Rand Winter Trophy
1st Rand Spring Trophy
The results Hodges refers to are for the Dec 61/Jan 62 internationals

[johnwilliamdavies]

Marc, yes, there was a contemporary photograph in the article.

David, thanks for that, so I guess that the "immediately" in Marcus Pye's statement isn't strictly correct.




------------------------
Welsh Motor Sport History

[Hieronymus]

Heron results in South Africa. I may have missed out a few...



1. Cape Grand Prix, Killarney (17 Dec 1960)

Tony Maggs did not start. Reports mentions that the car was fitted with a Coventry Climax 1500cc engine with overhead camshaft. The car was withdrawn after Maggs discovered that the crown wheel had been assembled back to front resulting in the car having four reverse gears but nothing to make it go forward. They manage to rectify this only to see the gearbox seize up during a trail run.


2. Van Riebeeck Trophy, Killarney (4 Maart 1961)

Ernest Pieterse raced the car, by then fitted with an Alfa Romeo engine. Retired on lap 10 after the engine lost compression. Occupied 4th position for most of the time he was in the race.


3. Rand Autumn Trophy, Grand Central (18 March 1961)

Pieterse was second on grid only 2/10 sec slower than pole. Finished 3rd.


4. Coronation 100, Roy Hesketh (3 April 1961)

Pieterse qualified 6th. Retired after first lap due to accident damage. His foot slipped off the brake due to oil on the pedal, on the first corner, and he rammed Jennings’s Porsche.


5. Rand Trophy, Grand Central (3 June 1961)

Pieterse was on pole. Lead race and set fastest lap. Retired when Tie-rod broke on lap 10 and he ran off the circuit.


6. Governor-General Cup, Lourenço Marques (23 July 1961)

Pieterse Finished 2nd


7. Rand Winter Trophy, Grand Central (12 August 1961)

Pieterse Finished 3rd in both Heats and second overall.


8. Rand Spring Trophy, Kyalami (4 November 1961)

Pieterse took pole and also won the race.


9. Rand Grand Prix, Kyalami (9 Dec 1961)

Pieterse was 7th on grid and finished 6th


10. Natal Grand Prix, Westmead (17 Dec 1961)

Pieterse qualified 11th and retired from race due to overheating


11. South African GP, East London (26 Dec 1961)

Pieterse qualified 9th and retired with gearbox problems on lap 7.


12. Cape Grand Prix, Killarney (1 Jan 1962)

Pieterse qualified 9th and finished 8th


13. Natal Grand Prix, Westmead (22 Dec 1962)

Heron Alfa was entered by Peter Bosch of Windhoek (Namibia), but he did not arrive for the race.


14. Republic Fesitival Trophy, Kyalami (6 June 1963)

Dave Hume qualified 13th, no indication where he finished


15. Royal Show Trophy, Roy Hesketh (22 June 1963)

Hume raced, but no idea where he qualified and finished


16. Border 100, East London (8 July 1963)

Hume raced, but retired on lap 26


17. Governor-General Cup, Lourenço Marques (20 July 1963)

Hume competed. No reference to grid and results


18. Rand Autumn Trophy, Kyalami (29 Feb. 1964)

Hume qualified 9th, but did not finish in race


19. Border 100, East London (13 July 1964)

Hume qualified 19th, did not finish race


20. August 120, Roy Hesketh (23 Aug 1964)

Hume finished 5th


21. Rand Grand Prix, Kyalami (12 Dec 1964)

Hume Qualified 16 and finished 11th in Heat 1
Qualified 11th and finished 13th in Heat 2
Aggregate result 11th


22. Cape South Easter, Killarney (9 Jan 1965)

Hume qualified 13th in Heat 1, but did not finish race


23. Rand Autumn Trophy, Kyalami (6 Maart 1965)

Hume qualified 9th but did not finish race


24. Rand Autumn Trophy, Kyalami (5 Maart 1966)

Hume qualified 10th and did not finish race


25. Natal Winter Trophy, Roy Hesketh (26 June 1966)

Andre Smuts did not finish race


26. Governor-Genral Cup, Lourenço Marques

Andre Smuts did not finish

[johnwilliamdavies]

Hieronymus, Thanks for all that information, it's much appreciated.

[Macca]

Some photos of the Heron at the Goodwood Revival 2005:



Paul M

[johnwilliamdavies]

Paul,

Would it be possible to use one of your Heron photographs on my website http://www.welshmotorsport.co.uk ?
If you haven't seen it, it's a list of Welsh cars, venues and drivers, with the Heron on it due to Syd Diggory's involvement. I made a decision when I started not to use scanned photographs from magazines/books but to try and take or find them myself, a decision I'm thinking of changing as I'm missing out on loads of stuff I should just put up.

Unfortunately there is no money to made from this venture, so I'm afraid I can't pay you, but I will give you a full credit.

[Macca]

E-mail sent to your site.

Paul M

[Racer.Demon]

More Heron pictures (and two LDSes too) here:

http://8w.forix.com/...ock/index6.html

[macoran]

posting for ry6

Shows Heron in 1961 Natal Grand Prix at Westmead. Not a great photo but I was miles away.

Shows what part of the hurridly completed Westmead track looked like though. I think this is "Die Draai" - (The turn)

[Chris Bloom]

Die Draai was a left hand turn. My guess would be this is the turn at the end of the back straight, Monks. Have a look at the Westmead thread and see what you think?.

[ry6]

Well spotted Chris.
Let me ponder this.
I am presently out of the country and will have to refer to my strip of negs. They may shed some light.
Mybe I even printed the pic the wrong way round?

[macoran]

posting for ry6



Ernest Pieterse in the Heron-Alfa leading a sideways Bruce Johnstone (Cooper T43 Alfa) through Angels Angle, Roy Hesketh Circuit, in the 1961 Royal Show Races.

The South African Alfa tuners loved those exhaust pipes. Syd van der Vyver started the trend.

[Hieronymus]

This is what I would call a chimney, not an exhaust pipe.

Thanks Marc for posting. Thanks Rob for sharing.

[axlex]

Hi everybody !

I've got a SA question. I'm looking for rares F1 results of the 60-75 period.

The following races are incomplete in my database, so if one of yours could help me (Classification, Start Grid, Fastest Lap, Entry List, Picture or anything...) it will be a great help for me !

This is the list :

21/02/1960 Marlborough GP
??/04/1960 Des Wolff Trophy
??/04/1960 Salisbury GP
27/08/1960 RSR-ZA Challenge
17/03/1961 Rand Junior Autumn Trophy
21/05/1961 Heany Trophy
25/06/1961 Royal Show Trophy
30/07/1961 Rhodesian Grand Prix
06/04/1962 Invitational Race
07/04/1962 Roy Hesketh 100
02/06/1962 Heany Trophy
22/06/1962 Royal Show Trophy
24/11/1962 Total Cup
28/12/1962 Daily Dispatch Trophy
05/01/1963 Gigi Lupini Trophy
29/06/1963 Killarney Trophy
01/12/1963 Rhodesian Grand Prix
04/01/1964 Cape South Easter Trophy
03/05/1964 Mashonaland Trophy
28/06/1964 Ray Amm Trophy
26/07/1964 Taca Governador Generale de Moçambique
03/04/1965 Atkinson Trophy
23/05/1965 Bulawayo 100
27/06/1965 Ray Amm Trophy
31/10/1965 Des World Trophy
28/11/1965 Rhodesian Grand Prix

For all this races, I've got only the winner names...


Thanks in advance for your help