172 replies to this topic

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by john medley
Thanks, David. Re pic in AMS, yes there was, but no I havent checked it recently. And thank you for helping me spell Moncrieiff

Did he?

Out of curiosity, what edition of AMS?

[john medley]

Ouch! Genuine mistake by the typist here. Nice one liner, Ray

1950 or 1951 Johore report I think. I no longer have a copy

[David McKinney]

1950 or 1951 Johore report I think. I no longer have a copy

In the belief that there’s some 50-year rule about copyright, picture below is from Australian Motor Sports November 1950


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

AMS was printed on very poor-quality paper back then, so to make up for it below is another V8 special in the same race


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Winner, before anyone asks, was the immortal J M Pattinson in his supercharged MG TC with second place (and fastest lap) to the credit of XK120 driver J G M “Bill” Ferguson

[Ray Bell]

Good looking cars, aren't they?

I have that issue too.

[john medley]

Just looking at those pics I can hear that Flathead Ford V8 noise

Thanks David

[Eli Solomon]

It's been a number of years since I logged on to this site and followed the threads. The captions referred to on the Picture Archives site below were done by me until illness, work and a stressful career change got in the way of a good thing. There's a long way to go yet.

Good that the Henky 600C appears to have been found. Here are some of my own notes which most of you would already be familiar with, or would have helped with. The table below shows some of the Elfin race results as well.

As for photos, there aren't many outside of what may have appeared in the Batu Tiga programs or Henky's own collection from when he took delivery of the car in Australia and when it first raced in New Zealand. I shall post these in due course.

So here goes...from after Henky sold off the 600 Prototype (now with Paul Hamilton)

Henky Iriawan was keen to get the latest Elfin upgrade as well and went over to acquire a new 600C, with a special Cosworth FVA engine. Being a very likable character, he was never short of finding people to help him. Rodney Seow was one, Graeme Lawrence was another. Henky was the first Indonesian to venture into international racing and Graeme Lawrence and family assisted by setting up the new car for the New Zealand Gold Star meetings in September and October 1969. Henky then shipped it off to Macao for the 1969 Grand Prix where he faced equally formidable opposition. Kevin Bartlett was there in the Mildren Waggott, Albert Poon had the ex-Piers Courage Brabham BT30 Alfa, John Macdonald had Mike Costin’s Brabham BT10 FVA, and Steve Holland had Garrie Cooper’s Elfin 600C Repco V8. Henky’s 600C suffered suspension damage in practice and complained that his car was “undrivable” over 80mph. He started seventh on the grid, next to Holland, but parked it shortly after. Bartlett won while Garrie Cooper’s own Elfin was taken out in an unfortunate accident with a slower car. Henky’s weekend was in tatters when his newly acquired Elfin 300 Sports Car had transmission problems and didn’t make the grid for the Sports Car race.

The experience gained saw Henky return for the Malaysian National Open Championships in late 1969, which he easily won, given that there weren’t many local entrants with single-seaters. The 600C brought Henky another victory a year later at the 30-lapper in December at Batu Tiga, while nursing an ailing engine running on three cylinders.

While 1971 saw Henky Iriawan progressing to a Palliser WDP4 1599cc, a total of five Elfins were entered for the Singapore Grand Prix – John Walker, Tony Maw, Malcolm Ramsay and Teddy Yip in 600s and local Edward Tan in the little Mono Mk2B.

Henky’s Palliser set-up forced him to relook at his 600C, now with a twin cam engine, for the Penang street race in 1971 [Rule change banning 4-valve per cylinder engines]. The car finished second, behind Kenny Smith’s Lotus 69. Later in the year Garrie Cooper overwhelmed his opponents in his new Elfin 600D Twin Cam at Macao, lapping everyone except Sonny Rajah and Albert Poon by lap twelve, before being taken out as he lapped David Coode’s Tuppence Ford.

Business for Cooper was brisk. An order for sixteen 620 Formula Three and Formula Ford chassis was apparently received by the company for delivery to Asia. A Formula Ford series had been contemplated along with a driving school for Batu Tiga. Although nothing came of that big order of Elfin 620s, a pair of the 620 series did arrive, consigned to Dante Silverio of the Philippines

The last occasion that saw the original Elfin 600 run in Malaysia was the Malaysia Grand Prix of March 1975, when privateer Hamidon Taib ran an aged Elfin 600, probably the ex-Harvey Simon car that Percy Chan had appropriated after Simon had been unceremoniously deported from East Malaysia.

By the mid-1970s only Manila boys Jose “Pocholo” Ramirez and Dante Silverio ran Elfins, now with Toyota Corolla 1300cc or 1600cc Twin Cam 2TG engines from Silverio’s Delta Motors, Toyota distributors in the Philippines. One of the cars, a 620, eventually ended up heavily modified with a fibreglass shell for the Unlimited Formula Super Saloon class of silhouette racing in Malaysia.

Elfin results in Asia

Selangor
** 3rd place Selangor GP April 1968 – Mike J. Cook - Elfin Mono Mk2B
** Winner Malaysia GP September 1968 – Henky Iriawan - Elfin 600 Prototype
** 2nd place Malaysian National Open 1968 – Tony Maw - Elfin Mono Mk2B
** 3rd place Selangor GP 1969 – Tony Maw - Elfin Mono Mk2B
** Winner Selangor GP Sports Cars 1969 – Malcolm Ramsay - Elfin 300
** Winner GP International October 1969 – Tony Maw - Elfin 600 Prototype
** DNF Grand Prix International 25th Oct 1969 – Henky in #16 Elfin 600 FVA (gearbox)
NB: The Elfin 600C Series 9 FVA’s first race in Asia since taking 7th place in the NZ Grand Prix at Pukekohe earlier in October 1969.
** Winner GP International Sports Cars - October 1969 – Henky Iriawan Elfin 300
** Winner National Open Championships 1969 – Henky Iriawan - Elfin 600C
** Winner National Open Championships 1970 – Henky Iriawan - Elfin 600C
NB: (10 cars on the grid, combined single-seater and sports car race but not the main event – which was for Saloons)
** 2nd place Selangor GP 1971 – John Walker - Elfin 600SA
** Winner Selangor GP 1972 – Harvey Simon - Elfin 600B

Singapore
** Winner Singapore GP 1968 – Garrie Cooper - Elfin 600 Prototype
** 3rd place Singapore GP 1969 – Tony Maw - Elfin Mono Mk2B
** Winner Singapore GP Sports Cars 1969 – Malcolm Ramsay - Elfin 300
** 3rd place Singapore GP 1970 – Malcolm Ramsay - Elfin 600C Repco V8
** 5th place Singapore Grand Prix 1970 – Henky in Elfin 600C FVA
** 2nd place Singapore GP 1971 – John Walker - Elfin 600SA

Penang
** Winner Penang Circuit Race 1970 – Henky Iriawan - Elfin 600C
** 2nd place Penang Circuit Race 1971 – Henky Iriawan - Elfin 600C
** 3rd place Penang Circuit Race 1972 – Tony Maw - Elfin 600
** 3rd place Penang Circuit Race 1974 – Jose Ramirez - Elfin 622 Toyota

Philippines
** ARAP Philippines Open 1973 – John Macdonald - Elfin 620 Toyota 2TG
** 2nd place Philippines GP 1973 – Kiyoshi Misaki - Elfin 620 Toyota 2TG

Macao
** 2nd place Macao GP 1968 – Henky Iriawan - Elfin 600 Prototype
** FTD but DNF Macao GP 1971 – Garrie Cooper - Elfin 600D
** 6th place Macau Grand Prix 1971 – Joey Bundalian in Elfin 600C (ex-Henky)

Feel free to correct any inaccuracies.

Eli

I hope this will be directly relevant to the ongoing discussion but also it may be of general interest to those researching the history of cars which competed in the Singapore GP. This is a *goldmine* of a site I stumbled across when Googling the name of a driver. It has lots of thumbnails, which you can view in a larger size, but which unfortunately have a watermark on them. However, I have no doubt that, if you wanted the photos for your collection, they will relieve you of some cash and provide you with a scan or a print!

Picture Archives Singapore

This link should take you to a search page - simply type in 'Grand Prix' and it should bring up a huge amount (hundreds, literally) of images.

Quite remarkably, the photos go back to 1952 and include both motorcycle, saloon, sports and single-seater cars. From the late 1960s, a lot of the shots are in colour too. Some of the photos have had quite detailed captions added to them - I don't know by whom - giving precise information about chassis numbers and/or ownership before and after the person in the photo. If it is correct, it could prove to be quite useful I suspect to the likes of Allen Brown, Chris Townsend, Brian Miller etc. You can also search by marque name or driver surname.

I'm hoping no-one has posted about this before, but I'd actually be surprised if they haven't as I found it quite easily...

For the Elfin enthusiasts among us, one particular shot may be of interest, taken in 1969 of Iriawan's car being worked on (by Garrie Cooper) in the paddock. It has the following caption:

"GARRIE COOPER HAD BEEN FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL WITH HIS MARKETING IN AUSTRALIA AND NO FEWER THAN FIVE ELFINS HAD BEEN ENTERED FOR THE SINGAPORE EVENT IN 1969. THE PHOTO SHOWS HENKIE IRIAWAN SITTING DOWN IN THE FAR LEFT OF THE PHOTO AS GARRIE COOPER'S ORIGINAL ELFIN 600 PROTOTYPE, THE 1968 GRAND PRIX WINNING CAR, GETS FETTLED BY LOH YAP TING (IN WHITE ATTIRE). THE FOREIGN ENTRANTS HAD ACCESS TO SEVERAL WORKSHOPS ON THE ISLAND IF THEY NEEDED SERIOUS WORK DONE ON THEIR CARS, FEDERATED MOTORS AND BORNEO MOTORS GENERALLY BEING THE PREFERRED WORKSHOPS."

Sorry about the caps, all their captions are in upper case. To find this photo, just put Iriawan in the search box.

Another caption to a photo of Iriawan driving a Pallisser says:

"THE PALLISER WAS A COPY OF THE BRABHAM BT21 CHASSIS," RECALLS VERN SCHUPPAN, A VISITOR TO THE EVENT IN 1971, INVITED BY HENKIE IRIAWAN TO DRIVE HIS ELFIN 600C, WHICH VERN RECALLS, WAS "A NON-RUNNER."

And finally, a caption to a photo of an ex-Rondel BT36 Brabham reads:

"THERE WERE A COUPLE OF NEW NAMES IN THE ENTRY LIST FOR 1972. RIKI OHKUBO OF JAPAN ENTERED A BRABHAM ALFA WHILE JOEY BUNDALIAN OF THE PHILIPPINES HAD HENKIE IRIAWAN'S ELFIN 600C. PETER CHOW ENTERED A BRABHAM BT21 FROM HONG KONG AND JOHN MACDONALD HAD HIS BRABHAM BT36 RONDEL, THE EX-GRAHAM HILL CAR (PICTURED WITH TUDOR SPONSORSHIP FAIRLY EVIDENT). THE RODEL WAS PURCHASED DIRECTLY FROM RON DENNIS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.."

Not being familiar with Elfin history, I don't know if any of this helps or hinders but I thought I'd put it out there anyway...

Michael

[David McKinney]

Not NZ Grand Prix, Eli, but as you said earlier, a round in the Gold Star series (national championship)

[Eli Solomon]

Andrew has sent me you photos, Corvette, which has enabled me to zoom in for a closer look.

The engine is a Hart 416B twin cam so Hengkie's FVA is missing which is no great surprise and there is nothing Elfin left of the bodywork!! However, what can be seen of the frame and suspension etc are all very 600 and the FT200 transmission, wheels, rear suspension uprights and, in particular, the larger than normal fuel tanks are all consistent with the Iriawan car (s/n 6910).

Can we have more detail please? Some body off photos showing the front suspension (the 600C's had a unique type of fabricated front upright), cockpit, instrument panel and other detail particularly the chassis plate if still fitted would help. The most important aid to tracing the car's origins, however, will be its history and what link that might provide back to the Iriawan car which was last heard of in the hands of Joey Bundalian at Macau in 1971. Your car looks like it has had some use in the past 20 years or so and the signage carried indicates that may have been in Oz. Where is it now and where has it been? More information needed!!!

Paul Hamilton

Correct me if I am wrong. I believe this photo was taken at the factory in 1969 just prior to delivery to Hamilton, NZ

By null at 2010-06-17

[Paul Hamilton]

Correct me if I am wrong. I believe this photo was taken at the factory in 1969 just prior to delivery to Hamilton, NZ

By null at 2010-06-17

I doubt that this photo is of the 600C, Eli, because the car appears to have the normal 600B style front suspension using a modified Triumph Herald upright. The 600C had a quite different fabricated upright which has been one of the identifying features of the car recently located in Sydney. The car in the photo also has the normal 600B instrument panel whereas the 600C had a wider panel with provision for the additional fuel pressure guage required for the fuel injected FVA engine. It does seem to be one of the later 600Bs as it has the different front bulkhead and improved water radiator exhaust area which I believe were introduced at the end of 1969 when the first Formula Fords were built also incorporating those features.

Its good to see you emerge from obscurity and I hope that we may see you back down in Sydney again in November for the thrid biennial Tasman Revival at Eastern Creek. Contact me if you need more detail of that.

Paul H

[Reinmuster]

Good history lesson here.

Kudos guys!

[MarkBisset]

 

Usual thing, came across this oddball - poor quality - image looking for something else. I assume it's at Mascot.

 

Jack and KB are easy enough to pick, but who are the other fellas, the travelling party, bonus points for the babes?

 

The sticker on the Brabham BT30's side says 'Grace Bros Race Team Australia' a last minute addition.

 

Quick look, the car is Graeme Lawrence's, Leo drove it in the 1972 Singapore GP as GL was still recovering from his horrific, blameless, high-speed collision with Bryan Faloon in the NZ GP that January. GL was a very popular boy in South East Asia, perhaps Leo was helping sponsor commitments to be met.

 

Why is Jack present? I spose he went too? https://primotipo.co...ingapore-sling/

 

Edited by MarkBisset, 26 June 2023 - 09:58.

[Ray Bell]

Obviously their hair is being tossed around by a 707 taxiing past...

 

Yes, KB and Black Jack are recognisable, but the Grace Bros Race Team which went to Singapore (and Malaysia) that year was a large one. Bob Muir was in it driving Ken Goodwin's Rennmax, that could (with some wild imagination) be Bob up there on the trailer. It's not Bill Fanning or Tony Stewart, nor Ken Goodwin, or Garrie Cooper or Malcolm Ramsay, all of whom where in the 'team', but it could be Ron Toombs there on the right.

 

John Smailes and Max Stahl were involved and went on the trip too, as naturally enough did some of the mechanics, but it appears that Jack didn't. I would think this was the only time Leo drove a Brabham.

[Michael Ferner]

The babes are Anna and Michelle. Trust me.  

[Ray Bell]

The one with the firm grip on KB's hand...

 

Is that Anna or Michelle?

[Michael Ferner]

Michelle. But sorry to disappoint you, I think KB's caressing... the rollover bar!

[MarkBisset]

 

 

Vern Schuppan in the Singapore GP paddock with the proprietor of Australia's favourite racing monthly for a couple of decades, Racing Car News' Max Stahl in 1972 (unattributed)

 

 

Here Vern's March 722 Ford chases Garrie Cooper's similarly powered Elfin 600D during the race - second and DNF - won by Max Stewart's Mildren Ford (Archives Singapore)

 

 Vern’s March 722-40 has an interesting history in the UK and South East Asia and was raced in Macau by Vern, Alan Jones, Derek Daly and Roberto Moreno when owned by Teddy Yip, to whom Schuppan sold it; https://primotipo.co...ern-schuppan-3/

Edited by MarkBisset, 29 June 2023 - 13:23.

[Rupertlt1]

Singapore GP 1972:

Kiyoshi Misaki, 26, and Ricky Okhubo, 32:

"Misaki, a test driver with

a Japanese motor firm, was

reported to have crashed

his Brabham BT 16 at

Funabashi circuit while

testing it for the Singapore

Grand Prix.

Misaki, known as "glam-

our boy" among racing fans

in Japan because of his

film star look however, is

fit to race here.

According to MSA, who

are sponsoring Misaki, the

Japanese driver is most

likely to partner a Colt 1600.

Misaki scored his first

success in a single seater

car in 1965, winning the

All-Japanese sports car race

in a Honda 600.

He took part in the

Japan, Macau and Singa-

pore Grand Prix last year.

In the Japan GP he

finished eighth, was third

in the Macau GP, and tenth

in Singapore. He was also

the winner of the Fuji 1,000

km race in 1969.

Team-mate Okhubo, who

will be making his debut

in the Singapore GP, holds

a string of impressive titles.

A veteran of the Macau GP,

Okhubo won the 1962-1963

Japan GP and All-Japan

hill climb titles.

His other racing achieve-

ments include—12th Macau

GP (class winner), 13th

Macau GP (class 2nd), Fuji

24 hours race (class win-

er), 14th Macau GP

(fourth), Fuji 1,000km

race (class 2nd), Macau

Guia 101 (5th), NET

All-Star race (third), and

18th Macau GP (2nd)."

The Straits Times, 26 March 1972, Page 21

 

RGDS RLT

Edited by Rupertlt1, 22 September 2023 - 12:33.

[Rupertlt1]

Formula Ford:

"David Goode in his Brab-

ham replica, Tuppence

Ford"

New Nation, 29 March 1972, Page 23

 

Coode in some sources, from Australia, resident Malaysia?

#52 Tuppence F1600 at Macau 1971. Accident involving #4 Garrie Cooper.

 

RGDS RLT

Edited by Rupertlt1, 22 September 2023 - 14:36.

[FlyingSaucer]

If anyone is still interested in this topic, here's a good tip:

 

 

https://primotipo.co...y-lorenzo-baer/

[Ray Bell]

 

Originally posted by Rupertlt1[/i]

Formula Ford:

"David Goode in his Brab-

ham replica, Tuppence

Ford"

New Nation, 29 March 1972, Page 23

 

Coode in some sources, from Australia, resident Malaysia?

#52 Tuppence F1600 at Macau 1971. Accident involving #4 Garrie Cooper.

 

The Tuppence Ford was familiar to us at race meetings near to Sydney...

 

I find a few entries in Oran Park meetings in 1968, David Goode being the driver on both occasions and the car's engine was 997cc - standard 105E. In 1969 I find an entry for the car with Peter Mohr at the wheel at Oran Park, a couple of entries at Catalina Park with Goode the driver. One entry has Lyle Gray as 'reserve' driver.

 

It was, to my knowledge, never a Formula Ford in Australia. It's a fair assumption that Goode moved to the Far East and took the car with him.

 

[Ray Bell]

Not so 'Goode'...

 

I had assumed that as his name had changed in the programmes from 'Coode' to 'Goode' over a period, with the 'Goode' being the latter spelling that it was a correction made over that time. But not so.

 

Looking further, 'Coode' made a comeback. And at Warwick Farm it was always 'Coode', which is more indicative of the accuracy of that spelling.

 

The name of the car, 'Tuppence Ford', follows on from a car he ran in 1966 called the 'Penny Ford', which was also powered by a 105E engine. So he doubled his investment? He entered at Bathurst in both cars, and it's pretty clear that he stopped competing at these circuits, Oran Park, Catalina, Warwick Farm and Mount Panorama, about July, 1969.

[MarkBisset]

 

 

An early Singapore GP survivor at the Phillip Island Classic last weekend.

 

Bill Griffiths has owned this AC Ace Bristol since circa 1985 and contested three Targa Tasmania's in it amongst other events.

 

Eli Solomon wrote that "Barry Swann and his AC Bristol (no 20) were regular visitors from Barry's base in Malacca (here in 1961). His car collection also included a Bugatti Type 57, the AC, and ex-Grand Prix, pre-war ERA R2A. The latter often raced in the Grand Prix and was always the oldest car on the grid." 'Snakes and Ladders'

 

 

 

 

I rode with Bill on the last leg to Cowes on Friday, the car has noticeably more punch than Bob King's red AC Ace Bristol (top above) with which I am very familiar.

 

Bill's car is much cherished, used a lot in Tassie and is maintained by him. I'll find out the full competition history of the car after he returns home.

Edited by MarkBisset, 13 March 2024 - 06:02.

[FlyingSaucer]

If anyone is still interested in this topic, here's a good tip:

 

 

https://primotipo.co...y-lorenzo-baer/

 

Since we are on the week of the Singapore GP, I decided to republish my last years text about the 1970 edition of the race.

 

In partnership with SCD and one of the top experts of Southeast Asia F. Libre racing series, Eli Solomon, the new version adds new details about the 1970 Singapore GP, new photos (including colored ones!), and a plus: a hole new section, talking about the second (and last) of Lawrence's Ferrari wins in the region, during the 1970 Selangor GP. 

 

You can check this 'refurbished' piece here: https://sportscardig...gor-grand-prix/

 

Cheers!