10 replies to this topic

[Doug Nye]

Never a major star but nonetheless quite a player as a British GT and saloon car driver during the 1960s, Sir Gawaine Baillie apparently passed away - aged 69 - on December 21. I am sure many British enthusiasts here on TNF will recall his exploits in Lotus Elite, Jaguar 3.4 and 3.8, Ford Galaxie and Mustang cars - while Australian fans might well recall his appearances there with his Galaxie? I think I recall him running in South Africa too... In any case, another racing knight, though his title was inherited, not awarded for his racing exploits.

Sir Gawaine's mother was an American heiress, Olive Wilson-Filmer who bought Britain's 'loveliest castle' - Leeds Castle near Maidstone, Kent - in the 1920s and spent the next 30 years restoring it beautifully. She became Lady Baillie and left Leeds Castle in trust upon her death in 1974. Sir Gawaine was a capable engineer who founded HPC Engineering in 1959, his company growing to considerable size and dealing in compressors and precision engineering...based today at Burgess Hill in Sussex. Major Ian Baillie - ex-Guards officer who raced D-Types and Aston Martins etc - has sometimes been described as Sir Gawaine's brother. He was not.

DCN

[Frank de Jong]

That's sad news Doug. I learned about him investigating the early years of the ETCC in which he sometimes competed with the Ford Galaxie-beast - which seemed quite a handful.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
.....while Australian fans might well recall his appearances there with his Galaxie?

And not with the joy we should, either, due to the tough circumstances of his times here...

First he entered for the 1964 6-hour at Sandown Park, with Lex Davison as co-driver. The car was to suffer one of Lex's many huge prangs and to hang precariously through the fence over the dam at Peter's Corner for much of the race.

Repaired, I think it ran at Warwick Farm in February '65 without incident. Then at Sandown the following week it ran again in the shadow of Lex's untimely death in practice... Lex having been entered, I'm fairly sure, as an alternate driver in each of these meetings.

The following week Sir Gawaine was having a bit of fun at Longford... I don't know who was passengering in the car as he lapped the circuit between practices or races, but he flew past us in circumstances like this...



...which was a bit of a surprise I can tell you for all the spectators casually moving from one spectator area to another!

Of course, on the Monday of that meeting he was to become the sole remaining driver of the trio in that camp who had arrived at Sandown the previous weekend. I daresay his stiff upper lip helped poor Diana, and encouraged her, as the announcement of the naming of the Lex Davison Trophy for the AGP took place. But could it have made a difference when young Rocky, who didn't really want to be there, died several minutes later?

And lest anyone start thinking that it was his Galaxie that introduced big V8 tintop racing to our shores, no, it wasn't. Len Lukey's Galaxie (driven by Beechey and Davison) and Norm Beechey's 409 Chev Impala beat it.

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
And lest anyone start thinking that it was his Galaxie that introduced big V8 tintop racing to our shores, no, it wasn't. Len Lukey's Galaxie (driven by Beechey and Davison) and Norm Beechey's 409 Chev Impala beat it.

So were the Customlines that Lukey, Beechey and Reg Smith raced in 1955/56 sixes?

[Ray Bell]

No, of course not... but they weren't Jaguar-beaters either.

Generally speaking, most enthusiasts would regard the introduction of the Mustang as the commencement of serious V8 touring car racing. This would be because they beat the Jaguar on a regular basis and led to the Camaros etc that dominated tintop racing in the late sixties.

The Customlines came and went, with no lineage traceable to any later V8 successes. Norm Beechey, for instance, went from Customline to Holden 6.

Quite a large number of Customlines raced... there were two at Longford in 1965 for instance... but they were rear-fielders. One fronted regularly at Warwick Farm and Catalina, I've no doubt that there was more than just one or two ran at Lowood and Middle Range.

But competitiveness wasn't in them apart from odd events at Albert Park - or at least to my knowledge.

When Beechey presented the Chev Impala he was immediately a threat to Jane, even beating him at Catalina when all the pundits would have reckoned the Jag would be too nimble. Lukey's car was a near-the-front-of-the-field runner, but under Davison and Beechey. Baillie's car was quicker again.

While the Customlines weren't as useless as, say, the '32 Ford Roadster that Ron Thorp ran at many circuits circa 1960, or the '38 Ford sedan that Tresize ran against McLaren's Mini Cooper at Caversham in '62, they still wouldn't be included in an average conversation where the coming of the V8 touring car is discussed.

Let's face it, Lukey's involvement started with the same sort of vehicle Davison was using to tow his Ferrari about!

[Barry Boor]

Sad news indeed.

I watched him race many times in the sixties and to me his name will always evoke an image of a racing Jaguar saloon.

[Twin Window]

My father has brought to my attention that Sir Gawaine's impressive stamp collection is due to be sold in a series of ten auctions at Sotheby's, to be held between now and December. In fact, to call it merely 'impressive' would seem to be something of an understatement.

Here's the article as published in the September/October edition of the Great Britain Philatelic Society Newsletter. It apperers that his collection has proved somewhat of a surprise, not least to the philatelic community...



I hope that this has proved to be of interest to some folk.

Twinny

[275 GTB-4]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
Quite a large number of Customlines raced... there were two at Longford in 1965 for instance... but they were rear-fielders. One fronted regularly at Warwick Farm and Catalina, I've no doubt that there was more than just one or two ran at Lowood and Middle Range.

But competitiveness wasn't in them apart from odd events at Albert Park - or at least to my knowledge.

When Beechey presented the Chev Impala he was immediately a threat to Jane, even beating him at Catalina when all the pundits would have reckoned the Jag would be too nimble. Lukey's car was a near-the-front-of-the-field runner, but under Davison and Beechey. Baillie's car was quicker again.

While the Customlines weren't as useless as, say, the '32 Ford Roadster that Ron Thorp ran at many circuits circa 1960, or the '38 Ford sedan that Tresize ran against McLaren's Mini Cooper at Caversham in '62, they still wouldn't be included in an average conversation where the coming of the V8 touring car is discussed.

Let's face it, Lukey's involvement started with the same sort of vehicle Davison was using to tow his Ferrari about!

With all due respect to Sir Gwaine, who I have footage of on Mini Goes Racing. Can I slightly highjack the thread by asking about Ramblers and "Stuedies". AFAIR these were both used as police pursuit cars in NSW and it would seem natural to go one further and race them....

I just don't recall any examples....I have forgotten most of the 50' and 60's anyway!!

[Ray Bell]

No Ramblers that I can recall... but the Studies were there...

Bert Needham had one that was raced by him and Warren Weldon in App J, and there was always their car and the (hope this is right!) Victorian Police Motor Sports Club-entered example for Sutherland and Mottram at the early Bathursts.

A supercharged car was brought out from America for the first Sandown 6-hour, with Rodger Ward sharing the driving too. There were probably more...

[John Ellacott]

Bill Slattery was the first to race a Studebaker here in New South Wales as i recall

[Ray Bell]

Of course, John, I'd forgotten Bill Slattery... he was the driver, Bert Needham the entrant (usually), wasn't it?