Memory Lane the Newsletter of The Historic Racing Car Club of .

Grant Twining's Devione

Grant says: - here is my humble jigger when it was brand spanking new in 1969.

The Devione LC2 twincam’’ was built in during 1968=69 by Denis Lupton and Ian Cook. The car, although sharing the dimensions of a BT23, was not a replica, having a space frame developed specifically for this car, with hub carriers obtained from a Matra, and powered by a Lotus Ford Twincam. The car first turned a wheel in competition at Calder in 1969, and was run regularly on Victorian circuits, with road trips to Oran Park and Warwick Farm during the early 1970’s. The principal driver was Ian Cook, who ran the car in a number of ‘Gold Star’ rounds as a Formula 2, including the 1971 at Warwick Farm.

Newsletter February 2014 Number One The Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania

Mailing Address

GPO Box 13 Hobart TAS 7001

For General and Newsletter enquiries

Secretary: Mick Stott [email protected] Mobile: 0424 878 032

Temporary Club Website www.grumpys-den.id.au/HRCCT

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HRCCT

Patron: - John McCormack

President: - Brian Higgins

Vice President: - Dennis Burgess

Treasurer: - Grant Twining

Secretary: - Mick Stott

General Committee:- Tony Watts, Warren Slater, Geoff Munyard, Peter Hansson.

Contents

1. President Brian Higgins - VALE Mick Watts.

2. Vice President Dennis "Herby" Burgess - A Salute to our Club's Patron.

3. Editor's View - The Editor's Wish List.

4. News - Things that have happened, are happening or will happen.

5. New Members - Welcome to new members.

6. Coming Events - A short list - but it will grow.

7. Memory Lane - Taking the Newsletter's title a step further.

8. Gallery - Photographs from various sources.

Page two Vale Mick Watt

Gregory Alfred "Mick" Watt was one of the real characters involved in motor racing of his era.

Possessed of true driving ability and imbibed with a wicked sense of humour, Mick was always at the forefront of both competition and mischief.

Mick's driving career started some what adventurously at the age of eleven when he used to drive the Family Business truck to deliver fish. Driving trucks was an enjoyment throughout his life.

Mick's foray into racing started with boats in the late 1940's and progressed to cars a few years later. His involvement encompassed Rally's, speed events together with road and circuit racing. He was the first person to exceed 100mph (160kph) at an event on Seven Mile Beach.

Noted for his very forceful driving style he piloted the well known Goat (Ford sports car special). He then made his own very pretty front engined Ford special open wheeler. This was styled on the design cars of the day, a very nice car indeed.

The last car he campaigned was a /MG special he brought from . This car again carried the familiar #18 that was Mick.

With this car he engaged in great on track rivalry with his best friend Jim Barrie in his Ford Zephyr special. Their competition was something to behold, no quarter given, none expected.

Sadly in late 1961 Jim Barrie was killed in a roll over during the Domain Hillclimb. Mick was understandably shattered and never regained hiss desire to continue as a competitor. Mick went on to be a very knowledgeable and effective official at Baskerville. He was a great mentor to young drivers.

Mick's presence at the post race barbeques always came forth with great stories of his early days of beach and airfield racing in the heyday of post war resurgence of motor racing.

Mick's co - barmanship, in cahoots with another "shy, retiring soul" in Austin Miller, at an abandoned Baskerville meeting (due to prolonged and heavy fog) is a tale for another time.

Rest in Peace Mick. Thanks for the memory.

Brian Higgins.

Page three Notes on the cars.

The Goat went on to Arthur Twining, who in turn sold it, and sadly it was written off in a road crash although I am told the car still exists in pieces.

The Open Wheeler went to Ralph King

The MG/ Holden went to Bluey Mitchell.

Both were good friends of Mick and both cars were raced here locally by them for several seasons.

The X Jim Barrie special was purchased by Geoff and Roger Black who raced it for a few seasons in Tasmania then sold.

The three existing cars are now owned by Historic Racing stalwart Ian Tate in Melbourne.

------

Mick as those who knew him would prefer to remember.

Page four A Salute to The Club's Patron

John McCormack

Born 9 July 1938 John McCormack established an international reputation as an accomplished racing driver during the late 60's and early 70's, later turning his knowledge and talent to designing race winning sports sedans. He was well known for his driving skills and expertise but, above all his determination and will to win. John hails originally from Burnie. It was in Burnie that he had his first big success on wheels, at the age of 12, winning a soap box derby promoted by the local Apex Club. But it was many years later that John first raced a motorised vehicle in his mid-twenties As the owner of the only rear engined ever built, and after fitting a supercharger, John plunged into Tasmanian racing. Racing the Nota, and its successor a Brabham Climax, John won the Tasmanian Championship in 1967, 1968 and 1969. At the age of 31, John packed up his family and possessions and moved to Adelaide to become a full-time professional race driver. In Adelaide he built up a long friendship with Elfin Designer and Manufacturer for whom he drove for several successful seasons gaining many victories for the Elfin Marque. During an illustrious racing career John won 's premier circuit racing title, the Gold Star, three times and was runner up on two occasions. Although he was successful twice in the John was never able to win his own National title, coming second twice, once only by a margin of 1.7 seconds. McCormack won various rounds of the including a sensational victory against top international competition in the 1973 New Zealand Grand Prix and again in the same event the following year. These victories in his Elfin MRS Repco were against the cream of Australian and New Zealand drivers including drivers such as as Frank and . After campaigning open wheeled racing cars for many years, McCormack switched to Sports Sedans in the early 70's and pioneered the configuration still used by many sports sedan drivers today of a mid-mounted engine with transaxle rear end. His aluminium panelled Chrysler Charger, built with a Repco Holden engine, helped him dominate the sports sedan category, particularly in the Oran Park Toby Lee Series where in 1974 he won five out of five rounds. In that year John started 42 times for 27 victories and 10 further podium positions. The car failed to finish only once. Page five The Toby Lee Series was the elite event for Sports Sedans prior to the establishment of Australian Championships and included all of the top Australian Sports Sedans of the era. Post Elfin John campaigned a McLaren M32, equipped with a Repco Leland motor – this car competed in Australia and New Zealand and was taken to the United States where it competed in the Can Am series in a formula which used modified formula 5000s. In the Sports Sedan area John moved on from the Charger to a V12 Jaguar XJS which was being developed when his career came to an abrupt end. John was seriously injured while travelling to compete in the 1981 Australian Grand Prix. John found that, as a result of his serious injuries, that he had lost the edge to compete successfully at the highest levels and made the decision in 1982 to terminate his motor sport career.

John McCormack was a brilliant race car constructor and talented driver whose career was cut short when he still had a great deal to offer Australian Motor Sport. John was inducted into the Tasmanian Motor Sport of Fame in 1992 recognising his outstanding career as a competitor and brilliant car constructor. In 2009 John was inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame joining motor cyclist Mal Campbell as the only representatives of motor sport in that esteemed group. International Success 1973 New Zealand Grand Prix 1st Place !974 New Zealand Grand Prix 1st Place 1973 Australian Grand Prix 2nd Place 1974 Australian Grand Prix 2nd Place 1972 Tasman Series 3rd Outright 1973 Tasman Series 2nd Outright National Success 1971 Gold Star 2nd Place 1973 Gold Star 1st Place 1975 Gold Star 1st Place 1977 Gold Star 1st Place 1978 Gold Star 2nd Place 1974 Toby Lee Sports Sedan Won 5 out of 5 rounds Awards 1992 Inducted into Tasmanian Motor Sport Hall of Fame 2009 Inducted into Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame

Dennis Burgess February 2014

Page six The Editor's Notes

I've taken a few liberties here. The Last newsletter I sent out was January 2014 and I think it was about the 3th or 4th but I'm calling this February newsletter number one. The reason - apart from the new format - is that this is the first newsletter since the HRCCT became a reality - so my tiny little mind decided it should be number one !

The Club's Constitution dictates that members be kept informed by a monthly newsletter and that the newsletter contain notices to members including a synopsis of Committee meetings and notices re General and Annual General Meetings as well as other club business.

I am hopeful that the newsletter will grow in interest and content as the club grows with it. BUT it will depend, in part, on articles, photographs and other contributions from the Club's members. If there is a lack of interest and participation on the part of members then the monthly newsletter will continue but it's only going to end up being in the form of a one page list of notices.

I'm sure no one wants to be known as a member of the club with a one page newsletter so I'm requesting that members let me know what they want in the newsletter, or even better, let me know if they'd like to contribute a monthly column. I'd be interested to hear from any one who could do a "Technical Tips" column or perhaps something on restoration, body work, paint or any other subject that is relevant.

I'm also thinking of having a "For Sale or Swap" page but that would depend on how many people would support it. The page would be available for financial club members to advertise cars, parts, memorabilia or such free of charge. Please note that this page would NOT accept commercial advertisements. If you want to advertise your business that would be a separate deal and there would be a cost involved. All proceeds from any such advertising would go to the club.

I sent a notice by email to members asking for photos of their cars for the magazine's front cover and, I'm pleased to say, I now have over 200 photographs to choose from!. To those who contributed rest assured that if your photo is not included in this edition it WILL make it to one soon. I can fit only one car on the front cover each edition.

Besides being the Club's Secretary I am currently also wearing the Magazine Editor's as well as the Web Master's hat. I don't mind that but I would appreciate some contributions from Members as well. I'm not bloody superman, I have a life of my own and there are only 24 hours in a day. The ball, as they say, is in your court Ladies and Gentlemen.

Finally, if you want to print this newsletter out and your printer can handle printing on two sides of paper you'll need six sheets of A4 paper, if you can only print one side then you'll need twelve. One more thing - there are a few large colour photos so if your printer colour cartridges are low you might need to replace them or alternatively print in black ink only.

Mick Stott Editor ------Page seven News

The First General Meeting of the HRCCT was held at the Man O' Ross Hotel, Ross on Sunday the 19th January 2014. 32 persons were recorded as attending and the meeting voted to accept the constitution with one amendment to section 2.9. A vote was held by the financial members of the Club and the following members were appointed to the Committee positions: - President; Brian Higgins, Vice President; Dennis Burgess, Secretary; Mick Stott, General Members; Tony Watts, Geoff Munyard, Warren Slater, Peter Hansson. There was no nomination for the position of Treasurer.

The purpose of this Racing Car Show is to raise funds for the Baskerville Foundation in order to upgrade the track and facilities at Baskerville Raceway. The show, in Launceston this year, will hopefully be repeated in Hobart next year. There are in excess of fifty racing cars on show and numerous racing motor bikes. As far as the cars are concerned, there are open wheelers, sports racing cars, Tasmanian built specials, some older, some more recent construction, sedans of various categories, some no longer racing, some current competitive cars. Australia’s own Elfin is well represented as well as Brabham, Dallara, and others. Some of the sedans represented include FJ Holden, Mazda, Ford, HQ Holden, there are even some ex Longford cars including a Morris Minor, along with some replicas of early Tasmanian racing cars, which should jog the memory of some of the older race goers, and still more. Members of the Hobart Sporting Car Club are making some of their Baskerville memorabilia available for display; they are also running a raffle of a quality 1/18th scale model car.

So please come along and bring some friends to support this Baskerville fund raiser.

Synopsis of Committee Meeting on 30th January 2014

1.The Committee Voted to appoint Grant Twining to the position of Treasurer under the provisions of section 5.4.2A of the Club Constitution.

2. Tony Watts was appointed to the position of the Club's Publicity Officer.

3. Dennis Burgess was appointed to the position of the Club's Public Officer.

4. Mick Stott has undertaken to lodge the completed application to register the Club as a not for profit Incorporated Association.

5. The Committee has determined that Members who have joined the club or will join the join the Club prior to 30th June 2014 will have their financial Membership extended to 30th June 2015. This determination has been made after consideration that the club was not officially formed until mid January 2014 which would give joining members less than 6 months membership for their club fee. The Committee may revise the fee for the 2014-15 financial year and this will affect those applying to join the club after 30th June 2014.

Page eight 5. Financial Members are advised that Club Membership cards will be distributed once the application to Associate the club has been processed and a design for the cards finalised. There is a temporary membership card available if financial members have not received one.

6. The Editor would like to thank Steve Barnard, Barry Cassidy, Geoff Munyard, Grant Twining, Dave Dungey and George Bird for providing photographs for use in this edition of the newsletter. Please note that copyright ownership of the images is retained by the photographers.

7. From this Edition the HTCCT Newsletter will be published at the end of the second week in each month. Members are advised that the newsletter will be distributed electronically by email although those members who do not have an email address will receive their copy by post in hard copy form. At this point in time is not economically feasible for the club to provide every member with a hard copy. The Newsletter will continue to be distributed in Ms Word ".doc" format and can be printed out on your own computer printer.

8. The next issue will contain a very interesting, in depth, look at the building of a recent Historic Replica. Don't miss Dave Dugney and Graeme Soden's Meercat feature!

New Members

New Members who have joined the HRCCT at or since the first General Meeting.

A welcome to:-

John Caire, Peter Turnbill, Barry Cassidy Trevor Muxlow, Bruce Hills, David Frost David Young, Brian Roberts, Roger White John Reid, David Wrigley, Robert Hamilton Glenn Woodcock, Stewart Edwards,George Bird, Danny Newland.

Coming Events

Sunday 16th March 2014 - Members are asked to assemble at the Ross Bridge picnic area at 10.30 am to travel to Ian Cummins home arriving at 11.00 am . Ian has kindly arranged to make his Jaguar collection available for inspection. Members can have lunch at the Ross Pub or Bakery after the inspection.

July/ August 2014 - The Committee has targeted July or August 2014 for a Club Day, more details will be released to Members after planning is finalised.

Any member having ideas or a facility for a Club social day are asked to contact a committee member with the details.

Page nine Memory Lane

Interesting photo from Barry Cassidy of the Starting grid at Longford in 1968.

Barry comments: -

Here's an old pic' that may be of interest. Longford 1968,Saturday race start,cars and drivers I can identify are:- Graham Scott- Graham Parsons- Cortina Daryl Wilcox- Early model Gene Cook- Early model Mike McIvor- Early model John Zeigler- Anglia Myself- XR GT Falcon (only GT that ever raced at Longford)

Had to start rear of grid after a heated debate with the scrutineers about the cars eligibility!! Finished third behind race winner Scott and second placed Parsons.

Page ten Gallery

Steve Barnard's MGB V8

The car was originally a USA four cylinder GT. And was converted in Adelaide to run a 3.5 rover V8 with a three speed auto gearbox. It was used for club days in South Aust. But I have ideas about results.

But now has…. Full coil over front suspension with 2 degrees negative camber. The front brakes are Nissan 300Z rotors with Volvo four piston callipers The engine is a four litre rover V8 with cross bolted main bearings, 6 inch con rods (and short pistons) with a mild road cam, and produces 161 KW at the rear wheels. And bags of torque The gearbox is a Borg Warner T5 from an EB ford ute. The whole rear end is Nissan R31 Skyline, now (this week) located with a panhard rod, and using Bilstein shocks.

2011 - third in Tas Super Series Regularity championship. 2012 - second in Tas Super series Regularity championship. 2013 - winner Tas Super series Regularity championship.

Has done 68 second laps at Symmons Plains, and 67 seconds lap at Baskerville. The is also my daily drive

Cheers, Steve B.

page eleven Gallery 2

The Many faces of Grant Twining's Devione - perhaps you should rename it Evolution Grant?

Random Pics - can you name the cars, drivers, location, year?

Page twelve