rich@minispares.com wrote:
he lifted off as he got alongside me and it backfired so loud I crapped my self as I thought my engine had let go
Looool , love the way you describe it
rich@minispares.com wrote:
there was a funny story about his car as well, it was so big that he couldn't drive it through the exit tunnel that went back under the track at brands, he tried once and it got stuck, he always had to go the wrong way through the 'in' tunnel
I agree , looks like Cascades going on to Lakeside and I'd say 1969. That would make the Falcon Dennis Leech, followed by Frank Gardner and Mike Crabtree.
I also firmly believe the photo was taken at 'Oulton Park' ,however a year earlier on the 17th August 1968.
Showing 'David Hobbs' in the blue and orange 'Malcolm Gartland Racing ' Falcon Sprint ,followed by 'Frank Gardner ' in the 'Allan Mann' Escort TC ,followed by 'Chris Craft' in the 'Broadspeed ' Escort 1300GT.
The 3rd car could not be 'Mike Crabtree' as 'John Willments Racing ' livery for their 'Saloon Cars' was always white ,with a red side stripe .It's also important to remember that this photo is just one "still" from the whole race and not necessarily that of their finishing positions.
Cheers Gareth
Just a quick amendment ,I wrongly identified ( ) the Falcon as David Hobbs's, this photo at the bottom of this link proves it was in fact Brian 'Yogi' Muirs.
foxy52 wrote:
...mmmm nice big falcon.. take a look at u tubes vid of Jack Sears for example ? formerly BTCC champ from the golden days of saloon car racing 1950,s thru the early 70,s....plenty of shots of galaxies,falcons,cortinas,anglias,minis and mk 1 escorts etc....foxy52
foxy, falcons where actually not that big as they where based on the same floorpan as the mustang, which was a mid range car - for proper big yankie cars you need galaxies and stuff like that!
alan minshaw (from demon tweeks) over took me once in a Malibu he raced, he started to come past me as we came out of druids and was still going past me as we turned into graham hill - its was huuuggggeeee! it was like been overtaken by an artic lorry
..big as in ..still a yank tank being about 4 times the weight of a mini or Anglia !!!....
surfblue63 wrote:
Is the Falcon No.89? If so then it is Brian Miur at Oulton in 1968.
On the following link are some pictures of teh 1968 Gold Cup were John Rhodes tangles with a Cortina. Just below is a Falcon which looks very similar to teh one in your shot.
contour51 wrote:
Just a quick amendment ,I wrongly identified ( ) the Falcon as David Hobbs's, this photo at the bottom of this link proves it was in fact Brian 'Yogi' Muirs.
They're homologated at 980 kg! This was achieved by not having an engine / not having any guts in the engine and gearbox when presented for homolgation according to which story you believe
Certainly it is impossible to get one down to this weight now even with all the moneybags racing them even with fibreglass panels and bumpers
They're homologated with vented front discs and god knows what else
They entered 8 for the 64 Monte.
They really did want to win.
They also suffer from not being able to be legal as regards roll cages (see other topic). To fit the main hoop rear facing supports in the cabin ,they cannot be mounted at correct angle as it's such a short cab. To get the cage to be at the correct angle it needs to go through the bulkhead behind the cab , which is also illegal
They didn't actually have to be presented for homologation then. The weight was just written in - and not checked by either the national (US in this case) governing body or the FIA, as for all cars then. Alan Mann effectively wrote the papers, although they had to be signed by senior Ford managers.
14 were built to the full spec (8 Monte cars and 6 practice cars) and arguably 2 more later in the USA. It's one of the more outrageous homologations but not the worst example ever. That prize may well go to the Chevette HS, only one of which was (hand) built at the time of homologation. The 970 Cooper S may well be a worse case than the Falcon Futura Sprint and the Lotus Cortina was not much better in terms of actual numbers in existence at the time of homologation.
At that time and for many years later, "provisions for" the production of the minimum quantity for homologation was required. Only much later was inspectiuon of the full quantity instigated.
Here's Maurice Bruton's picture set of Rhodes being punted into the bank at Oulton in '68, I suppose he could have taken his foot off but not really his style !
I've got pics of the wreck being loaded on the transporter but I think that'll do for now !
Tim Harber wrote:
They entered 8 for the 64 Monte.
They really did want to win.
They did win - on scratch.
They could have won on handicap too if Alan Mann had not used racing drivers in the Falcon ice note crews. Chris Craft and Roy Pierpoint did the check on one critical stage and decided full studs were required. Lungfeldt lost time overall on the stage, as he could have driven the icy section without studs.
Stuart Turner used rally drivers for ice noting and that probably decided Hopkirk winning on handicap and the Mini gaining (a somewhat undeserved, on the basis of that result) immortality...
I agree , looks like Cascades going on to Lakeside and I'd say 1969. That would make the Falcon Dennis Leech, followed by Frank Gardner and Mike Crabtree.
I also firmly believe the photo was taken at 'Oulton Park' ,however a year earlier on the 17th August 1968.
Showing 'David Hobbs' in the blue and orange 'Malcolm Gartland Racing ' Falcon Sprint ,followed by 'Frank Gardner ' in the 'Allan Mann' Escort TC ,followed by 'Chris Craft' in the 'Broadspeed ' Escort 1300GT.
The 3rd car could not be 'Mike Crabtree' as 'John Willments Racing ' livery for their 'Saloon Cars' was always white ,with a red side stripe .It's also important to remember that this photo is just one "still" from the whole race and not necessarily that of their finishing positions.
) the Falcon as David Hobbs's, this photo at the bottom of this link proves it was in fact Brian 'Yogi' Muirs.
