GRD - Page 3

David McKinney · 27 Oct 2004, 10:23 (Ref:1553548)

Quote:

Originally posted by Adam Ferrington
David,

Thanks.

Yes the 272s and 372 (and all later GRD's) were all one numbering sequence, as with Ralt later.

If McConnell's Tasman car was 010 (I'm assuming you observed that number), which fits given it was the second ever GRD to race, then the number 10 given by Henk for the Mo Harness F3 car either implies that GRD converted MCConnell's Tasman car to an F3 on its return from Aus/NZ this becoming Harness's F3 car in mid-72 and McConnell's 1972 FAt/FB car was a later chassis OR McConnell's car was 010 throughout its life in Tasman/FAt/FB and Harness car was another number.
You refer to McConnell first using his car in September 71. Do you have more details?

Roland Binder ran a Brabham BT36 in 1972 F2 - where did he appear in a GRD?

I can only find Ikuzawa running in F2 in 1972, but his car was 020.

Thanks again,

Yes, the number for McConnell's Tasman car comes from first-hand (eye?)observation.
Can't now remember where my September 1971 reference originally came from, but it does tie in with Chris's notes.
I may well be mistaken about Ikuzawa being in F3(after all, 2 and 3 are next to each other on the keyboard!)

HH Tech · 27 Oct 2004, 11:09 (Ref:1553549)

Hello
This car http://www.classicformula.se/Mantorp...25-049_JPG.jpg
is 373#47 ex Hasse Wengstre/Ingvar Carlsson and have been in Norway since the 70's
373#49 have been and still is in Norway and for sale

There is another 373#47 currently beeing restored in Sweden but it has a different history to #47 in Norway tis is said to have been raced by among others Stefan (Lill Lövis) Johansson

Henrik

HH Tech · 27 Oct 2004, 11:23 (Ref:1553550)

Hello
I seems that the Swedish importer Wendels imported a few cars as spares to avoid sales tax which were built up as full cars. The 2nd #47 is probably one of these, both cars has chassis plates and full history.
Henrik

Adam Ferrington · 27 Oct 2004, 11:39 (Ref:1553551)

Chris,

Yes, I agree with what you say about McConnell's first car.
I also have a note that it was "returned to England to be converted to F Atlantic spec to be raced by Tom Walkinshaw". This would be an Autosport or MN quote.
We know that Walkinshaw never appeared in such a car.
I have McConnell appearing twice in F Atlantic, 31/3 at Brands and 15/4 at Snetterton.
I have his first FB appearance as 7 May at Laguna Seca.

Re. your comment about Bev Bond's Stiller F.Atlantic GRD :-1) Do you know its number?
2) I have a photo of a similar car At Silverstone in 1976 being raced by one Peter Vincent. Have you come across him and is this the Stiller car?

Adam Ferrington · 27 Oct 2004, 12:21 (Ref:1553552)

Chris,

I've just come accross something which maybe corroborates the theory that MCConnell's F.At became Harness's GRD.......

The early 1972 F.Atlantic programmes show MCConnell's car livery as Green and Yellow.

Harness's F3 car when it appears is also shown as Green & Yellow. Normal GRD/GRS works colours were Maroon and grey, similar to their badge.

Not conclusive proof, but..

Chris Townsend · 27 Oct 2004, 15:59 (Ref:1553553)

Adam

Re McConnell's 1972 races in Britain, he does actually appear at Snetterton on 31.3 and gets taken off on lap one!. In the copy of the Brands programme I have for 15.4 he is marked as N/A and doesn't show on the very full grid written in on it.

I also realise that I have confused McConnell's 72 appearances with the 1971 season! I'm now not sure McConnell does race the car in the US in late 71. [Some of my records are now incomplete after my laptop got swiped last month and I hadn't backed up the recent work I'd done on 1971 US] It might well be that the Tasman is the debut for this car.

Chris

Adam Ferrington · 27 Oct 2004, 16:15 (Ref:1553554)

Chris,

My Brands note for McConnell comes from my GRD records where it simply says "R" for retired. I would have based what I had on AU/MN, but your marked programme sounds more reliable.

According to my records McConnell's GRD first raced at Pukekohe on 8 Jan. 1972. As far as I know Sutcliffe was the on person to race a GRD in 1971 (2 F3 appearances).

Bjorn Holmquist · 28 Oct 2004, 10:21 (Ref:1553555)

Hallo,
I´m the owner of GRD375 with chassinr 0047K. The car has a special front rolloverbar made by Wängstre and a bodywork as used on -75 cars.
Q 1: what is the K standing for in the chassinr. ?
Q 2: what is the chassinr. of the car standing in the garage of Stefan Johanssons father ?
If any one have are intrested in photos of the GRD raced by some Brasilian guy send me a mail, I also know where the Lancia engine ar for the Italian car.

Bjorn

petter · 31 Oct 2004, 11:02 (Ref:1553556)

Questions to Adam and Chris!

Thanks for the information abouth my GRD #10 and#47. Henk is restoring #10 and he told me to check out this forum and all the wise people visiting the forum.

Have you agreed regards #10. Who drowe the car and where. It would be nice to restor it back to original. Was it a F2/FA/FB or a F3 Can anyone find some pictures of the car when it was new? As I understand it was painted Green and Yellow when Harness drowe it at Brands 14-15.7.72. Is it possible that some could have pictures of it when it was new?

Thanks

Petter

Off at Paddock · 31 Oct 2004, 21:16 (Ref:1553557)

Off topic slightly but just spotted the name, Mo Harness. Not old enough to remember him in his prime but I do in Pre'85 FF1600 in 1991. I remember him being very fast in a Reynard FF84 and an absolute gent. Nice to see him mentioned.

Adam Ferrington · 1 Nov 2004, 14:37 (Ref:1553558)

Petter,

I sent Henrik a scan of the one (Harness) photo I have.

I have never seen a photo of McConnell's Tasman car.

When I next visit the LAT photo library, I'll see if they have anything clearer

RAP · 1 Nov 2004, 16:40 (Ref:1553559)

I have the programme for the F Atlantic race at Brands 5th March 72 McConnell is a dna. Watson is 11th after qualifying 15th.

Chris Townsend · 2 Nov 2004, 12:01 (Ref:1553521)

Might this be the first Williamson F3 car, the 372 run by Wheatcroft?
In 1975 Richard Wallinger appears in F. Libre races in a 372 with a BDA engine. The car is red and white - as the Wheatcroft car was - and Wallinger came from Hinkley in Leicestershire which is, I think, within shouting distance of Donington. Quite what he'd be doing with it, since Wheatcroft had his museum up and running for a while by then and presumably wanted to show Williamson's car, is another matter.
Dan! This one is in your area, know anything about Wallinger?

Chris Townsend · 2 Nov 2004, 15:39 (Ref:1553560)

Petter.
I think that Adam and I are agreed that 010 was the prototype FB/Atlantic car used by David McConnell in the Tasman series, so its history is limited to those few races at the beginning of 1972. It then came back to the UK and may have been used a few more times by McConnell in the British Atlantic series. It is then converted to F3 spec and sold to Harness.

It looks as though 011 was the works F3 spare and prototype car.

RAP: Would it be possible to have a copy of the 5/3/72 Atlantic programme to update material for oldracingcars.com ?- this is one of the few gaps in 1972.
Do you have more?

Chris

Dan Rear · 3 Nov 2004, 13:21 (Ref:1553522)

Chris, I recall Wallinger as being a 1-litre Saloon man, with an Anglebox I think, then a 'wild' Imp of some sort. You're right re Hinckley/Donington, they're about 15 miles apart. Whether Dick W ever had any connexion with Tom W I don't know I'm afraid. From dim and distant, did that Libre GRD have a really outlandish rear wing, hung out miles the car? This doesn't really help I know on the link between his and the Williamson car, but good memories all the same !

bobdar · 13 Nov 2004, 03:07 (Ref:1553523)

Nick: With respect to Alex Ribeiro's 374, I believe that I have that car in the US, and am interested in comparing our respective histories. My 374 traces back to Jim Fikse of Seattle. Fikse first had conversations with Tom Wheatcroft about the car, although it actually belonged to Brian Henton, and understood it to be Ribeiro's '74 GRD (which took 6th place at Monaco); I believe Wheatcroft was merely a match-maker in the deal. The car was imported by Michael Gue, who remembers the transaction and confirms all this. I later spoke with Alex Ribeiro in San Paulo, who explained the situation: Alex and Brian Henton had finished the '74 season, Alex was heading to March for 1975. Brian wanted to buy Alex's transporter; Alex was willing to sell, and Brian eventually bought the transporter, including Alex's GRD 374 and all the spares. Fikse went on to convert the car to FC SCCA Specs (1100 cc BDJ Cosworth).

I later sent pictures of the car to Peter Denty. Peter confirms the car as a '74 chassis but with some "upgrades" to the front suspension. Peter recalls that these "upgrades" were put on Alex's car during the '74 season, as he was the only GRD driver with a shot at beating Henton, so the factory was supporting him to some extent. Peter is fairly certain that my 374 is the Ribeiro car. The chassis is presently in the configuration that Alex ran the latter part of the '74 season: "upgraded" ('75) front upper A-arms, '75 sportcar nose, "cone" housing for the rear wing support; these details can be seen on the F3 History site photos.

Nick, I'd like to hear your evidence so that we may settle this question.

Bob Darcey
Colorado, USA

fines · 14 Nov 2004, 16:53 (Ref:1553524)

I can confirm that Henton owned the Ribeiro 374 in 1975, it ran with Derek Cook in Monaco and Mike Tyrrell at Brands the next weekend.

Chris Townsend · 15 Nov 2004, 13:58 (Ref:1553525)

In 1996 a GRD with the plate 72-030-FB was sold at Coys Silverstone.

This number was noted by Adam Ferrington on an F3 car raced by Ian Taylor and Barrie Maskell in 1972, a car which was retained by John Stanton in 1973 and then sold to Rod Smith.

Does anyone know where the car is now?
Does anyone have the Coys catalogue with any history of the car
Why had it got an FB designation on the plate?

HH Tech · 16 Nov 2004, 06:31 (Ref:1553561)

Hello
I got a mail from Håkan Alrikson with some of the history on 373 #49

In 1973 he bought a rolling chassis from Wendels
The engine came from Bengt Gilhorns 1972 car a Holbay 1600.
He ended up as 3rd in SM 1973

For 1974 he bought a new chassis at the factory and rebuilt it as a 1974 at the factory, went to Holbay and got a new 2liter pinto and then off to Nürburgring!

Next race was at Knutstorp and then Monaco where he crashed the car.

The car was the rebuilt with the old monocouqe and raced during 1974 and -75

The car was sold to Ebbe Karlsson Who did some races
Car sold on to Björn Almström who restored it and did som e club races with SSK and then sold it on to Norway.

Henrik

fines · 21 Nov 2004, 14:55 (Ref:1553562)

Hello Henrik, I have a question: the Nürburgring race was May 18, where Alriksson finished 22nd (and last), and the Monaco race was May 25. When would the Knutstorp race have been? Also, did he crash in the Monaco final or in practice or a qualifying heat?

bobdar · 27 Nov 2004, 02:26 (Ref:1553526)

I have an engine question: the '74 F3 engine rules allowed 2 liter displacement, and many cars used Novamotor-prepped engines with Lotus T/C heads and sandwich plates to accept the longer stroke required. Question is, what bore and stroke was commonly used, and what was the thickness of the sandwich plate? Also, I see some 1974 results at F3 History describing some motors as "Pinto"; was the 2 liter overhead-cam Pinto used in F3 in 1974??

jreminga · 26 Dec 2004, 18:23 (Ref:1553563)

272 - 019 - F2 is currently for sale in Canada. Some information from the ad may be useful as it states the car was brought to Canada in 1974 by McConnell Racing as part of a 3-car group.

Following is from the ad:

According to the car's log book, it was brought into Canada in 1974 which would indicate that it was new or virtually new. It was brought in by McConnell Racing and was part of a three car group they brought in for the Formula "B" series. The car was purchased by the current owner in May 1978.

It was purchased as a Formula “B” rolling chassis complete with two spare engine frame sections and a single Hewland Transmission (Hewland FT-200 five-speed) with a number of spare ratios. It has two sets of wheels one for dry tires and one for wet.

The chassis is equipped with duel fuel cells in the side pods, dual master cylinder brakes with adjustable bias bar, fire system and duel fuel pumps. The suspension is completely finished with fully adjustable spherical joints. A second smaller roll bar was added in the cockpit in front of the driver to give added protection.

As a Formula “B” all the bodywork is complete including a front wing and two rear wings one for high speed and one for slower speed.

As a Sports Racer it has a complete wheel enclosing body. This body was cast for endurance racing, specifically the Molyslip Endurance Series where it would be competing with both sports-cars and sedans under the then single seat sports racing, class "B" rules. The body was designed by Robert Giannou and built at Triad Racing in St. John’s Newfoundland. It was made more substantial so as to give side additional impact protection. Removable side pods were designed to be collision absorbing as well as to hold the stepped out radiators. The side pods for the sports racing version can be removed and the formula body fitted in less than a half a day. The radiators just step back to their original mounts. Both rear wings are adapted to the sports racing body. The four body molds are also available.

The chassis comes with two 1600 ford crossflow engines. One is equipped with a Cosworth head and Cosworth pistons.

The car was completely tested but never raced by the present owner.

Although the car has been stored in a dry heated garage since 1980 you can expect that the car will need some TLC before hitting the track again. We can provide restoration services if requested by the winning bidder.

Spares: There is a fairly good selection of final and individual drive ratios with the transmission. and I have the ful manuel on it with all of the ratios and speed curves. There is a spare set of rear chassis frames with the vehicle but no spare suspension pieces. There are two sets of wheels and two wings high speed and low speed.

According to the info we have, the vehicle was built by Modus Group Racing Developments in Griston, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The chassis number is plated as 272 - 019 - F2. There is space for engine and transmission numbers but the spaces are not, nor have ever been stamped. Our read of the number is as follows: 2 = type of chassis 72 = year of production, -019 is the unit production number, F-2 = Formula 2 rules which was the source class of a lot of the Formula B's that came into North America.

Chris Townsend · 29 Dec 2004, 13:15 (Ref:1553564)

This is very interesting , to say the least!
Number 19 in the GRD build run was never observed in the UK at the time by Adam Ferrington, who seems to have found virtually everything that did run here. This would suggest it to be either an F3 that went abroad, a spare F2 or an FB car.
From the known debut dates of the cars around it, 19 looks like it would be an April 72 production. This fits with it being the new car that was built for David McConnell to take to the Canadian and US championships in 1972. It is perhaps the car that McConnell ran in a few British Atlantic rounds in spring 72, rather than his Tasman chassis 11, which now seems to have been converted to F3 and eventually gone to Mo Harness.

McConnell runs a GRD 272 in Canada and US through 1972. I haven't yet found a reference to another GRD appearing in 1972 in N.American FB races. According to Canadian Motorsports Bulletin for 1973 [thanks to Rob North!] that car passed to Richard Doran of Montreal who seems to keep it up to 1976. Only one GRD [a B73] seems to go to US in 1973, for John Milledge of California.

I'm not sure how McConnell might be importing this to Canada in 1974 - unless he is hoovering a few cars up cheap from the works for the Canadian FB/Atlantic series then. This log book entry would suggest the car was a spare F2 car and didn't appear much in the N.American pro series. So, some more scrutiny of log book and known history might be useful. If there is a way of linking ownership back to Doran, or to the Montreal area, it might be that we've solved the problem of McConnell's 1972 car.

Chris

Michael Oliver · 30 Dec 2004, 13:23 (Ref:1553565)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Ferrington

I have never seen a photo of McConnell's Tasman car.

Hi all

Scanning aimlessly through the Autopics F5000 section last night, I came across this and wondered if it is the car in question?

http://www.autopics.com.au/cache/ite....html?cache=no

If for any reason this doesn't work, it is in the F5000 section, 1972, first shot on the second row. If you click on it, a marginally bigger version comes up...

Michael Oliver · 30 Dec 2004, 13:27 (Ref:1553566)

Incidentally, further aimless scanning last night found that 272-014 (the ex-Salomon car) is apparently for sale on www.carclassic.com