RETROSPEED WILBY SPRINTS

A CAVALCADE OF PERIOD-STYLE RIDES FLOCK TO NORTHERN VICTORIA FOR THE FOURTH RETROSPEED WILBY PARK SPRINTS

Classic racers flock to northern Victoria for the fourth Wilby Park Sprints

PLENTY of pre-1978 cars showed up to cop a thrashing over a March weekend at the fourth Retrospeed Wilby Park Sprints, held at the Wilby Park circuit, not far from the Victoria/ NSW border. The range of classes encompassed the entire history of motoring from pre-world War I to the late 70s, with everything from custom-built specials and purpose-built track cars to street cruisers showing up to play. Wilby Park has an authentic old-school feel to it, too – perfect for this type of event.

The track was leased for the weekend from the Wilby Park Motorsports Club, while insurance and licensing were covered by the Australian Auto Sport Alliance (AASA). Camping was available on Friday

and Saturday nights, with the sprints taking place on the Saturday.

The event is organised each year via the Retrospeed Facebook page by brothers Stewart and Ross Perry. “The goal is to put on an event that feels like you’re at a track day back in the 70s,” Stewart said. “The cars are semi-period correct – they need to appear correct but not necessarily original in the drivelines.”

Track days are an awesome way to test how well your car performs without falling foul of the law. That said, some events that run multiple cars and classes at the one time can be a potential recipe for disaster, particularly for owners of valuable classics. Retrospeed eliminates this risk by running one car at a time on the approximately one

kilometre Wilby circuit – similar to hillclimb events where drivers pitch themselves against the clock rather than each other. The racer with the fastest lap for the day is declared the outright winner.

“We like people being able to have a passenger in the cars so everyone can get involved, and we only run one car at a time to keep it safer and to time the laps,” Stewart explained. “We’d like to get a few more cars along, but we still want to keep it small so everyone gets lots of runs.

“The onsite camping is great fun. We put on a roast dinner on the Saturday night and then sit around the campfire having a quiet drink and talking cars late into the night.”

Shannon Heraud should be well known to Street Machine readers for his wild

253-powered Ford Escort burnout car (SM, Aug ’18), but at Wilby he was piloting his Torana, with a new alloy-headed 253 combo under the bonnet. He posted the event’s fastest time for the third year in a row.

“There’s nothing quite like beating 911 Porsches with a thongslapper-powered Torana,” Shannon laughed. “Retrospeed is a good, laidback, grassroots event where everyone is out there to help each other and have fun. It’s great for people who just want to have a crack at pulling their car on a race track without much risk of damage.”

If you’re keen to have a crack at the next Wilby Park Sprints, jump onto the Retrospeed Facebook page.

ABOVE & LEFT: Bryce Michelmore and his son Hudson brought their 265 Hemi-powered VJ Charger up from Melbourne. Bryce has owned the car for over 25 years. “I painted it myself by following step-by-step instructions that were in Street Machine back in the 90s,” the 45-year-old said. “Now my son has got a bit older, we’ve decided to get it out a bit more to use it for what it was built for”

RIGHT: James Perkins homebuilt this 1961 Renault Gordini. “I like left-of-centre cars, and this fitted the bill perfectly,” he said. “I built it up as a replica ‘1093’ race homologation special from a bare shell I bought in 2018. I did all the work, including body and paint, in the back shed. The engine is the original Renault 850cc bored out to 900cc. It goes better than I expected, hitting 65mph down the straight” ABOVE & LEFT: Doug Sterry’s ‘Northwood Special’ was built in 2006. “It runs an original ’39 Mercury chassis and drivetrain and a custom-built alloy body.” The triple-carbed Ford flathead V8 has been fully rebuilt and upgraded with a bigger camshaft and some headwork, while the original ’39 Ford drum brakes have been vented and had heat sinks added to help pull the car up

RIGHT: Heath van der Waerden’s 1975 911S was one of the Porsches put in their place by Shannon Heraud’s Torana. “It’s got a 3.0L motor swapped in, fatter rear Carrera wheelarches with the Turbo Fuchs wheels and a few styling features that make it look more like a mid-80s model,” he said. “I love the feel of this event; being woken up by cold-starting, cranky motors in the morning is my favourite!” ABOVE & LEFT: One of the standout cars was Noel Wilcox’s 1929 De Havilland Gipsy special, running a 6.0L four-cylinder engine from a Tiger Moth biplane. “The car has been built from bits and pieces on a Standard Flying Nine chassis,” the 76-yearold said. “It’s the only aero engine-powered car still campaigning in historic racing in the country”

RIGHT: Shannon Heraud is better known for his TUF253 Escort burnout car, but this Torana was actually the original TUF253, and used to compete in burnout comps with a blown thongslapper before being returned to street duties. It now runs a new 253 combo, backed by a T5 Borgwarner gearbox from an EL XR6 and a 9in diff with 3.9:1 gears. Shannon snagged his third Wilby win in a row with a 37.97sec lap time RIGHT: Event co-organiser Ross Perry owns this completely stock-standard 1967 E- Type Jag. “I bought it looking pretty much as it sits, but I’ve done a lot of mechanical work to it and it gets driven a lot,” he said. “I have a Chevy Nova wagon sitting in the shed at home that I’m building up as well” LEFT: Nathan Elder’s GT Cortina replica has been built for hillclimbs, circuit work and street duties on historic rego. It runs a Ford Crossflow 1600cc four-cylinder opened up to 1830cc using a Datsun steel crank and rods. “I like the track, as it suits this car,” Nathan said. “It doesn’t run out of legs coming down the straight like it does at places like Sandown Park”

RIGHT: Melbourne’s Mark Schwarze has owned this genuine LJ GTR Torana for just over 23 years now. “This is my first time here; it’s a fun, tight little circuit and there’s a good mix of vehicles to look at,” he said. “Mechanically, the car’s been upgraded to XU-1 specs with a worked triplecarb 202, but other than that, it’s pretty original” LEFT: Event co-organiser Stewart Perry towed his period-style caravan up to the event behind his original XB GT, which he’s owned since he was 19. “We’re really happy with the mix of cars and variety of ages of everyone that participated,” he said

RIGHT: Diehard racer ‘Gricey’ from Wodonga was having a ball on the track in his 1968 Isuzu Bellett sedan. “I paid $50 for the car and just built it up for a bit of fun,” the 74-year-old said. “It’s had a 1600cc GT motor with twin carbies and extractor fitted. I like the format of this event, as you don’t have to worry about other cars being out on the track with you” ABOVE & RIGHT: Simon Trewella (left) had his turbo Barra-powered VE Valiant Wayfarer ute out for its first shakedown run, having only recently completed the build with good mate and co-driver Steven Dobson (right). “The motor is a stock BF Series II Barra with an FG log manifold,” Simon explained. “The firewall has been recessed and the motor set back 300mm.” A BF Falcon ZF six-speed auto runs to a shortened XD Falcon Borgwarner diff RESULTS 1ST HOLDEN TORANA 2ND MK2 FORD ESCORT 3RD HOLDEN UC TORANA

RIGHT: Third place went to Peter Murray in his sixcylinder UC Torana, proving that a well-sorted car can be more important than outright power at events like the Wilby Sprints. “It’s a solid-cam, triple-carb 202 with a Celica five-speed and BW 78 diff,” Peter said. Unusual touches include the HSR Mikuni carbs and heavily modified HDT VH Commodore front spoiler LEFT: Kevin Kosa’s ’78 Ford Escort runs a 2.0L Pinto engine, and was his first car and daily driver until he converted it to a track weapon. “I don’t get to use the car much, so it was good to get out to do some laps,” he said. “It’s a pretty laidback event – how it should be!” Despite being Kevin’s first visit to Wilby, he walked away with second place overall