HOT LAPSTER
JUGGLING HIS time between running the family business and competing at the highest level of motorsport is what Alan Hamilton did for many decades.
Such was his talent a career as a works Porsche driver beckoned in the late 60s, but Hamilton derived as much satisfaction from behind his desk at Porsche as he did from behind a steering wheel so he elected to combine the two.
He rose to the top in touring cars against the likes of Bob Jane, Norm Beechey, Allan Moffat, Ian Geoghegan and Bryan Thomson, all driving brutish V8 Mustangs and Camaros and finished the 1969 Touring Car championship in his Porsche 911 with the most points, but the rules stated each driver must drop a round. He lost by one point to Ian Geoghegan.
By then he’d already proven himself in sports cars taking several national circuit and hill climb titles. After touring cars Hamilton moved to massively powerful Formula 5000 open wheel cars that netted him a runner up spot in the Gold star series, a third in the Australian Grand Prix before a life-threatening crash at Sandown Park in 1978. Hamilton co-piloted with Colin Bond to finish second at Bathurst in the famous Ford 1-2 of 1977.
As a team owner, Hamilton was in a league of his own. His team and drivers, including Allan Moffat, Colin Bond, Alan Jones and Alfie Costanzo secured several Australian GT and Gold Star crowns. Costanzo stunned everybody when he lapped the old Sandown Park circuit in under a minute, the only driver to ever do so. Behind the wheel of Hamilton’s ex James Hunt McLaren M26, converted to F5000 specifications Costanzo stopped the clock at 59.6s on the lumpy, confined, high speed circuit. There was also a tilt at the Le Mans 24-hour race in the early 1980s. Hamilton’s first racecar and his slowest was a VW Beetle and his first outing was at the Templestowe Hillclimb in outer Melbourne.
One of his favourite racecars was the orange Porsche 911 from the 1968 and 1969 touring car seasons. Another favourite, though he never raced it, was the 917/30 CanAm car. It weighed 730kg and had 895kW and 1193Nm. It would accelerate from 0-160km/h in 3.2 seconds and 0-320km/h in 8.2 seconds. Only four were made and Hamilton bought his for a princely $136,000 when visiting Porsche HQ. Today a 917/30 is worth several million dollars. According to Hamilton it was a spectacular car to drive. Hamilton also opened his Noble Park workshop to the Porsche and Lancia sports car teams when they competed in a World Sportscar race at the extended Sandown circuit in 1984. Being across the road from the track, one morning the team decided to drive to the track, in the Porsche 956 racecars. It must have been something to see them jostling with Camira’s, Kingswoods, Escorts and Commodores on a Melbourne spring morning.