Whaddayaknow?

Bathurst ’63 survivors

This issue’s ‘Galah Performance’ story reminded us that there are no known surviving cars from the rst Bathurst classic, the 1963 Armstrong 500. At least, none known to us. Five years ago we put the call out for info on the whereabouts of any of the 57 machines that blasted off the grid on October 6, 1963. While we received a few snippets of info – including con rmation of the eventual demise of the race winner – none of it led to a positive identi cation a ’63 Bathurst survivor.

So let’s have another crack at it and this time we’ll widen the request. We’re after any info on the cars or campaigns, as I’m sure we’ll uncover some other great stories to tell in future issues.

On one hand, the lack of known survivors is understandable given many of the era’s competitors came from the motor trade. Plenty of those pioneering cars were returned to caryards and sold to unsuspecting buyers. Many subsequent owners would not have known their humble cars had played a small part in Australian motor racing history. Or cared less. Thus, many cars quickly disappeared into the abyss of undocumented sixties-era racecars.

Yet, surely a handful of cars from Bathurst ’63 live on today. Surely...

AMC is determined to nd at least one. Perhaps there’s one sitting quietly in a shed somewhere just waiting for the nal piece of the puzzle to fall into place so it can be discovered. Help us locate the oldest surviving cars from the Bathurst classic by supplying info, leads, photos, whatever to amceditorial@chevron.com.au

Bondy’s TR7 reloaded

We recounted in issue #101 the story of Colin Bond’s Triumph TR7 V8 – a charismatic rally weapon with an all too brief tenure at the frontline of Australian rallying. Colin Bond’s long-time mechanic John Gray told us the Triumph was sold to club-level rally driver from Campbelltown, Sydney, and that was the last he heard of the car.

Thanks to the power of social media we found our rally driver from Campbelltown, Bob Blandford and dropped him a line to nd out what became of his old British brute.

“I bought it straight after Malcom Wilson rallied it at Gosford,” recalls Blandford today. “It was advertised in the paper at Ken Matthews Prestige Cars for $14,000. I paid $12,500 for it and I still have the receipt! It was actually owned by Geoff and Doug Briscoe (father and uncle of current international racer Ryan) who were heavily into rallying at the time.”

Blandford remembers that the engine did have an issue, but it was just a rocker stud that had unscrewed, popping a pushrod. Once this was xed the engine ran without any problems, though not with quite the horsepower that Gray had quoted.

“The engine speci cation was pretty fancy with roller-rockers, special Repco pistons and Carillo rods. But the crankshaft was standard so it wasn’t a high revver. I think it actually made about 320 horsepower, but we never put it onto a dyno.”

“It was a beast to drive. John (Gray) said I was over my head and he was probably right. It was a heart over head decision to buy it but I loved the car. Bondy was involved with Allan Grice in a race driving school called Carcraft at Amaroo Park. Colin did the rally school on the dirt circuit with Nissan Bluebird TRXs. So I did the rally school and took the TR7. At the end of the day Bond grabbed the TR7 and took me for a spin and it was a real eye-opener. Pretty intimidating actually. He showed me what I could do with it and it gave me much more con dence in the car.”

Unfortunately, after a couple of seasons in club rallying and state-level events Blandford’s TR7 V8 met its Waterloo.

“I did kill it, unfortunately, in 1987 opening up a rally for the Mini Car Club of NSW at Black Springs in the Blue Mountains. I came over a brow to a tee intersection and overshot it going sideways into a tree. Bent it like a banana!”

The TR7 V8 had been logged as Group G and as such it had a limited lifespan. Blandford looked at what was involved in xing the TR7 but it didn’t make sense, although he did buy another shell, and this is where things get a bit confusing.

“The body shell was cut up,” Blandford says emphatically. “I hung on to the rear part of shell, but eventually took it to the tip. I did sell the spare shell I was going to use but it had no mechanicals. They had been sold separately to an English guy who put them into another shell that went back to England. I think that is where the confusion came about regarding the original Bond TR7 shell surviving.”

Blandford didn’t kick the infatuation with rallying Leyland leftovers, rallying a Rover SD1 3500 for many years. Indeed he has now come full circle.

“I’m currently building up a new TR7 V8 for low level club events. It will be a tribute car. For me it is an un nished story, I still have a soft spot for these cars.”