THE 1970 NEW ZEALAND SALOON CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
PART ONE
It was, almost certainly, the most fascinating, nailbiting, closely fought and controversial season of them all. The 1970 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship had it all – including a cliffhanger ending.
The 1970 championship was contested to FIA Group 5 regulations, a set of rules introduced for the 1968 season after the axe fell on the wild and feral Allcomers. The Allcomers were, despite their potential for controversy, strongly embraced by Kiwi tin-top racers. The last championship contested under Allcomer rules was truly a national contest, spanning the length of the country, and with spirited competition from both islands.
But the same couldn’t be said for Group 5. Indeed, its adoption was viewed by many, particularly those in the South Island, as an expensive and unwanted infliction forced upon them by the sports governing body, itself based in the North Island, and as South Island track promoters were more than happy to let Allcomers continue to race at their events, so the need to purchase a Group 5 car was negated. Indeed, many of the North Island-built Allcomers soon migrated south, where they could still be raced.
Group 5 gained little support from South Island teams throughout both the 1968 and 1969 seasons, and by the time the 1970 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship (NZSCC) was being planned relations were at their lowest ebb. Indeed, 1970 saw the launch of an exciting new South Island saloon car contest called the Mercury $1000 Series. Created by a group of local drivers and headed by Christchurch businessman and racer, Brian Hepburn, the Mercury series was intended as a true rival to the national championship and embraced both the fancy new Group 5 machines as well as the local Allcomers.
With the Mercury series effectively locking out all the traditional South Island dates, the entire NZSCC was contested in the North Island. So much for a ‘national’ championship!
THE MAKINGS OF AN EPIC SEASON
Despite the rumblings going on behind the scenes, this was shaping up to be an epic season. The 1970 championship was split into three classes based on engine size: 0–1000cc, 1001–4200cc and 4201–5500cc.
Taking a lead from the British Saloon Car Championship (BSCC), as it had done since the inception of Group 5, the outright champion would be the person who scored the greatest number of points in their class, and not the one who scored the greatest number of points from their overall finishing positions. Indeed, Rodger Anderson won the 1968 championship aboard a Mini-Cooper in the 0–1000cc class.
Furthermore, drivers could drop their worst race result.
The 1970 NZSCC would be contested over eight rounds, starting in October 1969 and ending in April 1970.
An influx of new machinery arrived for the 1970 championship and, likewise, existing machinery traded hands and continued on under new ownership. Notably, reigning champion Paul Fahey, who’d dominated outright race results the past two seasons in his Shelby American-built Mustang, had sold the fast Ford to John Riley and imported a brand-new Alan Mann Racing Escort. The Escort was a spare works machine built for the 1968 and 1969 BSCCs. Unlike the more limited, but more commonly used, Group 2, Group 5 allowed more freedom, particularly with regards to the engine. In the case of the AMR Escorts, they were powered by 1600cc fuel-injected FVA Formula 2 units which, unlike the production model Twin-cam, featured special cylinder heads with 16 valves. This, of course, gave them more power but,
being a non-production engine, it meant they were forced to run in Class C in the BSCC, against the big American V8s. Likewise, Fahey would contest the 5.5-litre class in the NZSCC. But Fahey, of course, only ever raced for outright victories. He didn’t purchase the Escort simply to become a class champion.
Red Dawson was perhaps the driver carrying the most confidence heading into the new season. His was one of the few top teams to enjoy consistency. While most of his rivals had switched machinery, he’d contest his second season aboard the beautiful metallic blue 1967 Shelby Mustang he’d purchased from Norm Barry (who raced as Frank Bryan, his middle names) in 1968. Dawson had struggled to keep pace with the flying Fahey Mustang during the 1969 season, but he was now familiar with his steed and his greatest rival had switched to a new and completely different car to that which he’d been racing the last three years.
Spencer ‘Spinner’ Black debuted New Zealand’s very first circuit-racing Camaro in late 1968, and although his 1969 championship campaign was scuppered by business commitments and a spectacular fiery shunt at Wigram, there were races where even Fahey had no answer for the powerful Camaro.
For the 1970 championship, Black expanded to a two-car operation, commissioning the build of an HK Holden Monaro 327 GTS, which would be leased to Rod Coppins. Coppins had campaigned the ex-Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan 1966 Australian Touring Car Championshipwinning Mustang the past two seasons but really didn’t gel with the car, and he certainly didn’t come close to emulating Geoghegan’s achievements. The Monaro shared many components with Black’s potent Camaro, most important of which was its 327ci smallblock Chevy V8.
Another new Australian muscle car was the PDL Falcon, built and raced by Clyde Collins in Christchurch. The PDL team was one of the few South Island outfits to contest the 1970 national championship. Having run a pair of Mini-Coopers the past two seasons for himself and Robert Stewart, the step up to the outright class was a big one for the burgeoning PDL team. The weapon of choice was an XW Ford Falcon.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
While plenty of action was taking place in the 5.5-litre class, the newly introduced 4.2-litre class (being run for the first time) was even more lively. Naturally, strength in numbers came from the impressive new Escort
Twin-Cams, a couple of examples of which had debuted the previous season for 1966 champion Dave Simpson, and Jack Nazer. For the 1970 season, the Escort Twin-Cam brigade swelled to include examples for Gary Sprague, Grant Bloore, Don Halliday, Brian Crosbie and, from the Baypark event on December 28, Jim Richards. Richards’ was aboard a former factory car built and raced by the Willment Racing Group in England and which contested the 1969 BSCC, hence its late arrival in New Zealand. Crosbie had acquired the car raced the previous season by Dave Simpson.
Up against the army of Escorts was Rodger Anderson’s beautiful new BMW 2002, sporting its factory Group 2 wide body kit and resplendent in the evocative livery of Cambridge cigarettes. Adding a sizable dose of charisma was Dave Silcock’s beautiful and extremely rapid Jaguar Mk2.
Somewhat unfairly, several of the 1275 Minis built to contest the old 1001–1300cc class of the previous two seasons got swept up in the new class structure and, as such, were drafted into the new 4.2-litre class. The 1001–1300cc class was made redundant for the 1970 season.
As it had been since Group 5 was first introduced, the 0–1000cc class was the most hotly contested and largely dominated by Minis but for a sprinkling of Hillman Imps, including Roy Harrington’s bright yellow example, plus those of Moss Tait, Peter Levet and Brian Patrick, the latter sharing driving duties with Jim Richards.
The Mini fleet included those of Barry Phillips, Mary Carney, Alan Boyle, Reg Cook, Neville Bailey, Peter Sharp, Wayne McMath, Mike Lines and countless others. And despite this being the baby class of the
championship, the racing itself was furious and the teams had invested heavily in their equipment. Indeed, Carney’s car was the fuel-injected Equipe Arden machine (rolling on 12-inch diameter wheels) driven to the 1969 British Saloon Car Championship by Alec Poole. When supplied, Carney’s Mini was fitted with a fresh new engine, while Poole’s BSCC-winning engine was rebuilt and sold to Barry Phillips, who’d acquired Rodger Anderson’s 1968 NZSCC-winning machine, which had also won the 0–1000cc championship in 1969. The Arden motor was installed in the Cambridge machine partway into the 1970 season, along with a set of 12-inch diameter wheels.
SEASON OPENER
The 1970 NZSCC kicked off at Baypark on October 4, 1969. Several drivers were absent, including Fahey, Richards and Carney (who were all waiting on their cars to arrive from England), while Coppins’ new Cambridge-sponsored Monaro was still under construction.
Red Dawson romped away to a flying start, which he further capitalised on in Round 2 at Pukekohe on November 1. Here he won, from Anderson in the BMW, and Fahey, making his debut in the Alan Mann Racing Escort. Coppins’ new Monaro failed to show.
The Monaro finally made its first appearance in Round 3 at Pukekohe on December 8. However, a spate of ‘new car’ problems ensured it didn’t venture beyond practice. Meanwhile, Dawson kept notching up the race wins and was already looking like he’d walk away with the championship. His nearest rival was Riley, who was everpresent but not quite able to match Dawson’s immense speed.
Baypark hosted its big annual non-championship event in late December, and it was here that Jim Richards made his first appearance in the impressive Willment Racing Escort Twin-Cam. But of equal importance was another failed practice run by Coppins’ new Monaro. And it was here Spencer Black handed him the keys to the Camaro (which Black was entered to drive), and suddenly the momentum began to shift.
Revelling in the well-sorted and powerful Camaro, Coppins scorched to pole position, heading the Mustangs of Dawson and Riley. This trio put on a show for the packed
stands in the opening heat, swapping places several times before Dawson gained a small advantage, only to throw it away on the final lap, gifting the win to Riley from Coppins and Gary Sprague. Fahey was swamped at the start and as he made his way back towards the front, he crashed the Escort heavily and was out of the remainder of the event.
Following a sluggish getaway in Heat 2, where he dropped down to sixth, Coppins surged back through the pack to catch leader Dawson. The pair took turns leading, but the Camaro had it over the Mustang and scored the win.
During the first three championship rounds, the 4.2-litre contest was being headed by Anderson in the pretty BMW 2002, with Sprague his main rival in the Mount Cook Airlines Escort Twin-Cam. At Baypark, however, Richards grabbed pole position and soared to victory, despite slowing towards the end of the five-lap encounter. A postrace inspection revealed a cracked block, and the speedy Willment machine was packed up for the day. Sprague finished second, with Anderson third.
By now, Barry Phillips and Alan Boyle had established themselves as the class of the 0-1000cc class, with Harrington and Cook also very competitive. To date, Phillips had stumbled only once, when he broke a universal joint in the opening round – where Boyle won. Phillips won at Bay Park, heading early leader Harrington, who finished second, from Cook and Boyle.
Round 4 of the championship saw the circus head south to Levin, and the first event of 1970. Coppins moved to further show his speed by claiming pole position and breaking the lap record. Dawson failed to show after suffering mechanical issues, and Fahey was also absent – the Escort undergoing repairs following its Baypark shunt. Richards and the Willment Escort were another not to make the trip, the TwinCam requiring a rebuild. Collins, however, bumped up the numbers when he debuted the new PDL Falcon. Sprague was the second fastest qualifier, followed by Nazer, Anderson and Riley. Cook was the fastest of the 1-litre brigade.
Levin ran a heat race followed by the allimportant championship contest, fought over 12 laps. Coppins won the heat from early leader Sprague, followed by Riley and Nazer. Anderson and Collins contested fifth, with the little German car coming out ahead. Nazer catapulted away from row
2 to lead the championship race (which combined both the 5.5 and 4.2 cars). He and Riley swapped places a few times before the Mustang established itself in front as they crossed the stripe for the first time. Coppins then moved past Nazer and closed in on Riley before spinning and dropping to eighth. He recovered and sped back through the pack to finish second to the runaway Mustang driver. Meanwhile, Nazer, Sprague and Anderson scrapped over third, with the Cossack Escort pilot eventually asserting himself and taking maximum points in the 4.2-litre division.
In the 1000cc heat, Cook, Boyle and Phillips squabbled over the lead, which Phillips eventually claimed. Phillips then led the championship race from start to finish, clearing out from Boyle, Bailey and Richards.
Special thanks to Ross Cammick.