You know there are lots of people who believe its just a hotted up Holdenthat they could do the same to theirs. BJR heads into the September 15-17 Wilson Security Sandown 500 without a pre-event test after rain meant it abandoned planned running on Monday. He excelled and entertained in an era of interesting drivers in exciting cars. Improved in 24 Hours. Despite the Impala's imposing size, brawny Beechey says it wasn't physically hard to drive, (even though he didn't use the road car's power steering) due to skinny, hard tyres and short races. I think it ended up with a two-inch inlet, which is pretty amazing when you compare it with a standard head, where the valves are way over the sparkplug side. "I've been up against GTHOs on Dutton rallies and this car just chewed them up and spat them out; they weren't even in the contest and didn't that break a few hearts. It would get to maximum revs about 100-200ft before the finish.. The line-up covered each class of racing in the Improved Production era: Beechey in the Over 3000cc class along with teammates Jim McKeown, and his super quick Lotus Cortina, and the ubiquitous Peter Manton, king of the Mini brigade. We didnt know those things in those days. Post 870, but all are worth another look. What was the rules in the day? Inboard disc brakes were used on all four wheels. It was based on a Chev Duntov grind that had a bit ground off the nose. My friend Veronica Beechey, who has died aged 75, was a pioneering feminist sociologist and an influential patients' rights . "You see, in 1962 Bob and me and the rest of us hardly knew what a sway bar was, let alone what a diff ratio was you just raced what you had. Of those he won 7 races and the championship twice. Improved Production Touring Cars were the fan favourites, preceding Ford and Holden homologation specials and establishing the foundation of modern-day Supercars. There is no mention of the Chev's kerb weight in Beechey's catalogue and why should there be? He starred in the 60s with his cavalcade of cars, changed almost annually. Unfortunately once again a little gentle pressure was applied and Max sold the car to track competitor Barry. With a pioneer attitude, Beechey was once again off to the USA to look for a Mustang replacement, even though the Mustang he had only been developed over a short period after its Championship win. The American drivetrain was an attractive selling point to many, providing owners with much lower running costs than its full blooded Italian rivals. Which means it would have been one of the first cars off the line of that model year, usually the release is towards the end of August. Instead it was just one more demonstration that that FJ, the famous (some still say infamous) Howler of Victorian Ron Harrop, had the goods on all the top V8s of the day. TRT: The stories behind the sport. On its first run with the 208 cube six installed, the FJ ran half a second quicker than Ron's old EH. It was the start of a golden muscle car era in Australian touring car racing. The Monaro took its first ATCC win at Round 2 at Bathurst and then went on to win in front of huge crowd at Melbournes Sandown Park Raceway. Maybe some connections were made and strings pulled. Clinic Appointments - Appointments are based on clinical priority. SIGNED NORM BEECHEY, ALLAN MOFFAT, BOB JANE. Norm only seems to have raced it a couple of times , was it a success ? But at Lakeside we both won a lot of races, Norm recalled. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Please see Wikipedia's template documentation for further citation fields that may be required. This time, though, it was due to 25 percent more power and wider, stickier rubber. He was a very, very clever man. "And hopefully on the podium," Beechey said. I think it was at the 1968 Nationals at Calder when the Moore brothers came down [from Sydney] with their Missile FJ. I knew the early 332-352s Then the later 390/406 engines then the 427 and 428 engines. ", "Back then the fields weren't very big. All of these attributes explain why Norm Beechey was, without question, one of the greatest Touring Car competitors this county has ever seen. July 20, 2021 Although Moffat and a number of other drivers raced Mustangs for ATCC competition - the five ATCC titles from 1965 to 1969 were won by Norm Beechey (1965) and Ian Geoghegan (196669) driving Mustangs - this car, modified to CAMS Improved Production Touring Car regulations was ineligible for the Bathurst 500 (later Bathurst 1000), which was . The big cars weigh over 2 tonnes. I watched Norm race from his six cylinder Holden days through the Mustang and then the Nova. The Nova was an instant success and the battle lines between Norm and Ian Pete Geoghegan were drawn in early 1966 and continued right through until Beecheys retirement in 1972. Not a Holman and Moody car by the sound of things , they didn't blow motors usually . Finished in an attractive iridescent metallic blue with its original dark blue leather trim, the Iso also retains its original lightweight Campagnolo Elektron magnesium wheels shod with Michelin XWX tyres. View or bid on all 2022 Shannons Autumn Timed Online Auction lots Sun 31 Jan 2021 10.47 EST. I saw Stormin Norm race the Len Lukey owned red Galaxie at Sandown, many years ago. two years before switching to the 427. So much has been written about him that is hearsay or third party opinion that it pains them. In fact, it took Beechey six months to get the car running reliably. Beechey retired from racing at the end of the 1972 season. "When I switched to the S4 Holden, Bobby had got his Jaguar going faster and it still dominated; the Jag's reign only finished when I brought the Mustang out in early-1965. This is an amazing documentary reviewing Norm Beecheys much celebrated 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship win in his famous HT Monaro. To some, he was the closest thing Holden had to a star racing driver, before Peter Brock. "It's Norman Beechey," he says. Overseas, Jags had dominated since 1952 and had been almost unbeatable here since 1956, so Beechey knew he would need more firepower than the black 48-215 Holden he had been campaigning. "You had to rush down to the corner, hop onto the brakes firmly and then start rowing it down through the gears. Surely this had to be a giveaway win to the V8? Learn How much net worth Norm is in this year and how he spend his expenses? Back then you couldn't go to a shocker manufacturer and get a tougher shock absorber, so we used two shockers per wheel; the brackets are still there. The LHD Chev arrived by ship in Brisbane and Beechey, Coad and GM motorsport man, Peter Lewis-Williams (he formed the Holden Dealer Team with Harry Firth) drove the car back to Melbourne to run it in. Norman Beechey A factory Imp was imported by Norm Beechey, a top Australian Touring car driver in the sixties. I'm sure it's been posted before, but it belongs here anyway. Not only was the character himself one of the most popular drivers of the era, he went further by putting cars on the grid between 1965 and 1970 that were unique and won him even more fans. Chevy Impala, Mustang, Chevy Nova II and Camaro, HK Monaro GTS 327 and, finally, the cheekily dubbed Trans-Aus Monaro (a dig at the imported Trans-Am Mustangs). A superb looking USA Muscle Car, which, just as Beechey had done with the Mustang, would be the Novas first circuit racing campaign. he is one of famous Racecar driver with the age 88 years old group. Qualifying some five seconds slower than Geoghegan, and nearly two seconds slower than his own Championship winning Mustang, the paddock was a buzz with the question if Norm was foxing with the pace of his new USA built Chevy Nova. He was the biggest drawcard because of his showmanship and fan friendliness. $6.60. Well, it wasnt that high. Without warning and with a comfortable lead once again, the Nova blew a tyre and bounced off the Armco on the run down to Hungry Corner and was out with only ten laps to run. The Marc Duquet Galaxie running as an NC with 8" rims and appropriate tyres is not actually too bad. also know about his Social media accounts i.e. fredeuce, Sep 24, 2020. Quite the same Wikipedia. But ofcourse everyone else has similar tyres! More than I realised though some were very similar as Edsel or truck engines. We used to weld metal gussets on the brake shoes to make them stronger." On that occasion we discussed his time as a driver for HDT, his role as chief engineer at HRT in the early 90s, and his massively successful Harrop Engineering firm. Harrop bought a traded FJ from Beechey for $29, installed the engine, gearbox and diff from the EH, all in the standard positions, and $1300 later it ran a 13.42 at its first meeting (April 1969). Copyright 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. northern cricket league professionals; breaux bridge jail inmates; virtualbox ubuntu failed to start snap daemon; len and brenda credlin But how did the then part-time racer and used car dealer come to import such a monster? In the end it had a Toploader close-ratio box. Cracking shot from Longford , really shows how big those cars are . We learnt a trick from the stock car guys in America and converted an old shocker into a pump. All my cars had bench seats. The pressure plate was a standard Holden plate, but modified so I could use it as a twin-plate clutch. It finished with a dish in the piston and still had 13.3:1 compression.. When a wife whose husband has But, win or lose, he was adored by his legions of fans. Anyway, a race was organised up in the back-blocks of Coburg and I won that. I just searched Wiki for the variations of FEs. The greatest source of technical information for the Impala came, naturally, from the States but not from road racers. We wanted to do something really special for the retro round, so Brad and I were reminiscing about our time growing up and some of our motorsport heroes; which Norm was most definitely one, he explained. Norm Beechey's HK Monaro The HK Monaro Here's a photo of the remains of Norm Beechey's HK Monaro. Ken Box was also involved and he was a brilliant engineer.. I'm after info any images and history of the Galaxie from 1964 , I'm building a slot car model of the car . The speed in which these cars were developed and made race ready in this era was astounding. Attached is a link to a youtube video that records the successful year of 1970 when Norm won the Australian Touring Car Championship in his locally built Holden Monaro powered by a 350 Chev. Genealogy profile for Richard Beechey Richard Beechey (1828 - 1902) - Genealogy Genealogy for Richard Beechey (1828 - 1902) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Beechey won seven of the 31 ATCC rounds that he competed in between 1963 and 1972 and has largely kept a low profile since his retirement. Ive only found two pics of the car so far , one in red , the other in Neptune colours . Showmen. Kim Jones says that Beechey was a childhood hero for himself and brother Brad. Amy, the wife of a country vicar, had eight sons and six daughters. Beecheys imposing 5.7-litre Chev-powered Monaro remains one of the most significant and popular cars in Australian racing history. I broke one or two, but essentially they were good. We just welded them on and cut them off until we were happy. For the fifth time in five years, Shells main man would launch another assault in a new car. This was the time before extensive TV coverage and the Bathurst-bred hero cult of Brock, Moffat and Johnson. Copyright Race Torque Media 2021. I don't understand how it came to have that bonnet bulge in Appendix J. "You've got to remember that buying this car was a very entrepreneurial decision in 1962. My new for 71 Galaxie LTD in the US had 2 and 4bbl versions of that engine along with numerous others from 240 6 through to 429 Cobrajet. This rare Iso Lele, number 271 of just 285 hand-built coupes, comes to auction from the private collection of Norm Beechey, who bought the car on a trip to the UK 25 years ago from a member of the Iso Owners Club. My EH was doing about 14-dead or thereabouts, and they were doing 13.7s and that dropped my jaw. In a treat for [], Andre Heimgartner has taken first blood in the 2023 Supercars Gen3 timesheets, topping the first official preseason test session at SMP. . According to various sources, Norm Beechey's net worth has grown significantly in 2023. Because the R5 racing Dunlops of the day were only narrow, you couldn't turn the steering wheel when the car was stationary but once you got it rolling it was okay. The rules changed at the start of 1965. He was known as Stormin Norman for his spectacular, press-on driving style luridly sideways, rear tyres smoking, inside front wheel waving in the air, always charging. But it was 1965 that arguably changed the landscape of Touring Car Racing and almost certainly began the love affair with V8s as the staple diet of racing in Australia. 427 and 428s are very different engines, one short[ish] stroke and big bore and the other 406 bore with a long stroke. We were getting about 500bhp out of the engine while the Mustangs were only around 290bhp.. Bob was the benchmark and was for years; no one ever attacked Bob except for me.". & Baker, Dorothy. Larger than life personalities. Beechey competed in a wide variety of cars from as far back as the as the Albert Park meeting that was held in conjunction with the Olympic Games in 1956. Beechey went on to win the title that year - in doing so giving Holden their first series win and making the Monaro the first Australian car to win the ATCC. At the time it was just what you were doing and it didnt seem that big a deal, Ron says of his time running the Howler. We had a workshop in Brunswick across the road from Norm Beecheys Speed Shop, and so I found myself down there a bit. Other than, perhaps, Norm Beechey's Chev Impala, the 405bhp Galaxie was the most powerful racing car in Australia of any sort upon its debut in November 1962. All Rights Reserved. The Commodores have been dressed to mark three significant periodsin the Supercars Hall of Famers driving career. Half a century ago last Sunday (November 15), Beechey was officially crowned Australian touring car champion following the final round of the 70 series at Symmons Plains, outside Launceston in Tasmania. The Chevy Nova went straight by Geoghegan up the Mountain Straight in the race, and I was leading comfortably. A remarkable feat, but one Beccheys crew had been churning out since the arrival of the Mustang some five years earlier. Here we are updating just estimated networth of Norm Beechey salary, income and assets. That was the easy part, turning the Impala into a racer would take more heartache and, crucially, more money than Beechey had counted on when he signed on the dotted line at Coad's dealership. Beechey competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1963 to 1972 winning the title in 1965 driving a Ford Mustang and in 1970 at the wheel of a Holden Monaro. Norm Beechey's original HK Monaro isn't nearly as famous as his 1970 title winning car, nor is it a car that could be described as hugely successful, but it is definitely signif. Ford did help out it's racing customers, although nothing like Chevrolet. We had a four-point harness that held us in place a bit, but I used to grab a cushion off the lounge at home and tuck myself into that. And Lindsay, that's a nice shot. Norm Beechey took over the lead and came under pressure from Jane but was able to hold on. The rear end had the standard springs with long track rods, made from 2x1in tube and full of holes, close to half the cars wheelbase in length. I was driving for David McKay's Scuderia Veloce team and David had to write to Dan Gurney and ask him for advice. The rivalry with Pete Geoghegan was one of the greatest in Touring Car History in Australia and Beechey still speaks fondly of it. Quite a quick car. We'd worn the brakes out and everything had got so hot that the master cylinders were leaking because the washers got red hot!". Norm only raced the S4 at Lakeside that year. Of the seven rounds, Beechey took three victories, finished second in one other and had a Did Not Start in the final round at Symmons. "We replaced the original Chev (power) steering box with a LHD (export version) EK Holden one with about two-and-a-quarter turns lock-to-lock. They duelled in bellowing beasts V8 Mustangs, Camaros and Monaros. For those unfamiliar, Iso Rivolta - or just Iso for short - was an Italian company that built cars between 1938 and 1974. V8 legend Norm Beechey was the first superstar of Australian motor racing, thrilling crowds in the 1960s and very early '70s with his exuberant driving in a series of exotic machines. Wasnt a shiny red but it did have 406 in chrome on either front mudguard. A photo of the Impala leading Hill's Jag sealed it for Beechey. The Victorian driver broke a few records with his Imp. John, Lex should have learnt from his 1963 Sandown accident that fixing Galaxie's add somewhat to his racing expenses. "Nothing had beaten a Jaguar (for years)," Beechey recalls. BJR has also renumbered its #21 Tim Blanchard/Todd Hazelwood entry to Beecheys #4, with the car carrying the blue Neptune livery from Beecheys Mustang. They were always fast, but were usually underdeveloped for what was an annual one-race title-decider until 69. Live Statistics. Facebook @autoactionmagTwitter @Auto_ActionInstagram @autoactionmagOnline Shop, Bruce Williams[emailprotected] Bob Jane in his Jaguar won, after a somewhat dubious start from well behind the line, as the flag moved. Did Lex still race it after shunting the Cooper that year? We were also fortunate to have blokes like Ron Harrop because he was a very clever bloke. Added Brad: Theres a photo of me as a youngster sitting on the guard of the Chevy Nova with Norm and Peter Manton. Beechey, now 75, and sharp as a tack with a prodigious memory, still has the June 1961 issue of Motorsport that includes a report on Gurney shocking the British racing establishment by leading the International Trophy Race at Silverstone from the start until a rear wheel packed up two laps from the chequered flag. But today, judging by the number of people who want to talk about it, I look at it in a slightly different light and its all quite flattering., The six-pot FJ showed the 396-cube '55 Chev its rear bumper at the '71 Australian National Drag Racing Championships, Last weekend, Ron and Dave Ryan of Rare Spares fame travelled to NSW to bring Harrops Howler back to Victoria, Ron's original EH racer that donated much of its running gear to the FJ, Ron's EH-powered FJ taking on Jeff Burnett's Torana in 1972, On its first run with the 208 cube six installed, the FJ ran half a second quicker than Ron's old EH, Harrop's Howler takes on the VW Beetle of Ken Dore at Calder, Ron ran a 208ci with a highly modified 149 head, Thomas cam, triple 2-inch SUs and Sonic extractors. The Camaro was a very short-lived affair and just a few months later prior to the end of 1968, Norm would debut a new HK Holden Monaro. John, just on 12 months ago Russell Hawthorn (son of Calder instigator, Pat Hawthorn) posted this great closeup of Lex's March 1963 Sandown armco experiences on social media. "American stock cars used two shockers per wheel. It was 1970 that saw Beechey launch the car that would be defining not only in his own career but lives in the annals of one of the greatest Touring Cars the country has ever seen. I suspect as a road car far nicer all round than the 427s. Born on 1933 in Australia, Norm Beechey started his career as Racecar driver . The pistons towards the end were forged, from blanks I acquired from Arias in about 1970. Motorcycle Insurance, and I was going to post something about the new rules (Improved Touring Cars) being the reason we only had the joy of the S4s for one year. Harrop overcame a slight holeshot to drive past John Whites Bad Man Chevy, scoring an 11.96sec win over the Queenslanders spluttering 12.26. Last modified on Tue 6 Apr 2021 15.05 EDT. Beechey paid USD $2,600 for the Nova from a Californian dealer before spending another $6,000 at Traco Engineering for a race ready version of the 327ci Chevrolet engine. But the Impala was the first of the muscle cars." It raced here in early '63, that would usually mean it was a '62 model. "There was a genuine technique to driving this car fast and I think my style suited this car because I grew up driving big fast American cars," he says. 0. So the evolution of the Howler began. But it did take up a hell of a lot of time and money.. All 25 Gen3 Mustangs and Camaros took to the [], PHONE 03 9563 2107 1969 Australian magazine ad for Norm Beechey Speed Shop. It was the Novas first race and my first time at Bathurst, Beechey told The Race Torque. Who owned 2 old Holdens {FX models I think], both same colour [light blue?] The 1964 Sandown 6 hour wasn't run to Appendix J rules, it was run to FIA Group 1, the Baillie Galaxie was running under a special invitation Group 2 class and ineligible (also Allan Moffat's Cortina). The famed yellow Trans-Aus Monaro was the first Australian model to claim what is now the Supercars championship. $6.60. Norm only seems to have raced it a couple of times , was it a success ? He was just brilliant to watch.. Privacy Policy. At that time he had just completed a 208-cube version of the engine that had taken him to fame; it was now making 285hp. Brad Jones Racing will honour Australian Touring Car great Norm Beechey with retro liveries across its three cars for the Sandown 500. Beechey had already tasted American iron having raced a Ford Customline in the late-'50s, but during this era 3.4-litre Jaguars ruled the racing jungle and his biggest nemesis was a nuggetty bloke named Bob Jane, who would have a quicker 3.8-litre MkII Jag for 1962. "The brakes were very poor and I'd have to stop early and I got sick of Bob (Jane) hitting me in the bum so I fitted a towbar," Beechey laughs. The factory automatic gearbox, as fitted to the Lele being auctioned, remained, while ZF also provided the power steering. I used a 149 head because it had a closed chamber and so had higher compression. The big Yank had numerous Achilles heels, ones that wouldn't show up on a US interstate. Beechey contested in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1963 to 1972, in which consisted of 31 ATCC rounds and 26 races. ", Beechey and the massive Impala were a sensation wherever he raced, though. Wilson Security Sandown 500 | Tickets | EventInfo. According to Shannons, Beechey has cherished and has driven it sparingly ever since, but now at 90 years old. Norm or Lex Davidson were probably even worse off for tyres. At the front were the standard 90/10 shocks. The place: the old Castlereagh drag strip in Sydney. This car - officially the EH 225 M-S.4 - had a pushrod 179 cubic-inch (2.9-litre) straight-six churning out perhaps 120hp SAE (90kW), three-on-the-tree, drum brakes, and steel wheels spanning all of 4.5-inches. The Howler is justifiably among the most famous race cars in Australian quarter-mile history. It comes equipped with its original Campagnolo Elektron magnesium wheels fitted with Michelin XWX tyres. Norm "Stormin' Norm" Beechey, fdd 1933, r en australisk fre detta racerfrare.. Racingkarrir. Must be 4 doors? Copyright 2023 Wheels Media, a division of Are Media Pty Limited. Once again Beechey would lead the Castrol Mustang and a much stronger field than was seen in 1966. OZZIE MOTOR RACING ICONS NORM BEECHEY by Bill Pearson Before Brock there was Beechey. The 1933-born Racecar driver expert is arguably the worlds most influential Norm Beechey is expert, with a wide-ranging social media outreach. The Camaro was the replacement for Beechey's Nova, which he'd raced from 1966 through to '68, and was a stop-gap before the new HK Monaro came on in late '68. Why go through the pain and heartache of restoring a classic car when you can buy one as good as Had it not been for the Volkswagen Beetle's popularity, General Motors would never have built the Get your monthly fix of news, reviews and stories on the greatest cars and minds in the automotive world. "It had the first Borg-Warner four-speed, aluminium-cased gearbox with very thin gears and it wasn't strong enough. Another I know [its co owner worked for me] is a factory 66 7 litre manual car. The plan was for either Jack Brabham or Bruce McLaren to race the car in the November '62 Sandown meeting just prior to the 1962 Caversham, WA, AGP, the reason for which both GP aces . Big lazy grunter with bull nose Top Loader and Kelsey Hayes 4 spot brakes. Norm won the Australian Touring Car Championship that year when he imported a brand-new Ford Mustang.