The 1970 ATCC was all about Beechey and the fabulous HT Monaro GTS 350. Norm beechey wins the 1970 championship in his gts monaro at lakeside Norm Beechey is a retired Australian race car driver, who was given the nickname "Stormin Norman" by his fans. I was driving for David McKay's Scuderia Veloce team and David had to write to Dan Gurney and ask him for advice. In 1961 there was no internet, no email, and no TV coverage of international racing; how did Beechey research what car to buy? . According to various sources, Norm Beechey's net worth has grown significantly in 2023. he is one of famous Racecar driver with the age 88 years old group. From the October 1966 edition of Modern Motor. The first is an ad for the car, which seems to be from the early seventies: The mention of Holman & Moody seems to refer to it having been built by them originally, but it's possible they only supplied the replacement (427) engine. It will be a real thrill to see them on track, and hopefully on the podium at the end of the 500.. To some, he was the closest thing Holden had to a star racing driver, before Peter Brock. The rules changed at the start of 1965. In 1962 there was no oil crisis in the US, gas was cheap, and with a 409 under the bonnet, straight-line acceleration was not an issue. Years later, at work, a guy named Bruce ?? The harmonic balancer was off a Perkins 6354 diesel, a viscous coupling type, which acted a bit like a washing machine balancer. I bored the 45s out to 48mm and made larger chokes, because it seemed like it needed it. Jane was third ahead of defending champion Geoghegan, both in older Mustangs. 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. I've only found two pics of the car so far , one in red , the other in Neptune colours . Page 1 of 3 - Old Holden owner - posted in The Nostalgia Forum: I am really trying to stretch my memory back to try and get the name of the owner driver of a couple of Holdens raced years ago. 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. It was still breaking parts, rear wheel bearings. 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. Privacy Policy. Brad Jones Racing will honour Australian Touring Car great Norm Beechey with retro liveries across its three cars for the Sandown 500. Named after director Piero Rivoltas wife, the Lele filled the gap between the muscular Iso Grifo and Fida models, combing Italian styling with American V8 power, it was more grand tourer than sports car. I bought an EH around the end of 1965, when it was about 11 months old. I believe all motorsport fans have a fond memory like that, and thats certainly one of mine. The conrods were massaged standard-Holden. ). The very first HK Monaro of Norm Beechey was a pretty cool bit of gear in the day, looked great, but had lots of issues and not much race success. But for the man himself, one of his favorite cars is an Italian-built, Ford-powered grand tourer. But it did take up a hell of a lot of time and money.. "It had the first Borg-Warner four-speed, aluminium-cased gearbox with very thin gears and it wasn't strong enough. Terms of Service. And that made the brakes much better. A photo of the Impala leading Hill's Jag sealed it for Beechey. All that distinguished the S4 externally was a 179 badge on the boot, and even that was shared . Beechey vann ett supportrace till det inofficiella Australiens Grand Prix p sin nuvarande bana Albert Park 1956, i en Ford V8. Warwick Farm. Wilberforce despaired at his friend's end and Clarkson aided the king's wife and daughters when they were exiled to England. 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. "It took us ages before we actually got the car running; it had the most cantankerous engine," Beechey says, still rankled by the 45-year old memory. Inicio; Servicios. All 25 Gen3 Mustangs and Camaros took to the [], PHONE 03 9563 2107 SIGNED NORM BEECHEY, ALLAN MOFFAT, BOB JANE. Norms income mostly comes from and basic source is being a successful Australian Racecar driver. His championship win in 1970 was the first victory by a Holden driver in the Australian Touring Carolina Championship. 1966 The Templestowe Hillclimb June Sports Car Class up to 1100cc; 1st: N. Beechey But because the car had drum brakes and I didn't want to wear them out because I wanted to drive it home, I waved Allan through on the toughest corner on the track. Facebook @autoactionmagTwitter @Auto_ActionInstagram @autoactionmagOnline Shop, Bruce Williams[emailprotected] We'd rather make sure we get the facts straight." Norm and Marg Beechey are big on facts. 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 significant in the history . Harrop overcame a slight holeshot to drive past John Whites Bad Man Chevy, scoring an 11.96sec win over the Queenslanders spluttering 12.26. Emergency Proceed to Emergency Department (ED). It had various heads, but they were all iron 149 heads, shaved 0.13in and ported and polished by John Bennett from HeadMod. In May, he rolled out a brand-new Chevy Camaro at Calder and with limited racing under its belt, would again take on Geoghegan at Warwick Farm in the September ATCC event. We had a workshop in Brunswick across the road from Norm Beecheys Speed Shop, and so I found myself down there a bit. 1965-66 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa: Classic Metal. & Baker, Dorothy. NORM BEECHEY , EH HOLDEN S4, RACING, aussie muscle car"aussie muscle cars" DRAGONSLiVEDin AUSTRALIA Bob and his Jag probably scared a lot of people out of being in touring cars and 3.4-litre Jags were just not competitive against Bob's 3.8-litre car. Autographed photo by Bob Jane & Norm Beechey. I saw Lex in Sir Gawaine's 2 door at WF , quite memorable , sounded fantastic . Norm was really 99% of that motor car. Racingkarrir. Sun 31 Jan 2021 10.47 EST. 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. Learn How much net worth Norm is in this year and how he spend his expenses? We did a half-hour classic at Calder and at the end of that my car was exhausted and so was Bobby's Jag. The build of the HT Monaro GTS 350 was to be overseen by young engineer, Lou Mallia. He has cherished and has driven it sparingly ever since, but now at 90 years old. Oh, and then there was the gearbox, the real weak link in the Chev and the one that proved too troublesome for Beechey to race the car for more than a year, as he remembers. BRYAN THOMSON. Its a 100% racing car and we have achieved it all here in Australia in one season, with a budget only a fraction the size the Yanks had to play with. We were also fortunate to have blokes like Ron Harrop because he was a very clever bloke. Ironically, the ATCC was again handed to Geoghegans Mustang. Improved Production Touring Cars were the fan favourites, preceding Ford and Holden homologation specials and establishing the foundation of modern-day Supercars. "Norm and his wife Marg were friends of our parents, as were many competitors from the 70s so it makes the tribute a very personal one for us." 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. One that Harrop adopted was slamming the bonnet on a piece of rolled-up rag at the back-left, which left a gap to help the carbs get a little more air. The factory automatic gearbox, as fitted to the Lele being auctioned, remained, while ZF also provided the power steering. 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. "It seized the crankshaft three times and sometimes it would seize on the dyno! Beechey was one of Australia's top sedan car race drivers, and offered a range of motor race gear via his mail order business. 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. Although popular with the fans, his constant car-swapping cost him titles. Just better. Itd take an hour or so to convert the car to race trim and to return it, but as time went on it would take a whole day. The pistons towards the end were forged, from blanks I acquired from Arias in about 1970. When a wife whose husband has Thanks pete53 . with team-mate Jim McKeown finally relinquishing his Ford Cortina GT for the Porsche and Brian Foley stepping up from a Mini. Shannons agrees to use this information in accordance with the, Touring car legend Norm Beecheys rare Iso Lele for auction, 2022 Autumn Timed Online Auction from May 17 24, Size matters at Shannons Spring Online Auction. 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. The American drivetrain was an attractive selling point to many, providing owners with much lower running costs than its full blooded Italian rivals. thats one of the very few shots that I've seen of the car . "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. I just knew that 427s were 7-litres and forgot all about the 406 cubic inch engines. I also saw plenty of post H.A.M.B. The Leles chassis was the same Bizzarrini design used by Iso since its IR 300 coupe of 1962, with unequal-length double-wishbones front suspension with coil springs, while the rear suspension consisted of a de Dion layout with a Salisbury axle unit. 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. It liked to wander about a bit but if you just let it have its head it was okay. 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. So the evolution of the Howler began. PHONE 0418 349 555, Copyright 2023 Auto Action/Action Media Partners Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved . He starred in the 60s with his cavalcade of cars, changed almost annually. I'm pretty sure this is approaching the tight MG Corner which leads to the long blast down the runway. It was a huge luxury car but in that era if you were a bookie, wealthy businessman, or a farmer you had a Pontiac Parisienne, a Buick or a Chev and the Impala wasn't considered big in those days. Shot of Lex at Longford in 1963. Once again Beechey would lead the Castrol Mustang and a much stronger field than was seen in 1966. In Oz we [reputedly] had 302W and 400 2bbl. 0. Quick view Details. While both marxist method and feminist analysis are necessary to an . BJR reveals three-car Norm Beechey tribute, Sign up to the Repco Supercars Championship Newsletter, Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, Davison: Webb ready to race after Ipswich test, Whincup chasing qualifying gains at Ipswich test. He had commenced with Beecheys Truck Dealership in the Chevy Nova era and progressed to race team duties after Graham Moore stepped down and John Sheppard left after a short stint. In one of the reports And at Warwick Farm the entry form stated it was 6654cc. We bolted them on and they pushed the valves open so that was fine. I dont think Ian Geoghegan ever beat me at Calder, and I could not beat him at Warwick Farm. GREAT DAYS is a line Norm Beechey often adds to his signature when asked to sign various pictures and books from his racing career. "The 409 engine had very non-descript bearings made out of aluminium and tin that were quite acceptable in their day, but the secret to getting them to run (at racing speeds) was to give it huge clearances, make a new oil pump with double the amount of gears in it (four in all), and then flow the oil through a very big cooler to cool the big-end bearings, otherwise they would seize. TRT tells the stories less told, adds insight and informed opinion about current events and adds great imagery and video content to the mix. 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. Beechey had the last word in an interview in Sports Car World in 1970. Coming up to Pub (Longford) corner. The HT Monaro GTS 350 debuted at Beecheys home track at Calder. 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. "And hopefully on the podium," Beechey said. The HT Holden Monaro was unlike any other Touring Car built in Australia: Innovative and borrowing much from the factory built Trans Am cars, the Beechey Monaro would be the first locally produced car to ever win the ATCC. Running a car like the Howler meant always trying new ideas. 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. The Lele initially was powered by a 5.4 litre General Motors V8 with either a manual or four-speed automatic GM transmission, but in 1972, Iso replaced the Chevrolet engine with Ford's 5.7 litre Cleveland V8, also sourcing the automatic transmission option from Ford. 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. 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. In one of mine beat him norm beechey wife Warwick Farm the entry form stated it was still breaking,. 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