Seeking info re "Pete" Geoghegan's ATCC 'Tina

[jewels]

is there any pics of these cars we can post ?

[Kenz]

Zombie 289,
A good question - I can't even recall the colour of Harry's Lowood car - must be getting old.
According to David Mc Kay's book "Scuderia Veloce" the Firth/Seton Lowood car was a works entry (FoMoCo), "well tweaked" and "expected to win easily". Seem to recall the Seton Bathurst winner was a "private" entry perhaps somone out there can help on that point.
There was a good article on GT500's in Australian Muscle Car a while back, which I must dig out and see what it clarifies. McKay reports " Harry was not amused".
As I recall, there was a lap recount which gave McKay the win - these seem to have been a regular event in those days with races involving McKay cars. He won a Surfers Paradise 12 hour on a recount over the Matich/Sutcliffe GT40. I've aleways been a bit sus on the validity of both those outcomes, but it was before I got involved in timekeeping, so....
I will have to retrieve my loaned Brier Thomas Lowood photos to see if the Firth 500 appears and if it has a rego no. In those BT albums, sometimes the entry list is reproduced, so may be able to pin down the car.

[Cortina GT500]

Kenz

Your recollections are better than mine often are. The Seton/Bosworth Bathurst winning 500 was entered by Fairfield Motors.
I seem to remember that Firth's Lowood 4 Hour car was also white.

Norm

[kndturner]

kndturner,
Pete's 64 ATCC winning Cortina was a two door GT. ...
Hope this helps - please contact me by e-mail if you'd like ay more info.
I have a mate who has a vast collection of 60's mags and race programs.
Also, there are the Brier Thomas 60's photo collections available on CD's - there may be some stuff on the Lakeside set that's useful.

G'day Kenz,

My sincere thanks. Great information.

Now you've opened a can of worms, as I'll certainly be in touch soon!

Have a great day.

Regards...Dave

[zombie289]

Would it be possible that the Seton/Firth GT500 was one that was also raced in the 66 Sandown 4 hr??

[Kenz]

Zombie 289,
That one beats me - Harry would know; even at 90+, he can probably remember all the interpretations of the rule book that he made in preparing it!
I need to see if I can identify the Lowood car, so we can back-track from there.
Late mail:
According to something I read, there was no '66 Sandown endurance race. Ther was a skip form '65 to '67
Is this correct?

[nomad]

My old CAMS handbook tells me it was a Cortina, reckon they'd have made a greater song and dance of it had it been the Lotus.

[zombie289]

I remember seeing a pic in an old magazine of a damaged white GT500 at the sandown 6 hour, maybe it was the 65 race...

[nomad]

Good stuff mate, great to get this info from people like yourself...was this GT500 the same car that Bo won Bathurst in??

Don't think so, the way Harry describes Bo's Bathurst car in his Cortina book he got the GT500 just before the race (didn't even order it race prepared) and gave it a real good balance job then ran it like that. Harry reckons he could have got more out of it if Bo had got Firth Motors to do a full race preparation at build!

[zombie289]

Don't think so, the way Harry describes Bo's Bathurst car in his Cortina book he got the GT500 just before the race (didn't even order it race prepared) and gave it a real good balance job then ran it like that. Harry reckons he could have got more out of it if Bo had got Firth Motors to do a full race preparation at build!

Wow, Harry is almost as big a self promoter as Carroll Shelby

I will try and find that pic of the 500 that ran in the 6hr....
(might take a while, its buried in my shed....)

[Kenz]

Do yourself a favour and get hold of Chevron's "The Fox - the Harry Firth Story", just to confirm that false modesty is not in Harry's persona!

[nomad]

Harry's booklet on the Cortinas and the GT500 would tend to indicate not, he describes the car Bo won with as a relatively stock GT500 (not even race prepared) that Bo had spent money on having balanced. Harry reckons Bo won that race by staying out of trouble (with some panel damage) and not beating his car to death like rather a lot of the faster folk.