The build of the HT Monaro GTS 350 was to be overseen by young engineer, Lou Mallia. 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. Motorcycle Insurance, and Frankly, it was a humble beginning. One tip involved the suspension. 3,275 views 1 fave 0 comments Taken on January 4, 2011 Some rights reserved Additional info Viewing privacy Public If you'd put a fresh gearbox in every time you raced you probably would have got away with it but there was no alternative: the engine was too powerful for the 'box and the car was using money faster than I could make it, that's why I stopped racing it." Once again, Beecheys Shell Racing Team Brunswick HQ would be at work whilst still campaigning the HK Monaro. They duelled in bellowing beasts V8 Mustangs, Camaros and Monaros. Just a couple of things that may help with your search , this car is an HT monaro , produced between july 1969 and july 1970 , the caption on pic may be correct as Norm did not use the HG ( the fllowing model) the car raced with and with out this sponser during its career. The Gen3 testing plans of Queensland Supercars teams Triple Eight, Matt Stone, PremiAir and Dick Johnson Racing have been delayed due to wet weather. Back in the day, Detroit released the next years' models in the fall of the preceding year. I have printed the body shell and chassis , need some more pics for the trim detail etc . Brad Jones Racing will pay tribute to Supercars Hall of Famer Norm Beechey for the Sandown 500 Retro Round. Gurney's was a two-door SS with a single four-barrel carburettor, making some 50hp less than Beechey's twin carby, pillarless, four-door hardtop. We could have run a team of cars for that amount. It was Beechey's first of two Australian Touring Car Championship wins. And Kevin Bartlett was driving my old Chevy Nova and I just pulled out and passed him!". Custom Number paint tip Don't forget to check "Hide car numbers" in your iRacing graphics settings so Custom Number paints appear. We just welded them on and cut them off until we were happy. View or bid on all 2022 Shannons Autumn Timed Online Auction lots Ford did help out it's racing customers, although nothing like Chevrolet. Image: Supplied. $ 135.00 Sold Out. Australian Muscle Cars. Thanks pete53 . "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. N. Beechey / B. Jane Holden FX - Calder 1962 - Printed with a black border and a caption describing the photo. 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 rest of the car was essentially standard, with the usual lightening and Perspex windows. The 179 crank had the big ends welded up and the counterweights carved off, replaced by Harrops own. "We used to run the engine to 7000rpm. 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. SIGNED NORM BEECHEY, ALLAN MOFFAT, BOB JANE. "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. 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. But at Lakeside we both won a lot of races, Norm recalled. Have your say and comment on news articles from Australias leading motoring journalists. I dont think Ian Geoghegan ever beat me at Calder, and I could not beat him at Warwick Farm. It liked to wander about a bit but if you just let it have its head it was okay. 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. Hear, hear Norm. Unfortunately once again a little gentle pressure was applied and Max sold the car to track competitor Barry. "I drove it to Adelaide in 2001 to have a run at the Clipsal 500 and Allan Moffat was driving one of the best GTHOs in the country, one of David Bowden's, and he couldn't pass me. But an oil leak from gearbox found its way into the clutch forcing Beechey to back off. The gearbox was originally a three-speed 179 box, but after that I went to a push-button Torqueflite auto that I equipped with a clutch in place of the converter. Despite the fact that it last raced over 40 years ago, the Howler is a name that still stops Aussie drag fans in their tracks and can be guaranteed to draw speculation as to its secrets. Simply a full size family car. Then there was the diff, way undersized for the power and torque of the 409. 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. Norm led at the end of lap one, and by lap eight of the twenty lap event was nearly ten seconds ahead. The HT Monaro GTS 350 debuted at Beecheys home track at Calder. Ray, As far as I'm aware the first race with Lex driving it was 4 November 1962 Sandown. What we do. The Galaxie paddock bashing at the 1963 Longford. He has cherished and has driven it sparingly ever since, but now at 90 years old. It would be a 406 which Ford used for racing approx. Of the seven races in only the second multi-round ATCC (from 1960-68 it was decided in one race), he won three (Bathurst, Sandown and Lakeside) and was second at Mallala. Racingkarrir. Shannons Pty Limited ABN 91 099 692 636 acts as an agent and authorised representative No 239594. So the evolution of the Howler began. 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. I treated that track with a lot of respect. Svenska; Show all languages. Theres also a spare set of brake pads and brake hoses, both still in boxes. The Howler is justifiably among the most famous race cars in Australian quarter-mile history. Norm "Stormin' Norm" Beechey, fdd 1933, r en australisk fre detta racerfrare.. Racingkarrir. Amy lost five of those. . He returned in early 1966 with a two door, 5.3 litre Chevrolet Nova 11. 4 seconds ago viscount freddie soames wright brothers names. When it ran at Lowood in August, 1964, it was in Neptune Team colours And it had a reverse-scoop on the bonnet. 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. Vinnie Bentley. Also learn about how he is rich at the age of 49 years old? Norm Beechey memorabilia Jim Reddy has sent an invoice from a purchase he made from Norm Beechey's Speed Shop via store manager, Greg Goddard. Copyright 2023 Wheels Media, a division of Are Media Pty Limited. So the evolution of the Howler began. 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. 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. Wilberforce despaired at his friend's end and Clarkson aided the king's wife and daughters when they were exiled to England. This was the last car he raced before retirement. ). pick up Auto Action 1799 online or at your local newsagent. Current Owner. 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. All of these attributes explain why Norm Beechey was, without question, one of the greatest Touring Car competitors this county has ever seen. It could be argued that some significant results went begging when his flamboyance should have made way for a more measured approach. I just knew that 427s were 7-litres and forgot all about the 406 cubic inch engines. Of those he won 7 races and the championship twice. Beechey had the last word in an interview in Sports Car World in 1970. Arguably, this was the real beginning of the GM Ford battle, however it was an era where the drivers were undisputedly the heroes. The Touring Car hero is famous for driving a Holden Monaro, but his personal car was something very different - and it could be yours. 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. The achievement saw Beechey become the first driver to win the title in a Holden, adding to his 1965 triumph aboard a Ford Mustang. By logging in via Facebook or Google, you consent to Facebook or Google sharing your information with Shannons. 'Pete' Geoghegan's Mustang was a cult hero in the late 1960s, facing off against Norm Beechey's Monaro and Bob Jane's Camaro. 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. It probably took us six months to get it to race condition then we ran it for about a year. I note that pretty well everyone does that today. Norm only seems to have raced it a couple of times , was it a success ? It is just on fifty years since Norm Beechey won the second round of the 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship at Bathurst in his game changing Holden Monaro GTS 350. At the age of 88 years, Norm Beechey weight not available right now. The team is not expected to return to Winton until November due to the busy nature of the scheduled during the PIRTEK Enduro Cup. Norm Beechey. I have never seen one with a 302 but have read it on brochures and parts books. He then went on to race the famous early model Holden, known as PK 752 (its registration number plate number). https://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/294397/tp/2/, https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/feature-cars/1302/chevrolet-impala-409-norm-beechey, https://autopics.com.au/66033-norm-fers-paradise-1966-photographer-john-stanley/, https://photos.app.goo.gl/LAjx9nV3CPonoUBi6, (You must log in or sign up to reply here. There was nothing (else) to choose from back then; you had to buy a Jaguar (to win). View PDS. The next HT Monaro, had real success in comparison,. Just better. 0. It was the Novas first race and my first time at Bathurst, Beechey told The Race Torque. 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. The palace of Sans-Souci was looted and later abandoned. His championship win in 1970 was the first victory by a Holden driver in the Australian Touring Carolina Championship. Norm Beechey is a retired Australian race car driver, who was given the nickname Stormin Norman by his fans. It spent 18 months in a paddock rusting away before being saved (below). Not a Holman and Moody car by the sound of things , they didn't blow motors usually . But what really pricked up Beechey's ears was a line about Gurney keeping at bay a certain "G. Hill in a 3.8-litre disc-braked Jaguar". Welcome back, and thank you for being an Australian MUSCLE CAR Magazine Premium member.Sign in with your details below: 50 Years of the Australian Touring Car Championship, 50 Years of The Great Race - Bathurst Picture Book. The lobes looked more like briquettes than cam lobes, but Pat assured me it would work. 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 lifters were solid, with Harland Sharp roller rockers that were intended for a Chev, but in hindsight they probably had the pushrod seat in the wrong place. John, Lex should have learnt from his 1963 Sandown accident that fixing Galaxie's add somewhat to his racing expenses. It was the compression that resulted in the one nagging problem with the motor: blown head gaskets. That vintage Galaxie look far better in the 2 door. Facebook @autoactionmagTwitter @Auto_ActionInstagram @autoactionmagOnline Shop, Bruce Williams[emailprotected] All my cars had bench seats. It had an extremely heavy flywheel, about 1in thick and weighing about 30lb. In fact, it took Beechey six months to get the car running reliably. Added in 24 Hours. Last modified on Tue 6 Apr 2021 15.05 EDT. Beechey was not quite as complimentary to the likes of Bob Jane and Alan Moffat as he was to Geoghegan! The springs were decoupled from the diff housing to prevent any binding, and the diff was located by the track rods. My friend Veronica Beechey, who has died aged 75, was a pioneering feminist sociologist and an influential patients' rights . Tell us your email address and we'll email you a new password. Please scroll down to see information about Norm Beechey Social media profiles. The two Red Bull Ampol Racing Gen3 Chevrolet Camaros will commence their [], Brad Jones Racing has returned to its Albury HQ after topping the pre-season Supercars test at Sydney and have given fans a glimpse of the debrief. Ever the showman, Beechey sat on the bonnet of the stricken black Nova and watched another ATCC slip away. Raced before retirement 4 November 1962 Sandown Championship win in 1970 Bathurst, Beechey told the torque! 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