Special Brew

Foreword by Gordon Murray

When Rob told me about his upcoming book on South African motor racing specials, I was excited for two reasons. Firstly, it is hugely important to have this fascinating piece of local motoring history chronicled and, secondly, because building my IGM Ford special in 1965 and 1966 was the very beginning of my career in motor racing.

Motor racing specials have been around since the very early days of our sport, but the post-war period in the 1950s and early 1960s were some of the most innovative. The austerity that followed World War 2 meant that for most folks that harboured an ambition to go motor racing, building a special was the only option open to them. This was true in most countries but particularly so in the colonies where innovation and a pioneering spirit seemed to flourish.

Racing specials were central to my growing love of motor sport, and I can remember as early as 1951 watching Isa Henderson driving a Fiat Topolino special at the Snell Parade ‘round the houses’ circuit on the Durban beachfront. My father Bill was a motor mechanic and would often work on specials at the weekend. At least once a month we would attend a racing event and I can remember watching a large number of the drivers and their specials which are covered in Rob’s book.

In 1965 I began designing and building my IGM Ford special in my parents’ backyard and building my engine in my bedroom! I have very little doubt that without that experience Ron Tauranac at Brabham would not have given me a start in grand prix design as he was not at all interested in academic qualifications. Designing, building and racing my special in the years from 1965 to 1968 was absolutely where it all began for me. Perhaps it is fitting that Rob was with me late at night when I gave the IGM its first clandestine ‘run’ on the public streets in our residential neighbourhood.

This book is not only an important documentation of this fascinating part of South African motor racing history but also a great story of some of our pioneering designers and their machines.

Author’s introduction

This book is not intended to be exhaustive on the subject of the southern African ‘Formula One’ and Libre ‘specials’ of the period 1960 to 1965. It all happened a long time ago and the memories of those involved or who knew the central figures have dimmed. Moreover, photographs are not easy to come by, and separating ‘fact’ from ‘fiction’ or anecdote has been another challenge.

The ‘story’ seeks to cover the period 1960 to 1965 in the main, although the build-up to that golden age of motor racing in South Africa and Rhodesia needs to be mentioned as well.

I have selected some 30 interesting cars that raced during this era that loosely qualify as specials as the subject matter, ‘specials’ in this context being home-built and usually one-off cars specially designed for racing.

I have also tried, where possible, to include some background information on the personalities involved.

In many cases technical information is scarce, and I’m indebted to Peter Jackson and Lewis Baker who have kindly provided interesting insights into chassis and suspension design. Des Hammill provided background information on Coventry Climax engines, as used by various local teams. My grateful thanks too to Andrew Reed for patiently editing the project. His attention to detail and knowledge of the racing era were most valuable. A special word of thanks to graphic designer Joan Sutton for creating a visually appealing backdrop to the text with her very striking layouts.

Whatever the shortcomings of my text, the interweaving between chapters will give an insight into the early 1960s era as well as some prior history, and the wonderful array of photographs will hopefully compensate for any deficiencies.

Starting grids have been included in some cases to indicate the competitiveness of particular cars in relation to their rivals.

Some of the efforts to construct racing cars were brilliant, others were disasters, some endured and had longevity, others did not, and in some cases successful cars became unsuccessful when they passed to other hands. Whatever the outcome, these endeavours were a tribute to the enthusiasm and skill of those who built and raced them. They all served to fill the grids in a time before television and commercial sponsorship.

What was before

Prior to World War 2, motor racing in South Africa had developed as a major sport and grown to such an extent that top-class foreign drivers were attracted to take part in the ‘summer season’ grands prix held in December and January.

The war curtailed this activity, but after hostilities ceased motor racing became a popular pastime again for both enthusiasts and spectators. Servicemen returning from duty brought new mechanical and engineering skills learned while serving in navies and air forces. Other skills were brought by immigrants who had served their apprenticeships at famous firms such as Austin and Rolls-Royce.

In the immediate post-war years and up until 1960, motor racing in southern Africa was run on a handicap basis because of the wide diversity of cars that took part in events. These were mainly home-built specials and sports cars of all engine sizes. There were very few factory-built racing cars on the grids, if any at all, and those that were of factory origin were generally pre-war machines, ‘cannibalised’ hybrids or little Cooper ‘500’ cyclecars.

Asked why an enthusiast would build his own racing car, race promoter Peter du Toit summed it up as follows: “Three compelling reasons spring to mind. Firstly, one cannot afford to buy a suitable machine. Secondly, the desired racing car is unavailable due to scarcity or the reluctance of the manufacturer to sell it. Thirdly, one believes one can construct a superior product to what is available.”

The first major post-war motor race in South Africa took place along Snell Parade on Durban’s beachfront in January 1948 and was named in honour of Pat Fairfield, a world-famous pre-war racing driver with a South African connection.

For much of the era, except for the Grand Central Speedway near Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg’s Roy Hesketh Circuit from December 1953, closed-off public roads or airports were used for racing. But times were about to change.

As 1960 dawned, international motor sport resumed at East London, its traditional home in the country, with the running of the Sixth South African Grand Prix on New Year’s Day. The race put international motor sport in South Africa “back on the map” after the last proper grand prix held in the Union in 1939.

The Grand Prix organisers of East London, who staged this ambitious spectacle on a new 2.4-mile circuit, invited six foreign drivers with modern Formula Two Cooper cars to take part in the 146-mile scratch race. It was in fact a Formula Libre event as local drivers were permitted to enter a variety of specials and sports racing cars.

Thereafter more local drivers started to acquire factory-built single-seaters, usually second-hand and in some cases sadly obsolete or run-down machines, or to build their own cars, and by mid-1961 the Formula Libre and sports-racing cars had virtually disappeared from the grids. Enthusiasts could no longer simply cobble together bits and pieces scrounged from scrapyards, and henceforth cars would have to be built to meet a specific formula.

For the 1961 racing season, the sport’s governing FIA, concerned about the ever-increasing speed of the cars, decided to reduce Formula One’s engine capacity from 2½ litres to 1½ litres. In effect, the ‘Formula Two’ – for 1500cc cars – morphed into ‘Formula One’ in 1961, and the 1500cc Formula One became the national racing class in South Africa. The country became unique in that, miles from the epicentre of world racing, it would run its own Formula One championship for many years to come.

Such was the growth and popularity of motor racing in South Africa that the country’s premier race was accorded world championship status in 1962.

Sponsorship

It must be remembered that the drivers at the time were ordinary working men, and commercial sponsorship as we know it today was non-existent. The racing cars of the time were uncluttered by sponsorship decals, and drivers, when interviewed, were not confined to the carefully worded ‘PR’ statements of modern times.

Competitors relied on some support from fuel and oil companies, discounts on tyres and certain free spares such as sparking plugs and ignition products. The leading drivers recovered a limited amount through travelling expenses and starting and prize money. Patrons such as Otello (Jack) Nucci, Gigi Lupini, Ted Lanfear and Aldo Scribante played a major role in assisting deserving drivers.

Tyre technology was developing during the early 1960s and a leading contender would usually run a season on one set of tyres. At the year-end, when the international drivers arrived for the summer series, the local drivers would have access to up-to-date compounds and constructions.

Aerodynamics, so vital in modern racing, was a relatively mysterious science to the constructors of the era and the ideas utilised were primitive compared to modern times.

Lew Baker contends: “They called this early 1960s era in southern Africa the golden age of motor racing but there was certainly no gold. The drivers of the time were scraping the barrel. Every spare penny was spent on the cars. Money and time to work on the cars were in short supply.

“Peter de Klerk was at the time a ‘famous’ racing driver. He lived in a small flat on Van der Merwe Street in Hillbrow. His bed was one of those metal-tubed things. When I stayed with him, the mattress of the spare bed would sag through the springs to the floor. I had to put my suitcase underneath the bed to prop it up! There was no kettle to boil water if you wanted a cup of coffee. So, you sprinkled some Frisco coffee grains into your cup and filled the cup from the hot water tap that was gas-heated.

“De Klerk did not have a job when he raced the Alfa Special. He had some support from Jack Nucci and existed on travelling money, start money and prize money. I remember a winter trip to Rhodesia. We were towing the Alfa Special with an old pick-up and that night it was so cold that our feet and legs were freezing. We actually lit our Primus stove inside the cab to try to generate some heat.”

There was little evidence of Alfa power among the single-seaters in European F1 and F2 racing, and the question was why had South African drivers opted for Alfa motors instead of the ubiquitous Coventry Climax FPF engines.

Cost was the primary factor. An Alfa Romeo assembly plant was located at East London and the speedy Italian saloon and sports cars had become popular with local motoring enthusiasts, so spares were easy to come by. Used parts could also be obtained from the scrapyards.

Furthermore, there was an availability problem for Climax parts and then there were shipping delays. In addition, import duties were punitive, and import permits were difficult to obtain at a time when the country was seeking to restrict an outflow of currency.

The Alfa production engines proved to be a good choice as they were extremely robust, developed competitive power and were amazingly reliable.

Lew Baker recalls: “It was not only the top drivers who had businesses or some form of sponsorship, such as free fuel and oil or discounted tyres, but those impecunious backmarkers who chose the Alfa route. For instance, Bill Dunlop was a linesman for the electricity corporation and Leo ‘Sparky’ van Popering was a salesman for an industrial supplier company. ‘Sparky’ absented himself from work to go racing when he should have been selling merchandise. At times Alfa-powered machines made up some 50% of the fields. There is no way these enthusiasts could have afforded to race if not for the cheaper Alfa Romeo power.”

Des Hammill, author of Coventry Climax Racing Engines, explains the cost factor for the overseas factory teams at the time. “In nearly all cases, engines were sold to Lotus, Cooper, Brabham, etc, and at a high price with sponsors (the petrol and oil companies, etc) assisting. All new grand prix engines had to go back to Coventry Climax after each race for a rebuild, which cost money – there were no exceptions as that was the system. Each engine was as perfect as possible at the start of a grand prix race.

“When such cars were sold off at the end of the year, as happened, they were not under that scheme and the new owners had to maintain their own engines or they could send engines back to Coventry Climax but you would need a lot of money to do that!”

Local drivers using Climax motors were subject to the inevitable shipping delays, so for reasons of cost and time they would undertake engine maintenance themselves as far as possible.

Many of the local drivers used the FPF Climax motor. Hammill adds: “When the Mk II FPF engine came out, it was most likely available to anyone for a price because it was never expected to be a big winner. It was more of an engine to tide the (factory) teams over while the new (FWMV) V8 was being designed and developed. It was a very good engine nevertheless, with some being all brand new while others were conversions. Most were brand new.”

As the new era of motor racing in South Africa took root, the sport became more expensive and more professional. Local race promoters realised that visits by drivers and cars from overseas in future could only be justified by running as many races as possible. This would enable the promoters to share organising costs and spread racing throughout the country.

It was felt that the new East London track and Cape Town’s Killarney Circuit could meet the changing safety standards but since neither the Roy Hesketh Circuit nor the Grand Central Raceway could accommodate sufficient spectators or meet the growing safety demands, new purpose-built tracks would be needed.

Such considerations led to the construction of the world-famous Kyalami Circuit north of Johannesburg, Westmead near Pinetown in Natal and the Zwartkops Raceway outside Pretoria. All three circuits opened in the latter part of 1961.

Safety standards, although considerably improved, were still primitive by modern standards and the cars themselves were fragile.

People often question the lack of reliability of the cars raced in the 1960s in comparison with those of today. Lew Baker provides some insight into the matter as he reflects on motor racing in the post-1960 era.

“You just can’t compare it. During that era even the factory teams often had no spare engines or gearboxes, whereas the modern system allows teams five or six replacements, so when a motor feels a bit dodgy it is simply replaced. Among the local men, even the top drivers were unlikely to have a spare engine. Back then, everything was stretched to the limit in terms of engine performance and budget – one carefully maintained and repaired what one had.

“The whole manufacturing process is infinitely better today. Metallurgy, clearances and the quality of machining tolerances are miles better. Modern oils are also far superior.

“Drivers of the day had to be careful to keep to rev limits. Drivers of modern machinery can’t miss a gear change, which was easy to do with the mechanically changing gearboxes of the 1960s, resulting in grave engine damage.”

Mike Harris, the 1962 Rhodesian champion, recalled the challenges he faced when he competed in the year-end international series in South Africa as a reward for winning his country’s national championship. He took a month off work to travel to destinations far from home to race at Kyalami, Westmead and East London in his Cooper T53 Alfa.

“My engine gave trouble at the Rand Grand Prix in the first of these grands prix, and I rushed around Johannesburg during the following week to various engineering shops to have it patched,” Harris recalled.

“Then I travelled 400 miles to Durban and it overheated in the Natal Grand Prix. My car was very down on power when I got to East London for the South African Grand Prix and it didn’t last long before the bearings wore out. I was quite despondent because my good friend Gary Hocking had died after crashing in Natal and so I retired after that.”

For Brausch Niemann, his retirement from circuit racing at the end of 1965 had a different motivation. “We used to help each other by helping with tuning, loaning parts and so on. Then, as the 3-litre formula arrived, it all became cut-throat and I decided to retire.”

In summary, ‘specials’ were an integral part of South Africa’s Formula Libre and Formula One events during the early 1960s. Champions such as Syd van der Vyver, John Love and Bill Jennings and leading drivers such as Doug Serrurier, Peter de Klerk and Sam Tingle all competed in ‘specials’ during this era and their machines supplemented the grids of the time.