RACING INTO HISTORY - Australian Grand Prix

Car: BARRETT BWADriver: Julian/Gib BarrettRace #: 17Position: 12This typically ingenious AustralianSpecial is the second car on displaybelonging to Mount Martha’s RonTownley, himself a keen competitorwhose career in stock cars and hot rodsbegan in 1956. It was driven by both Alf Barrett, known as ‘The Maestro’, andby his brother Julian, known as Gib. BWA stood for the three key players in itscreation, Barrett/White/Ashton, the latter being the crew chief. Before WorldWar II it took part in the Rob Roy hillclimb; during the war Gib clad it in asportscar body and used it himself. Then they stretched it nine inches, made it intoa ‘monoposto, i.e. a single-seater, and went racing. “Built like a crayfish,” saysRon proudly, “all the mechanicals are on the outside!” It was in essence a pre-warMG TC but has a Lancia front end and steering box, Lancia wheels, brakes anddiff and 1935 Chevrolet truck drive-shafts for rear axles. It now has a Lee Francis1.5-litre supercharger to comply with CAMS’ requirements. “Good fun to drive,”adds Ron, “but at Albert Park in 1953 they didn’t have their best race…” At its pitstop a fuel spill saw the car erupt in flames. “Yes, it went up alright,” recalls GibBarrett in Barry Green’s lovely memoir, Glory Days. “But it looked worse than itwas.” They had already lost 15 minutes at the start when its plugs fouled – yetthe car still finished 12th.Car: O’DEA MG SPECIALDriver: Jack O’DeaRace #: 39Position: DNFAnother member of the Gillett stable,this MG TC Special began life in SouthAustralia, where it was built in 1949for David Harvey by well-known localspecialist Tony Ohlmeyer. Harvey drove it at several South Australian venues, mostnotably to second place in the 1950 Australian Grand Prix at Nuriootpa, before itwas sold to Victorian speedway driver Jack O’Dea. O’Dea drove it in the 1953Albert Park race but did not make it to the finish. It came with a 1340cc MGXPAG engine to which was added a Marshall Nordec supercharger; the gearboxwas standard issue. Its single-seater body brought the car in at a lightweight 550kilos, the MG being capable of around 115 mph (185 km/h). It could cover thestanding quarter-mile in 15 seconds. After Albert Park the O’Dea MG was boughtby a certain J. Brabham, who apparently raced it at Sydney’s Parramatta Parkbefore it moved on. Harry Gapps campaigned the car at Mt. Druitt, Orange andBathurst, then in 1958 it returned home: bought by Jack Johnson, it specialised inhillclimbs like Collingrove and also raced at Port Wakefield. By 1963 it was back inVictoria, where its career ended at Calder Park in that year. Guided by the expertadvice of Tony Ohlmeyer himself, John Gillett acquired it in 1966; he and his sonCharlie Groves, a budding historic racing specialist, have campaigned it widely inthe south-eastern states.15