Comments by "John D" (@johnd8892) on "IWrocker" channel.

  1. Although running his own team with lots of help from Phil Irving of Repco for engines and Ron Tsurenac for chassis design. The T in the BT model names of Brabham cars. Lots it others less well known too, but still an unmatched achievement getting such a team together.
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  2. And Bob Jane was driving for the winning team in the two previous years when the 500 race was at Philip Island. Driving locally assembled Mercedes Benz 220SE and then a Falcon XL.
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  3. G'day Ian. You might like to look at Wolesley Road Point Piper in Sydney. Understand that this is the most expensive street in Australia. Wikipedia saying properties there were forty times the median average price of properties in all of Australia. Sometimes the cheapest property is cheap for bad reasons not talked about too much. Would hate to see an overseas person buy into a bad area on just a cost basis.
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  4. No one had heard of Thunderstorm Asthma until that rare extreme dry windy Thunderstorm event that caused huge amounts of the grass pollen to be swept into the air. People outside allergic to the Rye grass pollen in many cases got severe asthma that overwhelmed the health system and led to I think ten fatalities in those with compromised health.
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  5. Bo Seton won in 1965 driving a Cortina GT 500. Not in the winning Mini Cooper S in 1966. The only year the Mini won. Not sure he ever raced a Mini at Bathurst. Correction in 1966 Bo Seton drove the 6th place Mini. The fast Cortina GT 500 models were excluded by new rules.
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  6. My old family home built in the early fifties had mixer taps for all hot water taps except the bathroom basin. So nearly seventy years ago.
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  7. News in my feed today was from Drive was that a new low volume car company called Drive South says it will begin reproducing the LX Torana hatch design from the 1970s utilising modern manufacturing techniques, powered using a similar 6.2-litre V8 fitted to late-model Holdens. The vehicle will utilise fibreglass composite bodywork fitted to an aluminium chassis – inspired by V8 Supercars – fleshed out using CAD (computer-aided design), with 95 per cent of the components to be manufactured in Australia. Road legal and priced around $250,000. It will be interesting to see how that develops.
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  8. Wikipedia confirms the story I heard that it was created for Lord Lamington Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901 or so. Recipe in print by 1900. So at least 121 years old.
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  9. Cobras standard 302 but optional 351 which this one runs like.
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  10. From Wikipedia The first 200 Cobras produced were given the 5.8L 351 Cleveland V8, while the other 200 received the 4.9L 302 Cleveland ... the only exceptions to this being build number 001 is a 302ci (4.9 litre) V8 and build number 351 is a 351ci (5.8 litre) V8.
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  11. Hillman Imps were built in Scotland. All Rootes group cars very British , the French connection came very late after the Chrysler take over in their dying days. Hillman Imps also assembled in Port Melbourne and raced at Bathurst. Even from 1962 they had a Coventry Climax designed OHC slant four aluminium engine mounted in the rear. won the BTCC several times. Search Shannon's club TV Imp for more info.
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  12. This is the VF 225 slant six original Pacer unless an engine upgrade is allowed. So even more impressive. Shannon's detail here ; https://youtu.be/dv-1x1sPiTk Common confusion of the first slant six Pacer and the next model hemi powered ones.
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  13. And at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast they run the V8 supercars one week of the year : https://youtu.be/16A6ASR0WIk
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  14. At 3:45 it is a US Chevrolet Greenbrier Corvan or the delivery van version. Never sold new in Australia but imported in the past few decades to have something unusual in Australia. Rear engine air cooled flat six cylinder van version of the Corvair : https://youtu.be/TlKFyaBfkRc Saw a ute version in Melbourne a few months back. First I ever saw on the road here.
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  15. The design imported from the US for the first XK Falcon in 1960 but assembled here from Australian and Canadian parts. Over time the local content went up. Never fully imported for sale as a built up car. Would have had huge import duty taxes.
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  16. Lowe's worked with local Woolworths to create a rival to do as well as Bunnings. A disaster. Ended up with lots of empty new big stores. One of their most famous blunders was stocking SNOW SHOVELS because they sold well in the USA.
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  17. G'day Ian. An historic vid on the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for its opening in 1932 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy5cZ-IO0Eg Lots of longer more detailed vids on the engineering and opening are available.
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  18. A random search for properties will show so many more east coast properties because of the population distribution.
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  19. Lots of the cars here were made in sheds in tiny numbers for a tiny period. Mostly ambitious failures.
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  20. When released, the SLR 5000 was too fragile for racing, especially the original back axle. On release of the SLR 5000 few Holden teams ran it, sticking with the Torana XU-1, for quite a while until some of the problems were improved on but not completely sorted out. There are some detailed youtube videos around with people from the time spelling out the problems. Alan Grice was forced to run one by his sponsor but explained he had to baby the car so the back axle would not break. I went to the Sandown 500 around 1974 expecting to see the SLR 5000 but none to be seen. These issues were the reason for the major upgrade of the A9X versions with a completely different much stronger rear end.
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  21. Although the Pacer started in 1969 with this VF 225 slant six original Pacer unless an engine upgrade is allowed. So even more impressive. Shannon's detail here ; https://youtu.be/dv-1x1sPiTk Common confusion of the first slant six Pacer and the next model hemi powered ones.
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  22. The zipper barrier in action : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl0Q2bDnBUc
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  23. Mr Squiggle the legend explanation vid : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksBpaAsjX-c On TV for forty years since 1959, so some grandparents would watch the same Mr Squiggle on TV they watched as kids but with their grandchildren.
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  24. Actually from the AC Ace when AC were struggling to find a replacement for their Bristol six cylinder motor based on a pre war BMW motor.
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  25. Another 360 Charger on YouTube which on searching is the E57 model : https://youtu.be/u73T9FLzdZI?si=wFcGDO25kF9CtBgl Being late it is badged as 5.9 litre. Torque Charger road test also a 360. Despite what some with dodgy understanding and lacking search capabilities may rant on about.
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  26.  @johncunningham4820  surprised the engined cast st Geelong for a long period are less well known. Detail in this Wikipedia in the Australian section the Australian only 302 Cleveland based engine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_335_engine
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  27. Ute was 50-2106. You might like to check. Quote : A coupe utility derivative, coded as the 50-2106 and marketed as the Holden Coupe Utility, was produced from January 1951. That code should be on the original firewall builders plate.
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  28. Lots of the Calder Park complex was from the sixties. 1962 first race I think. Remember Beechey, Jane and later Moffatt racing there as well as the top ATCC drivers. Drag racing from about 65. Some early stuff on YouTube well before the oval.
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  29. Springfield might dispute that.
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  30. Close to every season sees a change to the specifications of the cars. A big drift from the near showroom stock condition of fifty years ago. A few years earlier and nobody ran a roll cage and even a change to non showroom tyre makes of the same size caused an objection from teams who did not think to use a better make of tyres. Eg Pirelli to replace stock Dunlops.
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  31.  @jamiewilson3599  I think it was all filmed in 1966 for release in December 1966. I remember reading from the local library a massive expensive book covering Formula 1 in 1966. Autocourse I think. In it the starters of each race were listed including Monaco with a 4.7 litre camera car. Lots of coverage in the book of the film since it was such a big deal. In the top ten grossing films for 1967.
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  32. With the move away from Holden and Ford police cars I think it has been recorded that even police command are not happy with extra costs and problems arising from losing these always there taken for granted cars. Despite special deals police and government get. Some sad days reported when the last Falcons or Commodores are retired from police use but they get huge sums at police auctions. Report of one of the last : https://youtu.be/7JD4CiZFUqw
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  33. Left Hand Utes of Colorado. May still be in business. Sport wagons too.
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  34. US Maloo from them : https://youtu.be/qCghlIdH54I
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  35. This Skyline was rear wheel drive before the later Skyline R32 all wheel drive that won the race. Some connections with the Australian Skyline family road cars for sale here : https://youtu.be/pjJT2CW6oF8
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  36. Donut van an institution at the Queen Victoria market in Melbourne since 1950 : https://youtu.be/GcNTX9wjBSI But the Melbourne preference for non holed hot jam filled Donuts although marketed as American and exotic. Footscray railway station another famous long lasting one : https://youtu.be/kaaXMb-9wBo Hard for Krispy Kreme to compete with these institutions, but unfortunately he passed on just the other month as per the description and comments. Jam doughnuts preferred again.
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  37. I would have said only one in ten thousand Australians have made a crossing like this but lots of claims in the comments. So your viewers are an adventurous mob.
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  38. A typo. Aussie legend John Goss. He was good but not a God.
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  39. It is Green Fox body Mustang V8 302 that Dick ran for a short time before the Red Shell Sierra Cosworth cars arrived with Shell sponsorship big money.
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  40. The only Ford components of the so called Ford Cosworth DFV V8 multi championship winning engine is the 100,000 quid Cowsworth got from Ford to develop the engine and allow Ford to have naming rights to the engine. Quite a bargain as still so many think it reflected Ford engineering skills when none were involved. Similar with the Lotus Cortina with its Lotus twin cam head that gave it the big advantage but never developed
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  41. The Efigy did the cruise on Woodward near Ian as well as a few shows. Think it won best in show in the US.
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  42. In the last year's of Falcon production Ford did close to zero advertising for Falcon but lots for Mondeo. Hoping we would all take up the late Mondeo that was Falcon size but front wheel drive. A major company sharing my office building around 2014 went all Mondeo for its fleet, so must have got a good deal on them. Ford expecting as much sales share as the US model labelled the Ford Fusion.
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  43. At 10:08 the blue car is the Australian built Chrysler Valiant Pacer. First round headlight VF model. More detail on the Pacer story here ; https://youtu.be/dv-1x1sPiTk Always loved how well this underdog car went with its then 225 slant six. Great driver who prepared the car very well to beat so many V8 cars. Upgraded to the E49 265 hemi by the time of this race.
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  44.  @royferntorp3575  compare the car to the Shannon's Pacer in the vid.
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  45. Ian, a bit after 30:09 you wondered what the Goggomobile Dart was. An Australian small run cheap sports car from 1959. Story here : https://youtu.be/Zk2sgj_9uKc And admired a Summernats : https://youtu.be/bnzeuBIavKs German running gear, Australian body keeping taxes low.
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  46. Except no surf beaches in Joliet and the likes of Jennifer Hawkins thin on the ground too.
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  47. How do you think people who remember pounds shillings and pence feel. Prior to 14th February 1966.
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  48. Dodgy driving school guys had a scam based on this. If you looked dodgy too he would say for an extra hundred or so he would line up an examiner to guarantee a pass and licence. In the event he did nothing. If you passed he would smile and keep the cash. If you failed he would say "sorry I could not line up XXX the tester" so here is your money back. Happy customer getting their money back as a guarantee. No one bribed , everyone knowing happy, only two mainly knew what was supposed to happen and no complaints. So hard to detect that scam was happening.
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  49. No. Targa West near Perth.
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  50. Written by Australian songwriter Geoff Mack in 1959 who, after the success with lucky Starr in 1962 , went on to write a total of six versions and got royalties from most of the other compositions using his idea for other countries. He spent time in Japan immediately after the war so was confident to write a Japanese version.
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