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. Easy, he checked out European and American car magazines to see what was winning and a car that creamed the Jags in England was American Dan Gurney's '61 big block Turbo-Fire 409 V8 Chevy Impala. But for the man himself, one of his favorite cars is an Italian-built, Ford-powered grand tourer. He was brilliant there. Harrop bought a traded FJ from Beechey for $29, installed the engine, gearbox and diff from the EH, all in the standard positions, and $1300 later it ran a 13.42 at its first meeting (April 1969). OZZIE MOTOR RACING ICONS NORM BEECHEY by Bill Pearson Before Brock there was Beechey. "I've spoken to my wife and we'll do the interview. View or bid on all 2022 Shannons Autumn Timed Online Auction lots I watched Norm race from his six cylinder Holden days through the Mustang and then the Nova. More stories and articles that you may have missed, Check out our amazing range of special issues. I think it ended up with a two-inch inlet, which is pretty amazing when you compare it with a standard head, where the valves are way over the sparkplug side. The rivalry with Pete Geoghegan was one of the greatest in Touring Car History in Australia and Beechey still speaks fondly of it. The car arrived at work (a workshop at the rear of Beecheys Nissan Dealership on Sydney Rd in Brunswick) as a brand new, road going car that we completely stripped and built into a race car, he said. Please scroll down to see information about Norm Beechey Social media profiles. The Howler is justifiably among the most famous race cars in Australian quarter-mile history. 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. Im honoured that the Jones Brothers are representing some of my liveries and they have done a great job bringing them to life on the modern-day Supercar. Racing Driver I'm pretty sure this is approaching the tight MG Corner which leads to the long blast down the runway. "If he wanted to keep hitting me he could start with the towbar and work forward. Beechey and Jane remained in first and second until the end of the race with Jim McKeown completing the podium. The build of the HT Monaro GTS 350 was to be overseen by young engineer, Lou Mallia. Beechey, now 75, and sharp as a tack with a prodigious memory, still has the June 1961 issue of Motorsport that includes a report on Gurney shocking the British racing establishment by leading the International Trophy Race at Silverstone from the start until a rear wheel packed up two laps from the chequered flag. Clinic Appointments - Appointments are based on clinical priority. "And hopefully on the podium," Beechey said. Not great resolution to the photo though. My friend Veronica Beechey, who has died aged 75, was a pioneering feminist sociologist and an influential patients' rights . The HK Monaro arrived at Norms Brunswick workshops late in 1968 and while still campaigning the Camaro, his small crew led by Graham Moore had the car race ready for the 69 Championship. & Baker, Dorothy. It raced here in early '63, that would usually mean it was a '62 model. PETER A. CLAYTON _ a a a i T a s, A ein ME y, ^ x yo "4 in, 4 A N y ' k A i, d N | L | F | N | | x | E. | | Eh E N x n" ^N = * dis w = -= - AR pee Ba o I T. E The rules were reasonably free, the CAMS manual was very thin, but no one had any knowledge. 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). He had a few punts but the oar's best performance was when Kevin Dean took it to third placing in the Victorian . Beechey went on to win the title that year - in doing so giving Holden their first series win and making the Monaro the first Australian car to win the ATCC. (Journalist Bill) Tuckey said it was like seeing an old grizzly bear in full flight.". I also saw plenty of post H.A.M.B. Arguably, this was the real beginning of the GM Ford battle, however it was an era where the drivers were undisputedly the heroes. From the October 1966 edition of Modern Motor. From left: Peter Manton, Brad Jones and Norm Beechey in 1967. Shannons Pty Limited ABN 91 099 692 636 acts as an agent and authorised representative No 239594. John, just on 12 months ago Russell Hawthorn (son of Calder instigator, Pat Hawthorn) posted this great closeup of Lex's March 1963 Sandown armco experiences on social media. The Gen3 testing plans of Queensland Supercars teams Triple Eight, Matt Stone, PremiAir and Dick Johnson Racing have been delayed due to wet weather. "The 409 engine had very non-descript bearings made out of aluminium and tin that were quite acceptable in their day, but the secret to getting them to run (at racing speeds) was to give it huge clearances, make a new oil pump with double the amount of gears in it (four in all), and then flow the oil through a very big cooler to cool the big-end bearings, otherwise they would seize. Although Moffat and a number of other drivers raced Mustangs for ATCC competition - the five ATCC titles from 1965 to 1969 were won by Norm Beechey (1965) and Ian Geoghegan (196669) driving Mustangs - this car, modified to CAMS Improved Production Touring Car regulations was ineligible for the Bathurst 500 (later Bathurst 1000), which was . How did how could a carburetted six-cylinder FJ run times as quick as 11.81 back in 1971? Running a car like the Howler meant always trying new ideas. Norm Beechey, pictured here, is about to unload his beautiful black '68 Camaro off the 'team' transporter. For those unfamiliar, Iso Rivolta - or just Iso for short - was an Italian company that built cars between 1938 and 1974. Other than, perhaps, Norm Beechey's Chev Impala, the 405bhp Galaxie was the most powerful racing car in Australia of any sort upon its debut in November 1962. fredeuce, Sep 24, 2020. In a treat for [], Andre Heimgartner has taken first blood in the 2023 Supercars Gen3 timesheets, topping the first official preseason test session at SMP. Brad Jones Racing will honour Australian Touring Car great Norm Beechey with retro liveries across its three cars for the Sandown 500. Somebody claimed in print it cost us a six-figure sum to develop the car. Every page goes through several hundred of perfecting techniques; in live mode. 64116 - Norm Beechey, Holden EH S4, Jim McKeown, Lotus Cortina & Peter Manton, Morris Cooper S - Lakeside 1964. The cars were hard to get during their launch year on the USA market but, in inimitable Beechey style, he was soon in the USA jumping the queue thanks to a chance restaurant meeting in Melbourne with Bill Bourke, head of Ford Australia, who wrote Norm a letter of introduction to Ford USA. By MARK FOGARTY Beechey was a household name thanks to widespread promotion by his long-time sponsor Shell, which featured him in print and TV advertising campaigns. BEECHEY'S HK MONARO - AUTOGRAPHED PHOTO $ 75.00 Sold Out With a pioneer attitude, Beechey was once again off to the USA to look for a Mustang replacement, even though the Mustang he had only been developed over a short period after its Championship win. Once again Beechey would lead the Castrol Mustang and a much stronger field than was seen in 1966. Norm Beechey had long been a crowd favourite, his flamboyant driving style was addictive. Wasnt a shiny red but it did have 406 in chrome on either front mudguard. I believe the Galaxie is in the Bowden collection, and painted Red. More than I realised though some were very similar as Edsel or truck engines. Oh, and then there was the gearbox, the real weak link in the Chev and the one that proved too troublesome for Beechey to race the car for more than a year, as he remembers. An expert photographer, journalist and marketing / PR guru, Rodgers spent 10 years running Revolution Racegear before assuming the head PR role at DJR Team Penske in 2012. Did Lex still race it after shunting the Cooper that year? Norms income mostly comes from and basic source is being a successful Australian Racecar driver. 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." Genealogy profile for Richard Beechey Richard Beechey (1828 - 1902) - Genealogy Genealogy for Richard Beechey (1828 - 1902) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. The rear end was a 10-bolt Chev, like the old 55-64 diff, with a 6.17 ratio. Because the R5 racing Dunlops of the day were only narrow, you couldn't turn the steering wheel when the car was stationary but once you got it rolling it was okay. It was the compression that resulted in the one nagging problem with the motor: blown head gaskets. Norm Beechey nationality Australian age 90 years old born July 9, 1932 hometown Melbourne Racing highlights Racing career summary Disclaimer: the data and summaries are all taken from the data available in the career details section further below on this page. Beechey had the last word in an interview in Sports Car World in 1970. Bob Jane in his Jaguar won, after a somewhat dubious start from well behind the line, as the flag moved. Take a simple thing like the seat. Facebook @autoactionmagTwitter @Auto_ActionInstagram @autoactionmagOnline Shop, Bruce Williams[emailprotected] So, how much is Norm Beechey networth at the age of 88 years old? This is an amazing documentary reviewing Norm Beecheys much celebrated 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship win in his famous HT Monaro. This car cost a lot of money in 1962, 2750. Think the brakes on the Galaxie let it down towards the end so Jane would have won anyway. As soon as you got it slowed to a reasonable speed you would throw it sideways to wash off more speed then stand on the throttle as soon as she got lined up. Copyright 2023 Wheels Media, a division of Are Media Pty Limited. All my cars had bench seats. Choose Options . Beechey, Norm. Another I know [its co owner worked for me] is a factory 66 7 litre manual car. But what about the car that kicked off his career: Harrops Howler? Ever the showman, Beechey sat on the bonnet of the stricken black Nova and watched another ATCC slip away. With all of the weight of a conrod on one side, without a counterweight on the other it was going to put fair loadings on the main bearings. In fact, it took Beechey six months to get the car running reliably. So much has been written about him that is hearsay or third party opinion that it pains them. A detailed review of Beecheys title winning season and his profound impact in the sport, pick up Auto Action 1799 online or at your local newsagent. Shannons Insurance, specialist in providing Learn How much net worth Norm is in this year and how he spend his expenses? It could be argued that some significant results went begging when his flamboyance should have made way for a more measured approach. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. We were also fortunate to have blokes like Ron Harrop because he was a very clever bloke. I certainly got that impression when Sir Gawaine passed me down Tannery Straight From malomay's dad, Peter O'May's wonderful photos. "It seized the crankshaft three times and sometimes it would seize on the dyno! Copyright Race Torque Media 2021. Because he was a 10-bolt Chev, like the old 55-64 diff, with 6.17. That built cars between 1938 and 1974 as Edsel or truck engines agent and authorised representative No 239594 or engines... For short - was an Italian company that built cars between 1938 and 1974 1/14, between PST! 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