1964 krdes msterskapet ver ett race, och dr blev Beechey tva p Lakeside. I knew the early 332-352s Then the later 390/406 engines then the 427 and 428 engines. In fact, it took Beechey six months to get the car running reliably. All of these attributes explain why Norm Beechey was, without question, one of the greatest Touring Car competitors this county has ever seen. Added in 24 Hours. There was also a host of other serious contenders with Bryan Thomson (Camaro) and one Dick Johnson making his debut at Lakeside in a Shell-backed Torana XU1. Also make sure you follow us on social mediaFacebook,Twitter,Instagramor ourweekly email newsletterfor all the latest updates between issues. Norm Beechey had long been a crowd favourite, his flamboyant driving style was addictive. Just looking again at a You Tube clip of Dennis Obrien driving the 427 coupe at Sandown. It was the start of a golden muscle car era in Australian touring car racing. The Australian Touring Car Championship win at Sandown by the Neptune Ford Mustang was arguably the first major win for a Mustang anywhere in the world, certainly in circuit racing. 3,275 views 1 fave 0 comments Taken on January 4, 2011 Some rights reserved Additional info Viewing privacy Public Norm and his wife Marg were friends of our parents, as were many competitors from the '70s so it makes the tribute a very personal one for us." Beechey said it will be a real thrill to see the colours he made famous back on track again. To talk to a Shannons Auction Team member directly, call the 1300 078 500. 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. "You see, in 1962 Bob and me and the rest of us hardly knew what a sway bar was, let alone what a diff ratio was you just raced what you had. We could have run a team of cars for that amount. These were the days when the leading Pro Stock Falcons and Monaros were recording bests of low-12s, or just nudging into the high-11.9s. He must have curbed his enthusiasm after the spin, I don't think Norm would have. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. I was driving for David McKay's Scuderia Veloce team and David had to write to Dan Gurney and ask him for advice. John, Lex should have learnt from his 1963 Sandown accident that fixing Galaxie's add somewhat to his racing expenses. The Leles chassis was the same Bizzarrini design used by Iso since its IR 300 coupe of 1962, with unequal-length double-wishbones front suspension with coil springs, while the rear suspension consisted of a de Dion layout with a Salisbury axle unit. Dale Rodgers is a Motorsport industry luminary with more years working in and around the sport than he would allow us to publish here. Hear, hear Norm. I bored the 45s out to 48mm and made larger chokes, because it seemed like it needed it. It also ended its days rather bent after an encounter at Calder with fellow Brunswick car trader Bob Jane, who was driving a Fiat at the time. 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. So, how much is Norm Beechey networth at the age of 88 years old? At the time it was just what you were doing and it didnt seem that big a deal, Ron says of his time running the Howler. Just better. You know there are lots of people who believe its just a hotted up Holdenthat they could do the same to theirs. We didnt know those things in those days. It went all right for its day, I suppose. The wife of the Gadana is accorded the title Qarichcho (literally, 'the first'), and when she passes away she is mourned as Ayo Qarichcho. "When I switched to the S4 Holden, Bobby had got his Jaguar going faster and it still dominated; the Jag's reign only finished when I brought the Mustang out in early-1965. EMAIL [emailprotected] Amy, the wife of a country vicar, had eight sons and six daughters. ", Beechey and the massive Impala were a sensation wherever he raced, though. Simply a full size family car. 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." Not a Holman and Moody car by the sound of things , they didn't blow motors usually . Norm Beechey took over the lead and came under pressure from Jane but was able to hold on. Norm won the Australian Touring Car Championship that year when he imported a brand-new Ford Mustang. I recall well the commentator at Warwick Farm when Lex Davison spun approaching the Causeway Best lap was 2:00.1, his spinning lap was 2:10.5, which was the next lap. Or perhaps the car belonged to Rootes Australia and they hired Beechey to drive it for them. In Oz we [reputedly] had 302W and 400 2bbl. To some, he was the closest thing Holden had to a star racing driver, before Peter Brock. Norm and his wife Marg were friends of our parents, as were many competitors from the 70s so it makes the tribute a very personal one for us.. Norm Beechey. Bringing the mighty Beechey Monaro to life at the Muscle on the Mountain car show in July 2015, a really great show! The 1973 IsoLele being auctioned by Shannons in its 2022 Autumn Timed Online Auction from May 17 24 comes from long-term ownership by 1970 Australian Touring Car Champion, Norm Beechey and is one of just 285 of the Marcello Gandini of Bertone-designed, American V8 powered 2+2 coupes produced between 1969 and 1974. Half a century ago last Sunday (November 15), Beechey was officially crowned Australian touring car champion following the final round of the 70 series at Symmons Plains, outside Launceston in Tasmania. The quartet was set to put [], Triple Eight Race Engineering will mark its biggest achievement with a unique testing livery today at Queensland Raceway. with lot of social media fan he often posts many personal photos and videos to interact with her huge fan base social media plateform. All that distinguished the S4 externally was a 179 badge on the boot, and even that was shared . "We used to run the engine to 7000rpm. But not too many want to ring up and find out the facts. Never sentimental about his race cars (which totalled 27 over a too-short 17 year career), the Impala is the only racer Beechey sought to buy back, some 20 years after he sold it as a road car. 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. Live Statistics. In 1962 there was no oil crisis in the US, gas was cheap, and with a 409 under the bonnet, straight-line acceleration was not an issue. also know about his Social media accounts i.e. Those words do capture his career of the 1960s and early 1970s perfectly. He was adored by fans because he was one of the. It was drag racers and NASCAR teams that really exploited the big block Chev and Beechey picked up a lot of tricks from direct contact with US racers and tuners. The 179 crank had the big ends welded up and the counterweights carved off, replaced by Harrops own. 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. Big lazy grunter with bull nose Top Loader and Kelsey Hayes 4 spot brakes. They duelled in bellowing beasts V8 Mustangs, Camaros and Monaros. Haiti would be reunified as a republic under Jean-Pierre Boyer, a revolutionary leader who would remain president until 1843. If you have current knowledge about Norm Beechey's net worth, please feel free to share the information below. The car having only arrived shortly before this meeting. Unfortunately once again a little gentle pressure was applied and Max sold the car to track competitor Barry. Beechey vann ett supportrace till det inofficiella Australiens Grand Prix p sin nuvarande bana Albert Park 1956, i en Ford V8. If you know of things missing or have corrections, please log in and submit them. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous Racecar driver. We only ever raced it with Chev conrods - it's got Carillos in it now - but we never had conrod problems, only bearing trouble." The Galaxie paddock bashing at the 1963 Longford. Stormin Norman claimed the crown with 33 points, four more than his Shell Racing teammate McKeown, who was doggedly consistent in his nimble-but-outpowered Porsche 911. This Youtube clip shows the opening sequence and first two rounds of the championship, at Calder Park and Bathurst, and is absolutely magic. Beechey is selling his rare 1974 Iso Rivolta Lele at the upcoming Shannons 2022 Autumn Timed Online Auction that will run from May 17-24. He was just brilliant to watch.. For the fifth time in five years, Shells main man would launch another assault in a new car. Beechey contested in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1963 to 1972, in which consisted of 31 ATCC rounds and 26 races. Surely this had to be a giveaway win to the V8? I suspect as a road car far nicer all round than the 427s. It helps to already be famous to become a social media influencer, but he demonstrates that you need to have a raw or personal touch and engage with your followers if you want to do well on Instagram Facebook, Twiter, Youtube, etc. Every page goes through several hundred of perfecting techniques; in live mode. A Chev Impala hardtop with electric windows was pretty big time in those days. Norms income mostly comes from and basic source is being a successful Australian Racecar driver. "It had the first Borg-Warner four-speed, aluminium-cased gearbox with very thin gears and it wasn't strong enough. He raced a new Ford Customline that won the main Touring Car Race, beating Len Lukey in the procerss. So the evolution of the Howler began. Beecheys Iso is an original right-hand drive example and one of just 160 powered by the larger 351ci Cleveland Ford V8 engine. Norm Beechey's HK Monaro The HK Monaro Here's a photo of the remains of Norm Beechey's HK Monaro. However, the numbers vary depending on the source. Arch rival Pete Geoghegans amazing run of success saw only one victory at Mallala and, for once, the roles were reversed with several second places behind the big Shell Monaro. According to Shannons, Beechey has cherished and has driven it sparingly ever since, but now at 90 years old. IMAGES: As credited. So the evolution of the Howler began. Terms of Service. Ray, As far as I'm aware the first race with Lex driving it was 4 November 1962 Sandown. 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. Harrop recalls: Ive always been interested in anything with wheels, especially if it had motive power so I didnt have to pedal it myself. ). 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. I saw Lex in Sir Gawaine's 2 door at WF , quite memorable , sounded fantastic . Norm Beechey, better known by her family name Norm Beechey, is a popular Australian Racecar driver. (Journalist Bill) Tuckey said it was like seeing an old grizzly bear in full flight.". Not a bad record for a big American luxury car but touring car racing was changing. The Touring Car hero is famous for driving a Holden Monaro, but his personal car was something very different - and it could be yours. Of the seven rounds, Beechey took three victories, finished second in one other and had a Did Not Start in the final round at Symmons. I watched Norm race from his six cylinder Holden days through the Mustang and then the Nova. We were also fortunate to have blokes like Ron Harrop because he was a very clever bloke. Beechey retired from racing at the end of the 1972 season. It was a monster and still is and one of Beechey's favourite pastimes is blowing off Falcon GTHOs. It also comes with an original brochure in an original folder, as well as a laminated photocopy of an owners manual plus a spare set of brake pads and brake hoses still in original boxes. The conrods were massaged standard-Holden. "You've got to remember that buying this car was a very entrepreneurial decision in 1962. 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 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. The event: the Australian National Drag Racing Championships. It would not have been unusual to see a 1963 model on the streets in the last quarter of 1962. 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. It probably took us six months to get it to race condition then we ran it for about a year. Choose Options . It raced here in early '63, that would usually mean it was a '62 model. The big Yank had numerous Achilles heels, ones that wouldn't show up on a US interstate. One tip involved the suspension. Norm Beechey Ford Galaxie - posted in The Nostalgia Forum: Im after info any images and history of the Galaxie from 1964 , Im building a slot car model of the car . Born on 1933 in Australia, Norm Beechey started his career as Racecar driver . But the Impala was the first of the muscle cars." The Lele comes with an original brochure in an original folder, as well as a laminated photocopy of an Owners Manual. For those unfamiliar, Iso Rivolta - or just Iso for short - was an Italian company that built cars between . 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 A local bloke with a 63 Galaxie coupe has fitted his 390 4bbl engine with the tripower 427 set up. *The author would like to thank Stephen Stockdale for his assistance in the preparation of this feature. "And hopefully on the podium," Beechey said. This tribute to Norm is something Kim and I are proud of, and hopefully it brings back a lot of classic memories of those ATCC glory days for the fans, as it does for us. Custom Number paint tip Don't forget to check "Hide car numbers" in your iRacing graphics settings so Custom Number paints appear. I broke one or two, but essentially they were good. 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