with lot of social media fan he often posts many personal photos and videos to interact with her huge fan base social media plateform. Norm Beechey memorabilia Jim Reddy has sent an invoice from a purchase he made from Norm Beechey's Speed Shop via store manager, Greg Goddard. His championship win in 1970 was the first victory by a Holden driver in the Australian Touring Car Championship. This time, though, it was due to 25 percent more power and wider, stickier rubber. Recent. "There was a genuine technique to driving this car fast and I think my style suited this car because I grew up driving big fast American cars," he says. Vinnie Bentley. Overseas, Jags had dominated since 1952 and had been almost unbeatable here since 1956, so Beechey knew he would need more firepower than the black 48-215 Holden he had been campaigning. Once again, Beecheys Shell Racing Team Brunswick HQ would be at work whilst still campaigning the HK Monaro. Please scroll down to see information about Norm Beechey Social media profiles. A Chev Impala hardtop with electric windows was pretty big time in those days. 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. "During the first practice session at Catalina (in Katoomba) there was no one left in the pits when I went out because they'd all run to see this big ol' thing go 'round," he grins. After the Mustang won the 1965 ATCC by over a lap, it was the car of choice. The big Yank had numerous Achilles heels, ones that wouldn't show up on a US interstate. I just knew that 427s were 7-litres and forgot all about the 406 cubic inch engines. "You've got to remember that buying this car was a very entrepreneurial decision in 1962. Choose Options. Every page goes through several hundred of perfecting techniques; in live mode. Image: Supplied. We'd rather make sure we get the facts straight." Norm and Marg Beechey are big on facts. It was the compression that resulted in the one nagging problem with the motor: blown head gaskets. Norm Beechey. Also learn about how he is rich at the age of 49 years old? . In fact, it took Beechey six months to get the car running reliably. 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. The Lele comes with an original brochure in an original folder, as well as a laminated photocopy of an Owners Manual. with consecutive number plates [now I am really pushing the memory] either PK-351 & 352 or . The greatest source of technical information for the Impala came, naturally, from the States but not from road racers. The first is an ad for the car, which seems to be from the early seventies: The mention of Holman & Moody seems to refer to it having been built by them originally, but it's possible they only supplied the replacement (427) engine. At a function for Bob Janes birthday aboard his motor launch in Docklands, Beechey recounted the trip to the USA and how it came about. 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. The Holden project was immense, Beechey said. 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. A local bloke with a 63 Galaxie coupe has fitted his 390 4bbl engine with the tripower 427 set up. The rivalry with Pete Geoghegan was one of the greatest in Touring Car History in Australia and Beechey still speaks fondly of it. They duelled in bellowing beasts V8 Mustangs, Camaros and Monaros. He then saw Geoghegan pass him and take the win by over thirty seconds. Ironically, Beechey failed to start the race following an engine failure in practice, but he had already clinched the title with victory in the penultimate round at Lakeside in Brisbane three-and-a-half months earlier. View PDS. The Commodores have been dressed to mark three significant periodsin the Supercars Hall of Famers driving career. I got to know Jack Collins, Greg Goddard and Fritz Norton pretty well, buying camshafts, carburettors and manifolds for the EH. Ad features his Holden HK Monaro GTS race car. 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. "Nothing had beaten a Jaguar (for years)," Beechey recalls. he has decided to rationalise his car collection.. I have printed the body shell and chassis , need some more pics for the . "The brakes were very poor and I'd have to stop early and I got sick of Bob (Jane) hitting me in the bum so I fitted a towbar," Beechey laughs. 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). 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. It was just intended as a road car. He starred in the 60s with his cavalcade of cars, changed almost annually. I was launching it at around 7000rpm and revving it to about 8400rpm at the finish when it was running the 11.8s. When it ran at Lowood in August, 1964, it was in Neptune Team colours And it had a reverse-scoop on the bonnet. Coming up to Pub (Longford) corner. Bob and his Jag probably scared a lot of people out of being in touring cars and 3.4-litre Jags were just not competitive against Bob's 3.8-litre car. Quick view Details. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous Racecar driver 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. The factory automatic gearbox, as fitted to the Lele being auctioned, remained, while ZF also provided the power steering. GREAT DAYS is a line Norm Beechey often adds to his signature when asked to sign various pictures and books from his racing career. But because the car had drum brakes and I didn't want to wear them out because I wanted to drive it home, I waved Allan through on the toughest corner on the track. Of those he won 7 races and the championship twice. Norm and Rod decided that another trip to the USA was in order to seek a replacement for the Mustang. It was still breaking parts, rear wheel bearings. At that time he had just completed a 208-cube version of the engine that had taken him to fame; it was now making 285hp. Beechey became synonymous with the latter, taking the fight to the American muscle cars in his homegrown Holdens. Interestingly, Gurney would not race his Impala again, due to bureaucratic problems, and the car was reportedly sold to Laurie O'Neil in Australia. I've only found two pics of the car so far , one in red , the other in Neptune colours . Racingkarrir. The line-up covered each class of racing in the Improved Production era: Beechey in the Over 3000cc class along with teammates Jim McKeown, and his super quick Lotus Cortina, and the ubiquitous Peter Manton, king of the Mini brigade. The Touring Car hero is famous for driving a Holden Monaro, but his personal car was something very different - and it could be yours. Simply a full size family car. 1964 krdes msterskapet ver ett race, och dr blev Beechey tva p Lakeside. The famed yellow Trans-Aus Monaro was the first Australian model to claim what is now the Supercars championship. It didnt take very long because the HK 327 was phased out at the end of 1969 and we started the 70 season with the new car, so we built it over the Christmas New Year period.. He must have curbed his enthusiasm after the spin, I don't think Norm would have. But for the man himself, one of his favorite cars is an Italian-built, Ford-powered grand tourer. The HT Holden Monaro was unlike any other Touring Car built in Australia: Innovative and borrowing much from the factory built Trans Am cars, the Beechey Monaro would be the first locally produced car to ever win the ATCC. "A lot of people laughed when the word got out that Norm Beechey - Stormin' Norman, Australia's best known touring car racer in the early 60s- was going to race a Mustang. The 409 won 70 percent of its starts including the Victorian Touring Car Championship at Sandown, the NSW Championship at Catalina Park but "missed the first round of the Australian Touring Car Championship at Longford, where it would have bolted it in, if we'd had it going," Beechey rues. Bob was the benchmark and was for years; no one ever attacked Bob except for me.". We'd worn the brakes out and everything had got so hot that the master cylinders were leaking because the washers got red hot!". To some, he was the closest thing Holden had to a star racing driver, before Peter Brock. he has decided to rationalise his car collection. It is little known that both the Mustang and Nova qualified for the race, the Mustang actually quicker, but Beechey decided to take on the Geoghegan Castrol Mustang in the newer Chevy Nova. From the October 1966 edition of Modern Motor. Entertainers. Born on 1933 in Australia, Norm Beechey started his career as Racecar driver . He returned in early 1966 with a two door, 5.3 litre Chevrolet Nova 11. Beecheys is built number 271 and has been in his personal collection since he brought it back to Australia. Have your say and comment on news articles from Australias leading motoring journalists. Han r mest knd fr framgngar i ATCC under 1960 och det tidiga 1970-talet. Wilson Security Sandown 500 | Tickets | EventInfo. Theres also a spare set of brake pads and brake hoses, both still in boxes. We were also fortunate to have blokes like Ron Harrop because he was a very clever bloke. Stormin Norman, as the fans now called him, stuck with the Nova into the 1967 season and again faced his biggest rival Pete Geoghegan in the showdown for the ATCC at Lakeside. Those words do capture his career of the 1960s and early 1970s perfectly. Norm only raced the S4 at Lakeside that year. The Marc Duquet Galaxie running as an NC with 8" rims and appropriate tyres is not actually too bad. Showmen. $ 135.00 Sold Out. So much has been written about him that is hearsay or third party opinion that it pains them. We could have run a team of cars for that amount. It was based on a Chev Duntov grind that had a bit ground off the nose. Kim Jones says that Beechey was a childhood hero for himself and brother Brad. Norman Beechey A factory Imp was imported by Norm Beechey, a top Australian Touring car driver in the sixties. 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. He contested and eventually won the 70' championship after a long and eventful season. "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. Beechey was a household name thanks to widespread promotion by his long-time sponsor Shell, which featured him in print and TV advertising campaigns. Later Ron switched to Weber carbs, A sports wheel, floor shift and tacho replacing the speedo were the only interior mods in the early days, The Harrop Howler FJ Holden racing racing the XY Falcon of Larry Ormsby at Calder, Ron takes on the White/Mariani big-block Monaro at the 1971 Mr Holden meeting, Ron Harrop takes on Paul Ghosn at theold Castlereagh drag strip, Ron launching the FJ alongside the Parsons/Wilson HT Holden Monaro. Darryl Hinton Not a bad record for a big American luxury car but touring car racing was changing. $6.60. "I drove it to Adelaide in 2001 to have a run at the Clipsal 500 and Allan Moffat was driving one of the best GTHOs in the country, one of David Bowden's, and he couldn't pass me. 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. Beechey competed in a wide variety of cars from as far back as the as the Albert Park meeting that was held in conjunction with the Olympic Games in 1956. Running a car like the Howler meant always trying new ideas. Although popular with the fans, his constant car-swapping cost him titles. 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. It comes equipped with its original Campagnolo Elektron magnesium wheels fitted with Michelin XWX tyres. Get the latest updates delivered directly to your inbox. 'Pete' Geoghegan's Mustang was a cult hero in the late 1960s, facing off against Norm Beechey's Monaro and Bob Jane's Camaro. Posted September 20, 2006. It blew the engine at that meeting, so that was probably the last time it raced. Or perhaps the car belonged to Rootes Australia and they hired Beechey to drive it for them. We had a four-point harness that held us in place a bit, but I used to grab a cushion off the lounge at home and tuck myself into that. Discover Norm Beecheys Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Fresh of the success of the Series Production Bathurst win, General Motors Holden had given Beechey a brand-new HK to tackle the ATCC, which in 1969 was now to be contested as a series of events for the first time. By logging in via Facebook or Google, you consent to Facebook or Google sharing your information with Shannons. Something anything. Wasnt a shiny red but it did have 406 in chrome on either front mudguard. The 179 crank had the big ends welded up and the counterweights carved off, replaced by Harrops own. "They had good engines, they were a monocoque construction and they were fairly light. he is one of famous Racecar driver with the age 88 years old group. It was so smooth that you could sit a glass of wine on the rocker cover when it was on the dyno and it would just sit there.. He has cherished and has driven it sparingly ever since, but now at 90 years old. N. Beechey / B. Jane Holden FX - Calder 1962 - Printed with a black border and a caption describing the photo. From left: Peter Manton, Brad Jones and Norm Beechey in 1967. Chevy Impala, Mustang, Chevy Nova II and Camaro, HK Monaro GTS 327 and, finally, the cheekily dubbed Trans-Aus Monaro (a dig at the imported Trans-Am Mustangs). He lost his licence, 110 in a 60 zone and the car disappeared. We only ever raced it with Chev conrods - it's got Carillos in it now - but we never had conrod problems, only bearing trouble." This time he would trail Petes Mustang and retire after only 12 laps. 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