Basil van Rooyen GTA

Gunter
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Gunter » Wed 12 Mar 2008, 08:16

Louis B Saladine died about 2 or 3 years ago.....a big legend, talking about old cars
my dad drove many 57 Fords and even a 56 Pontiac ex ministers car!
RACECAR spelt backwards spells RACECAR.....

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Hi-Fi
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Hi-Fi » Wed 12 Mar 2008, 08:25

Gunter, you must have had an enchanted childhood with all of that going on around you! I do recall your dad. That minister's car must have had a personality crisis when it was taken onto the track.

Do you remember those evenings when the public were invited to challenge the guys in their private cars? There was this old bloke who put his beautiful little Singer on and when he braked the car just carried on sliding, straight into the back of the last American Saloon car. The whole front of the Singer was smashed and the bumper fell off. That old guy must have been upset! Those were the days!

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Killarney Racer
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Killarney Racer » Wed 12 Mar 2008, 08:53

Correct Hi Fi, it was Jack Holloway always had 100 as a race number.His son was Francois. Cecil Barata of course was Mr Motor Racing in the Cape, a sort of old time Bernie Eccelstone!

During one of the "audience participation" races at the end of the evening after everyone had been tonking it up, this guy comes on with his shiny black 1960 odd Ford thinking he was Deon de Waal and rolls it before completing the first lap. Idiot!!

Railway

Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Railway » Wed 12 Mar 2008, 09:53

Gunter wrote: RAILWAY, the guy you are talking about who cut across the field to take someone out is Doep du Plessis....a crazy Oom! Just to add something to his legendary status,he moved to Springbok many years ago.... a few years ago my dad went on a caravan tour and while buying some suppliments in Springbok on the cafe counter was there local newspaper with the front page story being about a certain Mr Doep du Plessis who chased down the clerk of the course with his stockcar after being given a black flag at the local oval track!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



That’s him, Dup Du Plessis and to make the whole thing twice as exciting was Jack Holloway as commentator. I suppose that’s abit rof. But that sort of thing happened on the circuit too in a way. One which always comes to mind was one of my fellow compatoriot hero the late Tony Viana and Serge Damsaux at Quarry corner I think it was.

The thing is even then when racing was getting expensive the drivers had so much character. I think this whole primadonna thing encouraged by the corporate monster has caused this to an extent.

There are moments that are special even be they not nice to argue. Another is seeing Johan Coetzee and Ben Morgenrood having a loud argument with each other walking down the pitlane at Kyalami in the 90’s which I think they were on their way to the clerk of the course. You got to admire that bit of onbeskof. Now what ? These days just report the other with the sponsor’s money and “legally” win a “debate” !

In the 90’s there were some okes still around like this. When Roelf Du Plessis was in Group N he was another character of note. When you see these okes come back to the hotel at race venues with their crew you step aside so to say. We used to joke by his SASOL sponsored Telstar and try smell if there were some strange chemicals in their fuel. Needles to say that they got caught out either his or Morgenrood’s Telstar on the start line at East London with a pack of dry ice stuffed by the intake. Somebody “pimped” them just before the race started.

Good days, the characters of motorsport ……..

Railway

Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Railway » Wed 12 Mar 2008, 10:05

Killarney Racer wrote: Correct Hi Fi, it was Jack Holloway always had 100 as a race number.His son was Francois. Cecil Barata of course was Mr Motor Racing in the Cape, a sort of old time Bernie Eccelstone!

During one of the "audience participation" races at the end of the evening after everyone had been tonking it up, this guy comes on with his shiny black 1960 odd Ford thinking he was Deon de Waal and rolls it before completing the first lap. Idiot!!


Yes Jack's car was always No.100. Towards the end his last two cars one was a Viva and the next a Firenza coupe which he had for a short while then passed to his son Francois. Now that car was mine I paid I think 150 rand for it to fit a V8 in it straight out of the Army when I had little mechanical knowledge. I only knew an Impala V8 and an El Camino V8. I was quite dof then ansd was going to put a 308 in the thing somehow. I then gave it to a friend as a goodwill gesture for refering me to a better option of a project. He then sold it to Jack for about 150 rand I think. Francois did well in it ebfore it was written off one night at Goodwood.

Well if Cecil Barata was who he was then I had the honour of being chased and caught by him inside Killarney one day after school. We used to go there through a hole in the fence around the back and straight onto the motorcross track with our 50's. Maybe a lap used to take about 10 minutes as the the the tracks were deepe enought to get stuck in with a 50. He rocked up there with a Granada coupe and off we went with the Granada in persuit till he cornered us.

I suppose that's on my race-interest CV too. Cutting holes in fences to get it because pocket money was for petrol and a couple of beers. You can't just be a complete Holy Joe otherwsie you would not have seen half of history. Anyway I have repented and pay my dues every year as a member these days !

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Fairlane 500
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Fairlane 500 » Thu 24 Apr 2008, 23:54

Railway wrote:That photo of Berrington-Smith's Alfa on a trailer, in the old days to the left by a piece of building there there was a gate. The cars used to go out onto the circuit there onto the back straight of the circuit. In the 70's, would that be correct Hi-Fi ?
That pre race paddock was used as far back as the 60's.

Apart from that, it is interesting to see how far advanced Van Rooyen was over his opposition in his developement of the Alfa GTA. Those cars were'nt particularly fast, but when he got hold of one and put his stamp on it, it went like the clappers. The Italians were very interested in how he managed to get that car going. They sent out representatives from the Alfa factory to observe what he was doing.

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Hi-Fi
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Hi-Fi » Sun 27 Apr 2008, 11:35

There's no two ways about it. Van Rooyen was a wizard when it came to setting up cars. He didn't do too well with the Lotus Cortina in comparrison with Willie Meissner, but with the Alfa and Mustang, no one could touch him.

I also heard that some guys came out from the factory in Italy to see why he got that Alfa GTA going the way he did. I think it was my uncle that told us that when he worked for Van Rooyen at Superformance.

Keithg
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Keithg » Fri 26 Jul 2019, 11:41

Was it the Basil van Rooyen GTA where they cut the block between cylinders 2 and 3 and, with appropriate mods, managed to bore and fit larger sleeves to the 1750 (or was it 1600cc?) out to 2000cc or more? I think that the Keith Berrington-Smith sponsors (Thompson Brothers) had imported the Autodelta GTA to take on the Lotus-Cortina's and later Mustangs, without much success though. I remember that it sounded beautiful!


Hopefully, somebody in the know can elaborate upon/correct the story.

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ters
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by ters » Fri 26 Jul 2019, 17:21

Keithg wrote:
Fri 26 Jul 2019, 11:41
Was it the Basil van Rooyen GTA where they cut the block between cylinders 2 and 3 and, with appropriate mods, managed to bore and fit larger sleeves to the 1750 (or was it 1600cc?) out to 2000cc or more? I think that the Keith Berrington-Smith sponsors (Thompson Brothers) had imported the Autodelta GTA to take on the Lotus-Cortina's and later Mustangs, without much success though. I remember that it sounded beautiful!


Hopefully, somebody in the know can elaborate upon/correct the story.
You obviously have a passion for these golden oldies.... please introduce yourself to the board? viewforum.php?f=41

Ters.
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ZA Perana
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by ZA Perana » Sun 28 Jul 2019, 20:30

Keithg wrote:
Fri 26 Jul 2019, 11:41
Was it the Basil van Rooyen GTA where they cut the block between cylinders 2 and 3 and, with appropriate mods, managed to bore and fit larger sleeves to the 1750 (or was it 1600cc?) out to 2000cc or more? I think that the Keith Berrington-Smith sponsors (Thompson Brothers) had imported the Autodelta GTA to take on the Lotus-Cortina's and later Mustangs, without much success though. I remember that it sounded beautiful!


Hopefully, somebody in the know can elaborate upon/correct the story.
Hi, yes that would be correct as far as I know the GTA did have a special BVR modified motor. Based on what I know this GTA is still out there somewhere, the story being it was sold in Angola...
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