Mike Moore Jag XJ6....

[Railway]

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[Railway]

Railway....you have woken up my wonderful memories about the 'old' Zwarkops, a few of us Cape Town boys was invited up in 1992 to a race, myself in the Opel Ascona 400(converted ex works rally car into a circuit car)

[Gunter]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! thats my car....you really have a huge archive of pics, those North vs South challenges were the best.

[Railway]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! thats my car....you really have a huge archive of pics, those North vs South challenges were the best.

I was told it became an Oval track car ? Has it died or is the shell still around somewhere. Good time to clear that up now otherwise you know the story it will make an excellent urban-legend-barn-find and possibly an argument. If I remember correctly this car was actually rallied by the late Tony Pond. he used to hang out here from time to time.

We have had so many very special pieces of history out there. As with many other rare classics the situation now was self-inflicted. Even worse what is left has got so rediculously expensive with half it's original content non existant.

Think it's time to ring ol Jurg up and get the ex-Johan Coetzee 4 door Wesbank Class B Skyline up and running again. there are such cars around and that one we know is real just like the Sorenson ex-v/d Linde Skyline. At the rate the older stuff was pulled through the bum it's still nice to see these 80's legends again. Who ever believes they are rebuilding this car as was some rumour check again you may have one of a few other 4 door ex-race Skylines. The famous ex-Johan Coetzee one is right here in Cape Town still in one piece just slightly different livery.

[Gunter]

Yes, you are 100% correct - it did end up an oval track car....i tried selling the car as a modified race saloon (this was + - 1993) and believe me i had no interest,i even contact Malcolm Wilson (now Mr Ford Motorsport!) as he was involved in buying and selling race cars....he offered 5000 pounds which in 1993 was only R25000!
I them turned the car back into rally spec(took off the big fenders and wheels) and i actually drove it (only once) at an oval track meeting..the car handled very well and
sold it immediately to a fellow oval track competitor for more than i wanted for it as a modified saloon. In hindsight it was probably a very bad decision as these cars are now extremely rare and expensive BUT i used the funds from the sale of the car to start my current business....

I actually visited Jurg yesterday, the ex Coetzee Skyline is still all complete..he blew the motor a few years ago - but has all the parts and just needs to put it together.I
have convinced him to get the car running and join us in the "touring car/Sports and Gt car class...it will be beautiful to have that car back on track.
You are so right,few people will believe that the REAL last famous Coetzee skyline is still around and in Parow Valley of all places!

[Railway]

Oh well that clears it up then. I should have a few more photo's of the car when you had it on track somewhere. Can still remember that motor rev down the backstraight at Killarney.

Speaking of which you obviously know of the ex-Dealer Team Chevair's. They were sold off to people in Nambia who raced it there for a while till they broke it seems. Again also at a stage driven by Tony Pond which I think was before he rallied the Ascona here. Built by Geoff Mortimer with a Blydenstein motor. Well I saw that specific one which Sarel I think also drove on ocassion when it arrived here from Namibia. At Victor's oldman's place. A pile of still nice chromed Rostyles with rally tyres probably still from Team days. A couple of big boxes with I thing what was two Blydenstein motors in pieces as they had been hurt. There were two cars one had a 2,3/2,5 Chev motor. This one could have had this motor fitted later. The main one with the motor in pieces still was cpmplete and they were roadworthy state as that was a requirement for public road driving between dirt stages. 5 speed ZF box with a clutch set-up I had never seen before. Dry sump plumming still intact. Still had Castrol livery on it. Next thing a V8 was built for it. It was supposed to go chase Harry Reid who was at the time racing his homebuilt Chevair V8.

Well I think I saw that car a few years later abandoned moertoe there behind where Tig Welding used to be. It must have been on it's way to the grave as it was gutted and clobbered all over from dirt track oval duty. That car to me would have been priceless today besides the fact Tony Pond raced it. But there we go, that is just the way it is.

[Gunter]

You are right,Bill Blydenstein would turn around in his grave he knew what happened to his engine/s.!!...i recently bought the LS diff from that very chevair...was the last thing Victor still had remaining of the car.

[Hi-Fi]

Damn it guys!

This is really good stuff! You know we talk so much about the good old, old days, but look at that picture! Look at hoe narrow Killarney was. We tend to forget things like that.

When was that picture taken? Sometime in the 80's? Here's one I took after the '81 SAGP. Could this be the predecessor?

[Hi-Fi]

A few more pics from the same race. Remember the way Sarel used to do his thing?

[Railway]

Was just abot to say I was at that race but if 1981 we were posted out up North already (Army). In 1980 I went to Kylami three times on weekend passes. Including the famous Sheckter/v/d Merwe prang at Jukskei where Gavin RS was probably standing close by too on that little scaffold stand they used to have there. I saw all these cars in the pics (1979-1980 about) just the Jag I don't remember too well maybe it only raced afterwards.

That 323 was Errol Shearsby with a loud rotary.

The Chev's were 302's the Mortimer Chevair one which was built before the Hepburn Rekord was actually built from the running gear of the one Chev Dealer Team ex-Basil Van Rooyen Can Am. There were three consequtive big prangs at Juksei (Kyalami) beginning with the famous one. The next one was Sarel in the Escort after he seemed to tangle with a 2,5 Firenza coupe (ex-Star Production car probably being lapped). The new space-framed BMW had not apeared. The third prang was Hepburn the only time I had a small camera with me where I captured him ploughing through the catch fences and into the embankment at Jukskei. The car had just been fitted with IDA's if I remember.

The BvR Fiat was also raced by Dave Charlton at some stage remember seeing that thing fly at Killarney when it had no brakes. You can see his Fiat all red in the other pic just behind Mortimer's whilte/blue Chevair. It had perspex type pannels creating a fastback profile so that it did'nt so much change the overall profile of the car visibly. That was for aerodynamics I imagine. That's an RS2000 Escort behind the Jag don't think it's the BvR Fiat.

Sarel's Escort I remember going full sideways around Hoals chasing the more powerfull cars then it snapped a halfshaft as it grabbed after touching some dirt. That picture posted is exactly how he went through Hoals at Killarney right through the corner. Exactly like that screaming.

We had a Datsun Laurel that ran down here too a red one wonder if not the same car in later years. Can't get on the name now.

It was incredible, roaring Chev V8's, whistling turbo V6 Ferrari powered Fiat 131, raucus rotary 323, screming Escort of Sarel before they made it a V6. Man this was something else and I was glad at the least to have experienced this pbit of later legend stuff. That was the Maunufacturer's Challenge series.