Mike Moore Jag XJ6....

[ZA Perana]

I have heard many stories about this black Jag and what a sight it was to see at Killarney...but I know very little about it, besides the fact it had I beleive a 350 Chev motor in it. My dad actually know Mike very well at the time and I remember vaguely as a youngster watching the car race at Killarney....

Anyone have any pictures or recollections of this car?

[Railway]

On Pole at Zwartkops 1990's. Car was originally white with orange before it ebcame like this which was a subframe front end with fibregalss body panel's. Think it was Les Johnson that built the car to this stage where it was a winner. Very fast in it's day..

[ZA Perana]

I certainly was a mean looking car....

[Killarney Racer]

Yup I think Les Johnstone did the engine. A very well sorted car, bags of Chevy power, very quick and another car that escaped Cape Town and relocated to JHB I believe. I guess a lot of bucks was put into the car, so what happended to it?

[302]

What an amazing view of the "old" Zwartkops... 1990's

Is that a yellow Perana in the far background? Pits area
302

[Railway]

What an amazing view of the "old" Zwartkops... 1990's

Is that a yellow Perana in the far background? Pits area
302

Yes was in the 90's Bosal bend which was quite exciting. By the old Drive-In.

That Capri I'd believe was an original, belonged to one of the Ashurst's who basically sponsored the Ultimoil series there. I have photo's of it, a very "rof" car indeed as seemed the norm of some low budget stuff that used to hang out there. It was like you walked up to a Perana and attacked it with an angle grinder and plastered it with fibreglass flares and things. Had Datsun lights at the back too I can remember so it was probab;y a roughish road car before they "asaulted" it.

I must say I used to go all the way there from Cape Town to see some of the wierdest cars I have ever seen allowed to race. There was another white Capri that had a 350 Chev V8 in it. A space framed Golf as well as a 140Z shape Datsun that must have weight about 600kg. There was a MK1 Escort with a rotary, Firenza with a Supercharged V8, which became Escort MK1 with the same supercharged Chev V6, an ex-Tiga sports car which is a well known ex-Autoquip Andy Payne car but they put a Mazda 323 sort of fibreglass shell on it and then still turbocharged it. Before the days of these more refined 13B turbo motors you can buy. There was a Datsun Y coupe 140Z shape that had a turbocharged straight six in it that went into the car to fit. The thing had this incredible turbo lag but when it was on boost it was something else. The JT3000 Colt Galant with 3,4 V6 Ford that was basically the trest bench for the 3,4 Saphires they built. A tin turbo V6 Alfa Guilieta. At first one turbo Glenwood Motors GTV which then later they added another turbo. A turbocharged 2,5 GTV. Also an Escort MK2 sport shape called a "Patriot". Presume after the missile, had a re-arranged grill that looked like an industrial fan grid also had a Datsun straight six in it. Ath the time I wondered why I took photo's of all these wierd and wonderfull contraptions.

But there was another special memory of the old Zwartkops. After one of these packed race meetings with long ques to get out a bakkie aproaches the fence alongside that road that goes past the circuit. We sit in the que and wait and see this bakkie begin to do 360's in the sand till we could'nt see him. Next we spot him joining the traffic he did that to obscurr being seen going straight through the fence out of the circuit .....

[Gunter]

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) and Zu Bentheim in the Shaphire.
The variety of cars was amazing, i remember the Capri,various turbo Alfa's,Dana Jordaan in a very lightweight 323 rotary,the Tiga with the strange 323 body, the V6 Supercharged Cam Am,Maserati birdcage replica with a 6 cylinder Skyline motor!,Dennis Olthoff in his quick Capri, and then the Austin family - about 4 of them! I raced my car both in the Silver and the Gold cup...the rules was very simple ANYTHING on slicks for the Goldcup and ANYTHING on road tyres for the Silvercup.
Probably my best race ever,i won both silvercup races,came + - 5th in the Goldcup
races and won 'driver of the day'........still the good old days, when sex was safe and racing dangerous!!

[Railway]

After I went to Zwartkops the first time I went back every year especially for the Cape versus North races. There was a different atmosphere there and very user friendly for those wanting to race with no budgets to talk of.

That Mazda thing/Tiga with a 323 dop, it had a bigger turbo lag than that 140 coupe Datsun with the Skyline six turbo motor. We sat in the big stand at the bottom hairpin and every time these two characters came around the crowd cheered. The field would catch them through the bends then when they eventually got on boost they'd overtake them again down the short straight. But the spectacle was when the spluttering flatspots cleared. It was like the cars were being fed steroids.

The Jordaan's had two rotaries there the one as you say and I think the son had a Renault 5 thing with a rotary motor. Some of you that may read this could probably imagine this a comic strip, but really it did happen. I'm tryinjg to keep out of the photo box because then I loose track of time again. Fortunately I kept track of all this crazy racing with many photo's i took back then.

[Railway]

Just a quick dip in my box of tricks, the Mike Moore XJ6 here before it became black. At this stage it was already hauling as you can see. Just behind him is the ex-Hennie v/d Linde 300XX Nissan which here for the Super Saloon's had a 350 Chev motor in it. Think the driver was Ashley Landman. Behind is the Coenraad Bosman supercharged V6 Firenza, could be Clarry Taylor RX7. The green RX7 is Louis Powell on his right it looks like the Richard Quixley Datsun 140Z. That same yellow Capri from Zwartkops can be seen too. This was another North v South event with them coming to Cape Town this time. Check the half built main control tower in the background.

[Railway]

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